Blog Reflections of 2012: My Top Read Posts

Today, I wanted to reflect on my top read posts of 2012. Since you are reading this, in all likelihood you have already read these posts but I have linked them just in case. It was interesting to see what made my most read list. I keep telling my husband that he is very popular since his post is the most popular (the one that I wrote to him on our 19th anniversary.) As I glance over the top posts, I see that they have this in common: relationships. Grandparents to grandchildren, women friendships, About Me posts (which is blog readers building a relationship with this blog author), and my most read post is about marriage.

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

My 5th most popular post of this year:

Vision of a Legacy. I wrote this post when I saw how my father-in-law would smile big at my children -- his grandchildren -- when they came into his ICU room. With the rest of us, he would try so hard to communicate what he would want us to do. With them, he would smile, listen, and laugh. So good for his soul. This was my pondering about those smiles of his.

The 4th most popular:
Make new friends, but keep the old. I wrote Part I on this post and I have yet to finish Part II. Oops! Thanks for waiting. This post is about friendship. It is good for me to reflect on the many friendships the Lord has given me through the years. I, too, get lonely, feel left-out, and want a closer friend. But truly, I have been given so much in this area. It takes pondering about it to realize it. So, thinking about friends is good for my soul like scrap-booking is good for my soul. Both requires me to meditate on the good gifts I've been given. I should do this more often.


The 3rd most popular post:
100 Things About Me: Part II.  I actually finished this part II. Thank you to all those that read all 100 items. Only one-fourth of those that read Part I, read Part II. It helps keep the humility in-tact. But, just in case you missed it. Here it is!

The 2nd most popular post:

Celebrating My 100th Post by Telling Everyone 100 Things About Me. I enjoyed composing this post. It is quite lengthy but truly helpful if you're really, really, really wanting to know about the author of this blog. Actually I do like reading posts like this on other blogs, that's the reason I felt free to indulge myself here.







And a big drum roll please for the top read post in 2012:

19 reasons I Love My Husband on our 19th Anniversary. Not only was this my top read post that I wrote in 2012, it is also my most popular post ever, by more than 300%. I love my husband. I love us. I love our marriage. So the popularity of this post causes me to think about writing more about this topic. I might just do that.


The following are the remaining runner's up to complete a Top 11 List: Not all of the Top Posts were about relationships I did include a recipe, book list, and some numbers. But even among these, it is mostly about numbers.

Dreaming of Books;  (Curriculum Planning Worksheet included!)
20 Things About Living in TN for 20 years;  (Would love more insight into this!)
Quick & Easy Mac & Cheese for the Masses;
 When God Calls, God provides; (About our Foster Care endeavors)
Empty Room, Empty Heart;  (About our Foster Care endeavors)
When Coca-cola Made Me Cry; and (About my Father-in-law) About
Siblings Round the Table at Days End (A Poem About Grief & Siblings)

Happy New Year!  
Linking with Jen. Click HERE to check out some great encouragement.

Celebrating my 100th Post

Writing 100 things in honor of a 100th post has been around a long time (for internet time at least). Long enough that it seems old. Not fresh and hip. Well...truth be told, I've never been really good at hip & trendy. Once I figured out that I had friends who liked me for me and not the Izod alligator on my shirt, I stopped working so hard on style.

And so in honor of my lack of hipness, I am commemorating my 100th post by being terribly self-indulgent with a 100 Things About Me series. (Yes, two self-indulgent posts for the price of one.)

I enjoy reading these types of posts, hopefully you do too...

{If you read my post about 380 miles and are curious about my new pursuit of an old dream, it is hidden in the second of these two posts. I'll be curious if you can detect what it is.}

100 Things About Me: Part I
(The information in the intro paragraph is just a bonus!)

My family of origin with spouses and children on my parent's 50th wedding anniversary.  I'm seated on the far left.

1) I am the youngest of 5 children.
2) I mention this a lot because I am intrigued by birth order and other such personality tests.
3) Just ask my husband who has been subjected to dozens of personality tests (even though I probably know his personality type better than he does!)
4) I once read that my combined personality type doesn't exist.

5) A horse stepped on my foot when I was about eight.
6) I didn't like horses for a long time but said I did because I thought all girls were suppose to like horses.
7) It took many years to become an out-of-the box thinker instead of doing what I thought people wanted to me to do.
8) Either way, I do like horses now but wish I knew how to ride them better.

9) My parents still live in the only home I lived in as a child.

My parents on their 50th wedding anniversary.

