All About Those Blogging Goals

January 3, 2017 4 Comments

Well, It’s the beginning of the year, and we are all talking about what goals we want to achieve this year. I am HORRIBLE with goals. I set them, and then never follow up with them. But, for now on, I want to keep up with my goals, keep track of them. It could only help myself right? I went looking at my blog, and realized that I did this exact same post at the start of 2016, so I thought.. let’s take a look and see how I did:
Reach 20,000 Social Media Followers– Ugh so close actually, My ending number for social media following was 17,186 (that includes, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and my small email list). This My end goal is 30,000 social media followers!

Reach 500 Blog Followers – FAIL. Umm. I don’t really even keep track of that anymore since switching to self-hosted WordPress.

Post Consistently: MAJOR FAIL. Did I mention the 6-month unplanned break I took from blogging? I took that break right after I wrote this post.

Monetize My Blog: Success, I actually received my first paid blog post at the end of the year. I have worked with companies & monetized my Instagram. But I wanted to be able to monetize my blog. I can say at the end of the year, I kicked it in high gear & it paid off!

Interact With My Followers: Sucess, I love to interaction with all my followers, especially on Instagram (Click Here to Find Me On Instagram!)

2017 Blogging Goals:

Post Weekly: I made this goal because I think it is achievable! I know if I say I want to post 2-3 times a week, I will fail. And why make a goal that you know you will fail at? I think this goal is an achievable goal for me! I am starting a new position in my job the beginning of February, and I know that will take up a lot of my time!

Reach 30,00 Social Media Followers- Now this goal is a stretch! That is almost doubling my following now! Combined with, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest & my Email subscribers, I want to be at 30,000 people! That seems like a lot, but I know I can do it!

Grow my Email List- Yes, I know it kind of goes with the goal above, but I have never spent time growing my email subscriber list. This is something that would challenge me, but I know I would enjoy. My end of year goal is to get 100 Subscribers to my email! (Want to sign up now? Check the bottom of the post!)

Surprise! I have a FREE Gift For My Readers!

Sign up for my email below, and receive a free download of the 2017 social media tracker I am using to keep track of my followers! No, blogging is NOT all about the numbers, but if you are working hard on gaining followers, you have to see your process! It is amazing by putting a target on a goal and keeping track, how much easier it is to succeed at your goal!

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Do you keep track of your social media following? If so, what is your target goal for the end of the year?

Uncategorized

Christmas Home Tour Of The Knight Household

December 18, 2016 8 Comments

Christmas Home Tour

How is Christmas less than a week away? I have no idea! I just love Christmas and everything about it! Our Christmas decorations have been up since before Thanksgiving. Yes, I am that person who puts their decorations up before Thanksgiving, but I love the decorations!

Since this is the 4th Christmas in our house, our Christmas decorations have changed a lot! I am so excited to show your our Christmas decorations this year! I have slowly but surely been getting into the rustic & antique looking decorations & I just love it. Next year I think I might just have to buy a flocked tree. Becuase seeing all of your gorgeous flocked Christmas trees has made me a little jealous!

This area is in our Living/Family Room. The shelf was new this year, we added it when we fixed up the room! The shelf cost less than 20 dollars! And, I love it! It is the perfect shelf to add small and dainty Christmas Decorations!

Shelf Garland – Similar Wood Clock – Galvanized Letters

Christmas Decor The Knight;s Place Our Christmas tree is one of the favorite things in our house! We have two trees in our house, one with colored lights (My amazing husband just had to have colored lights.) And then our other tree has clear lights! I just love the having the tree up, lights on, watching Christmas Movies and enjoying a cup of hot chocolate. We opened up a doorway this past spring, so it’s a little tight, but at the end, it all works out perfectly!

Christmas Pillows – Wrapping Paper – Flocked Christmas Tree

This end table area has to be my second favorite area. This whole area is new this year too! During the spring I made this blanket ladder for less than 5 dollars! And I LOVE it. I have also been using a lot of galvanized items in my house & I love them! Of course, I had to add a little red plaid to the ladder! I liked the yellow blanket that I normally have on it, but had to change it a little for Christmas!

