Decisions Made With Love

I have been so in the zone with exercising that I don't even let the heat get to me, I just make sure I have water and I hydrate as much as possible.  Now saying this, I do not go out in the afternoon for a walk unless it is cool out... I usually walk in the morning and in the early evening.  I did walk on the treadmill at work for 20 minutes today... I would much rather walk outside then in that controlled environment.  However; once the icy weather hits in the winter, I am sure I will utilize the treadmill on a permanent basis.  At least until the spring hits again... until then, I am going to enjoy being outdoors.

Alright, enough on exercising... I am addicted to it... so I have been thinking of taking a break from social media.  Either that or I am going to have to slow it down somehow.  I have already cut off all but a couple of notifications from Facebook... however; there is Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, We Heart It... the list is endless.  So, what I have decided is that I will turn off my phone at work... stick it in the drawer and not turn it back on until lunch and after work.  I will allow myself to use it on the bus both ways...  I certainly survived without a cell phone for many years, I am sure I can live without one for 8 hours per day.

With all the walking I am doing, I certainly don't have time to play on the phone .. I only have it with me so that I can Map My Walk... what an awesome app, that and Fitness Pal... LOVE these two apps that help to keep me on track.  I start my vacation on Wednesday, I am going to take the opportunity to take walks that consist of more than a mile or two... just to push myself a little outside of my comfort zone.. Oh my, I am fixated on exercising... okay... done

I find lately that I am longing for simpler days, I want Valentina to have those days... the kind I had when I was growing up.  The ones where we played outside all day, with a jump rope, a ball.. maybe our bikes and just had fun inventing games. Then on rainy days we used our imagination and drew pictures, colored, played school and store... we used our minds and had fun.  My blogging friend Joy from Starting With Myself, reminded me today with her blog how much we have got away from doing this with our children...  What a disservice to our children... they have lost out on fun while we keep giving them every gadget going.

I am not going to continue down that path with Valentina, it stops here... I have done a lot to let her be a little girl for as long as possible... I am going to stand firm by not letting her have a phone for a few more years, I may have one she can use when she is out, so I can reach her but it will not be for use all day long.  Also, I have limited TV with her a great deal, I rarely watch it and I don't want her wasting her time for hours on end with it either.  When school is back, there will be no TV from Monday morning until Friday evening.  Can you call me the unpopular mama... oh well, that is what being a mama is about, not about being her friend and letting her have whatever she wants, it is about the tough decisions. The decisions made with love, the ones she will appreciate when she is older...

I think many of us as parents feel like we don't give our children enough time, so we try to compensate in other ways... I am one of the main culprits, I have a very long commute and I have little time with my Valentina... The answer does not lie in giving her more things, the answer lies in me giving her as much of me as I can, which I do now when I take her out for a walk each night... it also lies in those tough decisions I make with love because that is what they are, I love Valentina, I want the best for her and sometimes making those unpopular decisions are extremely tough. However; it is because I love her that I make the tough decisions, the ones where she feels as though I am a meanie and she 'hates' me... wants a new mama....

Believe me those words hurt a lot but I just keep on and eventually she comes around and tells me she is sorry and that she loves me... those times are worth it.  I am learning to be a stronger mama, I was not like that with Andrea... I was a weakling in many ways... I give the credit to Andrea for being so strong willed and to our church that helped her keep her morales above her friends.  I can't rely on Valentina being as strong as Andrea was that way... most children need to be guided with decisions made with love.

I cherish my past, I accept my present and I dream for my future ♥

Social Media On A Timer

I spent the day reading blogs and cooking a meal for dinner and for lunch tomorrow, my little Valentina is not feeling so well... I spent the day tending to her, she has a sore throat and a fever.  Hopefully she'll feel better in the morning or she will be spending the day at home with Cindy.  So, I took the day to get caught up with everyone's blog that I follow and who had posted plus I have gone around to most of my social media and changed my picture from me and David to a picture of myself, except for here on the blog, I am not ready to change it here yet.

David is going on exercise for two or three weeks, not sure of the length... there is no communication with the outside when they are on one of these... It's going to be difficult for me not to text him as we text every day and always said good night.  This will be good since I have decided to cap a limit on my time that I give to social media.  I love staying connected but there are times we all have to unplug occasionally, otherwise we miss out on the small things right in front of us.

I am going to start limiting my usage with the timer on my phone... since I love how I say I will just check something out and be five minutes; with a timer, I will really see if it is five minutes.  I am also going to get Valentina's tablet charged up and use that to write my blog while I am on the bus, I miss writing my blog in the morning, I used to do this on my blackberry but it became too hard on my android touch screen.  With the tablet, the keys are larger and less of a chance of hitting the wrong key with my fingers.

My phone is great to use when you are sitting, just not moving as it is ultra sensitive.... which can be frustrating if you keep clicking the wrong letter.  So, I limit my use to going through Twitter and Facebook, it will be nice to use my time wisely on the bus again.  That way when I get home at night, I will be able to post immediately... then relax and read the blogs I follow.  This will be especially helpful when I start having a two hour trip home on the bus, at least I will be accomplishing something and not feel like I have wasted all my time.

I am only working two days this week, since I took off Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to clean my house for Valentina's birthday sleep over this weekend... as well I wanted to be able to make a nice birthday dinner for her on Wednesday with just her and me..  She is looking forward to this very much so I hope whatever illness she has passes soon so she can enjoy her time coming up.

I cherish my past, I accept my present and I dream for my future ♥

Why I Love Blogging

I started my blog in July of 2009 but I didn't become serious until February 2012, at that time I had one follower and I had about 3000 page views... since February 2012, I now have 152 follower on GFC, plus many followers on Twitter, Bloglovin, Bloggers.com, my Facebook page, Pinterest etc... and over the weekend, I have hit over 50,000 views.

That boggles my mind but I seriously look forward to more growth, I love the interaction of blogging... getting to know new people by following their blogs and learning about them through their posts.  Some people have actually become friends on Facebook where we chat off and on... I think it is amazing being connected with so many people across the world.  I know that no amount of internet connection makes up for human connection which I have daily with teammates.  I think that blogging friends are special because we all know what it takes to put a blog post together.

What takes someone a few minutes to read, likely takes an hour to two hours.  Lately it has been so much better for me now that I have a new computer and I have a much faster internet but it still takes time, time that I actually enjoy.  One of the reasons that I comment on my favorite blogs regularly is because first, I like people to know that someone is really following them and second I like getting to know people this way.  I know what it means to me when someone takes time out of their busy schedule to comment on my blog, I really appreciate it, especially since I blog so often...

I also know that when I blog, I put myself out there, writing my past to work on a better future.  My favorite bloggers are too many to name but the people that I connect to the quickest are people that make me feel, either by making me laugh hysterically, or crying with a beautiful piece of poetry written from the heart, or making me ponder something with words that are written with so much love.  I have always loved to read and now I get to read a little bit about many people's lives.  I get to laugh, cry and smile with them as they are on a journey, not so different than my own.  Maybe different challenges but we are still working towards becoming our best selves.

  I cherish my past, I accept my present and I dream for my future ♥