{"id":783,"date":"2003-08-16T13:50:22","date_gmt":"2003-08-16T17:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783"},"modified":"2018-04-20T13:54:42","modified_gmt":"2018-04-20T17:54:42","slug":"marriage-toast-brother-derek-august-16th-2003","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783","title":{"rendered":"A Marriage Toast to My Brother Derek- August 16th, 2003"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A famous person once said, \u201cTo be rich in friends is to be poor in nothing\u201d. Looking around at this gathering today, it is obvious that Derek and Robyn are millionaires.<\/p>\n

Of course, it is a perfect day! It is 25 degrees, sunny and there is 0% chance of precipitation. This is not surprising for all of us here. Derek can be described in a similar way- the perfect 10, sunny all of the time and 0% chance of failure. I am getting to know Robyn better with each visit and the forecast with her is pretty much the same- lovely temperament, no cloudy periods and 0% chance of failure. What a golden couple and now with darling Jemma, what a golden family!<\/p>\n

It was on a similar day 30 years ago when I received the best birthday present ever- my baby brother Derek was born! I had been asking for a puppy for years, but to no avail. Then along came Baby Derek\u2026 he was better than a puppy, any day!<\/p>\n

I was the envy of all of my girlfriends. While they may have had the latest Barbie or cutest doll, I had the real thing. I had my own living doll to dress-up, feed, teach and even diaper change. My friends would drop-by just to help change his diaper. Derek was a legend in The Kingsway, from the start!<\/p>\n

And so, this is how a lifetime of sisterly love and giving advice began. Robyn, Derek may need the occasional hand with his wardrobe, as he never had to choose his own outfits. Miriam and I were his personal fashion consultants from the start. One fond memory of Derek\u2019s coming out in the fashion world was when we convinced him to wear my old Brownie uniform for Halloween. We thought he was adorable, if only he would have smiled!<\/p>\n

Derek was the lucky one in our family. He never had to wear braces, get highlights at Carmelita\u2019s and never even had a blemish! In fact, Derek has never had an ugly day in his life. At the Platform Computing Christmas party last year, upon hearing that I was the sister to the famous Derek, many of the women began kidding about how much time Derek must spend in front of the mirror each morning to achieve such movie star good looks. I laughed out loud as I explained to them how Derek had only just learned how to iron and how he did not own a hair brush until he met Robyn.<\/p>\n

I am proud to say that it was me who introduced Derek to the pleasures of hot food. For a nickel, Derek was willing to sample anything from the refrigerator door, including horseradish, garlicky dill pickles or Dijon mustard. Today all of Derek\u2019s favourite foods include a spicy zip, thanks to me!<\/p>\n

Derek has become quite a chef in the past few years. His specialties include scrambled cheese with egg, chicken baked to perfection, and anything on the barbeque. Robyn, I am not sure if you are aware of another one of Derek\u2019s culinary talents? As a teenager, Derek had a huge appetite. This of course was the envy of his older calories counting sisters. After school, Derek\u2019s favourite snack was Kraft Dinner. After months of practice, Derek finally mastered eating an entire box of Kraft Dinner without ever chewing! Today, Derek is the biggest importer of Kraft Dinner in the U.K.<\/p>\n

Derek loves to socialize and entertain. Once again, I can take credit for his early training. As the older sister, I was often left in charge at home. Derek was the official doorman, receptionist and disc jockey. All of my friends knew and loved my adorable baby brother. Most are in shock when I tell them that Derek is now a successful family man. \u201cHow can that be?\u201d they ask. \u201cHe is only a kid!\u201d<\/p>\n

Another one of my duties as an older sister was to toughen Derek mentally. During Derek\u2019s first year at Camp Hurontario I dutifully wrote him lots of letters and received none in return. I decided that I needed to get his attention. With that in mind, I wrote a detailed letter about a swarm of killer bees that had escaped from a beekeeper in Parry Sound and were last seen headed south towards Mactier. Within days I received a reply from a scared and possibly scarred Derek, begging me to tell him the truth. From what I understand, Derek continued this teasing legacy when he was a counselor at Hurontario, going as far as tossing chicken bones into the lake and claiming to his campers that they were human remains.<\/p>\n

Robyn, I feel that Miriam and I provided the perfect training ground for Derek to be a good husband. When Derek was a teenager, he gained two more sisters and two more sources of advice. Growing up the only boy in the house was not a bad thing. At a young age, Derek was familiar with PMS, bras and girl talk. In fact, Derek spent his first night in a sorority house at age 13. What more could a sister provide?<\/p>\n

