Christmas Card

Better late than never, right? 

I am so excited for Christmas.. even though I am 0% prepared. I've put off Christmas shopping for when my mom gets here this weekend, cause us women know double the shoppers = double the fun. Especially with my mom, cause that lady can shop and never drop!

My worthless thoughts on sharing

^^Here is a sweet old unrelated pic.^^

 

Our lives these days are so weird with social media. It allows us to connect with tons of people so easily. Not only does it let everyone into our lives but it also allows us to choose how we want them to view us.

Everyone has different views on what and how we should share ourselves on the internet. I have friends who don't think we should share anything personal, others who share everything that's personal. And some even think there should be a limit as to how often we share things.

I really don't understand why people are so critical of others online. I mean, its like an epidemic of unstable meanies with nothing other to do than hide behind their monitors and spit hate at or about other people. But then I begin to wonder if it really is just online?

It doesn't matter what you do, if you're open- you share to much, if you post a lot- you share too often and don't have a life, if you only share happy things- you're actually miserable, if you only share sweet things about your husband- you guys are actually really unhappy and are most likely going to be divorced soon.

No matter what we do we will be criticized. So I say who cares? I don't mind sharing myself, my ideas, and my life good or bad for 3 reasons, which seems like enough to me:

1.) I don't want someone to judge me based on someone that I'm not, so I figure I will just be myself and post whatever and however I feel is genuine to my character. Yeah, I might be an over-grammer on IG, but hey, I think my kids do a lot of cute things.

2.) I don't care what people think about me because I'm the only person who matters what I think about me. And I like myself, mostly because I know who I am and what I stand for and Im not afraid to speak my mind. (And I don't mean that in a, "Ill say what I want to or about you/him/her, I don't care what you think" kind of way. I am talking about my ideas on things and events, not people.)
 
3.) I'd much rather get to tell my side of the story.

Going off number 3, I feel the need to touch on gossip, because it's also sharing, right? Everyone knows its bad. Yet everybody does it. There's always the same excuses,which I have also used and still do (Im working on it!) until Dave opened my eyes to the real issue of gossip.

The excuses- "It's okay, they don't care if people know. It's not a secret" or "Im not supposed to say anything but I can tell you because you're my _____"

The answer- You're telling someone else's story without allowing them to tell their side. Try reading a book and then telling someone else about it. Yes, we may be able to summarize ideas well but we all have different interpretations of things and we all know how the telephone game works.

One time I was telling Dave about something and he stopped me and said, "I don't want to know." I said why? You're my husband I can tell you" and he said, " It's none of my business and that person told you, not me. If they want me to know they will tell me." .. That made me feel pretty crappy and put perspective on things.

So what is my point? I don't know. I just share my ideas because I'm an over sharer.

Let just all try to remember, at least while reading my blog, haha..
We are all bound to not like or agree with everyone. If you don't, just accept them for being that silly friend of yours (without making fun of them!) or just move on. You don't have to tell them how bad they suck. 

Im Aliiiive

I’m back! I’ve been missing this little space of mine so badly.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about myself and who I am and how I have changed over the years and realized how much blogging has transformed me. Before I began displaying my thoughts publicly for anyone to read I was a lot more of an introvert. Finding my voice and sharing it with others who can and will judge me or criticize me for it has really brought me out of my shell. Aside from that, it is therapeutic, helps keep distant friends and relatives up-to-date and makes me feel like I am getting my word out there. As tiny of a person that I am (in the grand scheme of things), I hope that my ideas and/or experiences may help other people, whether it allows them to connect/relate to someone or learn or be inspired.

  

Enough of that.

Now, let’s do a little catch up.

The last time I blogged was a year and a half ago! Whoa! Joel was JUST born when I blogged and he is now 1 ½ (incase your as bad at math as I am, I did the math for you ;)).

I have a million things to say about Joel because he is literally an angel, like no joke. But we’ll save a post just for him!

The first year of Joel was both challenging but wonderful. I was feeling my very best, I was healthy, fit, feeling confident and at my happiest point. But It was a rough year of lots of little sickies and sleepless nights.

Ever since we hit that 1 year mark everything has seemed to have gone way crazy. I was still working at the museum and decided I wanted to work part time. Why? Still don’t really know, but I’m always antsy to try different things so it happened.

Right after I started working my new full time job Owyn got really sick. He had a ruptured appendicitis that wasn’t caught for 3 (!!!) days! We took him to the doctor twice being sent home which nausea meds and the generic “virus” diagnosis. By the time we rushed him to ER he was lifeless. I really don’t think he would’ve lived much longer if we didn’t take him in, it was that bad. By the time they figured out what was going on the infection was so bad and had spread throughout his abdomen so we spent 7 days in the hospital. It was a nightmare. He was in pain, bored, angry, sad, starving, and thirsty. The infection stopped his intestines from functioning so he wasn’t able to eat or drink for days. I wish no one ever had to see their kids go through that.

After Owyn got better things began crashing down. For starters Owyn wasn’t on insurance during the hospital stay because I had just started my new job and cancelled his insurance thru Dave and was in the waiting period for mine to kick in. Bad timing. Our bills are outrageous. So, I quit my job. Doesn’t seem to make sense, right? Well it did for me and I wanted to be with my boys.

After that we’ve dealt with major things that have happened to the house, a giant bombshell that was dropped on my head (which I hope to talk about one day) , continuing house issues, and to top off the year, I got diagnosed with a serious health condition. So that’s where I’ve been.  I look at all the things going on and think, “that’s not my life”. When we’re in the midst of the chaos it doesn’t seem bad, but when I’m updating friends or family on what’s going on, I’m like, “geez, is this for real?” and then I just laugh. 

Aside from everything, I am pretty happy. There’s a lot of things I wish were a bit different but these boys of mine make every day the best day. 

xoxoxo 

Now, look at these cute kids of mine! Gaahhh! 

(Photos by the Lang Photographers)