Friday, July 18, 2014

{ I hope you dance }

Pretty little white dress

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
May you never take one single breath for granted,
GOD forbid love ever leave you empty handed,
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.
(I hope you dance...Lee Ann Womack)

I unplugged successfully!!!!

Seriously, I did, and I don't miss Facebook one single little bit.  What I thought was going to be a huge effort on my part, has become extremely easy, and for that I have the Lord to thank.

Yesterday I got down to business, to what really matters in my life, and that means home and family.  To really give it the attention it needs, and I don't mean the usual daily tasks we do with our homemaking, I mean to look around and change things up.

To give it a little love here and there, whether it is crocheting a little doily for a small corner in your house, or repainting a piece of furniture, it could even be bringing in some flowers from the garden.

Painting project

Just a sneak peek at what I'm doing in my kitchen. Painting and more painting, a project I have wanted to do for many years but never got around to it, because I kept telling myself I didn't have time. Guess what? I DID have some extra time, I was just using it the wrong way.

New color

I'll show you all once it's finished.

School is restarting in a little over a month, and I've been busy getting things set up. This house doesn't have an extra bedroom, so we have to make do with what we can. I've turned the small closet under the stairs into a Homeschool supplies area, books, and school items and the printer are housed in there. It works for us.

School supplies

I took care of the garden, I pulled weeds, I watered, I cleaned and rearranged a few things, and then when I was done, I danced....I headed to the back yard under the trees and really soaked in the fresh air and the beautiful summer afternoon.

Pretty little white dress

All it takes is a little white dress with the prettiest eyelet fabric, and some pretty flowers in hand.

Stop worrying about others, or what they will think if they see you out there spinning around bare feet. Who cares?!?!?

Pretty little white dress

It is exactly what I did, and it felt AMA-ZING!!

The rest of the day I spent indoors with laundry and dishes and cleaning....but I also got time in to exercise, read and hang out with the family.

Dinner time quickly came around and I put together a delicious, filling and yet simple meal.

Hot corn on the cob

Dinner table

Corn on the cob and Scalloped Potatoes and Ham.  Yum!!!

As the sun started setting for the night, I quickly turned on my fairy lights and enjoyed how it made everything look so warm.

Mom and Nic

Mason jars, and floating photos of me and my baby loves.

Mom and Jas

"But mom, the lid says beets!" she said.  HA!!!

That's ok, I happen to think it gives it more character.  I'm hoping to try these again but with smaller photographs in a vintage black and white tone.  What you can't see from the front, is that there are lavender flowers floating inside too.

pugs

Speaking of loves, my pug loves seem to really enjoy the fairy lights, anytime they are on, you can find them sitting under there.

We're having some horrible haze caused by fires in the vicinity. Smells horrible out side and everything looks grey, but it did provide quite a stunning sunset.

Hazy sunset

So, my wonderful friends, I'm here to tell you to dance, to embrace life, to remember that there is more out here than on a computer screen on Facebook or Twitter.

I quickly realized that the time I was spending on there, was time I was missing out on my real life...instead it was just zipping by me at a super fast pace.

And one day when I die, I don't want to look back and think that I could have been sitting on the couch reading with my kids, or chatting or watching a movie, or that I could have been out in the garden enjoying nature, or making a home, or holding my husband's hand while out on a walk......but instead, I was sitting on the computer, talking to a screen.

Definitely not what I want to remember my life as. I made the change, and now I'm dancing through it. Yes I am!!!

13 comments:

Rachel said...

Good for you Sandra! I have not completely deactivated my facebook acct, but since we went on vacation last week, where I went unplugged from the computer for a week, I have found that I am trying to be more deliberate about when I am on the computer and what I am doing. Spending time with Bill and the kids is definitely more important to me than facebook.

On a side note, thanks for the tag in the homemaking meme. I haven't done one of those in ages, but gave it a go in today's post. :)

Have a great weekend!

Sew Very Me said...

Awesome that you made the decision to unplug. I've found myself spending less and less time on Facebook; it has now come to the point where I go on there once a day to connect with family and friends still in South Africa.
Would you mind doing a blog about your homeschool organizing? I'm very new to HS and your blog is already a huge inspiration.

Tasha said...

Awesome! Ive been thinking a long time abt deactiving my facebook. I dont go on there as much as i use too in less im sharing a pic are something.
i hope you and your family have a great weekend!

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Hurray for you! Now you are freer and happier.

Have a great weekend ~ FlowerLady

Lulu said...

i soooo love your little pugs...they are so adorable..wish i could give them a hug...i sure miss my baby..
have a lovely weekend sandra..
take care,

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

I barely have time to write my blog, let alone freelance write, with all my chores as a stay-at-home-mom. I love my garden,and self-sufficient lifestyle. It is more work, but we are happier in the end.

MindyG said...

Beautifully said Sandra! I wholeheartedly agree - it all goes by too fast and we need to be present as much as possible with our children and family. Can't wait to see the table and chairs!
Mindy

Susanne said...

Good for you!! I applaud you in your decision! I'm struggling with Facebook and the whole aspect people wanting to friend me when they couldn't care less to be my friend in "real life". You are inspiring.

The weather has been strange here too due to the fires. So hazy and sometimes smoky, just not normal.

threesidesofcrazy said...

Good for you! I did it by accident last weekend when Time Warner went down for 2 days and we had no tv, internet or phone - it was glorious!

I've been working on my new blog which is a compilation or combining of all the old blogs in order to simplify too.

Felicia said...

Congratulations. I unplugged for about a month a little over two weeks ago and it was glorious. Already two weeks to being back on and I'm finding myself having issues again. My pen pal letters are falling to the side, my craftings and such are dwindling too.

I may just totally unplug.

It's amazing what changing things around and looking at the small things in the house will do.

I started rearranging the kitchen tonight because of the burning need for a garage sale (so when I whine in two weeks how much I hate them kindly remind me I wanted one really bad).

I LOVE that dress!

Conny said...

Thanks for the great reminder!!! Now I need a white eyelet dress!! ;) I am hoping that my new home will inspire me to make the most of each day DOING things I love instead of just reading about them. :)

Theresa said...

I have never belonged to any social media sites. Can't see any value in joining.

Sarah said...

Love your dress, so pretty. Dance away! :)

Facebook is a drain on time, don't I know it! LOL