Best of 2012

Happy 2013!

This is 2012 in review with my most popular blog posts from 2012.

Out of the 111 posts I wrote in 2012, these were the most popular...

Bloggeversary

Today is my blog's bloggeversary.

Happy bloggeversary, by SHANNON LEE.

I began this blog on June 12, 2011, on the road to Yellowknife. 

You can read all about the monumental cross-Canada drive that started it all by clicking on the Yellowknife or Bust tab on the top of the blog anytime.

I have posted all the links to the trip in chronological order there.

So, what has a year done?  Well...

1. I have bangs. 

2. We discovered that working two full-time jobs with two full-time school girlies requires balancing.  AND, we did it!

3. Autumn and Spring do not exist in the North.  In fact, you might remember last summer about me blogging about Autumn in August (I was wearing a toque on August 20th last year on an evening walk).

4. The Northern sky is huge, spectacular, and unlike any other perspective in Canada.  I would say that it is my favourite thing about the landscape and climate up here.

5. The girls are happy where their little family is.

6. It's freakin' cold up here, and there is snow from September to May. 

7. Spring is sloooow coming.  The picture above is the first day of spring.

8. Northern means EXTREME... extreme darkness, extreme daylight, extreme coldness, extreme sun.

9. The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) are worth living here for.  Period.

10. Eli loves his boat.  And, boats in general.



A few stats on the year... 

10421+ page views in one year (excluding my computers, for checking on formatting and the like)... wowsers.

The highest readership was at the beginning, peaking on our arrival in Yellowknife the end of July 2011, and again in December 2011 and March 2012.

Most of you read more when I was posting links on Facebook.  I'm not on there now, so I wonder if that is very inconvenient for you?

I've made 160 posts, including this one, in a year.

I've had web traffic from all over Canada, the United States, Belgium, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Indonesia, Argentina and Mexico.

Thank you for reading!!

Big Brother

Our wedding day was a very special day, for oh-so-many reasons.

The least of which was because it was the day I got to meet my big brother for the first time!

Holy wicked wedding gift, Batman.

And, no. 

I did not get two gifts the same. 

Nor would I ever ask to exchange him. 

Unique and wonderful.

Happy birthday weekend, Chris!

The days leading up to our wedding included a snow storm which dumped 90 cm of snow in New Brunswick, and which left poor Chris stranded in an airport waiting to catch a flight East.

My brother, Brad, thankfully went to the airport the morning of our wedding to pick up Chris and drive him to Miramichi with time to spare for the wedding.

He said he had no trouble whatsoever picking him out at the airport.

Resemblance?

What resemblance?

He got thrown right into big brother duties. 

And, met family (Hi, Aunt Julie!) 

He even bonded with my brand-new in-laws!  (That's Gramma!)

George and Peggy (Chris' parents), Papa and Chris 

Chris and his two old men (nudge nudge wink wink) 

Papa and his boys 

Chris is a busy worker.  I a-little-bit understand what he does, but I have to be honest... I hardly know what it is that Eli does at work.   

I do know that Chris is a hard worker. 

Chris is also a great Unkie. 

And, his nieces like to look at pictures of him and enjoy visits. 

And why not?  He's super-fun! 

And, he knows how to chill. 

Happy birthday, Unkie Chris!

I just thought I'd stick this picture in here... I look taller than Chris.

How did I end up with tall brothers? 

See?  I'm so giant, that I have to bend down just to fit in a picture! 

Oh.  Right.  It's the other way around...

Happy birthday big brother of mine!

Little Brother

It's Unkie Bubba's birthday, today.

Thirty one years ago, these very mature parents welcomed my little brother.

See how little he was??  Aww! 

So, Brad's my little brother...

Though, that's always been a bit of a joke.

Because, you see, he started to grow.

So, I'm going to provide some photographic proof that he is my LITTLE brother.

See?  Shannon taller than Brad.

I'm the tall clown... well, alright, maybe not. 

Maybe we're the same size. 

But, I have the tall hat! 

Same size.  

Well, that was a weak argument.

I think that I was taller than him for a few short months, then we were the same size for a while, then... 

He got bigger than me. 

Brad and Bijou were very close.

He would sing "Two Steps Behind" to her all the time, because she was always just two steps behind him.

He travelled. 

He drove.

I taught him to drive... once.

Our conversation went like this:

Me:  Alright, Brad, this is a fairly busy street for Miramichi, so just be careful when you back out of the driveway onto University Avenue.

Brad:  Geez, Shannon.  I'm not an idiot.  I know that!

*Boom*

Silence.

(He backed into a taxi pulling out of the driveway for the first time.)

Brad:  Crap.

Silence.

Brad:  Should I gun it??

Me:  NO!  YOU DON'T GUN IT!!

Silence.

Me:  Well, let's get out.

Taxi dude:  Hey, buddy.  No worries.  This is an old beater anyways.

Moral of the story:  learning to drive in a small town has its advantages.

He's silly. 

He looks like Dad and our brother, Chris. 

Yes, both of my brothers are much taller than me. 

Bubba is a great Unkie. 

The girls love their Unkie Bubba, who they usually just call Bubba. 

I'm sure they'll always look up to him.

I have no choice, either.

Brad and Emily joined forces and have taken on the world. 

Lifelong dream of seeing Paul McCartney in concert.

Barbecuing with with deer in Doaktown. 

Tripp, the dog, who is cute and knows it.

That under bite is, inexplicably, the cutest thing I've ever seen on a dog! 

Dia, the cat who owns the house.  

Since the last birthday, Bubba has had a lot of milestones!

Bubba and Auntie Emily got hitched. 

It was a great chance to hang out. 

Miss G hanging here more so than Bubba. 

We helped Bubba get ready the morning of the wedding. 

And, Emily and Bubba's nieces were Flower Girls in the wedding. 

I quickly explained the idea of spreading the flowers... important Flower Girl job. 

They were enthusiastic.

 And, then, Bubba got his own little girl.

Sweet Little E. 

Now, Bubba is Sweet Little E's Daddy. 

Daddy Bubba. 

She's so freakin' cute! 

And smart like her Auntie.  Ha ha ha! 

I think Bubba is going to have a fabulous birthday this year. 

(That's Brad in the picture above, just in case I confused you.) 

Happy Birthday, Brad.  Love, your Big Sister.

Check out his blog of his very favourite passion, vinyl records:  maritimevinyl.blogspot.com