New Beginnings

Ahhh...an empty blog. Like a clean slate. A blank canvass. A fresh sheet of notebook paper.

I'm looking forward to posting thoughts, life events, and family news here instead of on Facebook. After much thought, I decided today to quit Facebook for good. I've taken "breaks" before, but I've always found my way back. The crazy thing about those breaks, though, was that I didn't miss FB one little bit. For me, it's a time-waster. My life before discovering FB was much more productive and organized than it is now. I'm an all-or-nothing gal when it comes to a lot of things. If I don't want to wash dishes or laundry, they can pile up higher than the Matterhorn. If I want to buy a new pair of shoes, I'll shop all day until I find just the right ones. So if I wanted to catch up on my FB peeps, I'd spend all day doing that instead of things that really should have been higher on the list - cooking dinner, cleaning house, spending time w/ Jake, spending time w/ God, etc.

I'm also tired of having "virtual" friends and relationships. I want real ones that actually laugh out loud instead of LOL-ing and give real hugs, not ((((...)))). I'd rather chat with someone's face, not their user name. And I think FB takes a lot of the effort out of relationships. Instead of checking in on someone and finding out how they're doing, we FB stalk. It's very one-sided. Boring. I prefer conversations. And did you ever notice how little you have to talk about when you do meet up with friends in person? Every other sentence ends up being, "Oh yeah, I read that on your FB!" Okayyyy...? So now what do we talk about? I miss the mystery of conversation!

Lastly, I've determined there's way too much drama on FB. For some reason, certain people feel FB is the place to boldly say things they would never say otherwise. Criticize (or chastise or defriend) a sensitive soul who would fall to pieces if that happened in person (not just referring to myself here...honest). It's unfortunate because FB can be such a great communication tool when used in a positive way. But when you use it as a stealth form of condescension or criticism or mockery, it quickly becomes a source of negativity. I've seen this recently amongst family members and I'm of the opinion that it has torn some relationships even further apart rather than bringing them closer together. This should not be, and I no longer want to be a part of it.

So this will be the place where I post "status updates." It's as much for me as it is for my readers. I've missed chronicling (sp?) our family's happenings, and my scrapbooking has fallen by the wayside, so this is my way of recording funny things Jake says, family vacations, and life in general until my scrapping resurfaces. Maybe one of these days I'll have a large enough collection to publish it in book form. Did you know you could do that? Pretty cool!

Hope you'll stop by every once in a while to see what we're up to. If you do, leave a comment with your email address or send me an email with your phone number so I can check in with you and see how you're doing.

Adios, Facebook! My world really was a better place without you, and I'm looking forward to getting back to that!