New Years Resolutions and All That

I can't deny it, 2009 was a great year. It was a bittersweet year, if there ever was one, but the bitter and the sweet were so mingled, were so much just two flavors of the same cookie, that there's no way I could, or would, have had one without the other. It was an awesome year: We had a baby! And that baby was adorable, and incredible, and so full of joy and life and wonderment that I am humbled daily by the magnitude of this precious gift of a son. And we moved to our little bungalow, and I love my little home! And we joined an incredible new church, and we love that too!

By the same token, this year has been incredibly hard. I went through a nightmare of a birthing experience during which I nearly died. My adorable baby refused to nurse and screamed inconsolably, sometimes up to 12 hours a day, and after 3 months of that was finally diagnosed with GERD, the trauma of which most definitely played a part in triggering my post-partum depression (lovely!). There was quite a lot of crying during that period of our lives, and I am ashamed to think of how strong I thought myself before all of this happened, and just how weak I turned out to be. I just can't say I wish things had been different. Yes, it would have been nice if they were easier, but the suffering, as much as the joy, is part of the ride. And as difficult as it was, I don't regret the way that it changed me and grew me, and I am especially thankful for all of the awesome support I have had and the friends I have made through it all.

One of the really bright spots of 2009 has been writing on this blog. I had been keeping this blog on the back burner since Christmas 2007, but I didn't really ever post anything here. Recovering from celiac disease in 2008 just made blogging about cooking too complicated, and honestly, I spent a couple of months mainly living on yogurt and fruit, which makes for very dull content in my humble opinion. But last January, with a new home, new life, new baby on the way, I decided to give it a shot and blog seriously. I redesigned and renamed my blog, and tried to commit to writing 2-3 times a week.

At the time, I had maybe 300 hits a month, mainly on this post, (thankyou Google image search) in which my husband suggestively eats the purported largest corn dog in the world (!). Pulling numbers out of the air, I set myself the goal of posting 3 times a week, and somehow attracting 10,000 hits a month by the end of the year. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that so many people (anyone actually) would be interested in my humble little musings here. And yet, as of December 2009, my statcounter logged over over 30,000 visitors a month. Wow! I know that's probably small fry compared to real professional blogs, but all I can say is, wow. Thankyou, so much, everyone who visited my blog this year. I am totally honored, not only by all the people who visited by blog, but also by the people who have made (and loved!) my favorite recipes.

So. 2010.

I am starting a new weekly column this year called "Go Green!" Since the advent of baby James, I have become increasingly interested in greening our lives, and I am really exited about sharing some of the changes we have made with you.

And of course, I want to blog more. My goal is going to be 3 times a week. I was really on the ball during the summer, but with the holidays things just got CRAZY! and somehow, blogging went down to like, 2 posts a month. Yikes.

I am sort of hoping for some increased readership this year as well - I am already thrilled and honored that I had so many hits this year (100,000!), and for 2010 I am hoping to grow to, I don't know, 50,000 a month by the end of the year? Is that outrageous? I hope not.


So, that's me and Delish for 2010. How about you? What are your new years' resolutions?