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The Three of Us

Happy post-Lent, everyone!  I just wanted to share some of the things I learned over Lent.
  • Giving up Facebook for 40 days has made me a very productive person.  During my 40-day hiatus from the social media site, I was able to put together a real business plan for photography, complete with a marketing plan and cost analysis, and set up a photography blog to go along with it.  40 days is a lot of time to think.  A LOT.
  • Because Lent occurred during my birthday, I missed out on lots of birthday wishes via Facebook.  The hubs informed me that even though I was not active on Facebook, people had not forgotten about me. 
  • Bug has lots of people in her life that love her.  She was missed too.  (Definitely more than I was.)
  • I got back to basics.  I actually had time to call people/text them to see how they were doing, versus just reading their status updates.  This prompted real conversations.  Remember those?  The ones people used to have before social media?  That was nice.
  • I found out that I can survive a full day of work and Bug without any coffee, without experiencing very many withdrawal symptoms.  Minus day 2 and 3 (which were filled with migraines), I was good- no withdrawals, nothing.  
  • Without coffee, I was forced to really be conscious of how I was using my time so that the majority of my energy was going towards what really mattered- my family.  That way, I could hold myself accountable for my actions.  Was I tired because I stayed up late the night before, surfing the internet, being on Facebook and then found myself too tired to give 110% of myself to Bug and the hubs, or was I tired because of the 110% I put into my family while playing with Bug or hanging out with the hubs?  Same outcome- tired.  How the energy was expelled was completely different. 
  • Oddly enough the hubs was also affected by my hiatus from Facebook.  He said he was receiving less notifications because I was not tagging him in every post.  :/  
There you have it.  Honestly, I was surprised to realize I'm not really addicted to Facebook or coffee at all.  Minus subconsciously typing in www.facebook.com every single time I opened my web browser the first week of Lent, I never actually felt the need to look on Facebook.  Surprised?  I am!  Halfway through Lent, I asked myself what I was actually learning from constantly not posting on Facebook.  The most important thing I learned- privacy.  I've gained an amazing appreciation for privacy.  Truth- I'm not a very private person.  Surprised?  I didn't think so.  One time, when I was around 9 years old my parents were up early one morning talking to relatives in the Philippines and I woke up.  After their phone conversation, my parents took me to Denny's for an early 5am breakfast, without my siblings.  To this day, I love Denny's.  The hubs can attest to this.  I have to point it out whenever I see one.  He could never figure out why I loved it so much and to be quite honest, neither could I.  Then I realized that it was the one time I could remember having a special memory shared just between the three of us.  Well, during Lent I realized that there are a ton of moments with my family that are even more special because they're memories shared just between the three of us.  (And let's face it- Bug is so much more amazing when I'm not always trying to get her to stay still or smile for the camera.  God bless her for humoring her photo-crazy of a mother.)  There's something so special and so intimate about my memory with my parents.  Although I write about Bug a lot so that our family and friends know her just as well as we do, I also want to honor her privacy and memories by allowing her to have some that aren't always posted on the blog.

Happy post-Lent!  God is risen.  We are yet again reminded of His ultimate sacrifice for us.  We are so blessed.

The three of us.
God Bless,
Kat



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