within the first 12 hours of being back on facebook i received over 100 notifications in reference to my return and my missing pictures. one comment was from a friend mentioning that facebook has nearly 3000 pictures of me. that was shortly after i posted 6 albums alone from just one week.

so with that, i'm officially back on the book. this morning is when the first challenge arised with my post-lenten goal. i woke up and first checked my e-mail. and then went to facebook. i will be honest. i spent an hour and half on facebook this morning when i first woke up. however. for the next three hours once i logged off i was able to stay off of facebook while i worked on e-mails, papers, and more. so while this addiction still exists, i can finally say no to facebook without any struggle!

these next three weeks (YES THREE WEEKS) left of school are crucial on time! i have due dates and events as well as several meetings to attain to and i will not let facebook tear me away. my strain from facebook for the last couple months has truly helped this semester in means of my procrastination. these next few weeks will NOT go well if i let facebook get in the way so i am setting a rule for myself. i will not allow more than one hour of facebook per day. while i'd prefer to stay to no more than 30 minutes a day after going for 2 months without.... i still am catching up with a lot of things on facebook and i tend to lose track of time while on it (like this morning).

there could still possibly be days where i don't go on facebook at all. it's a challenge that i will have to take on day by day. wish me luck!

thanks again for reading!!!

its 2:30 on Sunday April 12, 2009 so that means HAPPY EASTER to all you readers and your families.

 that also means i'm back on facebook. it's already been interesting just from signing on because i couldn't even remember my password! but i got it reset and i'm back on.

 i signed on to see several new requests messages notifications etc.

27 messages
34 notifications
13 friend requests
7 event invitations
33 other requests
and 1 new update

so i made it! i have successfully reached my goal of no access to facebook from february 25th to april 12th. i am very proud! however. this will be difficult to adjust to. i am not liking the new face of this addictive book. we'll see what happens.

i'll update with more details on what will happen next after i actually go through each message notification etc.....

it's weird to say that I haven't been on facebook for over a month. as stated previously, I'm the kind of facebooker that logs on every hour of every day. the first week wasn't so horrible because i've been on a no facebook streak twice in the past. once because several people doubted my ability and challenged me to not go on for a week. and the other was because no computer was available at all. this current act is purely for my own personal challenge, as is the lenton promise. and while it is weird to say it - i'm also very proud to say that i have not been on facebook. so then since i'm giving it up for Lent - what about Easter morning?

I decided to research a bit about the Lenton promise. I came across www.catholic.org and found a section about the reaon for giving up something and what happens once Lent is over. I thought I would share what I was able to take from it.

Many promises start with the youth of Lent giving up some kind of candy or junk food or even pop. I recall one of my first Lent promises. I gave up gum for lent and kept telling my parents how excited I was for Easter morning for a lot of gum to be in my Easter basket. Looking back on that occaision, as a junior in college, I am realizing how effective it is to give up something more challenging or meaningful, and what a difference it makes to do something else. by exchanging a lack of one object or addiction with a good deed or something of a more positive nature. by giving up facebook, I am able to pay more attention to my e-mail and paperwork and also spend the time doing more productive things around the college campus and in my life. a portion of the reading on www.catholic.org shared a story about a man who asked his kids how their Lenten promises were going. one of the boys spoke up and expressed his excitement about not fighting with his siblings but then became anxious for Easter morning so he would not have to give it up anymore. well what about me for facebook? i still feel to this day, since i originally challenged myself on Ash Wednesday, to see how long I can really go without facebook. While that's not exactly a part of the Lenten promise, I feel that if I continue with the challenge I will be able to show my ability in surpassing the original goal. i'll be able to prove myself that i can control my procrastination and therefore can better fight my attention deficit. yay me!

I have just over a week left of No FaCeBoOk and i'm anxious to see how I can continue with the progress even after Easter is over!

gasp! i've made it so far! its 12:52pm on march 2nd and i have yet to go on facebook. now some rules have been established since my last post on what no facebook for me means. my account will not be signed in to at all up till Easter Day if not later. I have had a few friends wanting to show me some pictures on facebook - so can i? i have decided that i can simply view the picture as long as it is the only thing visible on the page, therefore - i don't have access to any minifeed/newsfeed/comments/wall posts/etc. I'm sure more rules will come up in the next 33 days. yes, that is how much longer till Easter.

that means 31 days until i see my family again. I haven't been homesince january 12th and won't be until friday of easter weekend. within those 31 days is the Chicago South Side Irish Parade on March 15th. This is my second year in my life to not be in town for the day. If you haven't caught on from my name or any of my previous posts, I have a great pride of being Irish in Chicago. Every year, the sunday before St. Patrick's Day, the South Side of Chicago hosts a parade. Any day of the year, Irish pride is known in chicago, Well on the south side on parade day, everyone is 110% IRISH! this year, I am missing it for the second time because I will be in a car somewhere in Georgia or Alabama driving back to cincinnati from the habitat for humanity (h4h) spring break trip in miami florida. while i will miss seeing my family and friends on this day, I will still be as happy as can be because i will be on my way home from one of the greatest experiences.

