Post 1/30: R.I.P. Dear Camera :-(

I have a group of friends who are all participating in writing 30 posts in 30 days, or 7 in 7 days,... or just trying their best to produce something on a semi-regular basis. So, I will do my best to submit to their peer pressure. My first post is dedicated to my camera that I loved. Rest in Peace, Dear Camera...

My sweet husband bought me my digital camera for our first Christmas as a married couple. This is the first picture I had taken with it.

I have loved my camera for the past 2 and 1/2 years. 

And then it bit the dust, or sand, more precisely. My cousins were spending the weekend at the coast, so after church on Sunday, Jesse and I loaded up with our baby boy and traveled the hour and half to Florence, Oregon. It was supposed to be a perfectly beautiful day at about 70 degrees and sunny. I was very excited for Josiah's first trip to the beach!!!

Things didn't go according to plan, though...

Long story short, the clouds rolled in and it was MUCH windier and colder than it was supposed to be. It was SO WINDY, in fact, that Josiah hated it. I put him down once to take a picture of him in the sand and he ate it, of course. He began crying because the wind was blowing so hard. I was determined to get a few pictures of him, so i did, and then I went back to the condo. Even after I got back, my camera was fine. I browsed through the pictures and videos several times, showing them to my family members, and set it back down on the table. A few hours later I went to pick it up and there was sand all over the table (including on top of my camera and my cousin's computer) because of Zoe's seashell collection. I dusted it off, but it was too late. My camera was done for. I even drove down to Fred Meyer to see if I could get a can of compressed air, but after talking to the sales rep there (who had seen this problem before), I found that air wouldn't fix it and that my only choice was to mail it in to the manufacturers. I was really disappointed, to say the least. My camera and my laptop probably rank highest on my list of prized possessions. 

When I got home, I chatted online with customer service rep from Kodak who said that I could either receive 15% off towards a new purchase or mail in my camera for repair for $90+. I could get a new camera (a cheap one, albeit) at that price. Plus my camera is dated at 2 1/2 years old. So, I decided on the 15% off, and my mom graciously offered to foot the bill. 

I chose a Kodak EasyShare (same brand as before) Z915. 

It was already $70 off its original price, which meant I didn't get my 15% discount, but still got an amazing deal. I put a rush order on it so I should receive it tomorrow afternoon, just in time for our trip to Portland for our anniversary! I'm really excited that I am getting a brand new camera out of all of this! God does provide!!!

In the meanwhile, my old camera doesn't work at all, so I decided to take it apart and see if I could fix it myself (since it wouldn't matter if I broke it or not). I was even more encouraged when my friend Katelyn said that her camera did the same thing and that her husband was able to fix it himself. I got out the tiniest screwdriver and took apart the teeny, tiny pieces. I thought it'd be easy to just pop it open, blow it out, and put it back together. But, quickly found it much more difficult than that! I never even made it to the lens part before it electrocuted me twice!!! This wasn't a tiny shock... it ran from my thumb, up both arms. I screamed and threw my camera on the floor both times. After the 2nd time, I decided I was done playing with it. Here's the damage I did:

Maybe Liam, Katelyn's husband, is smarter or handier than I am and can still fix it without dying. It doesn't matter too much to me, though, because my new one should arrive tomorrow! Woo hoo!!!!

To end, here are the last pictures and videos I took with my dear sweet camera:

 

It looks beautiful, but was crazy windy!

(Zoe and I)

(Not all that happy)

(Josiah and I on July 11, 2010)

... and for nostalgia's sake, here is from the same time last year:

(Josiah and I in July last year)