Favorite Posts Of 2015

As we close the books on the last day of 2015, it’s always nice to take a look back at the previous 365.

Every year has its ups and downs. I hope yours was overall a good one, and that 2016 is only better.

Here on the blog, I’ve collected some favorite posts from the previous year. In this case “favorite” means either highly-viewed, highly-commented, or simply ones that I liked 🙂

If you’re a reader who’s joined us during 2015–or if you’ve been around and just missed one of these–I hope this will let you easily catch up on some of our best posts and discussions.

In previous years I’ve organized this by month or season. This time around, I’m listing posts in 9 topical categories, as you’ll see below–from Amish communities to family life to “fun stuff“.

Amish America has been around since 2006, and every year has been rewarding for me in its own way. Thanks to all of you for another great one!

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Amish Communities

5 Friendliest Amish Communities
Visiting an Amish “Ghost Town”
The Amish of Somerset County, Pennsylvania
The Amish at Garnett, Kansas
5 Surprising Places Amish Once Lived
Lancaster County: From Snow To Thaw (44 Photos)
The Atypical Amish Community at Unity, Maine
A Visit To The Amish At Burke’s Garden, Virginia
5 Southern Amish Communities
The Amish In Idaho
Thanksgiving With The Amish At Clark, Missouri
Amish Life In Shipshewana (Video)
2015 Amish Population Numbers

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Faith & Beliefs

Short Documentary “An Amish Man” (Video)
5 Things You See At An Amish Church Service
Five Trees Memorialize Nickel Mines Girls
In Meiner Jugend: A Devotional Reader
Anne’s Sermon
How Amish Youth Prepare For Baptism
What Happens At An Amish Communion Service?
20 Faith Statements Of The Amish
Ministering To Those In Need
16 Photos From Sunday Morning in Jamesport, MO
Miracles Still Happen
Amish Converts In Maryland

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Family Life

Braiding Amish Girls’ Hair
The Amish Dress Code
5 Ways Amish Women Are Different
The Very Human Amish Family
5 Amish Parenting Tips
7 Days Of Recipes From An Amish Kitchen
Color In Amish Quilts
5 Unconventional Amish Health Practices
23 Ways To “Live Amish”

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News Stories

Massive Maryland Amish Barn Explosion (Video)
Ohio Amish Girl Reported Cancer-Free
40 Years Of Driving The Amish
NY Amish Fear Prison Over SMV Triangle 
Amish Boy Killed Chasing Wind-Blown Hat
Horse Manure Conflict In Northern Indiana

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Amish Homes

5 Common Features In Amish Homes
Look Inside An Ohio Amish Home
5 Outdated Technologies Amish Still Use
5 Surprising Items Found In Amish Homes
Look Inside A New York Amish Farmhouse
5 Things Decorating The Walls Of Amish Homes
The 5 Hardest Things About Living With The Amish

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Non-Old Order Amish

A Visit To The Desbarats, Ontario Old Order Mennonites
Hutterite Clothing
“Church Amish” Quilting In The 1940s
What Is Communal Life Like For Hutterites?

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Issues & Questions

Are Amish Children Happier?
Are The Amish Environmentally Minded?
Do Amish People Really Work Harder?
Ask An Amish Person (Part 1)
Ask An Amish Person (Part 2)

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Amish Business

5 Amish Businesses You Should Visit
The Beeville, Texas Amish School Auction
5 Places Where Amish People Shop
18 Photos From A Nebraska Amish Auction (Milroy, PA)
Comparing “Amish Affluence” In Two Communities
The Gratz, PA Fire Company Sale

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Fun Stuff

An Amish Buggy Does Snow Donuts (Video)
5 Favorite Amish Foods
The Amish “Name Game”
Counting 1-10 in PA Dutch (Video)
Which Is The Best Amish Baked Good?
Youth Snowball Fight (10 Photos)
A “Plain” Smoke Alarm

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    10 Comments

    1. Slightly-Handled-Order-Man

      Happy New Year, Erik, Amish America friends!

      Erik! Thank you so much for continuing to do a fine job on Amish America, I love checking in and reading what’s up, you always find interesting things to write about!
      My year was in fact interesting, it did have it’s up and downs, but the downs are not un-correctable.

      If I where to do a resolution this year of any merit, I think it would be Amish inspired, I think I am going to work on the practice of “Letting be” or however it is put, its a good practice to keep and an idea I found on Amish America.
      Have a good year everyone and in particular Erik!
      ~ “SHOM” 🙂

      1. Thank you Shom! I think letting be can be hard to do, but sometimes the only thing you can do.

        Thanks for continuing to read and share with us and I hope you have a great 2016.

    2. Judith

      This is a cool and handy post! Thanks, Eric! and Happy New Year!

      1. Why thank you Judith, and a belated Happy New Year to you too 🙂

    3. OldKat

      Thanks Erik

      Thanks for all your efforts to make AA my favorite site on the whole WWW thingy!

      I had a very busy and somewhat, well actually REAL stressful year in 2015 and got behind for several, several months on my reading of the various threads on this site. I am slowly working through them now and as I do, one thought kept coming to mind; you know, this guy does a LOT of work to keep this site going. Thanks for doing what you do.

      BTW: in August of 2014 we took a trip to Missouri and visited the Seymour Amish community. I took several pictures in the area, though I am far from proficient with a camera. I intended to email them to you, but before I could I left that camera at a sporting event. It still held all of the pictures I had taken. Just this week I was searching for something in my laptop, and Lo & Behold; I had actually downloaded them to my laptop before I lost my camera. I will send them to you soon and you can use or not use them as you see fit.

      Happy New Year to the Amish America family.

      1. Oldkat, belatedly, thank *you* for making time to circle back and come see us again. Hope you’ve enjoyed some of the posts and discussions you missed. It’s pretty cool to hear your someone’s favorite site…in any case I enjoy the work 🙂 And you’ve certainly contributed here yourself over the years.

        Feel free to email me the photos and anything else, I am at ewesner(at)gmail(dot)com. Will be glad to see and maybe share them. Sorry you lost the camera but at least maybe it wasn’t a total loss.

        Happy 2016!

    4. Jack Mitchell

      Happy New Year and Thank You!

      Thanks so much for Amish America Favourite Posts of 2015! I try and check out this site each week, but there are several topics I think I missed. Thanks also for all your hard work, Eric, and for posting all the interesting and inspirational posts throughout the year.

      Well, it’s a new year once more and I always become reflective after the busy weeks in December and Amish America tends to calm everything down and helps me focus on what is important in life.

      I wish you all a happy, healthy and above all peaceful new year and throughout 2016.

      1. Thanks, Jack! I appreciate you coming back. The year-end post always is a fun one to put together. There were around 200 posts this year so you tend to forget some of them. I had a lot of help this year as in previous years, so my thanks go to those contributors who shared with us as well.

        I’m glad that coming here helps you focus on important things…that’s nice to hear. Happy new year!

    5. Harriet

      Love this post

      Thanks, Erik for this really interesting post and for all you do each week. This must have taken a lot of work. Many blessings in the new year to you and all of the Amish America readers!!!

      1. Thanks Harriet, it’s been my pleasure. I echo your blessings to all our readers, hope everyone’s 2016 has gotten off to a good start 🙂