St. Patrick's Day Chocolate Mint Cookie Bark

   I stumbled across this yummy recipe for chocolate mint cookie bark and thought it would be fun to make with my son. We always bake something festive together for St. Patrick's Day and this recipe combined all of my favorite things! It's a great recipe to involve your child in because of all of the little jobs you can give them while you're melting the chocolate (like sorting the M & M's, crushing the Oreos, etc.). I hope you'll enjoy it!

St. Patrick's Day Chocolate Mint Cookie Bark

Ingredients
    •    12 ounces semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
    •    12 ounces white chocolate chips
    •    2 tablespoons vegetable shortening (like Crisco), divided
    •    20 chocolate sandwich cookies (I used regular Oreos)
    •    1 cup Andes mints broken into bits
    •    1 cup green M&Ms (I used regular)
    •    Green sprinkles
 
    1.    Line a large jellyroll pan or cookie sheet with wax paper. Roughly chop sandwich cookies into quarters.
    2.    Pour semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon shortening into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute; stir chocolate well. Microwave for another 30 seconds; stir until chocolate is smooth. (If necessary, microwave in additional 15-second increments, stirring between each one, until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.)
    3.    Spread melted chocolate in a thin layer onto wax paper. Sprinkle with chopped cookies and Andes pieces, pressing them down into melted chocolate in a single layer.
    4.    Melt white chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon shortening in a clean bowl by repeating the above process, but microwave for only 15 seconds after the initial 1 minute since white chocolate melts more quickly than regular chocolate.
    5.    Carefully drizzle white chocolate over cookie layer and spread in an even layer. Sprinkle with M&Ms, pressing them down into the white chocolate, and then fill in any bare areas with green sprinkles.
    6.    Refrigerate until chocolate is hard. Carefully break into large chunks and enjoy!

Everything ready to go in the refrigerator!

Once the bark has cooled, break it apart into pieces.

We put some in a little bag and attached the recipe as a gift for my son's teacher.

Lego Party

   We decided to throw a birthday party for my son and his cousins while visiting our home state of Michigan this year. Seeing as how we were traveling, we weren't going to do anything big and crazy, so my sister graciously offered to host a "home" birthday party at her house. I let my son pick whatever theme he wanted and this year he chose a Lego themed birthday party. When I went to the local party store to check out what kind of decorations were available in that theme however, I was disappointed with my options. So what did I do? I logged on to good ol' Pinterest for inspiration!

   The first thing I wanted to tackle were the goody bags. I had decided that in each bag I would put a small Lego set (like the kind you see by the cash register at Target) and a small bag of Lego brick candy that they sell at my local bulk candy store. I already had some clear plastic candy bags, so I purchased a large bag of the brick candy and divided it up. I scooped some of the bricks into each bag and weighed them with a food scale that we had to make sure that each bag had the same amount of candy.

    To make the bags, I purchased some paper bags with handles from Michael's, a package of card stock that matched each bag, a 2 inch hole punch and some double-sided foam mounting tape. 

   I punched the holes out of the card stock and attached them to each bag with the mounting tape, measuring with a rule to make sure that the circles were roughly an equal distance from each other. The result was a Lego brick looking bag.

    For the decorations, I purchased square plates from Target, and napkins, cups, plastic tablecloths, balloons and streamers in the same colors as the bags (red, blue, green, yellow, orange) from the Dollar Tree (my favorite place for party supplies!). I happened to already have a "Happy Birthday" banner from last year so I used that as well. I put everything out on the table and scattered Lego pieces down the middle of the table. To create the Lego figure guys that I put on the windows and in various locations around the house, I Googled "Lego Coloring Page" and found a template that I copied into a Word document and then printed onto yellow paper. I then cut each guy out (in stacks of 3-4 at a time) and taped him around the house. 

