Focus {Five Minute Friday}

There has been a mass panic among our family and friends. My husband and I deactivated our Facebook accounts.
{shock}
For me, it started in November of last year. I was on my Cursillo, and was cloistered for 3 days. Three days of not knowing what was going on in the world. Which of course meant no clock (because really who has a watch anymore). To know the time, I would have to listen for the church bells, and most of the time, I was listening to a talk and could not hear the bells long enough to catch the beginning or end.
When I came home, I took Facebook off my phone. I instantly saw how much my productivity increased, not only at home but work as well. It was amazing.
Over the holidays, I would go on Facebook via the computer, but would log off quickly. I wanted to see how my friends were doing, how their babies were doing, look for an occasional post that was interesting...but then the constant bs of negativity or worse flooded my feed. I was over it quickly. My husband followed suite (not by my doing at all!) and then a couple of weeks ago, we clicked the hidden "deactivate" button.
Maybe for a year, maybe for longer, maybe forever.

We are now able to focus on what is important. Our family & friends. We have to actually talk to them, rather than catching up on social media.  The difference in our own house is amazing. We can watch a television show together (and no spoilers!). My husband and I go to bed together, and rather than seeing what someone had for dinner, or a rant of some sort, we see each other and it is peaceful, loving and intimate.

Focusing on our family and real friendships has been a blessing.  We interact how God intended us too. Now don't get me wrong I am still all over Pintrest and obviously blogging, but the time I spend on social media now is not even half the time I spent on Facebook.

Until Next Time

Quiet {Five Minute Friday}

Even though the beginning of the year was 29 days ago, I really do not feel that the year truly begins until February. There are still holidays and events going on in January, and I usually need a 2 week recovery time from Christmas-New Years (aka Winter Vacation).  If you ask my husband, the holidays are over after the Superbowl,
Two days ago, I spoke with my older brother, T. We started with our normal conversation of life, he wants to move to Arizona, my nieces etc. Then he threw a curve ball at me, "Do you think we did the right thing with Dad?"
What? Why are you asking me this now, 5 years after he passed? Of course we did. He was on life support-something he specifically told us for years he never wanted to be on. All the doctors said was he would never fully recover, physically or more importantly mentally. He was half way gone already, you could see it in his eyes, he just wanted us to let him go.
Today, our dad would have been 75 years old.  Five years ago, he was struggling to walk on his own, and eventually became dependent on a wheel chair. He could not shower on his own, or even clean himself after using the bathroom. He was miserable, and told all five of us that he was just waiting for the end. He had good days, where he was optimistic about life, however it was all sadly a dream in his head. He knew there was no real hope of a normal life again, he was in assisted living (another thing he hated) and was slowly loosing his mind.
I answered T, "You know we did the right thing. He would have killed us if he could because we let him stay on life support for a week."
"I know, I just miss him"
"I miss him too."
Silence. Quiet.
Happy Birthday Dad. We love you and miss you.

Five Minute Friday {Rise}

Well, it's Friday! And a three day weekend! Woot! Thankfully we have absolutely  NOTHING planned except spending time together as a family. Our kids have been going through a lot at their other parents house (co-parenting is challenging even if you get a long with your ex, which I do not), so we want to just spend the beginning of summer together with the kids, and start it off right.

So, Five Minute Friday is a weekly blogging community that I try to get on weekly. You can see more about it here.


This weeks prompt. RISE.

Ready. Set. GO.

I have always been an early riser. I am one of those people who actually enjoy being up early in the morning and get a head start on my day.
What I enjoy the most is that I can enjoy a cup of coffee in peace before the rest of the house wakes up. Then I take a few minutes on my devotional or prayers. On the weekends I will start on some quiet chores, maybe get a yummy breakfast in the oven and be well into my day by 9 a.m.
My goal is to have my errands and chores done by noon, so I can enjoy the rest of the day.

In Proverbs 31:15-16 it says " She rises while it is still night, and distributes food to her household, and a portion to her maidservants"
In other words, get up. Humans are the only mammals that rise after dawn. Americans are probably the worse. Yes I enjoy sleeping in just as much as anyone, but I also wake up at 3:30 to go to work, so to sleep until 5 am is blissful!