Plaid Blanket – Blanket Ladder – Snowmen Mugs

This area is in our kitchen next to our table. I just recently added the old window. (I scored this, this past summer at the flea market for 8 dollars… I just couldn’t pass that up!) This is also the area that I have Justin’s uniform picture, so this place in our home holds a very important spot in my heart. This area stays pretty simple for the most part.

This is the entrance area to our house. Of course, another old window for the win. This was actually a wedding gift! The table is something my dad built when I was young, and I always had it my room. So it is amazing to see it in my own house now. This area is always fun to spruce up!

Monogrammed Pillow – Snow Covered Christmas Branches –

There are some snippets of my house! I love the cozy feel of all the decorations up during Christmas time!

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Life

How To Be The Best Holiday Host

December 11, 2016 25 Comments

It is the Holiday Season… Well, I actually I feel like Christmas is tomorrow! I just love everything about Christmas, putting up the decorations, eating, watching Christmas movies, even the smell of Christmas! But the thing I love the most? Spending time with family! Now, We do all know too much family time can be bad. You get on each other’s nerves, you need your own space. The list goes on and on. But, if you are going to have people over follow these simple tips, and they will all want to come back next year!

Tips To Be The Hostess With The Mostess During The Holidays

Always Have The WiFi Password Accessible

We can’t live without Facebook, Twitter or Instagram these days, so make your guests stay a little easier, have your wifi Password in a frame in the guest room, or on the kitchen fridge for all to see. That way, they don’t have to ask for it, or go sneaking to find it. Because finding someone playing hide and go seek with your modem could be a little
awkward to find!

Give Them Time

And by that, that I mean time to their selves. Give them ideas to do around the town or some good sights to see! Of course, they came to see you, but I am sure like would like to get out of the house & do some fun things!

Tips To Be The Best Hostess For The Holidays, On The Blog Today!

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Let Them Sleep

Most guest travel hours to come see you. Different time zones, different house different bed. They probably won’t sleep the best. So it is best to let them sleep as long as they can.

Have Snacks And Plenty Of Them

If your family is anything like my family, we snack all the time! So, you’re going to want to make sure that you have plenty of food. The best thing is, The Dollar General is here to help! With their great deals coupons, you’ll want to stop on over to The Dollar General and pick up some of your favorite food & of course some Nestle brand products. They have some great prices and you don’t have to search too hard to find some coupons to add on to those great prices!

At The Dollar General, you can find some any quick snacks your guest will love! If your eating dinner and having Digiorno® Rising Crust® Pizza, or Your Making NESTLÉ® Hot Cocoa Mix, The Dollar General is your place to head to prepare! But, don’t forget about DG Digital Coupon (Why not save even more money.)

Enjoy Your Time Together

Most importantly, enjoy your time together with your family! Just remember how blessed you are to be able to spend time with your amazing family during the Holidays!

I hope you all have a great Holiday! Are you heading to a family member’s house this year, or are you being the hostess?

Blogging

4 Blogging Groups to Join On Facebook

July 14, 2016 23 Comments

4 Blogging Facebook Groups To Join

Facebook groups for bloggers have become so large lately! It can be hard to find a good blogging group, that is fair fun, and that actually helps you grow your blog! I found my 4 favorite blogging groups, and I thought I would share them with you! Once you find a good blogging group, you must participate and follow the rules! So let me show you all my favorite groups! Most of these groups, you have a request to be accepted into, and sometimes that takes time, so be patient!

The Blogger Life – Has to be my favorite (But, I might be biased, because I am the admin and the creator of this group.) This group is wonderful. The members of this group are wonderful! There are daily threads (Comment threads & Social Media threads.) There are open threads, so everyone is allowed to ask questions, meet new bloggers or whatever you want! I would love for you all to join this group, so we can all get to know each other better! This group is something that I spend a lot of time on, and really love!

