I’m not a huge techie person. When everyone became obsessed with their Nests and Rings I didn’t get the hype. Sure, it’s cool, but I thought of it more as a fad and not something I really needed to function. So, imagine my surprise to be sharing that I’m in love with Alexa and my Echo Show 5. Technically it’s my dad’s! It was a birthday gift I got him and set up for him. We have been living with my parents during our whole house hunting and now house renovating process so, I use it on a daily basis. I’m truly in love and told Jon that I totally understand how Joaquin Phoneix falls in love with his AI in HER. Alexa has become a sister wife to me and I’m certain that everyone needs one!!!!

So, why am I obsessed with the Amazon Echo Show 5? Let me count the ways!

Timer! At first, I just liked that it was easy to tell Alexa to set a timer for me when I was baking or having the boys do their reading time. Then I realized I could set a weekday daily timer to remind me to take the boys temperature. We have to take their temp every day and upload the results to the school’s app for Covid reasons. I was always forgetting and having to grab them before they walked out the door.

Shopping List! After dipping my toes with the timer I realized that I could make a shopping list! The shopping list function has been a game-changer. I’m constantly going to Target and forgetting what I need to get. I try and make a list in my notes section of my phone but I always forget things when my phone isn’t nearby. With the shopping list feature, I can finish a jam of jar, and as I’m tossing it in the recycling bin, I can ask Alexa to add it to my list. She could even automatically order it for me via Amazon, but I haven’t gone that far! I don’t want the boys ordering things! I have gotten, ” A new boat” on my shopping many times! When I’m out shopping I simply open up the Alexa app on my phone and I can see the shopping list and check everything off as I go.

Video Calls! It also makes video calls and audio calls! It only calls Alexa devices so if you have a friend with an Alexa you don’t need to do anything additional. If you want to call someone’s cell phone then you need them to download the Alexa app and make an account. Once they have the account set up you can easily call their phone. Now, I know everyone’s phone has the ability to do video calling, but I liked this feature because my parents have a hard time putting their phone so that you see them! We always end up seeing a ceiling or a corner of the room and not them. With the Alexa, they just need to stand in front of it. They don’t need to hold it and make sure the camera is on them.

Music! Ok, so I’m super old-fashioned when it comes to music. I don’t have a Spotify account. If I want to listen to a specific song I just find the video on YouTube and listen to it that way. If I want to listen to some sort of playlist I just use Pandora. With Alexa, if you have a Spotify account you can connect through Alexa. If you don’t have an Alexa account you can use Amazon Music. Now you can pay for an Amazon Music account at $3.99 a month or you can just say, Alexa, play 80’s music and they start playing songs for FREE. I do this all the time and haven’t had the need to pay for Amazon Music to get a specific song played.

Movies! I do a lot of baking and at times that means a lot of time in the kitchen alone. The other day I was baking cookies and Alexa told me that You’ve Got Mail was on IMDB TV and it wasn’t to know if I wanted to watch it. Umm! Yes, Alexa. How did you know I loved that movie. So, while I prepped, baked, and cleaned all of the dirty dishes I got to have You’ve Got Mail on in the background. Truly heaven. That’s when I knew we were in love and it was something serious.

Recipes! So every day there are scrolling notices on your Amazon Echo Show. It will tell you about a popular recipe on Tasty, a current event news story or a new podcast it thinks you would like. With the recipes it’s really cool because it lets you watch the video of the item getting made and then you can save it if you want to try it later. You can also immediately add the ingredients to your shopping list!!! Plus the current promo is a free year of Food Network which is full of amazing videos and recipes! There are over 80,000 recipes!

Photos! You can set up Amazon Photos and then use it as a digital photo frame that scrolls through your favorite photos!

ETC! What else can it do? You can listen to Podcasts, Stay up today on the news, Make To-do lists, Check the weather and connect your Ring and Nest to it if you like!

I don’t know what I would do without it. I’m going to have to pick up a new one to come with us to our new house! I think I might even upgrade to the Amazon Echo 8 or go crazy and spring for the Amazon Echo 10!!!!

***This is not a sponsored post. I purchased this is a gift for my dad and totally fell in love with it! ***