The Truth About Facebook. The Good, Bad & UGLY.

Welcome to Facebook! Where you will be judged for everything you say. You will make friends, lose friends. stalk strangers and have every aspect of your life broadcast to your "friends".
Dont get me wrong. I love facebook. Im addicted. Its open on my computer right now. & I think facebook is wonderful, mostly. However, There are things on my Facebook newsfeed that make me CRINGE on a daily basis.

Heres my view on the best and worst of facebook

Personal Life

Good
I LOVE when good things happen to my friends. I am so proud of them when they get a raise, or get a new job. I practically scream with joy when I find out someone has gotten engaged or married. & Im TOTALLY guilty of stalking my cute pregnant friends.
These are all amazing things. Thank you friends for sharing

Bad
I simply do not care what you are doing every minute of the day. I hate it when people update more than 2 or 3 times a day. Or give statuses that list every single mundane thing they have done that day. Like
"Woke up, ate breakfast, watched the Nate show! LOVE NATE, took a shower, went for a run, took a shower, ate lunch, now just sitting here on facebook! Long day so far!"

Ugly.
8:15 "Ate Whataburger and didnt gain a pound! #skinnygirlproblems #bulemiasabitch"
7:20 "Putting in the miles! Working off all of those calories I ate today! #gymrat"
4:20 "Just now eating today, too bad I have to eat at my desk! #secretaryproblems"
2:00 "Time for another cup of coffee! Its a long day! #coffeeadict #needthecalories"
8:25 "Starbucks on my way to work! I think Im addicted! #ventiplease #hangoverprobz"

**Side note- If you post it on facebook for your 1000+ friends to see, it is no longer PERSONAL. You decided to post it, dont get upset when people talk.

Relationships

Good

Again, I am OVER JOYED when I see my friends have taken the next step in their relationships- moving in together, getting engaged, married, whatever. I love that about Facebook, it keeps you in touch with people and lets you know whats happening in their lives. 

Bad

On the other hand, Im kind of sick of posts like  "OHMYGOD I COULDNT LOVE THIS MAN HARDER IF I TRIED!! He is soo good to me! Love you SnuggiePieSnuggleButt! Smooches! lmbo!"

I mean, Im SUPER glad you found someone who makes sunshine out of your ass, but thats what text messages are for. Or private messages. Or a phone call. Facebook, not so much.

But I will admit, Ive done it. Im sure everyone has. If we could keep it to a minimum though, that would be stellar.

Ugly.

However, the worst HAS to be when people go through a break up.

6:45 "Im so old and lonely. Ill never find anyone. Lost my one true love."

3:30 "Still waiting on you to just come back to me. I miss you!!!"

11:47 ""Even on my weakest day,  I get a little bit stronger! #sayingsforgirls #damnitstrue"

9:55 "Wish I was hearing his voice on the other end of the phone."

7:07 "There were more tears than dreams in my pillow last night..."

3:00 "Cant sleep thinking about him. :("

Or maybe the worst is when people break up, get back together, and break up again... and again and again. Because then you have to watch the CYCLE of that shit over and over and over.

Mommies & Babies

Good

I love it when mommies post pictures of their growing little tummies & pictures of the nursery & the adorable little clothes. It lets me live vicariously through them for a hot minute. Plus I love to shop for my friends children. I can barely walk past a children's store without being lured inside by all of the darling little outfits. & lets not forget about seeing pictures of the babies themselves.

Im totally guilty of stalking pregnant friends from the moment the news hits facebook until that sweet baby is home... and even after. Im like "Oh 200 pictures from the hospital... dont mind if I do!" And for the next half hour, Im scrutinizing every photo you just uploaded. Yepp, Im THAT person.

Bad

Hoooowever. I find myself utilizing the "hide" button on new mommies a lot. Going back to the personal life thing, noone REALLY cares if your baby wouldnt breast feed today. Or if he missed his nap. I mean, Im sure thats vitally important to your day, and Im not discounting that at all, but Im just saying, does everyone else need to know?

Ugly. Nasty. Gross.

I am not singling any one of you out, because I swear there are like 20 of you that do this, No one wants to read about your babies poop. Ever.

Call the doctor. Call a friend. Shit, search Google or WebMD, but please no more babies pooping posts.

