Turtle Doves and Biscuits: December 2010

Don't move (even if it is only down the street) when your mom is out of town! The last few weeks have been CRAZY!!! Tim and I are both tenacious about our simple, slow paced lifestyle. We try really hard to have a lot of family together time without the hectic, running around and being "caught up in the thick of thin things" President Monson said it this way: We become so caught up in the busyness of our lives. Were we to step back, however, and take a good look at what we’re doing, we may find that we have immersed ourselves in the “thick of thin things.” In other words, too often we spend most of our time taking care of the things which do not really matter much at all in the grand scheme of things, neglecting those more important causes. Thoreau said, “It is not enough to be busy: so are the ants. The question is, What are we busy about?” or Annie Dillard expresses it, “How we spend our day is, of course, how we spend our lives.” But, its a constant struggle because there are so many "good" things to fill our time. Anyways, Tim and I learned so many lessons this month and in the end its been a positive experience. I don't know where to begin- its been a literal roller coaster ride of emotions. Let's start with we sold our house and had 3 weeks to be out. We were looking for an acreage but that wasn't working out for us. Finally we find this adorable log cabin (exterior pictures to come). It's 85 years old and full of character and "Etsy-ness". We buy it, and move in days before we had to be out of our other house. All this in -30 degree weather, around Christmas time, with 4 kids and no parents around. I am a sissy, there's no question about that- and this was way too much disorganization for me to handle. The new house had to be thoroughly scoured for me to be happy and I found myself up to 3am cleaning the nooks and cranny's. Then full unpacking days and then weeks of renovations. Not to mention the crying. Crying. Crying. Missing everyone from my other ward. I know, its just down the street, but seriously, its almost like a different country in these parts. If I even saw one person from First ward the tears would flow. It was super embarrassing. But after a week it slowed down and then it was over. Apparently I just had to do some concentrated adjusting since there wasn't time for everything to soak in. Plus, I was so tired, c'mon. Poor Tim. I want to move, I pick the house and then I cry for a week straight, after he worked day and night to move us in. After all that he was sooooooo patient and sweet to me. Hugging me and telling me he doesn't care one stitch about house stuff as long as we are together and the kids are happy. SO nice. He kept telling me to chill about the renovations and just do what I love to do- enjoy the kids. It was nice to have his encouragement to just leave everything and do our usual routine and spend the day with the kids because I think when it came down to it, that was the biggest stress of all. I couldn't stand the thought of all the time the renovations would take and how much more I'd rather be spending our time like we have been, just enjoying our kids in this young stage they are in. Anyways, I am rambling and most of you have already listened to all this but as I am writing this I am realizing that it is over and it all worked out in the end. I only with I had been more grateful throughout the whole ordeal, rather than now that its over and easier to be grateful. But I really am so grateful. I know it was a blessing how well the timing of everything fell into place. And we LOVE this house. I can really say that now. We are already loving the space and the view and the location and all the other neat things about this place. Its been so nice to have our first ward friends drop in and visit and its been fun to meet our new neighbors. I have to point out here that the turn for the better started with Tim's pep talk and followed by my mom coming down and saving my life. She finally got home from Iran, took one day to sleep off her jet lag and readjust the ten hour time difference then she spent another day picking up a load of new mattresses and sheets for us, then drove down here to help me. A mom can do that like no one else. I got all the old mattresses out of here and just that made me feel tons better. Then we visited and stayed up to 5 am picking out paint colors. She is a professional at this kind of stuff. Then she went room by room with me taking measurements, coordinating colors for bed spreads and curtains. We made to do lists and reno lists and store lists and oh how a few lists will put me at peace. After that I had time to eat and shave my legs and read to the kids and all the other things that make me feel normal. Next time I'll try to be more patient and take things a little slower. I wanted everything done and perfect and it was really unrealistic. But I have to say a lot was accomplished- we scoured the house, we peeled layers and layers of wall paper, painted, got new appliances, a new furnace, got a bathroom reno organized and ready and new bedding and mattresses and curtains up and all our picture frames and prints hung on the wall and only one last room to unpack and the kitchen cupboards painted with new knobs and all kinds of other little things. So the house is clean and organized and pretty and we are getting acquainted with all the quirks, like the creaky floors and stairs etc. but none of this really matters and I know that.  Quoting back to President Monson again, he says, “The greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. Do not let the most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do.   Instead, find joy in the journey-now.
  Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important-and what is most important almost always involves the people around us.
   Our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings.  Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend...when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”

Now for some pictures!

My mom gave me the idea of painting the inside of the door something fun. It turned out matching perfectly.

We painted the cupboards and my mom also thought of the idea of painting inside the glass door cupboards bird's egg blue. She told me its called "peekaboo paint". The blue makes me really happy.