2014: A Year in Review

This week, Dairy-Free State turned 2 years old. It’s been a fun couple of years and I’m looking forward to many more with much more growth on the horizon.

In 2014, my site received over 16,000 visits and almost 22,000 pageviews. Visitors almost doubled from 2013. I’m hoping to continue this growth into 2015, and although things have been quiet lately, a lot of big things are on the horizon.

2014 was a year of change. I went back to graduate school, started working part-time, and learned how to juggle planning a wedding, teaching, doing schoolwork, and working at an advertising agency all while making time for fun. It was a challenge but I ended the year on such a high note. I can’t wait to take 2015 by storm.

For those of you who don’t know, my thesis will be about food, so in the coming months, you should see more blog posts related to the topics I’m learning about in school. I’m hoping what I learn can be useful for everyone. After all, my biggest goal with the blog is to impart knowledge on my audience.

If there’s anything you’d like to see on Dairy-Free State, don’t hesitate to reach out. Email me at dairyfreestate@gmail.com or comment below!

Last year, I made a long list of resolutions. Let’s check in (full honesty!) and see how I did on all of my resolutions:

 

• “Walk” to Austin
  • I’m sure I met this goal, but I stopped diligently recording around June or July. However, I started training for the MS walk in the summer, so there were a few 10 mile and up walk days leading up to the challenge walk in September.

 

• Reach MS fundraising goal of $1,500
  • I reached and even slightly surpassed the goal and walked 50 miles in one weekend in Door County this last September. It was a great experience and I’m hoping to do it again next year. I’m fundraising in case I am free the weekend of the walk. Donate here!

 

• Defeat DietBet Transformer
  • Sadly, I did not defeat it, but I’m still working to reach my ultimate goal. I’m hoping to make some progress before I go back to school and continue the habit when the next semester rolls around. I’m learning to take things slow and accept small progresses, like the 4 pounds I’ve lost and kept off over the past few months. Now that the holidays are over, I’m ready to kick butt agian.

 

• Reach 200 posts by the end of 2014
  • This was also another goal I did not reach, although I got close. I give myself a pass on this once since it was because of school that managing the blog got unwieldy. I now have a plan for the next four months of posts, so as long as I carry them out, I’ll be in good shape. I’m still hoping to reach 300 posts by the end of 2015.

 

• Create a Dairy-Free State ebook
  • While this hasn’t happened yet, I still have tons of ideas. Once again, I suppose I can blame it a little on school. This has not left my mind and will be offered in the future.

 

• Apply to graduate school
  • I’m happy to say I did this, got in, and knocked out my first semester already. I’m currently working on some thesis projects over winter break and am looking forward to the next semester.

 

• Read at least 1 book per month
  • I didn’t track this, so it’s hard to remember which books I read. According to my blog, I read French Kids Eat Everything,Cooked,Salt Sugar Fat, and The American Way of Eating this past year. I also closed out the year by reading Food Politics and just started reading What to Eat this week. I’ll have five books in 2015 down before winter break starts, so although I’m not doing resolutions in 2015, I’ll knock this one out of the park this year. This list doesn’t include the countless books and articles I read for school, which would put me, page-wise, well over one dozen.

 

So that was 2014 in a nutshell. Stay tuned for the word of 2015 and much more awesome to come!