Social Networks explained

Here is a funny little picture that someone made to explain social networks.

Overall I love the Internet, but often despise parts of it. It even varies what makes me crazy at times.

Facebook recently breeds discontentment, laziness, even jealousy. There. I said it.



It may often seem annoying or even obnoxious for someone to post monthly on twitter or facebook, "Taking a break from social media. Email or call".

But when my mind is so cluttered from the busyness of technology there is little else that can help me set my mind on God than unplugging from the noise.

I wrote this a few weeks ago after a night of sleeplessness and lurking facebook....
"I have sat here for the last hour and a half while my family sleeps trying to read, trying to pray, not even having my laptop in front of me, but knowing too much about too many, reading to much mundane and important things all at once sometimes makes my mind so cluttered I forget how to think clearly.

I check messages on my phone, email, and facebook and read them quickly then forget to respond. I have systems on how to not miss these messages that I have implemented at less cluttered times in my life, but those are so quickly out the window, when I spend too much time reading hundreds of status updates and hundreds of blogs.

When I can't even remember where I read something or which friend is sick, because there are too many people that I am only acquaintances with on facebook. This is one reason I post fewer pictures and personal stories out there than I use to. Also, statistically I may have some total creepers as facebook friends. I don't need them knowing too much about me and my family.

Sometimes I just want to unfriend everybody (no offense) and only use it for my family, forcing me to be more intentional with our friends and hanging out."

I saw someone say that the printing press was like Internet of the day. Consider how we look back on the printing press. All of the sudden, the bible and other important documents are everywhere. A wealth of knowledge and entertainment they never had before. I wonder: did it ever have negatives? Unfortunately I think the modern day printing press will. It will be tragic and/or amazing to see one day how the explosion of the Internet hurt and helped our world. How it formed psychosis in young minds.

Even someone that doesn't own a computer or even have a place to live can go to their school or library and get on Facebook to read up on what kind of coffee someone had or how someones surgery went. And then forget all about it because they read another 50 updates too. The idea that you can forget someone's hardship with depression or a great celebration because there is so much info going into your brain is sickening to me at times. I have heard more than once that people have found about family members' deaths through facebook instead of a conversation. I have actually heard that 5 or 6 times.

None of what I say here about the need to unplug is unique or new. I have learned this from friends and authors along the way, I am just noting it as a reminder in case you need a break. It is a prescription for me when the focus is hard or my brain is working a mile a minute.

I have currently been on break from Facebook for a week.

I thought in status updates for almost 48 hours.
THAT IS RIDICULOUS!

Then I started being more intentional and I read more to myself and my kids. I actively listened and gave way more eye contact (bc I didn't have any technology in my hand or lap) as D explained every detail of her new favorite show the Octonauts. I got some projects done. I rested more. I prayed more. I worked out more. I was never perfect. I still spent time on my computer, but not nearly as much.

I guess I am just calling for a time out. You don't have to do it. I won't judge you if you don't.

But if you are up for it. Choose one of your social networks that breeds discontentment or jealousy or bitterness or just plan takes up time you could do on something else and take a break from it. A day, a week, a month. 4eva*.

For me it is this facebook break (I totally had my husband hack into my FB to post a link to it, because it would take more self control than I might have not to check updates, while I break). I had a good friend tell me she needs to delete hers altogether because it is a burden while another friend share that Pinterest gives her discontentment because it makes her want more (a very valid point! I am sure I'll need to break from that at some point).

If you are up for it leave me a comment on here or one of my social networks....Just don't expect me to know it right away. I am after all on a facebook break.




*(side note-I love writing like I use to in notes. My greatest note memories are Alison, Carrie and Rosie. Epic LYLAS, SSS etc. What do whippersnappers do now. Text? I guess. I do too. But I guess Oregon Trail = Angry Birds and the perfectly folded and coded handwritten note =texting)

List #5: Hibernation activities

Hibernation: to pass the winter in a torpid or resting state
Torpid: having lost motion or the power of exertion or feeling

We are hibernating. In these cold months we have had colds, viruses, stomach flu, RA, back injuries, etc. We are in a resting state. We have lost motion. I think I am OK with that. Some of of our inside winter activities I had planned to do as Advent activities and round 1 and 2 of Mr. stomach flu pushed those back to January.

Here are some of the things we have been doing to keep the fun going around here while at home so much.

