Snow Day = YouTube Day!!

 

 

Our crazy Texas Panhandle weather has struck again!  When I left church yesterday at about 12:05, I had to carry my coat out to my car because it was so pretty outside!  Then overnight...BLIZZARD!  The schools all closed, and we even got the day off from work!  Basically because it looked like this outside for the first part of the day:

 

 

Lots of snow blowing around and very low visibility (whiteouts). 

 

Did I use this free day off to clean my house or organize something or even do the big pile of laundry in my laundry basket?  Of course not!  I spent most of the morning in my pajamas spending time on YouTube watching a bunch of the channels that I've discovered lately!  I did have to get out and shovel part of my driveway (my duplex neighbor had done the rest), because unlike Hereford ISD, our offices ARE open tomorrow.  For those of you who ARE off  tomorrow and might be looking for some good time wasting videos, here are some of my favorites!

 

Walk Off the Earth

I discovered this group last year thanks to a friend posting a video of theirs that I'm sure that you've seen (I think it was the 2nd most viewed video on YouTube for 2012...as of right now it has 146,437,825 views!):

 

 

After discovering this video, I watched a bunch of their other videos, and posted several on Facebook. They are really talented musicians and manage to put out some really cool videos both of cover songs and original songs. A couple of others that I like are:

 

 

 

 

 

Some other greats include covers of I Knew You Were Trouble, Little Boxes, and Can't Take My Eyes Off You and too many more to count!

 

 

The Fine Brothers: Kids and Teen React Videos:

I haven't watched any of their other videos, but I probably should....Their kids react videos really make me laugh!

 

 

 

Simon's Cat (Found this one with the kids' react videos):

 

 

 

Nick Pitera: (this one I found in my obsessive Les Miserables video stage)

 

 

 

And my new favorite channel....that I spent WAY too much time on today....

MysteryGuitarMan:

I HIGHLY recommend his videos....he and his team are EXTREMELY talented! And I like that he uses lots of different styles of music. And the Brazilian accent sure doesn't hurt! ;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoy!! :-)



Hands-Free Living

I admit that I was a little late to join the world of smart phone users.  I usually just had a phone that allowed me to call and text and that was enough.  And then I got my iPhone 4s.  All of the sudden, I could check my e-mail or my FB or read a book or play a game whenever I wanted.  And all of the sudden, I fell under that spell and had my phone out...all the time!  And because a lot of my family and friends seemed to all do the same, I thought nothing of it. Even worse, I started answering calls in my car and even texting.  I also thought nothing of answering my phone while I was out with friends or family.  About the only places I would keep my phone off were in the church service and during a movie in the theaters.  

Awhile back, our youth minister Matthew challenged the youth put down their phones and keep them down whenever they were sharing a meal with someone.  I started to think about this and decided to try it, too.  I wasn't always consistent, but I made a conscious effort to keep my phone in my purse and on silent.

Then Amarillo passed an ordinance prohibiting the use of cell phones while driving.  Hands-free devices can be used, but drivers can no longer have their phone in their hand.  Although I was guilty of doing this even though my car has bluetooth and my phone is paired with it, I recognized the wisdom in this ordinance.  I was shocked at the number of people I saw on Facebook who were talking about how their "rights" were being violated.    

Then a couple of weeks ago an etiquette blog that I read posted a link to this blog:

How to Miss a Childhood  (Go read this if you haven't already!!)

The blog asked some difficult questions and after I read this, I immediately shared it on my Facebook page.  Although I have no children of my own, I realized that even with my small changes, I was still allowing my smartphone to dominate a lot of my life.  So I decided to put it to the test....This past Saturday, I went to the YMCA to watch some of our K-2nd Graders play basketball...and I left my phone in my pocket.   

During the first game I watched, I was immediately tempted to whip out my phone!  I noticed something that my mom had commented on with her piano students.  I wanted to text her REALLY REALLY badly, but I kept my phone up, and kept watching the game!  Several times throughout the four hours I was watching, I was tempted to pull out my phone for one reason or another.  K-2nd Basketball games aren't always the most exciting things to watch, but without the distraction of my smartphone, I really enjoyed myself!  I was able find times to cheer on my kids or to encourage them when they needed it.  And I noticed something...

As soon as I saw that one of my kids would be playing in the next game, I would approach them and let them know that I was there to watch them.  As I watched the child play, I was amazed at the number of times that he or she would look around and find me in the bleachers.  Imagine if I had my phone out and was looking down at it instead of at the game...

Smartphones are great (and my directionally challenged self definitely needs mine whenever I'm traveling in an unfamiliar place), but I think that we have allowed them to become idols in our lives.  And as God has been showing me more and more of the importance of building up the relationships in my life, I'm realizing that I need to put down my phone so that I can allow Him to open doors to show love to the people He has placed in my life.  



P.S. As I was in the middle of writing this blog entry, Matthew sent me a link to a youtube video that after viewing a couple of more videos by this guy led me to the following video.  Warning:  His voice can be annoying during the video since he almost seems to be shouting, but I thought he made some really good points!  (and the Boy Meets World reference was just a bonus!)