Time Out: April 2010

I'm not a really big "gadgets" kind of a girl. I am finding it harder and harder to try and figure out the new things that hit the market. I like my normal, constant routine. I don't really like for things to change. Over the years, I've had a couple of phones. That was until this past October. Here is the story...

This was my Razor. At the time, I was excited to learn that we were scheduled to receive an upgrade after having my previous cell phone for well over 2 years. I got this phone in 2006 and it served me well until 2008. I loved having a flip phone that would fit into my back pocket. It was perfect for me chasing after our babies. I think that this was the first phone that I had ever had a camera on, and I believe that I learned how to text on this phone. Eventually my phone starting going downhill. The battery life wasn't quite the same, calls would be dropped, it often felt like it was going to break apart in my hands...

In 2008, I was scheduled to receive another upgrade on my cell phone. I had a little harder time deciding on this phone and accepting the fact that our cell phone provider was now charging a fee if you got a new phone (in addition to the cost of the phone). I felt very limited in looking for a small flip phone that could still fit in my back pocket. I settled on this phone and was back within a few hours because the back wasn't fitting properly. I should have exchanged the phone right then and there, but they gave me a new back cover and sent me on my way. I definitely did not have as much love for this phone as I had for my Razor.

In October, Jason gave me his phone. I had been having trouble with my phone, so he offered his over to me. I was not crazy about having a phone that exposed numbers. I also didn't really want to learn a new phone and all it's features. There were times when I couldn't find the right key for a prompt on a text message, and there were times when I didn't even recognize the ring on my phone because I was so used to my other one. About two months later, Jason needed his old phone back.

So, that left me with my old phone. I was amazed that I had such a hard time going back to something that I had used for 19 months. The transition was hard, but I dealt with it.

That was until my phone starting giving me trouble. There were times where it wouldn't end a call and the battery life became short lived. Eventually my phone stayed on the charger all the time. I even had to bring my charger to school and keep her plugged in all day if I expected to make a call later in the day. If I did call someone, my phone would cut me off within a minute or two and my battery would be completely dead. And remember the back of the phone? All I had to do was look at my phone and the back would pop off. It got so bad that I just started keeping the back off of it. I was a just a little fed up with my phone.

Then Jason came to my rescue in February by resurrecting this old Noika from our friend. When he turned on the phone, it prompted him to enter the date. The date the popped up: 1 / 1/ 2003! (That gives you an idea how old this phone is!) Once again, I was back to another new phone to learn. This phone didn't have a camera, and the key pad was exposed. This phone didn't have all of the short cuts that I was accustomed to with the newer phones. It made me realize just how far advanced our phones had become in the last couple of years. In order to silence my cell phone, I had to go through menu after menu option to access the page to select the silence option. Texting was just as difficult. I don't think that any text that I sent out had any type of punctuation. And to top it all off, anytime that my phone rang, Jason just sat there and laughed at me (as did my friends) because of the old school, shrill, high-pitched ringtone!

I do have to say this about it though. One afternoon I headed out to Publix and while getting out of the van, I dropped the phone. I was pretty sure that I had killed my phone when I realized that it had bounced off the pavement twice and landed all the way under the middle of the car beside me. I was definitely out of arms reach from the phone and began debating whether or not to wait on the person to come out and move their car, or if I should just get down on the ground and start trying to reach it. I decided to get on the ground and reach, but to no avail. I eventually had to get a book from the van and somehow managed to work my phone back over to me. I will say this, that phone survived the drop and the several bounces. I was super impressed by it.

And then came March! Our contract was up with our cell phone carrier that we had been with for 8 years. It was time for a change, and we both had our eyes on an iPhone. AT&T was great! They were able to give us some great discounts because we were already AT&T customers (with our internet and home phone) and they even gave me a discount for being a teacher.

Now, like I've said, I'm not a big fan of learning new things, but I have truly enjoyed my new phone. I absolutely love it! After spending the last 6 months bouncing around from phone to phone, I am glad to have settled down. Here's hoping that this phone will be good to me!

For Easter this year, we were able to go home and spend Easter Sunday with our family! It was such a blessing to worship together this morning with our family. We were able to share in a delicious lunch and then the kids had their very own special Easter egg hunt! It was such a great day to spend together with our family!