"I just need to 'do me' for awhile."

So here's the thing ...

This Sunday, the preacher at one of the churches we have been trying out brought up a quote from Richard Beck's blog Experimental Theology. Richard was a professor of mine and is also a family friend. He and his wife helped serve cake/desserts at my wedding so, they're my heros.

Anyways, here's the quote ....


" ..... why do people want to inform everybody back home that they are going to a 'beautiful' place like Malibu? Do they have no shame? No social skills? Do they like making people envious?

Why would you want to let a person back home know, as he or she slogs through their mid-week work commute, that you are currently sitting at the beach? What sort of sick person Tweets about sitting on the beach while others are working?"


So this quote kind of struck a chord with me. 

I've been struggling with the concept of what social media used to be for me vs. what it is now. Social media sites (i'm specifically referring to facebook, twitter, and instagram) used to be a form of mindless entertainment for me, and a way to keep up with what was going on in peoples lives. I feel like that's what they are for most people. But within the past couple of years I have let it become too much of a necessity. On top of that, I have started relating to things like the above quote. (face meet palm)

I have allowed pictures of vacations (which I can't afford to take), status updates about jobs (which I don't currently have) and tweets about productive days cleaning the house and doing all of the laundry (I don't think I have ever in my life done "all of the laundry") to become legitimate reasons for me to judge myself, my priorities and my coolness. (smh) Not to mention the fact that I have also allowed my social media persona to become a photoshopped (or in this case instagram filtered) image of what my real life actually looks like. (rolls eyes)

And I'll tell you, it's not a good feeling when you realize how much of an affect these silly websites have on your life. I'm annoyed with myself for letting it get this bad. But I don't need anything else fueling my self judgement, so I'm attempting to find comfort in the possibility that I'm not the only person who has experienced this.

ANYWAYS, all of this to say that I have decided to step away from my personal social media profiles for awhile (facebook, twitter and instagram) in order to realign myself physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually without the distraction of a daily battle between myself and said social media. It's simple really, I just need to "do me" for awhile. I just need to re-figure out who "me" really is. I think I deserve that.

At first I was hesitant to share this decision on my blog but then I realized that the title of my blog is "life as a blog" and that maybe I should live up to that title and be a bit more transparent and open. I'm thankful for bloggers like Kelle from enjoy the small things and this post from the blog Kendi Everyday because they encourage me to be OK with a post that isn't about something necessarily creative or exciting or happy, but simply about something real.

That being said, I do plan on continuing to post on my blog (fun things and real life things included), but I won't be sharing the posts on any form of social media so, if you would like to continue reading my posts then I encourage you to become a follower, bookmark this site, add me to your reader or follow the blog through email. (see right side of the screen)

DISCLAIMER:
I still see the value social media and am not at all bashing or criticizing what social media is (in fact I actually am exploring job opportunities in the realm of social media). This is a personal decision and a personal journey.

BONUS: 
I encourage you to visit Experimental Theology and read the "The Angel of the iPhone" series. I'm slowly reading through it because there are some big ol' words in there, but overall it is relevant to me, extremely well written and well thought out. 

Well, If you made it through this wordy mess than I truly appreciate your dedication, and thank you for reading!
Bye friends. 

Blog Lovin'

fonts used: alex brush script and ostrich sans black

A few posts ago I asked for people to send me suggestions for new blogs to follow! Thank you to those who responded whether it be via text or blog. I really appreciate having some new channels of inspiration and entertainment!

I decided to share some of my favorite suggestions:

Mrs. Lillien - suggested by Emily M.

little chief honeybee. - suggested by Dempsey J.

Today's Letters - suggested by Emily G.

Enjoy the Small Things - suggested by Rachael P.

Camille Styles - suggested by Erin C.

I've actually been following little chief honeybee and Camille Styles for awhile now, but I didn't want to miss an opportunity to promote them because I love them. (Erin C. actually interned for Camille Styles! How awesome is that?)

And I am always up for other suggestions if you ever want to send them my way.

BONUS:
Emily G. authors her own blog as well em + the city. You should definitely check it out!

Well, thanks for reading.
Bye friends.

Bithday Day, Birthday Pancakes!

YAY YAY YAY! Today is my BIRTHDAY!

To celebrate, I decided to make myself some birthday pancakes! (why not, ya know?)

Originally I told myself that I was not going to be stingy on any of the ingredients. I wanted full fat, full sugar, delicious pancakes. But I decided it would be more fun (and healthier or w/e) to create my own Greek Yogurt Birthday Pancakes recipe. So I did!

font used: Quicksand

RECIPE:
1 small container of Vanilla Greek Yogurt (mine was 5.3oz)
1/2 Cup of Cake Mix (your choice of flavor, I did the kind with sprinkles in it, duh)
1 Egg
A Splash of Milk (this is kind of optional, and I used almond milk)

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Combine yogurt and cake mix.
2. Add the egg and mix until the lumps are gone.
3. Add a splash of milk if your batter seems a little too thick. (you can add more if you want if you prefer a thinner batter)

..... now there's your pancake batter! I'm not going to give instructions on how to cook a pancake because frankly I still don't have it mastered and I also think that it's one of those things that people generally have their own method of doing. But if you are completely new to it here is a link to some great pancake cooking instructions!

