He did it!

the hubs has been in school his entire life. seriously. as long as I've known him he as been in college. he got his undergrad the year we met, and then did some certificate classes and then his masters. this weekend he graduated. and we celebrated.

I could not be more proud of him. all the hard work, countless hours of studying and homework, determination, discipline, and time spent stuck in the office doing projects and papers when all he wanted to do was hang out with me and durham. my heart could just burst for this guy.

we traveled to Raleigh on Friday so we could watch him walk. he really went back and forth about even participating. I told him about when my dad graduated from UNLV. I was in 3rd grade. we went and watched him. I don't remember it but I have a picture and it makes me so happy to know that I was there for that very special moment. we both wanted that for durham. all of our parents came and supported him. we seriously celebrated all weekend. best.mothers.day.ever.

* big thanks to all my girls at the store who worked extra hard so I could go be with my family on the busiest weekend in the spring season. Your compassion and generosity overwhelm me. I am so thankful for you.

 

Lent and catching up

So, it's been a while.

I'll just get this part out of the way... because I know you just want pictures. :)

yes. I did go off social media for lent. yes. I do realize that is no huge sacrifice. yes. I saw this before Lent started and I texted it to BFF and said "still doing it but errrmygahhh so funny!" and yes, I'm glad I did it.

Social media was like woah there for a while. I'd even say I was adicted to it. Not to the content, but to the ritual of checking the apps. seeing that red notification number hovering and having to go look so it would be gone. the ritual of checking everything in the morning before my feet even hit the floor, and every night Chris and I both in bed watching TV playing on our phones.

My original thought was that if I didn't have facebook, instagram, pinterest, timehop, voxer and the mommy board on my phone that I just would have SO MUCH MORE TIME to do my devotional in the morning before work. something that I really wanted to make top priority. and I did. I wasn't perfect and some mornings I did two devotions because I hit snooze too many times the morning before... but I have loved this change.

I guess in my mind, it looked like I would be swimming in time! time time everywhere just waiting for me to look up from my phone and grab it. yeah. that didn't happen. mostly I was playing on my phone while I watched TV, not like while I was washing dishes or cooking dinner or whatever. but the mornings and at night when I probably spent a good bulk of my time wasting was swapped with consistent quiet time, conversations, being present. it just felt better. like what I should be spending my time doing.

don't get me wrong. I missed it. ohhhhhhh I missed it. timehop the most, then voxer, then instagram, COT, and facebook. I actually did still get on pinterest occasionally on my computer but I don't have the app on my phone anymore. my plan is to get back on everything, but control the time I'm on it so I can continue how things are right now. One of my friends for lent did a no phone time unless I'm alone activity and I love that idea. so like if her and her husband are together watching tv she wont be on her phone but if shes alone on the toilet she will. haha.

so that is that. I have genuinely missed people that I only connect with on social sites. but this was something that I really needed. I really hope I stay committed and don't fall back to my old behaviors. I don't want to have to do this again next year. haha.

__________________________________________________________________

bestie asked if I was just gonna bomb ig with a #sorrynotsorry and post all my pics from the past 6 weeks. nahhhhh but I will post some of my favorites here.

mommy turned 32. my brother and his wife had a sweet baby girl. durham is smitten and wants to 'hold her hand' all the time. my parents are thrilled to have more grandkids to hoard. we took the side off d's crib almost 2 months ago and have loved it. he usually stays in there (naps are different but not harder) he loves his 'circle sheets' and big boy bed. our first (of many I'm sure) family camping trips under our belt. so.much.fun. and we dyed our easter eggs with koolaid. awesome.

feeling so blessed to look over these pictures.
I swear almost 2.5 is the BEST age.