I did the h4h trip last year during the spring break trip when 8 select students from the Mount drove out to charleston south carolina. it was definitely something i will never forget. that just makes me this more excited for next weeks trip to florida; a place i have never been! the drive will be long but the trip will definitely be worth while - 19 msj students plus our advisor, all dedicating our spring break to such an amazing service trip! i'm too excited!!! you can expect a LOT of pictures, unfortunately i won't be able to post them on facebook till after easter but it's worth the wait.

plus, with the lack of facebook, i have been able to focus more on paper work, including working on my resume and cover letter. i'm glad i was able to get that done, because i was able to use them for the career fair today. I attend the Kaleidoscope of Careers today in the admin lobby and it was a big success. I got information for two different companies, Cincinnati Recreation Commision and Residential Home Corporation, that both sound like great opportunities. I really am looking forward to the possibilities that are coming with it!

well expect another update soon! and thanks again for reading!

Hope you had a Happy Easter!

And with Easter comes spring break for most schools. I am actually just returning back to class from the College of Mount St. Joseph’s spring break.  A bunch of people around campus had big plans to head down to Florida on one of those little road trips I was tellin ya about earlier.  A few people went on cruises. Man, do I wish I were them!  I’ve never been on a cruise and I think it would be a blast.

So, while all these people had big plans, I was left in good ol’ Cincinnati because I was out of cash and had gotten swamped with school work. Luckily for me though, most people didn’t leave until after St. Patrick’s Day.  This allowed for at least a little chill time. 

The rest of the week, however, was spent dodging the Great Flood we had in the Cincinnati Area and tryin to get some of my work done.  The flood was pretty exciting, there’s a river (The Little Miami River) right down the hill from my house that rose 10 feet above flood stage and did a lot of damage. Thankfully, there was no damage to my family’s property because of our location on top of a big hill. 

Other than the flood, there really was no big excitement around here. This actually turned out to be for the best.  I spent some much needed time with my girlfriend, Jordan, and hung out with my family.  I also ran across some old friends from middle school, which was pretty cool.

And then of course Easter rolled around to finish off the break.  The weekend flew, as do most holiday weekends do, and was packed with family events from Jordan’s family and my own. 

Overall, I really don’t regret not having any big trips planned for spring break. It would have been cool to get away, don’t get me wrong, but the time I spent with my family and girlfriend was very relaxing and recharged me to take on the rest of the semester.

If you had your spring break already, I hope it was fun and relaxing. And if you are currently on spring break or it’s still on the horizon, make good use of your time!

>Eric M.

        In our family, we have many traditions that make us unique from other families, but we also do what most families do. First, the whole family comes into town to my parents house. The night that we all arrive, we usually cover the kitchen table with newspaper to protect the table from the egg coloring. This is a fun time to joke around and tell stories from our daily lives. It is usually just as kids that decorate the eggs and my parents just take pictures and join in the conversations. Then my mom puts the eggs in the fridge until morning when we all eat our eggs together. (They are hard-boiled, of course!) Then the next day, the day before Easter Sunday, we veg out all day probably in front of the television watching some sport. Then we take a long walk before dinner and work up an appetite for a large dinner. Then the big dinner!!! YUMMY! It always consists of my mom's fabulous casserole and other sides like mashed potatoes and corn. Then Easter morning before mass, we all hunt around the house for plastic eggs which are filled with goodies that my mom aka Easter bunny hides. We all also have baskets with goodies in them that she also hides throughout the house. Then we go to mass. Then my mom and dad make the best Sunday brunch ever. This consists of brunch casserole which is bread on the bottom, ham, cheese, eggs, and corn flakes on top with bacon and toast on the side. Then after that, it is usually time to say goodbyes to mom and dad and be on our way our separate ways.

Many families have their own traditions that they follow for every holiday, but I feel that my family and I celebrate holidays in a fun and unique way. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!