Team Whitaker: 2012 in Review

Happy New Year and welcome back,  y’all!

On December 26, 2012, I celebrated my FIFTH year as a blogger! It’s hard to believe I’ve been hammering away on the keyboard for that long. The connections, friendships and memories I’ve made as a result of the blog have been such a gift. As I look back on 2012, I pray you know that it’s an honor to share a slice of our life with you. Not only is this a glimpse of our family scrapbook, but it’s also a journey in faith, motherhood, marriage and everything in between.

Here are the top ten posts (with a tie for tenth!) that my readers loved the most.

1. HDYDI: Organize a Kids’ Closet
2. HDYDI: After School Chore Checklist
3. I Can’t Believe I Left This Off the Christmas Card
4. A Sah-Weet Candy Party
5. HDYDI: Celebrate Lent as a Family
6. HDYDI: School Papers
7. HDYDI: Survive (and Love) Mass with Children
8. HDYDI: Grocery Shopping
9. Week in My Life Series, Day 1
10. A Birthday in Paris (almost)
11. {tie} How to Survive the NICU

It’s such a nice cross section of my life, I think. There’s a bit of organization, a touch of faith, a glimpse into life with a preemie, a dose of reality and a whole lotta party fun. That’s pretty much my life. It’s good to know my readers think so, too.

Sharing the Love

This year, I enjoyed the blog transformation, the ability to make virtual friends real-life ones and an opportunity to really connect with people. WordPress tells me folks find me via “team whitaker” but I’ve also had some visits about people looking for Aggie yell leaders, real-life unicorns and signs you’re OCD. Who knew? It’s always an honor when you people you admire and respect send traffic your way. I’m especially grateful for lovely people like USA TODAY, Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary, Jayme Marie Designs, Amy Atlas, Jen at iHeartOrganizing, Happy Saints, Austin Catholic New Media, Catholic Mothers Online, National Catholic Register and PreemieBabies101.

Equally fun was speaking to groups like Kappa Theta Beta at Texas A&M, Catholic Charities of Central Texas and (coming soon) St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church Mom’s Group in Austin. The interwebs may be fun, but real-life connections are what I crave.

Featured Posts

It was pretty much a thousand times awesome when two of my projects, the girls’ closet makeover and Luke’s rockstar birthday party were featured on iHeartOrganizing and Amy Atlas, respectively. If it’s possible to kick it up a notch, being quoted in USA TODAY was pretty darn sweet, too.

What’s on Tap for 2013

1. Awesome giveaways! One is coming up tomorrow, actually, and I’m VERY excited about it. Last year, I hosted giveaways from Clarey Clayworks, Saintly Silver, Happy Saints and Lisa Hendey. You can bet I have some good stuff in the works for 2013.
2. The continuation of my “How Do You Do It: HDYDI” and “What I Wore Sunday” series. Both were definitely popular with my readers and enlightening for me.
3. Speaking of living, I plan on participating in my now-annual, Week in My Life series in October. It was a lot of work to blog about the minutia of life, but well worth it to document a glimpse of life inside these walls.
4. Before and After Projects. We love making our house a home and I look forward to sharing decorating, organizing and lots of pretty with y’all.
5. As always, you’ll get a bit of sass, a side of sarcasm and heaping dose of honesty as I share day-to-day life at Team Whitaker. It’s just who I am.

May your 2013 be filled with joy, good health, family, friends and God at the center. Happy New Year!