Happy New Year! There’s a lot of year in review posts out there right now and I had started to write mine and the way I was doing it was going to lead down the path of 353 links to my blog posts of 2013 and a month by month break down of our year. I was getting bored writing it, so I knew for sure you’d get bored reading it…except for maybe you, Mom! So I figured I’d break it down into a few categories. Here we go…
Family
Watching our boys grow up and bond has been just the coolest thing about 2013. We’re still not sure whether or not we’ll have more babies, but for now we’re just loving on these boys so very much and they’re both at awesome ages right now. Braden loves playschool and he started T-ball in the spring and is really enjoying his weekly skating lessons too – it’s been fun to do as a whole family and I cannot wait until they’re old enough to play hockey!
We said our goodbyes to my dad when he suddenly passed away in April from alcoholism and it will always be one of my life’s missions as his daughter and as a health care provider to educate people that alcoholism is a disease so that less and less families don’t have to suffer what mine went through with my dad and his addiction.
I’ve loved watching Braden and Ethan bond with their cousins and we’ll be adding Schultz cousin #9 to the crew in the spring when my sister-in-law Laura has her third baby. On our 6th wedding anniversary this summer Ethan was also dedicated and we’ve made it a very important and cherished part of our week to make it to church, luckily Ethan’s naps are still usually allowing all 4 of us to go.
We didn’t travel too much but we did make our annual summer vacation to BC, even with a baby that still (to this day) will not sleep in his car seat! Harvest was awesome and we saw record wheat crops coming in at >80 bushels/acre (our normal is 40-50 bu/ac). I loved seeing our boys at harvest and it’s one of my favorite times of the year. After harvest we had our first pictures as a family of 4 and I’m so glad I waited!
Blogging
This was by far my best blogging year and I have learned SO much! At the very beginning of the new year I did the 30 Day Shred and it was an amazing thing to do personally for my health and self-esteem of getting out of my post-partum frumpy state, but also for my blog. To date it is my most popular post by far bringing in over 39 000 pageviews in less than a year and it is my most Googled post. I still highly recommend the 30DS to get your fitness regime started!
I also started the new year by switching over from Blogger to WordPress. This has been pivotal in the improvement of my blogging as well as I’ve learned a lot about search engine optimization (SEO aka getting people from Google searches to find my blog posts using key words and other bloggery terms). I feel like I really upped the ante on a lot of my recipe posts and made them more Pinterest-worthy and my top referrers of 2013 (per Google Analytics) speak for themselves:
Pinterest
Facebook (& Facebook mobile)
Twitter
BlogLovin
Google
Never, did I ever think that Pinterest would be the #1 referral to my blog. I highly recommend to my fellow bloggers to make your posts (and even go makeover some of your old posts!) Pin-worthy. Here’s a few other blog statistics.
Readers by location:
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Australia
Germany
Top 5 Posts of 2013
30 Day Shred: Before & After Pictures
3 Day Potty Training: Tips & Advice
Fear-Marketing: I’ve Got a Beef with A&W
GM Foods & GMOs: What I’ve Learned
How To Survive the 4 Month Wakeful Period
You can see my blogging year in review by Jetpack here if you want. It’s a good thing I started blogging about agriculture – 2/5 most popular posts and my most commented post was my recent post about Arctic Apples! I’ve learned a ton about ag this year and have met some amazing people because of it.
Most Popular Instagram Pictures
The Best of 2013 Instagram Pictures
The Best of Twitter
https://twitter.com/NurseLovesFarmr/status/417832585172357120
Goals for 2014
Exercising again. I’m going to give T25 a shot but I’m not going to force myself to do it every day, I’d like to aim to do it 2-3 times per week. Maybe I have a few holiday pounds to lose, but for me it’s never been about weight loss, it’s been about being healthy and in the process toning up a bit!
I need to get back into the Word this year and I’ve decided to participate in #Verse2014 via The Bible app by YouVersion. It’s just picking a verse for 2014 to inspire you and to remember. It took me awhile to find a verse. I wanted something new, but I kept coming back to one of my favorites. “Pray continually” has been going around and around in my head lately, so this is why I chose 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. I read this scripture for the first time when I was in BC when my dad started the beginning of his end and when our relationship went south and stayed there. If it weren’t for God, I would be a wreck, this verse means so much to me:
I also want to start the year with #SheReadsTruth again by doing the first study they ever did together, Soul Detox.
I will be trialing meal planning for a month, to start a bit into January (can’t start all these things January 1 or I will start 2014 very overwhelmed!)
Braden will be doing a chore chart with the goal of him doing it all on his own and earning a very small allowance or reward if he remembers to complete his daily chores
I wish you and yours a very happy 2014!
Author information
Sarah Schultz
I'm a Registered Nurse, I married a farmer, and I'm a God-fearing boy mom to Braden (3) and Ethan (1). I love photography, agriculture, cooking, baking, and embracing my role as farm wife and mom. I'm knee-deep in tractors, trains, and trucks and I'm often seen with my Canon T3i in my hands documenting our life. Thanks for reading!
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