Celebrating One Year of Beard + Bloom!

It’s hard to believe that it was one year ago today that we launched Beard + Bloom. I remember being filled with such excitement and anxiety in the weeks leading up to making our site public, and thinking, I wonder where it’ll be this time next year?

Would I decide it wasn’t worth the effort and delete it for good? Would it take a totally different direction than I’d envisioned? Would I still feel inspired after one month, six months, twelve?

I’m so happy to report that it has totally been worth the effort, it’s only slightly changed direction and I’m happier for it, and I feel even more inspired than I did a year ago.

It’s meant so much to me, having a little space of our own in this online universe, to document what’s happening in our lives, discuss our interests, and share some of our favorite things, and getting to engage with our readers is the absolute best!

It’s difficult sometimes, to reflect back on an entire year and remember all that came with it.

Since our launch last September, life has taken us to Kansas City, Chicago, North Carolina, and Seattle, and a handful of states in between.

We bought a house and have been working hard to make it our own.

We experienced our favorite holiday season to-date (maybe it was all of the dogs?)…

…and had a blast ringing in the New Year.

And there were so many celebrations, events, and special moments – big and small – in between.

The motivation to start this blog resulted from my constant struggle with each birthday, each new year, each last-day-of-the-month, trying to recall what I’d “accomplished” since the last significant date. What I’d done, seen, tried – how I’d grown. While I don’t think it takes a blog or a detailed journal to connect those sometimes fuzzy memory dots or reminisce about significant life events, it’s definitely an outlet that has done wonders for me, and I plan to do a lot more of it moving forward.

So, enough rambling. I thought it would be a good day to share our twenty most popular posts since our launch date last year. These posts have had the most views and engagement – and have sparked some of the best conversations we’ve had – since last September.

Top 20 Posts
(2015-2016)

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Most Popular Posts of 2015

New in Town: Trubble Brewing | We attended the soft-opening of this brewery and fell in love at first sight (and sip, and taste.) We highly recommend visiting them for brunch if you’re in town!

The Weiks Family | It took us awhile, but we were finally able to round up the Weiks clan for a fall photoshoot and had a great time capturing the beautiful faces and sunlight, and playing in the leaves afterwards.

10 Gift Ideas for the Beer Drinker | Jeremy had been asking throughout the year for a few specific beer-related items as gifts. And because I have the worst memory, I asked him to jot them down. It was his idea to write this up to help other significant others/family members/friends in need!

We’re Homeowners! | It was such a surreal experience, buying our first home, and I remember we practically danced through the doorway after signing all of the paperwork, with Rosie jumping at our feet, and when Jeremy broke out the guitar, I had to document it!

Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts | I’m not at all surprised that this recipe rose to the top over the course of the last year… you can practically make anything “pumpkin spice,” but there’s nothing like a soft, warm, pumpkin spice doughnut. Pardon me, I need to go make these again ASAP.

Throwback: Couples Halloween Costumes | This post has gained a lot of traction on Pinterest – and I’m glad we can (maybe) inspire other couples’ future Halloween costumes! We’re currently in talks about what we’re going to do for ours next month… : )

Our Story | While not technically a blog post, it seems our readers have been rather curious about our story and how we got here. It’s been awhile since I’ve looked it over, I’m sure it could use a good update one year later!

13 Horror Movies You Must Watch Before Halloween | We love a good horror movie and couldn’t narrow our suggestions down to just a few, so Jeremy wrote up not one, but two awesome posts with detailed descriptions of his favorite spooky films.

Fort Wayne Fright Night 2015 | And we love real life zombies just as much as we love those on-screen. We had such a fun time (and always do) at Fright Night last year and cannot wait for this year’s festivities!

A Few Photos from the Holidays | There was just something so extra cozy and happy and memorable about our holiday season last year. For the first time, we were moving at a comfortable pace and felt more rested, connected, and centered than usual during a time that can, so often, be full of stress and chaos. Fingers crossed for this year!

Most Popular Posts of 2016 (so far)

My Fitness Story | This was a tough one to put out there, but I’m committed to being totally transparent as often as possible here, so I went for it. In complete honesty: I hit a wall and backpedalled a bit with my healthy lifestyle over the past few months, and continue to only about half-practice the majority of the tips I offered in this post. Re-reading it recently gave me the motivation I need to get back to it!

On the Road: Our Adventures in North Carolina | We ventured to North Carolina this spring to visit my brother and sister-in-law for Zen’s graduation and to finally see the city they’d called home for two years! We had a great time in Durham and took the scenic route back, stopping in a few more NC cities on the way home.

How to Freshen Up Your Tarnished Faux Gold Jewelry | I’ve struggled for years with my jewelry turning all sorts of colors after just a few wears. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to freshen my gold pieces up with a little spray paint!

Home Tour: Our “Half” Bathroom | One of our very first “major” house projects was tackling our tiny bathroom in an attempt to brighten it up and make it feel more modern and spacious. More recently, I went into our main bathroom with the same goal and am happy with the results!

“This is Not an Emergency” | Back to the goal of being transparent and open, I shared one of my go-to methods of calming myself down during moments of panic and anxiety.

A Night at the Ballet: Fort Wayne Beer and BarreBQ | This fundraiser is one of our favorite events in downtown Fort Wayne and we can’t wait to see what they have in store for next year!

On the Road: 24 Hours in Chicago | Back in January, we spent one of the coldest days of the year galavanting the streets of Chicago, after deciding to make a mini-weekend vacation out of going to see Julien Baker in concert and it turned out to be one of our most favorite trips to-date!

Home Tour: Our Mudroom | This little space is still one of my favorite spots in our home. And giving it an extra “pop!” took hardly any time, money, or skill at all.

Happy Birthday, Gigi | We lost Jeremy’s beautiful grandmother last September. Jeremy wrote the most moving post in her memory for her birthday this February.

5 Beauty Products I’m Loving Right Now: Budget-Friendly Makeup Edition | I launched a new series – 5 Beauty Products I’m Loving Right Now – just last month and am loving all of the feedback I’ve gotten from my first couple of posts.

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Wow! It’s been an amazing first year and we couldn’t be more excited to see what the next twelve months have in store for us and Beard + Bloom! We’ve got several ideas brewing and would love to hear what you’ve been loving, or not loving, and what you’d like us to share more of, less of, bring back, start up… our readers are a HUGE part of what inspires us to keep on writing, so don’t hesitate to get in touch!

I promise to share a little bit more about what we have in store, and some of our goals, in a future post soon.