Thirty Days of Gratitude - Day 14: Photographs

Photo by The Purple Lady

I was uploading photos from my husband's and my combined birthday dinner last week, and I couldn't help but laugh at some of the photos that we took. One was with little Mr. L (my 2-year-old monster-in-training) picking his nose. Haha. One with Crazy Grandpa (my dad) making funny faces at one of the kids. And then, there were the super cute ones that I got of the baby smiling - among many others that I took of family members that were there.

Looking over these photos made me realize how blessed we are to have the technology that makes capturing these precious moments possible. I can't tell you how many times I have gone back and looked at old photos from events like this one - moments I had completely forgotten about, but was instantly brought back by the magic of a photo.

Photographs allow us to see pictures of family members we may have never known who passed on from this world before we were born, or before we were "adopted" (by marriage, etc.) into their family. Then there are those photos of deceased family members that we did know and miss terribly. They allow us the precious opportunity to once again gaze upon that person's face and smile in loving memory of them. Photos also help us to rewind time and look back on our children when they were younger - to see how much they have grown.

History books show us photographs of historical figures that lived long before our time, giving us the opportunity to truly grasp that person's appearance. I mean, imagine if we didn't know what Abraham Lincoln looked like, or Elvis Presley (who died before I was born) for that matter. That'd just be weird. ;)

So, today I am grateful for photographs. They are truly amazing things. :)



Related Links:

Thirty Days of Gratitude: Family

All Things Purple: Thirty Days of Gratitude

Thirty Days of Gratitude - Day 7: Technology

Photo by The Purple Lady

Earlier today, I was sitting on my phone checking my e-mail. After a few minutes, I switched over to my Facebook app to check on some things, then finally pulled up my map app to look up the phone number to a local business - and suddenly, it got me thinking: how crazy is it that we are capable of possessing such a plethora of information in the palm of our hands! Call me spoiled, but I honestly don't think I could live without my iPhone. ;)

To think; though, that we can access the scriptures, general conference talks, track calories and exercise, watch movies, play video games, look up directions, make phone calls, check movie times, AND take pictures on one tiny, little device!

Can you imagine when your grandma was a child - If someone had told her that one day her grandchildren would be walking around with a magical, little device that could do all of these things, she'd probably think they were crazy. Yet here we are. :)

So today, I am grateful for technology. Not just the technology of the cell phones these days, but I am grateful for computers, the internet (and the ability to quickly look up new recipes. hehe), ultrasound machines (to think that you can see inside the uterus of a woman to view her unborn child - phenomenal), Netflix (and the fact that you can stream it directly to your tv - my new fave), airplanes, automobiles (and the technology there increases dramatically by the year), and so on. I could literally sit here adding to the list all night.

There are just so many incredible forms of technology that improve our quality of life on a daily basis, and I am grateful for the brilliant minds that invested the time and effort that go into bringing these creative visions to life. :)

But for the record, someone needs to get on the ball with that whole "flying cars" thing. Don't you remember? According to Back to the Future II, they are supposed to be "the norm" come 2015. We are running out of time, ya know. ;)


Related link:

All Things Purple: Thirty Days of Gratitude