Post by Lauren

This Gratitude Friday, I just wanted to give a shout out to the many really cool technologies that allow us to access the comforts of home.

First, there is Skype. We can’t say enough good things about Skype. We talk to our parents once a week, and also talk to friends during their lunch breaks or on weekends. The face-to-face contact makes the distance not seem as great! The only trick with these is the time difference, so we find that it is helpful to plan it in advance. And….if we haven’t done Skype with you yet, send us an email with what time works best and we’d love to set up some time to chat soon!

Second, there are digital photos and video. A lot of our friends are having babies. And the babies they have already had are growing. It’s really hard to not be able to meet them right away and is one of the things that makes us sad to think about how big they’ll be when we get back. But, it is so nice to get to see all their precious faces via online albums, Facebook, and YouTube. We are thousands of miles away but get to watch them grow. So a big THANKS to our friends and please keep it coming!

Third, there are TV “gizmos”. I’ll put the Slingbox and the Apple TV in this bucket. Apple TV allows us to rent shows and movies realtime from the US. It is a favorite Friday evening tradition for us. Also, there is our Slingbox from which we port US TV and can DVR favorite shows. I don’t know exactly how it works, the best way to explain it is that it is like magic.

So, this Friday…….thank you, technology!!!

Bon week-end!