well. in case you remember my mileage goal for July and have been just dying to know how that went down, here it is. The goal was 180 miles on my bike. And. . . . I made it 174. I was 6 miles short. six. But I'm really not too down about it because that last ride on the last day of the month I was pushing my way up Provo canyon loving the ride, feeling great and like I could go forever, and. . . I had to turn around to make it home on time to feed my baby. And those are just the kind of little sacrifices that you have to make when you're a mom (especially one whose baby decided to refuse to take a bottle anymore. future moms--you should listen when you're doctor tells you to give her a bottle every couple of days so that she'll remember how to take one). And it's ok. Sometimes I wonder how far and long and hard I could go on that thing without time restrictions. If I didn't have to squeeze in my ride between the end of my shift and the beginning of my husbands and between feedings. But then I'm just grateful to be able to squeeze them in at all, and grateful that I have a nice bike and a healthy body and beautiful places to go riding, and a hard working husband and lovely baby to come home to and then I get over it.
Here are some of the adventures we've had together so far this summer and the things I've learned:
I ventured out into west Provo. Far enough to pass cornfields and lots of sunflowers, cows, and horses. And something about knowing I live that close to cornfields, sunflowers, cows, and horses makes me feel good about life. And there is one spot with a good view of Mt. Nebo that completely makes me feel like I'm in Guatemala and it's beautiful. Utah Lake is a common destination of mine. If I have time I stop and sit by the Lake and wish so hard that it was the kind of lake without disgusting water--one that you could actually swim in and come hang out with your friends on the beach kind of lake. Then Provo would have everything I think.
One day I got caught in an absolute downpour and it was the highlight of probably my entire month. I LOVE getting caught in the rain. I made it to bridal veil falls that day, and by the time I stopped to rest there I was completely soaked and dripping. It had been so dang hot all month and that ride was so nice and cool and refreshing and I can't even tell you how happy it made me so I'm just going to stop trying.
Let me just say I feel really dumb having such a nice bike but knowing absolutely nothing about how the thing works. I need like a bike mechanics 101 class or something. It leads to some really awkward moments like having to ask the bike shop guy to come look at my bike to tell me what size I need to replace my tube. And one day when for some reason my brakes were misaligned and rubbing my tires and I could not figure out how to adjust it even though I could tell it was just some tiny little thing that needed to be done if I just knew where to tighten it. And it was. But it made me feel a little better when the nice high school kid in the bike shop couldn't figure it out either and had to get his boss to come help (who fixed it in about 2 seconds and didn't even charge me. Thank you Mad Dog Cycles). The kid also made me feel better when he told me that some guys will come into the shop with like $10.000 triathlon bikes (yes, people do spend that kind of money on athletic equipment) with flat tires. It made me feel less spoiled and incompetent if that makes any sense.
My dad taught me how to change and patch a flat tube which is way harder and than you might think (or maybe just for me). While doing so he said my tires looked practically brand new which totally hurt my ego. He also told me never to go on a ride without a patch kit, spare tube, hand pump, and your cell phone so that you don't get stranded miles and miles from your house with no way to get home but walk. Which advice I did not follow and had to learn my lesson the hard way. I had only gone 4 miles and did have my cell phone except that almost every single person I know in Provo decided not to answer their phone that day. And to be honest, even if I had everything I needed, I'm not sure I could have fixed the tire myself anyway in a reasonable period of time. So I got to have the really awkward experience of accepting a ride from a good Samaritan college freshman who pulled over and asked if I needed help. Making smalltalk for 4 miles made me feel like I was on a first date and I will probably never forget my patch kit and pump again.
Roadkill is pretty hazardous for a biker. And I have seen more varieties up close and personal lately than I care to go into detail about.
I really really really appreciate bike lanes and smooth, clear roads more than ever before.
I discovered while on vacation that Jackson Hole, Wyoming is pretty much the cyclists paradise. I felt like I could explore the place for an entire summer and still not even hit every trial, not to mention that most of them are in beautiful national parks. I got in a few completely amazing rides and want to go back just for that.
