the pictures!

The bricks are gone!! Yeah- I am so excited with how the remake turned out! Here are some pics I promised! And right as I post this the carpet guy is here! I am excited to be getting rid of all the dust that is on every surface of my home- I clean- resand and the dust is back- all the sheet rock and mud really make a dusty mess that is so hard to get rid of. I have clearned a ton of times and right after I do it is back. Hopefully this time it will be gone! Yippee!

Before:

back room:

After: I thought the angle was better. I will get a better one once the carpet is in.

Before :

Also- I wanted to say thanks for all the great comments. Now the hard part- putting them into action. On a side note, yesterday in our Sunday School class the lesson was on repentance. I have had a ton of lessons on repentance but our teacher is wonderful and she presented in a different way. Toward the end of the lesson she gave a Brigham Young quote that really did not go with what she was talking about - but still applied to repentance and was something I needed to hear. It was something like- He who takes offense when none is intended is a fool and he who takes offense when it was intended is the greater fool. And she was saying that part of repentnace is forgiving others- I know this, but had not thought of it as a SIN to be offended...Guess I need to bump this up on my list of things to work on.

time for a change

Wow- It has been a while since I posted and I think I say that every time. The update on the house...We are just down to painting and carpet downstairs-well mostly. And if I knew where the cord was I could load the pics. I will find it to show off all of the hard work of our family and friends. Speaking of friends...Kim's friend at work has gone through the adoption experience with his brother and has shared a few thing with us here and there. Today he shared this blog... http://therhouse.blogspot.com/ and it is awesome! I have not cried so hard in a long time. Link after link just got better and I love this blog because it is realistic but upbeat! The stories are amazing and this video really, really made me cry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqfGqOx2iDQ. It is so true and I can feel that I am right on the brink as this wonderful article http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1989.htm/ensign%20february%201989.htm/just%20the%20two%20of%20us%20for%20now%20.htm?fn=document-frame.htm&f=templates&2.0 says.. "You have undoubtedly had similar experiences. If you haven’t, you will. In these ways we grow from the time when everything hurts and offends us until, with faith in God, we are neither hurt nor offended. But I want you to know I understand if you feel hurt or offended now." I want to be there so bad. I want to have joy when I walk past 35 pregnant ladies at the grocery store and not get mad when people complain about being pregnant. I want to not have to leave Relief Society dinners early because I can not stand one more birth story and labor story and on and on. I try to change the subject as there are other things to talk about but it always comes back. I even tried sharing stories I have heard from SIL and my sister- nothing to personal- but trying to "fit in" and participate and people look at me like I am crazy and then proceed without me. I really don't want to come across as complaining- that is not my intent, but I really do want to get past the offense and hurt that I feel all the time. I am sure no one means it the way I take it. And this one kinda made me chuckle... "Mother’s Day may be one of those times of hurt. Every year there will be a Mother’s Day, and every year at church a little plant or some other gift may be forced into your clenched fist. But one day you will learn to open your heart, and then, somehow, you will open your hand to receive that gift. Eventually, that gift becomes the symbol of an eternal promise." Cause I refuse to take it every year. Come on take it they say- we have extras. Boy this is harder than I thought to type. This article really hit home and the theme I found in so many articles I have read this morning are to give service ..." We who do not have children can wallow in self-pity—or we can experience “birth pains” as we struggle to open the passageway to eternal life for ourselves and others. I bear testimony to you that instead of wrapping your empty and aching arms around yourself, you can reach out to others. " Which was exactly what I was doing as I read this-how did she know? I have decided I have to strive to be better and develop the qualities that mothers have to posses to be good mothers like sacrifice, service, compassion, teaching and inspiring. So, when we are blessed I will be heading in the right direction. This one actually goes with one of the Personal Progress goals I am working on DN 2. I need to ask a mother I admire what are important attributes for being a mother. So, I ask all my friends that are mothers or who have mothers or know a mother if they can share these with me so I can work on them now. That is my plan for now. Thanks in advance for sharing!