Lovin' on a Wednesday

Ok everyone. Let me start by saying this. 

Having not checked my Facebook/Pinterest now in a full 2-days is so liberating.

I feel free. Facebook has so much complaining that I never realized until it was gone. My life already feels more positive.

Anyways, this morning, I want to write about everything I'm loving lately (keep the positive vibe going strong.)

#1. I love that it's Wednesday because my two hard days of teaching are now a full week away again. Wednesdays I just teach one easy-peasy 45 minute class to a group of 4-6 year olds that I've had since they were 2 & 3. Love them. I get excited for Wednesdays. They are currently working on splits, and getting ready to turn "like the big girls"...!

#2. Sadly, probably what I'm loving most right now in this exact moment...my pregnancy pillow arrived and...I slept from 10:30pm - 7:20am! Yahoo! Matt also slept well and I credit this to him also liking the pillow. I woke up just once for a second at 2:30am and he was using it too, lol. It's crazy huge and is like sleeping snuggled up to a cloud, no joke. Cogsy tried to claim it yesterday and I put a stop on that one real quick. This is my life saver right now. It also kept me on my side like I'm supposed to be! (Side Note* I did teach 6 dance classes yesterday...that may have had something to do with my great sleep. We'll see how tonight goes.)

#3. Our crib arrived yesterday :) We haven't put it together yet and won't be until I've finished making baby's rug, but it's crazy to see it it all unpacked leaning agains the wall waiting to be built. Exciting stuff. 

#4. Purple Laffy Taffy, bagels with cream cheese & the most amazing 5 Guys bacon cheeseburger I had for dinner last night. Could have ate 7. Right now at 8am, my mouth may or may not be watering wanting one for breakfast, lol. 

#5. The weather. I can feel spring trying to peek out and I'm loving it! A lot of my maternity clothes that were given to me are capris, skirts, shorts or jeans that fit but are just an inch or two short and need to be rolled up ready for summer. Getting dressed in the morning will be easier when it's about 5 degrees warmer :) 

#6. Matt spent the day over in Seattle with Maclin yesterday. Just the two of them. Matt took him to the zoo, Starbucks for some treats and then to Fred Meyer so Mac could show Matt what he wants for his birthday that's coming up. He's going to be 5?! I started watching him when he was just 11 months old. 4 years really went fast. I just love that we're spending time with them again. I have not seen Charlie in a long time (now goes by Lotte) and Matt saw her yesterday (she's 7 now) and she has requested that her and I have a "playdate". I cannot wait! 

Matt sent me this picture (while I was in the middle of teaching 1 of my 6 classes yesterday and I just about died from jealousy) :) I talked to Mac on the phone while they were out and he said, "Chelsea! I'm have really fun with Matt!" .... I love it. 

And I'll end you with this because if I had a Facebook, I would have made it my status immediately. Instead, I quickly put it down in my phone to remember and blog.

Story:

During team practice on Monday with my 6-8 year olds, I had them performing their competition routine in groups of three. After each group performed each girl had to tell the group a good thing they did and something they need to work on. After one of the groups finished and it was time to review them, this is what one of my 7 year olds (2nd grade) threw out there....

"Elaina had so much energy that she was like a word and she bolded herself!!!!!!!" - Marisa T.

I was pretty much on the floor laughing. 

This also happened, around the same time. Islay decided she could fit in my ottoman. She chilled in there the whole time we did groups (15-ish minutes). Again, cracking me up from cuteness overload.

I'll leave you with that on this Wednesday morning. 

I can't wait for the day this little bean starts talking. I have a feeling that with their daddy...they are going to be quite the pair to hang out with! 

It feels so much better having this all on my blog where it belongs instead of Facebook. These are all things I want to remember and yeah, I know people are reading, but that's not why I post on here. I do it so one day I can read them all and have a good laugh :) I love it. 

Great day already!

Life WIthout Facebook & Pinterest: Day 1 Results

Day #1- Monday, March 4th

So, it's the end of Day 1 and it was actually quite hard to not go onto either Facebook or Pinterest all day. I have a few things to admit. I am horribly addicted. In the past (as in yesterday even) I may have even checked it at red lights. That's not only dangerous, but sadly makes me realize I really was/am addicted to Facebook. Today, I put my phone in the glove box while driving. It's also helped to have no Facebook or Pinterest app on my phone. I got home from dance tonight and Matt said, "I accidentally went on your Facebook. I was on the computer and accidentally signed on just by habit. You had 11 notifications." Immediately I asked, "What were they??!! I mean..I don't care. Damnit, yes I do!"....."You got a message from Jenna & Renato (my exchange brother from Brazil). Jenna supports your decision and Renato's getting married." So, only because Facebook is my only line of communication with Renato, I opened Facebook, looked at nothing other than that one message, and let him know we can't come to the wedding because I'll be 36 weeks pregnant, but I love him a ton. Then I closed out FAST. I text Jenna back instead of FBing back and never actually read the message myself, Matt read it aloud to me. 

I feel good about myself.

Added to my awesomeness today, I decided to not watch The Bachelor anymore either. We don't want our kids watching things like that, so I'm not going to either. So right now, we have Subsonic playing on our Apple TV. I'm going to take a night shower to relax so I can maybe sleep tonight and then read one of my birthing books, "Mindful Birthing." The whole books about being mindful...being present. Which is exactly what I'm trying to do in general. Pretty helpful.

