Confession…

I love numbers!  Now, please don’t mistake this for loving math…because that’s simply not the case.  I just love the numbers…not the equations that can be solved with them!!

It all started the year that I met my husband.  He had just received a GPS for Christmas that year and I was training for my first full marathon.  I had expressed to him concern over the fact that I thought I kept over shooting my training runs and in turn, he let me take his GPS out for a little spin.  Well, upon my return {which happened to be exactly 22.47 kilometers later!}…I was hooked!  Ever since, I’ve been addicted to keeping a running tally of whatever I can.  Whether it be my training, the mileage on our car or the number of inches that our son grows every month…I just can’t get enough of it!

So it seems needless to say that Google Analytics and I are dear, dear friends!  Truthfully, the stats for my blog and site are something that Steve tends to take care of {you know, it falls under the “other related duties” portion of the husband contract!!} but I do glance every now and then in order to keep tabs on what our visitors are doing.  Yesterday though, I decided to spend a bit more time looking at what the numbers had to say about the past year; who you are…where you’re from…and finally, what you read.  Truthfully, it was fascinating!  I found out that I have some pretty regular visitors from Kazakhstan {who knew?!?!}…that I can be found by Googling “red stripped wool socks” {did you find what you were looking for?!?}…and best of all, that I have the best readers in the world!  In fact, you’re so loyal that more than 53% of you keep coming back, time and time again!  Thank you!  A million times over…thank you!

What I had the most fun uncovering though, was the top read posts of the year.  And the results were humbling.  Some were expected.  Others were surprising.  But all of them reminded me of just how much I love what I  do every day…and sharing it all with you!

Here is what you, my beloved readers, loved most about two thousand and eleven…

5. Jessica & Pierre: Engagement
Love.  Romance.  Magic.  Passion.  These are all the greatest elements of my job.  I think, as a photographer, you always do your very best to portray the essence of a couple in love…but every now and then, you find yourself with a couple that does all of the work for you!!!  Jessica and Pierre were that couple from the moment that they stepped in front of my camera.  They are love and romance and magic and passion.  And clearly you guys thought so too!!  They were so great, in fact, that they even brought the most fantastic evening light along with them!  Mmmm…love!

4. Holly & Jeff: Wedding
It was my last local wedding of the year and Mother Nature made sure that we were up for the challenge!  With rain, snow, dark clouds, and freezing winds…we endured the elements to celebrate Holly and Jeff’s amazing wedding day!  But most of all…we laughed!  Just like we did on the night we first met and just like we did when we shot their engagement session.  Because Holly and Jeff are two of the funnest people you’ll ever meet and they even make standing in the freezing cold, wearing nothing but wedding attire, look easy!

3. Life Before Death
Taking this next set of images was perhaps one of my most moving experiences as a photographer and I couldn’t be happier that all of you appreciated it just as much.  I can still barely look at them without crying!  When I first posted about the idea of photographing a birth, I really had no idea that it would change me as much as it did.  I also had no idea that I would become even more smitten with this couple than I already was {who also happen to be the very first couple to hire me as their wedding photographer}!  I love them.  I love these pictures.  I love that I found out I was pregnant with Avery four days later!

2. Lindsay & Brad: Engagement
Okay…so this one was certainly no surprise given that you simply couldn’t get enough of these two!  Once I posted a teaser on facebook, you were hounding me for days to see the rest!!!  Those eyes…that dock…those kisses.  Gah!  It was almost too much for even me to handle!!!  On top of that, I had the tremendous honour of having them featured on The Blueberry Wedding Blog, which brought a perfect end to a perfect summer!  Lindsay and Brad…you were a hit!!

1. Saying Goodbye
I had to sit down and think about this one for a moment.  I had to reflect.  I had to wonder.  There is an irony to the fact that the number one top viewed post of the year was a post that didn’t even include a picture.  Instead, it was simply words.  Words about loss…about death…about heartbreak.  In early May, our friends endured the very tragic and unexpected death of their sixteen month old son.  I was playing with Hudson in the park when I got the call and I nearly dropped the phone when I heard the news.  The impact of this loss hit many of us in such intense and indescribable ways.  Worst of all, was the helpless feeling of witnessing.  There was really nothing that we could do but to wait and watch as the pain slowly encompassed us all.  And it was awful.  And so I wrote.  I just sat down at my computer and did the only thing that I really know how to do.  I wrote.  And then the emails started coming in.  They flooded in actually.  In overwhelming numbers.  From friends.  From family.  From people that knew our friends.  From people that didn’t know any of us at all.  People clearly needed to talk…to share…to grieve.  You obviously ached with all of us…even if it wasn’t your loss.  And I’ve never been more grateful for all of you than I was throughout that time because you genuinely helped.  You listened.  You healed…

And so to you, dear readers…thank you!  For all that you are and all that you’ve done to bring my dream to life…I raise a glass to you more often than you know!

– Gen xoxo