My last annual year in review post! This one is all about my blog life in 2019. To see my reading life for the year, go here. To see my personal life for the year, go here.
It was a pretty good year on the blog! There were some lulls where I didn’t feel super inspired and had to dig for ideas, but ultimately, I did write some posts that I really love and am proud of, which you’ll see below.
Statistics & Information
- Number of posts: 84! This is down from last year, but I knew it would be because I set my goal to only 52 this year since we were adjusting to life with 2 kids. If I am counting guest posts, I’d be over 100, but for my own posts… we’re at 84. Not too shabby!
- Page views and users are down slightly from last year, but I’m not surprised considering I wrote 112 posts last year. Since my posts were down, everything else is down too.
- New series: From My Shelves, Recent Reads, Month in Review
- Continued series: Five on Friday, Thankful Thursday, Get Sh*t Done (monthly goals), Financial Friday, Clutter Chronicles
- I’ve started to earn some money from blogging this year which is super helpful to offset the costs of self-hosting. I’ve been blogging for over 9 years, have worked my tail off, and so I don’t feel bad about it!
Top 10 Most Popular (Viewed) Posts of the Year
The top ten most visited posts each year are often older posts and reviews, so I like to narrow it down and find the top ten most viewed posts that were published this year. Here are my most popular posts that were written in 2019, in order of most page views:
- What Happened When I Quit Diet Coke for 7 Weeks: this was an interesting experiment but I am back to being a full on Diet Coke addict. I get one from McDonalds multiple times a week. I do not drink alcohol or coffee, and I have never smoked. This is my big vice!
- Blogging is Basically Dating: this one is good for a chuckle.
- Worn-in Love: this one is about marriage and I feel like it’s pretty darn relateable.
- I Suck at Friendship: all the reasons that I struggle with being a friend at this stage in my life.
- Recent Reads: February 2019: we all love books, y’all.
- No More Diets: reflecting on diet culture and how it’s impacted me.
- Thankful Thursday (19): random but fun! Who doesn’t want to look for the awesome little things in life?!
- Recent Reads: July 2019: hooray for more books!
- First Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange + Easy Recipe: this was SUCH a fun activity I did this year… and I’m glad the rest of you are loving the cookies too. We must be friend soulmates.
- Meet the Blog Husband: this was a fun Q&A with the hubby. Note that this b*tch think he’s soooo funny… but also, he can be sweet just a second later. Gotta love him.
My number three most popular (viewed) posts this year (which were all old posts as usual, hence why I narrowed down above) were:
- Review: Butter by Erin Jade Lange: AGAIN! This was posted in 2013 and has been one of my most popular posts for years. 1,800+ views this year.
- My D&C and Ectopic Pregnancy Experience: This was written in 2017 but still gets a lot of visits, and I’ve also received several emails from women experiencing similar things. I’m glad it’s been a resource for people. 1,300+ views this year.
- Review: The Vow: 400+ views this year. Very controversial because of the religious aspect for some reason.
My Favorite Posts of the Year
My personal favorite posts I wrote this year, in order of when I posted them.
- Baby Clothes: this one is emotional to me, and very near and dear. Jerry and I always said we’d have two kids, and that truly is all that I want… but packing up baby clothes for the final time was not an easy task.
- 30: this one was written in honor of my 30th birthday and how I don’t feel all that grown up yet. Still and always will be searching.
- Blogging is Basically Dating: this one cracked me up. I gathered up all the ways that blogging and creating blogger friendships is just like dating.
- Quiet, Please: Notes From an Introverted Mom: being a mom as an introvert is a unique challenge, and I fessed up about it here.
- Roots Deep: this one talks about how I’ve planted roots right in my hometown.
- I Suck at Friendship: all the reasons why lately, I’ve felt like a bad friend.
- Things That I’m Not... and Don't Need to Be: I’ve learned to accept all the things that I am not now and never will be.
- Worn-in Love: you know that feeling when you’re falling in love? Well, after awhile, it disappears. This is what love is like NOW.
- Emotional Eater, Reporting for Duty: I have ALWAYS struggled with my weight, but it was this year that I finally made the connection: I’m an emotional eater. I never realized it before, and that’s why I struggle so much with weight.
- Five Things I Am: I already posted about the things that I’m not… here are the things that I AM!
- Somebody: talking about how I’ve always been seeking validation from others, but do I need to?
- Desperately Seeking Tradition: Christmas has changed a lot for our family over the years, and I am struggling to create new traditions.
It’s so interesting to me that only three of the posts that I loved the most landed in my most popular / viewed posts of the year.
Recap of 2019 Blog Goals
- Blog at least 52 times: DONE. I wrote 84 this year, so I’d say I killed this one! My goal for 2019 was to post just once a week which would equate to 52 posts. This is much lower than usual (I like to post 2-3 times a week), but I wanted to be easy on myself this year since we had Holden and I was adjusting to being back to work but with TWO kids instead of one. I ended up crushing it this year, so I’m really proud of myself.
- Post my goals every single month in the form of my “Get Sh*t Done” posts: DONE! I successfully posted these every single month this year. Booyah!
- Re-boot my “Debt Diaries” by the end of the year: FAIL. It didn’t happen because we didn’t make progress this year. I also wonder, is it TMI? LOL. I miss it though and still track on a spreadsheet for myself. Perhaps this will be re-launched sometime in 2020. I’m hoping we can actually start to make some good progress again (fingers crossed that we don’t have a million things break down like this year: Jerry’s car, our spare freezer, and our riding mower).
- Launch “From My Shelves” series and post it at least four times: DONE! I posted it exactly four times and I think I’ll continue it next year.
2020 Blog Goals
- Blog 100 times: As mentioned, my goal for 2019 was to blog just once a week because we were adjusting to life with Holden. However, we’ve STARTED to find a rhythm again, so I’d like to up my goal again here to maybe twice a week. Setting it to 100 will allow for a little leeway there.
- Post “Month in Review” every month: this is a new series that I started in October. I really love it, but it’s very time consuming. If I set this as a goal, I will be motivated to do it!
- Post “Recent Reads” every month: I need the motivation to keep up with this every month!
- Write at least one post about working motherhood: I’ve written about this topic before, but it’s been awhile. I’d like to really reflect on this one and then pull some thoughts together. When I did a reader survey in 2017, people said they wanted to see more about this topic.
- Write at least one “Financial Fridays” post: this is a series that I write on occasion. I’d like to keep it active in 2020 with at least one post. I’ll have to think on this though about what topic(s) I’d like to cover.
- Post four more “From My Shelves” posts: I started this series in 2019 and want to continue it.
… and I think that’ll do me for the blog goals! There are series that I will definitely continue to do and don’t need to include in my goals for motivation (Five on Friday, Thankful Thursday, Get Sh*t Done), and then there are some things that I could use a little nudge to keep going.
On that note… I wish you all a VERY happy New Year! I will see you in 2020!
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