2020 was my sixth year on storiesofourboys.com. I blogged privately for seven years before that.

This was my most successful year ever, in terms of how many people visited, read, and returned to my blog.

Why though? Did I work harder on it? Write more? Get the word out better?

No no. I worked on blogging a thousand times less over the past three years than I did in 2014, 2015, 2016, or 2017. Those were my hard working blog years. I was much more faithful to write back then. The boys were all younger and not on the internet much. They did not care what photos I used. It was easy.

Then came middle and high school, and I had to change my game. Change, ugh. My followers came for hilarious stories of big family life, not recipes and reviews, but the boys no longer wanted me sharing all those funny stories.

So why was 2020 my most successful year?

The #1 reason was that I had a well-timed, delivered, and much sought-after topic for this one particular post, and Pinterest and Google ran with it. It was this one:

10 Ideas to Make a Quarantine Birthday Fun

I wrote it in mid-March of the pandemic. That was perfect timing because almost no one else had written on this topic, as it was a new world problem.

My ideas were before car parades. Even if we had wanted to have a car parade, it would not have worked for us. We are a military family who had lived in this town less than nine months before the rona even began, so we do not know enough kids to fill up a birthday car parade for our children.

Don’t be sad for us. It was good training.

We are fairly accustomed to being loners, so that made lockdown far less odd to go through. It was not much different than our regular summers at home each year (Virginia years aside, of course).

By August, the girl mom bloggers and magazines with all the pink balloons and fru-fru caught on and wrote their own articles about quarantine birthdays with far more elaborate bells and whistles. Then my page views decreased back down to my regular low level. Ha! But it sure was fun while it lasted.

Reason #2 for the Increase in Blog Readers: I learned how to better harness the power of Pinterest.

Before 2017, most of my readers came from Facebook. But then we kept moving, and moving, and moving. Facebook is a place where you socialize with your actual friends. When you move frequently and take your time getting involved in your new community, you don’t have very many “actual real life friends.”

The more I moved, the less Facebook friends read my posts or even saw my posts. Facebook is a fickle place. That’s okay though. I am writing less and less about our personal lives, and no one ever sees me anyway. I get it.

When I saw the Facebook source drying up, I moved to Pinterest as a primary source. On Pinterest, you connect with people who share your interests. Usually only people who are interested in your topic will come to your site from there. On Facebook, you are limited to people who know you. Some don’t even like you, but they know you. But at Pinterest, what’s not to like? The sky is the limit with Pinterest.

These were a few of my top Pins from Pinterest in 2020:

My fashion-related posts are always a surprisingly big hit, with both Facebook and Pinterest. I really enjoy doing them too.

Other 2020 Blog Stats:

-Highest page views ever (2015 was my 2nd highest year, so this felt like a come back.) Hurray!!!

-Highest number of unique visitors ever (2018 was my 2nd highest number of readers.)

-Published and promoted my first ebook. That was a big deal for me. You can find that here:

-Largest traffic source was Google. 2nd largest was Pinterest.

-Most popular posts with Google were the Quarantine Birthday post and What the Nuzi Tablets from 1450-1350 BC Tell Us About the Bible.

-Most popular search terms: quarantine birthday ideas, nuzi tablets, stories of overcoming evil with good, and christian school vs. public school.

-Most popular posts with Facebook: 60 Triumphant Photos of Spring from Around the World, the Quarantine Birthday post again, 10 Minute Meals, and Where to Next. My Facebook friends prefer my personal posts.

“Where to Next?” was written in January of 2020. That one was fun to look back on because I had no idea what was in store. No one did, really.

-Countries: 76% of my readers are in the U.S.

3 % are in Canada.

3 % are in India.

The blog was also read in the U.K., the Philippines, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Nigeria, New Zealand, and less than a hundred readers in each of many other countries.

Once a distant cousin of Alan’s living in China was reading my blog because I wrote about home schooling, and she saw a picture of Alan’s grandmother. She was like, “Wait!! I know her!! These people are my family!” I thought that was pretty cool.

-I do not subscribe to all the cookies that you see on many sites that give the website more information about their audience. So when I check Google Analytics to see where my readers are, I do not get much information. It literally says “Not specified” for thousands of my readers.

However, it does give me just the city for many, and it is never what I expect.

Top 12 Cities with the most storiesofourboys.com readers, according to Google Analytics:

Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Ashburn, New York, Los Angeles, Orlando, Miami, London, and Sydney.

That used to surprise me because I have never lived in any of those cities, nor do I have many connections to them. But upon further inspection, I realized that those are simply the places where there are the most people. More people present = more people likely to end up on my little random website. Ha!

