Home is What You Make It

Since Chris accepted the position with the district court and we know we will be in Provo at least another 1 1/2 years (or so) I feel like I am finally settling in for "good". I have often struggled with being content and not wishing to be in the next stage of life, but as I have mentioned before, I have not felt this tendency very much, which has been a huge blessing in my life. It also has helped me to reflect on "wants" and "needs" which is why we will be staying in our same apartment during Chris' upcoming clerkship. Some people may wonder how we can still stand to be in an apartment; of course I would LOVE to own a house and be able to decorate and have a backyard for my boys to play in (and a garage for my oldest boy to play in!) but in the meantime I can honestly say I am happily living in our "home" for now. Even though we never intended on being in this apartment as long as we have been (it will be 5 years this August) I think we are finally starting to put some "permanency" into it; though we can't paint the walls, my latest projects have been decorating and rearranging. I have a long list of decor to add to rooms and other projects to complete. I said to Chris tonight that I think we are really making things ours.

I also really liked this post on a BYU blog I recently came across about de-cluttering, as well as this quote: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful" (William Morris). It has made me think about what we have in our home, the feelings and atmosphere we are trying to create and what we can do (or not do) to have the type of home that fits our personalities, goals and most importantly, somewhere where the Spirit can reside.

Our latest project has been one that I have dragged my feet on and flat out refusing to even consider. Then suddenly one day I had a change of heart, I rearranged our bedroom and as of tonight (a big thanks to Kevin/relief for Julane for giving us the tank and gravel!) this is now what we see from our bed:
Lights on/lights off...
Which actually fits perfect in our room since we are going to decorate it with kind of a beach theme (hibiscus flower patterns, palm trees, etc). Not tacky, minimally and tastefully. Just enough to add some "fun" to the room. I will post more pictures as we do more decorating. Right now we are looking for a neat big beach poster to put in a big frame over our bed. That and we will be introducing African dwarf frogs and a variety of fish to their new tank over the next few weeks. Chris is excited for me to "decorate" the fish tank as well (we already have a really cool hammock/palm trees to start). And I think he is right, this could be a really fun family project and I think it adds even more to the atmosphere we are trying to create in OUR home!
Chris cleaning out the tank to get it ready. The boys know we are getting it but we are pretty sure they will be pretty stoked when they wake up in the morning. I am sure their next question will be (at least Ian since he can verbalize it) will be: Where's the fish? We took the boys to a pet store the other night with Grandie and Cooper was so excited to see all the animals, especially the fish. I guess that might have been what pushed me over the edge...it's amazing what mothers will do when they think they think they can bring a little added joy to their children's (and husband's) lives.