Favorite Things: Pandora

I have an iPhone.  I did not want an iPhone.  I had a Droid for two years, and I swear that thing was a lemon.  I won't get into the troubles I had with that phone.  When I was due for my two-year upgrade, my husband pushed hard for me to get an iPhone.  He practically made me a PowerPoint presentation with all the reasons I should get one.  We had a lot of conversations like this:
       
       Him:  Hey, if you get an iPhone, we can FaceTime!
       Me:  I don't know what that means.
      Him:  Well, we can sync our phone calendars.
      Me:  I don't really want to know all the boring meetings you have 
              scheduled all day.

When I went to Verizon to choose my new phone, I was so overwhelmed with the options that I went with his choice and got an iPhone.  I may have pouted a bit about having to learn a new phone.  But I can honestly say that now I LOVE my phone. 

One of the issues I had with my Droid was that it never let me download any apps.  So now I'm having fun with all the useful apps I have found for my iPhone.  Because I'm a tightwad frugal, I try to only get free apps.

So, my most recent favorite app is Pandora Radio.  This little gem was also brought to me by my hubby.

You start by typing in the name of one of your favorite artists, composers, or songs.  Pandora then generates a "station" that is a mix of similar artists and songs.  

When I am in my car, I only listen to the local Christian radio station.  I find the music to be very uplifting and encouraging.  I really enjoy the mix of music they play.  There have been so many times when I have felt God speaking to me through the music I hear on this station.

As much as I love, and even need, listening to Christian music, discovering Pandora has opened up a whole new world for me.  I had forgotten how much music moves me.  Now I enjoy mundane activities (cleaning, straightening my hair, making dinner) because I have music playing in the background.

The first time I used Pandora, I typed in Jason Mraz because I know I like a couple of his songs.  The Jason Mraz station played several songs that I loved even more, so I took note of the artists' names.  My current favorite station is the Colbie Caillat station (any idea how to pronounce her last name?).    


I even found several workout stations, and last night I easily put in 40 minutes on my elliptical machine (when I normally do 30 and count down every minute) because I was busy jamming to the music.


If you have a smart phone, give Pandora a try and let me know what stations you like!