7 Links Meme

Here, but not here, as today is my first day working at home in my gradual return to work. So, perfect timing for me to change it up a bit today. If you've been reading for awhile, you've probably noticed that I usually don't participate in any memes or other blog related games/awards. I've never meant to come off as snooty or anything similar by choosing not to, but more often than not I didn't like the content. I've just never really liked blogging with a preconceived idea or ever feeling like I had to. With that said, when Bree posted her 7 Links Meme, I really hoped to find my name at the end of the post.

I'm so glad that it was and hope that you enjoy this post as a result.

What this is about:
To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

Rules:
1) Blogger is nominated to take part
2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.
- Your most beautiful post
– Your most popular post
– Your most controversial post
– Your most helpful post
– A post whose success surprised you
– A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved
– The post that you are most proud of

3) Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.
4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers
5) And so it goes on!
6) The site Trip Base be sharing the best posts from participating bloggers on their blog and everyday on Facebook and Twitter at #My7Links

1. My Most Beautiful Post(s)
From here:


To here:


I really think that my most beautiful posts would be the two birthday posts for Isaac.
Isaac: One Year
Isaac: Two Years

2) My most popular post(s)
Without much surprise, my most popular post was Baby Love's Berry Reveal, due in no small part by it's inclusion on designmom.com.


Also popular were my weekly posts with both Isaac and Ezra.

3) My most controversial post(s)
My most controversial posts were somewhat expected, first this one during the extremely heated '08 presidential year and additionally the more FYI'ish Santa Free Family. Religion and politics, of course I saw that one coming.

4) My most helpful post
I think my most helpful posts have been virtually any that I have opened my heart to be extremely honest. More specifically though, I think my most helpful have been related to our choice to pay off our debt as Dave Ramsey crazies. I've written about our money situations since the very beginning, under Financial Matters. What I find really interesting though is how many people commend me for sharing about our "struggles" when in reality neither Tony or feel like we're struggling with money. For the first time in our lives, we actually know what we're doing with it.

5) A post whose success surprised me
This one was a hard category to fill, because it kind of feels like saying I had no hope for a post, but I was surprised by how much this post seemed to resonate with people: Stuck || Unstuck.

6) A post I feel didn’t get the attention it deserved
I was kind of surprised that this post admitting that I truly did want to cut Isaac's hair and that there was a definite reason why we were not didn't garner more than 3 comments.

7) The post that I am most proud of
I'm sure if I actually spent the time to dig into my archives I would find a few that I've forgotten about that would fit this bill, but the first post that popped into my head is this post in which I explain my faith and share my testimony.

A lot more detail could probably be shared in just how imperfect I am, but suffice it to say, I am definitely a sinner saved by God's amazing grace.

Now for my five nominations:
Life and Running in Iowa
My Life in Transition
Mama at Home
In Her Shoes and Through Her Lens
La Buena Vida