Apple Watch Unboxing and First Thoughts

A bit earlier this year, I started considering getting an Apple Watch and researching their benefits and drawbacks.  The tech world can be so confusing sometimes as one expert says that it’s a total miss and another says that they use it every day and love it, am I right?  In the end, I decided to go ahead with getting one in the hopes that it would make our everyday lives go a little more smoothly.  I almost always have my phone right beside me in case I need to be reached during the day. While I realize that this is overkill for some people, we have some family members who have had health issues and I like to be available in case, Heaven forbid, there are any emergencies that come up. I don’t always love toting my phone everywhere I go though. Carrying it around the house seems a bit too much for me while I’m playing with my little girl or handling chores. Having the phone out while we are at playgroup is not my preference either. I loved the idea that I could easily see text messages and even receive phone calls on my wrist with the Apple Watch and ultimately that is what sold me. 

As with all Apple products, the packaging is top notch and sets you up for a wonderful feeling watch. It feels substantial in your hands and on your wrist. I ended up purchasing the aluminum watch in part because I have been eying some pretty yellow bands and I just can’t picture them working with the beautiful rose gold watch. I have some concerns that the white watch band will get dye stains on it from clothing or other items given it’s silicone feel.  I’ll be interested to see how it holds up with use. 

The startup for the watch was a breeze and very intuitive, as most Apple products are. Right away, I loved checking out the different watch faces. My daughter will definitely love the Mickey and Minnie options! I love that I can have custom photo watch faces also. 

As I look around at the apps on my watch, I’m certain that Apple must work on the format of the apps page in the future. It’s not terrible, but it’s certainly not what I would call a “good” format. I do like the dock where you can pin frequently used apps for quick access. I’m always appreciative of any personalization options available. 

All in all, the Apple Watch feels great and is fun to play around with as I check out the features. I’m looking forward to giving it a try and seeing if it’s a good fit for my life as a stay at home mom. I’ll be checking back in with you in a couple of weeks to let you know how it goes! 

2017 Digital Seasonal Happy Planner

I love my organization apps (Google Calendar, Remember the Milk, and Evernote), but I did miss being able to decorate a planner and use it as a way to record special memories of our family. That’s something that just never seemed to translate to a regular thing on my apps.  I also couldn’t seem to make a paper planner truly work in my life either. Being a stay at home mom meant that I didn’t always have my paper planner with me and honestly I didn’t want to buy a ton of adorable planner supplies that I would need to find a place to store. 

When I got my iPad Pro, I found a great middle ground. I still use my apps for certain things, like appointments and business tasks), but now I use my digital “paper” planner (a PDF file in the GoodNotes app) to decorate, plan out my home tasks, habit track, and do memory keeping.

My digital “paper” planner this year is a 2017 Seasonal Happy Planner that I purchased before I got my iPad Pro and just couldn’t make work for me. I scanned the pages, turned them into two page spread in Keynote, and uploaded the PDF file into GoodNotes. Check out the video above for tour of my digital Happy Planner!