What I’m Giving Up For Lent + Last Second Durham Trip

I tried to be creative with this morning’s title, but I got way too ahead of myself and decided to take it back to basics.  Less is sometimes more.

So, in case you were wondering, we’re going to cover what I’m giving up for Lent, and a last second Durham trip.

On Sunday afternoon, I decided to just go home for a minute to visit with my parents.  Idk, sometimes you just need to go home for a bit, you know?  This is a luxury I haven’t had for the past seven years when I was away at Marshall, so I decided to take advantage of it.  This is one of the first times that I’ve gone home “just to go”, normally it’s for a holiday or some sort of an event.  Ryan wasn’t even with me this time.  It was great to see my parents and my dog and just hang out, especially since we all got more time than we expected.

If you’ve been following the weather, we got snow all the way down here in North Cackalacky.  Due to the snow/freezing rain combo, both of my parents got to leave work early on Monday, and my dad didn’t have to go in until late on Tuesday morning!  My mom, a middle school teacher, naturally had the whole day off!  It was accidentally timed perfectly, like we had our own mini “winter break” together.  The plan was for me to stay until mid-day Tuesday, so that I could get back in time for volunteering, but we were at first concerned I wouldn’t make it back.

Let me just clarify here, this was like NC level concerned…aka everything is fine the precipitation just froze a little, but are tires even built to function on a little bit of ice?????????  I don’t think so, we should probably stay inside for the next few days.  Better go buy some milk, eggs, and bread.

That’s the inner monologue that I had prepared for you all if you’re not familiar with how snow days work down here.  We don’t do winter weather.  Winter Weather WARNING?  Two Hour Delay.  1″ of snow?  Schools out.  I’m not complaining, I’m just saying, that’s how it was growing up.  I don’t see it changing any time soon.

So, since we had some time yesterday morning, my mom and I decided to walk {more like skate, the roads were actually pretty icy} around the hood with Alba to see the beautiful winter weather.

The blue sky even came out to greet us!

And there’s that little diva now.  She had so much fun exploring.  I don’t know what it is about her, but Alba LOVES the snow.  She would probably sleep in it if we didn’t make her come inside.  I chalk it up to a “former Huntington stray” street cred mentality.

Everything felt so fresh, clean, and bright around the neighborhood.  Like it does most times right after it snows and the sky clears.  My mom is Miss. Popular, so we stopped and talked to a lot of the neighbors who were also out enjoying the same landscape.  My neighborhood has a lot of hills– perfect for sledding conditions.  As I watched the younger children in zip down the same monstrous hills I once tackled on a snow day, I smiled thinking about those times.  It was a nice feeling.

I did a little “time traveling”, as Amy Poehler would say.  {Read the friggin book.  It’s awesome}.

Now I’m back in CLT, Lent starts today and I’m ready to take over the world.

So, before we get started I want to make one blanket statement.  I’m not here to judge other people’s religious or spiritual beliefs.  I’m not here to go on a rant about why I give up something for Lent every year and why you should too.  This is my blog, I have my own personal reasons as to why I choose to make this a part of my life, and I hope that you show me the same consideration that I know I would show to you.

Ok, so now that’s out of the way {that was kind of uncomfortable, right?} let’s get on with it.  When you choose something to abstain from during Lent, it should be something that comes with a struggle.  Whether it’s a habit you’re trying to make yourself stop doing, a habit you’re trying to form, or a goal that you have by the end of the 40 days, with Lent normally comes a lot of determination and focus.

I’ve given up all types of things over the years– pushing buttons when I was in elementary school {ask my parents, this was a serious problem when I was little.  Good luck taking me down the toy aisle}, gum, sweets, meat…the list goes on.  This year I did a little recon on what I was really struggling with.  I realized that once again, I’ve been having this insatiable sweet tooth.  However, it’s not because I NEED it in my diet, it’s because it’s around my apartment and I’m bored so I eat it.  Then I get used to sweets being around and then it becomes second nature to always “have a little dessert”.  This always happens after the holidays.  So, this year I’ve decided to give up sweets {i.e. candies, cookies, chocolates, cakes, etc}.  If I REALLY have a sweet tooth, I’ll just eat a piece of fruit.  No big deal.  I’ve done it before and I can do it again. It’s going to be tough though.

I don’t know what my deal has been, but I’ve literally had zero eff’s given when it comes to eating dessert recently, and that’s so not me.  Lent couldn’t have come at a better time.

I didn’t have any type of Fat Tuesday celebration this year, but to commemorate the night before Ash Wednesday, I had a glass of merlot and some semi-sweet morsels while I unpacked.

Now it’s done.  My hands are clean and I’m saying so long to desserts and candies for the next 40 days.

Wish me luck.

Have any of you been experiencing this winter weather?  Do you practice Lent?  What have you chosen to give up this year?

Tags: Lent, Durham, giving up, Ash Wednesday, sweets, chocolates, cookies, family time, snow

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