Muffin Tin Rainbow Lunch: Freeze dried Strawberries, Goldfish,
Barilla plus pasta, Peas, Blueberry juice, and an Oreo (see I totally break my own rules).

• Muffin tin lunches. Does your one to two year old only eat processed snack food to sustain herself and even then only a tiny bit a day. D did this at that age and Mags is on the same track. I think it is partly all the teething that takes place and partly the new found battle of wills, etc. I remembered reading about muffin tin lunches in the blogoshere and looked them up. Basically it is adding fun to eating, packaging your meal into muffin tins or other cute containers. Most grown ups and kids fall for something if it's presentation/packaging is pleasing to the eye. Dorothy prefers her muffin tin lunch to be rainbow colors. I try to have just 1 or 2 to be a processed snack and at that hopefully with no corn syrup, since I know it makes my RA flair up. I don't always follow this. To each his own. This really does not take me much extra time, I just use what bits of food we have and don't make this complicated. The green cup is almost always peas or green grapes because in the winter those are some of the only green food we ever have :) As they get older, I see us branching out into themes to go along with the season or a favorite book. For example, look at these great examples: Thanksgiving, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Book, Valentine's Day.

• D is working on writing her name. She use to hold her pencil naturally and then I think her teacher and I both made comments on holding the pencil properly and she got nervous and now questions how to hold it. Well we had a million character band aids around that never stayed on when the girls needed them so we began using them as stickers. I wrapped her pencils with a Dora or Mickey and now she knows to place her grip where the band aid is. It really seems to help.

• D also needed a boost in her confidence about writing in general, not just her grip. She told her Aunt Dawn and I separately that it was one of the hardest parts of preschool (Is that not adorable?). While sick, we didn't spend as much fun time doing art or drawing at home, so I have a writer's work shop basket where she can doodle, draw, and explore whenever. It doesn't seem like such a chore now at preschool or when I give her specific tasks, because she has lots of opportunities to do it on her terms just the way she likes it (This is our approach for reading/letters/phonics too). Right now we have just a basket that can be put out of Mag's reach. When Mag's can be trusted to have pencil access it will be on a lower level for both of them to use whenever they want. Here is a super inspiring Writer's Workshop for young writers. Love it.
  

• Mags is really into sorting and stacking. Sometimes I help and show her colors and sizes, but a lot of times I just let her do it her own way and have fun. In the picture above she is lining up our Mickeys and Minnies by size. No that is not even all of the ones we own. I guess we hoard -I mean collect Mickeys and Minnies :)

• Speaking of hoarding. I watched a couple episodes of Hoarders to kick start a much needed donation pile in our home. We are going to be in this house a couple more years and we need to get rid of about 1/4 of our things since there is no space or need for them anymore. I though that show would kick me in the pants and inspire a house purge. Then I watched Toy Story 3. Darn it if those two shows don't cancel each other out....sob. That Andy and Woody. House reorganization to. be. continued...sob.
  

Here are my cute babies at a favorite local fun restaurant. What you can't see, is that I am holding them both and hollering because I am about to drop them.

Any who.

While reading blogs I stumbled on this one, where the author is writing 52 lists. One a week. Here are the ones written so far. Love it.

I was thinking of some goal or theme to keep me motivated in blogging and I turn 30 tomorrow. So mulling this around I thought I'd make a goal to write 30 lists between my 30th and 31st birthday. I am great at setting goals. I am a planner. I make charts and lists. What I am not great at is reaching the high and lofty creative goals I set for myself. Here is to seeing how far I come!

Mobile Upload

Our family goes to the mall on family days sometimes. We have exhausted the Disney Store of all things Mickey and Minnie. We usually end our monthly trip to California Pizza Kitchen. D could not stop hugging Mike. She was cracking us up.
Our favorite server, Ashley Choneginhiemer wasn't working because it's her birthday or something. Happy birthday Ashley!

Some of my favorite pictures of last year part 1...

I am so thankful for this past year. Here are some of my favorite memories. Lots and lots of pictures!

Dorothy's first moment with Maggie Sue!

Our first family picture.


Mike and his girls.

My family. In small, medium, and large.

Brooks, Jamie, and Mike in DC for the Sovereign Grace Worship God 09 conference.


Mike at Sojourn's CD release party.

...Again Mike at Sojourn's CD release party.


Our friends Lachlan and Ellory Sue with Dorothy at the Ems house.

4th of July with the Degraides and Montgomerys


This sums up my day sometimes.

