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Coffee Talk #OldSchoolBlogging Vol. 5

coffee talk

I feel like I fulfilled my quota for old school blogging yesterday when I shared my recent (or lifelong, really) struggle to stay trim. But I don’t suppose I ever run out of things to say, so here we are!

I hope everyone had a lovely Independence Day. Ours was delightfully uneventful. In fact, I slept through the fireworks. Not that they were much to see from our house, but sometimes we sit outside and watch them in the distance and listen to the pops and crackles. Last night, I dozed on the couch after finishing up my latest book, and then stumbled upstairs to bed and was asleep by 10pm. THUS the super early morning blog post today!

I’m so excited about our beach trip this week. I’ve been trying to get ahead on my blogging commitments so I can enjoy our time away. A blogger’s work is truly never done, and there’s such a blurred line between work and play in this profession, I have to admit even blogging when I’m supposed to be relaxing because I’d truly rather be doing this than just about anything else.

My other favorite past time is reading. I went onto the Kindle store to download a new book and discovered that Janet Evanovich just released the 21st book in her Stephanie Plum series, so I impulsively downloaded it, along with the book I had intended to read at the recommendation of my friend Jill, The Girl You Left Behind. I am not proud to admit that I am still reading the Plum series. It has gotten incredibly repetitive and silly, but I can’t quit it. It’s a fun, light read, and I constantly crack up at the antics of the main characters, no matter how ridiculous it becomes.

I finished it up last night and started reading 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, which already has me hooked. I’m convinced that I could be managing my time much more efficiently and I’m hoping this book will give me some tips. It’s written from a journalist’s perspective, which I like. So I’ll let you know how that goes. I’m saving The Girl You Left Behind for the beach!

I’m still plodding along here with the old foot. I don’t know if I told you or not, but I’m going to get the injection. I’m just putting it off until I get back from Maine because I talked to my doctor and found out I will have to wear a boot for two weeks while the injection hopefully does its thing and stimulates my body to heal itself. I want to make sure that I give myself the best possible chance for recovery so I’m going to try to lay low and rest during that time. So for now I’m being as active as I can, and I’m even running a little. It doesn’t seem to make the situation overall that much worse. I notice much more pain after standing all day or walking around the mall than I do when I take a 30-40 minute walk/run so I’m letting myself enjoy a few here and there when the weather cooperates. I’m not at all looking forward to wearing that boot for another two weeks, but as my mother always says, “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”

I want to take a quick minute to thank my top referrers from June. I hope to start doing this monthly, and I figured my Coffee Talk post is the perfect opportunity. I’m intentionally leaving out social media sites (such as Pinterest and Facebook) as well as the blogs that I link up with for carnivals, unless those blogs send traffic to me in other ways. This is my way of thanking those who have been kind of enough to share the love — link love, that is!

Top 5 June Referrers

1. Stitch Fix Reviews featured my Stitch Fix post, and they are officially the top traffic referrer for the month of June. So thank you!!

2. Cyndi at Walking In Grace & Beauty featured me in Favorite Pins Friday, making her my 2nd top referrer for the month of June.

3. Alison featured me in her May Pretties post over at Get Your Pretty On. Even though that was back in May, that post plus the spring trend post that we collaborated on brings her in at #3.

4. My food contributor, Colleen, creates amazing recipes for my site, and then she puts a teaser up on her own blog and links over, making her one of my top 5 referrers. This was not part of our agreement; she just does this as a little extra bonus. Thanks, girl!!!

5. Sheaffer over at Pinterest Told Me To linked to me a few times this spring, most notably this post on wedges. Even though it was back in March, she still showed up as a top 5 referrer for June.

Thanks, ladies!!! It’s so much fun working in this space with such generous and talented ladies willing to share their link love!

Regular Top Referrers

There are some blogs who continually send me significant traffic. I didn’t want to include them in the June list because they are more perennial top referrers, lol. Meaning, they would be in the top 5 every month, making it hard to showcase anyone else. But I don’t want to write this post without mentioning them. They are:

1. Happy Simple Living featured my mojito recipe in their post, Things To Do with Fresh Mint, and even though it was back in 2011, it STILL sends me over 500 visitors every month (at least it does this time of year). So thank you!

2. Fave Gluten-Free Recipes linked to my Buffalo Chicken Dip a long time ago, and they too consistently send significant traffic to my blog.

3. Paleo Grubs linked to my pumpkin pancake recipe, making them another consistent top referrer, month after month.

4. Emily at Practical Paleo is a regular participant in my Real Food Recipe Roundup, and she faithfully links back to my blog in her meal planning posts, making her a regular top referrer as well.

5. Finally, Alison at Sassy Moms in the City is my partner in the Real Food Recipe Roundup, and we link to one another every week, making her yet another regular top referrer!

And if you’re curious, here were my top 10 posts from June. Not all were written in June. Some are perennial favorites, and some got a new lease on life this summer.

Top 10 Posts on Musings Of A Housewife in June

1. Mojito Recipe (always my top)

2. Gluten-Free Banana Bread (often #2)

3. Easy Weeknight Dinners (new this spring! This one has really taken off. )

4. Healthy July 4th Recipes (this one took off this year after The Biggest Loser pinned it on Pinterest)

5. White Sangria Recipe (this one that I posted last year is making a big comeback this summer)

6. Ultimate Bloody Mary Recipe (thank you, Colleen!)

7. What To Wear to Disney World (written years ago, always in my top 10)

8. Stitch Fix: What’s All The Hype About? (thank you, Stitch Fix Reviews!)

9. How I Got Off Nexium For Good (this one used to always be in my top 3, but somehow it’s sunk to #9)

10. Half Marathon Training Plan for Beginners (this post is getting a new lease on life this spring, and I’m so glad to see it. This plan worked SO well for me, I hope a lot of people use it and find success with it.)

I hope you find these lists as interesting as I do! I thought it would be fun to do this monthly. Let’s see if I remember next month. Ha!

With that, I’m off to enjoy my Saturday. I get to pick up my boy from camp. I’ve missed his dry sense of humor and help with the kitchen, but I know he’s had a blast and hopefully grown in the Lord, and I’m anxious to hear all about it.

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5 Responses

  1. We’re also headed to the beach next week. (Can’t WAIT!) We’re not going the entire week, but a few days will surely do wonders.

    I’m going to have to check out the book you mentioned. I have a stack of books on my nightstand and it’s getting taller by the day. I’ve found a new love for reading lately (and I don’t have a Kindle. So the stack is literally getting taller.)

  2. LOVE the old-school blogging. I wish I could count on books for the beach…my kids are still always swarming around me, so I’m averaging a book a year!! It’s awful.
    Thanks for the referral list – this is so helpful to a newbie blogger like myself! 🙂

  3. +I’m just starting the Stephanie Plum novels and love them. I’ve heard they get really repetitive toward the end of the series, but for now they’re really fun. I’m reading Sookie Stackhouse now and taking my blog readers through a monthly book club now. We’re currently reading DEAD UNTIL DARK. You should join us! (Here: https://www.lisakerr.net/the-girls-who-read-book-club/)

    On the note of blogging and how a bloggers work is never done, I feel like that’s so true. Every night when my boyfriend comes home I feel like he keeps urging me to put the phone down and I just can’t stop. I think it’s a challenge because we bloggers usually do the job of 4 people and there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all. At least that’s how I feel.

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