Top Posts of 2016

When people ask me about what my blog is about, I say that it is a lifestyle blog.  I say that because I share about my farm, I share about my family, I share about living in North Iowa, I share about different causes and organizations, I share recipes, and then sometimes I just share.  I feel like my blog can't be just nailed down into one category, so I put it in the category of lifestyle because I'm truly sharing about my life!

And now that it is the end of 2016, it's a great time reflect on the past year.  I felt like I couldn't just give a simple "Top 10" list or something like that.  I wanted to share with you my top 3 posts from each "aspect" of my blog.  I hope you enjoy looking back over the last year, as much as I did putting this post together 😊

Top 3 Farm Posts

1. Harvest of Thanks to our Farm Family:  This post not only shared a recap on this fall's harvest, but it also introduced you to some members of our "farm family".  We wouldn't be able to accomplish everything on our farm without help, and in this post I introduce you to three of our helpers.  I also share that we are a finalist for the Iowa Young Farmer Achievement Award in this post and I'm excited to report that we won this award and now will be representing Iowa in the national contest next month!
2. Knee High by the 4th of July:  Every year we take a family photo next to one of our corn fields for our annual "Knee High by the 4th of July" photo.  This post is always a favorite of mine and obviously for my readers too.  Check out our "over head high" corn from this past 4th of July.
3. What it means to be a FarmHer:  This is a post I wrote this fall in response to a conversation I had in the grocery store.  I am proud to be a woman farmer and I'm working hard, along with others, to ensure that my daughters can be women in agriculture too.

Top 3 Family Posts

1. A Week's Worth of Blessings:  My top family post was the post I wrote after our youngest, Miss R was born.  This was obviously a highlight of our family's year, so it makes me smile that this post is the top family post of the year.
2. Back to School Farm Kid Style with Carhartt:  I had a lot of fun partnering with Carhartt this summer to share their new line of children's backpacks.  Mr. K loves his Carhartt backpack and had a lot of fun helping me write a review for this post and giveaway.
3. When I Grow Up I Want To Be A Farmer:  My next top family post also involves Mr. K.  In honor of National Ag Day this Spring, I interviewed him on why he wants to be a farmer when he grows up.  This post makes me smile so much.  It's a lot of fun to take a look through a 5 year old's eyes on what being a farmer means.

Top 3 North Iowa Posts

1. 5 Family Winter Fun Activities in North Iowa and Beyond:  It probably isn't a secret, but I actually love the winter time!  There are so many great activities my family enjoys going to during the winter in our home area that I wrote a post about our favorites, so hopefully more people would enjoy and embrace the fun that winter brings to North Iowa!
2. Farmers Market Quiche:  This post could have fallen under a couple of categories but I decided to include it in my top North Iowa posts because it shares about my local Franklin County Farmers Market.  I love going to our local Farmers Market as much as possible during the summer and in this post I also share a delicious quiche I made with some of the fresh produce I picked up.  I actually made this quiche just last week for Christmas Eve brunch and it was a hit with our extended family!
3. Oh, what I'll do for charity - Cupid's Undie Run:  This post recapped my first experience running in my underwear for the Cupid's Undie Run this past February in Mason City.  I must have had a lot of fun, or I'm crazy, because I'm signed up to do it again this February!

Top 3 Comments for a Cause Posts

1. What it means to be a "Blue Family":  This is a guest post that one of my younger sisters wrote as a support piece towards my Comments for a Cause efforts for Iowa C.O.P.S.  This post has come into play a couple times I'm afraid this past year.  I encourage you to take some time to read this post to better understand and have empathy to know what it means to be a police officer family.
2. Lullaby Lane:  Lullaby Lane was such a neat local project that raised money to create a prayer pathway and memorials for those who have had a miscarriage in North Iowa.  I'm proud to say this project was completed in time for its dedication in October of this year on Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day.
3. Make Our Day:  Sometimes you never know how a simple email and conversation can lead you to getting to know someone new and wanting to share their story.  That is how I got to know Katie, founder of Make Our Day, and shared her story of moving to Thailand and eventually creating this organization.  You'll have to check out the post to get to full story. 😉

Top 3 Recipe Posts

1. Back to School Caramel Crispix Mix:  I literally hear from people each week that they have tried this recipe and now are addicted to it like my family and I.  This is a great snack to make for any gathering.  If you're having a kid-friendly New Year's get together (or even if it is adults only) you should make a batch!
2. 3 Ingredient Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet:  Everyone must have been looking for something simple and refreshing this summer because this 3 Ingredient Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet using AE Dairy's Reduced Sugar Lemonade fits that bill.  Even though strawberries aren't in season, I'm thinking maybe I should get some frozen strawberries and make this soon!
3. #AppleWeek 1 Minute Caramel Apple Dip:  I had a lot of fun participating in Apple Week with some of my blogging friends this past September and my 1 Minute Caramel Apple Dip is my favorite recipe I shared.  So simple, good, and obviously fast!