I only wrote 63 blog posts in 2020.

Back in 2015, my second best year, I wrote 153 blog posts.

The reason I am able to pull in more traffic with half as many articles now is just time and Pinterest. Back in 2015-2017, I did not know to make pins for all of my posts and stay active on Pinterest. That was a huge game changer. You do not have to have perfect beautiful photos of DIY projects to pin on Pinterest. You can pin any topic in the world.

Search engine optimization was another thing it took time for me to discover, and that changed things for me too, but that is a whole other topic for another day.

I was not a quick learner when it came to blogging, but it was never my full time job.

Raising four boys is the gargantuan task to me.

I get overwhelmed trying to do much more than that, honestly. Maybe that is old fashioned, but I do not care. Keeping house with everyone home all the time is a job in itself, don’t you think?

By the time I actually have time to put more effort into my site, I will probably have a whole lot less to write about, eh? But that’s okay. I enjoy doing it, and I hope that I am an encouragement to some of you in the process. That’s the point.

What hobbies have you been pursuing this past year? I’d love to hear about it. Always feel free to comment below!!

The post My Sixth and Most Successful Year of Blogging appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

There is this one question people keep asking me lately.

1.) Are you moving this summer? Do you have orders yet?

Yes and no. We are moving this summer, and we DO know where we are going. The person in charge of that has reassured Alan over and over again of where he’s assigned.

However, we do not have orders yet, so until we do, we aren’t announcing it. Last time we moved, we made this big announcement to the kids, and they keep waiting for this. The thing is it keeps dragging on for so long the they are having bad dreams, so we did tell them, “Look, more than likely, we pretty much know we’re going to this city.”

That helped them a bit. It just got to me yesterday when Daniel told me his dream. He dreamed we kicked the boys out of the house for three days, and then we finally let them back in because we were all moving. Even as he was getting in the car, he didn’t know where we were moving to.

Sad!!! I promise you we’d never do that. It was just a dream from a boy with an uncertain future! These moves were much easier for them when they were babies!

The Blog

It feels like I hardly ever blog anymore. When the boys were younger, I HAD to have the blog as an outlet. It was air to me.

Plus, there was no schedule much to life, other than what self-imposed schedules we devised. Now that the boys are older, life moves FASTER. I can’t keep up. I literally keep 3 planners/calendars, 4 if you count Caleb’s, which I’m teaching him how to use.

Driving from place to place and drop-offs to pick-ups is pretty much what I do. When I’m home, that time is taken up with helping my middle boys study, cooking, cleaning, and getting ready to leave the house again.

I love having school-aged children. It’s a completely different kind of stress than having toddlers, a fatter phase of life for me. I was so much thinner when they never let me sit down!! Ha!!! This has made a solid 10 pounds of difference.

Apparently driving the mini-van all over town does NOT count as exercise…

I’m also enjoying sleeping through the night and not changing diapers! Every phase has its perks!

Changing the Blog

Towards the end of the year, I went through a crisis of decision. Should I drop the blog altogether? After all, I cannot write much about my oldest boys on here at all anymore out of respect, you know?

Should I switch to a single topic?

I couldn’t decide what to do at all, so I’ve still focused on one Real Army Wives story per week, and I’ve signed on for a couple of product reviews/ unboxings.

The blog must go on until the Army Wife series is complete, and the story will be complete at the end of the first deployment.

Past that, I haven’t decided. What do you think?

Wonder

I keep meaning to write about this book: Wonder. Joshua, Caleb, and I read it together, and we loved this book. It was deeply personal to me, since I grew up with a sister who was a wonder in her own right. Everyone always stared at her too, so I felt a connection to the story of Via in the book. Via is the sister of Auggie, the little boy with the deformed face.

This book will may you cry, yes, but it’s more than that. It’s also inspirational and uplifting. Read it! See the movie!

Moving Again

One last topic I MUST hit on. Moving again. Y’all know we’ve moved 9 times already in the past 16 years, and it has always been an adventure.

There’s a huge difference between moving to different houses and moving to different states/ cities/ cultural regions!! It has been quite a ride!!

Moving is my favorite and least favorite thing about military life. I love the new experiences. I hate putting the kids through it.

It used to be easy to sell as “Oh we’re moving to so-and-so. Yay! This will be so fun and exciting.”

But now they can remember the past TWO moves, and they aren’t buying it.

The boys and I were all riding in the car the other day, and they were griping, and I exclaimed, “Hey! Moving is a grand adventure!”