Blog Passion Project This group is wonderful! The admins are amazing, and are always there for the bloggers! They have a consistent schedule they follow, so you know exactly what to expect. Everyone truly follows through, and this is a great group to join and meet other bloggers. This group has around 500 members, so it is still small enough to truly get to know everyone!

I’m So Blogging This This group is just started out! They just started threads, and truly expects its members to allow through on their own, without having to remind them! This blogging Facebook group has an open dialogue, which is nice because not make blogging grounds do that. The admin is laid back, and also enjoys getting to know everyone as well!

Instagram Marketing Mastermind This group is purely for Instagram and is very large. There are close to 10,000 members in this group. Honestly, I don’t post in this group a lot, I am more of a bystander, but I really do like this group. There are a lot of great tips and insights of how to grow your Instagram! I know people are always looking into ways to growing your Instagram, & if you are this group is a “must check out” group!

@theknightsplace is telling her 4 favorite Facebok Groups for bloggers!

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Blogging Groups On A Rise

Bloggers + Giveaways & Pin for Pin Also check out these two Facebook groups that are on a rise! A Pinterest group and a group to show off your giveaways and/or start a giveaway!

What facebook groups do you use for blogging? Do you have any to add?

Police Family

I am A Police Wife

July 7, 2016 4 Comments

I am a police wife.

That is not a simple statement. If you never been to my blog before you can read here, here, and here. I have written about this topic a lot, because liked I said; I am a police wife is not a simple statement.

If you have seen the news, been on facebook, or really talked to anyone I am sure that you’ve heard about the two shootings that occurred in the past couple days. Let’s just say that I am shocked about the things people say. Every police officer spends countless amount of months in the academy, many hours in extra classes and there is that support thin blue line chance every day that they could make a mistake in that decision they make in a split second. But, I am sure you never made a mistake in your job right?

Now I preference this writing with, there are good cops and there are bad cops. There are over 1.1 million police officers in the United States, so we all know there will be some bad cops in that group. But that does not mean all cops are bad cops. To the people who jump to conclusions about all cops are bad, or racist. Have you ever really thought about those words you say? Do you know who these cops are? They are husbands, fathers, sons, wives, mothers, parents, sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles. They are real people. They are not out there to ruin your life. Those men and women are sworn in to protect the law, even if that means sacrificing their lives for you.

Fifty-Three men and women have died protecting you this year. Fifty-Three. Where are all those wives and husbands who lost their loved ones on facebook, ranting and yelling? How come when a police officer dies, that doesn’t make the top news? Well, I think it should. But no, those loved ones lay their officer down to rest, knowing they will never get another conversation with them again. Did you know 21 police officers died of gunfire? That means 21 people killed 21 police officers. How the hell does that not make the news? That doesn’t make sense.

I guess, that I am so upset that we all jump to conclusions. NONE of us know what happened in those videos. You have no right blasting police officers on social media or anything for that matter. Every story you read is one sided. Every single one. No one talks about how you didn’t do something right at your job? I don’t think either of those officers went into work today and said: “I hope I have to pull my gun today.” Actually, that is probably a cops worst nightmare is having to pull their gun.

If you are standing with a person and they threaten you, what are you going to do? Stand there, and maybe let them kill you? But, what if they didn’t have a gun and they were just saying they did. You can see how things get very grey very quickly. You know, if you never break the law most likely you will never have to deal with a cop ever? Maybe we should all focus on behaving instead of going against cops. Don’t like cops? Well then, don’t break the law. Don’t hang out with people who break the law. It could be as simple as that.

My husband is a police officer. I am a police wife. He is not racist. He does not judge. He has a kind soul, and would do anything for anyone. He works hard. He writes you a ticket if your speeding. He stops that drunk driver, that might have killed you on the road. He deals with the people you don’t want to deal with in the public. He deals with your problems. He stays awake at night so you can sleep. He is protecting you and your family. He is my family. He is the love of my life. He is a police officer.

I am a police wife.