I also had a long chat with my husband about how someday we are going to bike across the entire country, coast to coast. Yep, totally doing that.
As I was lamenting to my dad the fact that I need some cycling buddies and that I don't know any other girls who are into cycling, let alone that live in Provo, he told me that most bike shops have "bike clubs" that will meet weekly or so for rides and that's a good way to learn a lot about biking, to get a lot better, and make friends who you can go with! I just found out Mad Dog Cycles has a ladies only group Thursdays at 10:00. But I'm pretty sure Tanner has class then. I may need to recruit a babysitter and muster up the guts to go!
All of you should start roadbiking. It's the greatest thing ever.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Sunday, September 2, 2012
teething and other thoughts
teething. yikes. not our best afternoon. Sometimes when you're baby is crying/fussing it's all very frustrating and an exercise in stress and anger management . . . and then sometimes it's just SAD. And there's no way you could even be upset at her because how can you be upset at that scrunched up, bright red, drool-snot-and-tear covered face with a pouty lip (why is blogger telling me that pouty isn't a word?) and a cry that is just so darn sad?? So you get her to take double naps, you nurse her twice as much, use the orajel, try and fail with with the cold frozen-cornered washcloth, try the park swings and get pity and advice from a stranger with a two-yr-old, and then wander BYU's scenic paths for a couple of hours which worked the best of all of the above.
(side story--last time Tanner and I were walking there I said to him "there are certain places on campus or in Provo that whenever I'm there, it'll remind me of a certain person or memory or time in my life, and this path always reminds me of you because of that time before your mission when we would play air hockey together on Fridays and then go and get Jamba juice and we went walking on this path once in the winter talking and drinking our Jamba juices." Sweet right? He laughed and said "oh really? I don't remember that. This path always reminds me of my old girlfriend because this is where we had our first kiss.")
anyways. Teething baby not fun.
I was thinking today about bloggers and positivity/negativity. I read somewhere once, "no one likes a bad mood blogger", which I completely agree with, who wants to read someone who's complaining all the time? (or be friends with them in real life for that matter) but at the same time I think a lot of these people are going for genuine. authentic. real, open, honest, relate-able. And now that I'm thinking about it, this isn't just a blogging question, it's a life question--how do you know when sharing the bad is being open and real with people, and when you're sharing too much bad and just spreading gloom, doom, and negative vibes?
Like, I remember being pregnant and talking to some moms who feel the need to tell it to you "like it is" and go on and on about sleepless nights, how your body will never be the same, and how it will blow your mind how expensive everything gets. All topics with definite potential to majorly freak out a mother-to-be. But then again there are those who leave all those details out and prefer to just gush about how every moment is bliss, joy, and tiny-toed, angel-faced perfection. (and there are more than a couple of bloggers out there who are making me start to think that all they ever do is walk around the city in extremely fashionable clothing, with their extremely fashionable friends eating (and photographing) perfect looking food at chic urban locations. that and go on vacations. with their kids who never drool, cry, poop, spit-up, teeth, or get any of the above mentioned bodily fluids all over their extremely fashionable clothing) And if those picture perfect times are the only ones you share with your mother-to-be friend, she'll probably be in danger of thinking something is seriously wrong with her when she starts raising her baby and that isn't exactly how things pan out every day.
I remember the same thing when I was engaged. People from some sides making absolute sure that I knew things weren't going to be all roses and sunshine--that things are hard, husbands annoy, divorces happen, bills pile up, life won't ever be the same and you won't have fun ever again doom and gloomers. And then those who want to make you think they never ever fight and go around posting anniversary love notes to their husband all over their web-spaces (sorry, but those bug me. What happened to writing all those sweet, personal expressions of love in a nice card or saving them for your candlelit dinner? Why does all of Facebook need to hear it?) expressing the sentiment that every single second has been more than they ever dreamed.
The happy medium is hard to figure out. I will always believe in positivity. On looking at the bright side, recognizing, remembering and cherishing the perfect moments, shrugging off the bad days, looking for the silver lining. You know, optimism. But I would never want to do that with the aim of inspiring jealousy in others. Or come off as fake. Or fool anyone into thinking that my life is a series of perfectly happy days that never get me down.
