Out with the Old - In with the New

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It was great to have a little group of kids up for the celebration, but I must admit, not the same without most/all the best pals. I hate breaking a good tradition, but I guess it was unavoidable.

The great thing about a new year is a sense of starting fresh…

OUT: Yucky old couch that Stephen took with him from a house he rented in law school that nobody claimed (for good reason). I don’t know why I had this couch SO much, maybe because I’m grossed out by everything that may have happened on/to it. Or maybe because now it’s become a cat bed/scratching post. And while it’s not the ugliest couch of all ugly couches, it is Pretty Darn.
IN: A brand spakin new oat-meal-colored microfiber couch and love seat!!!!!! AND well under our budget! I’m really excited….
Also in, a bedroom set… nothing out here since our mattress has just been on the floor since now. I guess our dressers will go back to our parents who loaned them to us. Real Adult Furniture, we’re growing up……. *sigh*

OUT: White Walls. We’ve been in our little house since July and we still have no pictures up… I was amazed how much our apartment looked more like a dingy little apartment and less like a home when we took all our pictures down to move.
IN: Color EVERYWHERE! I think we’ve decided on…. Living room: coffey/light brown with a red accent above the fireplace along with red and black accents throughout the living room. Kitchen: RED! (which will match the red above the fireplace) a really pretty dark red… we might do the darkest shade below the chair rail and a slightly lighter shade above. Bedroom: it’s down to two shades of green – “Brisk Olive” (Stephen) and “Prairie Grass” (Jen). We might paint the bathroom later (I’m thinking some sort of blue) and I guess we’ll chose nursery colors in February! I’m already in full nesting mode!

OUT: The good old days of laying around in bed all Saturday, making plans at the drop of a hat, spit-up free clothes, oh yeah and sleeping all through the night. And this is only a drop in the bucket of all the changes we’re going to face when baby Stro makes his/her appearance.
IN: The amazingly wonderful days of cuddling, reading, laughing, learning, growing, teaching and just staring at the little person we made. As much as the thought of motherhood scares me at times, I feel very ready for it at the same time. I’m so excited about starting our family… Laurie Burke (mother of seven) said it the best, “it’s like when people tell you things won’t be the same after you’re married, you can’t do the same things… it’s true, but you’re so happy with your new life that you don’t care about the stuff you’re ‘missing out on.’ It’s the same way with a baby, sure you can’t do all the things you used to do, and yes there are a lot of challenging aspects of parenthood but it’s all worth it and you’re so happy and in love with your baby that you don’t feeling like you’re missing anything.”

And one more thing…….
I just have to say, as I look back on 2008 and welcome in 2009……….
God is Good.