It’s amazing what a little break from real life will do for you.
A couple weeks ago I was super stressed and could feel it in my bones that I needed a break. Even writing here – one of the things I love most – was starting to feel more like a chore. I was eating like crap, not really exercising much, and had a million things floating around in my head that were just driving me nutty.
So I left.
For the first time in over four years, I closed my laptop and walked away from my blog for over a week. That’s right I posted on the 21st and then took a break for TEN days (I scheduled the 5/26 post before I left).
Sure, I was still around on Instagram and Facebook a bit, but for the most part it was like an internet cleanse. I didn’t catch up with any of the blogs that I check on a regular basis, I barely visited People or E Online and I didn’t even crack open my Kindle to read any of the half-dozen books I downloaded for my trip.
CRAZY, right?!
But you know what… it was AWESOME!
And now I’m back and feeling totally recharged. My 10 day break hit the spot and I have lots and lots of stuff that I can’t wait to write about.
So first, let’s talk about my trip to Ocean City. Thanks to my awesome vacation benefits at my work, I was able to leave for the beach on Thursday and spent 7 days down there with Jack. Throughout the week, a hodgepodge assortment of family members also came down – my parents, Travis for a long weekend, my two sisters and their boyfriends, my brother and his girlfriend. Oh and Ollie, of course.
It was a madhouse in a totally great kind of way!
With Jack being three, it made the beach-going experience so much more fun. He’s pretty content to eat snacks all day long while playing with his sand toys. On days that we went to the beach with my siblings and their sweeties, he was thrilled to follow around the ‘big kids’ like a little puppy dog. Especially my brother, Jack is OBSESSED with his Uncle Jason (and his videogames).
The reason I have only a few pictures.
On our first day at the beach, Jack and I were sitting next to a mom that seemed like she was only interested in getting pictures of her kids. I don’t think she sat down once. She literally chased her children around the beach coaxing them to smile for her, again and again and again. Then, they left. That was it. She took a bunch of pretty pictures of what a wonderful time her family had, and then they left. {In my imagination, she raced home to post 150 pictures on Facebook that none of her friends bother to click on anyways.}
Well, after watching her, I promised myself that I wouldn’t try to capture every memory in my camera and just live it.
I did post a few pictures to Instagram, since my phone was usually handy (you can check them out here) and here are a few more:
Jack’s little baby belly is almost gone… {sob}
If you see a shark on the side of the road, you MUST pose with it. That’s a rule.
So, THANK YOU so much for giving me a little time away. It did me good.
And THANK YOU for not leaving me.
Wait, you guys didn’t leave me… right?
ROLL CALL!
I’d never leave you. I’m glad you took a break and that you feel refreshed 🙂
“I promised myself that I wouldn’t try to capture every memory in my camera and just live it.” I love the pictures, and that you didn’t take tons. I think the internet, particularly social media, have made people think they have to document every second of their lives (“pic or it didn’t happen,” anyone?). I’m trying to take less pictures, too. I mean, SOME, yes. But not ALL THE TIME. I’m trying to live more in the moment.
Awww, thanks Jessy! I do love to have pictures to look back on — especially because Jack is growing up so fast — but it is also nice to just put the technology down for a while!