There's been some gems alright.
With all the Covid talk, new restrictions and general tough news these days, we thought we'd remind ourselves of some of the things that brought a smile to our faces.
Like memes.
Especially the hilarious ones that became trends with new variations every time you opened Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
There's a few springing to mind - and two in particular that stand out for us.
Of course you'll have seen both of these, but just in case, here's reminder.
Matt Le Blanc Irish Uncle/Dad trend
In May of this year, the highly anticipated Friends Reunion show hit our screens.
We knew it'd bring laughter, tears and memories - but we didn't know it'd bring one of the best meme trend of the year.
Matt Le Blanc, who played Joey on the TV series, gave everyone countless hours of joy by folding his arms and giving us relatable facial expressions.
Yes, we're talking the Irish Uncle/Dad trend:
‘And you paid for them jeans like that ya did, with all them holes already in them?’ pic.twitter.com/mpKFmuevfM
— spochadóir (@spochadoir) May 29, 2021
Who can forget??
Bernie Sanders popping around Ireland.
Another big one this year was Bernie Sanders, who's sitting down aura also provided fun for internet users.
This one pre-dates the Matt Le Blanc meme, as it surfaced in January after Joe Biden's inauguration.
If it's not the way he's sitting we love, it's those amazing mittens.
And everyone was inspired to place him in some of our country's favourite locations:
Someone has created a site where you can enter any Google address and put Bernie Sanders sitting there. I obviously put in the Great Blasket and it has brought me a lot of joy. https://t.co/gJLku2Xepv pic.twitter.com/pxEewzvub5
— Lesley (@island_lesley) January 21, 2021
Before you go though, we thought it only fair to remind you of some of these (not that you'd forget)...
Toy Show memes in general
Ah yes - although these memes are very new, they'll surely last a long time.
The Toy Show didn't let us down this year when it came to memeable moments.
Here's some of our favourites:
This dude is everything#LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/aQzA4hEb4Z
— Cathal (@MrCathalNoHere) November 26, 2021
Ryan Tubridy dressed as Nicki Minaj’s cousins friend #LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/CmZKuAHlmF
— Michael Fry (@BigDirtyFry) November 26, 2021