   I wanted to keep the party simple, so I only arranged for two games. The first one was "Guess how many Lego pieces are in the jar?" I had my sister put Lego bricks into a jar and count them so that we would know how many were in there. Each child took a turn guessing how many bricks were in the jar by writing their name and number on a piece of paper. The child with the closest number without going over was the winner. The second game we played was "See how many Lego bricks you can move with chop sticks in one minute." I put out two plates, one with Lego pieces and an empty plate. I then gave the child a set of chop sticks and made them put their other hand behind their back. They had one minute to see how many Lego pieces they could move over to the other plate with the chop sticks (I timed them with my phone). The game was a lot of fun for all of the different ages we had at the party (ages 5-11) and it was interesting to see the strategy each child used to move the pieces. The kids all seemed to have a great time!

  

   For the cake, I ordered a "Lego brick cake" at a local bakery. I wasn't sure what I would end up with, but I thought they did a good job. I then purchased a small Lego set for the top and Lego brick candles from Target. I was happy with the end result.

    The small party was very easy to throw together and my son was very happy with the results. Overall, I think the way that I decided to create the decorations was significantly cheaper than if I would have purchased the Lego themed party supplies from the party store. The most expensive part of the party was the goody bags, but I thought they were worth it! What kinds of things did you do at your Lego party? Let me know!   

Cinnamon Cut Out Ornaments

   One of my favorite things to do with my son during the holiday season is to make homemade ornaments for the tree. They're fun, creative, and make great gifts! If you haven't seen my other post about homemade salt dough ornaments, you can find it by clicking here. Cinnamon Cut Out Ornaments are one of my favorite kinds of ornaments to make because they're really easy to make, smell delicious and look adorable. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Cut Out Ornaments 

(For decoration only! DO NOT EAT!)

1 Cup Ground Cinnamon
2/3 Cup Applesauce
1 Tbs White Glue

1. Mix all of the ingredients (the cinnamon, applesauce and glue) together.

 

2. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick on a surface sprinkled with extra cinnamon. Cut shapes with cookie cutters and lay flat on wax paper. Use a straw to make a hole at the top for the string.

3. Turn over frequently for the next 2-3 days. Let them dry completely. 

4. Once completely dry, you can decorate with fabric paints or glitter glue, or just leave them as they are!

Don't forget to share with someone you love!

Hot Mummies

This is a fun, festive Halloween meal I saw on Pinterest a few weeks ago and was very excited to make for my son (he's very into zombies and mummies right now). It was super easy and turned out great!

Hot Mummies (or Mummy Dogs)

Preheat the oven to 375.

You'll need:

Hot Dogs
One can of crescent dough

1. Slice the hot dogs using 3 cuts to look like little people (see picture).
2. Unroll the can of dough. With a knife, cut each rectangle lengthwise, into 7-10 long pieces.
3. Wrap the strips of dough around each hot dog to look like "bandages," stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate "bandages" so hot dog shows through for the "face."

4. On ungreased large cookie sheet, place wrapped hot dogs; spray dough lightly with cooking spray.
5. Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. With mustard, draw features on "face" (I didn't do this part because we don't care for mustard).

 

Made In Flint

My grandmother riding in a wagon being pulled by a goat (?) on Dayton Street in Flint, Michigan. This image is hard to imagine (and particularly humorous) if you are at all familiar with the present day Dayton Street. 

  
  There are, surprisingly, a large number of Michigan transplants living in Massachusetts. Nearly every week, I encounter a new person with a Michigan connection of some sort. Because of this, I frequently get asked (from both former Michiganders and my Massachusetts coworkers and friends) what it’s like to be from Flint. Flint fascinates people! Saying you’re from Flint is like telling people you survived living in the jungle. People are incredibly curious how someone can come from such a violent, infamous city and turn out “normal” (apparently they don’t know me THAT well!). They’re curious how someone can get so nostalgic for a place that they appear to both love and hate. For lack of better explanation, I tell them this...
 
  Flint is an abusive relationship that I will never escape. We have a history together and a lot of good memories, but we just couldn’t stay together. As much as I tried to hold it close to me and make it better, it beat me down and pushed me away. I will always have a mad, crazy love for Flint, but it will never show me any love in return.
 
