December Accomplishments & January Ambitions

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a safe and fun New Year’s celebration. 🙂  I know I’ve been away from the blogging world for the past two weeks, but I’m happy to be back and I look forward to getting back into the swing of things.

With the start of a new year, what a perfectly appropriate time to review accomplishments and outline some ambitions.  2012 was a big year for me as far as blogging goes.  I started Inspire & Indulge in August of this year and it’s amazing to think about all that I have learned and accomplished thus far.  Moreover, the people I’ve met through blogs have been amazing – everyone is so supportive and inspiring!  Thank you to all!

Let’s take a look back at my top 5 viewed posts in 2012:

1. Fabric Flowers (Version #2):  I’m honestly shocked that this was my most viewed post.  Personally, I thought my Fabric Flowers (Version #1) would have been more popular since they were so much easier to make!

2. Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon Brown Sugar Frosting:  Once again, I’m pretty surprised because this was not my most favorite pumpkin dessert.  I think people were really interested in trying cakes made with Greek Yogurt this year.

3. DIY Cork Board from Wine Corks:  This post has been gaining traffic from Pinterest.  Even though it was one of my first posts here, I love this project and I’m still really happy with how this turned out.

4. DIY No-Sew Ruffle Scarf:  This was such a fun and easy project to do.  I ended up making 5 of these to give as Christmas presents!

5. Toilet Roll Wreath:  Even though this project was cheap to create, it was definitely time consuming.

Looks like my DIY posts dominated my top 5 list which is surprising since I’ve posted so many more recipes than projects.  Luckily, I have plenty more to share in 2013. 😉

So what were my top 5 favorite posts from 2012?

• DIY Party Pumpkin Keg
• DIY Glass Etching on Kitchen Canisters
• Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos
• Slow Cooker: Hearty Turkey Quinoa Chili
• Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars

Okay, let’s get back to what my December goals were and how I measured up:

1. Jon and I were in charge of bringing an alcoholic drink to his family’s Christmas party.  We ended up mixing Black Velvet Toasted Caramel (whiskey) with apple cider and it was a HUGE success.  Everyone that tried it liked it and we all ended up having a few drinks. 🙂
2. I didn’t really get to do much experimental cooking this past month so I didn’t get a chance to try any new recipes from bloggers I follow.  Next month!
3. For the month of January, Jon and I have resolved to attempt the Paleo diet/lifestyle.  As such, I wanted to get ready and have some recipes in mind.  I ended up stumbling upon PaleOMG and Nom Nom Paleo (Thanks, Benn!) – both of which have been awesome resources.
4. I really wanted to get some administrative work done on Inspire & Indulge.  I was able to organize my Recipe page/drop-down but I didn’t get around to much else.

January Amibitions:

1. Complete one full month of Paleo with Jon – Check back later this week for my first Paleo post and I’ll get a little more indepth. 🙂
2. Try a recipe with coconut milk.
3. Share two DIY projects that I made for Christmas presents.

Cheers to a New Year!

• January 1, 2013
• Accomplishments & Ambitions
• 21 Comments