Trying for the Simple Life

We all want to simplify our lives, right?

I mean, if we didn't there wouldn't be abundant magazine articles, talk show segments and HGTV shows dedicated to organizing, simplifying and making our lives "better" and streamlined.

I'm all for this.

In fact, I LOVE streamlining.... I love purging stuff from our house we don't need, I love "trimming the fat" on our budget so we are as economical as possible.

Now it's time to focus on streamlining me.

Pre-baby, I loved getting ready in the mornings, and actually took my time doing my hair and make-up because I loved the routine of it... I loved going through the motions of getting myself ready. In a perfect world I would take hours to get ready everyday... taking my time, relishing each step.

Obviously, this can be no more. I've been doing practice runs on quick hair and make-up techniques that will get me work presentable in 15 mins or less.

Please pardon my frizzy out-of-control-hair in the meantime.. let's just say I had a fight with some hot rollers last night and they won.

At least Neal got a good laugh out of it.

My second goal is to simplify my life in general... my mind, my focus and my attention.

My good friend McKenzie summed it up the best in her blog post about going on a Technology Detox (read here).

I'm guilty of the same thing. Any time I am just slightly bored, out comes my phone and I'm checking Facebook, Pinterest or People.com... all the while missing moments I could be focusing on Austin, or just enjoying a quiet moment and resetting my over-worked brain.

I don't want Austin growing up with parents who are always checking their phones, or texting, or being "checked out" of reality like that.

I have made the decision to downgrade (that's right DOWNgrade) my phone this August when my contract is up. No more smart phone... I'm going back to a basic phone that is just... well... a phone.

Do I need Facebook on my phone? There at my beck and call and distracting me every 15 minutes during the day? No. If I care that much, I can check it when I'm home on the computer. Same goes for Pinterest and the other apps I wasted my time with.

I mean, how surrounded by this technology stuff must I be? I email and work on a computer all day at work, I email at home, I have a laptop and a Kindle with all the access to every webpage or app I could ever want...so why pay $40 a month for a data package on my phone? Sounds like overkill to me.

Remember the days when we all survived without smart phones and apps for every single whim one could possibly have? Yep... it was possible people! Life was just as fun and interesting before Angry Birds, I swear!

So I'm simplifying my brain... and cutting down our bills by a bit too.

Win win. :-)