  OK, maybe that’s not totally true. I’ve gotten quite a bit of love from Flint; after all my roots are there. My grandparents were raised in Flint. My mother and father grew up in Flint. I was born in Flint. I attended both elementary and high school in Flint. I graduated from college in Flint. I met my husband (who was also raised in Flint), fell in love, and got married in Flint. My son was born in Flint. I had a very happy childhood and young adulthood living in Flint and created some very happy memories there over the years. 

My great aunt Ellen (on the left) and friends at a high school dance in Flint.

  
  But I also have some not-so-happy memories. I have memories of scary situations,  of danger and crime. I have memories of bikes being stolen, friends and neighbors’ houses being broken into, my car being stolen (twice!), my purse being stolen, drugs being dealt next door, guns being pulled on people, all kinds of real, scary events that one can potentially witness when they’re from a city like Flint. Flint is mixed bag of memories.
 
  However, those of us who were born and raised there wear that baggage like a badge of honor, and to outsiders it’s like a neon sign flashing, “I survived Flint.” For some strange reason, we are proud! I will never escape Flint’s presence in my blood, nor do I necessarily want too. But what I’ve learned in the past 10 years is that you can take the girl out of Flint, but you can’t take the Flint out of the girl. It’s a big world and I think deep down I always knew that Flint wouldn’t hold me back forever. I knew eventually I would spread my wings and break free.
 
  Although I’ve always been appreciative of my experiences there (good and bad), I know breaking up with Flint was the best decision for my family. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t occasionally reminisce about my time in Flint or wonder what it would have been like if I would have stayed. I know it wouldn’t have ever worked out, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t keep it in a special place in my heart. That doesn’t mean that I never have deep, painful urges to go running back. That doesn’t mean that I don’t miss all of the wonderful, smart, talented people that I met while living there. That doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate all of the good things that it has done for me. It’s a conflicting set of emotions.

  Flint will always be my hometown. It will always be both the good AND the bad. It will always make me feel happy AND cause me pain. It will always be bittersweet memories.

This is what it’s like to be from Flint.

Living Facebook Free!

(Clearly I was the only one on that ride who realized how awesome it was.  Perfect illustration of me in life!)

I love technology! I love computers. I love iPods and digital music. I love digital cameras and Photoshop. I love email and being able to contact people in other states instantly. I love exploring various topics with my child on the Internet. My husband and I both have jobs in the field of technology. I can't deny it, technology is huge part of my life.

But what happens when your love of technology starts to become a problem in your life? What happens when technology starts interfering with the ways in which you interact with your children? What happens when you don’t know how to entertain yourself when your power goes out or when you forget your iPhone and you’re waiting at a restaurant? What happens when your happiness becomes dependent on how many people responded to your Facebook status? That’s when you know you have a problem. That’s when your love of technology has crossed the line from an excellent source of information and way to communicate with long distance friends, to an addiction...and addictions are never healthy.

Luckily, I’ve always had a pretty healthy relationship with technology. I am in no way addicted to it. I know when to turn off the computer and complete my other projects. I’ve always been really good about keeping all electronics off while my child is awake and trying to interact with me. I’ve also never owned a Smart Phone, so I’ve always been comfortable entertaining myself in other ways while sitting in waiting rooms and other places. But there was one thing in the technological world that was starting to cause me grief; one thing that I had a love/hate relationship with from the very beginning...FACEBOOK.

I first joined Facebook back in 2009. Some of my husband’s friends had joined and convinced him to hop on the FB train (a fun fact a like to tease him about). He then convinced me to join and I knew it was a bad idea from the start. To begin with, I was fiercely protective of our privacy. After living a somewhat public life in Flint (it’s a lot smaller than you think) and moving several times, I was ready for people to not know information about myself or my family. I was ready to keep my mouth shut and no longer be an open book to anyone who would listen. I knew that Facebook had the potential to reveal private information, whether YOU were the one who posted it or not. It could make your privacy vulnerable. There was the risk of other people posting information about you or photographs of your children and you had no control over situations like that. I also didn’t want everyone to be able to find me. I really hated high school and I didn’t have many friends. Facebook seemed like a constant high school reunion that I didn’t want to attend. I loved the fact that I had changed my name and moved several times and I knew that former classmates probably wouldn’t be able to find me. I had kept in touch with the people that I cared about and didn’t see the need to try to keep in touch with the others that had drifted away over the years.

