Danielle - 3 Things You Couldn't Live Without

"What are 3 things you have now, that you didn't have growing up, that you couldn't see yourself living without?"

It was so easy to quickly come up with two things that I didn't have growing up that I couldn't see living without now - cell phones and internet. Cell phones are the norm for everyone - kids, adults, and grandparents. When I was little, there weren't any cell phones. Around the time that I was in Middle School they started putting cell phones in cars. By the time I was 16 I had a cell phone but it wasn't small at all like the phones now and it had to stay in my car's glove compartment and was only to be used for emergencies. I got my first cell phone to use when I wanted when I went off to college. Cell phones have come a long way since I was young and I am sure they will continue to change. We now use our cell phones many many times a day. Your dad and I decided not to put in a landline, which is a telephone at the house that has to stay at the house, at our current house because we can use our cell phones for any calls we need to make. You can make calls any time, wherever you are. You can also text messages to each other instead of making calls. It is an easy way to have tell a friend something quick without having to bother them with a call. You can browse the internet on cell phones, pay bills, take pictures, and it all fits into your pocket. It is hard to think of a time when I had to wait to get home to make a call and had to make sure that person was home as well. Now I can call anyone, no matter where I am and no matter where they are. And cell phones are the new norm for you as well. You love to play with our cell phones and also talk to your favorite friends. Oh and ps - you are not going to have a cell phone when you are 5. Kids are getting cell phones younger and younger but they are a responsbility and something you will have to earn. We love you but don't think you will be a 5 year old running around with a cell phone. :) 

The second thing that it is hard to imagine life without is the internet. The internet started becoming popular in high school. I set up my own email address my senior year. Too bad I couldn't check it very often since my parents (Pappy and Grammy) didn't get the internet until my freshman year of college. Now I can't imaging living my life without it. If I need to look up a recipe, directions, or a coupon for a local store it is all within a click on my computer. Email is so often a normal way to communicate with others not only personally but in the professional world as well. Facebook has become the latest craze with everyone having a facebook account. It does help to stay in contact with people you haven't seen in forever or are so far away from. And then there are blogs (like the one that I am posting on) that help people share their lives, their ideas, and their heart. I am amazed at how much you can already do on the internet. (Camden is 3 and Jaxsen is 1) You know how to get to YouTube to watch videos from movies, your favorite singers, or even our personal videos. You can play games on the Sesame Street site and you know how to scroll through pictures on the Facebook pages. The internet has made a lot of things easier and more convenient. 

The last thing that I thought of after contemplating for a little while was digital cameras. When I grew up all the cameras used film so you had no idea what your picture would actually turn out like and you had to wait until you went through an entire roll of film before you could get your pictures printed. Even printing pictures took more time than it does now. You had to take the film to a store, drop it off, and wait until it was shipped out, processed, and returned before you could pick it up. It was such an exciting time when you got to pick up the pictures and slowly go through them one by one looking at what you captured weeks or even months ago on your camera. The sad part was that a lot of the pictures never turned out as well as you had hoped they would. Digital cameras became less expensive late in college. Digital cameras completely changed taking pictures. You could take the picture and see right away what it would look like when you printed it. If you didn't like it, no problem. Click delete and try again. There was no more wasted film on pictures that you had hoped would turn out. Digital cameras also allowed you to print your pictures whenever you wanted. If you only wanted to print 1 picture than that was fine. Along with the digital cameras came editing software for your computer. You could take your okay picture to great by clicking on a few editing options. I love our camera because it allows us to capture you in your different stages. And if I missed the moment or you closed your eyes, no problem - delete - and we try once again.