bethstedman.com » Best of the archives http://bethstedman.com Sat, 12 May 2012 05:56:57 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Best of 2010 http://bethstedman.com/2011/01/01/best-of-2010/ http://bethstedman.com/2011/01/01/best-of-2010/#comments Sat, 01 Jan 2011 17:56:49 +0000 Beth http://bethstedman.com/?p=1688 Well, 2011 is upon us. I hope you all had a wonderful time ringing in the New Year. Our New Years Eve was pretty quiet since the baby and I have been really sick. It was the first New Years Eve that we didn’t take advantage of living in one of the BEST cities in Europe for celebrate the new year. Seriously, Prague knows how to do New Years Eve!

Anyway, as is customary at this time of year, Bryan and I have been spending lots of time reflecting on the past year and dreaming about this future year. As part of my own personal reflection I thought it would be fun to put together this best of 2010 post instead of just my common best of the month post. It was really interesting to look back and see what I wrote about this year. In past years I’ve written a lot about theology and Ecclesiology, but this year was a bit different. Although I did write some in those categories I wrote a lot more about food and health and, well, parenting. Which all makes sense seeing as there were some big changes in my life in those areas in this year.

As I look back I also feel really grateful for all of you wonderful readers. Sometimes it boggles my mind to think that so many people actually want to read my random little thoughts and even take the time to leave me such sweet, helpful, encouraging and challenging comments. You all really do call me to more and I am thankful for you!

Well, I hope you enjoy this look back as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

5 Most Popular Posts written in 2010:

  1. Beet Kvass
  2. Lots of Ways to Cook an Oat
  3. Sugar Part IV: Natural Ways to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth
  4. Sugar Part III: Refined White Sugar
  5. Make Way for Whey

9 Personal Favorites Written in 2010:

  1. Eating “Weeds”: My first Urban Foraging Experience
  2. My Kitchen’s a Mess But My Bread Basket is Full
  3. My 5th Wedding Anniversary
  4. Why We Moved to Prague: We are Existential Migrants
  5. Reasons for Going to Church
  6. How I’d Like to Celebrate Halloween in the Future
  7. Love and Fear Dance Together
  8. Love Grows
  9. Sustainable Organic Farming in Prague: An Interview

5 Most Popular Recipes written in 2010:

  1. Beet Kvass
  2. Lots of ways to cook an oat
  3. Making a Sourdough Starter
  4. Spring Time Green Pasta
  5. Cheesecake A healthy dessert

3 Personal Favorite Recipes written in 2010:

  1. Pumpkin Pie
  2. Sick Busting Super Soup
  3. Quinoa Rainbow Salad

3 Most Popular Prayers written in 2010:

  1. All Saints Day
  2. Liturgy for Marriage
  3. A Prayer for Solstice, A Prayer for Advent

Personal Favorite Prayer written in 2010:

Two Prayers for Two Very Different Days

2 Most Popular Yoga Routines written in 2010:

  1. Yoga and Prayer: Breathe in, Breathe out
  2. Yoga and Prayer: Playful Balance

5 Most Popular Posts about Parenting written in 2010:

  1. Traveling with a 9 Month Old: What to Pack
  2. Traveling with a 9 Month Old: Dealing with Jet Lag
  3. Weaning Part V: When to Stop Breastfeeding
  4. Letting go of Mommy Ideals
  5. Nursing in Public: A Little Story

3 Personal Favorite Posts from Guest Bloggers in 2010 (in no particular order):

  1. Summer Eating
  2. Nurturing Creativity in Children
  3. The God Who is Not Embarrassed

Top Referring Sites for 2010:

  1. Food Renegade
  2. Simply Sugar and Gluten Free
  3. A Nourishing Home
  4. Kelly The Kitchen Kop
  5. Bstedman.com

A Look Even Farther Back…

6 Personal Favorites written in 2009:

  1. Thaddeus’ Birth Story
  2. Blessing for My Son
  3. God as Nurturing Mother
  4. Pain and Hope
  5. Prayers from the Cross
  6. There goes Christ

Happy 2011 Everyone!

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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]]> http://bethstedman.com/2011/01/01/best-of-2010/feed/ 3 Best of November http://bethstedman.com/2010/12/01/best-of-november/ http://bethstedman.com/2010/12/01/best-of-november/#comments Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:23:49 +0000 Beth http://bethstedman.com/?p=1666 Well, it’s time for another monthly wrap up post. Honestly, I feel like I didn’t write at all this month! Looking back at what I did write has been good though and reminded me that it’s ok for there to be slower blogging seasons. I’m excited about some blogs I have bouncing around in my head for this next month though. There’s some fun crafty projects I’m excited to share with you once they are finished and also a whole series of blog posts I’m working on about my current thoughts on church attendance (well, I’m excited about those one’s but also really nervous to share them and wrestling with whether I should or not – we’ll see what happens). In the mean time here’s November in review!

3 Least Popular Posts This November:

And since Advent has begun now…

5 Posts I’ve written about Advent

Novembers Top Referring Sites

Thank you to all of you who refer people to my blog – I’m truly honored and I appreciate your referrals so much!

2 Personal Favorites Posted This November

5 Favorites From November 2008

Enjoy!