I am so crafty I make people and quilts.



Grandpa and Grandma Huff with their grandkids and celebrating their 40 years of marriage.

I love this sweet girl.

Maggie Sue Courage

Halloween with the Lewis and Butlers.

Avery and Dorothy.

An outtake from our family portraits with my MamaDear, Mickie Winters. Yes those are pajama pants, with Mary Janes, with no socks.


These pictures were taken by me, Mike, Chuke Heeke, Michael and Mickie Winters, Chip Lewis...and if I forgot to credit someone, let me know.

I'll (try) to blog December pictures soon!

(Thanksgiving 09, the Huff cousins: Gracie, Dorothy, Noah, Sadie, and Maggie Sue)

I have found myself disenchanted by my blog. I think it's partly because I know people read it, but we are all too busy to leave comments most the time. I know this because I have 120 blogs on my feed that I read off and on, and I almost never get to comment on them. Another reason is because in case you are not aware, I have 2 babies 2 and under! And RA. So there you go.

Anyway, I am still here. And I can't make promises about updating, because I know I'll fail at those promises. So keep on clicking over. Chances are you'll get a surprise now and then. When I do post!

My mom and dad in about 1967.

Let's play catch up!

Here is a family pics of my parents 40th anniversary party the last weekend in September.

Mom and dad's community group amazingly donated much of the food and services to have this party and we had family and friends from many chapters of their life help celebrate.

Maggie is sad that I haven't blogged in a while.
She wants me to change that.
I told her I would blog more often and that made her feel better.
Also, I have no idea why there is a line under the previous sentence and it won't go away.
Oh well.

Last week at seven weeks.

And last night at eight weeks old!

Thankful for Maggie Sue

My friend Terri posts her daughter Ellory's prayers. So when Dorothy said her first unprompted prayer tonight I was inspired to post: "Jesus, Maggie Sue, Maggie, Thank you. AMEN!"

Dorothy's love has grown quite a bit since Maggie came into her world 8 weeks ago. Our prayer has been that they would be loyal to one another throughout life. I, a true nerd, looked up loyal: unswerving and faithful in allegiance. I feel like that sums up what I want for them.

The above picture was snapped with Mike's camera phone as we left from the hospital to bring Maggie home.

Little Miss Dorothy Jean, 7 months old (March '08) in my old dress.

We have been looking at a lot of pictures of old Dorothy. I have not taken many of her at all in the last few months, other than with Mike's iphone. I have torn the place apart for our camera and have every piece EXCEPT the battery charger and extra battery. This explains that when I DO post photos they are either fuzzy (from Mike's phone) OR they are old ones of D. This time: a photo of Dorothy a year ago this month. One of my favorites ever. I can't wait to get our awesome camera up and running so you can see her curls and compare her to that bald head a year ago!

Five weeks from yesterday marks the day of our scheduled c-section...April 21st. Yahoo!

We have been busy with spring cleaning, rearranging the house, our church/Mike's job, raising a 1 1/2 year old, a new nephew (Samuel Joseph Cosper), catching up with old friends, loving on our families and much more.

God bless you all.

Some of my favorite moments over the last several weeks.

Sitting in Grandma Sue-sue's pot.

Playing at Levi's siblings birthday party on the big indoor soccer field!
(Elijah was 6 and Stella 4)

She grabbed this off the shelf at the aquarium. We got her one, but the next size down. We are suckers for really good stuffed animals. We got her a great buffalo out west this summer.

And this is our family Friday a few weeks ago. Apparently shopping wears her out. She slept on both of our shoulders throughout TJ Maxx when Mike asked if she wanted a cheeseburger and french fries, she woke up and said "Yeah, uh huh, yeah".

Tera tagged me...I was supposed to go to my 6th folder and get my 6th picture, but I just picked the 6th picture on my desktop. This is Miss D at the 930 this month. I would like this piece of art, from Lost Love in D's room.

