When good gifts go bad...

Back in 2004, Jonathan had a brilliant idea. His only brother was getting married and he wanted to buy the new couple the perfect gift. At the time, Jonathan lived in Senegal, West Africa. Perfect for a truly one-of-a-kind gift to be treasured year after year of their marriage.

He heard of a wood sculptor a couple hours away who had a formidable reputation. So Jonathan hatched a plan, gathered the photo he needed, and took off to place an order.

What he had in mind was a wooden carving that Jesse and Julie would be able to hang in their home as a reminder of a verse found in Song of Solomon: "This is my beloved and this is my friend." The idea also included carvings representing Jesse and Julie, with God extending His hands to bless them.

Like I said, a truly one-of-a-kind gift.

Is that not the most... truly one-of-a-kind thing you've ever seen? When I saw it six years ago, I died laughing. And I've laughed at it (with it?) every time I've thought of it since then.

So when I heard that Jesse and Julie still had it (surprisingly not hanging up over the mantle), I asked Julie to pull it out for me to see. And laugh at.

Jesse and Julie in real life

I can't decide which I like best:
the cinnamon roll on her head or the detail work on her overalls.

And here it's a toss up between
the oversized cheek and dropped ear.

Sometimes the best intentions for a truly one-of-a-kind gift go horribly, hysterically wrong. But hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

I'm THAT aunt...

Time for manicures!

I'm the aunt who teaches you how to make long fingernails out of Play-doh. The aunt who firmly believes a bubble bath is the solution for tough times. And the aunt who is anxiously awaiting the day when you have enough hair to braid. (But in the meantime, our matching pigtails will have to do.)

Aunt Kari and her protégé

Ooh la la.

And they match her outfit, en plus.

Aren't they pretty? I predict lime-green nails on the runways son!

I'm also the aunt who can't get enough of these cheeks!

In the news!

From the Merry Mix collection over at RLPCo

Red Letter Paper Co. is in the news! Today in NYC and Philadelphia, Metro newspaper readers will find our cards featured in the myholiday gift guides.

Click to enlarge. This is from today's NYC edition, p25.

As you can imagine, this was a great surprise for me when I checked my email this morning and saw these clips Stephanie had sent me. Earlier this week, infographics and news design leader Charles Apple wrote a post about RLPCo, so the ball is really rolling now.

And this is extra-good news because 10% of all sales of the No Vacancy cards go to World Orphans.

Click to enlarge. This is from the Philadelphia edition, p.11.

Now, I'm not one to spill the beans... but lean in closely and I'll whisper that RLPCo Twitter followers and Facebook fans should stay tuned for a very special message after Thanksgiving!

10 truly Iowan experiences...

1. Steak. Juicy, marbled, amazing steak.

2. I haven't figured out the exact equation, but it's something like this:

Georgia dead of winter weather = Iowa light autumn weather

3. You might could use 'y'all' without getting an amused smile in return, but it's not guaranteed.

4. Getting 'caught in traffic' only requires about 20 cars and two lanes.

5. When you drive around town, people point out the good sledding sites.

6. Going to your husband's old elementary school and his kindergarten teacher is still there, teaching in the same room.

7. Keeping a candle and a blanket in the car at all times. In case of car trouble, you don't want to freeze. (Literally.)

8. Apparently the most popular bird around here is called a Hawkeye. I haven't spotted one yet, but there's an awful lot of yellow & black in the stores.

9. Beef roast. Fork-tender, flavorful and unbeatable beef roast.

10. Earmuffs are the accessory that goes with every outfit.

Where it all started...

Fall-ing leaves at SBTS

Back in 1980, a young couple lived on the campus of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He was working towards getting a Masters of Divinity, and she was in her third trimester - pregnant with their first child.

I loved the window in the bell tower.

Things were very tight financially, so this couple got resourceful. He worked odd jobs off-campus, such as raking leaves and doing some construction work. She tapped into their green side and started gathering and recycling aluminum cans, which she traded in for cash.

It didn't take long for people to notice this woman walking around in a very maternal way collecting cans. So they started leaving their cans in plastic bags hanging on the door handle of their apartments. Then she could just walk by and pick up the bags rather than digging through the garbage. (Okay, I may have embellished that part.)

At THE recycling bin

One of the librarians even offered to put a bin by the vending machine so that people could leave their cans for her to collect.

And so this couple paid for their baby girl's hospital bills in aluminium cans. And then they brought her home to live on the seminary campus for a couple months. Years later, they made a stop at the campus as they drove from Tennessee up to Indiana. They spent the morning walking around, admiring the buildings and the colorful leaves, telling the Aluminium Can Baby stories from their first years together.

