One of my January goals was to analyze my reader survey feedback, and what better way to hold myself accountable to that than scheduling a recap blog post? A few of my blogger friends have done this after surveys and I’ve always enjoyed reading it…partially, because I’m admittedly a little nosey (ha!) and partially because it’s interesting to see how what I love reading from them compares to what others love. There can be such a range in responses, but that’s what keeps things fun!

A snapshot of those who responded: 25% of you started reading around 2015 when I got married. Another 20% started when I began working for Southern Weddings (2013) and 20% just recently in 2018. I’m so thankful to have both old and new friends here. 70% are married, and almost exactly half of that percentage has young children.

A few of the most frequently mentioned topics that readers currently love include:

– Heartfelt content/essays about marriage and motherhood
– Catholic and liturgical living
– Monthly goals
– Intentional fashion and personal style
– Travel recaps
– Party recaps
– Anything about home management, organization, meal planning, or day-to-day life

Many of you were so kind saying that you’re happy with the current mix of content now (I’m so glad!), but a few things people would like to see less of are:

– Posts about a single outfit
– Specifically Catholic content
– Travel posts

Obviously, faith content became a big theme around here over the last year. My Catholic faith has always been an incredibly important part of my life, but a combination of venturing into liturgical living as a family and starting to contribute regularly to the Blessed Is She blog (therefore bringing more Catholic women here who responded enthusiastically to specifically Catholic content) encouraged me to start sharing it more openly. Honestly, nothing has ever encouraged a feeling of community through Something Pretty to me more than this! My FAVORITE conversations and comments over the last year have gone along the lines of “I’m not Catholic, but XYZ was so interesting to read about!” Growing up abroad, other people’s cultures and beliefs intrigue me too, but I was (and still am) definitely concerned about making non-Catholic readers feel left out. I’m grateful that hasn’t seemed to be the case for the most part, at least from what people have told me. That said, I asked what type of faith content you were most interested in seeing in 2018 and here’s the breakdown of responses (people could select multiple answers, so it doesn’t add up to 100%).

65% would like to see more general faith content on topics like prayer, what God is teaching me, etc.
57% are interested in content about living the Catholic faith in daily life
45% want to see more about liturgical living
40% are interested in Catholic parenting topics
4% are not interested in faith content

I also asked for any specific posts/topics you’d like to see! Here are a few that were highly requested or especially interesting to me, and are on my list to cover in 2019:

– How we balance household tasks
– More about my sister Dana’s wedding!
– How having a baby changed our lives
– Shopping for kids clothes
– Cultivating a strong marriage
– How I lived my faith in college
– Budgeting/finance with Dave (There were so many requests for this! Dave was delighted and is working on a guest post :))
– How we navigate Charlie’s allergies/what Charlie eats
– How I developed my personal style
– Our love story
– A day in the life
– How my faith influences how I dress, act, live
– How the saints influence my daily life

There were also lots of requests for more about marriage, motherhood, and Catholic living in general. You’ve got it :)

I legitimately teared up reading why you continue to come back to Something Pretty, and saved a bunch of the responses so that I can go back to them when I need encouragement. The most frequently mentioned comments were that you feel the blog is authentic, genuine, relatable, honest, fresh, and visually appealing. Thank you SO much!

Finally, I’m in wonderful company amongst the blogs y’all read! You mentioned many of my real-life friends (Em for Marvelous, Rhiannon Bosse, Nancy Ray, Valerie Keinsley, Emily Fossier), many blogs I’ve read and loved for years (Hello Adams Family, Carly the Prepster, Cup of Jo, Design Darling, In Honor of Design, Holy City Chic, Pretty in the Pines, Elisabeth and Butter), and some of my favorite Catholic blogs (Blessed Is She, Carrots for Michaelmas, Catholic All Year, Camp Patton).

From the bottom of my heart, thank you again to everyone who took the time to respond. It means the world to me and I sincerely hope that you enjoy what’s ahead in 2019! If there are any other topics or posts you’d love to see, let me know below or send me an email :)

Photos by my dear friend Rachel of Blue Barn Photography. BRB, crying over teeny Charlie!