Deleting Facebook

Interesting how some topics can just keep coming up. I keep finding myself talking with several different people, at different times, about Facebook and especially my decision in deleting it a few months ago. So I am going to put down why exactly I deleted it, and why other people should too.

1. Facebook dehumanizes people. I found myself judging people for annoying posts, or weird pictures. I would make assumptions based on their wall posts or what other people had tagged them in. And it goes the other way too. I think some people used Facebook as a tool to get to know me. Are we really being reduced to this?? Seriously people. We are people. Humans. Flesh and bone. Beating heart. Lungs. Voices. Thoughts. Blood. Laughter. Smiles. We are not a popular status. We are not a funny video somebody posts of us. We are not a profile (or a Timeline). We are not defined by how many people 'like' our status or by how many new friends we get in a month.

2. Facebook is not very personal. Call me old fashioned, but I like having conversations with people where I can hear their voice, see their smile, look into their eyes, laugh with them, cry with them, etc. After all, about 93% of communication is nonverbal. But Facebook can't portray the nonverbal things. Facebook is too forced and planned. Instead of just talking and reacting with the flow of the conversation, people can plan their posts or in their conversations, go back and delete words, make themselves 'sound' witty, smart, funny, sensitive whatever. With Facebook, all you get is the words (the very carefully planned words) that you read on a status or a post or a comment and not only do you read it, but many more can too.
Now, I realize that right now I am writing a blog and communicating with people online, which people could argue is similar to Facebook. I have four followers on my blog right now, I don't post statuses about every time I go to the gym or why I'm upset about homework. I write only meaningful things. If you stop and think about it, I don't think Facebook is very meaningful. Not what it's become anyway. Just go and read everyone's status or look at the pictures they post. What is the meaning in it?

3. People say things on Facebook they wouldn't say in real life. A few months ago I had a guy that liked me that decided to friend me on Facebook and start chatting to me. It was kind of awkward, I mean, when people talk to me I can't help but talk back because I try to be nice. But I was like, dude, stop talking to me. Only I didn't say that. He kept chatting with me on Facebook, but the interesting thing is, he never really talked to me whenever I saw him anywhere else on campus. It's like he wasn't brave enough to come talk to me but he could talk to me on Facebook because he wasn't actually talking to my face. Ok. That's gotta stop. (And I made that stop....it was about the same time I deleted my Facebook). But come on, people, why would you ever write something to someone that you wouldn't be able to say to their face? If a guy ever wants to get to know me he can come and talk to me in person. If he's not brave enough then that's fine. I'll never know about it and then someday there'll be someone else who actually will come and talk to me and someday fall in love with me. Not to sound all cheesy, but I don't understand people that try developing relationships over the internet like that.

4. Facebook is a tool for stalking. This is one of those things people think is a good thing. I'll admit, sometimes I do miss having an account so I can go check out the pictures my sister puts up of her daughter or to read the posts my friends in different states (or countries) write. But when Facebook is used for straight up stalking (let's stalk his ex-girlfriend's brother's wife's cousin) that's just creepy!! Who knows who could be stalking you at any given time! And again...that's not the way to get to know them since we can't just reduce people to a page. I think our days could be better spent hiking on a mountain trail, baking cookies, chasing butterflies, jumping off cliffs, playing the piano, or sleeping!! Not stalking people. We're not spies. We don't need to pretend to be.

5. Facebook is taking over everything. It freaks me out how many things there are that ask me to sign up with Facebook or read an article through Facebook or to share a video through Facebook. Why is everything revolving around Facebook??

6. Facebook isn't what it used to be. Facebook was originally a thing for college students to stay in touch and make friends. Why doesn't it kind of disturb anyone that people from ages really young to really old are now using Facebook? My parents have Facebook! Eighty year olds have Facebook! I think it's weird and kind of makes Facebook not as 'cool' anymore. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to be stalked by my friends' parents online.

7. Facebook keeps changing. Ok, this really isn't part of my argument because some people love change (I keep changing my blog design at the beginning of each month) but I just never liked how Facebook completely changed everything for everybody and we all just had to deal with it.

