The traditional way is to choose one person or the other so that your example would be Mary Smith Dixon, which looks like MDS. Obviously, the man's would read as Lawrence James Dixon, or LDJ. It is a new thing to use the couple's names together, but if you do so, it would be woman name, last name, man name so would look like mary Dixon Larry, or mDl. I love monograms! I mix it up...some of our towels have mine, some have his. FWIW, my husband loves it that our MBR pillowcases have his initials on them.

Of course, but the likelihood that the house on the right which is dated is pretty clearly painted within the last ten years at least, clean and not battered. I don't have pictures of my parents garage or basement, but if I did, I would have posted them. They had the garage floor mopped weekly, the furnace, water heater, and A/C while not brand-new are maintained with maintenance schedules attached and the roof is brand new. The pictures of the house on the left show a dirty basement, worn out utilities and a garage that was drywalled and never ever painted in 40 years. You can see in a number of the above pictures of the house on the right (especially if they were bigger--but it's clear in the bathroom photo). That the bathroom ceiling on the left was probably painted when the house was built and Never since. It Hasn't been my experience that Appearances are *that* deceiving that the house on the left would be pristine on all the surfaces and falling apart infrastructure-wise, and the house on the right would be worn out and dirty on the surface and the model of careful maintenance of the infrastructure. Sometimes you can be fooled, but I think that's even more likely where the surfaces were all updated and heavily staged, to make it more appealing for quick sale with quick coats of paint and "flash". So while I understand what you are saying, I don't really agree that it is Usually the case that appearances are *that deceiving.

Y'all need to read that blog. :) Addie was buried in June. No excuse for a shallow grave, except the fact that she was buried in a hurry in the wee hours, and her husband and/or attending physician did not follow legal procedures of the time, requiring a burial permit. One of the reasons for these "legal procedures" was to achieve uniformity in burial practices. The fact that there was no burial permit for Addie was a big red flag. The fact that her doctor LIED (on the death certificate) and said there *was* a burial permit was another big red flag. She allegedly died of diphtheria, but that was just a bad lie. There were no cases of diphtheria in Lake Mills in 1901, or so said Addie's doctor in his report to the state four months after Addie's death. I've read the newspapers for that time period, and I've also read the reports from the state board of health. No diphtheria anywhere NEAR Addie's city. I've done my research. :) Addie did not die of diphtheria. If you want to learn why that's so, read the link below. It is a fascinating story, and I have learned a WHOLE lot, due in large part to the kindness of others, and their love of the truth. Everyone wants to know what happened to 29-year-old Addie Hoyt, and so many people want to help, and that's been a blessing. Thanks for the comments. Rose Here is a link that might be useful: Diphtheria? No way.

grelobe, a nice collection of pics. I think Francoise Sagan must have got a crick in her neck from typing laid out on the carpet. Amazing to think what a short time it has taken for typewriters to be taken over by these computer keyboards, which might soon be doing the actual writing for us. Headings such as 'a thank you letter to an Aunt' press plus sub-section lists of gifts received press suitable response press and so on.