Journal Day

Posted in Journal Day, Social Media by

image via Sometimes Sweet

Although I mostly lurk on her blog, Danielle over at Sometimes Sweet is one of my favourite Mommy bloggers and her little family is just too cute for words. Every Sunday she posts a journaling prompt, and this week I’ve decided to take part. Today, we’re talking about social media. Here’s the prompt to help get our brains cranking:

Do you use social media in your daily life? Do you think it adds to your relationships with others, or takes away from them? And furthermore, do you think social media adds more positive or negative to your life? Write about your relationship with social media, and talk a bit about how you got started, and what role it plays in your world.

I’m pretty sure that at least 95% of the world today uses social media in some way, shape or form in today’s world. It’s hard not to go along throughout your day without hearing someone say, “Check us out on Facebook,” or “Tweet us your opinion!” I’m totally guilty of spending far too much time browsing profiles and groups on Facebook, reading tweets out loud to my husband, and sharing photos of what I had for breakfast/lunch/dinner/whenever on Instagram. I may not post something every day on every social media outlet, but I’m definitely on there.

As a result, far too often I find myself referring to people I’ve never met in real life – be it mentioning a tweet I read, a funny picture I seen on Instagram, or a comment on a Facebook page. I think that while social media has brought a lot more awareness to the world – we now find out about different events and news WAY faster than we ever have – it has taken away from our relationship with others. We’ve become so quick to “friend” people online and give them the inside scoop on what’s going on in our lives. I find that there’s now less to talk about when you actually meet in person – IF you meet in person. Why meet for coffee to catch up if you’ve already read every detail about so-and-so’s house renovation, new baby woes, or seen pictures of their big trip to Costa Rica?

All this being said, I think social media has definitely impacted my life in a more positive way. I think way more about what I write online and what kinds of information I put out there for the world to read. I’m more conscience of the individuals in my online circles and who I’d like to keep as acquaintances, and who I’d love to actually have that cup of coffee with despite creeping through their Facebook statuses. And of course, it definitely helps me to stay connected with family and friends who I don’t see on a regular basis.

Would I say I’m addicted to social media? Yeah, maybe just a little. But I’ve got to say that as an introvert, it has helped me come out of my shell just a little bit. It’s not that I see the internet as a place to be whoever I want to be; it’s just the place where the voice in my head is actually brave enough to shout its thoughts from the rooftops.

 

Project 365: March 23-29

Posted in Photo-a-Day, Photos, Project 365 by

March23-29

March 23: Sad sack.

March 24: I saw my first robin, so NOW it’s spring.

March 25: Little pats on the head for our favourite little friend.

March 26: Self test time. I’ll live with that mark.

March 27: Homemade rice pilaff, BBQ’d salmon and dill sauce.

March 28: Going for a jump.

March 29: Girls night with a couple of lovely ladies.

Are we friends on Facebook? If so, you can view the full photos here.

 

Listy Friday

Posted in Listy Friday by

I don’t think I’ve done a random “life update” post in a while, so I figured I’d make today a list day :)

– Last week I signed up for another 12 weeks of Beginner Plus yoga. I’ve really been enjoying my once-a-week escape and just relaxing for an hour! Plus, the venue where classes are held is so relaxing, and our instructor brews delicious tea for everyone. It’s just heavenly. AND during a class a couple week ago we were flowing into headstand pose and I actually made it into the pose, with a little help from Carrie. I thought for sure I was going to topple over, but I managed to hold the pose just long enough for a fellow classmate to snap a quick photo:

Head Stand

Sorry for the crumby iPhone photo

In that same class we also got into crow position – a position I didn’t think I’d be able to do this year, but low and behold I certainly did! I’m just going to toot my own horn a little bit and say I’m surprised how much I’ve progressed  since I started going to yoga last fall. I just wish I had the time to go more often!

– Isla has been a busy little girl lately! I don’t know if she’s getting a little cabin fever from being inside most of the winter (I don’t blame her), but she’s just in “go-go-go” mode all the time! Since the weather has been a bit nicer we’ve been spending more time outside taking little strolls up and down the sidewalk. We’ve also visited the park a couple times, which is great because she can just wander wherever she wants and I don’t have to worry about cars or buses flying past us. On Wednesday we chased some geese before I realized the baseball diamond they were on was way muddier than it looked. I really can’t wait for summer to get here so we can have more outside time!

March23

Wrangling geese.

– Last weekend Kyle had a “guy’s night,” so Isla and I escaped to my mom’s overnight. Sometimes, it’s just nice to let boys be boys and not have to listen to them talk about welding and whatnot all night long. Isla and I had a nice time relaxing at my mom’s – with the exception of bedtime for Isla. She wasn’t so keen about sleeping in the pack-and-play, and I’m sure that being in a new space didn’t help either, because she screamed for about an hour at bedtime, terrified. She eventually wore herself out and fell asleep, but she really did not want me to leave her side. Poor girl. Needless to say, we were both happy to come home on Sunday and sleep in our own beds.

– Last week I started to repaint the ensuite bathroom off of master bedroom. It was the third and final phase in repainting the room – we started with the bedroom itself, then did the closet, and finally did the bathroom. It took me three days to paint the tiny space – when you only have a 2-hour window to get a room painted, it takes a while. On Monday I did the first coat, Tuesday was the second coat, and Wednesday was for touch-ups and putting it back together. I was super stoked to finally have all my painting done, and then Kyle accidentally scraped the wall with his fingernail while hanging his towel up and THE PAINT PEELED OFF THE WALL. I mean literally, peeled off. You could grab the edge of the paint and pull it away like a layer of plastic. Cue stressed out tears. There was now a hand-sized patch on the wall where the original brown paint was happily chilling out, unscathed. We’re not too sure why this happened, but we think it has something to do with the moisture in the room. So, on Thursday I touched up the patches (again), and then put a space heater in the room to help the paint cure. We left it like that all last weekend, and I think the paint is OK now, but we’re still super nervous about touching the walls. If it peels again, we’re going to have to strip the walls and sand them before painting – AGAIN. Fingers crossed people, because I’m so DONE.

– Saturday evening I’m heading to a play with a couple of girl friends, and it will be Kyle’s first evening being in charge of putting Isla to bed. We’re planning a trial tonight, so we’ll see how it goes! I’m sure he’ll do just fine :)

– On Monday I get to go to the periodontist and have a gum graft. Oh the joy. I have a receding gum line and my dentist had been suggesting that I go see a specialist for a couple years, and last fall she finally said, “You need to go see a specialist,” instead of, “It wouldn’t hurt to get a consultation.” Ugh. So back in December I saw the specialist and it was determined that I’d need grafts on the lower half of my gums on both sides of my mouth. YAY! So on Monday, I’m having the first half of the procedure done. I’m sure I’ll be a miserable mess, so feel free so send happy thoughts my way. And liquified solids. (May I also take the time to mention that I’m SO thankful for the dental plan Kyle has through his work.)

– Finally, I just want to thank everyone who gave me some positive feedback and encouragement on Tuesday’s post. I’ve been diving into my textbook every chance to get and it practically feels like I’m in school again: Binders, highlighters, new pens, self tests, MOODLE. It’s going to be an interesting venture, but I’m ready for the challenge and a fresh start in a new career.