Facebook Deactivation

***Disclaimer: If you like and/or enjoy Facebook, that is fine. I am not bashing you. I am just sharing my personal thoughts and opinions and I respect yours as well.***

So yesterday I did something that, for some odd reason, is a bigger deal than it should be: I deactivated my Facebook profile. This is something that should be a minuscule event in my life, almost unnoteworthy. However, with how much social media has become a "seemingly integral" (and I use that phrase loosely) part of our everyday lives, it has had an immediate effect on my life and how I spend my time.

Honestly, I don't really understand why Facebook is such a phenomenon anyway. Most of the people on my friends list were people that I hadn't spoken 2 words to in the last 5 years and most of what those people had to say was nothing but complaints about their lives, which were full of horrendous grammatical errors. (That is one of my biggest pet peeves.)

Plus, Facebook has that "addictive yet boring" quality. People are on it all the time, for hours a day and yet, they are doing nothing and most of the time, they aren't enjoying their time. But there's this incessant need to check on what your sister's best friend's cousin is doing on his Saturday night. And why is that? Is it our intense curiosity? Is it our love to lurk/stalk other people? Do we have nothing better to do with our time than look at other peoples' lives through a computer/phone screen? Call me crazy but I'd rather be making memories than posting selfies of myself doing "the duck face."  I only wish that I had done this sooner.

So even though it's been less than 24 hours since I deactivated my account, I have significantly decreased the amount of time that I spent on the computer today. The most time that I spent on it today was to write this blog, in fact. I actually ended up using the extra time that I had today to work on a novel that I started outlining a few days ago. See already, in less than a day, I have already used the time that I would have normally spent playing Candy Crush on Facebook and lurking my high school friends, to do something productive and I already feel so much better.

As an introvert, I am drained easily by other people and their drama. So not looking at other peoples' useless drama or big family problems (that people really shouldn't post about on the internet) has helped keep me extremely energized today. I am so happy because all of the productive things that I've done today and I did not miss looking at Facebook at all today. I'm not sure if I'll stay away forever. Who knows, one day I might end up missing it. But with school, work, writing a novel and trying to take care of things for my husband while he's away, I don't have time for anyone else's drama and if my attitude stays this way, then that's okay. However, until then, I hope that my productivity, happiness and energy levels stay up as I live my life away from a computer screen.

Mathews Family Name

When I was growing up, I remember constantly asking my grandmother to tell me stories about who my ancestors were and where I came from. For some reason, I was fascinated by it and to this day, I still am. It saddens me that I don't have tons of information about my family tree but it doesn't stop me from trying. However, it has to be done one step at a time and there is no guarantee that any of the information that I find actually pertains to me; my name is far too common but that doesn't make me any less proud to have it.



Now if you are one of my relatives that is reading this blog, hold your horses: I know that this crest does not spell our name the way that we do. But, in all actuality, it kind of does. See, when I asked my grandmother about our name, she said that we used to spell our last name Matthews but that it was changed less than 100 years ago, which in the grand scheme of time, isn't very long. Apparently, one day my great-grandfather got into a massive fight or some type of feud with his brother and wanted to be "separated" from him permanently. Hence, the slight name change: from Matthews to Mathews. Simple, yet effective.

Matthews seems to be the more common spelling of it, as I had to constantly correct people because they spelled my name wrong my whole life. It used to really bother me but now that I'm older, I realize that it isn't such a big deal. However, to me, the idea that I might never truly know where I came from is a big deal.

I can infer that Mathews is a British name, however, back in the early 1600s, they didn't have things like dictionaries or methods to record the spellings of names. Spelling just wasn't of importance. They basically wrote things however the words sounded to them, so your family members could potentially spell the last name that you share together, differently. Sometimes the name Matthews, could be spelled like Mathews, Matthewes and in some cases, Matthewson. So even though I would like to believe that my family sailed from England to the New World to escape religious persecution, the name can also be traced back to Scotland, which makes the journey a bit more complicated.

So it looks like if I'm going to continue to try to research my family tree, that it is going to require a lot more research and patience. However, until this morning, I didn't know half of what I posted in this blog. I relied on family stories and word of mouth. So it is refreshing to feel as through I have made some progress in finding out who I am and where my family came from. I just hope that once I learn everything that I can, that I can live up to my name. :)

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"That Friend"

Did you ever have "that friend"? The one who, when you were growing up, you thought was so cool and so loyal to you? And did you think that you were so lucky to be a part of their life because they were such a great friend? And did you ever look back at that time in your life and realize how blind you were and that they weren't as great as you originally thought that they were? Well, that happened to me.

I had a friend, who shall remain nameless, that I thought the world of. I would have done anything for her, even died for her if it came to that. (I'm a very loyal friend.) For years I worshiped this girl and I was so jealous of her because I thought that she had everything that I wanted.

But strangely enough, that wasn't the case. In fact, it was just the opposite. She was jealous of everything that I had. But instead of talking this through with me, she would tear me down and sometimes it was in such small ways that I didn't realize how badly it hurt me until years later. She tried to make herself feel better by attacking my insecurities subtly but also by making herself available to me as a friend when it was convenient for her, preying on the fact that I didn't have the ability to make friends easily.

Although I could go on about the feelings of manipulation that I felt for so long. I take responsibility for not speaking up and telling her how I felt and how badly she hurt me. I just wish that my self-esteem had been better at the time and I wouldn't have put up with it for so long. But you live and learn and now I know better than to ever let that happen to me again.

Sometimes people come into your life as lessons and when you're done learning from them, they leave. This person taught me what toxicity and negativity can do to a person and that I don't want them in my life. She is no longer in my life and sometimes I miss what I thought that we had. But people don't always live up to our expectations but don't forget that there are still amazing people out in the world that will bring you up instead of tear you down. However, I'm actually glad that this person came into my life because I value the lesson that she taught me.