Regardless of my reservations, I signed up and so began my four year slide down a slippery slope. Luckily, I was pretty smart about some things right from the beginning. I became very familiar with the privacy settings and made it virtually impossible for people to search for me. I never used my maiden name or filled out any information about my high school or work experience, so this also helped me maintain some privacy. I always kept my “friend” number low. I didn’t go crazy friending every person I had ever spoken too or had classes with. I tried to keep my “friends” limited to family, friends, former professors, references, and people that I had spent time having conversations with. Don’t get me wrong, there were a few times I screwed up and friended a former high school enemy just to see what they were up too. But I always deleted those people instantly and regretted ever friending them in the first place. Anyhow, my point is that I went into it in a pretty smart way, and maintained that most of the time, but other things started to happen that I wasn’t quite as prepared for...

Knowing when to be silent. I’ve always been a journal keeper and I know how therapeutic it can be to write down your thoughts. Unfortunately, I started to update my status with every little thought that popped into my head. I never aired dirty laundry or anything like that, but I started to post things that I would have normally kept to myself or shared with only my husband or best friend. For example, if I had a bad interaction with another a random person at the grocery store, I’d write about it. If I saw something on the news or something happening in the media that I thought it was stupid, I’d write about it. If I heard a song that I liked, I would post a link to it. If I hated the weather, I’d post about it. Things would happen in my life, and I would think, “I totally need to update my status with this later.” It became ridiculous. It took me a few years to get the mouth diarrhea under control. I realized that just because you have a thought or opinion in your head, doesn’t mean you need to share it with the whole world. It’s not classy, and some things are better left unsaid. I think learning when NOT to speak up is a hard lesson to learn and it’s one that my generation in particular needs to work on. Once I realized this, I then had to go back and delete years worth of embarrassing comments. I was horrified at some of the stupid things I had written. I was so grateful that Facebook was not around when I was in college because I can only imagine the kinds of crap I would have written about back then. Luckily, we only had AOL Instant Messenger to communicate with, and that usually only consisted of leaving up some angry lyrics as your “Away” message. That was how we got our points across back then. People had to read between the lines. Nowadays, nothing is obscure or cryptic.

Facebook Fights. If I read something that someone else had written and that I disagreed with, I’d state my opinion below their status, they would defend themselves, then their mother/brother/friend would hop on and defend them, and thus a little spat would ensue. The same went for if someone disagreed with things I had written. No major name calling or swearing ever occurred, but there was definitely occasional tension. That’s the problem with Facebook though. It’s mixed company. You have friends, former classmates, family, coworkers, and other random people, all thrown into the same mix and it just doesn’t work.
 
Picture Sharing and Lurkers. One reason I stayed on Facebook so long was because of my love of photography. I genuinely LOVED looking at other people’s photographs. Not in a stalker way, but in an art appreciation kind of way. I really appreciate a well-composed photograph and Facebook was a great place to satisfy my need for pretty pictures, as well as share my own. But, as the years went on, more and more people stopped posting pictures (perhaps because of all of Facebook’s privacy/sharing issues?) and some of my “friends” never posted pictures to begin with. That didn’t seem fair to me. It was weird to me to think that my “friends” were potentially looking at my pictures and reading my status updates, but never sharing any pieces of their lives with me. You can’t come to my house and look in my windows and not expect me to be curious about what’s in your house! My friends and I had a name for these people: lurkers. I hated lurkers. These are the people who created a Facebook page (even with a profile picture) but NEVER posted anything. Yes, it’s true, perhaps these people were actually really busy and created their profile pages, but were never actually on them and didn’t have the time to share things. But, I doubted it. Most of them proved themselves to be full of crap about being “too busy for Facebook” because when I would speak with them, they were completely up to date on all of their Facebook gossip. I used to tell myself that I wanted to stay on Facebook to stay in touch with family, but the reality was a lot of my family members never posted anything and never commented on what I posted. So how was that keeping in touch? Lurkers. They were a huge part of what ruined Facebook for me.

