Felix

It’s been a long time

Heeey there! It’s been about two weeks since I last blogged… weird! It’s also been about two weeks since I deactivated my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. During my little hiatus I learned a lot about what’s important to me in life and how I feel about blogging and social media in general.

sky

Why I took a break from blogging and social media:
-I wanted to strengthen my relationship with God.
-I wanted to truly focus more on important relationships in my life.
-I felt like my blog was becoming too “me” focused and selfish.

sky

How I felt:
-At first I felt almost panicked, like I was missing everything going on in the world.
-After a few days, I felt very free because I wasn’t “available” 24/7.
-It was amazing to spend less time staring at my computer and phone.
-It was also great not to read blogs and compare myself to others (I know I have the choice not to compare myself to others, but I often feel like it happens almost automatically for me).
-I felt out of sorts at times because I was so disconnected from people that I regularly talk to via blogging and social media.

pool

Other thoughts:
-Spending less time blogging and using social media helped me become a better listener and gave me more free time to do things for others.
-I’ve learned that social media/blogging can be great, but can also take my attention away from more important things in my life if I allow them to.
-I’m struggling with feeling like I must have a blog or Facebook account in order to connect with people and learn about what’s going on in my friend’s lives. Ugh.
-I’m likely going to be reading blogs and blogging a lot less. I want to blog on my own terms–for the enjoyment of it instead of feeling like I have to document every aspect of my life and keep up with every blog out there.

*
Whew, it felt good to get that off of my chest!

So, what have I been up to for the past two weeks?

VBS
Vacation Bible School at my church was great! I worked in the kitchen and Hannah and I were puppeteers.

triathlon
I competed in a sprint triathlon and placed third in the 19-29 age group.

zucchini
I harvested zucchini from my garden, Jimmy and I made chocolate chip and raisin zucchini bread, and I began working for my parent’s real estate brokerage (more on that in another post).

PicMonkey Collage
I bonded with Hannah and Felix and went swimming at a local lake.

And last but not least…

PicMonkey Collage2
I had my wisdom teeth removed on Friday morning.

My dentist told me to have them removed a few years ago but I kept putting it off. They started hurting me earlier this week, so I went to the oral surgeon on Thursday and less than 24 hours later I was in surgery. The doctor said my something was wrong with my heart during the surgery, so I have to see my regular physician on Tuesday to figure out what’s up with my ticker.

I’ve been laying around on the couch eating soup and jello and popping lots of Advil. It’s nice being babied by Jimmy, too. We rented Despicable Me last night and it was such a cute movie! Here’s to hoping I can heal up quickly with no dry sockets!

What’s going on in your life?!

Happy Friday

Heeey there and happy Friday! Sorry it’s been a few days since I last posted. I began my internship on May 1st, and it’s been keeping me busy. I’ll probably blog more about that later.

Recent eats:

IMG_5391

BBQ pulled chicken. It doesn’t look amazing, but the flavor is right on. I love all things BBQ.

IMG_5352

Salmon + sweet potato fries with cinnamon.

IMG_5366

Honey pretzel chicken skewers with honey mustard. This recipe only requires four ingredients! I’ll have to share it soon.

IMG_5337

15 bean soup, salad, bread, and hot pepper chips. An odd but tasty combo.

Other pictures:

IMG_5394

I posted this on Instagram about a week ago, but I thought I’d share this with the blog world. I was looking through my old journals and found an entry from the first time I hung out with Jimmy. I love him so much!

IMG_5410

Speaking of Jimmy, I love spending time with him and his brother. They constantly make me laugh.

felix

I’ve been cuddling with Felix a lot lately. He’s so sweet. My family never had a male cat until we adopted Felix. We have been so surprised at how friendly he is. People keep telling me that male cats are more affectionate than female cats. Interesting!

lola

I’ve mentioned this before, but Lola loves riding in the car. I take her with me to run little errands like getting gas and going to the bank. She makes me so happy and I like to think that I make her happy as well.

*

Mother’s Day is Sunday!

Here’s a recipe to cook for your momma:
Eggplant Chana Masala

006

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!