DAY 9: HOME IMPROVEMENTS

This WAS our mantle:

This IS our mantle:

(p.s. the old homeowners were the ones who painted our fire place except for the top two inches or so. we actually love the natural brick, so we're trying to figure out what to do, since once brick is painted it's a forever thing. *tear)

This is why:

Photo from Addicted 2 Decorating

We are hoping to follow this tutorial to make a new mantle that looks like an old hunk of wood. Supposedly, it only costs about $25 to make this transformation, which is incredible. We'll see if that's actually the case. Taking the old mantle off and leaving it that way is incentive for us to pick up the pace and tackle the project already. =] I'll keep you posted.

DAY 8: WHEN IT'S HARD TO HOPE

The next three weeks will prove to be a whirlwind for us. We will be taking the first big out of state trip we've ever taken as a married couple. Go D.C.! We will be coming home in time for Mr. N. to get ready for his next out of state work trip. If all goes well, we'll also be starting and completing our fertility treatment. In this small window of 15 days that it takes to start and finish this treatment, we realized that everything must happen exactly as scheduled in order for this to work this month....to...the...day.

We never take big trips. The biggest trip we've taken in three years was to Disneyland with my family (OHMYGOSHILOVEDISNEYLANDSOMUCH!!!!!!!!!!!). We wanted this one to be our 3 year anniversary trip. My monthly cycle is rarely on time these days and yet last month it was only one day late and we were able to get all of our fertility testing done with no problems. Now we wait to see if October will be as perfect, because if it's not we have to wait until next month to try for a baby. If all starts on time, I'll be on meds during our trip, and we'll come home to ovulation tests, doctor visits, and procedures. But there might be a baby this time.

I want so much to hope, to believe that THIS could be the time....our time. I want to believe that all the waiting, and aching, and tears, and trying to hope, and failing to hope, and picking names, and praying could finally be culminating over possibly the most awkward set of 15 days one could pick for such a thing. It would make an incredible story. A story only God could tell, only He could ordain. And so I hope, even though every ounce of me screams not to, reminding me of every disappointment of the past. I don't want to be disappointed, again. I don't want to stress about this, again. I don't want to wait another month, only to see it fail, again. I don't want to watch the next wave of pregnancy pass through our friends and church and leave us on the sidelines, again. I don't know that I could take all of this pain, again. But I do want to trust and be glad regardless of how this goes. I want to remember that I'm not guaranteed anything, but God still works ALL THINGS together for our good and His glory. I want to let God have His way and be stronger than the pain. I want to wish and hope with childlike anticipation that November could be the beginning of a new and very tiny life. It's such a scary thing to hope.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

DAY 7: LESS IS MORE

Autumn is in the air, my friends! Autumn is in the air! It's so exciting to starting to decorate and immersing ourselves in everything we love about this time of year, isn't it?! I've come across a couple of posts recently that have talked about decorating simply. Check out these two lovely ladies:

The Nester had this post called "Copy It With What You Already Have". I love how she talks about spending the most money on the pumpkins and gourds she buys and just using everything else that she may already have around the house.

Photo courtesy of the Nester

Melissa at The Inspired Room has been posting lots about how she decorates her house on a budget using more of nature, which I LOVE! Isn't the picture below brilliant!

Photo courtesy of The Inspired Room

This is my own attempt at simplicity in decorating for the fall, so far. Now, we have plans to change our mantle itself completely, but for now, here is how everything looks:

Hopefully, you can see here, that I used three gourds I got for $0.69 each (next year I think I'm going to try and grow some, though), and some whole coffee beans that we bought over a year ago that I've kept in a Ziploc bag and pulled out for decorating. I love the coffee scent and the rustic quality it brings. 

Here, I just put a pumpkin on an extra pot I had and put some pine cones we found out hiking around it. The possibilities are really endless. I'm hoping to bring in some branches I've found out and about, too, but I'm letting them dry out a bit. =] There are so many aspects of fall to draw from, and these two women, especially Melissa at The Inspired Room, have done a great job so far of pinpointing those aspects and helping us all breathe a little easier knowing it's okay not to go out and spend a fortune. Hope you enjoy their sites!

DAY 6: IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS

This morning, I came across a neat video by Ann Voskamp found on Emily's site at Chatting at the Sky. It's fantastic! Please take the time to scroll down on Emily's post and watch the video. You won't be sorry. In it, Ann talks about living life moment by moment and not rushing so much. Can you relate to the rushing around? And I don't just mean physical rushing, but also mental rushing. I sure can! My goodness, can I ever! I am not a moment by moment person. I'm an 'if only' person. If only this happened..... If only I had..... If only I was better at..... If only, if only, if only. That's an exhausting way to live.  It's a life of shallow breaths, an aching heart, and a weary soul.

Mr. N. once asked me if I thought I was an envious person. The answer is complicated. Or is it? I'm not really into "stuff". If people have nicer clothes, nicer homes, nicer cars that doesn't really bother me. What bothers me is when they have something that is a deep desire in my heart. It used to be a husband, now it's children. Especially if, in my limited and blinded judgment, it doesn't seem like they "deserve" it. Who am I to know that?! Epic fail on my part. So, yes, the envy is there and makes me constantly look forward to the day when I have that particular thing. It's hard to keep looking towards that moment and still appreciate the here and now. It's nearly impossible to look back on the day I just completed and list off the things I am most thankful for. That kind of existence is NOT what God intended for us. Yes, He has placed certain desires in our hearts. Yes, He has His own timing for when and if those are given to us and just how they'll look, which may not always be how we'd imagined them. But He has also commanded us not to worry about tomorrow. 