Yesterday alone I saw 6. SIX. SIX DIFFERENT POSTS ABOUT BABY POOP. No more, Mommy friends, please.

Strangers & Stalking

Good.Bad&Ugly

Im all for a little bit of new-aged stalking. If you have a Facebook page, I probably know more about you than I should. But after you learn things, you have to learn how to process the information. For example, dont just rush out to someone youve never met and say "Oh yeah, I know you from Facebook." Thats just weird.

Also, little prostalk lesson, nothing that you have to say about a photo is worth saying if the photo is over a few months old. It never fails to FREAK ME OUT when people comment on my stuff from more than a year ago. Because I know DAMN WELL that you have just looked through ALL of my stuff. Creep. Keep it to yourselves.

But if we are going to be honest, if I look at one of your profile pictures, Im going to look at all of them... every time. It doesnt matter if you have 4 or 148, I start clicking and just cant stop.

There you have it friends. My break down of the best and worst of Facebook. Enjoy.

Wedding Stress// Spinach Smoothies

The first 6 or 7 months we were engaged, I was like OHMYGOD IM GETTING MARRIED TO MY BEST FRIEND AND I LOVEE WEDDING PLANNING!! I was so confused as to why others were stressed about the planning.... but Now I understand. Something about hitting that "5 months to go" flipped a switch inside me. These last few weeks I have been STRESSED OUT.
I have had nightmares almost every night related to the wedding. In one dream, Chris was walking into the ceremony space in his Mardi Gras costume. <-- NIGHTMARE.

Its been more than just bad dreams though. Lets take Friday for example...
I talked to Chris around 10:00 in the morning and his day was going well. I tried to call him at lunch, but I it his phone went straight to voicemail. No big deal. I tried to call him when I was running errands. Voicemail. I called him on my way back to work. Voicemail. Called the station. No answer. By this time its like 3:30. Im panicking because I have convinced myself that something terrible has happened to him. I just KNEW that he had been in a terrible wreck and his phone was broken.
Well, I was wrong. Chris is fine. His phone is just a piece of shit. I finally talked to him around 4:15. & I was glad he was okay. But I COULD NOT stop thinking about what would happen if something happend to Chris. I became obsessed with it for a hot minute. I probably turned into a clingly crazy too... (By probably I mean I most certainly did)

Then Saturday morning we were watching TV and the Allstate commercial about life insurance came on. It leads you to believe that the woman's husband is dead. I BAWLED my eyes out. Chris was like "WHAT just happened? Did I miss something?" I was crying so hard I couldnt talk. I finally told him that the damn Allstate commercial upset me and that I was overly concerned about his safety.

Well, we are upping the life insurance ((effective commercial, Allstate- Well played)) & Chris got a new phone. All is well in the Newman-Russell household again.

But besides my crazy episode, it was a great week. I learned how to make spinach smoothies!

1. First you take two big handfuls of baby spinach and put it in the blender.

2. Add some orange juice. Enough to fill the bottom of the blender.

 3. Blend. It should look something like this...

4. Add a cup of frozen fruit. Any kind will do but I especially like the Berries. 





 5. Blend. & Add a tsp of honey. (If you want it to be sweeter)

 6. Enjoy! ((The blackberries make the smoothie purple. I used strawberry banana for another smoothie and it came out lime green))

I added two big tbsp of plain yogurt to mine this morning and it was a little bit creamier. Im going to keep experimenting, but so far I really enjoy getting a few servings of fruit and veggies in one glass in the mornings. Plus the smoothie is only about 150 cal. ((Basically nothing for spinach, 70 for fruit, ~30 for orange juice, ~40 for yogurt))

Also this week I spent some time with my family playing Mexican Train Dominoes. ((Unexpectedly fun)) So much fun that I bought the game and made Chris and Suzanne play with me too.

The rest of the week I just chilled with Mobley! & Bought my Mardi Gras dress!!

Hard to Love

Its funny how certain things in life slap you in the face, give you perspective and force you to grow. Last night I had one of those moments...