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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]]> http://bethstedman.com/2010/12/01/best-of-november/feed/ 0 Best of October http://bethstedman.com/2010/11/01/best-of-october/ http://bethstedman.com/2010/11/01/best-of-october/#comments Mon, 01 Nov 2010 20:16:04 +0000 Beth http://bethstedman.com/?p=1566 Last month I started a new “tradition” of sorts where I decided to post a best of list at the end of each month – we’ll see how many months it actually lasts since I’m terrible at sticking to schedules and plans like that. But, either way I’m at least doing it again this month. I hope it’s helpful for you, especially if you are new here it should give you a good feel for what bethstedman.com is all about.

Top 5 Most Popular Posts This Month:

  1. Beet Kvass (posted May 2010)
  2. Naked Church: Church in a Nude Art Exhibit (posted September 2008)
  3. Sphiphrah and Puah: Courageous Midwives (posted March 2009)
  4. Nurturing Creativity in Children (July 2010)
  5. Lots of Ways to Cook an Oat (June 2010)

This Octobers Top Referring Sites:

  1. Bryan Stedman (this is my husband’s site – I love him! And love that he sends me traffic!)
  2. A Nourishing Home
  3. Adventures in Babywearing
  4. Modern Alternative Mama

2 Personal Favorites Posted This October:

  1. Why We Moved to Prague: We are Existential Migrants
  2. Why We’ve Stayed in Prague for Almost 4 Years

2 Personal Favorites From October 2008:

  1. Lessons from Yoga: Focus
  2. Halloween

2 Personal Favorites From October 2009:

  1. My Birth Story
  2. My Son

BONUS:

A few Posts from other bloggers that I’ve really enjoyed this month:

  1. Tips for a Better, Healthier Halloween
    This post was filled with wonderful ideas for Halloween. I will definitely be putting some of these into practice with my family.
  2. Side-lying Nursing: A Breastfeeding Tutorial
    I found side-lying nursing to be really difficult and didn’t do it at all really until my son was about 6 months old. Now I can’t imagine how I survived those first 6 months without nursing laying down like this! I wish I’d read this tutorial right after I had my son and even now that I’d already figured out how to nurse on my side I still found this tutorial to be very helpful and informative.
  3. Why I Write Prayers
    This totally resonated with me! Christine has constantly been an inspiration for my own prayer writing and in this blog she put into words many of the reasons why I started writing prayers and liturgies a few years ago.
  4. Some Thoughts About Fear
    This post from the wonderful Debbie Jones is packed with really thought provoking questions I think we all should be asking and wrestling with.

BONUS BONUS:

Blogs I just discovered this month:

  1. Oddny’s Blog (I had the joy of meeting Oddny and her husband when they were in Prague a little while back – they were some of the most interesting and passionate people I’ve ever met)
  2. Hello Unknown
  3. Hey Now, Whoa Now! (both of the above blogs are written by the adorable Amy Hadley. Bryan and I recently had the pleasure of meeting her and her husband and look forward to getting to know them more in the future)

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

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]]> http://bethstedman.com/2010/11/01/best-of-october/feed/ 3 Best of September http://bethstedman.com/2010/09/30/best-of-september/ http://bethstedman.com/2010/09/30/best-of-september/#comments Thu, 30 Sep 2010 19:40:43 +0000 Beth http://bethstedman.com/?p=1503 Ok, so I thought I’d try out a new little tradition around here and start doing a “best of” post at the end of each month. Basically, I’ll post links to some of the most popular posts and some favorite posts from the archives. It was actually really fun for me to put this together and look back at old posts, I’m curious how it’ll go in the coming months.

Before we jump into the links I want to take a second to say thank you to YOU! Each of you who have stopped by to read my blog have helped make it a place that is safe and encouraging for me and for so many others. Each of you who have taken the time to sit and read my random thoughts have contributed to keeping this blog going. THANK YOU!

Top 5 Most Popular Posts this Month:

  1. Beet Kvass (posted May 2010)
  2. “Naked” Church: Church in a Nude Art Exhibit (Posted September 2008)
  3. Immigration: Choosing Love Instead of Fear (Posted September 2010)
  4. Gotta Spend Some Time, Love (Posted May 2008)
  5. Shiphrah and Puah: Courageous Midwives (Posted March 2009)

This Septembers Top Referring Sites:

  1. A Nourishing Home
  2. Simply Sugar and Gluten Free
  3. Food Renegade
  4. Nourished Kitchen
  5. Girlichef

I feel REALLY honored that these 5 blogs are my top referring sites because they are some of my favorite blogs and some of the most wonderful bloggers I know. I highly recommend that you check out their sites if you haven’t already.
I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who have directed people to my blog through your links and your carnivals. This blog wouldn’t be the same without all of my amazing readers and I owe many of them to referrals from you. So, THANK YOU!

2 personal favorites from This September:

  1. Love and Fear Dance Together
  2. What Would You Tell Your Pre-Mommy Self

2 of my favorite recipes I posted This September:

  1. Sick Busting Super Soup (Onion and Garlic Soup)
  2. God Bless The Indian Summer (Plum and Peach Cake)

2 personal favorites from September 2008:

  1. “Bethany Was Here” – Desiring to be Known
  2. Moving Towards True Being: The Long Process of Maturity
    Side Note: Rereading Moving Towards True Being was especially good for me right now – I needed this reminder and may be writing more about this soon…

Do you have a favorite blog post from bethstedman.com? If so what was it?

Do you have any suggestions for topics for future blog posts?

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)

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