About Us (ME)

My name is Gaynelle Groth.  I moved from Sacramento, CA to a small town in Central Nebraska on Labor Day, 2005.  I had ALWAYS lived in big cities (like Honolulu, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Denver, Austin, TX, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Bangkok, Thailand, Beirut, Lebanon, etc.) so this has been a really big adjustment for me.  And some of the adjustment was unexpected.

In a large city you can "move on" when things get sticky – there are lots of other people who might become your friends – other churches that you might like better – other stores and restaurants where you aren't known – new activities or groups you can join.  You can afford to have "enemies" because you won't have to see them ever again.  You can walk away without anyone really noticing that you have done so.  WAY not so in a small town.  There are very limited choices regarding all of the above – and you are bound to run into any "enemies" you make AND they’ll probably tell others about you and what all you did.  In a big city you can be anonymous – in a small town you can’t be, even when you want to be.

When I moved here I recognized that this most likely will be my last move – and I needed to make friends and become a part of this community in a way I never have before.  Since this is a small town, I have to "belly up to the bar" here – I can’t just slip away unnoticed when I screw up or when things feel yukky.  I can’t afford to let small glitches in relationships ruin them (what if there’s no one here who I’ll like half as well as this person, and I throw it away?).  And I cannot afford to wait for someone else to make things right (what if no one does?).  I have to be the one to step up.  It has not been easy. 

"The Originals" set of my cards were created to try to change my behavior and attitude so that I would be able to continue to be a Board member.  All of my cards are the result of a life-time of introspection, therapy and a deep interest in things spiritual.

I have LOVED making these cards.  Being creative like this has been a joy I never expected to find.  I had thought that some day I might write a novel or a travel book or a memoir — but NEVER would I have thought that I would write pithy little reminders combined with fun pictures!!  What a surprise this has been for me.  I have been amazed at how the words come alive when they are combined with a picture.  It’s like the words were flat without a picture, and now are 3-D with one.  And I need those pictures in order to really remember the meaning of the card.

I want to emphasize once again that each of these Reminders is written for ME, only for me.  I need to be reminded of each of these things.  I didn’t write things I thought YOU needed to be reminded of.  No.  I have no idea what your issues are.  I only know that I need every single one of these Reminders (sigh, there are sooo many!).  I do hope that you’ll like (or need) some of them, too.  Or, at the least, that you will enjoy reading through them.

Here’s to us and our attempt to be the very best we can be!  Enjoy!