My husband Paul has been a source of advice for Derek for over 15 years. Paul helped Derek take his first steps into the world of high tech and Derek has not looked back. Paul has been able to step in with advice at critical times such as when Derek, in his loud, laughing Derek voice told a crude joke to the receptionist at Speedware, not realizing that his joke could be heard throughout the entire office. Paul has been the family member to visit Derek and Robyn most often at their home in England. It was there that Paul had a chance to sample Derek\u2019s world famous Chicken Tar Tar. Derek is not only my younger brother, but he is like a brother to Paul as well.<\/p>\n

Now Baby Derek is a Dad. Being an uncle to Miriam\u2019s children and mine has been the perfect warm-up act for fatherhood. Derek is famous in my house for arriving with the best gifts- anything from a bow and arrow set, an Anne of Green Gables wig, an obnoxious noisemaker or the biggest chocolate bar ever made. Derek has always known how to please his fans. Now he and Robyn are parents and Jemma is the luckiest girl on Earth. Not only will she be a world traveler, but also I am sure Daddy Derek will shower his little princess with whatever her heart desires. Most of all, Robyn and Derek will shower Jemma with love, happiness and their love of life.<\/p>\n

I would like to take this opportunity to officially welcome Robyn into our family. Robyn, your kind and gentle spirit are the perfect compliment to my gregarious, hilarious brother Derek. The two of you are a perfect match! Thank you for including all of us in your celebration. Please raise your glass in a toast to Derek, Robyn and Jemma.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A famous person once said, “To be rich in friends is to be poor in nothing”. Looking around at this gathering today, it is obvious that Derek and Robyn are millionaires. Of course, it is a perfect day! It is 25 degrees, sunny and there is 0% chance of precipitation. This is not surprising for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-milestones"],"yoast_head":"\nA Marriage Toast to My Brother Derek- August 16th, 2003 - Happy Tales<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"liannehill99\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?p=783#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?p=783\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"liannehill99\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fe9d362f2c76d404db916d975a8de17f\"},\"headline\":\"A Marriage Toast to My Brother Derek- August 16th, 2003\",\"datePublished\":\"2003-08-16T17:50:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-20T17:54:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?p=783\"},\"wordCount\":1181,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?p=783#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/IMG_2935-1024x683.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Milestones\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?p=783\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?p=783\",\"name\":\"A Marriage Toast to My Brother Derek- August 16th, 2003 - Happy Tales\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?p=783#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?p=783#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/IMG_2935-1024x683.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2003-08-16T17:50:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-20T17:54:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fe9d362f2c76d404db916d975a8de17f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?p=783#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?p=783\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?p=783#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/IMG_2935.jpg?fit=3456%2C2304&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/IMG_2935.jpg?fit=3456%2C2304&ssl=1\",\"width\":3456,\"height\":2304},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?p=783#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Marriage Toast to My Brother Derek- August 16th, 2003\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/\",\"name\":\"Happy Tales\",\"description\":\"Travel, hiking, milestones and other reasons to wag your tail.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fe9d362f2c76d404db916d975a8de17f\",\"name\":\"liannehill99\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/be4c9f4b7600b9b4307e171b87058e7c5e8fece53d0a49ec707ccd726408f429?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/be4c9f4b7600b9b4307e171b87058e7c5e8fece53d0a49ec707ccd726408f429?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/be4c9f4b7600b9b4307e171b87058e7c5e8fece53d0a49ec707ccd726408f429?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"liannehill99\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/liannehill.ca\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Marriage Toast to My Brother Derek- August 16th, 2003 - Happy Tales","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"liannehill99","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783"},"author":{"name":"liannehill99","@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9d362f2c76d404db916d975a8de17f"},"headline":"A Marriage Toast to My Brother Derek- August 16th, 2003","datePublished":"2003-08-16T17:50:22+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-20T17:54:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783"},"wordCount":1181,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_2935-1024x683.jpg","articleSection":["Milestones"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783","url":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783","name":"A Marriage Toast to My Brother Derek- August 16th, 2003 - Happy Tales","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_2935-1024x683.jpg","datePublished":"2003-08-16T17:50:22+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-20T17:54:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9d362f2c76d404db916d975a8de17f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_2935.jpg?fit=3456%2C2304&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_2935.jpg?fit=3456%2C2304&ssl=1","width":3456,"height":2304},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=783#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Marriage Toast to My Brother Derek- August 16th, 2003"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/","name":"Happy Tales","description":"Travel, hiking, milestones and other reasons to wag your tail.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9d362f2c76d404db916d975a8de17f","name":"liannehill99","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be4c9f4b7600b9b4307e171b87058e7c5e8fece53d0a49ec707ccd726408f429?