Deep Breath

So J and I are in the middle of doing some very small remodeling/designing on the cottage so we can possibly put it on the market in the fall?!?! So crazy to think about! We are really praying and asking God to show us ways we can possibly start a business (home building and remodeling) so Joel can stop working for "the man" and have a little more flexibility in his hours. Let's take a break for a fact check:

• Joel's schedule stinks.


• He leaves the house by 7 am and doesn't get home until 7 pm most nights.


• This makes it hard when you have two little ones at home under the age of 3.


• J gets an hour at most with the babies before we put them to bed (which is usually as much fun as a bikini wax.)


• He has to go in to work on the weekends sometimes...leaves at 7 am and gets home around 2 or 3. Awesome.


• Even though he is home at 7 pm during the week, he continues to have to work well into the wee hours of the night (12 is "wee" to me) on his laptop paying invoices.
  

Ok, so enough complaining for now. I justify my complaining as simply stating fact. And sometimes the facts stink. BUT we both believe God is always in control of our situations and there is a reason for why things IS the way they IS. So our plan is to sell the cottage, make some dough since we will have completely turned the place around and rent a place for ourselves for the next two years as J tries to get his business up and running. So here are some fun pics of our recent projects: I am finally repainting our bathroom. Originally I had picked out a pretty grey color that turned out looking a little too purple in real life. So now we are going with plain-old boring builder beige.
(I tried to be all artsy in this photo. By turning the camera a bit. Are you impressed yet? I am still uber jealous of my friends Cary and Alison who recently purchased Canon SLRs! No need to try to create cool shots, that camera does all the work for you!)

J ripped out all of the backsplash in our postage stamp of a kitchen! Lovely blue countertops, don't you agree?

He was able to do all of this in less than 2 hours! He also recovered the wall with sheet rock all by his little self that same day. What a man.
Here's what I came home to as he was in the process of tearing our kitchen apart that day. I told you, postage stamp kitchen. But we are going to turn it into the kitchen of your dreams. You just watch. And while we're at it, if you're in the market for a lovely cottage in South Austin we'll be happy to talk shop in the fall ;).
I have some before photos of the house when we bought it. You guessed it though- they're on the computer that is possessed by satan. So when I am able to do battle with that thing I will be so excited to post before and after pics.

Before I forget: here are two things I learned this week.

1. Do not judge other mamas because their children can be strong-willed monsters. I found myself sneering down at some moms as I volunteered for our church's Vacation Bible School, because I couldn't believe how they were dropping the ball in the area of controlling and disciplining their children. Then I got home and dealt with MY strong-willed monster and was reduced to tears on our bed wondering why God thought it was ok for me to be a mom; because I stink at it. Boom! Being a mama is hard enough without people looking down their noses at you because of how your child is acting. So I humbly accept the Lord's discipline and am sorry for my judgmental heart. Does this mean Emmy will stop acting up now?!?! Pretty please Lord?!?! I learned my lesson!!!?


2. As I watched a woman walk through the parking lot of Chic-Fil-A the other day and marveled at how beautiful she was a thought struck me: Why the hell am I so dad-gummed worried all the time about how I look??? I mean really. The kiddos and I went on a walk two days ago and this silly little man rode by on his moped with an American flag bandana on his head, a ripped Harley-Davidson shirt, LONG WHITE SOCKS and sandals. Oh he looked silly alright, but he also looked very happy and I am POSITIVE he could have given a rip what I thought about his outfit. So fun! Why do I think it is super important for other boys and girls to think I am pretty? Why do I want to be noticed anywhere I go? What am I trying to win? Affection? Praise? Love? Sheesh, how lame with a capital L. From now on I am going to worry about whether or not I am pleasing and beautiful to the Lord. And not so I can earn his love. Simply so I can focus on Him and not ME. And so what if other people don't think I am pretty or if I will never be a model for Victoria's Secret (of which I don't endorse or buy their products because of their advertising campaign and I know that sounds really old-ladyish and possibly too "churchy" but I am pretty passionate about it and don't care how it sounds) who can stop traffic during rush hour? No more of that silly pride/insecurity.

Now I am off to more home-decorating blog-stalking. Here's to another night where I will not be in bed at a decent hour because I am having too much fun getting decorating ideas! Pictured above is my favorite wall in our house. (Again trying to be artistic with the camera angle. Such a dork!)