8. Facebook is addicting. I can say this because I had Facebook for almost four years and I just had to check Facebook before I could work on my paper or check my email. And when I was bored or trying to kill time, I would check Facebook. If I went a week where I could not check Facebook, I really missed it and I felt like I was neglecting my friends. Ugh I can't believe my past self. The addiction to Facebook is disturbing. There's better things to do with our time.

9. It's impossible to get rid of Facebook completely. For months after I deactivated my Facebook account, my Pinterest account kept having me follow people that I had been friends with on Facebook. I did not understand how that was happening since I deactivated my account! It turns out I had the 'Connect with Facebook' button checked on my Pinterest, and so it still knew who all my Facebook friends were. Talk about creepy. At some point in the near future I need to actually completely delete my account. And I'm not sure how to do that. I think it's very difficult. I also think it requires that I log on again, which I really don't want to do, but no doubt they require that so they can try to convince you to not delete it. So in the meantime, it's just deactivated (and the Facebook owners can still access all my information which freaks me out). Am I the only one creeped out by this?

10. Facebook messes up our priorities. I think I used to be on Facebook more than I would read the Bible. Um I don't think I have to go into much detail about how much of a problem this is. But I don't think it was just me with the problem. I think it's almost 100% of the people that have Facebook. And not having Facebook has helped me focus more on homework. I log on my computer, spend five minutes checking my emails and then I'm good for several hours and I can do some homework! It's such a relief to not have it. After all, it was very addicting (see #8).

There are ten reasons why I deleted my Facebook and why I think other people should consider it too. I had Facebook for four years so I really do know what it is like and, more importantly, I know what it's like to not have it after such a long time! It's so great and I can honestly say that deleting my Facebook account was one of the best decisions I've made in a long time.

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O-team Week

Applying to be an Orientation leader was one of the best decisions I've made while at Covenant. Got to move in a week and a half before most returning students and even more cool, I got to know a ton of really awesome people!

The freshmen moved in on Friday. It was a blast! Charging to their car, unloading it for them, running to the elevator, dropping their stuff off in their room--all before they even got a room key! Definitely shocked a lot of them! Later on I helped out in the Financial Aid office, which originally I thought would be very boring. But I met some very cool people while they waited in line. I put one dad at ease when he asked me why I loved Covenant. I told him it was because of the people and the community. Saying goodbye to his daughter must have been awful, but I hope I helped make it easier. Got to hear lots of stories of why people came to Covenant. Either they heard of it from a friend or they googled Christian colleges and came across it. How cool!

Friday evening was our first time meeting with the 11 kids that would be in our O-team. My partners were Chris and Anna (they're both awesome) and we were worried our first meeting would be awkward since none of them knew each other. It was anything but awkward! We played the toilet paper game where you take as many pieces of toilet paper as you want, even though you don't know why, and you have to say a fact about yourself for every single one. Good ice-breaker. They all seemed really cool and chill. Dr. Davis stopped by and talked to them for a long time too. I wish my professor had introduced himself to us like that during my freshmen orientation! Right away I could tell that this was going to be a good group.

Saturday night was Shadowlands Showdown! A huge field day where all 23 O-teams compete to become the winner of the Flying Scotsman. My team got so pumped for it! We all wore black and then got a blue handprint on our faces to make us really tough (I wasn't too excited about putting my handprint on everyone's face but oh well). I wasn't so sure about our group of philosophy majors (yes I was with philosophy majors of all things), and it especially didn't help that we lost the very first game! We just had to dribble a soccer ball from one cone to the other and, well, we just didn't do that great. Sigh. That didn't come anywhere close to ruining our night, though, as we won the next three games we had to participate in! And by won, I mean won by a lot. Everytime. Could not lose. That type of winning. Won by so much in one game that I thought maybe we had done something wrong. But none of those games really counted because then we had the Flying Scotsman relay!! We tied in the fourth heat and were freaking out!! We were jumping up and down and screaming more than anyone else that we had made it to the final round! Maybe my little group of philosophy majors had a chance! For the first few events in the relay we were behind by maybe one or two spots. Very nerve-wracking. It literally came down to the last event. The six-person pyramid with every member singing "All for Jesus" as fast as possible! We had been practicing the words all night and sang it at lightning speed and we won by approximately one second!! What?? That's right! We WON!! We were all jumping around screaming like crazy! I was so pumped! We got our picture taken while all the 22 other teams walked sadly back to campus. We won!! I told almost every single person that night. What a great O-team bonding experience ☺

Matt, Malcolm, Nathan, me, Chris, Hunter, Kevin,
Sam, James, Ben, Sydney, Lauren, Anna, Spooky. 

