14 from 14

Sadhbh from Where Wishes Come From has a lovely link-up over on her blog where she looks back at her top 14 moments from 2014. This is such a nice idea. There are so many blog moments over the last year it is hard to choose 14 and I hope I don’t leave anything out!

1. Most Popular Post:

The most popular post on the blog this year was the post on Dairy Free Easter Treats. I was surprised to see hits on this all through the year, it’s not just me that loves chocolate!

2. Favourite Post:

My favourite post was Parenting Moments Gone By and Almost Gone By. While I usually write helpful posts with information or tips, I do like to write general parenting ones too and link-ups are always a good opportunity to write something a little different. Helen from The Busy Mama had a linky on Parenting moments gone by. It was a great excuse to get sentimental and reflect on all the little moments that have already passed in my children’s short lives so far.

3. Favourite Photo:

I think this says it all. A little boy with an ice-cream sorbet cone = happiness.
wildberry sorbet
I have been working on taking better photos in 2014, I’m hoping to get a lot more practice in 2015. Here are a couple of my favourite photos which weren’t on the blog.

4. Best Adventure:

 Our best adventure this year by far was bringing the kids to Electric Picnic. We had gone when the older boy was 1 and hadn’t been since and it was a huge adventure to have both boys in tow. I will never forget the elation dancing to Beck with my family and the Bumbles of Rice family and just having an absolute ball. There were hundreds of other magic moments that weekend too. I wrote about how we got on dairy-free wise here.
All set for Electric Picnic
All set for Electric Picnic

5. Favourite Recipe:

My favourite recipe this year was pumpkin muffins. I never expected them to turn out so well. I will make this time and again when pumpkins are in season! The thing I most enjoyed making was the tractor cake for my son’s 3rd birthday. The tractor obsession isn’t waning at all, Santa brought a cow and tractor shed so I might be making this for years to come!

 

Pumpkin Muffins
Pumpkin Muffins

6. Best Celebration:

We love Christmas around here but all year this year we were also looking forward to my sister’s wedding. It took place on the 29th December and my boys were page boys. It was a wonderful day. Here are the dairy free boys relaxing before the dancing started. (I’m choosing to believe it’s a hug not a headlock).

2014-12-29 19.32.34

7. Favourite Comment:

 I can’t choose just one. I love to receive comments, it’s like a little reward for posting something. There’s been a lot of Facebook interaction and comments this year as well as increased commenting on the blog, I appreciate every time someone takes the time to comment!

8. Favourite dairy free find:

I was spoilt for choice this year. Visiting the Ploughing Championships and the Allergy and Free From Expos in Dublin and in Cork, I found tons of new dairy free products. My favourite range is the Lazy Day range as they just have such a range of decadent biscuits and cakes. And also it has to be nobó, the closest thing to normal ice-cream and the boys just love it.

Lazy Day Range
Lazy Day Range – gluten free dairy free egg free

9. Best dairy free dining out with kids:

 The Yard restaurant in Wexford town went out of their way to accommodate the boys’ dairy free diet. They were delighted with yummy sorbets and fruit. The staff were very helpful and it was no trouble at all to them to look after us.
Sorbet at The Yard restaurant Wexford
Sorbet at The Yard restaurant Wexford

10. My Favourite Freebie:

I loved receiving the Happy Pear Cook book to review.

2014-11-12 09.32.13

11. Best Blog Moment:

Many great things happened this year with the blog, not least being published in the Irish Independent, making it to the final of the Blog Awards 2014 in the Best Parenting Blog category, meeting and getting to know other bloggers, setting up a dairy free online support community and being able to offer some great giveaways to my readers. However I think my best blog moment this year was being asked to speak at the Allergy and Free From Expo in Cork City Hall in November. It was just lovely to meet some of my readers face to face and hopefully help with some practical advice. I have been asked to speak at it again next year and will be delighted to do so again.

12. Worst Blog Moment:

 There really is very little negative blog moments, but reading the comments of some people on an article I wrote for the journal was a bit disappointing. I expected negativity of course, but there is still a severe lack of understanding around allergies. My favourite negative comment was
‘Jees – it’s the in thing to have some sort of intolerance these days. Dairy, Lactose, Gluten, Wheat, Coeliac, etc. Goes well with your white iPhone, I suppose.’

13.  My Favourite Title:

I am rubbish at titles. If you read my blog often I’m sure you kave noticed. I am so happy when I’ve put the finishing touches to a blogpost that I want to publish it straight away. I should spend the extra time thinking of a good title but it’s usually slapdash. I often think of a much better title hours or days later. My favourite title for this year was Erm, We Could make Gluten Free Pasta?

14. What My Blog Did For Me In 2014:

I could summarise number 11 here again, so many amazing things came out of the blog this year. It is my little tiny area of calm and creativity and I do it for my brain to keep it ticking over in my busy world that is filled with looking after two small boys and tearing around here, there and everywhere trying to keep things organised. I spent a lot more time blogging in 2014 than the previous two years, and all the little things that have come out of it have been very enjoyable and rewarding.
Happy New Year to you and yours.
NYE
Have a read of the other great roundups or join in the linky yourself here:
Where Wishes come From
17 Comments

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *