5 Reasons Blogging is MUCH more fun than Facebook

I'm a Facebook junkie. I admit it. I spend way too much time on there. My good friend Kristen from Love the Miles has been embarking on a journey in paying down debt and student loans. Because of her posting her inspirational Blog posts to Facebook and me noticing that it is fun to walk down memory lane on my Blog I have started to work on posting to my Blog more this year. In honor of my attempt to transition away from too much Facebook time I have made up this list of 5 reasons Blogging is MUCH more fun than Facebook.

#1. People coming to visit you.
When I hop of Facebook I am usually scrolling aimlessly hoping to find some inspirational quote, story, post, etc. Facebook will show me whatever it thinks I am interested in. It may miss telling me what a friend whom I love dearly in real life is up to just because we don't interact much on Facebook. When I post on my Blog it may be that no one will read it or it may be that 87 people will read it that day. Either way one thing remains the same...everyone who comes to my Blog to read it is coming to visit me personally.

It's like the difference in bumping into someone at the grocery store, at a kids soccer game, or at church and actually having someone stop by to visit you at your house. We may be pleasantly surprised to see the person we bump into and we may even stop to visit for a minute, but someone coming to my door to see me is priceless. They are there intentionally to see how I am doing. They have taken time out of their day, even if just for a moment, to visit me. If you have taken the time to come to my Blog and check in on me you are a priceless friend and I thank you for your time and visit. It is appreciated!

#2. Dear Diary...
Blogging is the same as writing in your journal while Facebook is like getting 15 seconds of momentary fame. You and your Facebook readers may or may not remember the post you wrote about your hard day a month from now. A Blog you wrote may also be forgotten, but you can often easily find a Blog post you wrote, but not so easily something you posted on Facebook.

The other great thing about Blogging is that when you record the events in your life it counts toward Family History. It's important and wonderful to learn about and find your ancestors, but without a living account of your life how will your posterity learn about and find you? I highly value every word my grandmother wrote about her life now that she is gone. Truthfully, I wish I had much more of her writing. Part of the reason I like to Blog is because I hope that one day my writing will be something that my grandchild or another family member will read and not only understand me a little better, but perhaps it will be something that will help them to better understand themselves.

#3. Blogs are Searchable.
Do you remember your Facebook post from back in 2008 about the terrible trauma of that one day in August? Have you every tried to go back and reread it? Every now and then I actually recall something I have posted on Facebook and when I go back to look for it I find that it takes a lot more patience then I could ever have. The great things about Blogs is there is this clever post break down at the side of my Blog that I can go through and find a year and go through my Blog to see what I want to see.

I have gone through my Blog with my boys and enjoyed sharing stories of their early lives and the fun things they did when they were young. I have been able to go back and find out the details of events I have recorded that without a Blog post I would never recall. In 10 years am I going to be happier trying to recall the YouTube video that was going around the web or rereading the things that were going on in the lives of me, my husband, and my children right now?

#4. Creative Minds
LDS Apostle Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.

Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty. Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty."

When I take time to sit down and write a Blog post it does take time and energy, but when you have created something that has helped you to understand your self & may even help others as well it feels good. I'm not saying that Facebook is bad. I'm just saying that when it comes to creative capacities I feel much more creative with the things I have written on my Blog than the accumulated years of Facebook posts. 

#5. No Like Button                                                                                                                                   A while ago I read an article that talked about what happens when we "Like" things on Facebook. I decided to try out the suggestions in the article. I noticed that I wasn't getting as much junk on my newsfeed as I stopped "liking" things. Another thing I noticed was that by not "liking" things so much I also made more of an effort to share my thoughts when I did like something about what they had posted. It helped me to feel much more connected with my friends when I started coming up with things to respond to them on their posts. 

It's nice to see a lot of people liking things you post, but for me a written response is always better. I love to hear when others connect with me and the things that I have connected with and shared. It makes me feel more a part of the world around me and I LOVE that! 

