The Highs and Lows of Imperfect

Meredith tagged me in the 7 links meme last week, but we were on our way out the door for a vacation and it had to wait. Thanks for the tag, Meredith! It's been so long since a tag has come along, I thought it would be fun to play along.

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 got 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-Most Beautiful Post: {On Having It All}
I still continue to struggle with a balance between work and home life, but I personally still love going back and reading this post to remind myself how important it is to do what's right for me and my family at all times.


#2-Most Popular Post: Absolutely, without a doubt, the DIY Nailhead trim headboard reveal. I get so many questions about this still, and it spurred lots of similar projects.

#3-Most Controversial Post: Thomas's Arrival {Our Latest DIY Project}

I was definitely not expecting the controversy this created when I announced Thomas was born after not mentioning I was pregnant on the blog. There were so many reasons for not blogging about it - work {my company was acquired while I was pregnant and on maternity leave and it was best to not have any super personal information easily available via google for job security}, extended family issues {we wanted to keep this special time in our lives private due to some tough family dynamics at the time}, and my desire to not turn the blog into a pregnancy blog. Oh well - I'll probably tell you guys next time B knocks me up, provided work and family are behaving. But no promises.


#4- Most Helpful Post: {The Envelope System: Creating a Budget}
Our envelope system of budgeting was nothing new, but I receive so many emails every day about getting started with a budget.

#5-Post Whose Success Surprised Me: {Making Memories (and a bit of a rant)}
I wasn't expecting the huge support I got when I ranted about a rude dinner guest, but I loved it.

#6- Post That Didn't Get The Attention It Deserved: I don't know about deserved, but definitely a post that didn't gain much popularity was the Rookie Thanksgiving challenge.

#7- Post That You're Most Proud Of: {Craniosynostosis}
It was hard to write and hard to put the pictures online, but I'm proud that I was able to discuss Thomas's Craniosynostosis diagnosis and surgery. My analytics show that a good amount of traffic coems here from a Google search for Cranio, and knowing first hand about the other sites that are out there that are a bit alarmist, I'm hopeful that this little post at least puts scared parents a little bit at ease.

I'd love to see the 7 Memes posts from:
Newlywoodwards
Shannanigans
Design A-Peele
A Peachtree City Life
Five Camels