Day 28: Technology

I am a very visual person. I love looking at pictures and remembering people, experiences, and moments. I remember the first time I started scrapbooking, I was in love! I got to take those pictures I loved so much and put them on a super cute page in a super cute book that I could look at over and over again, much easier than flipping through photo albums with no journaling or extra cuteness to enhance the memory re-living experience. After a while, I got totally bored with scrapbooking! I am not, I repeat not, a crafty person. I loved the end result, but got so bored cutting out shapes, finding the right type of glue to use, and having to clean up all the mess left behind. I did what every non-crafty scrabbooker did and I quit! I stopped with a half finished scrapbook and said, maybe I'll try again someday and I shoved all the scrapbooking supplies in the corner. I was absolutely delighted when I learned they had computer programs that would take all the fuss out of scrapbooking and still leave me with a beautiful page filled with memories.

One little piece of technology out there is called the QR Code. I have to admit that I am quickly becoming more and more obsessed with these codes! If you don't know what a QR Code is I'll do my best to explain it. It is a little square that looks a bit like a barcode. You download a free app onto your phone called a QR Code Reader and then use it to scan the codes where ever you see them, when you do it will open up something on your phone leading you to whatever is programmed onto that code. I have been using them lately in my scrapbooking and love it! It is a way for me to not only scrapbook pictures, but also video. For example, I made a scrapbook page of my brothers wedding and next to the picture of the part of the ceremony where he sang to her I put in a QR code. Now, when I'm looking at that scrapbook page and I see the code I pull out my phone and scan it, immediately it brings up the video I recorded of my brother singing at the wedding! The scrapbook page of the day I took my sister to the zoo now has a video of the polar bear swimming! It brings these pages to life and I love it! I have even started using these codes as a way to help my young women do their personal progress. I give them a page with QR codes on them that pull up mormon messages videos, conference talks, and spiritual songs for them to listen to while they write in their journals. I admit it...I am addicted to these codes!

I am so grateful for the technology we have in our day. I rely so much on technology as I go about my day. I use my cell phone frequently to immediately get in touch with family and friends. I use my laptop for a million different things all day long. I use it to keep in touch with friends, spread the word about awesome programs like Ivy Girl Academy, as entertainment when I'm bored out of my mind, I use it to keep my journal, and do my scrapbooking..I could go on forever on all the ways my computer blesses my life. Yet, I use each of these devices every day without a second thought at how lucky I am to have them at my fingertips. Technology is awesome and deserves to be recognized! :0)

Books

Are you a list a person? I am kind of a list person. I like making lists to keep me organized. I honestly don't know what I'd do if I showed up to the grocery store without a list, and Christmas time would be ten times as hectic if I didn't keep track of things with some sort of list. However, I'm not a hard core lister like some others out there. I know people who can't function if they don't have a list outlining how their day is going to go, and others who have lists for literally everything! If you are one of this hard core list people more power to ya...and you'll enjoy this post! I've actually found that lists are a good way to quickly get to know someone. You can tell a lot about a person by knowing what their five favorite movies are. So, I had the thought...why not see what I can learn about myself by making some lists of my own. Now and again, I'll post lists to this blog as part of my project life goals.

List #1:  Favorite Books

1. The Hiding Place! by Corrie Ten Boom
     This is my all time favorite book! If you have not read it I beg you to go now and get it. You will not be disappointed I promise! Although this book takes place at the time of WWII it is very pertinent to our lives today. I have learned many life lesson's from this book.

2. Tuesday's with Morrie by Mitch Albom

3. The Fablehaven Series by Brandon Mull
     This is such a fun series that truly opens up the imagination. Reading these books always makes me want to write because it helps my mind see the creative possibilities that surround me. I love it!

4. Speaking of a good series...I have to add Harry Potter to the list!

5. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

6. The Walk
     This is actually another series by Richard Paul Evans.

7. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

8. Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

9. The Holy Secret by James Ferrell

10. Hourglass Door Series by Lisa Mangum

Right now I am currently reading two books: One is called A Step of Faith and is book #4 in The Walk series by Richard Paul Evans that I mentioned earlier. The second is by Elder Jeffery R. Holland called For Times Of Trouble. I am loving both of these books!

