Becca Groves Header
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blog logged

I'm behind on my blog. So backed up that I'm overwhelmed at all I want to cover. I told Rory I am blog logged and he thought that was clever. And then he told me to just break it all up into lots and lots of posts. So that's what I'm going to try to do...with the hopes that I can get things free flowing again.
I had to include this picture because seriously, how great is my haircut? It even looks nice when it's all wind blown and rained on. Let's hear it again for Kari, the girl at juut who gave me this mama-easy-hair-do.

next stop: san francisco

Dear Taylor,

Dear Taylor,
UPS Delivery just called and said they're parked outside of your apartment. I am assuming you are in unit 303, since this was the number listed by the call sheet in the entry way. Just thought I'd pass the message along. Hope you get your package.
Sincerely,
Becca

Stars and Dots, Limes and Balloons


I was thinking about one of my very best birthdays. I was in 7th grade and it was the year of the balloons. In middle school all of your friends would bring one Mylar helium balloon to school so that all day long you could parade the fact that it was your birthday. Being a great fan of my own birthday, I had made sure everyone knew my birthday was coming up. Also working to my advantage was the fact that I was friends with a lot of people from a lot of different social circles. When I showed up to school that morning the balloons kept coming and I ended up with a huge balloon bouquet- one of the biggest I had ever seen at Scott Highlands Middle School- and proudly walked them through the halls with me from class to class.

It was a big deal. I remember feeling loved and remembered and popular. I loved those balloons.

But a funny thing happened just three days later. That day it happened to be one of my dearest friends birthday. She was one of the most loyal friends I have ever had. Her birthday came and there were only three of us who brought her balloons. And all day long she had to bring those three sorry balloons with her to all of her classes.

I felt her embarrassment, and the whole day was uncomfortable.

Those balloons remind me a lot of the stars and dots the Wemmicks give each other in Max Lucado’s children’s book, “You are Special.” The good Wemmicks who can do tricks and use big words and make others laugh are given stars from the other Wemmicks. But the ones who don’t perform well are given dots because “everyone knows, they’re not really good Wemmicks.”

That year the veil was lifted in a pretty profound way for me as I watched my bedroom full of mylar balloons begin to droop. Somehow those balloons had become something so much more than balloons and I didn’t like it. It knew it wasn’t right.

I was like Amy in Little Women, fixated on her limes, “It’s nothing but limes now, for everyone is sucking them in their desks in schooltime, and trading them off for pencils, bead rings, paper dolls, or something else, at recess. If one girl likes another, she gives her a lime. If she’s mad with her, she eats one before her face, and doesn’t offer even a suck.” (chapter 7)

Isn’t it amazing how we seem to be able to pick such arbitrary objects to fixate our affections? God must go crazy sometimes trying to keep up with our ridiculous fads. Limes for Amy, balloons for Becca…and in the end it is all so silly. And sad. Makes me wonder what my current day “balloons” are…and makes me want to pop those idols real fast.

today's the day


I'm celebrating 30 years today. So crazy. And so good. I like where I'm at in life and don't feel too taken aback by such a number. I feel strongly that a woman is her most beautiful between 35 and 45, so the best is yet to come. This means I might be a wreck on my 45th birthday. But not on this one.
I've seen this done a lot on various blogs as a way to mark the year and to set goals for the 365 days ahead. So here is my list of 30 hopes in my 30th year.

(And, a tip from my mom: When you make a list, it is always important to write down a few things that you have already done that day so that you can cross things off the list to get your engines fired up. You'll notice a few of these are already done. Go me!)

1. New hair color and style
2. Host a Favorite Things party
3. Join the Y
4. Learn how to use the manual mode on our camera
5. Make a small quilt
6. Keep a prayer journal
7. Use my water colors
8. Join a creative arts club
9. Create a place where Bible can stay out all the time
10. Make modge podge art scenes

11. Collect frames for wall collages
12. Print pics, fill frames and hang on the wall

13. Paint the bedroom
14. Make this kind of bread15. Pick color scheme for wardrobe overhaul
16. Finish and print 2010 digi scrapbook pages
17. Make lemon ice and eat it with my sister
18. Get a consistent plan together for visiting Mount Olivet Home

19. Honor the Sabbath
20. Eat more veggies
21. Write and mail letters by hand
22. Introduce Ivar to Lake Superior
23. Make cupcakes with large decorating tip
24. Try a few new soup recipes
25. Find a monthly mom's group
26. Keep writing
27. Make a picture slide show for Grandma's party
28. Present my 'Passing on the Faith' workshop
29. Frequent the library
30. Grow fresh herbs

29 accomplishments in my 29th year

Tomorrow I turn 30. I'm excited. And I'm also reflective. I just went through my blog, pulling out 29 favorite accomplishments. They are, and in no particular order:

Grew a life inside of me
Attempted once-a-month-cooking
Put on 45 pounds, took off 35
Stopped talking on my cell phone while driving almost entirely
Hired 70 incredible college students for camp ministry
Enjoyed the bounty of a patio garden
Backed up my computer…on my own!
Realized the key to warm feet is thick socks
Survived labor and found an inner strength I never knew
Took thousands of pictures and actually printed some of them
Put together an adorable nursery
Made a rainbow cake and shared it with my sistah's
Realized I have journaled my entire life
Learned how to knead dough (sort of)
Organized a parade
Shared a hotel room with a stranger
Spoke at an adult retreat
Moved states
Read a new favorite: Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Received all sorts of mama and fatherly wisdom
Launched and failed "becca-anna's banana's"
Watched this video countless times
Scrapbooked on the computer
Baby-mooned on the North Shore
Celebrated 5 years of marriage
Rested
Discovered Trader Joes
Was celebrated and supported big time
Grew in love in ways I never knew possible

It was a good year, 29. Thanks for being so good to me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have another decade to report to.