Over the past month, or two... or three if we're going to be honest, I have really been struggling with being a good friend to someone who needs a good friend in her life. Its easy to be a good friend to someone who is a good friend to you. Its easy to love someone who loves you back. Its easy to do nice things for people who appreciate you. Its like that in every relationship. On the other hand, it is NOT easy to be a good friend to someone who pushes you away, ignores you, blows you off, and doesn't appreciate your friendship. But I have been really really trying HARD to be a good friend. After all, those that are hard to love, are often the ones that need it the most. I would say that is the case for my friend in need.

There were times over the past several months that I swore to myself that this is the "LAST" time. I've given up, written her off, cussed her, and cried over her, all to come back and realize that I know she needs a friend. & Last night when I was really fed up with the drama, I realized something There have been people in my life that have been a friend to me when I did not deserve to have a friend at all.

It just all of a sudden hit me... At one point in my life, I was that person that needed a friend. I was the person who treated my friends like they didn't matter. I was the one that blew them off and never appreciated the love that they had for me.

So I decided that I would keep trying, at least one.more.time, to be a good friend... to "pay it forward". I just hope one day she looks up and realizes that she has friends standing by her. But I mostly hope that when she does realize it, that she will be able to be a good friend to someone in need too.

& I hope by sharing this I've encouraged someone to try one more time, or be a friend to someone who needs it. Or to just thank the person that stands by you when times are hard...

& for YOU, the one that the blog is about, I hope you dont take this the wrong way. Im just saying that Im here & Im trying & Im doing my best. & I love you & I hope you get better soon. Im looking forward to brighter days & a stronger friendship.

Bucket List

I have so many things I want to accomplish, so many places I want to see & so many goals I need to  achieve. I thought Id share them with you, and also record them so I can go back and see how far I've come.

In the next year, I will...

School, Work & Career

...GRADUATE with my Bachelors of Social Work from the University of South Alabama

... Graduate with honors

...Have a great last semester interning at an agency where I HOPE I will be offered a job!

Family Life

... MARRY my best friend!!

... Dance with my HUSBAND

... Have my father walk me down the aisle

Health & Fitness

...Reach my goal weight! (Only 7lbs to go!)

...Sign up for, TRAIN, and RUN a Half-Marathon

... Complete Warrior Dash

Other things

...Go zip-lining through Monkey Jungle!

... Go white water rafting

... Jump off a giant cliff into gorgeous water

... Go hiking

... Go on the vacation of my dreams

In the next 5 years, I will...

School, Work & Education

... Graduate from the University of Alabama with my Masters of Social Work

... Have a career I love

Family Life

... have a baby

Health & Fitness

 ...Run a marathon (Somewhere AMAZING... like Hawaii!)

... Complete Tough Mudder

... Have a flat stomach

Other things

... Go on an amazing vacation

... Go on the skydeck in Chicago

... Purchase a car

... Learn to scuba dive



Eventually, I want to

... Spend New Years Eve in Paris

... Go to Greece

... Go on a Safari

... Ride in a Hot Air Balloon

... Surprise Chris with something he has always wanted

... Climb a mountain

... Go to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls

... Make my own Rock Candy ((Dont you dare judge me.))

... Stay in an Over-Water Bungalow in Bora Bora

... Learn fluent Sign Language

 I will Always...

...Live a life Im proud of

... Strive to be an inspiration

... Have a marriage a thousand times more beautiful that my wedding

... Grow old with my best friend



Not All Who Wander Are Lost

This year for our anniversary, Chris got me the most AMAZING present. A MAP! I know, this seems a little strange but its exactly what I wanted! Its actually a GIANT vinyl map that you can mark off the places you've traveled....

I ordered the map in dark brown with beige travel markers. I seriously CANNOT wait to put it up in our office! Ever since I've order it I've been thinking about all of the places that I've been so lucky to have seen & all of the places that I cant wait to go.

The first "big" trip I went on was a school-sponsored trip the summer between 7th and 8th grade. 5 adults took 115 preteens on a two week trip up the East Coast. ((I wish they had taken us a little later, like in high school, but I totally understand why they wanted to take middle-schoolers instead. We would have gotten into WAY too much trouble in high school)).
We started our trip in Atlanta where we saw a Braves game and spent the day at Six Flags. From there we went to Duke University, Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens and finally, New York City! We spent 3 days in New York cite seeing & shopping. After NYC we crossed the US/Canada border & went to Niagra Falls. - I have some amazing pictures of this trip, but 1) they are not on my computer & 2) I wouldnt be caught dead with pictures of me from middle school online. Such an awkward time... After Niagra Falls we made our way back home, stopping in ANOTHER theme park in Ohio. It was an intense 2 weeks spent on a hotel & in theme parks, but it was a great experience. Im so glad I had the opportunity to go.

