Facebook

Back in late February or early March I deactivated my facebook account.  I just got to the point that I knew too many trivial details about too many people. Also, I was slightly annoyed at all the other stuff....too much political stuff....too many "interesting" articles...just too much junk. And to be honest, I got my feelings hurt due to a comment a friend said....and I didn't like getting private messages from old high school boyfriends. As Drew has said many times "there's a lot of junk!"

So. I deactivated my account.

At the time I really didn't know if I would re-join.  I knew if I did, I would "de-friend" many.  After all, if I wouldn't send them a Christmas card, why would I want them to know about my day-to-day life?  I know several friends that see facebook as "mission field". To some degree, I agree with that premise. But I, also, felt a "release" from that from the Lord.

I have to admit that I missed it. I missed being in the know.....at first, anyway. Then as the weeks and months went by, I got use to the not knowing and it was nice! A few friends texted or emailed, and I was able to stay in touch with them that way. After all, my email and phone numbers have stayed the same for several years now. If someone wants to get in touch with me, they can.

One friend from church told me about a conversation or rather a disagreement she and a fellow church member had one facebook.  Yea....that's what I'm NOT missing.

As school got out and summer began, I started to think that I would rejoin...but had no real date in mind. A few days it crossed my mind, but then I would get busy and just never got around to it.

Tonight I got an email saying that my account had been reactivated. Since Drew was on the computer, I asked him about it.  And was shocked to hear him say he did! WHAT?!!!  Turned out, when he opened a new tab in windows it had the facebook page as an option. He thought I had rejoined (he knew I was thinking about it). Just by him logging on, it reactivated my account. That was a surprised....I really thought it would be more work than that.

I told him no, MY account wasn't the reason there was a tab - William had check his account today.

But since he reactivated the account, I decided to go ahead and get on to see what all was going on.

What did I find?  About all the same things.....not that I was really shocked or anything.

I was still overwhelmed with all the trivial stuff about soo many people....just too many!! Do I really need to know where one friend ate supper tonight? Or that another friend went on a good run? But there are friends that I miss......especially, several of my friends from Guam. One recently had a baby....I didn't even know she was pregnant! I did love seeing pictures of my friends and their kids....seeing how they have changed.

In the end, I deactivated the account again.  I like knowing less.....makes for a quieter mind and emotions.  I am still on Instagram (mainly for the beautiful pictures by the professionals photographers I follow instead social aspects of it)....and I plan to keep this blog going, so I'm not totally out of the loop when it comes to social media. But I think for right now, I keep off facebook.

Thursday Night

I'm still amazed at how many days can go by before I find time to sit and write a post! This week has been full - not crazy busy, but good and full. I did work Monday - sadly with those dreadful eight-graders, but thankfully they were not too bad. I also worked today, but in the front office...which has it's own craziness...but with adults...but fun. I really do enjoy working in the office. The ladies there are a hoot!

I did a HUGE commissary trip - the kids were SOOO excited!! I came home with like eight bags of chips - but they quickly realized they were not all for them. We are hosting a church youth event here at the house and I wanted to make sure I had enough food for a dozen teenage girls.  The great part was I had some great coupons for those chips - I do love coupons!

So - yes, lots and lots of teenage girls at the house this weekend.  William will be with the boys at a different house and Drew and Benjamin are running away to Dallas to escape all the girls.

Can't say I blame them.

Ice Coffee

I have scummed to the next social media: Pinterest. It's a place to post pictures of things you like - and you can see what your friends have posted as well.  All sorts of things are available to view - books, music, movies, clothes, recipes, pictures of wonderful locations, sayings & quotes...anything really! Basically, it's another thing to in the words of my friend, Suzi, "to suck up your time".  Sad, but true.

BUT!!! I have found a few things that I not only "pinned" to my boards, but actually completed in real like.