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be4c9f4b7600b9b4307e171b87058e7c5e8fece53d0a49ec707ccd726408f429?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be4c9f4b7600b9b4307e171b87058e7c5e8fece53d0a49ec707ccd726408f429?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"liannehill99"},"url":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7XIOG-cD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":472,"url":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=472","url_meta":{"origin":783,"position":0},"title":"Karen Honor Calvert","author":"liannehill99","date":"April 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Sister, mother, nana, wife, gourmet cook, bridge player, world traveller, civil servant. Born in Brampton, Ontario on April 22, 1941.\u00a0 Died on August 19th, 2012 in Mississauga, of cancer, age 71. Karen was the beloved second sister, in a close-knit family of seven daughters. She was born to Jack and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lives Lived"","block_context":{"text":"Lives Lived","link":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?cat=28"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/98540025-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/98540025-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/98540025-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/98540025-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/98540025-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/98540025-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":923,"url":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=923","url_meta":{"origin":783,"position":1},"title":"Magical Morocco","author":"liannehill99","date":"February 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Our airport limo bobbed and weaved around horse drawn carriages, scooters, pedestrians, donkey carts and yellow cabs, as we made our way to our hotel, just outside the Medina in Marrakech. We felt a rush of excitement at arriving in this exotic and magical place. We arrived at La Mamounia,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9017-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C846&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9017-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C846&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9017-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C846&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9017-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C846&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_9017-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C846&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":275,"url":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=275","url_meta":{"origin":783,"position":2},"title":"Happy 80th Birthday Dad!","author":"liannehill99","date":"March 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Colin Roy Freel was born in Hamilton, Ontario at 9 am, on Wednesday March 5, 1937, the first and only child of Margery and Elmer Freel. He was their pride and joy. My grandmother kept a detailed journal of my Dad\u2019s early years, including: recipes for his formula, his sleeping\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Milestones"","block_context":{"text":"Milestones","link":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_2738-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_2738-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_2738-1024x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2342,"url":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=2342","url_meta":{"origin":783,"position":3},"title":"Colin Roy Freel","author":"liannehill99","date":"November 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"March 5, 1937 - August 18, 2024 If laughter truly is the best medicine, then the world just lost a beloved healer with the peaceful passing of Colin Roy Freel on August 18, 2024. Oh, how we will miss that hearty laugh that punctuated his sentences, echoed in our hallways\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Milestones"","block_context":{"text":"Milestones","link":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Cf1.jpg?fit=799%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Cf1.jpg?fit=799%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Cf1.jpg?fit=799%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Cf1.jpg?fit=799%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2950,"url":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=2950","url_meta":{"origin":783,"position":4},"title":"Advice to My 25-Year-Old Self","author":"liannehill99","date":"December 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I follow a blogger named Bob Ramsey and truly enjoy reading his thoughtful Saturday dispatches. In April 2020, he was the one who wrote, \"Don't let the quarantine slip through your fingers\". The next day I started writing my book. In October, he challenged his readers to a writing contest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Happy Tales"","block_context":{"text":"Happy Tales","link":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/25-Lianne.jpg?fit=901%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/25-Lianne.jpg?fit=901%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/25-Lianne.jpg?fit=901%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/25-Lianne.jpg?fit=901%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":558,"url":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?p=558","url_meta":{"origin":783,"position":5},"title":"Panoramic Patagonia","author":"liannehill99","date":"December 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Paul and I were married on August 8th, 1992 in Toronto, 25 years ago. To celebrate we travelled to the \u201cEnds of the Earth\u201d for a hiking expedition holiday with Butterfield and Robinson, in panoramic Pategonia.\u00a0 It was spectacular. Our journey began with an overnight flight from Toronto to Santiago,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/unnamed-47-1-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/unnamed-47-1-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/unnamed-47-1-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/liannehill.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/unnamed-47-1-1024x768.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=783"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":800,"href":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783\/revisions\/800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liannehill.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}