Sunday afternoon was when all the O-teams went to eat at a professor or alumni's house. As Dr. Davis's wife was sick, he decided to take us to Mr. T's for pizza instead. Rather than going straight there, though, he took us to Sunset Rock--one of the most beautiful places on the mountain where you can see everything for miles and miles off the mountain. It is so beautiful. We all sat and talked for about half an hour just soaking in the beautiful view--what better way to get ready for some pizza? 

Ah, here it is. So beautiful.

Hunter and Malcolm wanted to freak us out. It really worked!
I had to walk away and not watch them!

Monday was a long, exhausting day! We had the Mills Maze where we had to direct all the freshman through Mills to do all their financial aid and paperwork and stuff. I kept reminding all of them that passed me to smile. ☺ Monday night we had our Chattanooga night! After our rendezvous in Ashe gym, we loaded up on school buses and left for Coolidge Park where all the O-teams dispersed to various restaurants. Ours had the very good fortune of going to Taziki's, a Greek restaurant with delicious gyros and fresh fruit! I had never been there before and it was awesome! I think our O-team really loved it too! We showed them around Chattanooga a bit by the river and we took a group picture (maybe I'll add it later but I don't have it). Malcolm even jumped into the river and then we saw the no swimming sign! Oops. Next we loaded up the buses and drove up the mountain to Rock City! And we didn't have to pay! It was so beautiful. The view from there, being able to see seven different states, is incredible. After the busyness of it all....I slept great Monday night. 

Tuesday was the day returning students came back! Yay! The campus was finally full. As it should be. Tuesday night was the O-show which is a favorite of returning students. I was really nervous to be in a skit in front of the whole school! But I was just a mom bring my kid to college and so then I was done. Skits are hard to describe so I won't even try. But ours was awesome. Top three for sure. 

And thus concludes the O-team week.

What an experience. The week was so busy and every hour of our time was spent just in preparation for the freshmen. It's really cool doing everything just for them.  And they have no idea. Last year I had no idea how much work was put into our arrival. It's amazing. And the kids on my O-team...well...I love them!! They're all so great and I already miss hanging out with them every day! I want to reunite and hang out because they're all so great and I want to be friends with them all! What an experience to be so self-less and give up all my time helping them adjust, meeting them for lunch, competing in ridiculous field day games, reminding them of placement exams, high-fiving them just because I'm walking past them, and trying to remember where every single one of them was from. 

So thankful to God for giving me this opportunity and letting me meet these really cool people.

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All Settled In

It's so good to be back at school!! 

Here is our room...it's pretty cozy☺

And (drum roll please) here is my doily lamp all lit up and hanging above our beds! 

Well, there you have it! My room is really a cozy place 

and anyone is welcome to come hang out in it ☺

So excited to spend a lot of time in my room!

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One Year Old!

Had a great week spending time with the most beautiful girl in the world as she turned one!! ☺ 

I love you, Finley!

She poured me coffee....

We spied on each other from behind her kitchen....

We laughed. A lot....

We opened presents...

She tried on her new clothes!

I love this little baby so much! She's one of my favorite people of all time and I'll do anything just to make her laugh. And just for old time's sake, here's a picture from October when she was two months old....

Happy Birthday, Finley!!

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Last Days of Summer

What a crazy week! Good crazy. I'm leaving on Sunday and this past week has really reminded me of the awesome people I know in DeMotte. Something I think I take for granted sometimes.

Tuesday I went on a walk with my friend Emily. Four laps around Spencer Park resulting in a lot of good conversation. And we talked about food, which just might be one of my favorite things to talk about ☺

Tuesday night I had Alex, Melita, and Anna Brummel. My dad made us fruit smoothies and we watched Olympic gymnastics. I love the Olympics. Just look at our team.

