Evil MOLD! oh, and Happy Mother's Day!

So this year for Mother's Day Todd and I decided to do something special for both my mom and for us (sounds selfish, I know). but how many people make some really nice improvements on a rental property, eh? Not that many. So on Monday morning we drove to Lowes to check out some laminate flooring. We picked out this really pretty oak laminate that has glueless installation, which of course was also the best price except for maybe the stick on kind. It was on sale. (For those of you who know my mom, you should know that she always likes her presents more if they were on sale). So we got home and Todd got right to ripping up the old, VERY ugly linoleum that has probably been in that kitchen for 60 years.

Well, at first all went well. The linoleum was only attached on the sides where it went up the wall a little bit, so the bottom was a cinch to pick off. But then we saw it. Mold. I didn't act too worried, but really inside I was freaking out a bit. I was worried that we would have to tell my mom so she could pay a professional to clean it up, then she would get mad since she just spent a bunch of money refinishing her hardwood floor and getting tile laid in the kitchen. I had work that night so I spent my extra time while patients slept looking up mold cleanup and when to call a specialist. We really wanted to get this done by Sunday.

Later in the evening I called Todd to tell him of my concerns and my research. Well, he let me go on for a bit, then told me I didn't have to worry about it. He had gone to the Home Depot and bought mold cleaner/remover, and had cleaned the whole floor already. I told him I was still a little mad because I was worried about his health being so close to it, only to be told he also wore a mask, gloves, and goggles. Wow. Sometimes the amazingness of my amazingly amazing husband just amazes me. :) I was shocked. Tuesday he went back over the whole floor with bleach just to make sure all was well. Then I did it again on Wednesday just for good measure.





Notice the linoleum that was there before- just so you know, it looks dirty in the picture, but that is how it looked right after mopping. Yuck!


So once we had all of that mess taken care of, we laid down the underlayment for the floor. It is anti-mold and keeps moisture from coming up from below. It was sometimes a bit frustrating to try to get all the wrinkles out of it, but I think we did a pretty good job.







Once we had all that down, it was time to start laying the laminate wood. The first piece we did was around a doorway, and took us about 2 hours to complete. That was a little discouraging, as we had hoped to lay down the whole floor in one day. Luckily the first piece that we cut really bad ended up being usable in another section of the floor that we had to cut the pieces lengthwise, so at least we had that goin' for us.



We suckered Nikenzie into helping us cut some wood when my parents left her to us to watch while they were at Lauren's ballroom concert. All she had to do was help the clamp keep the wood in place and hold a flashlight. As a 12 year old, she complained a lot while we attempted to break child labor laws, but didn't fail to take credit later during the big reveal.




Some of our fine handywork:







Things were plugging along really well, but went exponentially better when Anna and Will came to town. Will had helped place laminate flooring before, and having three people along the length of the room to "click" in each row made the goings much, much easier. The room came together quite well.







Nope, we are not smart enough to get pictures of my mom seeing the new floor for the first time. Sorry.

So at our awesome ward, the Elders quorum has some sort of reward for the guy who has the coolest moment of the week. It is sort of a trumped up version of a "good news moment." Todd said that he had been trying to win the reward, a trophy the man gets to take home for the week, since it was introduced a few months ago. He said he had to do some persuading, but ended up winning the award for laying the floor down for my mom.

Change

So on Sunday Todd was sustained as part of the new bishopric of our singles ward. We have been waiting long months to find out if we would be released with the new bishop or if we would get to stay our full year assignment. We are pretty much distraught that we don't get to stay longer. We absolutely love it. No offense to the married student ward, but I am not very excited to go back in October. It is just too much fun to be where we're at.

I thought a lot about how crazy life is and how things work out. Way back last April Todd and I found out we had to move out from our amazing apartment because it was being sold. I was really excited to look for a new place. Not long after we found out we had to move, we found out that the people living in the "little house" at my parent's were moving out sometime in the fall/winter. My parents sort of have 2 houses on their lot and they let people stay there in exchange for doing chores as "part of the family." Todd and I really felt we had to consider this as an option, and eventually felt very strongly that we needed to make the move. We ended up moving in mid-August.

The first month of church in our ward we missed 2/4 Sundays. We were called as Sunday school teachers, and I taught 1 class while Todd was out of town. The next week we were transferred down to the singles ward.

About a month after got there, a girl that I didn't even know yet heard I was looking for a job as a nurse. The next day she called me and gave me her managers phone number at UVRMC, and when I called him he said he was just about to call me. In my interview he told me he was going to offer me the job, and I had been very highly recommended (mind you, the only thing I had ever said to this girl was "yes, I am looking for a job as a nurse"). Now I am in the best starter job I could ever imagine and Miriam and I are great friends.

These are only a few of the things that we have noticed that have allowed us to have this opportunity and that have been blessings because of it. Todd was released and re-called under the new bishop, so he got to be set apart again. I love to hear him being blessed to be able to improve in his calling and at home. My favorite part of the blessing was when the stake president said that Todd would be a "good boy." What a simple yet wonderful blessing. He is, of course, already a good boy, but what a blessing to watch an unseen hand change our lives and ourselves so much.

For me, I am mostly in the background. But I just love to watch Todd interact with the ward members. They all love him. One time he looked at me from the stand during a talk in sacrament meeting, and mouthed to me "Wake up!" I was extremely offended (jokingly so), as I was not sleepig nor had I even been closing my eyes. He justified himself later by saying no one saw, but oh was he wrong. I had to assure a few people that I do NOT sleep during sacrament meeting.

I have read a few of the articles the stake has had bishoprics read and been able to see him integrate the counsel and goals of the stake presidency in teaching and example for the ward. I love to hear his testimony so often and see how willing he is to come to meetings at 7:00 a.m., stay for meetings all the way until church at 1:30, then offer to count tithing to allow the 1st counselor to go home, even when it is not Todd's turn. I think his only complaint is that he can rarely eat the food at munch and mingle because it is too unhealthy or the spagetti is overcooked or it is just something he doesn't eat like red meat. Other than that (I feel bad stuffing my face while he sits there hungry since he hasn't eaten ALL day), we would both be happy to stay in the ward as long as we live in Utah.