The three oldest all gave me a resounding, “No! Nooooo it’s not!”

Sigh.

Y’all, they will be fine. I will too. We are trusting the Lord. And if the kids start to look mopey, maybe I actually will just buy them a puppy!  Hahaha! Because that would clearly solve our chaotic situation, right? Yep. I’m serious though.

So many decisions to make! Okay. I’ll end this here. A kid stopped up the toilet, and Alan called. I should find the phone and answer it. Probably I should also make dinner…

The post The Future for Us and This Blog appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

What? You don’t have huge ink blotches on your desk? No toddler scribbles? I can’t even imagine a world without toddler scribbles….

Lately I’ve had a few different friends email me with questions about starting their own blog, setting up a blog Facebook page, and making all sorts of blogging decisions. I am certainly no blogging expert, but with 3 years of public blogging now under my belt, there are a few good tips that I’ve picked up on.

So whether you are a brand new blogger or an experienced one looking for new ideas, here is a list of all the articles that I can find that I have written on the topic of blogging, websites, and social media.

Now, in case you have already read all my stuff, see this first one, just published March 2017, so chances are you haven’t read it yet:

This one was my biggest lesson of 2017. In January and February alone, my blog saw more traffic from Pinterest than I got in ALL of 2016 total. Lesson learned: never ignore Pinterest.

Never ignore Pinterest.

If you’re looking for all the basics in one place, this is my most comprehensive how to article.

Need to grow your social media following, but don’t know how to go about it? I found Crowdfire app extremely beneficial, especially for Twitter. Read more on that here.

Understanding hashtags and how to use them to grow your blog traffic is also beneficial. I explain that here.

Hmmmm…All of those were articles that I wrote for Monterey Premier. Perhaps I should occasionally write some blogging or social media how-to articles right here on Stories of Our Boys. The reason that I haven’t is that it I make more money if I write them for Monterey Premier, and you know money does come in handy…

So I’ll leave you with one last blogging tip. Money. Don’t do it because you love money. Do it because you love writing about your passion or creating images and community online. Then gradually the more time you give it, the more paid opportunities will come your way. The very easiest way to start making money is affiliate marketing.

Next time you want to write about a product or service that you love, go to their website, scroll all the way to the bottom, and look for the word “affiliate.” Then click on it, and sign up to be their affiliate. Insert the link they assign you into your article, and if people buy it, you get a commission fee, usually a small one, but if you do that for each product or service you promote, it will add up. It’s a great way to start.

Psst…Even Etsy and Amazon have affiliate programs! (My serious thanks to whoever bought the Fitbit I recommended. I was about ready to give up on Amazon links.)

Shoot me any blogging questions you have. I will do my best to answer. If I have lots to say on the topic, I might even write my next article in answer to your question. Don’t worry. I won’t use your name in the article….unless you want me to…

You’ve read all my articles and you want MORE info? Here are 3 more articles that I have found helpful, written by other bloggers, more fabulous than me:

Making Photos Pop with Picmonkey— Learn how to use Picmonkey to make awesome photos for your blog from the pros at Just a Touch of Crazy.

5 Blogging Tools You Need Now— by my friend Jen over at JenerallyInformed.com.

and How to Make Money Blogging–by Crystal Paine

Happy blogging, y’all!!

The post All the Articles I’ve Ever Written About Blogging appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

I sort of felt like my whole life embodied “hot mess” this week.

Several things happened. I allowed so many activities to enter my life that I neglected one of THE most important, like helping my dyslexic-ish son with his spelling words. I put my foot in my mouth without even realizing it (but then, isn’t that always how it goes???). Oh, and my chin broke out like a teenager’s.

But hey! I’m hoping that acne on my chin is actually making me look 10 years younger. See, I’m being positive.

What a week. I got addicted to this song today because THIS is how I feel after 15 years of being an Army wife…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYCOA2jQ-XA

because let’s face it……life is messy. Or maybe yours isn’t. That sounds really nice.

BUT if you are anything like us, messes DO happen, and by golly, we want to hear about it!

Now on to last week’s featured post!

The most popular post was Inauguration Day Feelings and Thoughts, but that was on this website, so I chose the most heart-felt Hot Mess story instead.

If any of you have ever walked a child through a heart-wrenching struggle, this is one you can relate to:

When You Receive That Letter

I’m pretty sure I cried, and I have been there. Oh, boy, have I been there.

So what are you waiting for? Link up your messies!

There are no rules. Only I’d appreciate it if you’d follow me on Facebook or Pinterest, and remember it’s a family show.