Wednesday I met Alicia for a Subway picnic in the park. Had so much fun--what a fast two and a half hours! I told her about how I want to make a collection of pictures of people yawning and she told me about her adventures at Redeemer. Oh, and we walked through the DeMotte market (is DeMotte trying to be cool? Because the market kind of was!) and we got stopped for fifteen minutes talking to a man about all the kinds of soap he makes. And then, you know, the usual...

She took a picture of me eating...

I took a picture of her yawning...

but we got one good one by the fountain. ☺

Wednesday afternoon Kristen and I did our photo shoot that we have been planning all summer. We love dressing up, we love taking pictures, we love hanging out. We got ready at her house and drove on south towards Rensselaer to turn off on a random road, driving until we found a good spot for pictures. We found an empty field off of a gravel road and it was so beautiful out there! Reminded me of Iowa. Here's a sampling of some of our pictures. You look great, Kristen! Oh, and we made good use of some fun props we found at the last minute!

I love how our hair is completely opposite in texture

and I think sometimes we want to switch! ☺

Thursday was the first Thursday of the month and you know what that means....everything half off at Jasper Junction in Rensselaer! Not going wasn't an option. My mom and I were there for nearly an hour. I found a rain jacket that was new with tags from Gap...originally for $68 and i got it for $3. Boom. Bargain of the year award. 

Haha...this place is so awesome. I mean just look at it. 

Thursday afternoon I hung out with Jessica. She's been wanting a pedicure for a few weeks, so we decided to get them together. But first we went to Ross in Merrillville (so excited it finally opened!) and I got some new sunglasses (been needing some for a while) and a new blue dress! I'm excited to wear it. I spent the rest of my Old Navy gift card and got new earrings. I love hanging out with Jess and she even made me bacon, pea, pasta afterward! Then we watched Season 8, Disc 1 of Friends. 

I think these people are my best friends and they don't know me. Seriously, can I just add a picture of me walking right next to them? Or would that make me a seventh wheel? 

This morning I got a phone call from Laurissa! I was exited to go to Valpo with her, even if it was last minute and even if I wasn't shopping at all. I helped her buy shoes, a watch, and a burrito! Probably her favorite thing she bought, too!

For lunch today I met up with a good friend and my former piano teacher that I have not talked to in way too long. Only got to talk to Becky for an hour, but I felt like we could have talked for five more! 

I skyped Hannah for two and a half hours and laughed more than I have in a long time. Sometimes I wonder how we accomplish having whole conversations because I think one of us is always laughing. 

Tomorrow it's time to really wrap things up. I haven't started packing yet and that's really gotta happen! I need to write one last letter to a friend at school, I have to go to the bank, and I have to do laundry! Busy, busy, busy and packing is never fun. 

I've just really appreciated the last few days. Sometimes I forget about how many great people I know in DeMotte, and it really is awesome. I have learned this summer that I can be friends with anybody, regardless of their age.  I used to think hanging out with people younger than me or too much older than me was weird, but now I'm learning about how much of a blessing it is. It's so great being able to talk to people that are in different stages of their lives, just to see how they're doing and what it's like being them. Everyone's really interesting and has a unique story. Really fun things happened this week, all with very different people. 

I will miss them all, but I know that they will all be here when I return.

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Pinterest Doily Lamp

Pinterest. Only my new favorite thing ever. Well....at the end of the school year in April, I found a doily lamp I really wanted to try! So right away this summer I got right down to work collecting doilies from garages sales, thrift stores, or by having people buy them for me. Ha, well....it looked a lot easier than it actually was. Kristen and I had quite the frustrating day attempting it (for the second time too, I think), and we just used as much glue as we could but it still didn't work! And now, finally, on my FOURTH try (I was freaking determined, ok?) I succeeded!! It's the coolest thing ever!! Ok, I literally just finished it a few hours ago, so it's not technically a lamp yet...still gotta attach it to the light fixture. But here it is!! I'm so proud!!

So excited :) It'll hang from mine and Leila's room with a light in it and it will be beautiful. 

