My Love/Hate relationship with Technology

I really have had a love/hate relationship with technology through the years. Technology is a blessing to our society and families, but it can be a curse as well. I could go on and on citing a million examples of this relationship, but I will list a few.
Cell Phones
*I had a cell phone from the time we got married until a year after moving to Corvallis, so I have been cell phone-less for more than 4 years now. Initially, I just dropped my plan to save money, but it has ended up being a very good thing overall.
Cons of not having a cell phone-It makes me a little nervous when I am driving down south to visit family with the kids by myself. There is also a very rare occasion when I feel flustered that I don't have a cell phone. When my sister was picking me up from the airport as I just flew a red-eye flight alone with the kids a few months ago, we didn't find each other at first. I was exhausted, and I remember feeling very frustrated that I didn't have a cell phone. I actually am thinking about getting a phone where you pay as you go for the minutes, so I can have it in case of an emergency, but not something that I would use on an everyday basis.
Pro of not having a cell phone-It forces me to interact with human beings more. When I am at the park, I can't ignore my kids while I text message the whole time (not saying a lot of moms do this... but I've seen some). It allows me to be present when I am with people more. I am not interrupting someone's train of thought so I can respond to a text message really fast. It is only after not having a cell phone, that I realized how rude many cell phone habits are. It is also really dangerous to talk on a cell phone while you are driving. I have already been accused by Chris of not being the best driver in the world, so I really don't think that I want to do anything to ad to that. I'm not trying to make people feel bad at all if any of these habits describe you, because like I said, I was only able to notice these things after I got rid of my cell phone. Oh and the last thing.... I don't want to be accessible to the world 24 hours a day. I love talking to famliy/friends on the phone, and I have many opportunities to do so when I am at home.

Television
As we were moving into our new house a month ago, we were looking at finding any bills that we could cut, and we decided to cut t.v., at least temporarily. Chris was a good sport about it, because it is just the beginning of basketball season.
For me, I have really enjoyed not having cable or any channels. I have really been taking advantage of the great resources of our library by checking out dvds to watch(I also like to think I am helping our city run nicely with my overdue fines :). I am currently watching Season 2 of Lost, and when I am done with that... I can get even more reading done. It's a good thing. I check out a couple of dvds from the library (like Blues Clues and Sesame Street) for the kids to watch. So obviously we are still watching shows, but no commercials, and I get to be really picky about what the kids watch. Although my kids still watch limited dvds, they definitely aren't watching as much as they were when we had channels and on demand. I am happy keeping our arrangement how it is now, but Chris and I will have to decide if he can continue to live without the Blazers. We shall see.

Facebook
Facebook has been my most recent love/hate relationship. I have a bit of an addictive personality, so I was not one of those people who could only check every few days or even once a day. I definitely was not on there doing all of the strange quizzes like "What kind of vegetable are you?", but I was feeling like I was on there way to much for my liking. I loved loved staying connected to good friends and family and socializing with people, but there is this whole other part of facebook that I hate. I hate that people who don't know you at all try friending you. What, do they just want to check out pictures to see if I got fat? I've had several incidences where I would deny a request for someone I didn't know very well, and they would try to friend me again (or 6 times in one person's case.... that's just creepy). I hate the fact that a person on facebook could get 100 happy birthday messages, but very few of those people if any would actually call the person in real life to say happy birthday. It all was starting to feel a little superficial to me. I was online chatting with people, some who I hardly know, and in real life, I had real friends and family that I sometimes feel like I neglect. Like I said, I wish I was one of those people who could just check every once in awhile, but since I wasn't able to and I was on too much, I decided to just deactive my account. It's been a few days, and I am doing good so far. I strangely feel like a recovering drug addict or something... with my drug of choice being facebook. When I told people I would be taking a break, a few said "You will be back within a few months. Everyone who I knows who tries to quit.. always comes back." Wow, thanks for the encouragement. Anywho... I will stop now before I blab on. I do not mean for this post to seem self righteous at all. I am probably still on the internet too much, but I am trying to take baby steps to try to live in the present more and enjoy my great life. What do you all think? Are you addicted? Have you tried giving up any part of technology...even for a while?

Sofia-isms

I just had to hurry and write down what Sofia has said in the last 1/2 hour.
1) Chris asked Sofia: "Sofia, what is the purpose of life?" Her response: "To love each other." This girl is so insightful.
2) As Chris got up from dinner leaving his plate on the table, she said: "Daddy, you are not being a very good example. You need to put your plate up." Amen girlfriend... you read my thoughts :).
3) On the lighter note, just a minute ago, she said: "I wish that God didn't make people fart." I can so relate Sofia.
Who knows what the next 1/2 hour will bring?

Sofia Turns 4!!

Sofia turned 4 on November 7th, and she was able to share the day before her birthday with my parents, then we took off to the coast for her actual birthday with Chris' parents. Here are some things I love about Sofia right now:
*She is such a perceptive person. She notices everything around her and listens to everything we say. She knows when people around her are sad, stressed, and she doesn't forget anything.
*She is such a good big sister. Although the kiddos are starting to fight a little more, for the most part, they get along so well. Sofia is always hugging Gabe and comforting him. She is such a little mother.
*Sofia makes our family be better. She is always reminding us to pray, have family home evening, and reminding me to "chill out."
*I'm not sure I have ever met a more curious kid. She talks and talks and talks. She asks questions upon more questions all day long. I am used to it (for the most part), but people who aren't around us very often often comment that they have never heard of a kid who talks so much. Maybe it gets old to them, but I think her curiosity is a wonderful thing. They say that we spend the first couple of years teaching our kids to talk, and then the rest of their childhood telling them to shut up. When we were at the coast with Carlos and Sharon, Sofia was laying down with us (to go to bed) while we watched "Pride and Prejudice." I told Sofia that she couldn't talk if she wanted to stay with us, to which she responded: "But mommy, if I can't talk, then I can't breathe, and if I can't breathe....I will die." FYI, she talked and asked questions the entire movie.
*I could go on and on about why I love this girl. She brings drama, exhaustion, fun, energy, and joy to our lives.

Sorry

(pics by Steve Wagner)
I just don't think I have it in me to be a hard core blogger. I may blog more now that winter is coming upon us, and I am cooped up more. These are things that have been going on in our neck of the woods lately.
*We have been in our new house for a few weeks, and we are loving it. Our neighbors have cows and alpacas. We have fruit trees, a grape arbor, garden area, huge yard... ah... we are loving life. We will at someday post pictures for everyone, but that is just honestly not a huge priority right this second, so the best way to see it is to come and visit us :).
*Sofia just turned 4. I will post more on that later.
*I am slowly getting out of shape. Help!! I need people to consistently push me out the door!
*Life is great right now. We are excited to spend our first Thanksgiving in our house!

Free Falling

Tonight when Sofia was saying family prayer, she asked to sing the prayer. It took me awhile to recognize the tune, but she was singing her prayer to Tom Petty's "Free Falling." Classic.