10) I was born and raised in Minnesota -- the land of 10, 000 lakes.
11) Though I love Minnesota, I am its fair weather friend: I cry when I leave in the summer and am thankful to leave its cold behind when I leave in the wintertime.

12) My favorite season depends upon location. In Tennessee, it is the spring. The gradual weeks long process of blooming flowers is amazing! In Minnesota, summer is my favorite. Perhaps I should have named a daughter Summer because I love it that much.

From our summer 2011 camping trip. We try to go camping at least once a year.

13) In the summertime, my parents took our family on lots of camping trips. They are my favorite childhood memories.
14) I still like to go camping. Camping can mean staying in a camper, a cabin, or a tent.

15) Another favorite summertime activity was going to camp. If I could have lived at camp all summer long, I probably would have. But then I would have missed my favorite family-times. So I'm glad I didn't.
16) I still often wish that I could be in more than one place at a time. The desire to not miss out on any fun has yet to die in me. Those last-born tendencies live on!

Volunteering in the kitchen at the kid's camp 2011 -- can't get it out of my system!

17) I am a voracious reader.
18) I rejected a book club invitation in high school from friends who were going to sit around and read and discuss books like The Brothers Karamazov. It sounded boring.
19) Since then, I have obtained The Brothers Karamazov.
20) And I have also participated in two different book clubs. Neither of which read or discussed The Brothers Karamazov. Now, I think I would have enjoyed that first book club.

My running shoes.

21) I have run one full marathon. (Yes, oh yes, I ran 26.2 miles of fun.)
22) Seven years after running a full marathon, I ran a half-marathon (just this past spring).
23) I often do things in an unusual order or way but you couldn't tell that by my hair or clothing.

My oldest brother & I doing a funny pose. Nov. 2011

24) It's my eldest brother's fault that I started running. He invited me to run with him one night. I have run off and on since that time, including two years on my high school cross country team.

25) When asked about an accomplishment that I am proud of, I still cite receiving the Most Improved Runner award on my high school cross country team. It was a huge surprise because I didn't remember that award being given out the previous year. I still have the plaque.

The kids imitating the faces they carved. Oct. 2011

26) I have four children.
27) I have had five pregnancies. (I had a miscarriage between number 3 and 4).
28) I have had two of my children at home. (On purpose.)
29) Labor and delivery of my fourth child was way harder than the marathon.

Our family photo on Easter 2010.

30) My husband and I were married for 5 years before any of his siblings got married.

31) We celebrated our fifth anniversary by canoeing down a river. I was 7 months pregnant with our first child.
32) We were infertile for 4 years. Then we had 3 kids in three years.
33) When I had three kids ages 3 and under, I often was crying by 10 o'clock in the morning wondering how I would make it to the end of the day.

34) Now I know it wasn't just being overwhelmed by little ones but also lack of blood sugar...I usually hadn't eaten breakfast yet. Thank goodness for the season of everyday eggs that taught me this.

35) I like my husband to decide what I want for breakfast.
36) I don't like him to decide any other meal of the day for me.

November 2011

37) I felt complete when I became a mother.
38) Becoming a mother has been one of the best things to happen to me because I have grown-up in responsibility and in loving others. I am a better person because I am a mother. I am thankful that God granted this desire of mine.

39) I have 80 first cousins. (Give or take a few, its hard to count that many!)
40) I know most of them, which means I know who they are and their name when I see them.
41) Most of my first cousins and their families live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. I'm in the very small minority that moved and stayed away.
42) June 2011 marked living in Tennessee for 19 years.

Stay tuned....I'll finish the next 58 delightfully entertaining items about myself tomorrow (Click HERE to read)...waiting on pins and needles I'm sure.... in the meantime...feel free to leave a comment about the most interesting item so far...or better yet something about you...this is beginning to sound like a monologue...dive in and save me from me....

Also linking up with Jen and the SDG sisters.

February Top Posts

A few months ago Blogger added a feature where I can analyze the stats of my blog. I find it interesting and enjoy looking at it. I mean if a writer writes and no one reads it, did they really write it? I'm greatly encouraged when I know someone has read it and had some sort of reaction to it. Love it!

I am not yet a prolific blogger, by any means. And yet, I find it interesting that two of the top five posts -- every week -- were written months ago. Fascinating to me, at least and probably the most interesting to me, too.

