Posts filed under 'Tech'
Kevin has always designed our kids’ birth announcements and our Christmas cards each year. But this year Shutterfly is running a great promotion (which ends December 10th, if you’re interested). I think Kevin gets this year off for good behavior.
We ordered a photo book from Shutterfly this summer. The quality of the book and the pictures is fantastic and I love showing it off. Ask me to look the next time you come over, but don’t you dare take it with you!
I’m having a hard time deciding which Christmas card designs I like best (and an even harder time implementing the pics here…) so I’ll give you some of my favorite links – (and notice that these are all on page 1…!)
O Mod Tannenbaum
Merry Montage Christmas
Merry Stripes
Joy Love Story
December 2nd, 2010
Last week I had something very strange happen to me… I was without Internet for two whole days. Two. Whole Days. Let me tell you how ridiculously dependent on the Internet I am:
I couldn’t:
- read, check, or send email [I had to find out from Kevin if Colby had soccer practice or not - he had access at work.]
- use the phone (we have Internet Phone)
- use wireless on my iPhone
- read blogs on Google Reader
- write on our blog
- write on any blog!
- print out coupons or store lists
- check Facebook
- watch tv (we watch all our shows on Netflix or Hulu)
So, here are the things I did instead.
- I read books! Yes, the old adage is true – when there’s nothing to do, pick up a book. I read The Road and then started Stuff Christians Like. The differences in tone have made me bipolar. Just kidding. Sort of.
- I cleaned out closets and switched the kids’ clothes from winter to summer.
- I threw away papers in drawers that had been collecting dust for awhile.
- I compiled a large amount of items to put away in our attic.
- I organized Easter decorations and wrapped presents for Kennedy’s birthday.
- I did a lot of laundry, dishes, and otherwise cleaning.
- I “went ahead” with my Bible study – I’m doing 2 studies right now and usually I’m behind in one or both of them. [In Community Bible Study, we are studying Genesis, and in a Precepts/Inductive Bible Study we are studying James.]
- I cooked. A lot. And planned meals for the next month to 6 weeks. And froze some things to eat in that time period.
- If there was nothing else to do, I slept, although the kids try to prevent me from doing this during the day.
Did I mention that Colby was sick during one of these days? I got more accomplished at home that day than I have in any given week. He stayed on the couch and watched DVDs while his sisters went outside to jump on the trampoline. Or ride bikes down the patio stairs.
I didn’t actually make lemonade those days, but I did get to do some pretty fun and not drastically different things. Now I want to take a day out of each week and purposefully not turn on the Internet or the phone. Then it really would be drastically different.
I’m intrigued to know: Have you ever taken a break from technology before? What was it like?
April 6th, 2010
Future profession? Professor of astro-physics. Or a super cool metrosexual worship leader.
January 25th, 2010
I thought I had clicked Publish on this one but here you go, almost a month later…
Kevin and I were privileged to get to go to Catalyst yet again. (We went to this same conference last year and I blogged about it. Look it up.) One thing I learned is that I don’t know what I learned… God hasn’t yet revealed to me what exactly He wants me to do with the information He has given me. I will say I’m afraid to even speak of some things He has put on mine and Kevin’s hearts, for fear that the Enemy will come to steal joy away from me.
This year’s speaker line-up was fantastic -
- Matt Chandler was there (again) and we got to hear him twice (again). Probably my favorite. God has done incredible things through Matt and his testimony shows how close his relationship with God is. If you like fire and brimstone preaching, get it.
- Rob Bell. He is very prominent in the world of Christians, but I didn’t even know his name til Catalyst. His ministry is full of impact and God’s grace.
- “Andy Frickin’ Stanley” (as some guy put it last year) – on the Exec Staff of Catalyst.. has great vision for the leaders of church ministry
- Louie Giglio was the last person we heard, and what a way to go out. I see why he is so great with college students – his examples are familiar and powerful.
Also highlighting the ministries this year:
- Kiva – a lending organization designed to help businessmen and women in third-world countries build businesses in their own country. Most loans are paid off by 6 months’ time; the average loan is $100.
- Toms – great shoes! You buy one pair, and with the same amount of money they give one pair to someone in another country who needs them. I am asking Kevin for a pair for Christmas. (hint, hint.)
- 143million.org – There are 143 million orphans in the world. Don’t just throw money at them, adopt one or all!
The day before Catalyst, we got to experience the Labs. I heard many speakers talk about the injustices of the world and how they were helping to right the wrongs with their different organizations. I bought a book called Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican… or Democrat. It’s written by a lady in New York City who is working very hard with her colleagues to ensure that citizens have just as much access to healthy food stores as the fast food we see everywhere. Can’t wait to read it.
