Rose Clearfield • Page 135 of 182 • Midwest lifestyle blogger.

2017 Goals Summary #1: Blog Page Views

Goal Updates / January 3, 2018

I set some really ambitious 2017 goals for myself. I posted regular monthly updates for my goals through May and then continued to work on the goals through the remaining seven months of 2017. I’m sharing my overall outcome with my 2017 goals before sharing my 2018 goals.

Goal #1 was to reach five figure monthly page views. Spoiler alert: I did not reach five figure monthly page views. Here’s my breakdown for 2017.

January – 5,561
February – 3,505
March – 6,079
April – 7,533
May – 4,875
June – 4,019
July – 2,969
August – 3,163
September – 3,039
October – 3,254
November – 4,085
December – 5,238

The screenshot below is from December 2017.

It’s not a secret that this blog took a bit of a backseat during the second half of 2017 after Tommy was born. Since mid-July, I’ve created very few evergreen posts. Most of what I’ve published here has been of a more personal nature. I’ve also stepped back from the level of promotion and networking that I had been maintaining for the eight months or so prior to his birth. I don’t think pushing ahead full steam for the second half of 2017 would have automatically translated into five figure monthly page views. But stepping back didn’t help.

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Naughty or Nice Holiday Floral Show at the Domes

Wisconsin / December 27, 2017

I get so excited for favorite Christmas traditions, and the holiday show at the Domes is no exception. This year’s show, Naughty or Nice, offers a behind the scenes look of the elves at the North Pole, making toys and checking their lists. The focal point of the show is a 25-foot tall tree, encircled by a garland displaying Santa’s naughty or nice list. The exhibit also showcases rows and rows of gorgeous poinsettias in white, red, and pink.

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Five Months of Tommy

Family / December 14, 2017

This week our little Tommy turned five months old. We’ll get an updated weight and height at his six-month appointment.

Tommy is moving so much. He kicks his legs at every opportunity possible and loves using his foot to bounce himself in his bouncy seats. When he’s on the floor either in his activity gym or on a quilt/blanket, he often scoots himself right off the blanket or mat. He’s rolled over a couple of times on his own. He’s been rocking tummy time, staying on his tummy for 30 seconds to a minute at a time with no complaints. The past couple of weeks, he’s really started to enjoy it, giving us big smiles as he’s looking around.

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Summer Memories: June Milwaukee Instagram Meetup

Wisconsin / December 8, 2017

In the craziness of going to Europe, having a staycation with friends, and then adopting Tommy, there are a few major events from the summer that I documented but never shared. I started to regain the energy and focus to spend more than a few minutes at a time editing photos when Tommy was about 2.5 months old. Now at almost five months old, I’m still going through photos and writing not very timely events posts. I’m still excited to share them with you.

As I mentioned when I shared my first summer 2017 meetup post, after several years of following Instagram meetup accounts, I made it to two meetups this summer. The second meetup was in Milwaukee, and I’m sharing those photos today.

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China Lights 2017

Wisconsin / December 5, 2017

Continuing my timely summer and fall 2017 in Milwaukee posts, I’m finally sharing pictures from this year’s China Lights at the Boerner Botanical Gardens, which ran in October. China Lights 2016 was amazing and honestly not an event I thought they’d bring back. I just thought it would be a one time thing, and then they’d move it to another city, you know? But they did bring it back and better than ever with tons of new displays. I knew that we had to make it a priority to attend, even with the craziness of finding a sitter or bringing Tommy.

Tommy did go with us and had a blast, despite the cold and crazy crowds. The crowds in the exhibit actually weren’t too bad, the parking situation at the gardens is just nuts. If they do run it again, most likely I’d go by myself on a weeknight at a later time (8:00 or so). We still had a lot of fun and really enjoyed all of the displays.

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