That's all.
(side story--last time Tanner and I were walking there I said to him "there are certain places on campus or in Provo that whenever I'm there, it'll remind me of a certain person or memory or time in my life, and this path always reminds me of you because of that time before your mission when we would play air hockey together on Fridays and then go and get Jamba juice and we went walking on this path once in the winter talking and drinking our Jamba juices." Sweet right? He laughed and said "oh really? I don't remember that. This path always reminds me of my old girlfriend because this is where we had our first kiss.")
anyways. Teething baby not fun.
I was thinking today about bloggers and positivity/negativity. I read somewhere once, "no one likes a bad mood blogger", which I completely agree with, who wants to read someone who's complaining all the time? (or be friends with them in real life for that matter) but at the same time I think a lot of these people are going for genuine. authentic. real, open, honest, relate-able. And now that I'm thinking about it, this isn't just a blogging question, it's a life question--how do you know when sharing the bad is being open and real with people, and when you're sharing too much bad and just spreading gloom, doom, and negative vibes?
Like, I remember being pregnant and talking to some moms who feel the need to tell it to you "like it is" and go on and on about sleepless nights, how your body will never be the same, and how it will blow your mind how expensive everything gets. All topics with definite potential to majorly freak out a mother-to-be. But then again there are those who leave all those details out and prefer to just gush about how every moment is bliss, joy, and tiny-toed, angel-faced perfection. (and there are more than a couple of bloggers out there who are making me start to think that all they ever do is walk around the city in extremely fashionable clothing, with their extremely fashionable friends eating (and photographing) perfect looking food at chic urban locations. that and go on vacations. with their kids who never drool, cry, poop, spit-up, teeth, or get any of the above mentioned bodily fluids all over their extremely fashionable clothing) And if those picture perfect times are the only ones you share with your mother-to-be friend, she'll probably be in danger of thinking something is seriously wrong with her when she starts raising her baby and that isn't exactly how things pan out every day.
I remember the same thing when I was engaged. People from some sides making absolute sure that I knew things weren't going to be all roses and sunshine--that things are hard, husbands annoy, divorces happen, bills pile up, life won't ever be the same and you won't have fun ever again doom and gloomers. And then those who want to make you think they never ever fight and go around posting anniversary love notes to their husband all over their web-spaces (sorry, but those bug me. What happened to writing all those sweet, personal expressions of love in a nice card or saving them for your candlelit dinner? Why does all of Facebook need to hear it?) expressing the sentiment that every single second has been more than they ever dreamed.
The happy medium is hard to figure out. I will always believe in positivity. On looking at the bright side, recognizing, remembering and cherishing the perfect moments, shrugging off the bad days, looking for the silver lining. You know, optimism. But I would never want to do that with the aim of inspiring jealousy in others. Or come off as fake. Or fool anyone into thinking that my life is a series of perfectly happy days that never get me down.
That's all.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
At the Grocery
Sometimes when I go to the grocery store on my scooter to pick up a couple of things, I forget I brought the scooter and a couple things turns into 8 bags of groceries plus 2 gallons of milk. It's kind of an awkward moment when I pull my cart up to my scooter, trying to figure out how to make this work. And then when I do make it work, I feel pretty awesome. And also kind of like a total dweeb.
The weekend before school starts in Provo is a crazy day for grocery stores. Our double college town just about doubles in population over a weekend and there is a mass exodus to fill empty refrigerators and pantrys. I avoid it at all costs, but we just returned from a week of vacation and desperately needed groceries, so I joined the mass movement of all the other students who desperately needed groceries. Every time I do this it reminds me of a certain grocery trip I took with my sister Alison to Walmart. The weekend before school starts + a Saturday + a BYU football game day = The worst Walmart experience of my entire life. The place was a freaking zoo. Add the fact that at least 80% of all customers were wearing at least one BYU item of clothing and it was just a really bizarre, crowded, color-coordinated experience. I kind of felt like I was in a city that just got hit by natural disaster, or that scene in Jumanji where people are raiding the grocery stores and there's only a handful of items left on each shelf.