The first thing is ice coffee - which I love - but as the original author of the recipe said, hate to pay $4.00 for a small glass at that fancy coffee place.  So, through a blog someone "pinned" the recipe on their board, I saw it and tried it out myself. Totally sold!!  The recipe is actually easy. Just soak coffee in water for twelve or more hours then drain off the coffee grounds. Now, I have to admit this draining off the coffee grounds took WAAAAYYY TOOO LONG! I will be working on a better system for that, but the end product was one that I am very happy with. Since I don't want to infrige on any copyrights, here's a link to the original blog with the recipe.

There have been a few other recipes that have caught my interest - which I will pass along as I try them out.

We Have a WINNER!!

Yes, we have a winner - ME!!!! SO EXCITED!!

A few months ago I won a book from a blog contest - this week I won again!  Last time was from Pantry of Praise a book about setting up a food pantry for those in need of food. I was able to pass along the book (after reading it, of course!) to the director of the soup kitchen we volunteer at.  This week I won a book from Annie Blogs.

The great thing about this contest is that I won two copies of Annie's book - From Head to Foot.  Part of the contest was to list whom you would give the second book to. I said I would be giving the second book to my friend, Tricia, because she teaches tenth grade girls Sunday School class at my church.  Tricia is excited as well!

I have been reading Annie's blog for several years now - read through the post of her writing this book -  I'm looking forward to reading it!

What was also a great surprise is she added a nice hair bow (which Melissa has already made off with) and a Christmas CD of one of her friends - what a nice way to start this weekend!

A Day of Remembering

I never intend to go so long without posting, but frankly - sometimes it's hard to get a turn on a computer around here!!  I love checking my email and facebook on my smartphone, but writing a post?  Not so much.  With a husband and kids that all seems to be on both computers at the same time, I seem to have to fight for a turn. And sometimes, it's easier not to. So, here's what's been going on around here:

1-  Last weekend Drew and I went to Washington, DC to check on our rent house.  Renovations had been completed that we needed to check on.  It looks amazing!  Very happy!  Even with all the reno's, there was still a ton of stuff we needed to do. Mainly, yard work - and I do mean a lot!   I don't think either Drew or I had done that much physical labor in a LOOONNNGGG time.  It hurt and we ached. But in the end, it was all worth it.  We have shown the house two times so far.  Prayerfully, soon we'll get another wonderful family living there. (Wonderful as in paying rent!)

2 - The best part of a weekend in DC?  Seeing friends!! Oh, so good to see their faces!!! I needed a good dose of them.

3 - The bad part of a weekend in DC? Not seeing other friends.  Several we're out of town....bad timing. But maybe this just means I need another trip to DC???

4 - Suzi taking pity on me and bringing me my  Chocolate Covered Coffee beans from Trader Joe's.   I knew that we would not have time for that, but she stopped and pick up four boxes for me. It's just a chocolate coffee heaven. I'm so blessed to have such a good friend.

5 - My parents keeping the kids - love that they love having my kids! My in-laws kept the kids in July and my mom last weekend - how blessed is that??!! Amazing!  After living away from family for so long, Drew and I are so loving being this close to them.

6 - Not only getting to see my parents upon returning, but Drew's parents as well. They were traveling back to their house after seeing great-grand baby.

7 - A huge blessing in our family is the birth of Drew's niece's baby - the first of another generation.  Margot is beautiful  and Drew, the kids and I are looking forward to meeting her soon.

8 - Getting back to work!!!  I was asked three times to sub at Ben's school - I had to turn down the first two times, but was able to teach third grade last Thursday. It was a sweet class. Hopefully, the teacher will call me again in the future.

9 - Teaching Bible study again. This coming Thursday will be the start date.  I have not heard of the author before, but so far I am enjoying the book.  While I was not able to pick the book, I'm hoping that next time either I will be able to or whomever will be teaching will be able to.