Fake Friends. Facebook gives people the illusion of having real friends. Facebook makes you feel like you are a part of people’s lives, even when you are 400 miles away. When people share information or post pictures of their kids at birthday parties, you feel like you were there! Isn’t it nice to feel like you are a part of so many families? Doesn’t it make you feel loved and involved? I definitely fell victim to this. I had several instances where I got in touch with an old friend (either because they found me or I found them) and we had a conversation through a series of messages and at some point in those messages we said, “Man, it’s so good to talk to you again. We should get together some time.” So then, I would make an attempt to actually get together...because that’s what friends do. They spend time together! But the thing was, they didn’t want to actually get together. They were completely happy to have our friendship exist in only the virtual world, and I had a real problem with that. Why would you want to be friends with me on Facebook if you didn’t want to be friends with me in real life? It didn’t make sense to me and it hurt. I also was constantly making plans with people and they would cancel at the last minute via Facebook. It’s a hell of a lot easier to type someone a lame excuse as to why you don’t feel like seeing them than to call them on the phone and hear the disappointment in their voices. It’s a lot easier for someone to “like” your picture than to make the effort to be a real friend. Your virtual friends are not really there for you when you need them. And what’s the point in having those kinds of relationships?

Humblebragers and Praise Seekers. Another huge reason I wanted to get off of Facebook is because I couldn’t stand the things people would post about. I know we all think we are interesting, but the reality is...most of us just aren’t! And we are definitely not interesting when we look like we are fishing for compliments. If you aren’t familiar with the term “Humblebrag”, it means when someone acts like they are complaining about something when they’re actually trying to make something else (a hidden message) known and are bragging about it. Here’s an example: “I’m such a fatty! I just ate about 20 pieces of chocolate. I really have to learn how to control myself when flying first class.” You see, at first, it seems like the person is putting themselves down and telling you something embarrassing, something you can relate too. But then the secret message, the thing that they really wanted you to know, was that they were flying first class. They wanted you to know that either they’ve got the cash to spend to fly first class or are potentially being flown first class by their employer, or something of that nature. The last part was what they really wanted you to know, but they worded it in a way where they were hiding their bragging. Humblebrags always made me laugh because I couldn’t believe that these people didn’t realize how transparent they were. There’s something to be said for actually being humble and unfortunately, it is a dying character trait. Similarly, so many people these days feel like they deserve praise for everything they do. The one subject I  saw posted about the most that really killed me was working out and exercise. Now, I get it. Working out can be a big deal for those who aren’t used to doing it and/or are making big attempts to lose weight and change their lives. But for someone who’s always consistently worked out for the past 18 years and never looked for praise for it, I didn’t understand why we needed to praise people for doing something that they should be doing anyways (By the way, I am in no way super fit or muscular or bragging about being super fit or muscular. I’ve just always maintained good health with normal weekly routine workouts). To me, praising someone for working out was the same as saying, “Yay. Good job Betty! I’m so glad that you went to the grocery store to buy food for your family.” You don’t praise people for that! It’s just part of everyday life. It’s something that we need to do. Working out is the same to me. Who wants to say, “Yay, Bobby! I’m so glad you decided not to be lazy any more and are dragging yourself to the gym 3 times a week just like everybody else. Good job!”? Do we really need to be praised for deciding to take care of ourselves or be healthy? Do we really need to be praised for every single personal accomplishment (don’t get me started on the zillion people who post about the races they ran in and are looking for a people to tell them what a good job they did when they weren’t even there to see it)? Can’t we just be content and happy with ourselves for our accomplishments? Can’t we call our friends to tell them about these accomplishments and get the praise from someone who genuinely cares about us?    

