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!!!