Our first home -  a teeny tiny apartment on campus

One of the courtyards

Trees on the lawn

Chapel steeple

Beautiful trees

The chapel

It's a beautiful campus.

Where it all started.

Place your bets: is that KJV or NIV?

Up to speed...

Jonathan grew a beard this week. Well, he actually started last week, I guess.

I'm a big fan.

He's not.

He says it itches and feels like - and I quote - an irritation of the seventh cranial nerve, possibly carrying over to the second and third branch of the fifth.

• This week we went to our last marriage counseling session. We decided a long time ago (maybe 2005?) that when we had the opportunity, we wanted to see a marriage counselor for a check-up. Living overseas adds another layer of stressors and complexities to a marriage relationship, so we figured a little help would be a good idea. (We were right - and highly recommend it.)
  
  Anywho... In our session yesterday our counselor mentioned that one of the strengths of our relationship is that we appreciate each other's sense of humor. What?? We have excellent, wide-ranging senses of humor that anyone should be able to appreciate - thankyouverymuch.

• Adopt a Box. My friend Holly was over recently and saw the packing extravaganza we've got going on. I told her that we've been able to get a great shipping deal to send our stuff to Senegal for about $30 per box. (That's 17"x12"x11" for those of you who are into numbers and calculations.)
  
  She offered to 'adopt a box' by paying for its shipping. It meant so much to me that she would suggest this idea.
  
  Of course, having the shipping paid for a box is great... but knowing someone is behind what we're doing enough to come up with a way that they can be a part of it too - that was awesome. I loved it. Thank you, Holly.
  
  More on adopting a box here!

• I bought a Gazelle on craigslist for $30. Someone please tell Jonathan this does not mean he can get a puppy.

2 wild and crazy Massons...

Friday night. We just put in a DVD. Reheated some leftovers.

Then dumped our belongings in a big pile on the living room. It's a lot like the ol' garbage bag method we used when leaving France. Only this time the bags are boxes and suitcases. Some of them will be shipped in a container across the Atlantic to the port in Dakar. Others will go in our checked luggage and arrive with us at the Dakar airport (we hope!). 

Some of our many boxes to be filled

With piles of this stuff.

Back to the garbage bag method

These goodies magnify in awesomeness the further
they get from a city with a WalMart. 

Our super cool hand-crank lantern for power outtages

But at least it's a Friday night together!

Speaking of together... Here's the latest on what we'll be doing in Senegal. Want to join us?

Honk if you're a writing nerd...

Okay, maybe you don't need to honk. Just click instead.

This is the best, most appropriate Christmas card I've ever seen for a writer. I absolutely love it.

Stephanie over at RLPCo just released the new line of No Vacancy cards, and I'm a huge fan so wanted to share a couple with you. Plus, 10% of sales go to World Orphans (shout out to my sis-in-law Kate), so it's doubly cool. Okay, triply if you count the free shipping. 

If you're a Twitterer (not a 'twit' as Jonathan seems to think it's called) you might like these from the Tweet Pack:

I laugh every time I read it. Totally my kind of humor. So I'm also a big fan of this one:

So #MerryChristmas!, twits. It's time to start on my Christmas card list!

Danger, danger!

Some of you may have heard about the protests and riots in France recently. Last week I watched a video of looters on one of the main streets downtown, right where we walked every day going to the office and school. Cars are burning and store windows being broken.

In the US, there are different kinds of danger in the air. Yessiree. You just can't be too careful. (I should have been tipped off when we landed at the airport and heard the "Terror alert is elevated" message played over and over.)

In our little apartment in Lyon, you could only get about 20 feet away from the kitchen. Even if you tried, that was as far as you could go and still be chez Masson. As a result, I seem to have lost the ability to cook and do anything else at the same time. Out of sight, out of mind. (Hence the burned lima beans at dinner.) So the lesson is that when you cook dinner in an American-sized house, watch out! It's not safe to leave the kitchen, even for a moment.

Aack! Which way? Which one?

Likewise, when you go the mall in the US, be on alert. It's not like when you ride the bus to the centre commercial and then take it home again in a couple hours. Nope. You have to concentrate and make careful mental notes about where you parked you car! (Again, a skill I seem to have lost while living in France.) Losing an entire car... very big, expensive danger.

And this one may blow your mind if you've been living in our little neck of France for a while. On a walk this morning, we found this in the street:

Boom.

 That's right. A handgun bullet. Although there were plenty of unappealing things I stepped in on French sidewalks, this is a new one for me.

Other dangers you may come across in America include running up your cell phone bill because you forget that incoming calls aren't free. Also forgetting to convert degrees Celsius to Farenheit in a recipe and reeeally sloooow cooking those brownies.

Be on alert, y'all!