One Year of Cookies and Cursewords
Has It Really Been a Whole Year?
Last May, I started thinking about writing a blog. Actually, I think it was a divine intervention thing. A little voice inside my head kept telling me to start a blog, no joke. I’d done little blogs before on free sites, but this time I wanted to do a self-hosted blog, a blog in which I would own the domain.
To this day I can’t pinpoint one specific reason why this was important to me, but I do remember thinking that it would be nice to have something of my own in which to write my true feelings on any subject that came to mind. Since I’d done the little free site blogs, I figured this would be easy, a piece of cake.
WRONG! If anybody tells you that started a self-hosted blog is easy, they are either lying or they are super computer savvy. Cookies and Cursewords took several weeks for this old lady to set up. There is so much more to building your own blog site, but luckily there are also a ton of free tutorials online to help a person through it.
I can remember working on it for a few hours, getting frustrated, and walking away for a few days. That same little nagging voice in my head always told me to go back and try again. My blog is still far from perfect, but it’s up and running and it’s mine. Writing the posts is the easy part!
Steadily Growing..
When I first started the blog, I was lucky to have ten page views a day. Most of these came from friends and family that I begged. 🙂 At the end of 2018, I had slightly over 10,000 page views and I was thrilled with that. Some blogs have 10,000 page views or more per day, but to know that my little blog pages had been “clicked on” 10,000 times last year was a thrill to me.
As of today, my 2019 numbers have already well surpassed my views from last year. Checking my analytics this morning, I see that I have had 21,804 page views since January 1, 2019. I’ve been averaging between 4,000-5,000 per month, and I love it.
Do blogs make money? Some blogs actually make a lot of money. Not mine, so far. 😉 Since I started a year ago, I have made a few hundred dollars from the Google Ads and Amazon affiliation. I make enough to keep the blog going, and thats about all. I just renewed my hosting and domain for another year, which cost me around $138. I also subscribe to an email service for $20 per month.
Originally, my intention was to reach out to brands for sponsored posts, as that is where the real money comes into play. Unfortunately, working a full time job and life in general doesn’t allow me the time it takes to really concentrate on things like that…so for now I am focusing on my blog content instead of making money.
A Year of Posts…
My blog has no particular niche. I write what I want, when I want to write. I write fun posts, recipes, serious posts, personal posts, motivational (hopefully) posts…there have even been a few times that I have simply posted some pretty pictures.
Sometimes I spend a lot of time planning a post, others I quickly write what comes to my mind at a particular moment. My grammar often sucks. Guess what? I don’t really care. The way I look at it, I’m basically having a conversation with you and my grammar isn’t perfect when I speak, either! Thinking back this morning, I’ve picked a few posts (out of the 104) that have stuck out to me over the past year. Here they are!
Fun Posts
I love writing fun posts that hopefully bring smiles to the faces of my readers.
My favorite fun post came from an incident with my husband involving ice cream. You can read the whole thing here:
https://cookiesandcursewords.com/dont-touch-the Neapolitan
Other fun posts include:
Pet Peeves (with help from all of you) https://cookiesandcursewords.com/toilet-paper-belongs-on-the-roller-and-many-other-pet-peeves
Your Embarrassing Moments https://cookiesandcursewords.com/what-is-your-most-embarrassing-moment
Chafing Issues https://cookiesandcursewords.com/ever-heard-of-chub-rub-what-not-to-do
First Time RV Camping https://cookiesandcursewords.com/the-clueless-rv-club
Visit To a REAL Candy Factory https://cookiesandcursewords.com/Henrys-candy-company-a-sweet-treat
Embarrassing Your Teenager https://cookiesandcursewords.com/how-to-avoid-embarrassing-your-teenager
Helpful/Motivational/Mental Health Posts
Many of my posts are written with the intention of bringing a different perspective to things that happen in everyday life. Hopefully a few of these posts have touched you in some positive way.
The following post was written about my experience with a therapist after the loss of both of my parents and my sister within a ten month time period. This post was actually picked up by The Mighty, a large site affiliated with many major publications. They changed the name slightly but kept the post the same.
Here is the original post on my blog: https://cookiesandcursewords.com/lifes-bank-account-keep-it-positive
Other thought provoking posts:
It’s All In Your Perspective https://cookiesandcursewords.com/flower-or-weed-a-matter-of-perspective
Put the Camera Away For a Minute https://cookiesandcursewords.com/take-pictures-with-your-heart
Take the Dirt Road https://cookiesandcursewords.com/take-the-dirt-road-5-reasons-why
You Are Not Alone https://cookiesandcursewords.com/I-see-you
This COULD Be YOU https://cookiesandcursewords.com/think-before-you-judge
Guest Posts
I have had a few guest posts this past year, two from my sister and one from a friend. If you have something to say and would like to be a guest blogger on Cookies and Cursewords, please contact me. I welcome others to join in the fun!
Centered (from my friend April Olson) https://cookiesandcursewords.com/centered-a-guest-post-by-April-Olson
The Wrinkled Wanderer (my older sister’s travels) https://cookiesandcursewords.com/adventures-of-a-wrinkled-wanderer-retirement-fun-by-Jan-Milbradt
Personal Posts
When I first started the blog, I made the decision that I would share pieces of myself…even if it was emotional or difficult. The following posts all have very personal meaning to me, shared from the heart.
My Experience with a Bully https://cookiesandcursewords.com/an-open-letter-to-my-junior-high-bully
My Sister’s Ovarian Cancer https://cookiesandcursewords.com/Lornas-story-Ovarian-cancer-sucks
My Amazing 105 Year Old Grandma Hazel https://cookiesandcursewords.com/my-amazing-grandma-lived-to-105-her-story-in-her-words
Changes (Kara) https://cookiesandcursewords.com/changes
My Brave Cousin Jane’s Current Battle with Cancer https://cookiesandcursewords.com/janes-journey
Memories of My Dad https://cookiesandcursewords.com/simply-the-best-dad
Heavenly Visit From My Mom https://cookiesandcursewords.com/a-visit-from-my-mom
Most Pinterest Shares
I share most of my blog post to my Pinterest account. All of the pictures were taken of recipes I made myself. The following posts did very well on Pinterest (notice they are ALL recipes)!
Cowboy Soup (the best) https://cookiesandcursewords.com/hearty-crockpot-cowboy-soup
Super Rich Crockpot Peanut Butter Cake https://cookiesandcursewords.com/slow-cooker-peanut-butter-cup-cake-
Low-Carb Pancakes https://cookiesandcursewords.com/easy-carbquik-pancakes
Remember…I have a whole recipe section with a lot of deliciousness! https://cookiesandcursewords.com/recipes
Finally..My Opinion
A recent post received a lot of attention, not all good! I posted my opinion about an experience that I had at a local graduation. I posted what I experienced, and what I felt.
What Happened to Respect? https://cookiesandcursewords.com/what-happened-to-respect
After receiving much feedback on this post (including a couple of very negative private emails), I decided to write another post to further clarify my thoughts. Writing a blog requires a touch skin, which I am slowly starting to acquire. I didn’t use social media to promote this rebuttal post, so many of you may not have seen it.
Thoughts https://cookiesandcursewords.com/thoughts
It’s been a fun and interesting year, and I don’t plan to slow down anytime soon. Thank you all for your continued support!
