Twenty-Six

Now, to my older than 26-year-old readers, I'm just a baby. Or, perhaps a young pup. Or, maybe just a year behind you or so. But, to me, 26 is...weird. I'm over the hump of the twenties. I am on the wrong side of 25.
As I was reminded though, I'm on the right side of 30. I guess I could be optimistic.

What did I think I would be doing when I was 26? What did I hope to achieve?

At one year old, I'm sure I thought that in 26 years, I would, well....be walking, talking, going to the restroom on a "potty," and being able to eat candy anytime I wanted. So, far, I've been pretty good to my 1 year old self. I've definitely mastered most of those things.

At three, let's be honest - I probably thought I was going to marry my grandpa and he would take care of me for the rest of my life. And, perhaps I would learn to wash my face and smile a bit less cheesy.

From 5 to 9 years old, I thought I would someday legally change my name to 'Michelle' and find a 'Derek' to marry. I don't think I yet had thought about what I was going to do for a living, or what I would name my children - besides possibly 'Michelle' and 'Derek.' But, I knew that I was going to live in a "mansion" and drive a "really nice" car. Nikki? Well, she would be stuck with me forever. I was just sure that we would have houses with secret tunnels to connect our bedrooms.

During my pre-teen years, I had become a little more practical. My name would forever be 'Cori.' And, I would someday actually have to work for a living. I thought at this point that I may someday become a lawyer; I had the arguing thing down pat, just ask my mother. Plus, I heard once that lawyers made good money. :)

In high school, I imagined myself marrying Heath. Who knew that I would actually be right?! I knew that college was in my future and I wanted to help people with their problems. I thought that I would somehow manage to be the dad on Growing Pains. I would be a psychologist that had an office in my home and I could come and go to work as I pleased. The thought of bringing mentally unstable people into my home never once occurred to me. But, I did know that I wanted to have children someday; I would name them Alexandria and Tanner.

 

My senior year, I was headed to college and I was still planning on going into psychology. I was going to be a counselor. I still planned on marrying Heath someday and having little, freckled babies. I thought a little girl may have blonde hair that was naturally curly like her daddy's.

After the college, freshman 15 (pounds!) and an internship of helping battered women, I had changed my plans a bit. I was not going to be a counselor and I had mastered weight watchers. I was going to be a hot, middle-aged momma attending my children's sporting events. And, as far as a job, well, psychology was versatile right? Perhaps I would steer it in the human resources direction.

At graduation, I got my degree in Psychology with a minor. I was engaged to Heath and had two steps of my "path" sealed. :) I knew that I wanted to go on and get my masters - before I turned 25 I was going to be at least enrolled. I even had a job. The job type wasn't in my plan, but that happens. We had even bought a house - big step! The house had three bedrooms. That would work for the three children I had decided to have. Why three? I don't know for sure.  It just felt right.

After our marriage, we discussed my master's degree options. We also discussed having children. While Heath got his MBA, my masters got put on hold. We decided it could wait until after we started a family. Then, I got a different job. It still wasn't part of the plan, but that happens.

When we had Lucy, I started to think that I might not be the hot momma attending my children's sporting events after all. Staying fit was hard and with each year (and I'm sure child), it got a little harder!  But, I loved being a mom. I knew I wanted more. Everything else in my life remained the same - stable, if you will. I liked it that way.

I'm now 26. Am I living the way I thought I would be? Yes and no. Would I change a thing? No. I will never look back on my life and say, "I wish I would have." Without the decisions I have made, I may not have ended up here. I don't like that idea.

"Don't ever regret your decisions in life. At one time, that was exactly what you wanted." - Unknown

I am so happy with my life and blessed beyond belief.

Valentine's Day Boxes 2012

Happy Day of Love, everyone! :)

I have always gotten excited over the big V-day, if you will. I think since it is so close to my birthday that it's always been special to me. Plus, I loved getting to deliver little envelopes to every one's little mail boxes.  Speaking of which, we made ours! I asked Heath, "Are you going to make Valentine's Day boxes with us?"

