I just returned from a white Christmas in Canada’s capital, the beautiful city of Ottawa, Ontario. It took us an hour to cross from Port Huron, Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario and the stopped traffic allowed me to take the photo above of the border sign.

It’s the story of my life with my husband. We were both born and raised in Canada and have now lived in the U.S. for almost as long. There are many things we love about both places, but mostly family and friends we have made along the way. This year, we will be following our hearts and moving back to Canada – yet in some ways my heart feels split in two.

I think we will always be straddling the border.

As 2011 comes to a close, I want to say a big thank you to all of the readers, subscribers and commenters on the blog this year. I appreciate every single one of you and look forward to continuing the conversation in 2012.

A year of contemplative photography practice begins January 1st – a 365 day photo project.

And, registration for Photo By Design will open on Monday, January 2nd, with class beginning on January 16th. I would love for you to join me.

Happy New Year! Here’s something I found and wanted to share – The Year in Pictures, made of Lego’s – pretty much covers it.