Both Julia and Kristal "tagged" me in this "7 posts meme" and I found it a really fun way to look back through my experience as a blogger. Nearly all of the posts I chose are from after I was pregnant with Annie, which was when I stopped only posting photos and meals we ate, and started actually writing sometimes. Hard to believe that I've been writing in this blog for over 3 years now. Randomly, this is also my 500th post! How serendipitous. Anyway, here we go. Clearly I am unable to pick one post for each category, so you all get to enjoy a few :)
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To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.
Rules:
1) Blogger is nominated to take part
2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.
- Your most beautiful post
– Your most popular post
– Your most controversial post
– Your most helpful post
– A post whose success surprised you
– A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved
– The post that you are most proud of
3) Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.
4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers
5) And so it goes on!
6) The site Trip Base is sharing the best posts from participating bloggers on their blog and everyday on Facebook and Twitter at #My7Links
- Your most beautiful post
This is a tough call. In terms of the beauty of the actual words themselves, I think the only post I've ever written that would even come close to qualifying for this one is the one I wrote right after I weaned Annie from nursing completely. It really is a great summary of one of my favorite parts of motherhood so far. Reading it makes me really look forward to nursing again!
In terms of the beauty of the photographs IN the post, I think the posts from our trip to Europe in May of 2009 are the ones I am most proud of. I certainly took enough, and spent FOREVER editing them, which I rarely do anymore. You really can't go wrong with photos of Europe, that's for sure!
– Your most popular post
By FAR, my most popular post based on number of views is my freezer meals post. The next most popular post has only 13% of the page views of that one, so it's not even remotely close, but my 2nd most popular post based on views is the pregnancy announcement post from Annie.
I am definitely not a blogger that receives a lot of comments, ever, but the post I received the most comments and emails about was my pregnancy announcement with #2, with 32 comments.
Following closely behind in page views is the post I wrote on meals for new parents, and Annie's 1st birthday party, both of which come up fairly high in google searches.
– Your most controversial post
Oh, yeah, definitely not one for controversy, on my blog at least. I have my fair share of VERY strong opinions, and likely many that would piss some people off, but I don't write about them here. The closest thing I can even think of for this is the times I've vaguely referenced my own parenting choices in some of my weekly posts, or in this question and answer post where I answered some more personal questions. But yeah - I've never had a post on my blog that caused me to get angry emails or comments. However, I LOVE reading controversial blog posts and the following comments because I seem to enjoy getting myself riled up over the internet. This is the reason I can't quit message boards...
A post I wrote that wasn't exactly controversial, but is counter to most of what is written in the "mommy blogosphere" (ugh) was this post I wrote on being a working mom. I will say it loud and proud again - I love being a working mom! We probably could afford to have me stay at home, and yet I still don't. I have never once had even a fleeting moment of feeling like I'm missing my child's life or that I'm abandoning her. Apparently I have a lot of thoughts on this topic and perhaps should revisit it at some point.
– Your most helpful post
In my humble opinion, I have a great many extremely helpful posts, due to my love of giving advice (assvice? Maybe.) Obviously, the freezer meals post is helpful to many given it's popularity. If you happen to be traveling to the same locale as I did, you get to benefit from the extensive travel research I do in any of my travel posts. Particularly, this post from my Mexico trip, the Portland posts, and again the Europe posts are great for the sheer number of ideas they'd give a person who was traveling to those places.
Here are a few other very helpful posts...
My photo management system and the other photography post from my Q&A series.
– A post whose success surprised you
Um, I don't know that I'd call any of my posts "successful"... but I am often surprised by how often I hear about people going back through my weekly and monthly posts to Annie to read about what I was going through at the stage they are at with their own child. I'm glad that people enjoyed reading those posts so much, I know I love it when I read those types of posts from other bloggers as well! While none of my posts get a TON of comments, people in my life tell me a lot how much they appreciate these posts which gives me warm fuzzies.
– A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved
I DO get sad when posts of mine that I put a lot of work into don't get many comments, but oh well. One post that I liked a lot and wanted more feedback on was the Baby must haves post I did. It did get some really great comments which of course I loved, but what can I say... I wanted more :)
– The post that you are most proud of
This is again hard to quantify - because the actual BLOG POSTS themselves that I am most proud of would probably be the ones listed in the most helpful category above, because I put a lot of time into them and am happy they helped people. However, I am choosing to think of this as life events that I am proud of.
I guess I could get all predictable and say that I was most proud of Annie's birth story... but no. While I didn't write too much about my actual personal life before I had Annie (and I guess beyond my child, I still don't really), truly one of the things I am most proud of was finishing my master's program. It represented 3 long years of really dedicating myself to changing careers from advertising to career counseling, and I am extremely proud of doing that successfully. At the time I finished my program, I had gotten my current job, and would soon be done planning an enormous professional association conference as a brand new board member of said professional association. I had volunteered at a crisis hotline every single Sunday afternoon of my life for the past 2 years to get some counseling experience. I often wonder what I did before I had Annie, and then I remember - oh yeah. All that. Finishing my program still remains one of the happiest days of my life! Less stressful than my wedding day, and less physically exhausting than giving birth, so it wins out still :)
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Blogs I nominate to participate in this - I tried to pick people who might actually have posts that would fit in these categories, and only picked people who I think would actually see this post. I picked 6 - sue me :)
8 comments:
love it. I can't imagine your blog NOT being about your growing family---it's weird to think it was ever anything else!
Also, it's really hard to pick 5 bloggers that can fit this post---good job, lady!
Lots of your posts are very helpful, you definitely do your research!
Thanks for tagging me. I really need to sit down and do this now. Err maybe sometime this week :o). I keep trying to figure out what my most controversial post would be...
Great post. I'm definitely one of those that look at your past monthly letters to get ideas on what Dean should/could be at, and for meal ideas!
Oh, and hearing about your masters program post makes me want go back and read through your archives. I think I started reading your blog a few months after Annie was born (or right around the time of the frozen meals post), even though I had been reading We Got Fed before that.
I love a lot of your posts... I know it was when you were first pregnant that I found your blog - I spent hours reading back.
Thanks for the tag... I am getting wrinkles on my head just thinking about it.
My faves of yours have DEFINITELY been the weekly ones, especially at the beginning. I remember reading through your experiences with Annie as a newborn, months after going through that stage myself, and I just wanted to shout from the rooftops,"YES!" or "That's me, oh my goodness, that's exactly how it was!" Even after-the-fact, seeing how normal the things that I went through were, how common that stage is for so many moms, it was just so comforting. I wish everyone talked as openly about things like that stuff, and in as much detail, as you do.
And whoa. you picked me?! I feel like I just got picked first in gym class and that has NEVER happened to me. ;)
Quick question (recipe related) - I'm starting to make smoothies more at home. Is there a smoothie cup you use for Annie that you really like?
Oh cool, I will definitely do this. I've been struggling for content lately so the timing is perfect.
Your blog really is one of my favorites to read, even though I am terrible about checking it since I couldn't get the RSS to work. Your life is relatable, your writing is great, and I think you do strike a great balance of talking about the ups and the downs of life w/ kids. Any interest in tweeting links to your posts to remind me to read them? :)
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