Still living in Provo even though I graduated a year and a half ago makes me feel like I'm spying on a club that I used to be part of but have since moved on from. I get this awkward feeling like someone's going to call me out on being a married, graduated, parent-of-one that doesn't belong in the sea of single people hitting on each other, exchanging phone numbers and inviting each other to hang out. I do though like watching roommates grocery shop together and remembering how that takes about 10 times as long as going by yourself, but it's ok because it's so much more fun.
I ran into my little brother at the grocery store. !!! How cute!! I'm so excited he's here! It's been too long since I lived in the same city as my siblings. (Maddy moved to Logan last week to attend USU and I'm really happy for her but still really wish she was in Provo too) He's kind of a stud and I told him he looks way more like a man and way less like a young teen-aged freshman than he used to.
And that's it for my grocery experience of the evening. Except that I just want to make one thing perfectly clear and that is that I shop Smith's, not Walmart. And I'll never go back. That's all.
The weekend before school starts in Provo is a crazy day for grocery stores. Our double college town just about doubles in population over a weekend and there is a mass exodus to fill empty refrigerators and pantrys. I avoid it at all costs, but we just returned from a week of vacation and desperately needed groceries, so I joined the mass movement of all the other students who desperately needed groceries. Every time I do this it reminds me of a certain grocery trip I took with my sister Alison to Walmart. The weekend before school starts + a Saturday + a BYU football game day = The worst Walmart experience of my entire life. The place was a freaking zoo. Add the fact that at least 80% of all customers were wearing at least one BYU item of clothing and it was just a really bizarre, crowded, color-coordinated experience. I kind of felt like I was in a city that just got hit by natural disaster, or that scene in Jumanji where people are raiding the grocery stores and there's only a handful of items left on each shelf.
Still living in Provo even though I graduated a year and a half ago makes me feel like I'm spying on a club that I used to be part of but have since moved on from. I get this awkward feeling like someone's going to call me out on being a married, graduated, parent-of-one that doesn't belong in the sea of single people hitting on each other, exchanging phone numbers and inviting each other to hang out. I do though like watching roommates grocery shop together and remembering how that takes about 10 times as long as going by yourself, but it's ok because it's so much more fun.
I ran into my little brother at the grocery store. !!! How cute!! I'm so excited he's here! It's been too long since I lived in the same city as my siblings. (Maddy moved to Logan last week to attend USU and I'm really happy for her but still really wish she was in Provo too) He's kind of a stud and I told him he looks way more like a man and way less like a young teen-aged freshman than he used to.
And that's it for my grocery experience of the evening. Except that I just want to make one thing perfectly clear and that is that I shop Smith's, not Walmart. And I'll never go back. That's all.
Friday, August 17, 2012
happenings
hello people of my blog.
I'm just here to share a few thoughts this morning. without theme, direction, purpose, or pictures. Just warning you.
Today is my last day of work and I am thrilled. By 1:00 p.m. today I will have told someone for the last time that their call will be recorded for quality assurance. At times, this job has been great for me, but right now I am done with it. I've kept it this long mostly because it was so convenient to be able to work from home (definite perks including but not limited to working in my pajamas, setting my alarm for 6:55 and still being on time for my 7:00 shift, no commute spent cursing UDOT for 30 whole minutes, I can still breastfeed my baby and don't have to pump) but it does remove the main good thing about my job which was being friends with my coworkers (and about 50% of my friends at work were pregnant at the same time as me and are gone now anyway. there was a whole row of us. kind of awesome)
So yay! I'm done. And we are going to be super poor and I'm not even going to tell you how much money is not in our bank account, but we'll work it out.
I'm really excited to be a stay at home mom. slash writer, I'm going to start writing a lot. And biking and cooking and reading and yoga practicing and cleaning a lot. Oh, the things I will do with my time. Mostly spending a lot more of it with my baby! Which I really want.
