A Year in Review

If you’re reading this you’ve successfully made it through 2016 and into 2017. Congratulations. My blog survived the year, too. It’s coming up on two years since I made the switch from Blogger to WordPress. I brought exactly zero followers with me when I made that switch.

So how did my second year compare to my first year? Thanks to all of you, it’s a bit like comparing George Lucas’s second film “American Graffiti” with his third film “Star Wars”. The only thing missing is a few million geeks.

2015 accumulated 9,259 views.
2016 accumulated 18,997 views for an increase of 9,738. This is over double from my first year of blogging. This makes me as happy as a geek on opening night of Rogue One.

2015 had 3,510 visitors.
2016 had 6,625 visitors. This is 3,115 more. Not quite double, but close!

In 2015 I posted 316 times.
In 2016 I posted 356 times. This means I was 9 posts short of one a day for an entire year.

2015 brought 2,827 likes.
2016 brought 6,735 likes.  3,908 more! You like me! You really like me! Y’all are as awesome as a $20 bill found in a pocket of a coat you haven’t worn for a year.

2015 had some good discussions. 2,370 comments were left on my blog.
2016 had some good discussions. 5,633 comments were left on my blog. Again, this is more than double. This is the section I love to report on the most. I’ve said it repeatedly and I’ll continue to say it, your comments and stories and input are absolutely amazing. Thank you.

In 2016 my most popular page was my homepage with 3,628 views. My top three most viewed posts were my about page with 296 views, my links page with 145 views, and the taboo words for the Taboo Word Challenge with 127 views. My most popular post to date is The Value of a Teacher with 517 views.

In 2015 my blog travelled the world over. 54 countries visited my little space.
In 2016 my blog travelled the world over. Exactly 100 countries visited. That means there are just 96 countries who haven’t visited yet. The top countries to visit last year were the US, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Netherlands, and Thailand.

2015 began with exactly zero followers, but by the end of that first year I had 253 amazing followers.
2016 began with the 253 followers from 2015. Then 456 joined us for the fun and frustration of being a parent for a total of 709 followers! Thanks to Apple, Growing Up Wonderfull, and Little Boys Are Made Of for being my most recent followers. I see the 1,000th follower coming. Will you be next?

Lastly, my top 5 commenters in 2015 were Grubbs-n-Critters, I’m Strong Enough to Break (now known as That’s What Anxious Mom Said), Elen Grey, A Momma’s View, and Terri Webster Schrandt.

In 2016 four of those 5 are still on my list of top commenters! Grubbs-n-Critters, A Momma’s View, That’s What Anxious Mom Said, Elen Grey, Life In Perspective Web, and Larva225.

I’ll end on a humorous note, the search terms that led people to my blog.

• run sad to happy
• sunday
• sad running happy
• windows 10 start button doesnt work
• taboo challenge
• about captain america
• semalt expert
• parenting
• mountain.or.forest
  
• elf on the shelf when dad’s in charge

I LOVE that sixth one.

All 709 of you are weird, but I’ve been lucky enough to find someone nearly as weird as I am and I am eternally thankful that she continues to put up with my desire to blog. XOXO