The next trip I went on was OHMYGODINCREDIBLE. The ONLY regret I have about this next little venture is that I went so early in life. I would love to take that trip now-ish. It would be ideal... But the summer between 9th & 10th ((or 8th and 9th??)) grade I went on a 15 day trip to Italy! There are only a few pictures I have online, but I have some BEAUTIFUL photos at home if you ever want to see them.

I also went on this trip with a group of people from UMS. We started our trip in Venice...

Venice was INCREDIBLE. Probably my second favorite city I've ever been in. Then we went to Florence...

Florence was pretty cool. We did a LOT of walking, saw a TON of museums & went to a strange little club where I had absinthe for the first (and only) time.  I also ate a LOT of gelato... like every single day...

We made our way to see the leaning tower of Pisa...

Then we went to Capri- the MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE ON EARTH. You could take a ski-lift up to the top of a mountain and look down and see this...

We also got to take a tiny little row boat around the Blue Grotto...

Lastly, we went to Rome. I could write an entire book on my last day in Rome ((Rome was incredible- the Vatican was beautiful & the architecture there is UN-REAL). Theres actually a pretty funny story about me drinking too much, cutting myself shaving, calling home from across the world (running up a $70 phone bill for a 4 minute conversation), etc.  But ill save that for another day.

The next summer, Vicky and her family took me to Bermuda with them! We stayed a a BEAUTIFUL resort on Elbow Beach- & yes, the sand was pink(ish).

For six days Vicky and I did this exact thing: Sleep in, Order Room Service, Read on the Beach, Lunch, Shower, Nap, Walk around, Dinner, Party Party Party, Sleep. Repeat. Luckily the food & the beaches were perfect.

The summer after high school graduation I went on another trip with Vicky and her family to Mexico!

 Oddly enough, our daily activities were incredibly similar to the ones in Bermuda- except with more alcohol.

Later that year, Chris took me on an amazing trip to Atlanta!

Then in 2010 Chris & I went back to Mexico on a cruise!

We had a blasty blast.

& Last year we made a trip or two to New Orleans...

I consider myself very lucky to have been where I have been. But I cant wait to travel more, learn about different cultures, and share my experiences with Chris. Plus, Im going to be over joyed to add a little dot to that damn map...

4 Years

Wednesday is our 4 year anniversary. I feel so incredibly lucky to be marrying the greatest man I've ever met. I also feel like every year we are together is better than the last. I'd say we've had a pretty amazing 4 years. Here are some highlights from the last year:

We celebrated our 4th Christmas together...

Chris made me the best meal ever...

We went to our first Inca Ball

We (barely) survived another MOT Mardi Gras...

We went on an AMAZING spring break trip....

We GOT ENGAGED!!!

Chris Graduated!!!!

We celebrated our engagement...

We went to New Orleans...

We ate our first Cow Tongue Tacos (this was a monumental moment in our relationship!)

We went to Beer, Bands & Bingo

We went kayaking...

We took our engagement pictures....

We played kickball...

Chris turned 30...

& We had a Slip N Slide party to celebrate...

I went Skydiving!!

Chris braved the Greater Gulf State Fair with me...

We went to the Inca Halloween Party

Alabama won the Iron Bowl...

We've made new friends...

We've also done a ton of other things that I dont have pictures of, like...
Planned (most of) our wedding
Talked about our future
Watched a bunch of movies & snuggled on the couch
Folded a thousand loads of laundry
Talked about our honeymoon
Stayed up late talking in bed
Woken up super early to work out
Dieted together
Supported each other
Been really silly.

I am so lucky that Chris is going to be my HUSBAND in less than 6 months. I cannot wait to marry the man of my dreams. I love him more than anything in the world.

Happy Anniversary, Chris. I love you with all of my heart.