7 Quick Takes Friday (Take 41): Best Posts of 2011

I saw this "7 Links" template on Louise's Wonderful World of Weez blog several months ago and I've been waiting for the opportune time to use it. What better way to start the new year than by recapping some of the most notable posts of the last year?

1. Most beautiful post: Bringing Joy by Bearing Life

I wrote this post in response to the sweet smiles and comments of strangers while I was pregnant.  I couldn't believe how much joy I brought to others simply by carrying a child!  I know it isn't typical, but I didn't have any negative encounters with strangers (or with people I knew, for that matter) while I was pregnant, and this renewed my hopes for a society in which life is protected and embraced.

2. Most popular post: A Magical Honeymoon

Thanks to Betty Beguiles' romantic honeymoon linkup, my post on our Disney World honeymoon is the most viewed last year (and in my entire blog history).  The post on our engagement is almost as popular for the same reason.

3. Most controversial post: No Kneelers?

Although I think I have written on some controversial topics, I don't tend to get many comments that disagree with my posts (probably because most of my readers are conservative Catholics/Christians like me).  Therefore, I chose this post not because it created great controversy or spawned arguments in the comments (none of my posts fit that bill), but because it is a controversial topic among many Catholics and on various other places on the web. 

4. Most helpful post: Odd Pregnancy Symptoms

This one is probably the hardest to choose because when I write, I rarely have any idea of how it affects readers.  So I chose the one that would have been most helpful to me.  Each of the pregnancy symptoms I wrote about freaked me out a bit until I was able to look them up online or in books and realized that they are within the realm of a "normal" pregnancy.  I wish I had heard about them before I was pregnant so I knew a little more what to expect.  Hopefully some freaked out woman will come across my post and realize that she's not the only one experiencing such odd symptoms (or better yet, someone will read the post before experiencing the symptoms and will be completely prepared for the odd changes her body will experience during pregnancy).

5. Post whose success surprised you most: Advice I Wish My Mother Gave Me Before I Got Married

What surprises me most about this post is that six months after I wrote it, it is still the main post that drives traffic to my blog from search engines.  Apparently, there are many engaged women looking for advice on the internet and many people looking for advice to give newlyweds.  I don't know that my post provides exactly what they are looking for, but I do hope that it helped at least one naive newlywed!

6. Post that didn't receive that attention you thought it deserved: What I Love About Being Pregnant

I wrote about what I loved about being pregnant because I felt I was hearing so many negative things about pregnancy.  I was really hoping to get a lot of comments from other women about what they loved about their pregnancies, but alas, the comments were scarce. 

7. Post you are most proud of: Open to Life

I am most proud of this post because it is very personal and was very difficult to write, yet I did so because I truly believe that becoming open to life greatly improved my relationship with my husband and our relationship with God.  It was important to me to share our story in hopes that it would in turn inspire others to be bravely countercultural and welcome life into their marriages even if the situation wasn't "ideal".

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at Conversion Diary!