I’ve skipped a few months, but I’m joining in again with Emily Freeman over at “Chatting at the Sky” for her “What I learned in November” post. Without further ado, here are a few random things I learned this month:
1. There is an actual breed of gigantic-sized rabbits that people own as pets called “Flemish giants.” My friend Seyward ran into one in real life and told our community group about it. We had to look up pictures, and I would say that I am now convinced that our family needs our own Flemish giant as a pet. I mean, who could say no to this picture?!
2. When using my iPhone camera, if I tap on a certain part of the picture, it will focus the light there – thus making an otherwise dark picture lighter, for example. (Thanks to my sister-in-law’s sister, Kelli, for that tip!)
3. Also in the new iOS 7, “Reminders” can also become files – like “Notes.” Just click on “Reminders,” and you can start a new list of reminders. So now I have a “Babysitter” list to remind me of all the dates when I need a babysitter for. Genius!
4. There are a TON of “Extreme” shows that I didn’t know existed – like “Extreme Couponing.” For real. My friend Erin told me about this one, that it shows women who spend 4-5 HOURS grocery shopping with all of their coupons to save the most money. One woman even has an entire closet devoted to her coupon files. Wow.
5. Yes, I’m a bit slow on this one. But I could not believe that Kim and Kanye named their baby, “North.” So, yes, his full name is “North West.”
6. These two YouTube sensations are [sort of] funny and apparently really big trends right now: “Friday” and “What does the fox say.”
7. I tend to feel like I’m sliding into winter doldrums in November, and what seems to help the most is quality, refreshing time away from kiddos with girlfriends and dates with my husband.
8. Making a mattress purchase is an excruciating process, because of (a) the amount of money involved in such a purchase, (b) the amount of time spent in sleep every night – one third of your life if you do it right, and (c) the crazy pressure of mattress stores – worse than car salesmen, I think! But we finally found one we both liked from “The Original Mattress Factory,” which outshone its competition in both pricing and lack-of pressured sales.
9. My daughters can teach me a lot about thankfulness, especially during Thanksgiving. Two quotes – while praying, she said, “God, thank you for everything that’s good and everything that’s not good. Amen.”And this same daughter also came in to the kitchen while Mom and I were cooking and spontaneously announced, “I’m thankful for everyone who’s here!”
10. When your precious, delightful three-year-old twins begin waking up and coming into your room earlier and earlier and earlier … it is time to buy the wake-up clock. This one worked wonders for us and restored some morning sanity. They really don’t come get me until the clock turns green. And we get to decide when the “magic” time will be. Problem solved!
hidden glory 
I agree, mattress shopping can be stressful! We are currently looking for a twin mattress for our office daybed. I have to admit that silly “What does the fox say?” video makes me smile although when I find myself singing it during the day I wish the tune was a little less catchy 🙂