June 29

We've been slowly working on getting our old house ready to go up on the rental market. The house itself (we won't talk about the garage) is now empty, so last week we had the entire interior painted and necessary repairs made. Today, we moved on to flooring.

I played with samples as a sales rep took the necessary measurements. And I quietly marveled over how a few surface changes can make a place look so different. In a way, the idea of painting over crayon marks and pulling out the carpet that played host to the first steps of three of our four kids made me sad, but it also stirred a sense of gratitude for the memories we made in that house. And for the thousands of pictures we have from those days. Because although those early days of our family were hard --much harder, in some ways, than I ever could have imagined-- they were mostly good days. And I'm thankful that they're part of our history.