Anyways. Day 1...No Pinterest (first day in over a year and a half except when we were on the cruise & our honeymoon), No Facebook except for the one exception &...No Bachelor. I even had Matt tell me who wins. No for real...he told me.

I like this new simpler life already. I just hope I can hold to it. I know so many friends who have tried and unfortunately not succeeded. I feel like my goals are not unrealistic because I'm not going to get rid of Facebook...just use it more wisely. Before I can accomplish that I need a major break for at least a week. Probably more like a few months, but I'm taking it one day at a time.

This goes so beyond Facebook & Pinterest. I have lots of other things I'm working on. Many are difficult to fix, especially with my irrational hormones, but I'm getting there. Baby steps.

They are based off of the Corinthians verse (haven't gone to church long enough to know which one)....

Love is Patient.

(Working on being patient with Matt finding a job and doing things in his time and not mine. Working to lovingly encourage instead of pushing him).

Love is Kind.

(Working on being kind in general. To everyone. Even those who aren't kind to me. I'm just going to try to shine with kindness. Basically I'm going to pretend - but not talk like - everyone on this earth is one of my dance kids and how I treat them.) 

And the other one that popped out at church on Sunday was...drumroll...my big one!

Love does not BOAST or ENVY. 

I'm a bad one-upper. I caught myself doing that today in day to day conversations with people and would stop myself immediately. It made me feel terrible. Not necessarily even one-upping but I do a lot of, "Oh yeah, we did that too and.......!" kind of things. (Noticed myself in our text convo today --which I loved--, Mel...tried to stop it, sorry if it kept happening anyways).

I can't wait to find a good counselor to help me with all this. I want to be the best me I can be so that I can be the best mom I can be. 

Day 1 is over now and I feel good. 

This blog just took a new direction but that's okay. I'm totally 100% okay with our kids reading this one day. Hopefully it will help them if they are ever struggling, too. 

Good-night! This will be my last night in misery (hopefully), my huge ginormous pregnancy bed pillow gets here tomorrow!

Taking A Facebook/Pinterest Break!

I am so done with Facebook & Pinterest. 

Yes, I realize that in the past few days, I myself have posted a lot, but I'm really trying to stop because I think I'm addicted. Like a real addiction. It's not good. So for one week. (I'm starting small). I'm going to avoid Facebook and Pinterest. 

Facebook just annoys me & Pinterest just makes me want stuff I can't have.

Also, Facebook makes me feel like I have to do awesome things or I'm not good enough. It's weird, I know. But, I also know that I'm not alone in feeling that. It's like one big brag show and in order for me to change that in my other areas of life, I'm going to start there.

My Facebook and Pinterest apps were deleted from my phone last night and it felt good this morning to just wake up, have a cup of coffee and read a few good hearted blogs. That's more like it. 

I'm really working on changing a lot here. We have lived here for 4 years now and I have done a ton of changing, but it's still not enough. Not enough for our baby. So, I'm going to work on a few more things. I'm not embarrassed about that at all. Everyone has stuff to work on and my number one thing that annoys the shit out of me about myself (and I'm sure it's not everyone's favorite trait about me either) is that I like attention. Seriously, how annoying is that. Our child is NOT going to be the annoying kid bragging and wanting attention. I got no friends that way and am lucky to have family and close friends now who I always say, "get me". I don't want anyone to have to "get me" to be able to be around me, that's annoying. 

Anyways :) Oo, it feels good to write this all out. Makes it feel more real and permanent. Like, I can do this. 

So for this week, just to start, Facebook...gone.

Pinterest...gone.

My big goal is that I can use them both in a healthy way.

Facebook: Used to catch up with friends (my immediate family I talk to on the phone just about every day). Used to post "the bump" so my aunts, grandma & close friends can be excited about that. I thought about taking that away and realized it would hurt a lot of people so I'll just keep it (I did take the ultrasound photos off though because those I can share via email with those who I feel need to see them, ex. close friends, parents, siblings). Facebook will also to be used to post just on rare occasions or milestones. 

Pinterest: Used for information, recipes or ideas. Avoid pinning trips, fashion, etc. It's like pretend bragging and that's what I'm trying to avoid. Most of the trips on my Pinterest and clothes that I pin are very unrealistic so what's the point? I do love Pinterest for baby ideas. Ex: I have learned a lot about breastfeeding and cloth diapering from Pins I have found. I have also tried some incredible recipes and learned how to cook new things. Our entire nursery is like one big pin board/ideas in my head and that was fun and helpful. I'm a big fan of the Pinterest Secret Boards. If we're going on a trip and I want to pin clothes or adventures or things like that, I may use a secret board. We'll see. 

I just want to come a little more down to earth. Be a little closer to the here and now. To stop worrying so much about the future or about things we don't have. 

So..that's it. I'm taking a break from those worlds and am going to stay closer to real here on my blog. It's only 9am on Day 1 and it feels good already. Anyone who's reading this, I would super appreciate support and not judgement on this as I really am trying to work on stuff and be a better person. :) 

Time to go dance with all my littles now!

Sunny Sunday

Another beautiful day and we spent it at Alki Beach.

Fish and Chips and a long walk = a good day.

We spent our morning at church too, and that felt good.

Spuds Fish & Chips are our favorite. Mmm! (May have had tummy aches later, but so worth it) 

Matt's making some pasta with mild sausage and marina for dinner. Yummy! We're watching our new favorite show, "Worst Cooks in America."We had a nice day together and I'm really cherishing these last days of us being "alone".