Accomplishment

This past weekend we finished our bathroom remodel! Who doesn't love before and afters???

Before:

This is our main bathroom.  The tub is light blue, walls are stark white, and the bathtub doesn't have a shower.  It created an awkward situation when we hosted overnight guests because if they wanted to shower they had to use our shower in the master bedroom (we have a 3/4 bathroom in our bedroom).  Also, with Ada getting bigger, we needed to transform the tub to be shower accessible so that it's easier to bathe Ada.  Not to mention, I hate trying to shave my legs in the stand alone shower in our bedroom!  

During:

We are sooooo fortunate to know Kyle and Sarah VanGorp.  They came all the way from DES MOINES to help us!  Kyle knows how to fix, remodel, rebuild, install anything and everything.  Sarah has got very good taste and an eye for color complementing, interior design, and decorating. Chris and I wish we were like them! Together they have totally transformed their old, worn out forclosure house into a beautiful, updated and modern home! Check out their blog here. So, Kyle helped and taught Chris how to do plumbing stuff with the shower, and Sarah helped me with painting, decorating ideas, and etc.  She was also great company while the men poured blood, sweat, and tears over the tub. 

The After:

Taa-daahh!!! Dark fern green walls, dark chocolate covered trim and painted vanity, new shower hardware with a wall surround, the tub is painted white (with a tub and tile kit), and the mirror has a tile border.  Total cost of everything: $361.09.  And this included the pizza we ordered.  Every time I step into the bathroom I feel like I'm stepping into a different house!  This is the only room in our house that has color in it right now.  The rest of the house is egg-shell white, with hardly anything on the walls.  

I super-glued tile to make a border for this flat mirror.  Stole this idea from my sister.  Luckily, I found a tile pattern at Menard's that matched our color scheme perfectly! Total cost for this was about $30.

How does posting these pictures relate to this blog about motherhood?  As a stay at home mom, I work all day, but feel like I have nothing to show for it at the end of the day.  For example, I clean the kitchen, it gets dirty, I clean it again, after lunch its dirty, clean again.  Or, clean diaper on, dirty diaper off, clean diaper on, dirty diaper off.  Family's hungry, feed the family, family's hungry, feed the family. With my job, nothing is ever completely forever "done."  In any other job outside of the home, you have task accomplishments.  For example, with Chris' job, he talks to a customer, designs a playground, sells the playground, organizes the installation, and it's done.  He has something to show for it.  I don't regret my job or despise the nature of it.  I do believe that the tasks I do to take care of our home and my family are important and meaningful, but I do miss having "accomplishments."  Now, I don't have a need for "accomplishments" to justify my profession of being a stay at home mom.  I feel really secure that this is where God has called me to be for this season of my life, and I love my job!  But I miss the feeling you get when you have done something, and it's done forever, and you have something tangible to show for it.  Even that piece of paper you receive after four years of college feels good to look at, doesn't it?  That's the sense of accomplishment that I miss.  That's one of the reasons I loved doing this project.  It breaks me out of the mundane, is an outlet for my creativity, and I can say, "Look!  I did this!"  Through this I've discovered my need to do fun projects, be it a bath remodel or a sewing project or painting, for the sake of enjoyment in breathing out a long sigh, wearing a proud smile on my face, and saying "I'm done!"