Ironically, as the new year begins both T. and I are engulfed in the past. We are researching our ancestors and T. has managed to find evidence of relatives as far back as 900 AD, while I have found relatives born in the 13th century. We have revelled in our discoveries of noblemen and priests, mountain engineers as well as peasants as we have tried to piece their lives together. If they had not lived we would not have been here today. Our minds reel.

As we're moving into the new year we're also hoping for a less tumultuous one than 2011 proved to be. We have made it though. We're all in one piece. All of us feel fine now, although a bit tired from time to time, and we are eager to focus less on the recent past and more on the future. We do not know what it will bring, but at least we're increasingly more free to think of it now. Last night we toasted the end of 2011 as well as the beginning of 2012. Let's hope it will prove to be a wonderful year. Happy New Year, everyone!