Gratitude Post #80

1-I am grateful for Hansen Lighting! They have this cute little shop on 126th and the nicest girl works there! I found a coupon in The South Valley Journal and thought, "they are probably super expensive, but it would be good to get some ideas." We have been to Home Depot and Lowe's multiple times and can't find any light fixtures we like AND we have been super disappointed with the prices of things we sort of like. It is so overwhelming when your builder says, "Here is your budget for lighting...now go count how many fixtures you need and pick them out." AAAHHH!!! It was seriously stressing me out!! So, we stopped by Hansen Lighting with pretty low expectations...and we were pleasantly surprised! For Home Depot prices we get someone with a design background who will walk thru our house with us (for free) and help us count fixtures, decide what to put where, and pick things that will work perfectly for us. She made notes of the things that we liked, I sent her a copy of our floor plan and we're going to do a little walk-thru to get started. I feel so relieved that we can stay within our budget AND get fixtures that we love!

2-I am grateful that my house is completely sheet rocked! I was about to text our builder today to ask when sheet rock was going up. I went out this afternoon and it is completely done, with a crew of about 8 guys taping and mudding like crazy! That means we passed our 4-way inspection, our furnace is running (so no more freezing our butts off out there!) and all of our exterior doors and windows are in! That also means from this point on it's going to be crazy! (In a good way!) Once sheet rock is up things happen so fast and exciting things start happening. It's easier to be super excited about paint and cabinets and flooring...more so than being super excited about rough-in plumbing and framing. :) We also had 2 guys doing our front porch cement. I'm not super excited about the color we picked, but I hope it will look ok when our rock and stucco go up!

3-I am grateful for Ryan. He has been SO happy lately. He has been SO kind to his siblings AND to his parents. :) There is a lot to be said about being happy. His stomach problems (that were most likely stress related) have been resolved and his grumpiness is no longer a major problem. It was nice having him ride the bus to South Hills, but I totally don't mind driving him to and from school just because of how happy he is! P.S. I am also super grateful that Chris does a good chunk of the driving! I think I have only gotten up early once to take him. I was supposed to this morning but Sophey was up sick all night so Chris did it for me...and he said he'll do it tomorrow morning too, just in case she has a rough night again. ;)