Update:

• I have a tentative c-section date of April 21st!
• That is 10 weeks away!
• Mike,Neil, and the Sojourn worship team have almost finished their next CD!
• Mike is the co-founder of the Open Sourcebook, an free online liturgical resource for churches. It just launched this month.
• Sojourn has some GREAT new web blogs and resources. Check out TravelBlog. (SO THANKFUL FOR BOBBY GILLES WHO MAINTAINS THIS)
  
• Dorothy had her half birthday this week, that means she is 1 1/2!
• D talks in sentences as of this week. Some of them make NO sense and the other half are clear as day "I don't want noodles mama." "Read stories mama?" "Thank Jesus for cheeseburgers" Mike and I just look at each other shocked. I prompted her to thank to say thank you and she said "Thank you Mike" then started laughing, because she used his first name. She continues to call Mike's parents "Nana and Papa" And has labeled my mother "Sue-sue" and my dad..."Gamp-pa Sue-sue". I am not sure how he feels about that.
  
• We are sill dealing with so much crappy health...We all had colds and for Mike and Dorothy it developed into bronchitis...Mike's back, my arthritis. We just continually have to do life our own way. I have had to step back from a lot of expectations that others have on me and that I have put on myself. It is hard, but it is so nice to remind myself I am putting God first and then my family. And that is all that matters right now.
  

Good thing we don't plan on teaching Dorothy that Santa is the reason for Christmas :)

May Christ's birth be on your mind as you celebrate with family and friends. I am looking forward to it and wish you all a very blessed day. Love to all.

I love this recipe: Creamy Chicken Lasagna. Even more than that, I have been making the creamy sauce and using it for spaghetti. D loves tomato sauce, but she still has a hard time eating really acidic foods so adding the cream cheese helps.

So waaay back in the middle of October I was in my second art show. Our church has this really wonderful "Affordable art show" during the neighborhood fall festival. Also notice the two art pieces behind me, my nieghbor and friend Elizabeth did those and Mike and I got the green one for each other for our anniversary last week. I kind of love that tradition, buying each other a piece of our friends art for hoildays. He got me two pieces last year from our dearest Michael Winters friend.

It is great because the art show has very established/formally trained artists and crafters as well as newbie self trained ones like me. I made purses and onesies just like last year...and sold well (about 90% of my stuff sold!). I have barely sewn since then until this past weekend, when I made my 8 gifts for our churches gift exchange (tell you about that later). I hade a lot of people ask about my cowl (the tube scarf around my neck in the first picture, so I'll probably make some of those to sell next year).
I have got to make more girly onesies and more owls. I am also planning on making toddler shirts...but not until at least after Christmas!

(Thanks to my friend Ashley L. who took these pictures for me!)

Happy December! Thank you so much for all the love again. Our life is taking on a bit of normalcy. Mike is still in major back pain but we see a specialist this week. We have our 9th wedding anniversary on Thursday and we find out the gender of the baby on Monday! Here is a picture of Dorothy's first corndog. About 2 minutes later she had taken the "corn" off the "dog" and inhaled them both.

I am still here!

Hello! I hope you still check this blog! I am back. Probably not every day, but I hopefully can post a bit more than I have been.

I haven't had morning sickness in three days! I am 14 and 1/2 weeks along I have been sick for almost 8 1/2 weeks. I am hopefully on the mend. A lot of you have asked and I was not this sick with my first pregnancy. Maybe 3 times total that time. I have lost count this time. No two pregnancies are alike, I hear.

We took Dorothy to hear the heartbeat of her baby brother or sister last week. She charmed all the nurses and doctors and played with all the things she shouldn't and had no idea why we were even there. BUT! I think we got through the appointment much quicker than normal because of her presence. Not that I am ever taking a one year old to the doctor again, unless it's for her. The above picture is her running the hallway as I made the first payment on our second kid :) Just as we pay off the first kid we start paying for another- It is certainly worth it though!


Oh and I found this funny picture of D. This was on her way to meet Ruby Laffin for the first time. I love that she is waving at 6 weeks (well accidentally waving) and that she still is working on the eye control, and she is so rolly-polly.

Please pray for me if you can. Just as I am doing better with the morning sickness I have had two flair ups with my RA. I pulled my shoulder last week, the worst it been in about about two years. Then this weekend as I geared up to sew, I had a flair up in both wrists, again something I haven't had happen since before Dorothy. Not exactly a good thing for a lady trying to sew for a little business. Well enough typing on these hands for now. Love to all, near and far.

Happy October! We went to the Zoo for the big Halloween party tonight.
I'll go on the record and say Mike and I are not obsessed Wizard of OZ fans. D was named after my Grandmother and Mike's aunt. BUT! we wanted to have her dress from the movie at least once. We figure it will be all too soon before she has strong opinions on who she wants to be.

Remember when I told you Dorothy hugs by bumping her head into whatever she loves?