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ABC's of Summer 2012

Almost there!! This summer has been a totally different change from life at Covenant. I love making lists so here's an ABC list of my summer :)

• Auntie Megan :) The summer started out with me seeing Finley and I've spent the summer eagerly awaiting the birth of Jessica's baby due this December. I'm an awesome Aunt, ok??
• Baking soda. I started washing my hair with baking soda only (no shampoo. no conditioner) and it has been amazing!! My hair is like ten times nicer than it used to be and I don't have to do anything to get the curls to look good. Never realized how much shampoo dried out my hair and made it frizzy. So throwing out my shampoo was such a good decision! Yay!!! Ultimate success!
• Crafting Wars!! New show on TV I started watching on Tuesday nights.
• Dancing. Just kidding. I don't dance. Ever. However, I saw a preview for a new dancing movie and it made me wish I knew how to dance. 
• DeMotte....
• Drought. Please rain more! 
• Emily. I feel kind of bad that I'm not actually referring to my sister Emily right here. I'm referring to Emily off the Bachelorette. That's right. I was one dedicated fan this season and I really liked her and she made good decisions about all the guys!
• Ear cuff. Ordered one in the mail and it's still not here!
• Football ♥ Bought a football like my first week home because that's how important it was to me to get one.
• Free catalogs. Oh how I love signing people up for free catalogs when they least expect it.  
• Golf course. Went to dinner at someone's house last week and they drove me around Sandy Pines Golf Course and it was absolutely beautiful! I guess I never realized how beautiful golf courses are. Makes me (almost) wish I liked playing golf!
• Garage sale! We had a garage sale and I made a grand total of.....drum roll please.....twenty-five dollars!! Haha.
• Gun!! I shot a gun for the first time! It's seriously one of my new favorite things to do now!!
• Harry Potter. I had an awesome plan of reading books I'd never read before but nope. I accidently picked Harry Potter up off my shelf and haven't put them down since. I just read the last summer why on earth did I start again?!
• Hiking at Indiana Dunes! People don't think there's a beach and dunes in Indiana. But there are. And hiking up there is so much fun and I even did the 6 mile hike! I should get a medal! 
• Indiana.  
• Josh and Jess. My sister and brother-in-law and I just love going to their house and eating their food, watching weird movies about killer evil bunnies that possess people and stuff like that. Good times. 
• Kniman. A town smaller than Covenant's campus that I had the good fortune of working in a few times for a guy that had to sort magazine labels. 
• Laughing
• Letters! My favorite form of communication other than actually talking to someone!
• Monsters Inc. Bought it at a garage sale for a dollar (and it was my mom's money!)
• Nuggets. As in chicken nuggets. Twenty for $5 at McDonalds. 
• New friends! Just what I needed to survive the summer. 
• Oreos. Only my favorite ever. My parents have been kind enough to buy me some but they always forget to get double stuffed!
• Piano. Slowly...I have started playing again. It's been good.
• Pinterest. My new Facebook only it's way better.
• Quiet. I'm the only person under 50 in my house so it's pretty darn quiet.
• Ready. Getting ready to leave.
• Running like once a week. 
• Soccer alumni game. We totally won. I was totally out of shape. 
• Skype has definitely been helping me keep in touch with friends! Especially Hannah in Germany!
• Shopping. Discovered I hate it. After years of being just ok with it I decided I really do hate it. Probably because I have no money. 
• Tomatoes and other vegetables and fruits I've convinced myself to like and I really do like them now! 
• Uno is Josh's dog and we are watching her while they are in DC. She's terrified of storms and, what do you know, there's supposed to be storms all week and she's decided that I'm going to be the person she turns to since Josh isn't here to comfort her.
• Vacuum. I vacuumed today.
• Weeding...met a very cool person by getting a job weeding for her.
• Walks! I've gone on many quality walks this summer with many different people. My dad. My mom. The Brummel children. Kristen. Finley. Laurissa. Uno. 
• X This is probably my least favorite letter of the alphabet. Not only this summer, but always. 
• Yellow. That's the color of our grass and I have taken it as a personal insult to my watering grass skills so I am going crazy setting up the sprinkler all over our yard. I must admit, though it is still partially yellow, it is looking better than many of our neighbors' lawns. 
• Zoe our really annoying dog I can't stand. Wow. What a note to end on.

Summer 2012--two more weeks!

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