friday favs: seven links

The latest blogger challenge circulating around is to go back through your blog and indentify posts for seven different criteria. So here are some of my favorite posts, and perfect timing, because I just had my 500th blog post not too long ago! Hooray!

most popular post: beauty and the flay

My recap of Throwdown with Bobby Flay at Ree Drummond’s ranch, aka one of the most fun and bucket list-crunching days of my life! Ree linked to my blog this day, so I got lots of traffic (and a few new friends!) from her site.

most beautiful post: it’s a tie…

patriot pride & prejudice – a post written because I’m dang proud of my brother
tahini-covered reprieve – a post written because my mom always comes through for me
the big question: pink or blue? – finding out Allie was a girl
three years ago… – short and sweet, I love this post because I love the place JT and I are in 3 years after getting married

most controversial post: seasons

I didn’t take a picture for this post, but it was written when I was a newlywed and JT was out of town for about a week – the first time he’d been gone for awhile. I had every intention of encouraging single women to enjoy the season in their life, but it rubbed a reader the wrong way until I explained my intentions.

most helpful post: intentional living for busy bees

One of the most important philosophies I live by is that, in most cases, there’s a big difference between not having time and not making time. I know that there are always exceptions to this, life is unpredictable, and people and love take priority over all plans and responsibilities. But if you aren’t intentional about doing something, it won’t happen. Even though I can’t begin to pretend to be perfect about this, I really enjoyed showing my intentional intentions

post whose success surprised you: the pregnancy faq

This was right after we announced our pregnancy on the blog, back when I was a mere 15 weeks pregnant! It’s fun to look back on now and see how much has changed!

most underrated post: the epic birthday i, ii, and iii

I think the measures JT took to make me feel loved and special on last birthday were pretty amazing – probably the most thoughtful and loving gesture anyone has every done for me!

post you’re most proud of: another tie…

there’s no place like home – the post in which I realized that I’m officially a runner
full disclosure, novel writing, & bravery – the post in which I realized I’m officially a writer
flying the freak flags – thoughts on pregnant running (It’s funny how the beautiful posts I couldn’t decide between were all about family, and the posts I was most proud of were about running and writing!)

Making this list was a lot of fun, and if you’re a blogger, I’d encourage you to go back through your old posts to do the same, even if you just take the opportunity to see how far you’ve come or where life has taken you through the progression of your blogging

Happy weekend, bloggies!