Well, it only took me three days of non-stop reading and stat-taking to tally the totals and read through all the responses on the Bower Power Reader Survey. Don’t worry – I stayed well hydrated with Cran-Grape Juice and surprisingly, the task of breastfeeding cuts down on the number of necessary bathroom breaks. But with over 300+ responses, you really blew me away with your feedback and there is only one thing to say…
And you really kicked some serious survey bootie! I couldn’t believe that so many of you took the time out of your busy lives to share with me a glimpse into your beautiful worlds. It was a thrill to read through each comment and I got a total kick outta seeing what lovely, quirky, intelligent and funny people come virtually visit me each and every day. So thank you. Thank you so very much. Now, let’s get down to business. Using a very elaborate excel spreadsheet, I tallied all the results to see if I could nail down exactly who the basic Bower Power reader really is…and here are the results (yup, I am that nerdy that I got excited at the chance to use pie charts):
According to the responses, you are women. The majority of you are between the ages of 21 and 30 although there are some exceptions. Our youngest reader has logged 19 years here on planet earth and we even have a couple grandma’s that have stopped by to share their fabulousity with us.
The vast majority of you are happily married to the trophy husband of your dreams. And surprisingly, only two of you single ladies have asked for my help in matchmaking. Apparently they saw my boyfriend and knew that I had excellent taste in calf muscles…I mean, hot men.
Although most of you “have a ring on it”, you are not already experienced the human incubator ordeal. The vast majority of you are not parents…yet. I was very excited to read that over 30 of you gals are pregnant…Hooray! Way to do it! And CONGRATULATIONS! I really enjoyed being knocked up and I hope you do too. One very special congratulations goes out to that one special reader who is expecting all the way from China. Adopting is such a beautiful thing! To all the proud parents out there, I’m honored to be part of the club.
Speaking of babies…even with so many non-babified readers, there is one thing for sure…you love your furbabies. And I loved hearing all about your funky pet names (hello Fenway & Taco & Queso!) and the tricks you teach them (like that pony that can be a flower girl) and the way you live hand in paw (21 ducks? Really?). All those fun stories made me completely crave that boxer puppy….now only to convince the boyfriend….
So now that you know who you are…let’s talk about where you are from….EVERYWHERE! From South Africa to Sweden, from Wisconsin to Brazil, and from Australia to right around the corner, you readers are from all over the planet! Wowza. It seriously makes me feel like a superstar….just call me Bono. Seriously. Now somebody get me some funky sunglasses before my star-quality burns a hole in my own retinas.
The funnest part about reading your responses was reading the random tidbits of info that you included with each comment. They had me rollin! And since I know that you don’t want to be here all day reading every little bit…I thought, let’s combine the fears into one place and see how similar we really are. Afraid of peanut butter? Any girl watching her waistline who has looked at the calorie count on the back of a jar of the creamy nutty deliciousness has felt that shudder of horror. Fear of giving birth? If you don’t wince at the thought of pushing a HUMAN BEING out your drainpipe, you might not be normal. Scared of balloons? Well, who isn’t afraid of those fun, colorful orbs of joy?! Seriously though…I loved how diverse and unique each peep out there was…it made me proud to be able to call you friends.
So now that you know all the basics and some fun stuff about who comes here…let’s get to making ‘here’ a little bit better. The things you want were very important for me to read and after a bunch of note-taking, I put all of the ones mentioned together so that I can better improve Bower Power in the future. Many of you requested more DIY projects and crafts – well, good news, I have a bunch I can’t wait to tackle and share with you (a doorbell tutorial, a headboard slipcover, and a paper mache project to name a few). Before&After’s were a highly requested item – and I am very excited about that cause there is a yardsale farmhouse table in our garage that needs updating, a guest bedroom that is begging for a makeover and a staircase that needs overhauled…so keep your eyes peeled for those future posts. A lot of people asked for more baby stuff (and Will updates)…and I loved the idea of sharing with you how we stash all the baby gear and how we have adjusted to life as people with a newborn. Plus, since so many of you wanted more household tips (I could tell ya how we organize everything from coupons to the MANY dishes in our possession), and photography help (how bout some basics?) and entertaining ideas (I’m hosting a shower soon!), I thought, ok…basically you guys are interested in the same stuff I am interested in…which totally rocks my world (and makes it a little easier to breathe knowing I love to write what you love to read!).
All in all, I can’t wait for the next year in blogging and I am thrilled that I get to share it with you…and I am even more happy because it looks like this coming year will be the best yet. Again…thank you for taking the time to share the little tidbits of your life with me. I am honored by your presence. Please wrap your right arm around your torso. Now wrap your left arm around the opposite shoulder. Squeeze. Consider that a hug from me. A thank you hug. From one friend to another. Sincerely.
Thanks for posting the results. It was interesting for me to read too! And I’m so excited for all the upcoming posts! Yay!!
I just wanted to update you on your stats. You now have one more pregnant lady reader! We got a positive test over the weekend and couldn’t be more thrilled.
I’ll be looking forward to your baby posts with even more excitement now! Any fun ideas on how to tell the grandparents to be?