Can I just say baby gifts are one million times easier and more fun to shop for than wedding gifts? Firstly, they are adorable. Secondly, there are a billion things that you need for your 1st baby, so it's unlikely you'll give a duplicate gift, and most things, it doesn't matter how many duplicates they get, they'll still use/need them all (diapers, wipes, clothes, toys, blankets, and you can never have too many bouncy/hanging/swinging play mat zones/devices). Besides that you can buy a perfectly acceptable small gift for a few dollars, or you can go all out and spend as much as you want--whereas wedding gifts can be really pricey and if you want to spend very little money, you're only option is something really lame like. . . one spoon.
We got home on Wednesday from a lovely vacation to Zions National Park. We had a few days off for a family reunion that got cancelled and decided we'd do our own vacation instead. We almost bagged the whole thing though because it's really hard to plan a vacation that's long enough, cheap enough, and close enough for us to maintain sanity with a baby in her car seat that long. And since we live in Utah, most of the locations that fall into that category are places where the main attractions are camping and day long hikes. We love camping, but 3 days straight with a 6 month old? no thank you. So we opted for hotel in Zions and had to be content with the scenic walkways and mile-long hikes in the park. Which was plenty awesome. And also dreaming about the days when our kids our old enough for hiking through the narrows and to Angel's Landing. And we spent a whole lot of time just being lazy. Ooo i love that place. If you haven't been, go. It's really interesting when you're there how many people are not only from across the country, but across the world. Tanner and I were talking about this, and if you were from Europe and wanted to take a trip to America and see what there was to see, where would you go? New York probably. California. And . . . national parks! Zions is right up there on the list of amazing national parks and it's just 4 1/2 hours from good old Provo. Now, just a few days of laundry and recovery until our next vacation with the Staples family to Jackson Hole! I feel kind of funny that all my summer activities and plans are right now and all I keep seeing and hearing online is how people are so excited and so ready for fall. Not yet, please. I've barely even touched my swimsuit.
On a more serious note, one of Tanner's aunts passed away last night (his mom's sister). She's been battling cancer for years now and has been hospitalized recently. She has 6 children and 2 living parents. We will all miss her and our prayers go out to the Pederson family.
I'm just here to share a few thoughts this morning. without theme, direction, purpose, or pictures. Just warning you.
Today is my last day of work and I am thrilled. By 1:00 p.m. today I will have told someone for the last time that their call will be recorded for quality assurance. At times, this job has been great for me, but right now I am done with it. I've kept it this long mostly because it was so convenient to be able to work from home (definite perks including but not limited to working in my pajamas, setting my alarm for 6:55 and still being on time for my 7:00 shift, no commute spent cursing UDOT for 30 whole minutes, I can still breastfeed my baby and don't have to pump) but it does remove the main good thing about my job which was being friends with my coworkers (and about 50% of my friends at work were pregnant at the same time as me and are gone now anyway. there was a whole row of us. kind of awesome)
So yay! I'm done. And we are going to be super poor and I'm not even going to tell you how much money is not in our bank account, but we'll work it out.
I'm really excited to be a stay at home mom. slash writer, I'm going to start writing a lot. And biking and cooking and reading and yoga practicing and cleaning a lot. Oh, the things I will do with my time. Mostly spending a lot more of it with my baby! Which I really want.
Can I just say baby gifts are one million times easier and more fun to shop for than wedding gifts? Firstly, they are adorable. Secondly, there are a billion things that you need for your 1st baby, so it's unlikely you'll give a duplicate gift, and most things, it doesn't matter how many duplicates they get, they'll still use/need them all (diapers, wipes, clothes, toys, blankets, and you can never have too many bouncy/hanging/swinging play mat zones/devices). Besides that you can buy a perfectly acceptable small gift for a few dollars, or you can go all out and spend as much as you want--whereas wedding gifts can be really pricey and if you want to spend very little money, you're only option is something really lame like. . . one spoon.
