I don't know what I'd do without you

I don't know what I'd do without you: An ode to my iPad mini

I LOVE my iPad. This has not always been how I have felt about the iPad. I recall a time when the iPad was first announced, a time where I scorned it's very existence. See, to me, this invention seemed repetitive. You already have a laptop and a phone - why would you need something in between them? Our friends Nick and Laura bought one the same day we were playing board games with them and as I watched Nick play with his, it still confused me. 

Fast forward a year or so and I started to see that if you were doing public speaking, having an iPad would be really helpful. I started to believe the hype that maybe, just maybe, an iPad could be helpful. Paul was in Buffalo, NY for a course in spring of 2012 and found a great deal on a used iPad 1. So we decided to jump in and because iPad owners. He was preaching more, and heading into teaching and it seemed like a great tool for him to use, as well as I had been thinking how nice cooking dinner would be if I could pull the recipes up on the iPad and or watch Netflix while cooking. 

So we jumped in and never looked back. What started at Paul's iPad quickly became ours and man, did we use it a lot. Sometimes there were little squabbles over who would get to use it - one tablet between two people! Yikes. But mostly we were both so happy that we could watch shows in bed without carting a laptop in, and that it was so useful. Then tragedy struck. Summer of 2012 we took a trip across America and somewhere between Minnesota and Nashville our iPad was stolen. Stolen! I was crushed. It was so sad. So often in the days and months that followed I would go to reach for the iPad to look up a recipe or find something online and remember my great sadness. 

Insurance would cover the theft but the deductible was $500 which was more than a new iPad would cost at the time. We settled into the reality of an iPad-less world and I started saving. Saving for something is hard for me - in fact I had never successfully done it. Normally I got close (or not at all) and then said screw it and put the item onto a credit card and paid it off after the fact. Saving up is hard! but this time I saved up. 

While I was saving Paul started teachers college - he only wanted an android tablet (much much cheaper) and it was something they suggested he have. So we purchased him a tablet in September to use in classes as suggested. He loved it. It was fun to watch him use it and enjoy it so much. But oh, it made me want mine even more. Finally in the late fall I had the money put aside to purchase my iPad - I rushed out and got one! The next day I discovered a surprise tax bill in the mail for $3,500. I returned my iPad and put the money towards that bill. My first lesson in saving up for an item ended with sadness. 

But I decided to try to save again. The fates conspired against me. Every time I would save a decent chunk a surprise bill would appear, a bout of sickness would give us a couple weeks without pay and back into our general finances my savings would go. And finally, a year later for my 30th birthday my friends and family banded together to give me an iPad mini. Oh the joy. Oh! The love. 

From that day forward my iPad and I have been together. My iPad offers continual support and is always there for me. I offer it a place to be charged, and love, mostly. My iPad is great for reading, for watching Netflix while I cook (it's single most used feature) and for typing up a blog post on the road. I love my iPad! Plus when I use it I know I'm loved - it was given to me by friends and family who love me, and the cover photo is of a group of my closest friends celebrating my 30th. Joy. 

And that is one thing in my life I don't know how to live without. My iPad. You're welcome for this very deep post.