Creating The Cave of Wonders

We have created a new room in our home. We were in need of some extra space to accommodate all the extra bodies that travel in-and-out of our house. With nine children between our two families, plus additional kid-friends that frequent our home, more space became a need, not just a want. 

After house-hunting for a time, and almost following through on an expensive new home purchase, we felt prompted to make the house we are in work for us. We decided to fully utilize the space in the garage, and use it to add an additional 400 square feet of living area. After making our decision to stay, we went in and completely cleaned and cleared out the garage. Over time, we have transformed it into a space designed for creativity, imagination, growth, learning, and fun!

This process has taken many months. A big remodeling project has certainly been a fun way to start out our new marriage! We have learned a lot about working together, and we have found we work together quite well! David and I both love to dream and create. David has the ability to make things happen in the construction process, while I am more inclined towards the creative design elements. It has required a lot of hard work, sweat, compromise, and yes, many tears. The process was meant to be a slow and steady one, and it is still ongoing as we wrap up some finishing details, and determine how to gradually furnish and design the room.

President Nelson recently stated:

"The new home-centered, Church supported integrated curriculum has the potential to unleash the power of families, as each family follows through conscientiously and carefully to transform their home into a sanctuary of faith." 

That is one of our personal family goals: To make our home a sanctuary of faith. 

Now, of course, we do not need to remodel our whole house to adjust and accommodate home-centered church. Or do we? Hmmmm... perhaps each room in the home could be gently "remodeled" to become more of a sanctuary? Perhaps we are meant to step back and evaluate the entirety of the home, as a place designed to increase faith and love and unity in the home.... Hmmmm... food for thought.

With the newly announced Youth Program focusing on spiritual, social, physical, and intellectual development, it seems that our new "Cave of Wonders" might have been inspired, at just the right time. We plan to continue to create and construct the room, with those four elements of development in mind. And you know what happens when you remodel one area... the whole house becomes a target for change!

Did you know that creativity and using your imagination destroys boredom, and can even help in the healing of depression and anxiety? We are meant to create and use our brains and bodies to build new things that did not exist before like art, music, dancing, stories, blog posts, pumpkin cookies, construction projects, lego creations, etc.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf said:

"Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty. ...

"The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come." 

Here is another quote by Robert D. Hales, it pricked my heart a little.

"Too often, however, those who possess great talents are selfish and do not use their gifts for the benefit of others. And more importantly, they do not acknowledge that these gifts are God-given." 

Here is a beautiful quote by Neal A. Maxwell:
"Creative expression can also represent the celebration of our gratitude to God for our gifts and talents."

I love that!

Woo-Hoo! Time to go be creative and celebrate gratitude to God!

If you are feeling down today, or if you are bored, anxious, or feeling gross (and clearly you must be bored if you are reading my blog ;) ),  I encourage you to get up and create something, anything, and see if you do not feel just a tiny bit better.

Repeat being creative daily, for a happier you!  (I am talking to myself here.)

Back to creating the Cave of Wonders...

We began the adventure just a short time after we got married. The garage became a dumping ground for all of our combined stuff and junk. We took many days going through and emptying out everything we could live without.

At times, it was a gut-wrenching journey through the past.

The mess was overwhelming, and the things we would find along the way caused it to be a deeply emotional event. Between our two worlds -- and our different past experiences involving death and divorce -- we would come across items that would trigger extreme feelings and memories. I found a box filled with post-death hospital questionnaires, Charles' organ donation papers, headstone and funeral information. David found a folder with divorce papers, old family pictures, and other memories. We both found ourselves dealing with frustrations and tears, as the ghosts of our past came to haunt our present happiness.

As we continued going through the mess of the past, we were ruthless and threw out so many items that were not essential to our future happiness together. When all was said and done, he was mostly left with boxes of camping gear, and I was left with boxes of holiday decorations. We let go of SO MUCH. It was incredibly freeing to let go of so much JUNK. Working through the process of dejunking together was hard, but it was so good for us. It felt like we were creating a clean foundation to build our united home and marriage.

We hauled away SO much trash. Our other important items went to a storage unit for now, until we build another shed in the backyard.

 The whole project started with a window.

 I had no idea what abilities David had, but he just went to town on everything, without hesitation.

 The window! WooHoo!

David would always see and find a better way to do something, and then he would just do it. Here he is constructing a closet to enclose our furnace. He worked with his dad and brother that owns Youngberg Heating and Cooling, to keep things to code. We had the city come and check all his work.

He ripped the old drywall off, and installed insulation. 

 It was a messy job.

 I have never seen anyone work as diligently as David to get a job done. He spent so many nights and days out there, constructing and creating. It seemed like a happy place for him, being able to build with his hands. (He works on the computer all day for his job.)

 His mind would just spin with ideas of what was possible.

 Once we got to a certain point, we turned some things over to the professionals. We had a company come in and do the taping and texturing... a big and messy job.

They also sprayed the primer layer of paint. 

When it came to painting, we all helped. Even friends of Sammi and Daniel came to help! It was so fun to work together. 

After the paint dried, we called in the Epoxy floor guys to take care of the floor. We were going to try to do it ourselves with a Home Depot kit, but then opted to have it done right. Here they are grinding the floor. 

We chose to go with a dark color of flakes. 

 It turned out pretty awesome!

 We made one of the walls a chalk wall. Here it is being "prepared" for use.

The room is starting to come together. We will finish it over time, and I am sure it will always be changing, and in motion. This week we have a new garage door coming. We also had a separate heating and cooling system installed so it is nice and pleasant in all weather. We are going to install closet doors over the furnace, and track lighting along the ceiling. But even as it is now, it is a pretty cool room that the kids LOVE to be in! (I love it, too.)

 Teenagers coloring together. :) (Just ignore the sheets, the closet doors will be installed soon.)

 All of our painting supplies and canvases will be out, so we can paint anytime! For now we are using outdoor furniture, until we decide what we want to do. There is SO much space! I love it! It is so freeing!

Sammi was working on answering some spiritual questions for a friend, and she is also preparing to go to the temple! The room is meant to promote learning and growth. On Sunday we sat out there and read through the first vision of Joseph Smith, when he saw God the Father, and Jesus Christ in the sacred grove. The Prophet asked us to read it as a family, to prepare for the next "unforgettable" General Conference, so we went straightway and read it! It was a very beautiful experience! I loved the deep questions from my children, that blossomed from those scriptures!

The hammock is actually kind of awesome to relax on inside... we might try and find a smaller one that will work better. There is just something so soothing about rocking in a hammock.

The room is also a great place to exercise! What a blessing it will be in the winter months!

Piece by piece it is coming together. The whole house feels SO much bigger. The kids spend more of their time out there, freeing up other areas of the home. It has been such a beautiful solution to fulfill our need for more living space! I am so grateful that we have been able to work together to create something so awesome, that will benefit all who enter.

I feel very blessed to have a companion who is capable of dreaming and creating along with me! I have had these home dreams for a long time, and now David is making it all possible! Amazing! I did not even know he could do this kind of stuff when I married him... talk about a bonus! :)

I absolutely LOVE our new "Cave of Wonders."

It is not a "Man-Cave," or a "She-Shed."

It is a place of imagination and creation for the whole family (and friends) to enjoy!