Reading just one book for me is like eating just one Oreo, it can't be done...so a lot of my favorites are book series. It's hard to explain but reading opens up a part of my soul that can only be brought out through books. Life just seems so much more comfortable and right when I'm engrossed in a good book. If I'm struggling through something the best way to get my mind off of it is to read. I let my mind escape reality and live inside my book. Books provide adventure and imagination, they take you to worlds you never could have imagined on your own. I love the quote by George R.R. Martin, "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, the man who never reads lives only one."

Everyday Blessings

This year has started out pretty bumpy for me. I have been battling some health issues and have been stuck in the house most of the time. Unless I’m headed to a doctor appointment I spend most of my days doing the exact same thing…lying on the couch either reading or watching tv. This scenario does not make it easy to find something meaningful to take a picture of every day. Many days I sit on the couch, camera in hand, looking around the room wondering why I started this goal because my life is way too boring to take a picture of every day! The longer I sit there pondering over my day and what could possibly be picture worthy I start to see things differently. Instead of seeing the same TV I look at every day I see a source of joy during an otherwise miserable time. Instead of seeing a sink full of dirty dishes I see that I didn’t go hungry like so many in this world do.

Here are a few of my pictures over the past 24 days:

I am so grateful to have a bed!! I love crawling into bed after a long day and curling up in my covers. It is a daily comfort that I know I take advantage of. One of the best feelings in the world is to be sleeping in your own bed. As I’ve been sick over the past few weeks it’s been difficult to get much sleep, however, I still love lying in bed, burying my head in the pillow and pulling the covers close to my face. It’s not only brings me a feeling of comfort, but a feeling of peace. It is a blessing to know that no matter what troubles are waiting for me once I get up I can always come back to bed at the end of it all and feel of that peace again.

The world is full of good people! I have been so blessed by the kindness of the others the past few weeks. I've had people bringing me in wonderful meals, texting me to make sure I’m doing okay, grocery shopping for me, and so on. As days go by I tend to get wrapped up in myself. I get so focused on what I am doing in my life that I forget to stop and think about those around me. I am surrounded by some amazing people! It makes such a difference in my day to get a phone call from a neighbor telling me she just bought a Subway sandwich and wants to know If I want half, or to wake up after a difficult night to see a loving text from a caring friend just checking in. We all have times in life when we get lonely, but knowing that someone out there is thinking of you and praying for you can make brighten up even the darkest of days.

No matter what we are going through in life there isn't a day that goes by without something to be thankful for. Life is full of up’s and down’s we all have days where feel like we’re on top of the world and life is blue skies and sunshine guaranteed! On the other hand we also have days where life is tough, we spend our time worrying, crying, and praying it will pass quickly so we can find the sunshine again. Even on our darkest days it is important to count our blessings. It may take a lot of thought to find something to be thankful for, but if we look hard enough we will find there’s always something. Every night before I go to bed I take a piece of paper and write at least one thing I am thankful for that day and I put it in this jar. It is a reminder to me that we are blessed with more than we realize and God is always sending us tender mercies to help us along the way.

Project Life

For some time now I have had a feeling that I needed to be more aware of my life. I have a deep desire to recognize the blessings all around me, particularly the ones we take advantage of every day. I have started two different projects that I want to continue throughout the year to help me document my life and recognize life’s daily treasures in my life.

Project 365: This project is simply me taking a photo every day for a year. I want to take pictures of everything from the mundane to the special. I’ve been working on this for 23 days now and have discovered that finding something to take a picture of every day is not very easy. However, it is helping me to really think about my life and the world around me. Hopefully it will get easier as the year goes on and I grow more accustomed to looking/thinking outside the box.

Project Life: This project goes into a little more detail of documenting life. I plan on focusing on this one on a week by week basis. As part of project life I will be writing down my thoughts on who I am, things I enjoy, what I’m grateful for, and many other topics related to documenting my life. My hope with this is that it will help me take a deeper look into myself and really get to know me better on a much deeper level.

I decided to create this blog for me to post about my experiences. This journey is mine but it can also be yours. I hope that along the way you will start to take a deeper look at your own life and recognize some of life’s daily treasures that you are passing by. I believe that in doing this we can train our minds to see the good in every situation no matter what it is. We will come to love ourselves more and appreciate all we have in life. So, come join me on this journey and let’s uncover Life’s Daily Treasures!