I try to give the most of my days to God, to serve HIM in all that I do. Serving the Lord is serving your family, your husband, your job, whatever God has called you to do!



And STOP

Everyone have a blessed weekend!
Thank you to all those who have given their life in defense of our country.

Five Minute Friday {When}

So, I am back. I know it has been a while, and I guess you could say I was having a case of writers block. Actually, it was a combination of writers block and being busy.
I started a new job back in my field. I love it, although I am finding myself underestimating my ability. I was hired on as part of an expansion, and I have an amazing team, and an even more amazing boss. I am beating myself up at the end of the day because I feel like I have accomplished nothing, but I come back the next day with the previous day's work completed.

One of my new years resolutions was to write more. Now, that I have this magical thing called time (funny how now, working full time, having 6 kids and a husband, I seem to have the time) I am trying to commit to at least one blog post a week.

So here it is. Five Minute Friday. You can find out more about it by clicking here.

This weeks writing prompt is WHEN.

Ready. Set. Go.

When will I ever get my life together? This is a reoccurring theme that dances around in my head.  I just had a birthday (I am 33) and I feel like I should have more accomplished than I do.  When will I buy a house for my family to grow up in, and my husband and I to grow old in? When will I actually start loosing this weight that I have carried around for the past decade? When will I finish school? When...
When..
When God says it is time.
Why am I spending so much time worrying about the when will this happen, rather than making the plan to get the gears in motion? Why am I not living in the present, enjoying life, rather than worrying about the future and when things will happen?
Because I am not fully trusting God.

Wow-where did that last sentence come from? 
Maybe someone is trying to tell me something.
I am not going to wake up tomorrow in our dream house, back in a size 6, with another few babies in a crib.
It will take time, and God's will (especially on the last part of that one).
Everything takes time.
When will happen.

Until then...it's now.

Until next time.

Five Minute Friday- "She"

It is Friday, and one of the blogs I follow, Lisa-Jo Baker, aka the gypsy mama, has the weekly writing prompt-Five Minute Friday.  In a nutshell, it is one word given, and then we (her loyal followers) write for five minutes, uninterrupted, no drafts, no editing (although I sometimes do-just write.

This week's writing prompt:
                                             She

  She is about three and a half feet tall, twenty five pounds, pig tails and dirty gym shoes.  She is the answer to the prayer that I didn't know I was praying.  She is beautiful, she is playful, and she exhausts me.

She is stubborn. I blame it on her father.  She will sit on her bed, arms crossed and pout faced forever and a day before she will just say she is sorry to me for being rude, or being mean to her brother.  She will go back into time out just to get out of doing what is asked of her.
And I wonder what monster I have created and sent into the world.
Long before she was born, my ex-husband, her father, was convinced she was going to be what he called "the trifecta". A deadly mix of her mother (me), her aunt (his sister) and her Mia (my mom); basically the three women on the planet that he was terrified of.

Then, on a cool January day, five years ago, the "bossy cow" was born. Of course we didn't call her that right away. That nickname, which was said in Polish (and I cannot spell it for the life of me) was the nickname of her aunt.  Now, she passed it along to her godchild-before she was a month old.
My daughter has always been bossy. She was a fuss bucket when she was born.  She seemed to calm down for a few months, but as

soon as she learned the art of manipulation on her older brothers, it was game on.
In a case like this, her great-grandmothers would say "Pray to Saint Ann and the Virgin Mary".  I do pray, every night...please stop this little cute terror.

She is difficult, and I hope she stays that way when it comes to dating boys. I hope she is stubborn and picky.  I hope she holds her head high and her values higher.  I pray that she knows her value as a woman of God, and holds on to her virtue for the man HE has intended for her, and makes her his wife.
She is energetic. Maybe, she will learn to channel her energy to good. Maybe her stubbornness and bossiness will be used to change the world. She started Girl Scouts, so maybe this can be used for some serious cookie sales.  Put this kid up against anything, she will overcome it...except giving in, to anybody.  .

                                                   She is my daughter and I love her.