Trek!

We were just called and finally got everything figured out so we can be a "Ma" and "Pa" on Trek in a month! I couldn't be more excited. Now I just need to convince the "Pa" this is a going to be awesome. I can't wait!!

DIY Cottle Style

{I posted this on our "Bits of Everything" blog, but wanted it here too}

There is a great satisfaction that comes when you finish a home project that you've been wanting to do. Since we moved into our home two and a half years ago, I've wanted to put in a back-splash and new faucet in our kitchen. We finally found an open Saturday and got to work. It's amazing the projects you can do that don't cost too much that can make such a huge difference.

Here are the supplies you need:

*12x12 tiles of your choice
*adhesive to back the tiles
*an adhesive spreader
*grout
*a flat bottom spreader tool for spreading the grout (different than adhesive)
*a large yellow sponge to wipe the grout
*a towel to clean after you've sponged
*possibly a tile saw (we ended up renting one)
*Calk to seal the edges

We started out measuring the first piece so that it was exactly side to side and top to bottom where we wanted it above our oven. Then we started at the left and worked to the right. We spread a generous amount of adhesive and then applied the tile and pressed as hard on it as we could. Some of the adhesive came through the little tiles-which I quickly wiped up. We aligned the tiles so they connected and just kept moving through the kitchen. It took us about 4 hours to apply on and then 5 hours to let the adhesive dry before we applied the grout.

Here are the before pictures:


Here are the working pictures (which I am missing out of! :):



And here is the finished product:




I also painted our downstairs bathroom while my husband was out of town last week!
Here are the before pics:




And the after pics: p.s I used Dover Gray satin paint (Olympic)



Linked up with:
Organize and Decorate Everything

Favorite quote today

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen."

Elizabeth Kobler-Ros

Women's Conference

In the end of April, I was lucky enough to go to Women's Conference with all of Mark's sisters and mom at BYU. It was SO AWESOME. You must make this a priority for 2012. I felt the spirit a bunch (which just never happens anymore with kids) and took so many great notes and just enjoyed my time with my cute Cottle fam. These girls know how to have fun. We ate well, laughed hard, talked lots, walked a lot (esp me! I took a scenic tour mistakenly of BYU's campus) and I even fit a few tears in.
It was a great couple of days for sure.





Did I mention that we know how to have fun? It's true.

**Thanks Cal for letting me steal your pics!!
Here is a couple things I heard that I loved the most:

{Keep it small*Keep it Simple*Give it time}
{Prayer is an extension of agency. Expectations change when you pray fervently}
{All relationships change when you pray fervently}
{Simplify your life. Pray. Read the scriptures. Love-Laugh-Enjoy and Everything will work together for your good}
{Be thankful. The art of "Thanksgiving" is "Thanks living"}

It inspired me to make a little gratitude journal. I'm finding things each day that I love or that help me remember that we really aren't here alone. I notice the "little things" more. AND now when I think "Oh, I should really write her a note and thank her for that"...and then never do...I came home and wrote some letters!! YEAH!

Here is a cute quote: "If you only pay attention to all the rocks on the path, you'll miss the flowers and beauty all around you!"

And, I heard this over and over just for me...
"When your life feels insignificant, SERVE someone!"

Here is one more...

"We have a choice to "just get through" life and it's experiences or we can embrace it, we can pray to learn from the people and the experiences that our loving Heavenly Father has personally blessed our lives with"

So many times lately, I'm just not challenged. Let's face it, I do the same things every. single. day. I get boys dressed, wash dishes, put clothes away, make food, clean it up, read a story, put in more laundry, wipe a nose, change a diaper, clean up play dough, make some food, change the laundry, bath time, bed time, clean up toys time, kiss Mark goodnight. And then I repeat.

But if I look at it that way, then that's all I'm doing and that's all I can get out of it too.
I need to change my outlook. Life won't be like this very long...

I learned a lot at Women's Conference. I'm ready to change the world.
Okay, just my world, but that's enough for me.

p.s. my mom has a boyfriend! (she doesn't read this-or she would totally kill me that this news made it to cyber space) I haven't met him yet, but they date and it's just about more than my heart can handle! I don't know what will happen, but I couldn't be happier for her.

Easter 2011

We had a great Easter this year. The celebration started off on Saturday with a shower for Jeff and Ruth. We are so excited for them!! She is down to just a few weeks. And she may be the cutest pregnant lady I've ever seen. Her belly bounces when she laughs! (I wish I had taken some pictures)
Then we headed to my mom's house for the Easter festivities. Here are just a few pictures of the egg hunt....











Sunday, was a little nuts! We hurried to the church for ward choir practice and then they did a beautiful job. I changed the song from the previous Sunday (it just wasn't working) and so we only had 2 practices with the new one. You would have never known. It was perfect. Then our church and then we headed up to Mark's student ward (that goes from 3-6PM!)and I sang. We were tired when we finally got home around 6:30.
Here are some not so great pictures of our Easter together. Conner wanted nothing of it. And he totally won. You'll just love all the construction behind us. I totally do.





And here is my favorite person in the world. He was on a business trip the entire week before Easter and I missed him so much. He left me a love note all around my house every morning for me to find. Can't ask for better than that.