Happy 3rd Anniversary Lemony Thyme

Three years ago today I ‘published’ my first post to Lemony Thyme. Eggs Benedict ~ Two Ways. Year one was a blur, year two was a bit more controlled, year three was very different. It took the first two years for me to find balance. My scales were tipping in the wrong direction. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from year three, then we’ll talk about the scale.

There are 826 Recipes posted to our love to cook page.
In year three, I added a new recipe category. Lunch Bowls are growing in popularity across all foodie platforms, and have become a personal favorite of mine.
We have 717 Email Subscribers to Lemony Thyme and would love for you to join in and never miss a new recipe again.
687,554 Unique Visitors from 6 continents have stopped by the blog. This one continues to blow my mind.
There have been 1,308,056 page views (at this moment).
We have 17,152 Fabulous Facebook Fans. Despite the mass panic that our food blogging community experienced this year, when Facebook announced they would remove inactive followers, we’ve experienced positive growth without spending a penny.
7144 followers on Pinterest tells me that you love Pinterest as much as I do. I hope you’ll come on over and follow our Lemony Thyme Pinterest Account.
In year three, I turned to/leaned on my fresh herbs to help me balance my love for comfort foods vs. my need for healthy choices. I’m happy to share that you can indeed have both.
I got a real camera for my birthday in May of year two, so our 2nd year photos are more vibrant. I set a goal that in year three I would learn more about the settings on my camera. I’m still on Auto. My pics are still okay. Balance. Photography continues to be a creative outlet I’d like to pursue further. Check out our Love Food Photography Page.
Someway or another, I figured out how to incorporate Healthy Choices and at least 2.75 miles (on foot) per day, every day, and lost 50+ pounds. Launching a food blog inevitably leads to more cooking, more eating, more time sitting at a computer, most waking moments thinking about food….I stopped making excuses.
The highlight that stands out the most for me in our 3rd year of blogging, is that I pulled back a bit, yet still continued to grow. I chose to out walk the calories that I would ingest. Here’s my Dieter’s Journey. Based on the stats above, you are an ever-giving fan base. Thank you for your continued support.

Below are the goals I set for myself one year ago. I needed accountability, let’s see how I did. Updates are posted in Italics.

Learn to use settings on my camera, other than automatic. Failed. My pics are still good. Need to change up my backgrounds.
Use Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest to drive more traffic to the blog. I’m going to need some help with this one. I’ve dabbled with Twitter and Google+. I still need a social media geek to help me connect the dots. Apply within. I pay in food.
Continue to maintain our Fabebook fan page, while also participating in FB groups. There are some awe-mazing Facebook Groups and by chance I belong to several. This is such a wonderful way to cross-promote blogs, pages, and recipes. I jump in when time allows and feel completely connected to my fellow bloggers. Big shout out to the Group Leaders. Thank you.
Post one new dish each week that is my own creation. Y’all. It’s really hard to come up with new and unique recipes. In year three, I shared many new dishes. Several that have become new favorites. Came up short on one per week.
Organize my kitchen props and dishes for ease of use (for me and my family). I turned our hall closet into a prop closet, reorganized the dishes cupboard at least six times in the last year, squeezed Lilah’s space to allow for overflow gadgets. A bazillion little picture-worthy dishes, every sharp knife, cutting boards and skillets. All that require back-bending placement into their carefully crafted ‘home’ that seems logical to me.

For the first year, I wrote to myself. By the second year, I began writing to you, with an enthusiastic voice. This past year, for a series of reasons, I accepted that less needs to be more…you came through for me. Looking forward to the next chapter of Lemony Thyme. Big bold flavors from fresh ingredients.

xo Libby