In addition to the things listed above, one of the biggest problems I have with Facebook (and perhaps technology in general) is that I don’t like the way our society is choosing to spend their time and interact with each other. For example, I went to my son’s soccer game the other day and as I was walking past the other games that were being played, I saw kids sitting on the sidelines playing on their parent’s iPhone, either while they were waiting to play in their game or while their siblings were playing. I find that incredibly sad. What the hell is wrong with just sitting there and watching the game? What about cheering on and supporting your sibling or friend? What about picking grass and running around with your friends? Are our children really that desperate for something to do that we need to fill every moment with an iPhone game? It’s even worse when I see the parents doing it instead of watching their child play soccer. I can’t stand that we are so distracted that we are missing life. We are missing the moments that make living worthwhile. Are you going to reminisce on your deathbed about your FarmVille game or about the special moments with your children?

Another personal example, when my husband and I first got married, we would play games together like Scrabble and Gin and do crossword puzzles and word searches to unwind and relax in the evenings. It felt good. It felt old-fashioned. It felt like we were really spending time together and living life. As the years went on (and jobs changed) we both became glued to our laptops (or iPads, iPods, etc.) in the evenings. We still had a great relationship and still watched movies together and other things like that, but it just didn’t feel the same as the early days. It felt...distracted.

I also didn’t like not having as much time for the hobbies I used to enjoy doing, such as reading, making art, teaching myself guitar, etc. I would tell myself that I simply didn’t have time to pursue those things any more. The reality was, I HAD the time to do those things, but chose to waste it online instead, and that didn’t feel REAL to me. Living online was not the same as REALLY living.

Even though I was never fully a technology addict, I knew that it was time to make a change for myself. I had grown so disgusted with Facebook and was starting to become unhappy with the ways I was spending my time. I was unhappy with the friendships that I thought that I had. I was unhappy with our society who can’t sit in an uncomfortable silence for one minute at a restaurant table with other people, the society who can’t think of conversation topics so they resort to looking down at their phones. There needed to be a change and the change was going to start with me. I knew I couldn’t stop the world from handing their kids iPhones to entertain themselves, but I could control the choices I was making  for my own family and myself. This was the day I decided to commit...

Facebook Suicide. 

I was no longer going to live in the Facebook world because I was going to start/return to living in the REAL world. I wanted to see and speak to REAL friends. I wanted to hear REAL praise at actual appropriate moments. I wanted to feel REAL awkwardness and experience REAL disappointments.      
 
Quitting wasn't easy though. Just like quitting anything, I had to go through a process when I finally decided to give up my Facebook life. Immediately after deleting my page, I felt relieved. I was SO thrilled that I no longer had to pretend as if I was interested in the countless posts regarding workout routines or diet habits, I no longer had to check to see who’s birthday it was (It would be bad Facebook etiquette not to acknowledge a birthday on a “Friend’s” page!), I didn’t have to “like” pictures of pet dogs or children I didn’t know, and more importantly, I didn’t have to work to maintain friendships that would never be REAL outside of the virtual world.

However, the good feeling didn’t last long because on the second day, a mild sadness and loneliness hit. Part of me felt as if I had lost a big virtual family. Considering I live in a different state than most of my family and friends, Facebook was my only way for staying involved and keeping up with gossip. I had dedicated over four years to watching some of my family members and friends get married and have children, and I was sad that I was no longer going to be able to witness these happy occasions in their lives. Seeing it on Facebook was almost like being there and without it, I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep up.

Another thing that hit me (that I wasn’t expecting) was the feeling of, “Well now what do I do with my time?” Facebook had become such a normal, daily habit, that I had to figure out what I was going to do during the time I would have normally been Facebooking. I thought it would be easy to instantly return to my old hobbies, but it took some time to remember what the I used to do before wasting all of my time on the computer. Eventually, it all came back to me though and I have to say that I am ecstatic to be practicing some of my old hobbies.