BONUS: Toppings
- I used frozen whipped cream!
- You could add some fruit, maybe something fun like pineapple?
- Icing.
- I think some good ol' maple syrup would work just fine.
- This delicious looking buttermilk caramel syrup.

This wraps up birthday week!
Thank you all for enduring my birthday posts. I hope you weren't overwhelmed (or annoyed) with them, but I just really really love birthdays. I love the feeling you have when you wake up on your birthday, and I love the carefree happiness that comes with a birthday. In fact, I think you should pretend it's your birthday for a little bit today and do something special or out of the ordinary.

Well, I'm off to enjoy today!

Thanks for reading.
Bye friends.

Birthday Eve

font used: Lobster Two

Guys, tomorrow is my birthday!

Birthday Plan:
- Take J to work
- Come home and make birthday pancakes (will there be a recipe post tomorrow? maaaaybe. stay tuned!)
- Go shopping with some birthday money
- Come home and get ready for my birthday date!
- Go on my birthday date!
I cannot wait! (obviously)

Tonight I am making me and J these turkey sliders and we will be watching the season premier of one of our favorite shows Face Off. I can't think of a better way to celebrate birthday eve!

Thanks for reading.
Bye friends!

Birthday Week Cont.

Seeing as it's birthday week, the fact that I .....
1. woke up at 6:30am to drive my husband to his new job (we only have one car, I'm not a creep)
2. proceeded to stop at King Soopers and do our weekly grocery shopping
3. am now writing this blog post at 10:23am (mountain time)
..... is shocking to say the least. I should be sleeping.

I will say that I could not have accomplished this without copious amounts of iced coffee (using coffee ice cubes that I made last night, seriously genius), and my favorite podcast stop podcasting yourself, so, shout out.

And since I'm awake and wanting to enjoy birthday week to it's fullest (3 more days, counting today), I day dreamed (lol, irony) about what kind of party I would throw myself and here's what came of it .....

one, two, three, four, five, six

Although this party would be a blast (right? so dreamy!), I'm really looking forward to a quiet birthday evening with J. Mainly because it's the first time in two years that we will be together on my birthday!

Anyways, all of this party talk has got me itching to throw one and therefore longing for the day that we live in a home suitable for hosting. Patience is a virtue though ..... eh?

BONUS: Story Time
This weekend I was so excited to go to a Blues festival here in Denver and was certain that it was on Sunday (see previous post) ..... TURNS OUT it was on Saturday and we missed it. I hate when that happens .....

Well, thanks for reading.
Bye friends!

Birthday Week!

Everyone! We are in the midst of birthday week! (yes, that's a thing)
Look at what my mom did .....

She sent me seven cards. One for each day of birthday week! Hundreds of miles away and still finding a way to celebrate with me! She gets me. 

I really love birthdays and celebrating things, and today Jono and I have a lot to celebrate!

1. Birthday week continues!
I don't plan on baking myself a cake, but if I did, I would hope I could make it as pretty as potter + butler did .....

2. HE GOT A JOB!

I'm pretty sure he'll be working in a cubicle of sorts, but I'm still feeling inspired by this masculine work area via this way cool tumblr insideinside .....

3. We have officially been married for 8 months as of yesterday!

Our conversation about it .....

Me (yelling from our office to the living room): Hey, Jonathan!

J (yelling back): Yeah?

Me: We've been married for 8 full months now!

J: Wow! That's cool. 

Me: Yeah, that's 2/3 of a year!

J: Yup

Me: 66%

J: Yup

Me: Like, if we had a pizza, and it had 12 slices, we would have eaten 8 of them .....

J: I'm hungry for more!

Me: *walks into the living room to kiss him for being adorable*

^^ Proof that marriage is fun

This weekend we plan to continue celebrating by possibly hitting up the Denver County Fair (I am particularly interested in the Zombie Beauty Pageant), and by definitely hitting up the Blues and Brews festival on Sunday! 

BOOM. It's celebration city over here! Lovin' it.

Thanks for reading!

Bye friends.

I Believe In The Happy Place

In Denver, during monsoon season, a day goes something like this ....

cool sunny morning
warm sunny day
cloudy rainy afternoon
cool clear evening

It is the best weather pattern I could ever ask for. I really love cloudy days and I really love rain.

Yesterday we woke up to cloud cover and the temperature didn't rise above 75. I wore a flannel shirt and leggings all day, and for those who know me well that is my outfit of choice.

This is a picture of the view from our desk chair. You can't tell, but at this point there was some rain coming down. 

My desk chair with a cup of coffee, something mildly creative happening on my computer screen, and an open window with rain coming down outside. 

I would consider this a happy place for me. 

I love that moment when you breathe in and realize that you are in a happy place. So pleasant. 

I encourage you to seek your happy place! Maybe this weekend? Let me know what you find!

Thanks for reading. 

Bye friends.