Top 3 Can't Fit in Another Category But Still Want to Highlight Posts

1. The Influence of Millennials on Food Trends:  This Winter I was interviewed for an article on the topic of millennials and their influence on food trends.  As both a millennial and farmer I found this topic very interesting.  In this blog post I shared some of my thoughts from the article and more, and I guess my readers found the topic interesting too since it was my top viewed "other" post from the year.
2. New Year Goal - Making a Daily Routine:  What a great post to revisit just a couple days til the start of 2017.  I have to admit, I went through waves of being really good at my daily routine and times of just flying through doing whatever needed to be done.  I always feel better myself when I can do my daily routine and I plan on concentrating on this again in the New Year.
3. 5 Gardening Tips for Beginners:  I think more and more people are interested in planting their own garden every year, but a lot of times they don't know where or how to start.  I put together several tips for beginners so hopefully their first garden won't overwhelm them and be successful at the same time.

What post was your favorite from 2016?  Did you discover any new posts from the top 2016 lists?  If you want to see more "top lists" recapping 2016, check out my #2016bestnine on Instagram or my Facebook page.  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

Top Blog Posts of 2015

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!  One of my favorite things to do today is to look at my blog posts from this past year and see which ones were the most read.  This year I've decided to break it down two way - my top posts written in 2015 and my top all time posts.

Top 2015 Blog Posts

My top 2015 blog post was a fun collaboration with Jeni of Jeni Eats on Ham Balls: An Iowa Classic.  Without knowing, I gave Jeni her first taste of Ham Balls at a North Iowa Blogger get together.  After that first try, she was in love!  I love Jeni's enthusiasm and curiosity for local foods and traditions.  Be sure to check out this fun post, and my recipe, as well as Jeni's take on our Ham Ball day in my kitchen!

My second top 2015 blog post had a North Iowa Blogger tie too.  It was a tribute to my fellow North Iowa Blogger, and friend, Amy Hild of Modern Rural Living, who passed away in a tragic car accident this past winter.  I will always remember Amy's zest for life, her passion and strive to learn.  I'm not surprised this was one of my top 2015 blog posts, as Amy's story has made the top lists of the year for our local TV station and local newspaper.  Amy still is making an impact, even from heaven!

Maybe I'm starting a theme here, but my third top 2015 blog post as well had a North Iowa Blogger connection.  The North Iowa Bloggers had a local Pizza Taste Off in March and I brought my family-wide famous Overnight Salad to share with the group, to help break up the amount of pizza and carbs we'd be consuming.  Well, it was very popular with the bloggers too, so I had to share my recipe.

My fourth top 2015 blog post was my Celebrate Your Heritage and Mom with Kringla post.  I grew up in a Norwegian area of Central Iowa where I knew who locally made the best kringla.  So with Mother's Day coming up on the calendar, I thought I'd share my recipe for this sweet cookie pastry that can be ate for breakfast, snack, dessert - really anytime of the day! 

Rounding out the top 2015 blog posts was a my Harvest Recap post, that shared some exciting news about "New Additions" coming to the farm.  I don't know if this post got so many hits because people wanted to learn about Flat Aggie visiting our farm, or wanted to learn about corn bagging, or maybe it was to find out that we are expecting "Baby Tinker" in May!

Top All-Time Blog Posts

My all-time top blog post is my 5 Easy Ways to Teach Your Toddler Their ABCs and 123s post.  If I've had any post come anywhere close to viral, this is it.  I list a few ideas on how to incorporate the alaphbet and numbers into your daily and weekly routines to help your toddler become familiar with them.  I know I'm always looking for ways to help my children learn at home, and obviously I'm not alone.

My next all-time top blog post sneaked into the top 5 for the first time this year.  It is a Tuesday Tasty Pork post for my Slow Cooker Hot and Spicy Ribs.  This was an early post for me and doesn't even include a photo of the ribs!  I'll be changing this in the New Year!  I'm guessing people are googling and pinteresting slow cooker and pork and are falling upon this post.  I'm all of a sudden really hungry for these pork ribs!

My third all-time top blog posts is one of my all time favorites too.  It is the only time My Farmer has done a guest post for me and it is on How to Have a Happy Farm Wife: Rules of a Farmer.  There are certain times of the year on the farm when things are very busy, people are having little sleep and stress is high.  This also seems to be the time when people can get frustrated easily with one another so My Farmer wrote a little post on what he does to keep the peace at home with me.  There must be some other farmers out there looking for solutions to this time of year too!

My fourth all-time top blog post is a post I did on Spreading the Love of Reading through World Book Night and the Latimer Little Free Library.  Sadly, there is no World Book Night in the United States anymore, but there is still a huge, and growing movement to set up Little Free Libraries across the nation and world.  I truly believe that if you can instill the love of reading at a young age, it will help your children learn and do well in school, as well as, it can be a life-long past-time and hobby.

My fifth all-time top blog post is a post I did on Farming - A Family Tradition.  I think it is so special that My Farmer and I both are 5th generation farmers and we are currently raising the 6th generation on our farm.  We feel honored and privileged to be carrying on our family's legacy.

What is your favorite blog post from 2015?  Are there any top blog posts that made the list that intrigue you?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!  Today is the last day to comment to help the North Iowa Christmas Cheer Fund!