New Blog (again!)

Apparently I can't make up my mind on how to make this blogging thing work for me!  I didn't like trying to manage two blogs, but I don't like having our photography/personal blog combined into one either.  I haven't been doing a lot with photography lately anyway (and will probably do even less when the baby comes along), SO I am going back to ONE blog and since it will just be a personal blog we are going private again.  Leave me your email address if you'd like to be privy to our super exciting life :)

Master Bedroom

Before:

After:

New bed frame (we liked the other one, but it was a little big for our bedroom and made it feel a lot smaller), an actual comforter set (instead of just a quilt), curtains, some new decor, new paint (we had to change the green because it clashed a little and we hadn't painted the other three walls yet), and (of course) new trim and casing!

 We love it!

Not faith to move mountains, but faith to climb them!

"Ultimately the question for many is, 'If faith doesn't mean being able to get what I want, what does it mean?' The answer to that question is not the same for everyone.  One infertile woman said that her crisis of faith had been healed by the Savior's example.  She had wanted her faithful prayers to heal her infertility.  She had tried not to doubt God or His power to heal, and sought to live the kind of life that she felt merited her Heavenly Father's help.  She believed that her faith could remove this mountain of frustrated dreams.  Yet, her infertility persisted.

"Finally, she realized that Christ, whose perfect faith had healed lepers, given sight to the blind, and raised the  dead, and who had pleaded that his bitter cup be removed if possible-had finally been spared neither the agony of Gethsemane nor the pain of the Crucifxion.  Christ's perfect faith had not altered Gethsemane, but rather helped him to endure it.  This woman came to see her faith in a different light-not as an imperfect faith that had been insufficient to remove her trials, but as a vibrant faith that could help her endure them.  Not faith to move mountains, but faith to climb them!"

-Gordon B. Hinckley

I am grateful for an inspired friend who shared this quote with me at a time when I needed it most.  It really helped me to understand and view faith in a different light!

Home Improvements: The Office

Before:

After:

New paint, the trim, doors and casings were done when we did the rest of the upstairs, new blinds and some different decorations.

It is a little more cluttered with the instruments and there is more crammed in the closet (since we needed to clear out the second bedroom to get ready for Baby), but overall I like it a lot better! 

My view at 23 weeks...

Only 17 more weeks!

Haha...it still feels like forever away!  I'm sure it will be here before we know it though :)

Our little girl is moving a lot more now, which is so fun!  Clint is just starting to be able to feel her.  It's still hard for him to tell, but I think it will become real obvious pretty soon :) 

I am more excited to meet her every day!

Banana Bars

These were a favorite treat of mine that my mom would make when I was growing up.  They are still one of my favorite treats!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c. softened margarine
• 2/3 c. sugar
• 2/3 c. brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 ripe, mashed bananas
• 2 c. flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 c. chocolate chips

Directions:

• Mix margarine, sugar, brown sugar, egg, vanilla and mashed bananas.  Add flour and baking powder and mix.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Bake in a 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

I hope you like them!

The Laborers in the Vineyard

{photo taken from here}

"...there are going to be times in our lives when someone else gets an unexpected blessing or receives some special recognition.  May I plead with us not to be hurt-and certainly not to feel envious-when good fortune comes to another person?  We are not diminished when someone else is added upon.  We are not in a race against each other to see who is the wealthiest or the most talented or the most beautiful or even the most blessed.  The race we are really in is the race against sin, and surely envy is one of the most universal of those."

-Jeffrey R. Holland

I loved this talk from General Conference in April.  You can go here to read the full message (which I highly recommend doing if you haven't already!)

It's a GIRL!!

We are so excited!  Bring on the pinks and purples and little dresses! :)  Everything went really well during the ultrasound and she is measuring right where she should be!  So it looks like as of right now we are on track for the due date of December 4th.  Here are a few pictures of our little one!

Her face (and a little bit of arms and legs):

 Feet:

 A leg and a side view of a foot:

Isn't she so cute already ;)

And here is my 20 week baby bump.  Half way!!

Home Improvements: Trim and Casing

Here is the first of a few posts to show some of the work we've done on our house!

Before:

Dark wood trim, casing and doors (except for the awesome (sarcasm there) green front door).

After:

New trim and casing!  We sanded down the window frames and doors and painted them too.  No green door-yay!  This room also got new paint.

 You'll notice some new decor as well.  Some has been there awhile, but some (like the curtains in the first picture) are new.

We did the new trim/casing on the whole first floor, but the other rooms aren't complete yet, so I will post about them later :)  I LOVE how it looks!  It is so much better and it really brightens up the house.  Lots of hard work, but totally worth it!

Camille: Senior Pictures

I had such a blast doing Camille's Senior Pictures!  She is such a cute girl and was so easy-going and fun to work with!  She had some great ideas for locations!  I think they turned out really cute :)  Here are a few favorites:

LOVED this spot with the vines!

Isn't she gorgeous?!

Thanks Camille!

Happy Independence Day!

"Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

-The Star-Spangled Banner 

Francis Scott Key

Adventures With Mom and Dad, Part III

We got back from our trip through Nauvoo and Missouri on Monday evening.

On Tuesday Clint had to go back to work (frown) and the rest of us headed to Sioux Falls for the day!  My parents wanted to help us get some baby stuff while they were here so we went to Babies R Us.  What a fun store!  I want to go back there when I find out what we're having :)  Anyway, we were able to find a car seat and stroller that I liked!  It's funny, because I know we're having a baby, but every time I see the car seat I'm like, "Whoa...we're actually having a baby!"  Haha :)

Anyway, while we were in Sioux Falls, we obviously had to go see the falls!  Can you tell it was really windy??

 We also hit up Panera and Red Mango while we were there.  Mmmm!

On Wednesday we hung around here, and while my dad did some work, my mom helped me paint our bedroom.  Unfortunately as we were painting we realized that they had given us the wrong color of paint!  Urgh!  Very frustrating.  (Fortunately Clint and I were able to go back and they gave us the right paint.  Clint got it painted on Saturday and it looks awesome!).  That night we went to Sioux City and did some more shopping.

On Thursday my dad had some more work to do, so my mom and I headed to Omaha.  We went to the Mormon Trail Center and then to the Henry Doorly Zoo!  The zoo is HUGE and we didn't have time to see all of it.  I wish we had, cause what we saw was awesome!  A lot of their exhibits are indoors so they are actually open year round.  Here are pictures from The Jungle:

 It was so cool!  You almost feel like you are actually in the jungle.  It's amazing how they did the whole thing. After that we headed over to see the lions and tigers.  The pictures of the lions sleeping crack me up!  Especially the top one :)

That was all we had time to see, but it was worth it!  I definitely want to go back and see everything else sometime though.  Next we headed to Old Market.  I've mentioned this place before, but it is basically a few blocks in downtown Omaha where the streets are lined with all kinds of restaurants and shops.  Very fun!

Then my parents had to leave on Friday morning :(  It was so fun having them here!  We were able to do a lot, but it still felt like we didn't have enough time.  Isn't that always how it goes?

Thanks for coming to visit Mom and Dad!  We had a blast!

Kansas City, MO Temple

Here are a few pictures from our stop at the Kansas City Temple, as promised!  Unfortunately we didn't get to go in because it was closed, but Clint and I hope to go back one day to see the inside!

A beautiful temple!