Be Prepared to Ooooooh and Aaaaaaah!

Bathroom Before:
Who knew that removing old, gross, stained lynolium, ripping out a urine-smelling vanity, replacing some soft floorboards, fixing major holes in the walls, adding fresh paint and buying new accessories could be so fulfilling! That's what we've been doing the past two weeks to the old bathroom pictured above.

First, Carson helped Daddy with the plumbing (you can't really see Brian's face in there...but trust me, he was pulling some nasty faces as he tried not to think about the smells being harbored in those cupboards!)











After lugging out the old vanity and pulling up the toilet, we had some very, very, VERY good friends spend a couple of days down on their hands and knees, helping us rip out the old lynolium, replace rotted floorboards, and lay tile. (Thanks, Becks! - I wish I had pictures of you!)















After the tile was laid, I spent the next couple of days working on the 5 major holes in the drywall, and painting the old moldings.









And, after a couple weeks of hard work, we have a beautiful, new bathroom!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

Kenz and I went on a bike ride around the neighborhood the other day, and as we trudged our way up a slight incline I overheard McKenzie whispering to herself, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..." as she used all her little muscles to pull herself up the hill. It was very cute, and after a few seconds of chanting, she said, "HEY MOM! When I say 'I think I can', my muscles all come out and make me go faster!!!"

Real life will be starting soon (like, tomorrow) as Brian starts his year of Internal Medicine Residency. (Seriously, WHO decided that a SATURDAY was the best day to start?! This does not bode well for the rest of the year, I fear!) From what I understand, this year will require much patience, understanding, endurance, and love from me...but I feel prepared, and whenever my muscles of patience start to get tired, I'll just start chanting, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..." until they all 'come out' again and push me along faster.

Brian has been going to orientation this week, so I've had a little introduction to what life was like before he was my constant helper - and I've been pleased to remember that I really can keep the house clean, the kids fed and relatively happy, and my e-mail checked all my myself. :) I really do love being a stay-at-home mom...so, to this nasty intern year of which we've heard so many horror stories about: BRING IT ON!

France - Post 1

~
How do you capture a moment?

Is it possible to remember every detail of a day...of an hour...of a moment? Why is it true that time must erode all memories? True, there are some memories I am glad to have been dulled by time...but there are others - so many others - that I never want to fade. Isn't this why, in fact, I reach for my camera so often? But there are those things that a camera can never capture...the things I really want to remember. The taste of a freshly baked baguette; the sweet voice of a little girl as she told me, in French, about the elephant she colored; the smell of a homemade dinner as it filled the narrow alleyways in the city of Langeais - proving to me that people really, actually live in such an indescribably beautiful, beautiful place; the sheer size of the Alps; the heartache and uncontrollable tears some nights when I could think of nothing but how much I missed my kids, and the freedom that came with their absence; the excitement I felt from Brian when the language started to click again; the sound as the most beautiful water I've ever seen crashed as waves into the rocks; the lightheartedness and giddiness Brian and I shared together; the fear as we drove down narrow, winding roads at the posted speed limit that felt way too fast; ... I won't bore you with so many others - but these are the things I want to remember most about our vacation to Europe. And these are the things that are impossible to share...they must instead be experienced.

Here is a brief slideshow of 16 of the most beautiful pictures we have...

I drink heavily from this moment,
And sadly know
That almost every drop
Will be lost.

So,

I will cherish the drops that remain,
And fondly remember
That there is so much more
That was lost.
~

Some pictures are just SO ugly, you have to share...

So, while we were in Thailand, my mom captured this picture of Amber. After seeing it, I caught a case of the giggles so badly that my stomach hurt the next day. I tried to justify my laughing to her: "There are four categories of pictures," I said, "Pretty pictures, normal pictures, ugly pictures, and pictures so hideous that you have to laugh, and strongly hope that you don't actually ever look like that!"

Well, she was a little less than amused...so, Amber, I want you to know that after I saw this picture of myself (taken by Brian in France when we were caught in a mighty wind and rain storm), I had to laugh - because I hope this, too, falls in that final category. :) Just think of it as something else we have in common - we can pull some nasty faces!

PS - to all of you who keep asking me to post pictures of France, I promise I will! I'm still in the process of sifting through them all.......