Taking Back Life

I used to seriously judge people who had Pinterest pages. Like, seriously judge them. I couldn't understand why somebody would want to spend all their time dreaming of things they couldn't have: perfect homes, nails, crafts, clothes etc. To me Pinterest was a fairy tale land for people dissatisfied with their lives. I should mention, I had a Pinterest page, but rarely used it.

About a month ago, my husband and I started to make some changes in our lifestyle. We realized that we watch WAY too much t.v. I mean, we had known this for a long time, but t.v. is just soooo entertaining! TV had become our #1 hobby and we were feeling so bored with life. We made the decision to quit watching the majority of "our" shows and focus on other activities such as reading,  basketball, cooking, making household cleaners (me). It has been seriously awesome.

Now that I have taken a major step back from t.v., I have realized how much t.v. was like my Pinterest page. I used it as an escape and as a means to dream through. Instead of decorating my house, I watched decorating shows. Instead of learning to cook, I watched cooking shows. Instead of traveling, I watched travel shows. Instead of investing in my marriage, I watched romance shows... You get the picture.

Now, after I pulled that log out of my own eye (Matthew 7:4-5) I realized how much I am loving life even more than I did before. I mean I still do love t.v.... my life was awesome even with it....but I'm just choosing other things over it now :).  

Here are things I will be blogging about in the future. (Oh and I should mention, I have become much more active at eating crow on Pinterest because it has allowed me to expand and utilize my new hobbies! I should say, I still don't like the idea of Pinterest just to dream about things I don't have, but there is plenty on there that I can "Pin" and use today.)

1. Cooking: And, by cooking I mean awesome crock-pot and blender recipes. I actually really hate cooking, but I am in love with anything and everything that makes great food easy! I have come across some really fantastic and simple stuff and I'm excited to share.

2. Cleaning: Again, not to thrilled with cleaning... UNTIL I found that I can make my own stuff. I realized that I LOVE being able to make my own products and they work fabulously! So far, I have made laundry detergent  dryer sheets, microwave cleaner, grout cleaner, counter-top cleaner, bathroom cleaner and make-up remover. Seriously, when you hear how I "made" some of this stuff, you'll die at how easy it is.

3. Basketball: Never been my sport, but it has been a blast playing. I may or may not talk about this on here. Or, I may just share funny stories from it...like how I tackled Kris one game and well sometimes when you're 5'2 you have to do what you can to get ahead.

4. Books! This has been one of the best rediscoveries of my life. After grad-school I never wanted to see a book again. However, I have been reading some pretty fabulous stuff which you can find on my Pinterest page and I can't wait to talk about it. Everything from women in ministry to what reality t.v. is doing to our culture.

Now to leave you with some pictures of things I have been doing around the house to make it feel more like home.

Wedding pics above bed.

Our wedding rings. This hangs right above our bedroom door, our bed faces it. It is a daily visual reminder of our commitment to one another right before we leave in the morning and right before we go to bed at night. 

Our beautiful new kitchen table! We have been waiting to buy one for a long long time. We finally buckled down and made the purchase and I am so glad we did! We can actually seat 8-10 people at this table which is great for friends and family! 

Wall art around the table. The pictures on the left are of each set of grandparents and parents. On the right are all of our siblings/significant others. It makes us feel so much closer to everybody, although sad at the same time as we miss them so much!