Tuesday 16 November 2021

Nine years blogging!

Happy blog birthday to me! It is 9 years today since I started blogging. Where has the time gone? I have never stuck with anything this long, well apart from my fella Stu who is my biggest supporter when it comes to blogging.

Pink Birthday Cake

Nine years ago I started with a free blogspot blog and was called Northumberland Mam. I started to blog after stumbling across blogs hosting giveaways. I was big on entering competitions way back in 2010/2012. Sometimes when I found a giveaway there would be some another blog post which caught my eye and I would keep going back and reading those blogs. It got to a point where I thought this blogging lark was a good idea to record our families memories. I could record our lives and be able to look back on it on years to come, I could rant, share my ideas and have lots of fun too.

I lived in Northumberland at the time and thought Northumberland Mam was a good name. It was until I moved house to North Lincolnshire and then it wouldn't really work. I knew nothing about blogging back then and thought it was so simple, I was a mam living in Northumberland I know now that a lot of thought has to go into choosing a blog name.

Nine years ago I just jumped right in and started with the blog post They shouldn't have bring and buy sales so close to Christmas! All about how Becky was doing a nice thing buying her sister a present from the school bring and buy sale. The same ruddy present we had bought Ellie for Christmas. lol

My youngest with Buzz Lightyear

I don't think I ever introduced my self in a blog post. I think it was a good few months before I even had an "about me page" which I am really bad at updating. I did update it a month or so ago, the last time I did Becky was still 16, she's 19 now. lol

Most of my photos back then were awful. This blog post from Christmas 2012 is a fine example. hahaha Now I use PicMonkey to sharpen, brighten and make photo collages. I have even made all of my blog headers on Pic Monkey. They're not as pretty and professional as some but it is a massive improvement from when I first started blogging.

Not much has changed on my blog since the early days. The heart background has gone and like I said I have a nicer header but I keep it pretty basic. I think the fanciest thing I've done is add some follow buttons for my social media accounts. lol

Basic blog page

I went on the Wayback Machine website to find this and it did make me smile because it reminded me how long I had been meal planning and that when I first joined in with a meal planning linky I asked permission to join. I thought you had to be a member of the group to take part. lol I was so naive when it came to blogging.

I used to join in with a ton of linkies but many have stopped now which is a shame. The one's I join in with now are Monday morning blog club, the meal planning linky, project 365, a photo every day for a year and Word of the Week. I have found so many blogs to follow through those linkies and found some fab friends.

Northumberland Mam 2016

I keep myself to myself when it comes to blogging and tend to do my own thing, yes I still review low cost items because I would rather be sent it without having to spend my money. I don't have the money to waste on something I may not like. Many times after reviewing a product I go on to buy more. I am more picky about the things I choose to review now but I don't earn money from my blog from sponsored posts so getting something to review which costs me nothing is well worth my time, especially if my family and I like it.

I have met some pretty amazing people through blogging. I have a handful of  bloggers who I would call real friends and I care about them as much as I do family. 

Northumberland Mam 2017

When we moved house to Scunthorpe I bought a domain name and became all fancy, becoming Life as Kim. I had sleepless nights before we moved house, thinking about adding a domain name to my blogspot blog but it was actually pretty straightforward. I followed guides online and YouTube videos. I had one stressy moment when there was about 10 minutes moving from blogspot to my domain where nothing showed up but it worked. Hooray!

Late last year I did a blog post listing my top 10 blog posts of all time and some of them still surprise me. I do love the summer when I get loads of views about putting Milton sterilising tablets in paddling pools and who'd have thought so many people would have rats under their floorboards upstairs.


Over the last couple of years I have blogged less about my girls. Of course I talk about them as they are part of my life, a massive part but now there is more that I don't tell than do. They're 19 and 14 now not 10 and 5 years old and they want their privacy. I still moan all the time about them on Twitter but here on my blog I don't share as many stories as I could and as much of their personal lives. Their stories are not my stories to tell. Parenting teenagers is hard enough without sharing it online. Yeah, it would be great for others to read about and know they are in the same boat but I know they are teenagers and their friends could potentially read here.

So here I am are nine years into blogging and to be honest I can't see myself stopping anytime soon. I do sometimes think that daily blogging is too much work for me and think I will cut down to a few posts a week especially when I have lost my blogging mojo but then I will find inspiration and then end up with at least 5 blog posts in my drafts and me itching to get them live.

Thank you for reading! Thank you as well to anyone who leaves a comment, likes a Facebook post, retweets a Tweet, hearts and Instagram photo or give a thumbs up to my rubbish YouTube videos. I appreciate you all!

How long have you been reading my blog? Can you remember me as Northumberland Mam?

10 comments :

  1. Congratulations! I can't remember how long I've been reading your blog, but it's been a long time! I love reading your posts. Blogging was so different a few years back wasn't it. I used to write many more chatty posts about the children but like you say it's harder as they get older, I don't want to cause them any embarrassment!

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  2. Happy 9 years! My first few years of blogging I didn't have ANY photos on my blog! LOL. I wanted to record our homeschooling days but I didn't want photos of the kids or our house on the internet... boy has that changed!

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  3. Happy Blog Birthday, what a journey. It's so lovely to have all those memories to look back on. I've made some really good friends through blogging too. xx

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  4. Ah happy birthday! I think I've pretty much followed you from the start. Always enjoy your updates x

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  5. Haooy blog birthday, it's been lovely to watch your girls grow up on social media and see what I have coming down the line, too!

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  6. Aww happy blog-birthday ! I can't remember how long ago I started reading your blog, but it was a while ago ! I'm the same as you - I don't feature the kids any more, now that they're older, plus I seem to have less time to myself these days ! Lovely to read all about your life - long may it continue ! xx

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  7. A massive happy nine years blogging! I remember you being the very first person to comment on my blog all of those years ago. I am so lucky to have made an awesome friend from it all, you're the best!
    Here's to many more years of enjoying your lovely blog. xxxx

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  8. Congratulations. I think my 9 years was in October. It's amazing to have stuck it this long I think. I will talk about N even less next year once he's at secondary. I stopped daily blogging about 3 years ago and it took a while not to continue, but it's been worth it, especially when I need the time back for work, my second blog (which I rarely do anything on), plus I now have time for exercise, and all the other blogging requirements I need to keep up with.

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  9. Congratulations on nine years of blogging! This was lovely to look back on your blog and I definitely remember you as Northumberland Mam! I have been reading your blog for a long time!
    A lot of what you say about how naive you were when you started out is so true for me too. I also had terrible pictures back then! Mine are still not the best, but they are a massive improvement.
    I can totally relate to not telling so many stories about the kids now, although like you I still moan about mine on Twitter!
    I cut down how often I blog two or three years ago, then cut it down even more this year. I usually only do one family post a week now, plus my Sunday photo and a book review. But, like you, I don't think I'll ever give up blogging.

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  10. Congratulations on nine years of blogging Kim. Looking back on some of your past headers made me smile remembering your posts when you were Northumberland Mam. You were one of the first bloggers I came across when I first started my blog and I have loved reading your posts over the years and getting to know you and your lovely girls through them. I'm impressed you still manage to blog so regularly as well - I'm lucky if I manage more than a couple of posts a week these days.

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