Most Posts of 2013

As we count down to the end of 2013 I am joining with Sarah of amongst lovely things to take a look back at my most posts.

I am not very good at looking at my stats so some of these may come as a surprise to even me, so lets see what I like and others have liked about what I had to say this past year.

Post with the most clicks

The Seven Petitions of the Our Father
This is definitely a surprise to me. I really liked it when I wrote it and still do although there is so much that I could to it now. It wasn't new to me when I had written it since I had read and heard much of the message before but it really stuck with me then and even now it has changed the way that I not only pray the Our Father but how I pray in general. I believe that my pray time has really grown and continues to mature.

Post with the most comments

Not Alone Series: Patience
Not Alone Series: Preparing for My Vocation NOW
Not Alone Series: What I love About Being Single
The Gifts in My Little World
This one is a tie and most are from the Not Alone Series, this does not surprise me. I'm new to the blogging world and have not really been a high comment blog. I have gotten some great comments along the way but with the start of the Not Alone Series (thank you Jen and Morgan) I made some blogger friends, found topics that were close to my heart, some that I had previously been afraid to share. I found encouragement and support that has really allowed me to open up in ways I didn't think I was ready for. A few of the comments made me cry happy tears, many made me think and all made me feel encouraged in some way.

Post with the best picture

7 Quick Takes Friday #30
This is NOT a picture heavy blog so I am just going with the post with the most pictures. Most of my blog pictures are also taken on my phone so quality is not always max.

Post that was the hardest to write

I should probably say this one since I have been writing it for a week now but keep having to put it down before I could finish to do something else. I can't actually pick just one because quite a few have been hard to put down in black and white. I have quite a few post in drafts because I struggle with sharing them. So I'm just going to go with the whole Not Alone Series for expediency, where I really have to reach in, get personal and put it out there for others to read and judge, there have been a few.

Post that was my personal favourite

The Wedding At Cana
I love this scripture (even more since I read Walking with Mary) and it is one of my favourite rosary meditations. This January when I read it to write something on it I saw so many things that I had previously ignored or simply didn't notice. It was a great reflection to start my year with and it really stayed with throughout the year.

I look forward to what 2014 will bring to my life and to my writing. It has been fun and interesting looking back and I hope some of you will move forward me to see what will come in 2014.

Merry Christmas
Happy New Year
God Bless

It's Been A Year

Today marks one year since I have started blogging. It was the first Sunday of Advent and I was hopeful yet hesitant. I have always been a private and reserved person but I still wanted to share and connect. I also wasn't sure exactly who or what my demographic would be, I live in a country made up of two islands in the Caribbean that not many people has every heard of (show of hands all who have ever heard of Trinidad and Tobago before).

My very first post was part of a link-up although that was not part of my original plan but I discovered the little holy days link-up and it just fit my post. My very first comment was Molly of Molly Makes Do who was one of the three blogs hosting the link-up.

I've had lulls as I discovered what I wanted my voice to be and to say. Even though I had been blogging and knew that my Catholic Faith had to part of that voice I wasn't sure what else. I am a single, Catholic woman discerning my vocation so I was very happy to discover the Not Alone Series. It is a really great weekly link-up that was perfect for me. I didn't realise there were so many single, Catholic bloggers before, I knew there were a few and I read some of their blogs but many were new to me and I loved discovering them.

I have made connections and friends. I have discovered a few things about myself and have really grown in many areas of my life. This first year of blogging has been about learning, discovering and growing. I have learnt to balance blogging with other areas of my life which I didn't think would have been so hard but life gets hard, busy and overwhelming, blogging doesn't just get put on the back burner it get completely taken off the stove. Just to be put back on when the time was right.

It has been a great first year of blogging and I am looking for the next year to come.

5 Reasons I Will Make Not Make A Great Blogger

I have been wanting to start a blog for a very long while now but I have always found millions of reason not too even when the desire was very strong in my heart. While I am not a complete perfectionist I do have very strong tendencies so I would hate to start something and then don't finish just because. So here are just a few reasons up front why I probably will not make a great blogger but am going to try anyway.

These reasons are in no particular order:-

I am a numbers person
Sure I got a distinction in English Lit and can easily read a book a day (two if I'm in the mood). Sure I read Wuthering Heights when I was 8, my claim to fame and my mother's resignation of defeat (that's a story for another time). I like to write, so what, number problems give me shivers. Give me the most convoluted situations and I will figure out a formula that works. I work in accounting. I work math problems in my head using the most insane mental helps (I had the best teacher when I was 7 to 8). I was the kid who knew where to use those math skills in real life.

I am extremely busy
My day starts at 4:10 am when I get up, make lunch to take with me, shower, dress and leave for morning Mass and then to work. Depending on traffic after work I am looking at anywhere from half an hour to hour commute on a good day. On a bad day it can be three hours and more. I work near to a beach which most people think is awesome but I do not. I have my Catholic group meetings, time consuming hobbies and I'm learning (teaching myself, same thing) to sew. I hand sew like a snail running a marathon and it takes my full concentration to get something resembling a straight line. I have a house to keep clean, laundry to do, meals to cook and clean up after, the list goes on.

I segue a lot
I have been known for going off on a tangent or 10. I have a wonderful imagination and an amazing memory reflex that sends me places when triggered by anything small, I take people with me whether they want to go or not. Just ask my sister, or not. She always complains that when I have to tell her something I never get straight there, I take her through the forest, over the hills, stop at grandmother's house, eat an apple, take pictures at the waterfall and then get back to the road, maybe. I also sometimes forget the point I was trying to make but hey you get a great story out of it.

I am a private person
I have read a lot of blogs over the years and I am always inspired and thankful for how much of their lives and experiences these bloggers have shared. I am not that person. I can probably count on less than one hand anyone who can say they think they know everything about me. My best friends growing up was a good book and the plum tree in our backyard, they were the silent types. I had my cousins and other friends growing up for playing but I wasn't much of a talker and I was the nerd so they weren't much for listening so I learned to keep things to myself and it's a hard habit to break.

I have no idea what to blog about
My life isn't all that exciting, I get up, go to Mass, go to work, come straight home (most of the time), crochet, cook, watch t.v, etc, etc. I may talk a little about my Catholic Faith and how I live it. I may talk a little about my culinary skills and some of the things I make. I may talk a little about my crochet and sewing and upcycling. I may talk very little about my life and what's going on. I may talk about being single and my desire to be married with kids. I may blog about my country, Trinidad and Tobago. I have quite a few maybes but no general direction to blog in. That in itself might be good, I can go wherever I want I take who ever happens to be reading along with me.

So those are just 5 reasons I will make a terrible blogger but I am going to try anyway and hope I don't bomb. To guarantee failure I can just not try but I can try and have a chance for success.