 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6: 25-34

 It can feel almost impossible not to worry each day, but it's a worthy battle to fight. We know God is faithful and that His character is absolutely trustworthy, so let's unclench our fists around those dreams we're sure will disappear if we hand the control over. Who are we kidding, really? We know that holding those things so tightly is more of a security blanket for us than something we're able to control. I can't magically put a baby in my uterus (that would be creepy and weird, p.s.) or know exactly where the child we're eventually meant to adopt is right at this moment, but I hold so tightly to these desires that you'd think I actually did have magical powers. Again, exhausting. 

Will you try some things with me? Try listing the things you're thankful for, no matter how small they may seem. Check out Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts, if that will help inspire you, and take a look at her blog, just to see what in the world she's talking about. Keep things simple. Enjoy right here, right now. Take a deep breath. Try to soak up every moment of the story God is telling in your life right now, whether you feel like you're on board with it or not. HE LOVES YOU! It may not always feel like that, but that is a fact.  

DAY 5: MORE SIMPLE CHANGES

Photo courtesy of Trinity College Library

I have one word for you today: LIBRARY 

Have you been to your local Library lately? Have you tapped into the magic that it possesses? The endless possibilities? If not, then you are truly missing something in your life, let me tell you. =] 

When Mr. N. and I got married, we decided to forgo getting cable television and opted for the rabbit ear antenna and watching our favorite shows online. After the initial crumbling of my world, I realized that this was perfect for our lifestyle and was MUCH less expensive (Free always is). We also started using our local Library as a resource for renting movies. Did you know:
1. That you can get a sweet library card key chain now!
2. You can check out magazines......this must be new, because back in the day this was not allowed......seriously, my world is a better place because of this addition
3. Some Libraries have kid's story times and fun crafts for kids of all ages, as well as for adults
4. It's a swell place to have a mini date with the hubby
5. You can put various cds, dvds, and books on hold on their websites and be notified when they come in, and they have a current selection of movies. It's good not to be caught in the 80's. =]
6. You can have your choices of the above sent to the Library closest to you
7. They have fun and educational events that you can attend for free. We went last year for Halloween and they talked about the haunted parts of our city and had Librarians dress up as some of these local, but long since passed, figures
8. All the cool kids are using the Library (okay, I don't know this for a fact, but we use it and we like ourselves pretty well, so there ya go) =}

These are just some of the wonderful things I've learned about our local Library. Be sure to stop in some time and see what magic awaits you and your family!  

DAY 4: IMPROVING OUR OUTLOOK

It's funny how sometimes when you set out to do something it can seem incredibly scary and exciting at first, but the farther in you get the more defeated you can feel and sometimes just want to give up. Honestly, that's the way I'm feeling about trying to write 31 ways to improve right now when I'm not sure I'm the best one to talk about improvement. It's not even a full week into it, but I'm realizing just how difficult it is and how much I have to learn. My goal has changed from writing every single day to making sure I have 31 posts, period, regardless of if it takes me into November to do so. By golly, this will happen!

I don't want my attempts to improve to seem trite or sugar coated. Lord knows, there are more days than not that I want to stay in bed with the covers over my head. I'm reading Grace for the Good Girl right now and Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety: Becoming A Woman of Faith and Confidence while I'm reading Kathy Reichs murder mysteries and going through the Harry Potter series. I struggle with going to church every single week and with planning my day so that I make the most of my time. And I never feel like I'm really succeeding at anything, which doesn't mean I'm not, of course, but it would make things simpler if the feeling was there sometimes. All of that to say, sometimes improvement doesn't have to be huge. It can be blasting Christmas music on your ipod in the beginning of October to brighten your mood enough to get you through your tasks. It can be memorizing a scripture every couple of weeks. It can be choosing to do laundry on one day a week rather than doing tiny loads all throughout the week to save water and energy. It can be incorporating your crock pot into meal planning more so that you get four meals for the price of one. It can be telling a friend how much you love them or giving your spouse an extra squeeze. It can be going to God with your struggles to trust Him in every situation, allowing those struggles to push you towards God rather than away from Him. It can be cutting yourself some slack sometimes and realizing that you don't have to do it all or reach this unattainable goal of something near perfection to be beautiful, or loved, or to matter in general. It's not easy, but it's not impossible. And every improvement, no matter how small, is a victory. 

DAY 3: SIMPLE CHANGES

Photo courtesy of Pottery Barn

A few months back, Mr. N. and I were brainstorming about some simple changes we could make in our home/life to improve the way we use our resources. In particular, we realized that every day, right before bed, we would take the glasses on our night tables, dump the old water in them down the sink, and fill them up with fresh water. Not to mention, looking around the house we found that there's at least always one or two old water cups from the day before. We started thinking about how much water that's actually adding up to in the long run just being wasted. Mr. N. had a fantastically simple idea: To place a pitcher next to our sink and poor the old water in that and then transfer that water to our watering can outside to use in the garden. We found a pitcher very much like this one at a garage sale for about $2. It's decorative enough for us to leave on the window sill above our sink, but fully functional enough to hold the water we need. It has been a great success for us so far and it's another small step in making the most of the resources God is giving us.