10 Years of Happy Healthy Mama

This month marks an entire decade that I’ve been writing here on Happy Healthy Mama. 10 years. 10 years of recipes, pregnancy, childbirth, motherhood, fitness, learning to live more green and more naturally. It’s a journey and I’m incredibly grateful I’ve gotten to share it with you.

Whether you’ve been here the entire time, jumped in somewhere in the middle, or are a brand new reader, I want to say thank you. The Internet is a big, crowded space, and I’m honored that you take time to read the words, look at the pictures, try the recipes, and share the struggles and joys of this life. I thank you with my whole heart.

It’s a dream that I get to do this thing for a living. It’s not easy. It isn’t easy now, it wasn’t easy when I started, and it wasn’t easy anywhere in the middle. I don’t want to give that illusion at all. But it sure is fulfilling.

There’s been so many times I’ve doubted myself and wanted to quit. My photography wasn’t good enough, I didn’t know how to manage raising babies and growing a website, and I questioned if it was worth the effort.

Just when I would be at the end of my rope, it would happen. A comment on a blog post. A reply to an email. Words of encouragement from you, letting me know you loved the recipe, related to my story, or something I said helped you. And those words, my friends, have kept me going, motivated me to keep creating and sharing. So thank you again.

Reflecting on 10 Years of Blogging

Through the years, the content on my blog has evolved. Thankfully, my photography skills improved with a whole lot of practice and effort. Each photo in the collage was taken from January of the labeled year. It was really fun to look back and grab a photo from each year and remember the recipes. That picture from 2010 is the very first photo I shared on Happy Healthy Mama. I can’t imagine why my blog didn’t take off right away.🤪

Timeline of Happy Healthy Mama

January 3, 2010-Published my first blog post, introducing a 30 Day Food Challenge Tim and I were completing, trying to eat vegan for a month. There were no pictures, but it gives a good description of my healthy living journey to that point and what was propelling me to make changes.

February 2010-Initially I started blogging just to share our food challenge. I decided I loved having a creative outlet and I announced I planned to keep the blog going here.

July 2010-I had vague dreams about growing my blog into something more, so I migrated it from the free platform, Blogger, to a paid WordPress site.

June 11, 2011-I announced I was pregnant and started sharing weekly pregnancy updates.

December 2011-I had my first photo accepted to Foodgawker and was inspired and motivated to get better at taking photos.

April 17, 2012–I announced I was taking a blogging break. Juggling a new baby, toddler, and the blog was a lot to handle and I was dealing with mastitis and a baby who didn’t sleep through the night.

June 2012-I ended my blogging break and got back into the swing of it with Luke’s 5 month update post.

November 2012-I had my first viral Pinterest post with Apple Peanut Butter Snack bars. (This was before the smart feed when pins could go viral immediately after posting them! Who misses those days?)

2013-I was an inconsistent blogger as I tried to balance blogging with being a stay-at-home mom to a baby and toddler. Often, I felt paralyzed and did nothing because I didn’t feel like I had the time or energy to do a good job. Eventually, I allowed myself some grace to just put my content out there, even if I felt the photos weren’t as good as they could be. (As evidenced in this Apple Cinnamon Crumb Muffins post.)

September 2014-I purchased and started the course Elite Blog Academy. I started learning how to turn my hobby into a business.

January 2015-Had a huge breakthrough in page views after implementing some of what I’d learned in Elite Blogging Academy.

May 2015-Was accepted into the AdThrive Ad Management Network, and allowed them to take over the management of my advertising here on the blog.

January 2016-Kicked off the Healthy Year Challenge, with new monthly challenges each month that I completed with readers.

May 2016-Attended Everything Food Conference for the first time.

January 2017-Marked the beginning of a relationship with MegaFood and started a two-year ambassadorship.

March 2017-I released Conquer Dinner, an ebook focused on meal prep for dinner.

2018-I signed publishing deals with Adams Media (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) to write Anti-Inflammatory Drinks for Health and I Love My Instant Pot Anti-Inflammatory Diet Recipe Book.

September 2018-I joined ZYIA Active and started slowly integrating selling activewear into my HHM business.

February 2019–Anti-Inflammatory Drinks for Health was released.

October 2019-I Love My Instant Pot Anti-Inflammatory Diet Recipe Book was released.

It’s been a wild ride!

I also looked at my most-viewed content in the last decade. Okay, actually, it has to be the last five and a half years because I didn’t install google analytics until October 2014.