It consumes our lives

Last night at church we heard a great lesson. It came from a man who has been through a lot this past year and a half or so. His son was diagnosed with neuroblastoma the fall of 2013. He and his wife have spent multiple days and even weeks in the hospital with him since then. He said one of the things he just can't get over is, sitting in the waiting room and seeing people on their phones. Married couples sitting right beside each other on their phones and not saying a word to each other for over an hour, all because they were too involved with something on their phone. He said when he and his family go out to dinner it's something they notice other families/couples doing at the dinner table as well.   And that's when it hit me.   Matthew and I have made it a rule that we don't have our phones out when we eat dinner but other than that we usually have our phones right by our side or even worse, in our hands. I thought about it all night after his devo and it kinda makes me sick. Don't get me wrong, I love social media and I am very thankful for how far technology has come. I can FaceTime my family whenever I want if I am feeling homesick, my cute little sisters can send me "mirror selfies" of their outfit they are wearing for picture day from my moms phone, I can get coupons in seconds while I am standing in the checkout at Old Navy and save money, but how much is too much? I am so thankful I made it all the way through elementary school, middle school and high school before I got a smart phone. It breaks my heart to know my sisters and future children won't.   He asked us last night, "What is it that draws us in so much?" Is it being nosey? Trying to stay up to date? Boredom? Yes. Yes. and Yes. I'll be the first to admit it, I like seeing how other people live. I love when they post pictures of what their night is consisting, what they wore that day, or what craft they are making next. Does that make me weird? Maybe, but I'm almost positive YOU are the same way. Am I trying to stay up to date? Yes. That new blanket scarf that is so popular this winter? Better believe it has crossed my mind to buy it (until I saw the price) Is it cute? Yes, it's cute but I'm not completely sure if I wanted it because it was cute or because I thought I needed it because it's all over my Instagram feed. Do I get bored? Yes, I do, but isn't there more I could be doing instead of being on my phone when I'm bored? Of course!   He asked us, "Why can't we look at the person sitting across the table when we are talking to them...without our phones in our hands?" or "Why can't we sit in a waiting room with our loved ones, waiting on good news or bad news, and comfort each other instead of being on our phones?"   If you are like me you probably check your phone when you wake up, when you are at a red light or sitting in a long line of traffic, when you are waiting in line at the store, when you are doing your thing in the bathroom, when you are in the car with your significant other, when you are waiting at the doctor's office, when you are on the couch after work, when you are hanging out with friends and right before you go to sleep. It's embarrassing writing all that out, but it's true. We have let it consume our lives.   He gave us this verse to think about, and it hit me all over again.   Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8   He emphasized on the word "think" at the end of that verse. Are we really filling our minds with everything that verse is saying?   I'm not saying I'm going to go and delete all my social media accounts and never look back, but I am going to limit myself. I am going to try and not look at Instagram and Facebook every 15 minutes. When I am hanging out with family/friends I want to be all there. When Matthew and I are riding in the car somewhere I want to be all there. Not half way paying attention and scrolling on my phone.   I don't want set rules, I just want to break my habit of refreshing my social media accounts.   I know this is a lengthy post but it's been on my mind every since last night and I wanted to share. And because I don't like posting without any pictures... In honor of my favorite guy graduating in TWO days a little #tbt to last years graduation picture!

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It consumes our lives

Christmas time // Pinterest addition

I love this time of the year and I love decorating for it. I often spend too much time on Pinterest looking up gorgeous decorations I can't afford right now lol.   Here is what I'm currently pinning/day dreaming of...

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{Source}      It really is the best time of the year! Monday night we had free s'mores at the SOC house and last night we had pancakes as a study break for all the students taking finals. We had great crowds and all the food was gone very quickly!   3 days until Matthew graduates!

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Christmas time // Pinterest addition