We got home on Wednesday from a lovely vacation to Zions National Park. We had a few days off for a family reunion that got cancelled and decided we'd do our own vacation instead. We almost bagged the whole thing though because it's really hard to plan a vacation that's long enough, cheap enough, and close enough for us to maintain sanity with a baby in her car seat that long. And since we live in Utah, most of the locations that fall into that category are places where the main attractions are camping and day long hikes. We love camping, but 3 days straight with a 6 month old? no thank you. So we opted for hotel in Zions and had to be content with the scenic walkways and mile-long hikes in the park. Which was plenty awesome. And also dreaming about the days when our kids our old enough for hiking through the narrows and to Angel's Landing. And we spent a whole lot of time just being lazy. Ooo i love that place. If you haven't been, go. It's really interesting when you're there how many people are not only from across the country, but across the world. Tanner and I were talking about this, and if you were from Europe and wanted to take a trip to America and see what there was to see, where would you go? New York probably. California. And . . . national parks! Zions is right up there on the list of amazing national parks and it's just 4 1/2 hours from good old Provo. Now, just a few days of laundry and recovery until our next vacation with the Staples family to Jackson Hole! I feel kind of funny that all my summer activities and plans are right now and all I keep seeing and hearing online is how people are so excited and so ready for fall. Not yet, please. I've barely even touched my swimsuit.
On a more serious note, one of Tanner's aunts passed away last night (his mom's sister). She's been battling cancer for years now and has been hospitalized recently. She has 6 children and 2 living parents. We will all miss her and our prayers go out to the Pederson family.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Notes
Dear season ski passes: could you just please be less expensive?
Dear Provo City Library: I'm really really sorry that I left approximately 15 of your childrens books outside overnight in the bottom basket of my stroller and let them get attacked by the sprinklers. It would be appreciated if you just did not notice the water damage and also didn't charge me an arm and a leg to replace all of those books.
Dear Marissa: Thank you for all of the produce from your garden! Those tomatoes are making everything I eat taste better. Also happy birthday!
Dear Audrey: Thanks for helping me figure out how to dress and buy remixable clothing.
Dear downstairs neighbors: I'm really sorry that my baby is so into kick kick kick kicking when we lay her on the floor.
Dear future tenants of the vacant apartment in our 6 plex: I really really hope you are cool.
Dear Zions National Park: I'm coming. Be excited. We're going to have a good time.
Dear Provo City Library: I'm really really sorry that I left approximately 15 of your childrens books outside overnight in the bottom basket of my stroller and let them get attacked by the sprinklers. It would be appreciated if you just did not notice the water damage and also didn't charge me an arm and a leg to replace all of those books.
Dear Marissa: Thank you for all of the produce from your garden! Those tomatoes are making everything I eat taste better. Also happy birthday!
Dear Audrey: Thanks for helping me figure out how to dress and buy remixable clothing.
Dear downstairs neighbors: I'm really sorry that my baby is so into kick kick kick kicking when we lay her on the floor.
Dear future tenants of the vacant apartment in our 6 plex: I really really hope you are cool.
Dear Zions National Park: I'm coming. Be excited. We're going to have a good time.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Welcome Home Elder Bramhall! and lots of other pictures
Ryan returned with honor this month from his mission in San Antonio, Texas. We missed him a lot and are so excited to have him home! He'll be moving to Provo in just a few weeks and I couldn't be more thrilled to have him around. Among other things, I think we're going to have a nice home cooked meals/babysitting trade off happening.
He says "ya'll" now. It's cute.
And also, if any of you have cute little sisters approximately the age of 21, let me know. This kid is a total stud.
Gotta love the look she's giving Ryan
Los Padres
Here she is thrilled to be witnessing Provo's 4th of July parade
Celebrating our independence with Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos. Yum.
Camryn hangs out in this swing a lot. Like for an hour every evening she is content as can be to swing and watch other little kids at the park.
Baby's first fireworks!
And now--introducing the 4 newest members of the Staples household: Margaret, Robert, Neptune and. . . oops, can't remember the name of the 4th one. Tanner has been dying for a pet for a while, and since a dog is pretty out of the picture for right now, we went down to petsmart and got him a fish. I was thinking like a little glass bowl with a goldfish in it, but apparently Tanner had bigger dreams. Like 10-20 gallons/multiple exotic fish bigger. We compromised. The pictures are obviously terrible, and I don't even know what kind of fish they are, but they are about 1 1/2 inches long, brightly colored 2 yellow, 1 blue, and 1 red, and really fast and zippy fish. Tanner loves them.