Life

Don’t Feel Guilty About A Blogging Break

July 4, 2016 17 Comments

dont feel guilty taking a blogging break Do you know when bloggers just drop off the edge of the world for a couple months?
No posting, no nothing. Well, yep- that’s me! There are so many reasons why bloggers take breaks, and most of the time I think they feel guilty when they do take a break from their blog. I did until I thought about why I took a break. Bloggers are real people with real problems. Their lives are not always sunshine and rainbows, and I think that is a very important thing to remember!

Do you feel guilty taking a Blogging Break? Remember a bloggers life is not always sunshine and…

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3 Reasons- Why you should not feel guilty taking a blogging break

It is your Blog: You own it. You run it. You make it what it is. It will still be there when you come back from your break, I promise. Your readers will know if you’re just blogging to put a post up for the week. Now that is a fast way to lose some followers. Maybe instead of posting three times a week, you post once a week until you feel it again. Take a step back and think about why you aren’t enjoying your blogging time. For me, it was getting stressful, I felt like there were so many other things that I should have been doing. So I did those, and well my blog fell off the top list.

It will only get better So you take a couple weeks or months off, your mind will be at ease. I know I have more ideas about blog posts than I have had in such a long time! I am changing my header, starting to have a new idea of blogging. I have more passion for blogging than I have had in a long time! I want to write blog posts, I want to put myself out there in the blogging world again! Taking time off can do good for your blogging soul. I am so glad that I let myself take a break from blogging instead of forcing out posts that would not have been worthy to read.

Life Happens Remember what I said before? Bloggers are real people & shit happens. We get busy with children, work, family, housekeeping and everything else! We all put so much time in our blogs, we have to make sure that we don’t spend too much time on our blog and social media! Or life will forget about us, and time will go by too fast. Summers get busy for everyone & it is good to take a step back and re-evaluate your blog.

Looking back I am okay with taking a blogging break. No, this break was not planned at all, but I am happy I did what was best for me at that time.

@theknightsplace is back in the blogging game, come over and check it out!

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Have you ever taken a blogging break? How did you bounce back from your break?

Life

When Life Gets In The Way

April 18, 2016 21 Comments

What do you do when life gets in the way?

life quotes

So my goals for April have gone a little haywire. You know why? Life got in the way!

When Life Gets In The Way…

So, at the beginning of the month, I thought about all the goals I wanted to achieve this month. Cleaning, bringing up my blogging stats & so much more! But life got in the way. Justin had a three day weekend (so I slacked off on my house duties to spend time with him), I had to work all weekend. We decided to start some major yard work. I think it is okay when life gets in the way. Trust me, I am a huge fan of schedules, and I like to know when things will be done. But to be honest, I was nice walking away from life quotes 1 the blog for a week. Sometimes we just need breaks to focus on yourself.

Why It Is Okay To Take A Break

I think we all have to remember to take breaks, to take a step back in life, and relax. We all go a hundred miles an hour all the time, and it is okay to slow down! It is okay for the house to be messy for a couple hours, or the grass to be a little long. It is okay to stay in yoga pants all Sunday, or not to wear makeup. It is so important to take time for yourself and relax.

I think we are always comparing ourselves to others and we put too much pressure on ourselves! Take a step back, enjoy time by yourself, enjoy time with your significant other or like me, enjoy time with your pups!.

What did you do this weekend to take a break from life?

Fashion

My Go To Spring Outfits

April 6, 2016 7 Comments

So this is officially my first “Fashion Post.” I am excited to be able to expand my blog! For my first fashion post, I want to introduce you to a wonderful boutique. Earleigh Bird Boutique has the cutest clothes for great prices!

Top 3 Spring Outfits-

How perfect is this “springy” outfit! With the open toe flats and the skinny jeans, you can go anywhere and look amazing in this outfit!

Shirt // Shoes (Similar) // Skinny Jeans

I am all about flowy tops! Comfortable and cute… It does not get better than that! These Sperry shoes are to die for! Slip them right on with this flowy shirt & you are ready to go!

