House & Forgiveness
Maggie and I have been going hard renovating the house. We’re pleased to announce that the living room is now complete! This was a very fun project that we tackled together with Maggie and the help of my mother in-law, Jean. The final product kind of has a Scandinavian “hotel” vibe—it’s clean and classy with browns, greys, whites and splashes of gold. Maggie saved us a fortune by up-scaling some Ikea furniture with gold spray paint—our wallets are certainly grateful! I was also able to expand my horizons by tackling the herringbone tile pattern in the fireplace. Where would we all be without YouTube tutorials?
Check out the before:
And the after:
Now we’re in the midst of the kitchen and dining room project.
We had bi-fold doors installed last week which will really help pull in the backyard as a focal point to the house. We are looking forward to using these this summer so fingers crossed that the rain goes away! Tomorrow we have the building inspector coming out as we had to have a load-bearing wall removed and replaced with an RSJ steel beam. Once we get the go-ahead on this, we’ll have to arrange an electrician to come in to re-wire the space in preparation for the kitchen layout. Maggie is going for a “California Modern" vibe.
If you want to follow the project along, follow the account Maggie has created: https://www.instagram.com/theamericansatno8/
Forgiveness
A few weeks back I was able to spend a lot of quality time with my buddy John Sullivan. We talked a lot about the effects of trauma and forgiveness. We’ve all experienced this to some degree (the loss of a loved one, an accident/injury, tragic heartbreak, etc). It was eerie how, off the heels of this conversation, I returned to church and the sermon was about the powerful effects of forgiveness therapy; something I had never heard of. What is forgiveness? “Forgiveness is a conscious decision to let go of feelings of anger or resentment harboured toward a person who has committed a wrong. It can often help the one who has been wronged release any negative feelings and achieve a sense of peace.”[1] Studies suggest that people who don’t forgive and hold grudges are more prone to have compromised immune systems. Not only does forgiveness lead to a more positive life, it can actually improve one’s health—crazy! Take time to address what needs healing. You owe it to yourself and the loved ones around you. If you don’t heal what hurt you, you’ll bleed on those who didn’t cut you.