I made a little list of the Pros & Cons I’ve experienced since committing Facebook Suicide. Note: Let me remind you again that I have not quit technology or the Internet entirely, I simply quit Facebook.

PROS:

I have some privacy back. No one gets to peek into my life anymore (Well, unless they’re on Instagram. I couldn’t give up all of my guilty pleasures!). No one can engage me in conversations on my page that might be weird, or add me to groups that I don’t want to belong too, or send me invites for games I don’t want to play, or show my pictures to their creepy uncle in their basement, it’s all gone. Of coarse, I can’t control what other people post, so I could still essentially be tagged, mentioned, or make a cameo in random posted pictures, but I can live with that. It’s still an improvement.
 
My relationships have improved. The people who wanted to keep in touch with me have kept in touch. There are so many other ways to communicate: email (my favorite virtual method), texting (my least favorite), phone calls, snail mail, and good, old fashioned arrangements to actually see each other face to face and hang out in person! There are a few people in particular that I feel even closer with since leaving Facebook. As for the others, they didn’t make the cut! My husband and I do more activities together in the evenings like we used too. We were always close, but I feel even closer now without the distractions!
 
I have more time for my hobbies (and other things). I’ve done more reading than I have in a long time, I’ve done more writing than I have in the past four years, the options of how to spend my time are endless! I can’t believe I panicked for even a minute about how to spend my time. I've even made it to bed early a few times, which is a HUGE deal when you're a mom!
 
I’m more present than ever. I’ve always lived very much “in the now” because I learned a long time ago that you can’t plan too far ahead. But now I’m even more present and it’s such a great feeling. It’s very real. It’s life, and I want to live in every moment!

CONS (there’s really only one that I can think of):

I no longer get to see pictures of the people that I DO care about. Not very many people were posting pictures on Facebook anymore anyways, but for the ones that were, I will miss seeing them! I will miss seeing what those people are up too and watching their kids grow up. I will miss sharing in their sorrows and their successes. But this isn’t really even that much of a con because NOW we will have more to talk about when we finally do see each other! I can ask questions and they can answer them (like a normal conversation) and I won’t feel like I already knew the answers because I already saw everything on Facebook. I look forward to engaging in these conversations about life. Plus, people can still email me pictures. Yes, it requires extra effort, but it is an effort that people put in when they want to be friends.

Our society is becoming socially inept and heavily dependent on their "devices" to occupy their time and thoughts. People are forgetting how to communicate and interact with their families. They’re forgetting how to act in social gatherings and how to start conversations in group settings. They’re forgetting how to stay humble and how to protect their private lives. They’re forgetting what it feels like to hurt someone’s feelings. They’re forgetting hobbies and skills they took years perfecting that are now going to waste. They’re becoming insecure and depressed because they’re constantly comparing themselves to others and the material things that other people have. They’re forgetting how to have empathy. They’re making excuses for not getting off of their butts to take care of themselves or even better, take care of others. They’re teaching their children that they don’t need to support their siblings at soccer games and that every uncomfortable silence needs to be filled with a distraction. They’re forgetting about everything good in life that involves living in the present moment. They’re forgetting how to love...AND IT MAKES ME SAD.

I can’t change the actions of others but I can control my own and I choose to live in REAL life and have REAL relationships. I couldn’t be happier to be FACEBOOK FREE!

Monument Mountain & South Street Package and Variety (Another Secret Spot for Great Indian Food!)

   My family recently hiked on Monument Mountain in Great Barrington. We’ve been doing the same hike for awhile and decided to change things up. This was a refreshing new hike for us!

    
   We started out by taking the Indian Monument Trail. According to the brochure/map, it was “the most gradual, providing walkers with a leisurely ascent up a former carriage road.” You start on a path that runs along the side of the road where you can hear the cars buzzing by and you stay on that for quite a while. Then, you head directly through the woods, which was an easy path to take, but there wasn’t much to look at. The path was very straightforward and gradual, but I struggled with how boring it was. It made it seem longer. We took this path because we had our son with us and we weren’t sure of how difficult each path would get.

