2018 was a year for the books! I think we went through more surprises, celebrations, and (definitely) more moves than ever before.
The first highlight of 2018 was getting engaged and then married to my best friend after just 7 months of dating in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. The first 8 months of being married to my best friend have been the absolute best!
After our wedding, we moved to a new city across the state and started our life together. We ended up getting pregnant just 2 months after we got married, but wouldn't find out for 4 and a half more months.
We went on an amazing trip to Hawaii with Reeds family, got our sweet dog Mac, and worked together on our business Vimco Wellness.
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After living in Kent for 3 months, we started to think about our next move. Reed's job was a sixth month position and we had no idea where we would go after it ended.
I do not do well with the unknown and I that was not made any better by the emotional rollercoaster that was my first trimester. Since I had no control over the matter, I decided to give it to God. I distinctly remember sitting on the couch and telling the Lord that it was in His hands and that I wouldn't worry about what came next. I trusted Him.
Once the six months was up, we decided to move back to Spokane and go all in on our businesses. This meant moving into my parents basement so that we could use our money to fund our business growth.
Once we moved back I started getting this horrible back pain. Like horrible, horrible. I would have to lay down and rock back and fourth holding my breath until it went away. Long story short (you can read the whole thing here), this pain caused me to find out I was pregnant. Who needs an emergency room to tell the they are pregnant? This gal apparently! While a pee stick is decidedly more convenient and less expensive, I am forever grateful for that hospital visit! I will never forget the moment that our doctor told us we were pregnant. This sweet baby is coming 4 years ahead of our schedule, but we can't wait to meet him.
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It wasn't until a few months after finding out that we were pregnant that everything came full circle. For some odd reason I remembered sitting on our couch in Kent and making the decision to trust God for whatever was going to come next. I thought it would be a new city and a new job, but I was off base. It wasn't a city or a job, it was a baby.
That was my biggest lesson of 2018. When we make a big decision to trust God with an area of our lives, we often think it means one thing, but He has something completely different, often more difficult, and even more wonderful than we could even imagine in mind.
So here we are. I am sitting in my parents basement, married, pregnant, with a dog writing this post. Did I ever think in a million years I would be here at the start of 2018? No way, José. Has this meant challenges that I never saw coming? Absolutely. But I wouldn't change any of it.
Let's see where 2019 takes us.
Top Recipes of 2018
Now, let's look take a look at some food, shall we? Here are the most viewed, most loved recipes of 2018.
Mediterranean Chickpea Cauliflower Tots
Coconut Crusted Tofu with Habanero Pineapple Sauce
Turmeric Chai Tea Latte
Matcha Basil Lemonade
Peanut Butter Protein Cookies
Healthy Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Sweet Potato Frosting
Low FODMAP Adobo Tempeh Meatballs with Chipotle Cream Sauce
Chocolate Stuffed Banana Nut Breakfast Cookies
Healthy Salted Caramel Coconut Candy Bars
Blog Wins of 2018
With half the posts of 2017, this year might have been rocky for the blog, but we still hit some big milestones!
I focused more on baking this year. Baking has always been a challenge for me since recipes can go so wrong, but I am glad I stuck to it. We created some great baked goods this year and you guys have been loving the uptick in sweet, but healthy, recipes!
Catching Seeds hit 1 million lifetime views! Thank you so much for taking the time to visit the blog. Every single view means so much! I am blown away that so many of you come to my small corner of the internet. I am so grateful!
I landed photography contracts with large food companies that I look up to.
Sponsored posts started to take off and I was able to work with some dream brands like Kodiak Cakes, Udi's, Yellowbird Sauce and more.
We had a great Pumpkin Week and Cookie Week!
Looking Forward to Blog Goals for 2019
This year, I am dedicated to treating this blog like the business I want it to become, and because of that I have some big goals for 2019 and some great new content coming your way!
Start posting 3 times a week. This will hopefully help my views increase and get me on the road to taking a monthly income from Catching Seeds.
Hit 100,000 views per month. Right now we are hovering around 60,000.
Launch a new recipe series called Plant Basics. This series will feature recipes for vegan and gluten free staples like butter, pizza dough, yogurt and more!
Start including more personal details in posts. I typically think I live a pretty boring life. Then I realized the whole 26, pregnant, married, and living in my parents basement thing. This situation is ripe with entertaining stories. Prepare to hear more of them.
Post 1-2 DIY recipes a month. I love creating natural beauty, bath & body, and home products and can't wait to start sharing them with you again.
Create resources arounds Crohn's disease. I have Crohn's disease and I never talk about it. I want to use my experience getting my Crohn's disease into remission with a plant based diet to help others. I
Lastly, I want to keep my personal goal (that I discussed here) of staying in the moment and practicing patience. Life can get crazy and I don't want to go crazy along with it. With a baby on the way, a business, and blog with tons of goals, I need to remind myself what is most important: moments, not goals. I want to soak this year in with my husband and baby. I will take breaks, take walks, and make time for the most important thing of all - living.
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