So there you have it! My 5 reasons that blogging is so MUCH more fun than Facebook. I hope that this particular post makes you want to spend a little more time writing down the wonderful things that are happening in your life so that you have a record you can revisit down the road...and thanks so much for sharing in my journey! Hope you have a happy day!

No Early Pregnancy Eviction Notices!

If there is one thing that I have learned about myself and pregnancy it is that I am a full term kind of person. When my oldest was born he was technically 10 days overdue and my body showed NO signs that it was going to be sending him on his way anytime soon. I had to be induced in order to get him here. With my second we helped him along a little since his due date was only days before Thanksgiving and my midwife was leaving town. At least that time my body was acting like it was getting ready to deliver a baby. He was delivered only 2 days after his official due date.

I have 6 weeks left of pregnancy and last week I noticed that I was getting really itchy at nights before bed. It wasn't anything that concerned me, but I thought I should check online and see if this was a normal pregnancy symptom. As I researched I discovered a condition called Cholestasis. Having this condition, in a nutshell, means that your liver is not functioning correctly and toxins are being released into your body making it unsafe for a baby especially in the last three weeks of pregnancy. According to the website that means that you'll have to be on medication until it is safe to induce labor and then get that baby delivered at 37 weeks. I called my midwife to just check with her on what I needed to do and she had me come in right away and have labs taken. Then before the labs even came back I needed to go pick up a prescription to assist my liver function and let her know if the medication helped.

Apparently this condition was as serious as it sounds. I have always been annoyed that my body likes to hold on to my babies & honestly I had been wondering how I was going to make it another six weeks. Funny thing is that when you are facing a mandatory early delivery (even just three weeks early) of your baby your resilience to endure to the end is so much stronger. I was terrified of delivering this baby early! I started taking the medication and while the itching wasn't quite as bad it was still there. This morning my labs came back and thankfully I do NOT have cholestasis!!! *HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF*

I may find myself itching my back, belly, legs, arms, chest, etc, but I will itch happily knowing that between that and my drier than dry nose my itching is most likely due to dry winter air and a need to take in more fluids. I am pregnant after all. It's already helped me to be more thankful for this pregnancy. Instead of feeling sorry for myself that I am being kicked from inside by a baby I am happy to know that my little one is strong and thriving on the inside. Let's keep that going for another six weeks little one...then I will be looking at writing an eviction notice if needed. And if I'm really lucky after my delivery maybe this bit of planter fasciitis I have been dealing with will go away...one can only hope right?

Our Baby Girl

Dear Kyra,
    You have been on my mind a lot lately. Somewhere between your dad and my birthdays in the next few weeks is your fifth birthday this year. I don't know when since you were never actually born into this world. Recently I've realized that I never really shared much of your story and yet you have been such a strong influence in my life that I need to make sure your siblings know about you and have a way of remembering you so I am writing you this letter.

Your dad and I weren't really planning to get pregnant when you came to us. It was such a surprise that I struggled with knowing that we were expecting again. It's not that I didn't want you as much as I didn't know if I was ready to take on the challenges of having another baby. I was excited about bringing you into our home and nervous about how I'd handle a baby again at the same time.

There were so many things I loved about being pregnant with you. I remember being so proud of the fact that I was pregnant and still running up to 3 miles a day. It felt amazing being able to do that while still carrying a child. Dad didn't want me to tell anyone we were expecting so I kept it quiet, but it was so hard. I remember helping Aunt Cheryl clean out her basement and wondering if I should be lifting some of the heavy boxes I was lifting, but since I couldn't tell her about you I just kept on lifting. I will also never forget how sneaky I felt going to Fish Lake and being able to do everything that my sister-in-laws did but while pregnant and no one knew.

