a thought on simplifying. and a predicament. and other thoughts.

This is one of my blog posts that I kind of just ramble about the thoughts I've been having recently. The first paragraph wasn't like that, but everything after that is. If you don't want to read it, you don't have to. I just need to type it all up to help me make up my mind. Also, I will accept the thoughts of others on the matter.

Is it silly that I already LOVE that I am only following blogs that I really care about? I used to get like 1000 posts a day to wade through and it meant that I always missed the posts that were really important. Now I follow the blogs of my family (although none of them blog anymore), some friends, and just a few people that I haven't met in person but really feel like I know. I also follow a few book blogs because I've got to know when the next big giveaway hops are happening, I like to win free books! It literally took me 10 seconds to wade through the posts that I had and then like 5 minutes to read the new posts, and that left time for me to comment. This never would've happened before. I would've been scrolling through posts with every coupon or decent deal available to mankind, and most of those being area specific, and not to the area that I live... This whole simplifying thing is turning out to be amazing. I'm also trying to figure out how much to simplify.

I've got this one situation that I'm not sure how to deal with, although I think I know what I need to do. Every morning M-F I drive 3.5 miles to go walking with friends. It takes about 15 minutes to get there, we walk for about an hour, then I turn around and drive that 3.5 miles back home. 7 miles doesn't seem like a ton, but if I walk out my back door, hop the fence and cross the street I am right at another walking trail. I could cut out 30 minutes of driving time and reduce the frequency I need to fill my car with gas. The walking trail we go on is 2.2 miles long. The one in my backyard is .75, but I could run it a few times and it wouldn't be a big deal. I could leave to go running right after Chris leaves for work, and be back home before I normally would've even been at the other walking trail. The problem is... I absolutely LOVE the company when we go walking. I LOVE walking with Marissa, Vanessa, Michelle and their kids. We talk about food, and other good things (we all really like food). It's fun to see them. And I don't want to stop seeing them. But at the same time, I also feel like I need to start adding a little more to my workout, either go running or increase the distance. Right now what I'm contemplating is walking with them 3 days a week and running at the park in my backyard the other 2 days of the week or maybe doing it the other way around, walking with them twice a week and running the other three. Either way, it saves me either 14 or 21 miles of driving, and an hour or an hour and a half in my car each week. It also would make it so that I could go visiting teaching and go running on the same days (my visiting teaching companion can only go in the mornings, so those days I've had to skip walking).

If I don't walk each morning with them, it seems (at least on paper and in my head) that it opens up more time in the afternoon that I would be able to do things with them still (like cook, watch movies, and bake) and I wouldn't feel as guilty because I have that extra time in the mornings to get the things done that I know I need to get done each morning. Technically I should be able to get back from running and shower before they get home from walking, and then I can read my scriptures and by the time they're ready to do anything, I'm ready as well. That would make it so I only drive 7.5 miles to go do something with them rather than the 7 miles to walk in addition to the 7.5 miles to do something later that day. But then the thought is... what difference does that 7 miles really make? It does add up to 35 miles per week of driving, just to exercise, and 2.5 hours a week in my car to exercise. Would I really get as much done as I think I should be able to? Would it really increase my ability to get my laundry all done, my scripture study done, and other cleaning like I think it would? Would I really have more time to get ready so I actually look decent? Or would it flop and give me an excuse to sleep in some mornings because I don't have anywhere to be?

This is what I've been thinking about all day. And yesterday. The thought that keeps coming in my mind is something that President Uchtdorf said in his talk on Saturday which was that sometimes we have to give up something good to do something better. There are lots of good things we can do, but there isn't time to do everything that is good. We have to decide good, better and best.  Exercising with my friends is good, but exercising earlier and creating that new routine to read my scriptures might be better.

On the topic of simplifying and doing the things that are better... I have a crazy list of books that I want to read, and then a separate list of books that I feel like I should read. I need to focus on the second list, which probably means I need to go to the library less often, since the library doesn't have any of those books. There's nothing quite like having 7 books from the library that I want to read but a huge ole stack of books that should be read. Again, the whole good, better, best concept. Reading is good, great and wonderful, but there are some books that are better to read, and it is best to read the books that you feel inspired to read. I also need to find a person in my ward that has a church library that rivals my moms. I'm pretty sure she has all of the books that I should read, or at least a pretty good chunk of them, and it seems like there are always a few people in wards that have that extensive library. I've just got to figure out who that is. Wish me luck!