And that's a wrap ... almost! I've just celebrated my first year at the helm of Life & Style at the NZ Herald online - what a whirlwind it's been! Babies, bunnies and books - it's all been going on.
I was having a good think about what the biggest stories of the year were for me. Then I decided to dig up details on what you guys, the readers, thought were the most clickable stories over the last 12-months. What came back was a pretty mixed bag.
My top five for 2012:
1. Price William and Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton announced they're expecting their first baby. Oddly enough, a couple of days before the baby news broke, my editor suggested I start fleshing out a timeline of the young royal romance. She said she had "a feeling" baby news was on the way. I had it penned in my diary for Tuesday, December 4 - that very day the world found out Kate Middleton was preggers and was in hospital because of some terrible morning sickness. I'm looking forward to bump watch continuing in 2013.
2. The controversy surrounding Miss New Zealand. It all kicked off when South African-born beauty Avianca Bohm was stripped of her crown because when her fast-track bid to gain New Zealand citizenship failed. There were claims by contest director Val Lott that she had explicitly explained to the judges that the South African was not eligible to win because of her nationality. Runner-up Talia Bennettrom from North Harbour, took on the tiara but said she couldn't shake the controversy. Lott retired and jubilant Bohm declared: "I am still Miss New Zealand."
3. Charlotte Dawson and the Twitter troll: The Kiwi expat and TV personality ended up in hospital after waging a war against internet "trolls". Dawson appeared on Australian TV exposing vitriolic Twitter bullying this week, with many followers calling for the celebrity to "please go hang yourself." The former-model was hospitalised soon after. She took a short hiatus from Twitter, but is back online.