10 - Lots of emotions today..... 9/11 ten years later....  I have to admit that I have purposely avoided watching any of the TV shows concerning anything to do with it.  Our life totally changed that day. We still feel the pain.  My husband has missed two Christmas' (and other Holiday's, birthdays, and too many days to count) because of the events of that day. Being a military family with wars going on is heat-wrenching. I don't need a special day to remember, we live it.

Hump Day

Didn't realize until I logged in just now that it's been almost a week since I posted.  Mainly because the rest of my family has hogged BOTH computers over this last week.  What's a girl to do?

Yep  - Read. Sew.  Good times...until the breaker in the sewing room keeps flipping off. And off. And off - too many times to count. It seems that my iron (you do have a lot of ironing in sew a quilt, by the way), likes to trip the fuse. So. I now will be ironing in a different room.

It's been a crazy week - well, Monday was crazy. Yesterday MUCH calmer! Thank you, Lord. I need a few calm days. 

Not too much going on this morning - meeting with a new friend about a Bible study. I'll be teaching on Thursday mornings and she will teach the same study on Sunday evenings  - both at our  church.  I did not pick out this study, so I'm not too familiar with the author or the material.  Yes, lots of extra studying will be involved.  We'll just have to see how it goes!

This afternoon our crazy Wednesday schedule continues.  Last school year we had piano on Wednesdays just before church - not even time really for a dinner.  I chose to keep  the same day as I know soccer will be on other days, but this time we moved piano lessons up 15 minutes, so this year we have time to actually eat something at a quick pit stop at the house. At least that's the plan.

Melissa and Benjamin are still not 100% sold on piano lessons, but they are surviving. They do love their teacher (even if she made Melissa cry last week - "Feel the music?? How does one feel the music???!!!! - Poor thing. She was so upset!  Hopefully, today the lesson for her will be better.)  William really likes piano - he's at the stage where he's able to play real interesting pieces and see the results of working hard.  But then, he's the one that's always has loved the music. 

I really thought William would jump at the chance to switch to guitar this summer when we gave him the option. But no. He wants to stick with the piano.   I was shocked!! (And admitting upset even.) He had been asking for a guitar for several years.  But I think he doesn't want to go back to simple songs now that he's gotten so far in piano.  

Now Benjamin would love to switch to a new instrument.  And what would that be? The drums.  No surprise really.  Anything that's loud and will give Mom a headache!   But yes, next year, I will say "yes" and let him go into band. For the drums.  I hope the band director lets the students pick the instrument they want....otherwise, it's not going to be a good year.

Another Blog

I usually don't post a link to another blog, but this one is just too good to pass up. A friend posted it on facebook and it piped my interest. It's very well written!  It's just a reminder to teens that life is the way it's suppose to be - so hang on for the ride!   I sent it to many teens in my life - maybe you'll do the same.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/letter-to-an-incomplete-insecure-teenager

Maybe, Maybe Not

Earlie today I had some great thoughts concerning a blog post.  But I didn't write it down...now I'm tried and ready for bed.

So....maybe I'll have something exciting or excellent to say tomorrow.

Or not.

Relief

There's one blog that I read that I'm a little unsure of what I'll  find.  I honestly would not be surprised if there's a post by the author's husband saying she committed suicide.  I'm always greatly relived to see a new post by her as I was again tonight.  She's been through a lot in her life, but the main thing that sticks out to me is the lack of faith.

She seems to cling to the things of this world and is finding them wanting.... Makes me sad for her.   Drew and I both have at different times made comments about the comfort we have in our faith - in our Lord Jesus - and how we wouldn't want to go through life without Him....wonder how others do.

This lady shows that some do go through life with out Him  - and "do" life badly.

Yes, I'm praying for her. And  yes, I'm thinking of an email to her about faith.....just need the right words.

More to Come....

In June we'll go from five in Guam to five with family....I'm not sure where this blog will go... I started 5nGuam to keep family up-to-date with all our adventures on Guam. Now, after nineteen years of living the military nomad life, we will be stationed close to family.

Wow.

What a blessing.