the perfect thanksgiving plate.

Going clockwise you'll find creamed corn, my-favorite-ever-sweet-potatoes-and-marshmellow-lisa-I-love-you-fluff, my mom's amazing cranberry and apple jello, stuffing with gravy and my personal ham. I don't really care for turkey, and Kyle and Lisa are SO GOOD to always make me some special ham.

Actually, great story: one of my first Easter's in the family, Kyle pulled me aside and said, "Hey, we know you don't like ham, so we made a turkey just for you." It honestly was the most thoughtful, welcoming, we-love-you gesture. And then I had to kindly say, "Oh, shoot, I actually like ham. It's the other way around...it's the turkey I'm not so crazy about" The polite side of me thought I should just go with it, but the thinking side of me realized that if I didn't speak up in that moment I would be eating Easter turkey forever. Regardless, the lengths of making an entire extra meat for me on the holidays speaks VOLUMES of how well cared for I am in my married-into family.

black friday

It's true, that last post about cell phones was written on Monday and set to post on Friday, because I knew I wouldn't be posting that day. I knew this, because my mom and grandma and I had big plans of sewing.

Unfortunately, in order to sew, we needed to go to JoAnn Fabrics. On Black Friday. In the morning. Yikes. So mom and I set went together and it was an experience to remember. And mostly, just to remember never to go again. On Black Friday. In the morning.

We got there and found our fabric and then found the line to get our fabric cut. There were 25 carts in front of us, most of which looked like this:

...take a moment to notice how small that cart is compared to this woman's fabric! Before I took this picture I asked the driver of the cart for permission to photograph her loot. She looked at me sort of funny and I said, "I just don't know how I can explain this experience to my husband without pictures!" She and her line-waiting buddies all laughed and we bonded in our JoAnn-Togetherness.

It was an adventure, and in a cool we're-all-in-this-together sort of way, it was fun. We made friends with the people in our lines, asking everyone around us what projects they were going to make with all of their fabric. And after an hour-and-a-half of standing in lines, we were able to come home and start sewing. Yes! Did you know?!! Over the last two weeks I have learned how to sew!!! More on that later...

the bummer about cell phones...

Remember when the phone would ring at your house growing up and someone would yell, "I'll get it!" or someone would yell, "somebody needs to get that!" or someone would yell, "I'm going to the bathroom! GET THE PHONE!"

And then remember how when you answered you had no idea who was on the other end? And how no matter who was on the phone you were socially obligated to have some sort of conversation? When I would pick up at our house growing up, the person on the other end might have been a friend of my mom's or a person from church looking for my dad. It might have been a friend of my brother's or it might have been my grandma. Regardless, some sort of small talk followed after picking up the phone.

I miss that. In the day of cell phones and caller id, there is never really a moment when you just answer your phone and don't know who it is. Even if it says, "Unknown caller" we know that obviously that person's number is not in our phone already, so we might as well screen that call and see if they leave a message.

But I think we're missing out. Because in those small talk conversations with my mom's friends or the woman at church who was calling to see if Dad could come to the hospital, conversation was shared and my community grew just a little bit bigger.

happy thanksgiving.

tips and tricks with rory groves.

I had high hopes of writing a traditional 'things I'm thankful for' post. But truly, it all boils down to my husband, cat and family, good health, my God who keeps teaching me, my imagination, a love for creating, my stunning drive to work each day, a job that keeps me engaged and interested, friends who know me well, food in my fridge, a roof over my head, a church I love...

Actually, now that I started writing that list it's pretty hard to boil down. But I'll leave it at that and may have to add more later.

What I wanted to share with you today is a bit of computer help from my husband. Rory's life has centered around computers. He wrote his first code when he was like 8, making his own games and stuff. His mom once gave me a chalkboard with a wooden bear on the front and I thought it was an interesting gift to pass on until she showed me the back of the chalkboard. Rory had written code on the back for a game he was working on, and the handwriting was clearly that of a younger kid. She had saved it because it was so very Rory.

Marrying a man who is not afraid of computers was a really good move on my part. I once had trouble finding a 12 page paper I was working on for seminary. I was sure it was gone forever and told him so in a mess of sobs and tears, announcing, "I am going to go and lay in the fetal position on our bed while you find my paper." And sure enough, he found the paper, and I was so grateful that I had married a computer genius.

So there have been little tips and tricks that Rory has mentioned lately that when he tells me I say, "does everyone know that?!!" And after discussing with my sister, maybe some other people know these tricks, but Annika and I didn't, so I think it's worth passing along.

I hope these Tips and Tricks become like a series of posts and that together we all become a bit more computer savvy.

RG Tip #1: When typing in a web address, you don't need to type www or .com Simply by typing in the heart of the address, like, amazon and hitting CONTROL and ENTER, the www and .com will magically appear.

RG Tip #2: Every time you go to order something online, or go to join a group that makes you enter in ALL OF YOUR INFORMATION for the umpeeth time you have to enter your state, typically by using a drop down menu. Sometimes these can be hard to maneuver depending on what state you live in. But not with Rory's tip #2. Once you get to the drop down, don't mess with your mouse, just hit the first letter of the state you live in until it comes up. Example: If you live in Minnesota, you just hit the letter 'M' five times. If you live in Nebraska, you hit the 'N' one time.

How handy are those tips?!! THE WORLD SHOULD KNOW!!!