Koi Pond

It started with a little rushing. On Tuesday I found out that my brother was out of work and needed to make rent, and I had a painting job I needed help with. I offered to pay him to help me paint my master bedroom and bathroom the next day. I had a half-hour until Aaron would be leaving work, and there is a Sherwin Williams store right by his office. I called him and asked him to pick up some Koi Pond paint, the color recommended to me by my good friend Kim, who is a fabulous designer.

I asked Aaron if he thought we would need two or three gallons of paint. He was in the middle of work (imagine that), and asked me to figure out the square footage and email him a list of what I needed. As I only had a little time, I did a rough calculation of a 10'x14' bedroom, plus a 5'x10' bathroom. I had a combination of calculator mishap and area calculation memory lapse at this point, and somehow came up with needing enough paint for 1500 sq. ft. I couldn't find coverage information on their website, so I left it for Aaron to calculate at the store.

Aaron handed my list to the Sherwin Williams clerk, and he proceeded to mix 10 gallons of paint. Aaron thought it was taking a long time to mix, and asked him how much paint a master bedroom and bathroom would normally take. The clerk thought 10 gallons sounded about right (Do most people really have a bedroom and bathroom three times the size of mine???). Aaron had been in the middle of a serious discussion at work when he answered my call, and had not remembered my question about whether I'd need two or three gallons of paint.

Aaron purchased the $394 worth of paint and supplies on my list, and brought them home - at which point I cried. I wasn't planning on spending so much on painting my master bedroom and bathroom, and you can't return tinted paint.

After 14 hours of painting yesterday, the bedroom and bathroom are now a very beautiful shade of green. However, I have seven extra gallons of paint. If anyone is interested in some very nice Kim Dray-recommended Koi Pond Sherwin Williams Paint at $31/gallon, let me know. Six gallons are flat paint for bedrooms, and one gallon is semi-gloss for a bathroom.

First Day of School (a little late)

Here are our traditional doorstep pictures on the first day of school. I have been so busy with home improvement projects ever since the house emptied of these guys during the days that I hadn't gotten around to uploading pictures until today (I have a bit of a cold, so I'm trying to take it easy today).

Tristin - 8th grade

Brandon - 6th grade

Will - 4th grade

Ben - 3rd grade

Dallin - 1st grade

The whole bunch!

Katie hanging on the fridge

Katie was very determined to get a snack out of the refrigerator.

Line of the day

From one of my high school friends' FB page:

_______ hates it when relatives say, "You could be next", at weddings. That's ok though.. she just responds by saying, "You could be next", at funerals.

General Conference Favorites

Here are my favorite talks, in case anyone is interested:

Sat. morning session:

The first half of Elder Scott's talk on communication with the spirit was a definite winner. It gave me peace in regard to the insane decisions Aaron and I are trying to make right now. The second half didn't really apply, but Aaron and I were expecting it, and both yelled, "There it is!" with a few giggles when he got to his favorite evil to avoid (it seems to be a theme with him in his conference talks).

Elder Bednar's talk on the home touched on very important principles that I feel like I'm doing well with right now. I have room for improvement, but all in all, I feel like Aaron and I are on the right track. I will use it in FHE, more than likely.

Sat. afternoon session:

Dallin H. Oaks' talk about love for our Heavenly Father and parenting had sound principles that will help me be a better parent.

Sun. morning session:

H. David Burton's talk about the "ity" virtues is one I plan to use for a family home evening in the near future.

Ann M. Dibb's talk had a great analogy to use in FHE or Primary sharing time.

Thomas S. Monson encouraged us to provide more service to others in this talk.

Sun. afternoon session:

Jeffrey R. Holland bore a fiery testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, and warned us that even those of the covenant can be deceived.

D. Todd Christofferson's talk was very interesting. He discussed how the lack of morality in today's society is causing governments to drive our behavior by compulsion. He reminded that there is no double standard for morality.

Thomas S. Monson closed the meeting with much gratitude for those who spoke, offered prayers, and for the beautiful music. It wasn't just rote, as it sometimes seems. The spirit was strong, and it was very heartfelt. He asked us to pray for him and the other general authorities.

I felt the spirit witness to me the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ so many times during this conference. I am so grateful for the blessings the gospel has brought into my life.