I broke my own Facebook rule...

And for very good reason!

We haven't announced it to too many people yet, but we are moving to La Crosse, Wisconsin in the timeframe of 5-11 months. It's such a large frame because we do not want to move there in the dead of winter, in early winter, or in late winter. I, personally (being an Oklahoma girl from birth) do not want to experience a Northern winter any sooner than I have to.

About a week ago today or tomorrow, I received a support letter in the mail from my very good friend Ashley Engebretsen. She, too, is going to living in La Crosse, Wisconsin this August. *Ahhh!!!!* She and her husband are being transferred from a small town in North Dakota to the beautiful city of La Crosse. I am so excited. My heart was bursting with joy, and I had to contact her IMMEDIATELY! I had to share with her how we were going to be reunited, living in the same city, and both of us there with the thought of that being our home long-term. I am going to have a friend in La Crosse. Not just any friend, either. She and I became close during our years at college together. We'd see each other weekly, bake cookies together, study together, go on jogs together...I'm so thankful we get a chance to be involved in each others' lives again.

So, what did I do? How did I try to contact her? I went to Facebook (which is when I broke my rule) and tried to find her. Turns out, she deactivated her Facebook for many of the reasons I stated in my first post on the matter. Well, since I had broken my rule, I kept breaking it. --This is kind of an aside, but after reading this interesting article from a man who left the internet for a year, I didn't feel too badly about it. My two weeks of only going on Wednesdays and Saturdays helped me out more than I thought it would. Plus, I got rid of about 200 friends and am working on deleting more. Not having 1000 "friends" means my homepage doesn't update as often with people I don't really care about, but who are doing fascinating things. This is a step in the right direction. I'd thought of doing that for a while but I didn't want to waste my time with deleting people. If you've used this excuse, don't. Just do it, take the time to delete that person you met at the caf your freshman year of college, back in the two-thousands when EVERYONE friended EVERYONE for who knows why. (Why did we do that?....)

I've gotten a much better hold on my social media use, and I've been able to talk about the good and the bad of it with some friends and family since the first post. It really can be both good and bad, like many things.

OH, and to finish the story of my dear friend Ashley. I eventually contacted her by........drumroll, please?...........calling her on the good old cell phone. Yes, I kind of have a talking-on-the-phone-phobia, but it was totally worth it. I got to hear a little bit about her life, more than what I get in the monthly newsletter. It was wonderful to hear her voice.

I'm definitely going to miss Oklahoma and being closer to my family and dear friends that I've made while living in Norman. But we believe this is a good choice for us. Anthony grew up in La Crosse, and it is where his parents currently reside.

Adventures are to be had!

Day 3: So far, so good.

Sundays I try to go without getting on the internet at all, so as to better enjoy my day of rest. Only checking Facebook on Wednesdays and Saturdays has naturally lead to less internet time in general, turns out. I'm okay with this, mostly because that means that FACEBOOK consumed most of my time online. Blech. (I promise I'm not trying to demonize Facebook. This is a personal journey, not an agenda I'm trying to force on everyone.)

Monday was a good day for me:

This is my dearest sister's sunhat. I wore it while I hung clothes on the line to dry. I had a great time! It was kind of therapeutic...and I think that the clothes may have dried faster than in our drier. Isn't her sunhat cute?  I take no credit on the cuteness of that hat, it all goes to Jalaena. (I love you, Jalaena!)

Here's my sister and Henry, they were hanging out while I hung the clothes. What a picturesque time. Oh, did I mention that we really like blue? 

I have been more productive and restful. I've done much less comparing of myself to others, and have enjoyed sending the intentional email. I've had projects piling up that I'm going to be starting. I've had more time with my own thoughts -- sometimes it's great, sometimes it's not. 

So as not to trick you into thinking that leaving this Social Media stuff has made my life perfect, here are some "Real-Mommy" Moments.

Real Mommy Moments:

• We had to order pizza on Saturday night because I didn't do any dinner prep throughout the day.
• Yesterday morning I was being uber-productive. I went outside and worked on the computer while Henry played in the backyard. I don't remember the order of events exactly, but he turned over the water table getting himself all wet, then he ran to me and wanted me to pick him up (a reasonable desire being a cold, wet 20 month old). I wouldn't pick him up because...well, because he was wet! I made him walk inside with me so we could change him into dry clothes. 
• At a different point, he was stepping on my backpack, and in the act of getting my backpack out from under his feet, I knocked him over. He started crying HUGE crocodile tears, and I felt terrible. I picked him up, held him close, and apologized. Oh yeah, and I think all of these were due, in part, to Henry messing up my "productivity streak". Thankfully, I had a heart check moment, I said a prayer to be more understanding and patient with sweet little Henry. Things got better between us. :)
• There were dirty dishes in the sink all day yesterday. 
• Oh, I went WAY over grocery budget, and domestic budget, this month. It seems that Sprouts store being within a 5 minute walk has been detrimental to us. What can I say, I love Sprouts. But in the future, I have to discipline myself to stay within our budget. 

Why the Real Mommy Moments? Because I want to remind you that I am real, and that just because I am limiting my Facebook and Pinterest time doesn't mean I've found myself in a domestic utopia. I find myself reading blogs of various mommy's and I wonder how they do all that they do, and inevitably feeling terrible about myself. 

If you're interested, here are links to two articles that talk about Pinterest and Instagram. I'm going to try to post things like this so you can hear from others who are talking about this as well. 

I'll have a blog-post about the Pinterest one in the future. 

Alright, readers! Thoughts? Anything you'd like to see on here? I'm up for suggestions.