Just in case you would like to know, here are the

Top 5 Posts for the Month of February for Kath Ink:

1) Enough? posted on February 25, 2010

2) Carole Joy Seid Inspires Again posted on August 19, 2010

3) A Different Kind of Help posted on February 8, 2010

4) In the Middle of a Five Mile Run posted on January 29, 2010

5) A Transformation Has Taken Place posted on December 3, 2010

I wrote the Carole Joy Seid post in August after attending her homeschool conference. That post continues to be a top post for me time and time again. My blog comes up when someone does a search on her name.

Originally I didn't write much about homeschooling. But since that seems to be a topic that drives some to look at my blog occasionally, I have plans to write some more posts about it as I go. It makes sense since I spend much of my time either educating, or reading about education, or tutoring for a part-time job.

Imagine that? I was on the right track when I first declared an Elementary Education major in college. I changed my course many times and walked out with a degree but not in education. I really do love to teach. It doesn't matter too much the topic -- Bible studies, Sunday school, ancient history, or even the pythagorean theorem. So between realizing that it is of interest to others and myself...I guess I''ll write some more about it!

How about you? Do you analyze statistics for your blog? Has it changed the direction of your blog any?

This must decrease , so that That can increase

Build relationships over the phone or in person. Use the computer to transmit information. Spend more time outside. These are some of the nuggets I've been pondering due to at least two women: Rachelle Gardner's post about her vacation and Elizabeth Foss' post that answered a question about Time Spent Online over here.

These posts resonated deeply within me and also the Carole Joy Seid conference that I attended two weeks ago. They have helped me to consider what I really want to be about. I've been thinking about how much time I really want to spend blogging. I've aspired to post 4-5 times per week. But that has never even remotely happened.

I thought creating a blog would help me write more often. Perhaps it has on occasion. But I'm not truly focusing on writing, which is a desire. At times, the computer seems to be a greater distraction to writing (there are so many cool things to read & look at here on this world wide web!) than a help.

And so as I consider how to spend more time with these guys:

...and manage time at the computer, I'll be posting less than I was.

I know, I know it is hard to imagine even less postings from me OR spending more time with the children that I home school... . Nevertheless, I want to officially declare to the blog world that is is my plan to decrease my amount of entries. It is intentional to do less and yet not eliminate it entirely.

If you know me, call me and let's do coffee. Or come & over and we'll linger & laugh over a meal. And then just maybe, I'll post your picture here (as long as that's okay with you). Less time on the computer, more time face to face.

Joyfully,
Kathleen

p. s. The flowers are all from our yard and are pictures taken by me.

Camp, Change, Loss and Being in the Moment

I didn't mean to stay away so long. The kids & I went away to camp for a week. We loved it. And I thought I would return to blogging right away. Wrong! My husband stayed home to job hunt. After 17 1/2 years at the same company, he was laid off the week before we went to camp. (Yes, it was a surprise! But not so much as he looked back.) So we've been doing a lot of reassessing, thinking, talking and reminding ourselves that it is not Saturday.

After camp, we attended two funerals (older women-- one from our new church and one from our old church) and mourned the loss of Grandma and Grandpa's dog who also died while we were away at camp. Our hearts have endured much loss in the past year: this was the fourth and fifth funeral we have attended in eight months, plus two pets (our cat & our grandparent's dog) and daddy's job loss.

All of our losses reminded me of this verse, "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things, I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that comes from God and is by faith." Philippians 3:8-9. Now it is a little out of context, but it helped me gain perspective on all that God is doing in our lives and the character formation that I am seeing in all of us. And that we still have so much to be thankful for.

In other news, I have been pondering this post at Rachelle Gardner's blog about her vacation and unplugging and being there in the moment. While I was away at camp, I did not miss for one second the lack of a computer. I was there in the moment working hard, playing hard & sleeping hard. But when I got home, I've been drawn to the computer (although I am having to share it more with a job-seeking hubby). I want all of life to be more in the moment. Being there with these four kids in the here & the now while they are still here under my roof.

So in addition to life changes and lots of activity, I'm pondering how much I want to be blogging. Haven't decided, yet. But the slower activity on my blog (not that I have ever posted at a rate that I'm aiming for.. .sigh...) is due to all these things. And I thought someone out there might like to know.

Kathleen

p.s. We've been experiencing much peace in the job loss/hunt and much love & encouragement & support from friends and family.

I'll be on my way

Hello friends,
I will be out of pocket for over a week & will resume bloggy posts a week from Monday.

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen." I Peter 5: 10-11

Kathleen

A Blog Was Born

"If you are going to spend so much time reading blogs, you should write one yourself," said my husband of 16 1/2 years. My oldest son nodded vigorously in agreement.

And a blog was born. My blog. Here it is.

Now I have the first post done. Now I can go on to writing other things.