Media Fast

Last year I really wanted to do a media fast. I had read about it on someone else's blog and thought it was a great idea. That person's whole ward had done it (or at least the youth, which they were involved with) and I loved it. And I'm not talking like a one day, or even a week fast. A 40 day fast.

I love ideas that help you grow. Stretch you and help you become stronger in things that you're not strong in already.

A media fast would definitely stretch me. It's so far out of my comfort zone. Honestly, I spend a lot of the day on my phone, looking at instagram or Facebook or looking up ideas on blogs or pinterest. I don't want my kids to remember me sitting on the couch on the phone! I want to be with them, reading to them, taking them to the park (and actually playing with them), and just being there. Not just physically, but mentally.

Like I said, I wanted to do it last year. But…it was Bachelor season. So I decided to wait. And then it was something else, and something else. So here we are, a year later. And I decided I'm just going to do it. I know, I know, the Bachelorette starts in just a couple weeks! (And I like the Bachelorette more than the Bachelor, but that's another post)

I'm not doing this alone, but with my kids! They didn't get a choice :) They are just as obsessed with an old iPod Touch they found, and all their little shows. So we're setting out on this journey together. Honestly, I'm mostly worried about how to find dinner ideas (even though I have a ton of cookbooks) without Pinterest, and what we're going to do in the mornings. We wake up early around here and it takes me a little while to wake up. Usually the girls watch a show while I read my scriptures and honestly, that makes me even more tired! Hopefully we'll find a new tradition to break that one (but keep the scripture reading!)

So my goal is this: Not to be on my phone or have the tv on at all while the girls are awake. Even during naps. There's so much I could be doing! …And hopefully I figure that all out soon! Cody isn't participating because he "is hardly ever on [his] phone" and "what about Lost?"

(We are just now watching Lost on Netflix. It's the only show we watch.)

Because of this, and because he's not doing it, I'll watch Lost with him once at night, after the girls are in bed. I will also use my phone as a phone and for texting (because that's what "dumb phones" can do!) and will check my email once at night after the girls go to bed.

I don't plan on blogging, but on writing in my journal each day to track my progress.

And, because I have been doing a "Picture a Day" on Instagram, (check out #ourdailywalk2014 if you don't know what I'm talking about!) I'll have Cody add it for me each night. I don't want to get on IG or FB at all during the 40 days, and I think even just adding it myself will make me feel tempted to check it all out. I thought about just waiting until the 40 days were up and then putting 2 pictures on a day until I was caught up, but decided that was too complicated and I'm all about simple, simple, simple.

So, if you're wondering what's happened to me because I'm nowhere to be found, don't worry! I'll be back eventually!