I choose Joy!

As you can see from my past with blogging ... this doesn't happen often. Maybe its because I don't like my life being here for anyone to see ... Or maybe I'm just really bad at this :) Whatever it is, I'll try to make my occasional post worth reading for you.

Just this last week in Sunday School we were talking about how Christians love to blog about World problems and how they ought to change, and what changes that particular person would make to bring about change, but rarely ever actually do anything but rant. It brought a discussion on how we as Christians need to change our lives, and be the change we want to see in the world, instead of grumbling about how everything needs/should change.This lesson was actually on the topic of voting, but I think it applies to all areas of life.
Then, Monday I was reading a friend's blog about how she had been convicted to be praying to have a more joyful attitude in life.
This has made me think about my current situation in life. While I am happy with life, there are some things that I wish could change. But how will they change unless I'm willing to change myself? And in order to change myself I need to be praying joy into every day.  "Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of ALL the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be okay, and the determined choice to praise God in ALL things." - Kay Warren. Without joy, can I be happy with the changes I need to make in my life? Can I make the commitment needed to keep the changes in place? Most likely, no, because I'm like most people. Why change something that works? But does it really work? Or is it just making-do? Because without joy in the Lord, what is left? An unhappy/artificially happy person.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 I want there to be joy flowing from me ... so, Today I choose Joy!

Time to Recreate the Blog

I was told that I needed to update my blog. It has been WAY over a year since I last posted here. Honestly not much has happened since the last time I did post.
...

Susie got married, Beth had another baby (Alan James), Valerie and I still live at home and are totally bored most days. But most people who read my blog already know this stuff ....

So maybe I need to re-create what my blog is about. Obviously I don't have enough excitement in my life to share with the world consistently.

So while I decide how exactly I am going to recreate this ....

This lil' guy started K4 today! Yay Stevie! Hope you enjoy school as much as Tommy does :)

This picture was taken May 2009

A Year Later ...

Wow it has been almost a whole year since I put anything up here ...

A lot has happened in my life in the last year:
* First of all last March (25th) Grandpa died, that was a rough time :( Looking back over my past blogging I realized I skipped over posting anything about that time. A lot of family, a lot of crying, a lot of memories, but it was a bittersweet time because Grandpa is now in Heaven! ... most of us gathered for a memorial weekend this year.

* Then there was my bedroom remodel, which I did blog about.
* After that was Marshall Mann, my newest and now 5 month old nephew. He is getting SO big! He sits up mostly by himself, and he's starting to scoot around.

* We also remodeled the Living Room ... that was almost worse than my bedroom. We had to remove paneling and wallpaper then paint. We also removed the carpet and Dad laid a laminate wood floor (which he is still working on because the sub floor was so uneven). We also painted ALL the dark trim (including the ceiling beams). The room looks amazing now. Grandma keeps saying how she likes it lighter :) (photos for this section curtsey of Rachelle)

* I was transferred to MSU's Apartments Leasing Office early in Dec. Honestly I like it a lot more than working in the residence halls. They give me more to do. 
* March Birthdays-Trip to Chuckie Cheese was on March 19th ... that place is always so crowded, I don't know why we go ... It was fun though, until we started gathering for cake and presents and Tommy decided to start throwing up ... LOL :) We quickly gathered everyone, turned in tickets, got prizes and continued the party at home ...

*Willie made his second trip to the emergency room ... so far he's the only one that's had to go ... all of the Norton children have had pink-eye for the last week or so, and Willie's got so irritated it burst a blood vessel or something. Beth said it looked like his eye was blistering, so they took him in just in case.
*Susie and Alex are getting married in August! Exciting!!! 

*It's spring again which brings more kittens :) So far we have 4 grey ones this year!

*Tommy is learning how to draw ... He drew this pig in Sunday School, pretty amazing for a 3 1/2 yr old. (yes, he is 4 now)

* Mom wants to start working on transforming the Dining Room/Kitchen. She has BIG plans, and expects a lot done ... but I have limited time, and so I think it's going to take longer that she wants. Maybe by Christmas-time.

I guess that's all for now. I'll try to be better about posting this year ... but we'll see ;)

End of Week 4 - Beginning of Week 5

Here it is!!!! I'm finally "finished" ... well at least moved in and things have begun to be put away ;) and I am still in the process of collecting accessories. I am happy with the way things turned out though.

Before ...

 The white wall was covered with green shag carpet (and therefore filled with staples).

After ... (drum roll)

I made the bedspread in my Sewing for the Home class at Bob Jones.

I hung the shelves mostly by myself ... the first one I tried it fell off the wall as soon as I put books on it. So Dad helped me a little.

Dad also hung the mirror for me ... which is a lot streakier than I thought (guess I'd better clean that).

   

I'm hoping to create a gallery-type wall here ...

So that's it :)

Remodel Week Three

So here we are at the end of the third week into my little project ... And I'm so close to having my room ready to move into now!!! Hopefully by the end of next week it will all be finished and I'll just be settling things into their new homes ;) I have finished painting the room ... (I still need to find the closet which is FULL of Mom's junk .. Mom isn't helping out very much because its spring and she has planting to do), I'm almost finished painting my daybed frame (it was a pastel pink ... didn't work with my plan).

Here's what's left on my to-do list:
1. Finish painting my bed frame
2. Clean out the closet so I can remove the ugly baseboards and carpet strips, then paint
3. Hang the mirror and shelving
4. Figure out how to temporarily cover the floor (Dad is going to eventually re-floor the whole house with wood planks)
5. MOVE IN!!!
Oh yeah and I need to get Dad to cover the hole under the window. And trim the windows and door

That's all, I think I can do it within the next week ... But I work all of next week at both of my jobs, so we shall see :)

As soon as I'm finished I will post before & after pictures :)

Room Remodeling ... Week Two

I know this is the first post on this project ...
I am in the midst of re-doing MY bedroom! Mom and Dad moved into the master bedroom (formerly our living room -which is now downstairs where it belongs) It is a ... process ... Since I am at work or on the road for 12+ hours a day, there really isn't much time to do the work in my room.
I have accomplished a little bit though, such as pulling the carpet staples out of the wall (carpet should NOT be put on a wall, never, ever!) And I pulled the floor-to-ceiling paneling off two of the other walls, all the trim is down, carpet is up off the floor and out of the room. And there is so much left to do.
Be prepared for future blog posts (hopefully with pictures) as this chaotic process continues :)

SNOW, SNOW GO AWAY!!!!!

I'm so sick of the snow already! Why can't it be spring?? Just last week I was driving with my windows down because it was so nice ... and now I have temporarily  killed my car because of the snow! Poor car :( I was trying to stop at a red light in East Lansing, and my poor car slid across two empty lanes of traffic (a one way road) into a parking lot, hit the unlucky car parked there, and kept slidding to the sidewalk on the crossroad, where my car died. Praise God! I only bumped the other car doing minimal damage to him, I ended up in the hospital parking lot so security filed the report and no ticket was necessary, and Dad was working nearby so he could come help my car.

Okay I think I'm done ranting about snow for now ;)