Since she has left my life, I have surrounded myself only with people that care about me and want to see me thrive as a successful woman and I've never been happier. I can only hope that if you have experienced the same things that I have, that it has gotten better; I truly hope that it has. <3

How I Met My Husband

Early dating days, at Disney World of course! 

The story of how my husband and I met is not very original; in fact, it's quite common. We met at work but no matter how common the beginning of our story together is, it still led us to our very own personal happily ever after.

I was in high school and had just started working at my first job at the local grocery store and so was Kris. However, he had started working there when he was 14 years old, so he had been there years before I was. We were scheduled to have break at the same time and we had never spoken before. When I walked into the break room, I saw him and immediately got nervous. I hated meeting new people. So I hoped that he would act like everyone else did when they saw me (the new girl) enter the room and pretend that I wasn't there.

He didn't. I felt like my worst fears had been realized because of my huge list of insecurities and social awkwardness but I was oh so wrong. It turned out to be one of the best things that had ever happened to be. He had been listening to his iPod and eating his dinner but then he saw me, pushed away his food and said, "So how do you like working here?" and the rest is basically history. We discovered that we had mutual friends and the chemistry was unavoidable. Obviously we are still going strong and I can't wait to share more cute memories like this in the near future. :)

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First Love

Ah, isn't this a bittersweet topic? I remember it like it was yesterday. Wait, I'm only 20 years old, it feels like it was yesterday. Actually, it was more like a few years ago if I'm going to be more accurate.

I remember the first time that I laid eyes on him, my first real crush. (I say "real crush" because it was the first time that a crush lasted more than a day. When you're a kid, you get over things really quickly.) I used to get picked on by the other girls in my class because they found out about this crush but I didn't care. He was the cutest and most adorable boy that I had ever seen. I crushed on him for months before we finally spoke; and it was only after a girl in my class told him about my crush that we did speak to each other.

The next thing that I knew, we were best friends and we were inseparable. One of the best childhood memories that I have is when he told me that he had a crush on me too. I still remember that moment quite vividly as well but that's for another blog post. So, doing what best friends do, we got really close and eventually we fell pretty hard for each other. Like every other love-struck teenage couple, at one point, we thought that we were soul mates that would last forever.

Unfortunately, we grew up and grew apart, as people do. So we broke up and went our separate ways. Since the breakup, we've had limited communication and I wish that it never came to that because we used to be so close; but alas, I cannot change the past and now that I'm married and we're both in college, I don't see that friendship rekindling. Nonetheless, I appreciate every wonderful experience, memory and self-esteem boost that he has given me and I'm truly grateful that I've had the honor and privilege of knowing him and his family. So here's to him getting his own happily ever after.

I wish you every happiness,

Chelsea

P.S. I'll never forget you.

I Love My Name

I don't know about you guys but I love my name. With the large array of names that are available and used nowadays, I am extremely lucky to have a name as simple and beautiful as Chelsea. The only thing that can get annoying is when I meet someone for the first time and I say, "Hi, my name is Chelsea," and they reply, "Like Bill Clinton's daughter?" So it's not that big of a deal but so many other people are not that lucky.

Take something that has been deemed "relevant" (and I use that term loosely) in pop culture, like the baby name North West. While some people may thin that's cute or clever, most people don't care for it and kids can be cruel, especially when making fun of other kids' names. So I fear for the bullying that this child may receive because of the name that her parents chose for her. I am obviously not going to make fun of an innocent newborn baby. I'm just referring to the negative publicity that Kim and Kanye have received since the name was announced.

As a more local example, one day my dad told me that he met a kid named Austin Powers that absolutely hated his name because of the constant jokes and ridicule that he received on a daily basis. In my opinion, there's no way for a person to go through his life, hating their own name. Don't get me wrong, name your child whatever you choose, this is all just my opinions and views.

So I've been very fortunate that my name is simple and doesn't rhyme with anything negative and whose nickname is "Chels," which is also short and sweet. So while all of this Kim and Kanye baby news has been floating around the TV and internet, I thought I'd take a minute to appreciate the respect that my parents enabled me by giving me a normal name; so thanks Mom and Dad, I love ya. :)

Get to Know Me!

Since this is my second blog, I never really thought about introducing myself again but I recently realized that if you didn't read my first blog, you would have no idea who I am. I want to be more than the person on the other end of your computer. I want a real connection with my readers, especially the ones that don't know me personally. So, if you care to learn more about the voice behind these blogs, read on!



                                                                                     This picture sums me up pretty well. :)

My name is Chelsea and I am an army wife, which is a very important fact to know about me. I have dreamed of being a writer since I discovered the written word and I love living life with a young and positive attitude.

15 Random Facts:

1. I am a "Disnerd" and I'm proud!

2. I work as a secretary in a flower shop.

3. I am a hopeless romantic and I love cheesy romance movies/novels.

4. I am extremely athletic and have played recreational sports for as long as I can remember.

5. I love to bake.

6. I hardly ever wear makeup because I believe in natural beauty.

7. I used to have a really low self-esteem and I have been working really hard to overcome that.

8. I love corny, stupid jokes.

9. I am an extremely loyal friend.

10. I am still obsessed with Harry Potter books and movies.

11. I love the Spanish language and I love that I get to speak it every day at work.

12. I want to be a mom so badly one day but know that I have to wait a few years before that's a possibility.

13. I am a Multimedia Studies student.

14. I love to have Full House and Grey's Anatomy marathons.

15. I am an introvert and I'm proud of that as well.

To get to know me more, continue to read my blogs or follow me on other social media sites if you want!

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