December goals

Because I'm always late about posting my goals... ;)     November goals   - Start blogging more  I think I did pretty well until last week ;) -Work on Christmas shopping  I have almost everything finished, just need to grab a couple of things online! -Continue working hard on something that I have coming up! YES I can't wait to share with y'all what I have been up to! -DOLLYWOOD  We went. We conquered. I didn't throw up ;) We had a lot of fun! You can read about it here -SOC formal   Formal was a lot of fun. Getting dressed up, Christmas decorations, best friends and good food. Couldn't ask for a better night! You can read about it here! -Enjoy the moment  We have been just going with the flow. We usually don't have plans we just hang out with friends each night at the SOC house. It's a joy to be with your best friends all the time.     December goals   Celebrate Matthew It's graduation week...he graduates in FOUR days! He picked up his cap and gown a few weeks ago and it came with that pretty hood ;) He took his last final yesterday and has 2 more papers and then he is DONE (for this semester). He actually has to take one online class next semester but they are letting him walk in the December graduation since he is starting work next month. Which is great because his twin brother, Nathan, is graduating this Saturday as well. I am so glad they get to walk together one last time! We are going to dinner Friday night and maybe a movie, to celebrate just the two of us. Saturday after graduation we will celebrate with our families!   Completely finish Christmas shopping and wrap everything I have a couple of things I need to order online and then I am completely finished! Now I just need to wrap everything. I found some wrapping paper and boxes that I bought last year that I had forgotten about...score!   Take pictures of my apartment decorated for Christmas and share I blog a lot for myself, selfish? Maybe. but I want to be able to come back here and remember the small things that I blogged about. Even now I go back and look at some of my first posts and love it. I mean a lot has happened since I started blogging. I also blog for friends and family that don't live close. It's a great way to share what's going on. And we ALL know how much I love my little apartment so of course I want to share it with you, especially now that it's decorated for Christmas :)   Purge I promised myself when I moved out of my old apartment that I wouldn't keep as much stuff and sale/donate throughout the year, so that when it comes time to move again I don't spend DAYS packing stuff that I don't even need. Well, I need to sale/donate some stuff now lol. I honestly don't know how I end up with all this stuff but it has got to go! I love my little one bedroom apartment but I can't wait to have more storage space one day. Seriously, I have extra dishes up under my bed because I don't have a lot of  cabinet space lol working with what I have!   Enjoy this time of the year It's so easy to get caught up in the busy day to day activities with this time of the year but I want to slow down and enjoy it. Everyone is leaving throughout this week to go home for Christmas break and won't be back until the middle of January so that means all SOC activities are basically over after this week until we start getting ready for next semester. We already have the schedule for next semester planned and it's just as full as this semester. So I am wanting to really take advantage of some down time. Watch all the Christmas movies that we can, drive around and look at Christmas lights and just enjoy the last few weeks Matthew has here in Cookeville. We made a Cookeville bucket list at the beginning of this semester and we haven't been able to cross much of it off so maybe we can work on that lol.   Share what I have been working on I shared last month that I have been working on something for awhile now and this month I get to share it with y'all! I am so excited I just can't stand it!!     Since it's so late to share monthly goals I have already read most of y'all's lol. Happy Tuesday!   4 days until Matthew's graduation 16 days until Christmas Day 23 days until the New Year!

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December goals

Catching up // a week of lasts

I'm alive ;) I took an unexpected week off from blogging. I still read all of yours, I just didn't blog myself. Thanksgiving was good! I am very lucky the company that I work for is off Thursday and Friday. As soon as 3:30 rolled around on Wednesday afternoon I was homeward bound. I packed my car that morning so I could head straight home.   Matthew's family does lunch for Thanksgiving and my family (on my moms side) does dinner so it works out perfect. My dad's side of the family does Thanksgiving on Friday afternoon. We had three Thanksgivings and it was great! My sister and I went shopping on Black Friday. We left our house around 5:00 and went straight to Old Navy. We didn't have to search for a place to park or wait in line to checkout, which was a HUGE surprise. Since stores open on Thanksgiving night now everyone had already been through. They still had plenty to look through. I ended up with a new pair of boots and a cute dress and comfy shoes! After we eat dinner at my mema's on Friday we all load up and go shopping to see if we can find anymore deals, without the crowds. This year we went to Mt. Juliet to shop...and that's where I was introduced to Home Goods. I don't know how I have never been there before but it was wonderful.  

This week is a week of lasts. Matthew graduates THIS Saturday! He is going to be back and forth between Cookeville and home until he starts his job in early January, but everyone else will be going home for Christmas break throughout this week. When they come back in January he will be living back at home and working. Sure he'll come up on the weekends some but it won't be the same. So we are going to try and make the most of it. We usually spend every afternoon/night with everyone at the SOC house and we usually find something to do. This past year and a half up here in Cookeville with Matthew has been so much fun. I only wish I had moved up here sooner. As much as I don't want him to go, I know it's what's best and the next phase in life. It just came so soon. We had our last tacky Christmas sweater party with the SOC last Thursday. It was a lot of fun and there was good food!

    Matthew got his new car! His brother works at Volkswagen so he is able to lease it through him. He put his car on Craigslist and other various websites to sell to locals and had talked with a lot of people. It blew my mind how many people tried to drop the price so low...as in almost $1000 less than he was asking for. He finally had someone look at it the Saturday after Thanksgiving and they bought it. He called the following Monday and his car was ready. What a blessing that was! So proud of him, he deserves his new car and he looks good in it too ;)   This weekend was very calm and relaxed. Matthew had to work a little bit of the TSSAA football tournament that was held here in Cookeville, just for a little bit for his econ class. We hung out at the SOC house most of Friday night. Saturday I wanted to clean my apartment and finish any Christmas decorations. I slept in until 9:00 which is SO unusual for me and then laid around until 10:00, I don't even know who I am anymore. I got up and started cleaning finally and then I heard a knock on my door. Matthew was standing there with a pizza and my favorite drink from Starbucks. He is so thoughtful and sweet!

We ate lunch and started Prison Break...oh my goodness we are hooked. We watched 4 episodes. He left to go to the SOC house and I finished cleaning and then headed over to the SOC house.   I finally hung up the clock Matthew got me a little bit ago. We found it at Essex's for $20! I found a similar one at Hobby Lobby for $80. So we were more than happy with the $20. I also picked up some Christmas placemats!

 

 

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Catching up // a week of lasts