I love watching all the "Best of 2011" vignettes on TV right now, the good, the ridiculous, the worst-dressed.

Today I took my own trip down memory lane, perusing my blog's 2011 archives. I have a tendency to forget what I write, to forget the lived-out everyday and the lessons learned in the process.

October's 31 Days of Real series was a huge highlight. Thanks to the Nester for inspiring hundreds of us bloggers to join in. And thanks to all of your readers who encouraged me and commented and told me to keep writing. You really did spur me on to the finish line.

Often I've said that I write to remember. Reading back over my year has reminded me of beauty's persistence and God's faithfulness.

As we wind down this year and anticipate the next, I decided to pick out a few of my favorite posts from 2011. When I compiled them, it just happened to be ten posts. Perfect.

So here are 10 of my favorites, listed in chronological order. They're not necessary the most well-written or widely-read. They're simply the ones that tugged on my heart or made me laugh or seemed worthy of rereading.

Artist in Residence

A Home Well-Spent

For the Love of the Flea Market

Enjoy the Show

For the Girl Who Just Can't Pray

Parenting and Tightrope Walking

And these are a few favorites from my 31 Days of Real series:

Notice the Becoming {motherhood}

Mom-Jeans and Miniskirts: What's a Real Mom to Wear? {fashion}

Keep it Real. Wear it Well. {fashion}

The Myth of Quality Time {marriage}

Marian’s Substack

a la mode: best of 2011