Why web based apps? Well, I use multiple computers (Mac and PC) on a regular basic (and paper products are lame). I want to be able to access my data from anywhere anytime I want to. Web based apps has made my life so much easier. Check out what I’m using to stay organized and productive:
-Evernote
Evernote is good for more than just business cards. I’ve been treating Evernote like I would a physical notebook. I’ve recently started using it for school. One notebook where I am. I’ve been uploading all of my class notes to Evernote. I know I can have access to my class notes anytime from anywhere. This means I can cram study in traffic from my phone
Sidekicks: Skitch, Awesome Highlighter
I talked to my friend Kitty today (for the record Kitty’s a dude — make fun of him when you leave a comment). Kitty told me he found my blog through another random friend… I had no idea these people knew I had a blog.
I know this never works but PLEASE humor me…. Leave me a comment. Who’s out there reading this?!?! Remember, you are more than a number on my stat counter….
Chris Tomlin sang this song at Passion less than a week after writing it. I remember how awesome it was hearing it live at Passion. Can’t wait for the album to come out in August.
Rock Band was just released for the Wii. Pretty cool huh? Well I thought so too until I saw this video. I’m so waiting for the new Guitar Hero to come out. I think it’s going to be so much cooler than Rock Band.
I’ve been asked the same question over and over today. People want to know how my “tech fast” went. Honestly, I didn’t want to blog about it. I learned some pretty ugly things about myself that I wasn’t too wild about sharing… But I believe in authenticity in Blogville. If I run my mouth about being real and honest on blogs and Twitter then I need to live that out myself.
My time disconnected from my iPhone and my computer was amazing. I’m not going to lie… It wasn’t easy. I was tempted endlessly. My phone had reception at sea and we won 50 free hours of Internet access. I’m so glad I didn’t cave in. I would have totally missed out on what God wanted to reveal to me.
What did I learn? Well, I learned that I depend waaaay too much on technology as the “easy way out”. Let me explain. Whenever I had a craving or desire to go online or use my phone I would ask myself why. Why did I want to check my email or Google Reader? I was shocked at what I discovered. Many times I was avoiding conflict. I didn’t want to deal with the challenges I was facing. I turned to technology as an escape when I was angry, annoyed, antisocial, embarrassed, or lonely. I was trying to avoid the challenge at hand and wanted to distract myself until the problem temporarily went away. It was an eye-opener. I didn’t like the person I was becoming.
Once I figured out the why it was a bit easier to figure out what to do next. If I was angry or annoyed I would take a walk or listen to music. When I was feeling antisocial or lonely I named all the people I know that love and care for me. When I felt embarrassed I just laughed it off and moved on. It was a pretty cool experience.
Today I was able to leave my phone unattended for most of the day. It was a good feeling. As my friend Miguel likes to say “a computer is just a tool”.
Well, I’m home. I know there’s no place like home but I wouldn’t complain if I had to stay on the ship another week. It was an awesome vacation. I won’t bore you with vacation details but I will bore you with vacation highlights.
Highlights:
-Surfing on the FlowRider. This junk was my favorite part of the entire trip!!! The longest I was able to stay on the board? Between 15 – 20 seconds.
-Tour of the Bridge. The Bridge is where the Captain and his officers sail the ship. It’s the command center. This was AMAZING!!! It was a once in a lifetime opportunity we were fortunate enough to experience. It was a geek’s nautical fantasy. The engineering behind that monster is mind-boggling. I was drooling…
-Trying and liking escargot. I ate about 4 or 5 of them. Yum! I have a video of myself trying it. I may post it later on…
-Eating dinner with the Captain. This had to be the most stressful 90 mins of the entire trip. I felt so out of place! LOL. Keep me at the peasant’s table please. However, I was treated like royalty and ate a delicious meal. I had minestrone, lamb shank, and an almond tulip. What’s an almond tulip? It’s a little bowl made entirely of almonds dipped lightly in chocolate. Inside, it has fresh berries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
-Going out of my comfort zone and getting jiggy wit it. Yea, I don’t like to brag but I can YMCA like nobody’s business.
-Eating 3 lobsters. Yes, I will be at the gym Monday.
-Learning a few things about myself I never knew.
-Learning a life lesson while rock climbing. That’s another post altogether…
-Karaoke. I was going to post the video but I don’t want to be liable for any injury to my readers’ ears.
That is the understatement of the year! I can’t wait to get away and unplug with my family for 7 days on a floating city. On Father’s Day the Gonzalez family will be boarding the Freedom of the Seas for some much needed down time.
Here’s what I’m most looking forward to:
-S.S.S (Sunrise Stacie Sessions). Like that? This is probably what I’m looking forward to the most. I plan on waking my lazy self up early to catch the sunrise every morning. It’s going to be a special time with God, my Bible, and my journal. I think it’s going to be an awesome time of prayer and worship as I watch the sun rise from beyond the horizon. I plan on evaluating where I’m at and be honest with myself and God. My journal sits on my nightstand and silently screams at me every day… but I ignore it. I am going to force myself to face things I try to hide and journal on this trip!
-Sun. I need a tan. I’m a really white Floridian.
-A massage. I don’t care, I’m splurging on spa treatment. Try to stop me and see what happens… suckaz.
-Snorkeling.
-Riding the FlowRider. My balancing skills are equivalent to that of a 2 year old. I promise to find someone to video tape me wiping out.
-Starting a new book. UnChristian by David Kinnaman.
-The food! ‘Nuff said.
-No cellphone reception, no WiFi (I’m not selling a kidney for Internet access folks), no Twitter, no blogging, no email, no FellowshipOne, no Google, no text messages. iPod yes. Podcasts yes. It’s going to be awesome! This may come as a shock to most of you but I’m actually excited about being cut off from modern forms of communication.
Those of you that have seen the movie Office Space know what Flair is. Facebook has an application that allows you to collect Flair and send Flair to your friends. I’m so hooked on this little app.
You can tell a lot about a person based on their Flair. Check out mine:
