The Whole Truth About The Pictures #SocialMedia #LivingLife

Yesterday was Valentines Day and I went wild with it. Okay, maybe not wild, but I decided to have some fun. I came to the realization that my boys are getting older and things such as holidays are evolving for us. I posted a bunch of photos from our festivities and I was met with some of the usual comments. I knew they were coming so after I posted on social media I put my phone down and didn’t pick it up until this morning. While no specific comments were directed at me I knew they would be out there in full force. Here are a few, “You can’t believe everything you see in pictures. I bet those people are miserable.” “People only show you their best online. Don’t believe everything you see.” “Be kind when you are posting about your life because someone could be going through something you just don’t know about.” Sure, all of these things are/can be true.  So, here is a behind the scenes look at my photos.

My Life on Social Media:

As I mentioned before my boys are growing too quickly for me! I thought a nice dinner at home would be fun. Last year we ordered out, but I felt I needed to do something special. Sure, my table looks great in this photo, but if you looked closely you’d see that there are poinsettia on my tablecloth. While I used my good china and crystal I whipped out the Dollar Store napkins and paper straws I bought the day before on clearance. The candles are also from Christmas clearance.

Our friends gave us this piece of furniture and I had been dying to turn it into a mini-bar. We never drank the champagne and only I drank the wine. My husband was in the mood for beer that night. The sign on the wall was also purchased the day before on clearance at Michaels.

We don’t eat in the dining room that often so that just made it fancy for my family. My son was so glad to be in for the night that he put his pajamas on before we ate – real fancy right? I let them have Kool-Aid which is a miracle in my house.

I made NOTHING here. I bought spinach and ricotta ravioli from Hannaford. It took a big 4 minutes to boil and then I topped it with Hannaford fresh Alfredo sauce. I didn’t even grate the cheese myself. It tasted great. I had never bought these things before, but I was pressed for time and wanted something different.

Can you guess? No, I didn’t make the garlic bread either. Hannaford to the rescue again. I couldn’t even eat it because I saved all my macros for the main meal and this was an unplanned purchase.

Frozen green beans with salt and pepper. No effort, but the plate makes it look awesome.

Yes, this came out of a jar. Another last-minute grab to try to make dinner a bit more exciting.

Ha! These I did cook! Another no effort dish and put it in a fancy plate. The funny part is that I forgot to buy the shrimp! I had to run back to the store a second time to get them! I bought a marinade and cooked them in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. Perfect! I also cooked “fake” fish fillet for my son who is a vegetarian. I didn’t photograph them because, well they look like fake fish fillets!

Kool-aid and flat Sprite. The kids liked it even though the soda was flat. I only let them have soda on special occasions or when we eat out so they didn’t care it was flat. I also don’t think I ever bought Kool-aid before either. My oldest then complained of a sugar rush headache!

Yes, I can get even more cheesy! I put those laser lights from Christmas to work inside and hung hearts from my living room ceiling. I thought I could make it run only red lights, but that was not an option. Since I almost killed myself getting them out of storage I figured I would use them anyway! It was a hit. My husband and I got a slow dance in after dinner and then watched a movie under the lights. The kids were thrilled that we let them play video games.

Here is what I know for sure about social media:

Social media has the ability to make people see what they want to see and feel what they want to feel. When I feel down I try to stay away from it because I admit it does make me question my own life and compare. Another thing I do agree with is that yes, people do show you the best of themselves online for the most part. Personally, I had to unfriend a person or two because they just whined and whined. I want to escape and see happy smiling faces, adventures, and passion in the world. What I wanted to do here with these pictures is show people that while things might be real it might not be what it seems. I didn’t slave long hours in the kitchen, I didn’t spend big wads of cash, and yes, we did have fun.

 Does knowing the truth about the photos you see on social media change how you feel about them?