Yay! What fun results!! Now all those cute pics of Will….goodness you give me baby fever like no other!!!!
fun! (sorry, i totally forgot to fill it out myself – but i pretty much match what the majority said!)
you and will look beautiful in that picture! (well, will looks “handsome” i suppose)
Allison, I have my pregnancy reveal ready to go and am more than happy to share it with you… We had a shirt made that says ” It’s all fun and games until someone gets knocked up”. I am going to wear it around the in-laws and then wait to see how long it takes for them to read the shirt and figure it out. 🙂
You are so fun to read! I didn’t help you with your survey(sorry!) 🙂 But I’m happy to know I’m not the only Brazilian here!
If one day I see you in Atlanta you are gonna really feel like a international superstar, since I will for sure ask you to take a picture with me! lol (ease to happen, because I live in Georgia:)
Up next …… nursery reveal?!?
I saw this article about homeschooling and thought you might be interested.
http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=5050
It’s about a home-schooled girl who’s being ordered into public school because she’s “too religious.” Crazy!
yeah!!!! that’s awesome!
I love that you took the time to do this! I’m a daily follower on a number of blogs and there are some (with less posts/followers than you) who make no effort to communicate with the readers!
Just love it!
How about pregnant and on the cusp of 40? Wow, this makes me feel old!
Completely off-topic, but I couldn’t find an email-Katie button on your blog and I had a question for you.
I love love love your hair color in the picture at the top of this blog post. Is it 100% completely yours, or do you help it along? I’m hoping for the latter. PLEASE tell me where you bought it!
Hi Anna,
Sorry. It’s totally natural. And thank you 🙂
XO – Kb the wannabehairmodel
I love reading your blog, its on my daily must do’s! I can’t wait to see the upcoming projects you have up your sleeves 🙂
Okay, Katie B! I didn’t get a chance to do the survey, but can we get a specific how-to on that Frog Tape? I feel like I’m missing something. I couldn’t get it to work! And I’m feeling a little self-conscious about it. Does it only go on flat surfaces? Can I use it on textured walls? Do you have to pull it off right away? I need to know the low down and dirty deets! Cause what I made with it was one big hot mess. I think even my hubby was embarrased for me. :/
Thanks!
Hey Katie! Congrats on your success. I check in on your blog periodically and read your birth story. It’s eerily similar to mine, save for the fact I didn’t end with a C-Section. Just 27 hours of Pitosin doing nothing until I had to cave and take the epidural. Which mercifully worked. Good job at faithfully sharing the pain of that story. And I love your mommy list. I would add my medela pump to it lol!
God Bless!
Oooh, yea photography help would be awesome, and Photoshop tricks, too… I used the “lighten the eyes” trick & it worked perfectly.
looking forward to another year! Neat-o that you put the results together for all to see 🙂
I loved seeing the results. Its nice to see where others come from and fear without having to read all those comments. I started but then my brain hurt. Congrats on another year of blogging, your precious baby boy, and all the new projects we all are just itching to read about!
Great job with the survey! I love your blog, you are a great inspiration!
Cran-grape juice… me toooooo. Did they give you that in the hospital? I became addicted while in the hospital after our baby girl was born in December. I probably drank 20 of their tiny little juice cups… I would ring the nurse bell to have them bring more. Cheers to cran-grape-post-baby addictions!
No Lindsay they didn’t give me any…I only wish! I did get tons of those little juice cups but nothing was as delicious as the Cran-Grape. Maybe next time I can make a special request. Or I can just bribe the nurses.
XO – Katie
Whew! That’s a lot of work! Must feel good to have all that ground work done. By the way you look awesome, I can’t believe you just had a baby!
75% of your readers have no kids? I found that very surprising, Katie. My guess is that you actually have plenty more readers WITH kids….. who skipped the survey. I, for one, might have dedicated the time to completing your Reader Survey, if it weren’t for the time & attention hogs that are my 4yo twin boys…… God love ’em. 🙂
What?!? No bacon favs pie chart? 🙂
On an unrelated note, I know you have a dremel in your wish list and I saw a commercial today for a new dremel that is amazing! It cuts circles, straight lines and routes (or routers??) plus a million other things! And its only $99! I had to back it up a couple of times to watch it again (I love DVR)!
Who fears Peanut Butter!? Ha!
Hey baby, I didn’t respond and I am a HUGE FAN!! (I would be your pres if you need!) Love you – DebMom
How fun! I love the pie charts. And although I left a rather long comment, I think I forgot to say that my cats names are Halvsies and Skweaks. They were originally Michael & Dwight (office), but then Michael was really Michelle and it was all too confusing. Halvsies because the cat is half mexican and half american. Their people parents are missionaries in Mexico who brought their girl cat with them. A little Mexican cat keeps knocking her up. Skweaks (that’s the girl who used to be Michael, which also stood for Michael Jackson because she had a black spot on her nose that made it look like it was falling off) is called that because she can’t really Meow so much as Squeak. haha Now you know way too much about me and my cats! haha And I have a hubby too. I’m not just a crazy cat lady, I swear!
I didn’t fill out the survey, but I’m 16! I love your blog, and found you through YHL!