That was one of the last times your little heart beat inside my body. Two weeks later (Week 11) I finally had my first appointment with my midwife. I was so excited to hear your little heart beat. You were still pretty little and so when the midwife said she couldn't find your heartbeat but she wasn't too worried we decided to wait a week and see after a week of growth if you'd be easier to find. The next week I came back and the midwife's assistant listened for a heartbeat and still nothing. She sent us to have an ultrasound. Dad was with me, but he had come straight from work and so we had to drive separately to the ultrasound office. I will never forget that 20+ minutes in the car praying to my Father in Heaven for forgiveness. I felt so guilty that I had felt unsure about having another baby and I prayed and prayed that Heavenly Father would allow you to be alright and let me keep you. I assured him that I did want you...truly I did! I pleaded with him to let me keep you.

After the ultrasound was finished they told us nothing that I recall, but they had called the midwife and handed me the phone. She informed me that you were gone. Your heart was no longer beating within your chest. I went home and I cried. I cried and I worried that I had done something to cause this. As unsure as I was about having another baby before I couldn't believe how devastating it was to know that you were gone. The midwife prescribed a pill that would help my body to free your tiny body from inside mine. It didn't work. July 24th, 2009 I was taken in for a D&C to clean out the tissues from inside my uterus. I had felt such strong feelings that you were a girl that I asked if I could see you hoping that I could confirm those feelings. I was told that I would not want to see you because it would mostly just be tissues and blood that I would be able to see.

The days that followed I was struggling through the grieving process and completely unaware of the struggle your dad was going through. He asked our dear friend Bob to come over and give us both priesthood blessings. Your dad had been my strength and my rock in a time when I really needed him. It wasn't until I saw the tears well up in his eyes as Bob gave him a blessing that I realized that he too had been mourning your death but had remained strong in order to help me through my process of grief and recovery.

I struggle to put your name in this post because you are such a treasure to me. It took us a while to decide to give you a name because we lost you so early in my pregnancy, but you let us know by the power of the Holy Ghost that you had a mission in this life and a purpose for our family. When I became a mom the first time I didn't know how to care for my baby and still be a good wife to your dad. We had been in the path of drifting apart. Your greatest purpose in this life was to bring our hearts together again and you did that beautifully. Because of that we named you Kyra, as we had read that it's meaning was "light". You had been that light in our marriage. You were a light that we desperately needed.

As I write this 5 and a half years after this experience I find tears on my face. I don't cry because I miss you or I am sad because of your passing. I cry because you have been such a blessing in my life. I will never be able in this life to take you shopping or teach you how to wear make-up or help you understand the world of being a woman or understanding men. I will, however, hold you dear in my heart and always remember that I do have a daughter who watches over her family and helps us to make it home to live with our Father in Heaven again. For you my dear daughter I am truly grateful. Thank you for blessing our lives. I love you!

Love,
    Mom

New Year of 2015

Everyone has New Years goals and resolutions. We all know that half of those resolutions are out the window after 2 weeks and we are back to our same old selves. Well I have to say that I am MORE than proud of myself this past year. As I started to reflect on 2014 I was feeling a little down. I felt like all I had accomplished was to grow a baby for 7 months. I know that should be enough for me, but it just didn't feel like the accomplishment that would allow me to feel I have overcome any weakness that I had. Then yesterday I sat down to conclude a years worth of tracking my families expenses and I realized I have tracked our finances for an ENTIRE year! That means I can now move on this year to making, keeping and planning a budget. We can plan where we want to cut back and what we are going to spend our money on. I am actually REALLY excited about this!

Still miss her after 20 years!!!

I will never forget this day 20 years ago. The woman who taught me how to sew, whose flower garden inspired my love of flowers, who always made me feel loved and accepted for who I am left this world unexpectedly. I never knew you could still miss someone so deeply after so many years, but I am so thankful that I know one day when I leave this world I will get to embrace her again and sing with her in heavenly choirs. I love and miss you grandma! Thank you for being the worlds best grandma to me!