When Alison was visiting, we took Camryn on a long hot walk and she started getting really fussy, but as soon as we took her shirt off she was as happy as can be. This girls loves being naked.
First pool day! I'll be honest she was really grumpy this day and wasn't liking anything. We have a couple pool involved vacations coming up though and we'll change her opinion. Thanks for the adorable swimsuit Steph!
So, I just skimmed through these and realized Camryn is smiling in not one single one of them. She's happy I swear.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Internet Guilt
One of those things that has been getting me lately in the guilt category is time spent on the internet. I feel like I have to defy those "young people spend such and such # of hours a day using media" statistics and unless I am not using media for a big chunk of my day and instead doing things that human beings did before the internet existed, you know, enjoying nature, playing with my child, exercising, reading actual books, then I feel like a failure. But I'm here to convince myself out of this guilt and give myself permission to spend the time on the internet that I do.
I'm a big believer and kind of fascinated by the idea that one principle or idea or thing can be good if used in certain ways, and destructive if used in other ways--or even destructive in two opposite ways. For example, money is just a thing and some people have the vice of spending it frivolously and getting themselves buried it debt, but the other extreme I think can also be damaging--being too miserly with our money or using too much time obsessing over how to not spend as much of it. I think the internet is definitely this way, and even though I really do think I use it largely for positive things, somehow I've been convinced somewhere that if I spend a lot of time on the internet, that's bad.
Part of it I think, is that a lot of things that we used to do have become easier online. I read tons of articles online that I would otherwise be reading from a newspaper or a magazine which I don't at all think is wasted time. Quite the opposite actually, whenever I am flipping through the New York Times (one of the best kept secrets I know is that you can pick these up daily and free at the Kennedy center at byu. How do more students not know this??) I usually congratulate myself for learning what's going on in the world. And I love about 20 different magazines and would subscribe to all of them if I could, and have never once felt bad to spend time reading articles or flipping through fashion magazines. Why does it feel so different then, when it's the exact same thing online? I don't have an e-reader, but I'm curious if reading a book on one of them would give me the same bogged-down-by-technology feeling as opposed to the pat-myself-on-the-back-because I'm-reading-a-classic feeling that the real life pages in my hands book gives me.
I order diapers online. They offer free shipping to my door within one day and it's lovely. I've started buying clothes online occasionally. And I rarely read a book anymore without first hearing about in online and reading a few reviews for it to make sure it will be worth my time. I check the weather. And. . . lately I read blogs and look at pinterest. Which is the biggest one that people I think could criticize and say "well, ya, that one's just a time waster." But the more I think about it, I really don't think it is if you do it right. This post got me thinking about it, and I really like her thoughts. If looking at fashion blogs makes you feel bad about yourself and jealous about things you don't have and can't afford--stop looking at them. If looking at pictures of elaborate beautiful birthday parties and such makes you feel like a bad mother--stop looking at them. If looking at interior decorating/organization blogs makes you feel guilty about how messy your house is and sad that you're not rich or creative enough to make your house that beautiful--put your computer down and go clean it! If your friends blogs (you know, those ones you read of people that you actually know in real life) make you jealous of their vacations, kids, apartment, job, husband---stop reading those blogs. Or change your thinking. Some of the blogs I've started reading are written by smart, beautiful, uplifting, inspiring women who have good things to share and say and show. Yesterday, I found this blog post (via pinterest) 10 Simple Things to Make you Happier at Home and it made me really happy and inspired me. This post motivated and encouraged me to start getting ready every day instead of letting myself hang around all the time in basketball shorts (which has been happening too often lately) and try harder with my wardrobe. Some of them help me to be really happy and grateful and remember to soak in the awesome little moments I have with my little baby. I have a whole network of blog friends that had a baby the same month that I did and sometimes it's just good to keep in touch with a network like that and know that a lot of people are (for lack of a less cliche'd phrase) going through the same things I'm going through. That's how blogging should be I think!
