by steph_egan | personal
This post was difficult for me… I went back and forth on what memory to write about. I seriously sat and stared at the computer screen for at least an hour… I scrolled through the recent pictures in front of me, and then I went through the ones in the hard drive of my mind. What moment in my past was worthy of sharing, and which one would you find interesting?! Soooo many memories; I tried to recall my earliest, but couldn’t pin point what it would be. And then I tried to think of my favorite.. but there is no possible way to choose just one.
Because I’m fortunate to have a lifetime full of the best memories.
And the opportunity to revisit them whenever I want.
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So I decided on the simplest of moments:
It was a Sunday morning in December. Our first year living in Arizona, and we had just started taking out the Christmas decorations.. while talking over Starbucks. The main topic was The Polar Express, and with it, my DISBELIEF that Rich did not know this classic story… one that was synonymous with my Christmas memories. Later that week we picked out our tree and continued making the most of our December in the desert.
On Christmas morning we woke to find two copies beneath the tree.
We gifted each other with the book,
and a new memory to look back on and smile about.
by jenn_davis | personal
I believe the most important health is mental health. After all, if your mind is healthy, the rest of you usually follows… right?
Having said that, there is something that I have wanted to talk about for quite a while now but approaching the subject was very intimidating for some reason so, I am just going to put it out there…
Social media is bad for your health!
I said it.
I am a firm believer that (almost) everything in moderation is healthy, but the problem is that social media has started to run, and in some cases ruin, our lives.
This has become a problem for me personally. I am embarrassed to say how much time I spend thumbing through facebook, twitter and instagram when I should be spending quality time with my family. While I’m busy lurking in everyone else’s lives I have unknowingly neglected my own. I have a husband who would probably like to tell me about his day (should I ever bother to ask), a son who probably longs for me to just sit and play with him, and friends who undoubtedly would love to see me or hear my voice instead of trying to keep up with me through various news feeds.
It makes me wonder – has social media contributed to the demise of relationships? Are we becoming less at the hands of our obsession to know more? Do we have parents who need to see us more? Children who need our undivided attention? Husbands that want to curl up on the sofa and watch a movie? Friends who want to tell us about their week?
I feel as if we have started to rely too heavily on social media to tell us what our friends and family are up to. Personal interaction is quickly becoming nonexistent, don’t you think?
I know I’m not alone and hopefully by calling myself out some of you reading this will take inventory on your own lives. When I think about it, the only socially web related activity I truly enjoy is blogging. I never feel it is a burden or that I have to constantly monitor it. The Fortunate Plight and Sunny Slide Up are both forms of expression for me. It truly makes me happy to be able to sit down everyday and document my life and my thoughts….it’s more or less my gratitude journal.
So how do we fix this? What’s our call to action – our relationship saving plan?
Step Away.
Take a breather. Maybe shut it down for a few days or even weeks. Do whatever you feel is necessary to be the healthiest you can. Share this post with any loved ones you may have neglected or feel neglected by, let them know that they are more than just a number or a notch on your news feed, I’m sure they will feel appreciated!
Let’s take back our health and nurture our relationships for a while. Let’s call a friend we haven’t talk to in a few months and ask how they are. Let’s date our spouses. Let’s spend time with our children. Let’s get back to love.
by heather | personal
When I was just a young chap, I lived in the north Georgia mountains in the middle of nowhere in a house that my dad built with his own two hands. I moved from the mountain house when I was just four or five, so I only have a handful of vivid memories. Riding my hot wheels up and down our dirt road. Dad in a beekeeper suit and the delicious honey he would pull from beehive. Getting stung by those damn bees. The brown bath water from the well. The Lincoln Logs that were kept in the hall closet that I loved to play with. The unpainted plywood walls. Oh, and the prunes that were kept in the fridge. I know that is a weird one, but my brother and I had to eat a prune a day and I hated it. My mom says we were constipated kids. (I sure hope that made you laugh)
My dad was a horticulture teacher, so we grew up learning about all about different trees and plants. We thought it was so cool that we could point to any plant and dad could tell us all about it. We always had a garden and every season we helped plant the seeds. It was so exciting to go pick the plants off of the vine and bring it right inside the kitchen to eat. The best were fresh tomato sandwiches. Tomato, mayo, salt and pepper on some bread. Doesn’t get much better – or southern – than that.
We moved to the big city of Roswell, Georgia after our mountain house. I think one of my parents got a new job or something. We lived in an actual neighborhood! This was a big change and I remember being really excited about having lots of kids around to play with. We would still escaped back to the mountains quite often to go camping. I have great memories of our frequent camping trips. Dad would take us to the grocery store on our way out of town and let us get things that mom never let us have at the house. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my Cherrios, but man those Fruit Loops were delicious! We would carve hiking sticks, make s’mores, look for bugs…you know, your average camping activities.
I also loved girl scout camp. I went for at least a week or two every summer through my middle school years. We stayed in these elevated tent like structures and all of the cool kids had a big trunk as their suitcase. I remember it being pretty scary at night in the pitch black with all of those “nature” sounds, but the day time activities sure made up for that. Gosh, I haven’t thought about girl scout camp in years, but what fun memories I have of that place. I still sing some of those silly camp songs.
I let 15 plus years pass before I went camping again. What a shame! Last year, I finally planned a camping trip with my family, and to ease back into the whole camping experience we stayed at Stone Mountain Camp Ground – with real bathrooms. We had an amazing campsite right on the water with Stone Mountain as our backdrop. Be sure to ask for campground #190 if you ever go!
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Sausage and Eggs (Perfect Campfire Breakfast)
- 1 frozen hash brown patty
- 2 eggs, scrambled, uncooked
- 2 frozen sausage patties
- spices and seasonings
- Cheese (optional)
Crimp the sides of your sheet of foil so that the eggs won’t go anywhere when you add them. First place your hash brown patty on the foil. Then place the eggs on top of the hash brown patty. Then place the sausage patties on top. Season with spices and condiments and wrap up in a tent pack. Place on hot coals and cook for 15 minutes. Add the cheese when it’s ready (it turns out better than cooking it in the pack).
[get more campfire recipes over at The Art of Manliness]
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There was so much to do at
Stone Mountain Park and we had such a blast. We rode the Skyride to the top of the mountain, wandered through the little village of shops, saw the laser show at night and even visited a petting zoo. I would totally recommend this place, perfect family vacation and the campground was very budget friendly. I will leave you with this photo I snapped of a funny looking sheep at the petting zoo there. It makes me laugh every time I look at it…