I also heard a group of bloggers who talked about writing as a craft. I picked up a few tips, especially from one, Jon Acuff. He spoke about the need to please everyone who might read his blog. His wise wife told him, “You know, following a bad anonymous comment is like tracking down the guy who flipped you off on the freeway and asking what he meant by it. Don’t go there.” Very true. Jon writes a hilarious blog called http://stuffchristianslike.net. I like his humor and his style and I highly recommend that you subscribe to his blog feed. Plug!
November 7th, 2009
Oh, Roomba, oh, Roomba, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…
For those that have never heard of this wonderful contraption, I’ll spare you all the technical details and tell you about my love affair with the Roomba. If ever I could marry an appliance and have robot children, this would be The One.
I told Kevin a few weeks ago that I was tired of constant vacumming… between the 2 kids and 1 dog (plus 2 messy adults 
), I would vacuum one day and the next day you couldn’t tell I had even touched the vacuum. So, I asked him if I could get a Roomba for my birthday. Being the wonderful husband he is, who fully understands and loves my desire to keep a meticulously clean house most of the time, he told me to look online and order what I wanted. He knew I’d find a good deal, which I did! And, he knew he wouldn’t have to get me a birthday present on his own! (Who cares that my birthday is in late August? Not me!)
Soooo, I got the Roomba in the mail yesterday. I opened it and read the manual (very short, a plus for me) and then pushed the “Demo” button. It worked! It was so cute and so functional! Colby watched it work and then the darling little Roomba worked its way to the docking station, so it could charge the batteries. (Hey, I need a docking station every now and then so I can charge MY batteries…) When the Roomba had “landed”, Colby and I clapped and said, “Yay!!” Then Colby asked if he could do it again.
Colby and Kennedy sat next to the Roomba and ate their snack while the Roomba charged. I should have taken a picture. So that the battery could fully charge, I had to wait until today to run the Roomba’s first full cleaning cycle. (Maybe I should buy the Roomba a baby book and put all its first milestones in it…) But, the Roomba cleaned my entire wood floor and my living room rug this morning. When the kids wake up from their naps, I’ll get it to clean the rest of the house. Now if only it would fold laundry and do the dishes too…
July 10th, 2008
Anybody else like the Discovery Channel? Alicia told me about this commercial and she got a long version from her podcast subscription. However, I haven’t been able to get this song out of my head since I saw it on Kevin’s iPhone.
Everybody sing! I love the mountains…
May 2nd, 2008
I have been meaning to post this for awhile, so thanks to NaBloPoMo, I have something random to post about!
Our church’s late service is broadcast on KBTX channel 3 on tape delay. This makes for some complications in my brain, in case I have to miss a Sunday. So, I like to listen to Brother Tim’s podcasts, so I at least can hear the sermon. Go to http://podcast.fbcbryan.org and a very handsome man 
has written instructions for you to follow – you don’t have to have an iPod to listen.
November 17th, 2007
Kevin’s dad just bought a flat panel HDTV that he’s hanging on the wall. Kevin’s comment to me – “I want a tv we can hang on the wall.”
Kevin’s comment to me about the blog lately – “Stop entering us in all these contests!” To which I said, “Okay, then I guess we won’t try to win a tv you can hang on the wall? And, it’s from Best Buy.” (his favorite store)
(Long Pause)
“Okay, I guess you can stop after this one.” We’ll see.
July 27th, 2007
For those of you that believe babies should be seen and not heard, well good luck with that. But, I found a site today that sells products with a heavenly message. Check out Blessed Baby for more info. Also, enter this contest to win a onesie from Blessed Baby. These would be cute for baby shower gifts, and I plan on getting Kennedy one that says “Faith Baby”, to match her middle name. 
July 11th, 2007
Well not actually. But this is a pretty cool baby carrier. When Colby was born, I tried out the typical baby carriers you find at Target and Toys R Us and none of them fit me right. Turns out I wasn’t shopping in the right places. Now I know all kinds of friends that sew slings and wraps (which is great because I don’t sew). And, I’m finding all kinds of giveaways for slings and wraps and carriers and such.
Why, here’s one now! Go here to enter. This contest has been brought to you by, the letter G and the number 2003. whoop! No really, by All Natural Mommies.
(By the way, Kevin showed me how to link! Hooray!)
July 6th, 2007
Found this site today too. It’s a review blog about anything Mommy-like. (Mostly products for kids and Moms.) Let me know what you think!
July 6th, 2007
Google is officially a verb! The word ‘google’ with a small ‘g’ has been added to the 11th edition Merriam-Webster dictionary as a verb. The definition: “to use the Google search engine to obtain information… on the World Wide Web.” As in, “Let me google that.”
Is this good or bad for Google’s corporate presence? (think Xerox, and Band-Aid).
read more | digg story
July 7th, 2006