Green Shirt // Cropped Skinny Jeans // Sperry Shoes

Slouchy shirts & Booties. My go to! These shoes are so comfortable! I can wear them all day, and they don’t hurt my feet at all! This shirt is perfect for spring!

Shirt // Jeans // Shoes

I am so excited Earleigh Bird Boutique is teaming up with me on Instagram to host an wonderful gift card! Couldn’t you some new spring outfits? So make sure you go check out it! And lucky you, if you use code “KARA10” you will get a 10% discount!

Blogging

April Goals

April 4, 2016 4 Comments

Setting goals is so important. Sometimes I think of the goals in my head, but it is easy to let them go and forget about them. So this month I will be writing down my goals & keep you updated on all of them!

Blogging Goals

Blogging Goals:

Increase My Social Media Following by 5%- Numbers are super important for me. So I decided 5%. Right now I have 15,770 followers on social media (Instagram,Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest & my blog.) So my goal is to grow that following by 5%. I will hopefully grow that number by working on my second goal. Post two times a week- I need work on being more consistent. My goal is blogging two times a week. Inside that goal, I want to start preparing content and make an editorial calendar, so I can produce more quality content. Increase my page views by 10% – Pageviews are something that I never really put much thought about it when I was on Goal qUOTES S blogger. I was just blogging for fun, but now I am taking everything a bit more serious I want to start working on gaining more page views! I am so ready to take this serious step for my blog! I can’t wait to see where all this hard work takes me!

Life Goals:

Walk the pups three times a week: Gotta get those steps… That’s the popular thing to say now! But for real, I am hoping to be able to walk to the pups three days a week. They love walks & its good for all of us, they can burn some of that crazy energy & I can get my steps in! Keep the house clean 24/7 – Now that our living room renovations are done, I want to keep our house spotless! Every night I just need to clean up a little! Once it’s spotless, it is much easier to keep it clean! Purge & Clean out Closets this is a MUST! I have so much old clothes that I need to get rid of! (Check out my post Making Money From Old Clothes.) But really- closets can keep so much stuff in them & once you go to clean them out you think how in the world was all this in here. Live Life- Right now everything is so perfect in life. I just want to be thankful for everything that happens. Life goes by so fast, but just want to remember how lucky I am to have so many great things happen!

Let me know what goals you have for this month!

Wedding

Bracelets For The Wedding Day

March 29, 2016 6 Comments

wedding bracelts1 — I was compensated with these bracelets in return for my honest review.

Thanking everyone who helped us on our wedding day was so important to me! I loved being able to thank my bridesmaids & my father. Today I am going to show you the bracelets that we gave our mothers and our program attendants. Thanks to LA Osborn & Pure Impressions for making the best bracelets for the special people in our wedding!

Best Bracelet Shops

LA Osborn has such an amazing Etsy shop. You have to go check it out right now (I mean when you are done reading this post.) I love all the dainty jewelry she has in her shop! Her Initial bracelet was perfect to thank our program attendants. LA Osborn was able to put their initials on each bracelet. Everything she has in her shop is amazing! You have to go check it out!

LA Osborn has bracelets, necklaces, rings and more! All for great prices! If you check out her shop, you might just fall in love with everything!

@theknightplace is talking about the shop LA Osborn today on the blog.

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Untitled design (10)

I knew that I wanted to give something special to our mom’s. I gave them their gift during our wedding shower. It should not have been better I know a ~~few~~ tears were shed. Pure Impressions made hand stamped customized cuffs for our moms! The cuff that I gave Justin’s mom said: “Thank you for raising the man of my dreams.” And the cuff that Justin gave my mom said: “I promise to always take care of her.”

Pure Impressions has so many different pieces to get customized! You have to check out her shop too! They are both different and amazing! I know that our mom’s absolutely loved these rings! I know it is something that they can cherish forever.

@theknightsplace has another great Etsy shop on the blog! Check out Pure Impressions.

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It is so hard to believe that we have been married for over five months! Time flies by! I just want to give huge thanks to all the shops and people who made my wedding day so special and amazing.

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