a week without you.

post by casey.

a few of my favorite things:
- bragging up my kids
- taking photos of my kids
- complaining about my kids
- sharing photos of equally proud/embarrassing/defeating/frustrating moments of my kids
- shopping...in general;)

a few things I've 'given up' since the New Year:
- shopping...all of it. Any kind. All.The.Shopping.

and now since Lent:
- ALL SOCIAL MEDIA (with the exceptions of checking to make sure weirdo's haven't started following my accounts and to check-in on some of our 'business' accounts to continue my 'work' with those).

soooooooo...now I spend my longggggggg, coldddddd days here at home...just me and the kiddos. No real outside/human/adult interaction. No exciting mail days. No scrolling. No searching. No Target runs. 

some photos/things you've missed:)

willb and Theo are registered for PreK this fall!!! - them smiling and me eating an oatmeal cooking/sobbing.

it's good, you guys;). The benefits of this break are out-weighing the negatives.
I miss posting. I miss seeing what people are up to. I've actually found myself taking less photos because I know that I won't be sharing them with the outside world. That bothers me.

i actually just finished a book and found this quote within it:

"Why has living out loud for the rest of the world to see become such a priority?" 

- A Simplified Life by Emily Ley


A Simplified Life
about to begin Brene Browns Braving The Wilderness and then The Couple Next Door for my Book Club:)

i've been thinking a lot about that. 

social media was never too bothersome to me. I didn't find myself comparing my body or face or kids or vacations to anyone else or even when I did, I didn't really let that get me down...I'd be lying if I said I didn't envy some of the lifestyles of the accounts I follow. Moms staying home that seemed to have a budget for anything they wanted or needed. Families vcacationing for a living. Homes with finished kitchens. Women with all Madewell wardrobes. I don't mind a bit of envy but I'm sick of wanting all the things.  

i KNOW I have enough.

"It's a beautiful thing to have lungs that allow you to breath air and legs that allow you to climb mountains, and it's a shame that sometimes we don't realize that that's enough."

still all the coffee with Ike:)
and I DID break my No-Spending to buy a couple adorable rompers from my good friend over at New Moon Beginning - Ike is pictured wearing one, above:)!!!

and for.real. I've saved us SO much money in only 2MO! I was talking to a friend recently about having given up shopping - for now - and she had read somewhere that online shopping gives you an initial 12MIN of satisfaction or happiness. Where as if you were to put that money towards an experience...you can look back on that experience with happy feelings (assuming that experience was a positive one;) forever!!

i've been babysitting and that's been equal parts shitty anddddd financially beneficial;).

i'd also like to point out that this is all for me. This is not me passing judgement if you're still on social media or shopping online. I was just indulging too much. Likeeeeeee uhhhhh lotttttt. And I realize that I'm home all day and so I have the ability to be online at almost any point in the day...to stop what I'm doing to look something up online. And add in that I'm nursing...which forces me to take multiple 'breaks' during the day and sit and then most times, stare at my phone. SO if you's got the time and the moniesssss andsssss the self control....I salute you;).

homer watching the clock, waiting on Minecraft Night With Dad to begin;).

so over the past week I've finished a book and started a book. I've talked to a friend on the phone, something that was long overdue! I'm still filling my time...listening to Podcasts and doing a bit more house work. There's still a lot of room for improvement. I want to be spending that free time with the kids...not filling it with more tasks. 

at the end of the day I still feel like I've been busy all day. Maybe even still a bit distracted BUT with things that hold a bit more substance than all the absentminded scrolling. My head doesn't hit the pillow with the guilt it had just a week ago - having not felt like I really LOOKED at the kids all day/night. Like they were 'interrupting' me on my phone constantly. The haze has lifted.

we built a Snowman...ish;).

BUT the habit is hard to break. I still find myself checking my phone for the apps that I deleted a week ago. Searching for something to...look at or find?!

this break is good but a reminder that at the end of this I am looking for things to be changed. That at the end of this, I want to break some very bad and addictive habits.

making smoothies and trying to be healthy...ish;).

i'm not entirely sure how long I see this break lasting. I've been throwing around popping back up on my birthday! I turn 35 on March 23rd and that seems like a good day to make a comeback but you know...we'll see if I'm showered;).