It’s my birthday! And what a gift you all are to me. As an introvert who prefers a small, close-knit group of friends to a large party any day, it might seem strange that I enjoy sharing with the wide world of the internet. A small, close-knit group is exactly what Em for Marvelous feels like, though, and I’m so grateful! Let’s be honest: I would write here even if no one was listening (I can’t help myself!!), but you gals make it MUCH more fun :) You chime in all the time in a way that is rare in the age of crickets in the comment section, and that does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. I’m not sure what I did to deserve that, but I sincerely treasure each one of you who stops by, reads, and joins the conversation. So if you have a moment, please consider taking the short survey below… I’m so curious, and would love to hear from you! Then, leave a comment below to be entered to win a $50 Airbnb gift card OR a $50 Amazon gift card – your choice. I’ll draw and email a winner next Friday, March 6! Create your own user feedback survey Finally, to make the commenting more interesting (and so I can get to know YOU a little better!), here are four questions I’d love for you to answer after you’ve taken the survey, if you’re so inclined: A favorite birthday memory:The best book you’ve read recently or the last movie you saw in theaters:Something you love about where you live:The nicest thing someone has done for you or that you’ve done for someone recently: I will answer in the comments, too. Thank you in advance, friends! xo!

Update: a winner (Cassi!) has been chosen and emailed! Thank you all again for participating! This is the first Tuesday in two months without a How We Do It series installment! (Sniff, sniff!) How We Do It covered such a wide range of topics — some of the most dear to my heart. The posts served as an overview of sorts to Em for Marvelous, and so with that lead-in, today seems like the perfect opportunity to give you the chance to respond! I ask your opinion because to be honest, I feel so incredibly lucky to have you all as readers. Like, what the heck?! You guys chime in all the time in the age of crickets in the comment section, ha! I’m not sure what I did to deserve that, but I sincerely treasure each one of you who stops by, reads, and joins the conversation. I would write even if no one was listening, but you ladies make it wayyyyy more fun :) So if you have a moment, please consider taking the short survey below… I’m so curious, and would love to hear from you!! Then, leave a comment below to be entered to win a $50 Airbnb gift card OR a $50 Amazon gift card – your choice. I’ll draw and email a winner next Tuesday, March 20! Update! Cassi W. is our lovely winner and has been emailed! Thank you all SO much for sharing feedback with me! Create your own user feedback survey Finally, to make the commenting more interesting (and so I can get to know YOU a little better!), here are four questions I’d love for you to answer after you’ve taken the survey, if you’re so inclined: The best book you’ve read recently: What you’re eating for breakfast these days

178 of you took my recent survey, and I’m so grateful! I loved learning more about y’all, and especially hearing more about what you love about Em for Marvelous and why you read. In fact, I think you fired me up for at least another 8 years – so thank you, truly. Many of you asked about seeing survey results, and I agreed it would be fun to share a few. So here we go! Love my four friends from the earliest days! Pretty sure that number includes my Mom and two sisters. The biggest lump of you have been reading for at least a few years, which is neat. I was a bit surprised by just how many of you are married. Always, always happy to have my non-married folk in the mix, though, too. I’m no statistician, but I believe we’d call this a bell curve! But really, not a statistician – I didn’t realize I gave my 30 and 35 year olds two choices until I was making these graphs. Oh well, you get the idea :) I sorted the 22 people who chose “other” into one of my categories – nurses, teachers, counselors, journalists, etc. went into traditional, and stay at home moms went into “not currently employed” (no shame in that!). I love that most of you have a “traditional” job, and am glad you are finding some of what you are looking for here. I was limited to ten questions, but if I had had an eleventh, I would have asked how many of you have kids! Still curious about that… The favorite posts numbers roughly broke down into three categories. Personal finance, goals, travel, love and marriage, parenting, life updates, and deep thoughts were across-the-board popular. And the finance posts, wow! I was

Howdy and happy Friday, friends! January was a really fun month for me on Em for Marvelous. We got to talk a lot about some of my favorite things, like goals, marriage, financial freedom, June, and our family’s adventures. Y’all seemed to enjoy these topics, too! I truly believe that the guiding light for my posts should be what I find most marvelous, because if I’m not passionate about something, then why bother sharing it? That being said, I sincerely treasure every single person who stops by, reads, and joins the conversation, and I love checking in every so often to gather feedback. I have lots of posts planned for the year ahead, but I’d also love to know: What would you like to read about? What would you like to discuss? If you have a moment, please consider taking the short survey below… I’m so curious, and would love to hear from you! Then, leave a comment below to be entered to win a $50 Airbnb gift card OR a $50 Amazon gift card – your choice. I’ll draw and email a winner next Friday, February 10! Update! Taryn D. is our lovely winner and has been emailed! Thank you all SO much for sharing feedback with me! Create your own user feedback survey Thank you in advance, friends! xo