TYAT! #15

Hello hello!

It’s been an interesting week. Let’s just say it’s that time of the month and I feel like I am straight up evil during this “time”. Hahaha TMI – I’m sure – yiiiikes! But come on! I can not be the only women who feels this way! Anywhoooo, I should stay on topic or I will just scare you guys from reading my weekly TYAT blog! Let’s get to it! Here are the questions I will be answering for this weeks, Things You Ask Thursday!

1.) I loved reading your last post about getting into fixing up houses to rent out. So cool! What made you want to start doing that? Also, what is the project for this coming weekend? I look forward to your weekend recap!

My parents! They have been doing that since I can remember and I always thought it was so neat. Personally, I do not know a thing about houses or fixing up anything! I have been just YouTubing everything I need to know (thank the lord this exists) and going from there! Matthew is very handy and is naturally good at this- so that totally helps! Our plan for this weekend is to start tearing a wall out that divides the kitchen from our big dining area. The kitchen is pretty dang small so we are doing this in hopes of opening up the small kitchen space. Overall, it will just look more appealing! After that, we will be taking all the cupboards down, sanding them, and painting them white! I guess you could say I am obsessed with making the kitchen a space I love because right now, it is not my cup of tea! I love spaces completely white. I don’t know what my problem is but in my mind it just makes it look so clean, open, and fresh!

2.) What is the biggest change you have noticed in yourself since becoming a mom? I feel like my hormones are still all wacky!

This is slightly emabarressing to admit but I just feel like I am overall wayyy more sensitive! Which can be good…but also bad! You know that humor some people have, the sarcastic joking that comes across as (slightly) mean? I feel like this is something I would have to give an example of to make sense. Hmmmm, let’s see. Like if someone were to come up to you and say “ohhh you don’t work, you are just a stay at home mom!” or “dang, your baby is a brat…must be like what you were in your teenage years!” Does anyone else know people that joke like this? Where they have a smile on their face when they say something slightly offensive/super sarcastic?! Guys these are jokes that old Rachel would just laugh at and make a witty remark back! Even if I thought they weren’t funny I could still muster a fake laugh! Now, I kind of don’t even know what to say and feel super uncomfortable. These are things that a year ago, would have never bothered me. It’s something that I have noticed especially in the past few months. I can 100% admit I have become hyper sensitive. I’m working on because at times I need to learn to let it go! I have to remind myself of two things. 1.) Some people genuinely have the that sarcastic sense of humor where they say things that they don’t realize might be hurtful (like they are completely unaware) 2.) Hurt people, hurt people. If someone knows it would hurt you, but say it in a “jokingly” manner, they are probably just hurting themselves. That or they are super insecure and it makes them feel better to put other people down! Let it go and move on. Super weird that this affects me so much…I don’t know what to blame it on…hormones? Or the fact that this just truly isnt my humor (nor one that I connect with) and I can’t fake joke back anymore. I don’t know but there’s a very honest response to your question. Take it or leave it!

3.) Are the twins still very opposite or are there some similarities?

Oh boy they are just polar opposites! They melt my heart in completely different ways!

Let’s start with sweet Olivia!

She is getting goofier and goofier by the day and lovvves the spotlight! Her babbling is nonstop and she is constantly letting me know just how she feels. Her crawling is strong but she does not feel the need to explore and get into absolutely everything. She prefers to stay close to me and play within range. Overall, she is a phenonemal sleeper and eater! I can not get enough of her baby rolls. I have to be honest she reminds me a lot of myself! Just this goofy, silly, little gal with a lot of spunk who likes to make silly faces & noises!

Oh my and then there is my Ollie.

He is a quiet little guy unless he wants me to pick him up or share my food. Then I hear a shrieking “Mama mama mama!” Which by the way totally melts me. Oliver is constantly on the go, and getting into EVERYTHING. This little boy is strong, fearless, and my little dare devil. It’s harder for me to keep tabs on him than Olivia at the moment! He reminds me of Matthew in so many ways. His demeanor is overall quieter and very sweet.

Together, they are the perfect pair. It truly is the best of both worlds and I love being their mama.

4.) How do you recomend going about getting more Instagram followers?

I could write a novel about this topic but I will try to keep my answer short and consise. I’m going to give you the most honest answer I can, my mindset on Instagram and a “strong following” has changed dramatically starting about a year ago. I use to be so hungry for that following. In my mind it showed my worth and ability to be successful. There is a marketing service you can pay $30 a month (or more) to help your growth. It will like photos so you do not have to do it and reach potential followers that would most likely be interested in your page based off interest. It can even follow and then unfollow people for you. Kinda crazy. I used this service for half a year and it totally worked. In my mind, this was an organic fast way of growing my business but honestly, it hit me one day how stupid it was. Who cares if the process is slower? My best advice is to grow your following ORGANICALLY. Using that service was not organic and I regret doing it. Do the work and earn what you want! You can tell who does this service because it will show one day they are following 3,000-4,000 people and then the next day it will drop to a couple hundred or 1,000. Then it will start all over again! Wanna know a secret? After you stop using this service, you will lose quite a few of those followers anyway. So what was all that for anyways? Nothing really – It’s just plain silly!

It hit me one day when I was super pregnant with my twinnies. I don’t give a crap how many followers I have anymore and I quit using it. All I want is to build a strong community who looks at my page and feels inspired & happy. Thats all I want- to shine a little light on someone elses day! Also, I just want to be a good person and set a positive example. My priorities have changed DRASTICALLY and I can tell you how many followers I have has gone to the bottom of that list. Since stopping the service, I have built really amazing relationships with my awesome followers! It has been so much more enjoyable and what this community is genuinely all about! I stopped putting pressure on myself to have this massive following and focused on building genuine friendships.

My recomendations to build an organic following:

Collab, collab, collab!!! Such a great way to get your name out there onto a bunch of different pages!
Comment on other users photos genuine comments. Engage!!
Do giveaways with other companies! This one is my favorite – it’s fun to give away free stuff to your awesome followers!

Past that, stop focusing on the damn number. That’s doesn’t signify your worth, how liked you are, or your success. Who cares! Another very important aspect to think about is this. You do not own Instagram. Why put all your eggs into one basket on a app, something you do not even own? What if something were to happen to it? Ask yourself, would you be screwed business wise if this is your only way of making an income? Do you have a backup? Please do not get me wrong! I love the gram community, but I just do not want to see anyone only focus on that, especially if that is how they solely make their income! It’s called integrated marketing! Whenever running a business it’s important to have several different platforms! For example, I own this blog, It is not going anywhere and is in my complete control. Along with my blog I have my Instagram @livelygirlrachel and facebook page. I use to put all my eggs into one basket (practically) and focus just on my insta. It was dumb!

So there you go, my honest blunt answer. I’m sorry if you were hoping I had some magic formual to help build your page! I do not but I think this is very important to write about, especially for those who are running business online!

As always, thank your for stopping by the blog. Hopefully my rants do not scare you guys away! I feel like I have been even more blunt than usual lately- eeeeek! Have an amazing weekend (one day away folks!) and check back here Monday to see the mess we make tearing the wall down in our kitchen. Oh and say some prayers that we actually know what we are doing- Ha!