Thanksgiving Success!

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year, and I will un-humbly admit that it was a success!  My parents and brother, as well as J's grandma and sister's family were our guests.  J's grandpa and his wife joined us for pie afterwards, and we missed our other family members who were far away but not forgotten.  The men deep fat fried a turkey outside, while the women roasted one inside, but no "winner" was proclaimed; they were both delicious!  I am thankful for....elastic-waist maternity pants this Thanksgiving!
Although J's other sister and her husband were missing, they had an excellent excuse for their absence: they had a baby that day, so J and I have another new neice!  She is precious!

Welcome!

Here it is; the blog that some of you have requested, and the rest of you are becoming aware of in case you want to take a peak now and then! In my ceremonious "first post," I'll get a few questions out of the way so you know what to expect in the future:

Why do you think you live in "God's Country?" Doesn't everyone think that their home is in God's Country? Well, I particularly feel that we have settled in God's Country for many reasons. When J and I were newly dating, I was driving up to see him by myself for the first time. He entitled an email with detailed directions (cross the river....look for the sugarbeet piler that looks like big yellow metal things...turn at the motel...) "Directions to God's Country." It is the kind of place where people say, "I've known J since we were knee-high to a grasshopper!" It is a place where I moved and was accepted with open arms by a community where your personal life and professional life merge together as one. I am reminded that this really is God's Country when I am 10 miles from home returning after working in the "Big City" and looking up at the sky on a clear night to see more stars than I have ever seen in my whole life. The experiences that will be blogged about may take place at our farmyard in northwestern Minnesota, but our God's Country could include a large radius stretching into all of North Dakota and Minnesota, or even travelling all over the states and Canada visiting family and vacationing.

Why did you decide to start a blog? I have found that since we got married (2 years and 2 days ago to be exact), I have plenty of stories that I personally think are interesting enough to share. Coming from the city and knowing nothing about living on a farm, I have experienced many "firsts" after moving with J to his grandparents farm, which has been in the family for generations. As newlyweds, some of these stories were quite amusing (like when the cat gave birth in the backseat of one of the farm cars that was just getting cleaned up and ready for auction), and some have become a normal part of my life that other people may find quite unusual (like when we recently went to a fish-fry at a hunting cabin in the middle of the woods complete with fried walleye, a bonfire, an outdoors tent housing a DJ where the dance was held, and that week's "kill" hanging a couple feet away from our gathering). After sharing these stories, responses similar to "You should start to blog!" entailed, so here it is!

What do you plan to blog about? As mentioned above, I will continue to share stories pertaining to my experiences regarding "High heels and tractor wheels" (a quote borrowed from another blogger who can relate to my life transition). I wanted to get a head start on the blog, because in the near future, this blog is sure to be overtaken by our joys and trials of becoming new parents sometime in mid-March. J and I have also embarked on many projects around our farmhouse in order to make it "ours." Stay tuned for photos of our latest ventures...

So there you have it: an introduction to Living in God's Country. God's Country; a place that I am grateful for every day, and a life I give special thanks to on this "Thanksgiving Eve."
Happy Thanksgiving.