   Once we got near the top, there were some rocks that appear to have been chipped away at/formed to serve as steps.

    
   At the top, there were some large rocks that we could rest on to have a snack and enjoy the view. To get the best view for picture taking however, you have to climb on top of the rocks, which can be nerve-wracking for those who have children with them or who have a fear of heights. I wouldn’t say it’s the most kid friendly mountaintop I’ve ever been on. There are some steep cliffs and dangerous edges! But the view was beautiful!

   
   On our way down, we decided to take the Hickey Trail. This trail was a lot more fun!There were several log bridges that you had to cross (that weren’t too far off the ground)   and a cave with a tiny stream of water pouring over the edge of it. We all found this path to be far more enjoyable.

  
   There was also a third trail, the Squaw Peak Trail, that was supposed to have the best views, but we didn’t attempt it because the map said it ran along the top of steep cliffs and that sounded a little too risky to do with a child. If you’ve done this trail or know anything about it, write me and let me know! I’d like to know if it would be appropriate for children.

   Overall, my family had a great experience. If we go back, we will skip taking the Indian Monument Trail the whole way up and take one of the other trails. They seemed to have more interesting things to look at. I need a little bit of excitement while I’m hiking!

A few points I wanted to make:

- I would say this hike is probably best for kids 6 and up. I think younger kids are capable of doing the hike, but I would worry about where they’ll want to explore once they get to the top. Keep a close eye on them!

- There are no bathrooms or portable toilets, so make sure you use the bathroom before you arrive to the trails.

- Bring your bug spray! Once you’re going directly through the woods, the gnats and mosquitos can get a little crazy around your head.

- It states this in the map but I want to make a point of restating it, please keep your dogs on their leashes. We went past several people who did NOT have their dogs on leashes and this makes the hike more uncomfortable for other people, especially when you have children with you. Dogs are curious creatures and that doesn’t go away just because they’re on a hike! Several of the dogs we passed tried to approach us (and it wasn’t always in a playful manner) and it was a little scary. You never know when animals may decide to act out. Just keep them away from other hikers, it’s courteous.

One of the most exciting parts of our hiking adventure though wasn’t the hike. It was this:

   
   South Street Package and Variety near the corner of 143 and 8 (South Street) in Hinsdale. I know, it doesn’t look like much, but this caught our eyes as we were driving by:

    
   Any hole-in-the-wall Indian place that is buried in the hilltowns is worth a try for us! Most people probably wouldn’t even think to stop and try it, but we LOVE hidden finds like this!

   When you go in, it looks like a typical package store (that’s a convenience store for you Michigan folks!) but there’s a little dining spot in the back. Nothing fancy, but details like that aren’t important when you’re passionate about good Indian food!

 
   The owners were a very nice family from New Delhi, India. We chatted with the husband for awhile while his wife cooked our order. It’s always fascinating to learn about other people and what brought them to Western Massachusetts! I just love meeting new people!

   We ordered the Chicken Saag, Chana Masala, Chicken Tikka, Pratatha, and Raita and they were all DELICIOUS! We especially liked the Chicken Saag and Chana Masala! We practically inhaled it! Even my son loved the Chicken Saag and he normally won’t go anywhere near anything with green in it!

    
   The food was great and very reasonably priced. We will DEFINITELY be dining there again. If you are ever in the Hinsdale area and LOVE and appreciate good Indian food, please support this business.

A final thing I wanted to add...

   Please know that I do not make any money from this blog and get nothing for free. I am not asked to visit or review any of the places that I write about. I do this strictly for fun and as a way to catalogue my family’s adventures. Hopefully, it will inspire you to visit and support some of these businesses though and go on some adventures of your own. Thank you for reading and thank you for supporting local businesses!   

   To read a little history about Monument Mountain, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_Mountain_%28reservation%29. To read more reviews of the Monument Mountain hike, go to: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g41586-d2008981-Reviews-Monument_Mountain-Great_Barrington_Massachusetts.html.