The Blog Life – after 3 months

Today marks my three month “blog-iversary”. I launched suebeehomemaker.com on my 50th birthday, back in October of 2016. But I actually started working on the back-end of the blog, along with ideas for it, when my boys went back to school in late August. So I’ve been burning the midnight oil for just under five months.

I had NO idea how time consuming this blog life would be. I know it’s up to me as to how much I post and how much I work on my recipes, photography, editing, and writing. I am the boss of me! But I’m really enjoying having this little “piece of the internet” and watching to see what my readers are interested in and where you all come from.

Apparently, y’all REALLY like cupcakes because my recent Jumbo Chocolate Birthday Cupcakes is the big winner so far (in views) in 2017. Maybe everyone that is dieting is planning a splurge day? 🙂 Oh, but my Loaded Veggie Quinoa Salad  and Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Fries are not too far behind. Good job on the clean eating.

In 2016, the big winners (for views) were my Cinnamon Sugar Candied Pecans and my Cracked Wheat Bread (recipe is my momma’s). But my Italian Wedding Soup is within reach. The last two are healthy ones, just so you know!

But what has surprised me the most is that a bunch of people in different countries are actually looking at my site. Whoa! I had no idea until I looked at the advanced stats – that I didn’t know existed…until today. Ooooops. My hubby is gonna be flabbergasted because he LIVES for statistics and trends.

I live for bread, heavy on the buttah!

Ok, so besides the U.S., 57 countries (not sure how many people) looked at my site in 2016 and 56 countries (so far) in 2017. That’s crazy! Lots of views from Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Several views from Israel, Germany, India, Andorra, Brazil, Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Romania, France, South Korea, Malaysia, and so on. And to all of you, I say hello! I’m so glad you are here.

Just little ole me, a small-town Iowa girl who ended up in Texas, clicking away on my computer and thinking about what I wanna cook and where I wanna travel and what I can say to maybe make just one person smile. Because this really is just a feel good blog. And if you feel good – and you get hungry 🙂 or have an itch to travel to Lisbon or San Francisco – while reading it, then you are in the right place. Please keep coming back.

So now I’m going to ask all of you a favor. Would you provide feedback on my blog? Just go to the comments section under any blog post (or this one if you’d like), and you can tell me how I’m doing and what you would like to see more of.  If you made one of my recipes or have traveled somewhere I have, PLEASE let me know. Tell me if the recipe turned out – or if it didn’t, and if you liked it. Ask me questions. Give me your ideas. I’m a rookie at this blog business. So I need YOU to tell me your thoughts. In a kind way, please. 🙂

So what should you expect in 2017? As of right now, I’m planning more healthy recipes than not. Because without them, I can’t make the occasional indulgent dessert (most likely inspired by my momma, from Norma Jean’s Kitchen). Gotta have both in this life. I’m also planning on some fun travel posts. The travel part will probably be the best part, but I’ll share the details with y’all. Oh and there will be some odds and ends posts too.

A special thank you goes to my “cheerleader” friends (you know who you are!) my fam (my hubby – let’s call him Mr. Everything, my boys – Josh and Zach – who love to “gawk” at my recipes on food gawker, my grammar coach and sister, Jackie, and my proofreader and sister, Shari), and my very talented video producer, Tiffany (aka Josh’s girlfriend), who have liked, shared, commented, and given me their honest (and very kind) feedback. Now THAT was a long sentence.

And finally, THANK YOU to all of you for reading and keeping up with SueBee Homemaker, my little slice of the internet. I really, really appreciate all of you!

Best wishes to you in 2017 and I’ll see y’all around the blog. 🙂