Not a jealousy fest or an oh my gosh look at all the things I don't have and don't do and should start acquiring and doing.
My mother in law has a wise piece of advise that she always tells women to put a clock by their computer and always set and intention of how long you are going to allow yourself to be on there. That way you keep it to a positive, constructive use of time instead of mindlessly letting yourself go and realizing hours later that you're still surfing and not doing what you really want to do with your time.
So. . . I'm done now I think. If you made it to the end of this rant I commend you. And I'd love for you to share your thoughts on it!
I'm a big believer and kind of fascinated by the idea that one principle or idea or thing can be good if used in certain ways, and destructive if used in other ways--or even destructive in two opposite ways. For example, money is just a thing and some people have the vice of spending it frivolously and getting themselves buried it debt, but the other extreme I think can also be damaging--being too miserly with our money or using too much time obsessing over how to not spend as much of it. I think the internet is definitely this way, and even though I really do think I use it largely for positive things, somehow I've been convinced somewhere that if I spend a lot of time on the internet, that's bad.
Part of it I think, is that a lot of things that we used to do have become easier online. I read tons of articles online that I would otherwise be reading from a newspaper or a magazine which I don't at all think is wasted time. Quite the opposite actually, whenever I am flipping through the New York Times (one of the best kept secrets I know is that you can pick these up daily and free at the Kennedy center at byu. How do more students not know this??) I usually congratulate myself for learning what's going on in the world. And I love about 20 different magazines and would subscribe to all of them if I could, and have never once felt bad to spend time reading articles or flipping through fashion magazines. Why does it feel so different then, when it's the exact same thing online? I don't have an e-reader, but I'm curious if reading a book on one of them would give me the same bogged-down-by-technology feeling as opposed to the pat-myself-on-the-back-because I'm-reading-a-classic feeling that the real life pages in my hands book gives me.
I order diapers online. They offer free shipping to my door within one day and it's lovely. I've started buying clothes online occasionally. And I rarely read a book anymore without first hearing about in online and reading a few reviews for it to make sure it will be worth my time. I check the weather. And. . . lately I read blogs and look at pinterest. Which is the biggest one that people I think could criticize and say "well, ya, that one's just a time waster." But the more I think about it, I really don't think it is if you do it right. This post got me thinking about it, and I really like her thoughts. If looking at fashion blogs makes you feel bad about yourself and jealous about things you don't have and can't afford--stop looking at them. If looking at pictures of elaborate beautiful birthday parties and such makes you feel like a bad mother--stop looking at them. If looking at interior decorating/organization blogs makes you feel guilty about how messy your house is and sad that you're not rich or creative enough to make your house that beautiful--put your computer down and go clean it! If your friends blogs (you know, those ones you read of people that you actually know in real life) make you jealous of their vacations, kids, apartment, job, husband---stop reading those blogs. Or change your thinking. Some of the blogs I've started reading are written by smart, beautiful, uplifting, inspiring women who have good things to share and say and show. Yesterday, I found this blog post (via pinterest) 10 Simple Things to Make you Happier at Home and it made me really happy and inspired me. This post motivated and encouraged me to start getting ready every day instead of letting myself hang around all the time in basketball shorts (which has been happening too often lately) and try harder with my wardrobe. Some of them help me to be really happy and grateful and remember to soak in the awesome little moments I have with my little baby. I have a whole network of blog friends that had a baby the same month that I did and sometimes it's just good to keep in touch with a network like that and know that a lot of people are (for lack of a less cliche'd phrase) going through the same things I'm going through. That's how blogging should be I think!
Not a jealousy fest or an oh my gosh look at all the things I don't have and don't do and should start acquiring and doing.
My mother in law has a wise piece of advise that she always tells women to put a clock by their computer and always set and intention of how long you are going to allow yourself to be on there. That way you keep it to a positive, constructive use of time instead of mindlessly letting yourself go and realizing hours later that you're still surfing and not doing what you really want to do with your time.
So. . . I'm done now I think. If you made it to the end of this rant I commend you. And I'd love for you to share your thoughts on it!
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