Be sure to mingle and read some new blogs! Thanks for joining us!

P.S. I’m looking for a guest co-host for next week, so let me know if you are interested!! Thank you!

The post Week 3 of The Hot Mess Blog Hop appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

The Hot Mess blog hop is for all bloggers, even if you don’t actually think you are a hot mess. But you gotta be a hot mess at SOMETHING. No one is good at EVERYTHING. Right?

Link up your messies! We are all a hot mess sometimes, in need of God’s grace.

Only 1 Rule!!!  It’s a family show here. If it’s not PG or G, I’ll have to delete ya from the hop.

Bonus points if you follow me on something like Facebook or Pinterest. 🙂 Thanks!

Check out the most popular post from last week’s Hop:

One Hot Mess

And this one was a close second:

Why I Burned my Daily Homeschool Schedule

Now on to the new!! Join us!

The post Hot Mess Blog Hop Week 2 appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

This week I was reminded of something. I am a big, giant failure. I am a hot mess.

Now I know. That’s negative self-talk, and we shouldn’t do that. Yeah. I get it. Thinking positively is how you recover from the things that do happen as a result of when we mess up big time, or when someone else messes up and we have to deal with it.

In my case, it was me that messed up. I got a speeding ticket because I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing.

And I never speed! I drive so slowly these days, passengers often complain! After four kids, I just don’t have the energy to speed. But I also don’t pay attention to what I’m doing, and that often gets me in trouble.

Don’t roll your eyes now. There’s more.

I didn’t just get a ticket. I then proceeded to procrastinate paying the thing until the last-minute. It was so last-minute, and it fell over a weekend and a holiday so that my money arrived at the courthouse several days past due.

Yeah.

I didn’t think that was a big deal either. Well, I was wrong, and I got a nice little certified letter in the mail to let me know about it. And when I say nice, let me assure you that the lady I talked to down at the courthouse about all this was certainly not nice.

“Well, I was trying to do the right thing and pay my ticket…”

Dripping with disdain and disgust she mockingly asked me, “What right thing were you trying to do?”

Ouch.

“I was trying to do the right thing by paying my fine.”

OH, just hand me my dunce cap, and stick me in the corner. Obviously the power is not in my court here, and I have no one to blame but myself.

I have been severely humbled, and my bank account will soon be quite empty as a result of it all.

But that’s life, right? You pay your fines so they don’t take your driver’s license away, and you cover your face in shame because you are supposed to be a Christian writer and mother and deacon’s wife, and here you are defending yourself to the state of Georgia for breaking the law….

Yep. I am feeling pretty low.

But what’s a girl to do? You pick yourself up. Pay your dues, and get back up again.

Always get back up again.

I’ve been meaning to start a “Hot Mess” blog hop for a long time. All the successful blogs out there are telling you how to improve yourself, how to make more money, how to make over your budget, or how to organize your closet. They even sell courses on it.

Well, friends, I don’t know how you can do any of that stuff. If I did, I’d definitely use that information on myself. 

You know what I am? I’m just a hot mess, saved by grace. That’s right, grace. From the time I was 4, I could just feel the presence of God. I knew he was there.

When I was 7, I decided to ask Jesus to save me from the punishment for my sins. The Bible says that God loves us so much that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He knows we’re humans. He loves us anyway.

I am saved by grace. Some days it seems like I need more grace than others. The Bible teaches that God is not a respecter of persons. We are all equal in God’s eyes.

So this blog hop is for any blogger. We are all a hot mess in need of grace.

We’ll meet back here next Friday at 12pm and do this again, and I’ll choose a feature.

There’s just one rule:

#1. Remember this is a family place, so all …..ahem…..not-family-appropriate content will be removed.

Bonus points if you’d follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, or Instagram…or WordPress, but I don’t have a link for that one.

Comment below if you want an email reminding you of next week’s Hot Mess blog hop.

Now let’s party! Let’s do some mingling!!!

The post The Hot Mess Blog Hop appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

I am now officially a contributor to montereypremier.com‘s blog, Engaging Work life! This was an exciting opportunity for me, and I hope you’ll give it a read.

Here’s a snippet:

#1. You HAVE to self-promote.
I didn’t want to do it either, but how can anyone ever read your blog if they don’t know that you posted something new? I see it all the time with friends that start blogs. They spend all that time writing, but then they keep it a secret.
Think of it as an invitation. You wouldn’t throw a party and then not invite anyone to it.

Click here to read the rest! 

The post 10 Blogging Tips for Beginners (What I wish I had known when I started blogging!) appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.