Yay for going green.

The most exciting thing that happened for me this week involved going to the grocery store and buying two green reusable shopping bags. I have been hearing about how bad plastic bags are for the environment, and we had a story in the paper recently about how local grocery stores are trying to promote reusable bags (because it saves them money, too).

So when I saw a big rack full of green, reusable bags for 99 cents at the front of my neighborhood Sunshine Foods, I got excited. I bought two bags along with my groceries – and the cashier, of course, tried to put them in plastic bags until I reminded her that I actually wanted to use them to carry the groceries.

Not only is it better for the environment, it was easier to carry. All my groceries, which probably would have required 5 or 6 plastic sacks, fit into the two green bags. And, the green bags were much easier to carry than a big mess of plastic sacks – just put one in each hand, and the weight is much more evenly distributed so everything feels lighter.

So, the moral of my blog post is, if you see cheap, reusable grocery bags for sale at your local store, buy them! They can help the environment and make your life easier – what's not to love?

Another year older.

Well, I turned the dreaded 27 yesterday, and it wasn't as bad as I had feared. I was actually more depressed last year, when I turned 26. Now I'm thinking, hey, at least I've got three years to go until I'm 30. And if I were to be completely honest with myself, I'd realize that 30 isn't really that old. And, I still get carded when I go out – even though my 24-year-old sister doesn't. That was a source of entertainment when we went out Saturday night.

I celebrated by going to my old town – Worthington, MN – for the annual Turkey Day festivities. It was my fourth Turkey Day, which is hard to believe. And the only one where I've taken pictures, so that's exciting (love that new digital camera). My parents and sister came to enjoy the turkeys and birthday partying, too, so it was a good time. Definitely one of the better birthdays I've had in recent memory, despite the fact that I had to come back and work all day on my actual birthday.

Yay for Iowa

Who would've thought that the next state to allow gay marriage would be Iowa? Sadly, I don't really think it will last, as the ruling has already been put on hold. But, the fact that the Democrats control the governor's office and the Legislature could make it difficult for the GOP to ram through an anti-gay marriage amendment to the constitution.

It made for an interesting and entertaining juxtaposition for me while designing the front page Friday night. We had the opening day of LifeLight, which is billed as the biggest outdoor Christian music festival in the country, going on here in Sioux Falls. Then, right below that story, we have a picture of two gay guys who got married a mere four hours away.

Not that I mind Christian music, but I'm well aware of the type of evangelical, homos-are-going-to-hell type of "Christians" who make up a sizable portion of the LifeLight crowd. I can picture them wetting themselves when they pick up today's paper to look at the LifeLight coverage and see the two guys holding a marriage license.