His response? "Well, I don't want to break tradition."

I had to laugh. I could tell her wanted to.

So, here they are. For Lucy, I kept my cute, little house Kleenex box from Christmas. For me, Heath kept a regular Kleenex box.

For himself, Heath saved a Welch's fruit snacks box. He never uses the Kleenex box opening anyway...

Heath worked on his, while Lucy and I did hers. I let her pick out all the patterns, colors, stickers, everything. I just helped her glue and tape. She put on all the stickers by herself though, and colored it! :) She had a blast.

Heath was done next. He wrapped his in white and added some cute letters from the newspaper.

The spot for putting in valentines was on top.

And, he even included a little picture of us that we had cut out from our wedding invitations.

I loved it Heath; but, your circle cutting leaves a bit to be desired. :)

I was in a rut and couldn't decide what to do. So, I decided to turn my Kleenex box inside out.

The shiny inside looked a lot prettier!

I then covered the top and bottom rim with satiny, maroon ribbon - also from our wedding invitations. Then, I added a few stickers, here and there.

We had a great time and had wonderful pieces to show for it!

I hope that we have started a tradition that we will continue for years to come! Again, Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you have a love-filled day!

Laundry Room Renovation

I kind of throw around the term "renovation" wildly. Sorry about that. This renovation included no walls or new counter tops, etc.; but, it was a makeover. So, I'll file it under "renovations."

When we moved into our home, we had an old, hand-me-down washer and dryer. We held our breath every time we turned them on. We just knew they would quit one day. But, we just couldn't bring ourselves to spend the money on new ones, especially when these still worked! We even had an experience where the washer sensor didn't turn the water off and we flooded our laundry room. Fun times. However, we still waited over a  year to make the change.

 

As you see, the laundry room in our house had to be a last minute thought. It is in a half-bath down stairs and it is a teeny, tiny little room. It doesn't allow much for folding or organizing.  Plus, isn't that border gorgeous? For the 1990s maybe...

So, finally, I let my hubby research and pick out some front loading units. I wanted the huge red ones; but, they weren't too practical for the space we have.

We wanted to save as much space as possible, so we took out the cabinets above the washer and dryer. And, yes, I say "we," because I helped! :)

The room already looked bigger!

Then, Heath spent a morning taking down that awful border. It was wider than usual and shrunk the room even more. Ahhh...more white space!

Then, Heath and my Uncle Matt moved out the old ones.

The walls obviously needed some new paint. We used the same paint color as in the adjoining room.

The change, already, was awesome!

Pinterest had inspired me though. So, we looked for ways to create a sorting area...or something.

We had an old, cheap dresser/armoir thing in the garage that we hadn't yet thrown out.

I took the drawers out of the bottom. And, well, I can't remember what we ended up doing with them.

I want to say we took them apart and kept the particle board - for who knows what?

We bought sorting crates and put four of them inside the dresser. Now, we can sort laundry and then put the crates inside to hide them. That way, laundry doesn't sit out in piles.

This was our end product.

I ended up putting the basket below on top and hiding the Tide and Febreeze. The cabinet allowed for us to put a few cleaning products and puppy treats on a smaller, top shelf inside. It's much bigger than it looks!  I still search for cute, wicker baskets to put below. They have to be very specific dimensions; so, the search continues...

What do you think? Better? You wouldn't believe how much cleaner the room looks. :)

Oh and I did say we a lot; but, I'll be honest. Heath does the laundry in our house. I don't know how or why that came to be. It could be that I'm a lazy slug. Or, he likes "playing" with the new washer and dryer (that I don't even know how to use). Or, he started it one day and it just kind of became a "thing." One way or another, he does it and I am so thankful. :) He is such a wonderful hubby and daddy! We love him for so many reasons; but, laundry is pretty high up there on the list. ;)