A little spacey

It all started yesterday. Saturday morning Cory woke up early to meet a friend for a round of golf (the ONLY thing in the world that could wake Cory up early on a Saturday morning is golf.). 

He kissed me goodbye as I snoozed, and I heard him open the door to leave. Then I heard "LIN-dy!"

(Its a very particular gaspy tone Cory has of pronouncing my name when my behavior has really shocked him. I hadn't heard it in a while. I heard it a lot while we were dating. I suppose he's grown accustomed to my ways...(name that movie, and we're going to be great friends. Bosom buddies!))

Back to the point...

Yea. Apparently I forgot one key step (Ha!) when I was coming home on Friday night. Namely, bringing the keys with me. I'm just glad they were still there in the morning.

I had some other stories to tell you about things that I forgot about, but, very appropriately, I can't remember them right now. Just know, it's been happening a lot lately.

Oh, I remember one! Today I forgot to feed Cory dinner. 

He has a huge test on Tuesday, and he's been a little distracted with that. He was gone for a large portion of the afternoon today, and I ate a late lunch while he was out.

Cory came home, we talked for a minute, and then he went right back to the books (and youtube videos that teach "Signals and Systems" from a man with a heavy Indian accent. He pronounces "third" as "turd". And "thirdly" as "turdly." And, it turns out, a lot of the concepts come in sets of three.)

Anyway, Cory comes out at 10:00, and mentions that he's hungry. Oh yea...dinner.

He forgets to eat routinely, so this isn't out of the ordinary for him.

 So, I made him some dinner. Just whipped it right up.

I'm reallly awesome.

Speaking of orange juice, I bought  a gallon of it yesterday.

This is what it looks like today.

It's not even the GOOD orange juice!

Impressive, yes? I don't think we're going to have to worry about the October 21st expiration date. What a relief.

Love at Home

So, the other day I saw this cute little printable on pinterest.

via

And it's true. Cory is definitely the best part of coming home. 

But I like other things about our home too. Especially this new place.

For instance, if I use the centrally located bathroom plug, I can vacuum the whole apartment without unplugging even once. This makes me so happy.

And did I mention it's the perfect jogging (maybe biking??) distance from work? Two miles. Perfect work out.

Also, I feel safe. Which is a really nice, previously taken for granted, perk.

Most of all, we're finally starting to be really settled in. It is awesome.

Ready for a before/after? If not, prepare yourself.

This was the view right as you walked in the door on moving day:

It's only taken a mere 3.5 months (ha!) to get to this: 

I found the rug at Target on clearance a few weeks ago. I had some birthday money set aside just for such an occasion. That bad boy came home with me, and Cory loves it too.

I know that Cory loves it because he protects it as if it were our first born child. "Don't spill on that the carpet!" is his battle cry. So far the rug has escaped unscathed.

And I'm just dying to tell you that our curtains are really table cloths. The cheapest kind you can buy at Wal-Mart. I just had to get it off my chest.

The little clips are also from Walmart. 3ish bucks a pack. Now anything clippable is curtains!
This was a game changer for me...

The pictures in the corner are the very same wedding pictures of our parents and grand parents mentioned in this post. I wanted a grid of pictures, and these were the lucky winners.

The 11x14 frames were $5.00 each at Walmart. Which adds up pretty quickly, but it was the cheapest I could find. 

I "matted" the pictures with poster board and tape because I used up all my monies on the frames. ($30.00 total project budget. Well, actually I used monies from the "grocery budget" for this one. And Cory hasn't even missed the cheese and bread.) 

The real mats would have cost me $7.00 EACH at Micheal's. $42.00?? For mats?

 Too rich for my blood.  Maybe I can save up for them, and have real mats in a few years.

So, I'm loving this mostly finished room. I have one little, tiny problem. It's called "this whole entire wall above the couch."

I don't know what to put there. I thought the shelves were a great idea but..nothing I put on them seems to work. So, I turn to you. Ideas?

A few tiny things.

My basil is growing up. I'm so proud of it. I watch it change a little more every day, and my chest swells every time I walk in the door and see that it's not dead yet. I imagine this is what parenting feels like, only quieter. And with less poop involved.

Anyway, the following story happened a few months ago, but I forgot about it. And, it's been a while since I've shared a "Cory's take on interior design" story. So, here's a little gem, from me to you.

Just before he left for his mission, Cory's younger brother, Brendon, purchased a new watch. The watch came wrapped around a fancy little pillow that fits into the palm of your hand.

Brendon gave this little pillow to Cory. Maybe because it said "Denmark" on it. (Cory served his mission in the Netherlands. (Update 9/23/11: Cory has since informed me that Denmark and the Netherlands are in no way related. My bad.) Maybe because its just the type of random thing that would appeal to Cory.

I honestly don't know.

Regardless, Cory accepted his gift.

I can only imagine the thought process that transpired as he tried to find the perfect place for his new little friend.

 A few days later I discovered this:

Look closely. It's there. Tucked ever so gently between the yellow doily pillow, and the orange leafy pillow.

I guess he figured every other pillow we own is here, so why should this one be treated any differently?

Why indeed.

P.S. I left it there. It makes me smile every time I see it.

We put the "Labor" in Labor Day

My parents were in town for Labor Day weekend. Although they live in North Carolina most of the time, their beauuutiful house in Marianna hasn't sold, so they stop from time to time. 

I love going to visit them.

There's no internet/cable at their house, so I was going to write a post about "unplugging" and "relaxing" for a weekend. But, that post never happened. Mostly because hanging out with my parents is not exactly relaxing. I love it, but I think you have to grow up with it to really appreciate the types of entertainment we enjoy.

I arrived pretty late Friday night (sans Cory. Cory can't "unplug" when mountains of online homework beckon. He made his appearance on Sunday) 

My parents had been driving all day long, and you'd expect to find them tired. Not so. 

When I walk up to the house I hear the gentle hum of machinery coming from the garage. Dads busy.

Then, my mom is in the kitchen juicing a million weird grapes, while simultaneously tearing apart my newest trashy treasures in preparation for our weekend reupholstery project. 

Friday night thrills, yes? Yes.

11 quarts of weird grape juice. Almost FOUR gallons. She's good. Very good.

Bright and early Saturday morning (I "slept in." I was up by 7:00 AM.) my mom and I drag our little chair project out to the garage.

My Dad tsks and shakes his head. Endearingly, I'm sure. "You've always got a project going, dontcha Ruthie? Can't just leave it alone? Tsk."

This, from the man who spent all night and morning underneath the lawnmower.

You can be the pot, Dad. Mom can be the kettle.

And me? I'll be that nearby acorn, thank you very much.

New blog header, maybe?