Happily Committed in my 20's!

Yesterday a friend posted an amazing article that hit close to home for me and sparked today's post. If you have not read it take the time to do so, she does a great job shutting down the ridiculous saying that you should not be committed in a relationship in your 20's. Click here  to read! 

Tyrell & CeeCee 

If you are roughly between the ages of 21 through 28 and in a happily committed relationship I am sure you have either seen or heard about the many reasons why being in a relationship in your 20's makes no sense at all. It seems that almost every other day someone is posting an article listing the many reasons why you should just stay single until I guess you're thirty plus? 

Now before everyone begins jumping down my throat I am no idiot, I can understand some of the more adult like reasons, especially from those of experience. Some people feel like they could have had more fun in college had they not been tied down. Okay, but there are plenty of people who found the love of their life in college and are still happily married. Or the “You do not even know who you are at that young of an age". Okay, fine, maybe I can see this one but this is not true for everyone. Maybe I know exactly who I am at 25 and exactly what I want out of life, why wait until I am 30 to find the guy who already knows also? 

It is the ridiculous reasons like “Girls can be too dramatic and will just waste more of your energy that I do not agree with. " Uh...correct me if I am wrong but a dramatic girl is a dramatic girl whether you hook up with her at age 23 or age 33. Is it that the man will have more energy in his thirties to deal with her or that by the time he reaches his thirties he will have had time to waste energy on more important things like playing the video game for hours on end? I am just a tad confused on what the hell that has to do with the age you are when you are committed. Another one I always hear is "You're young, go out and experience the world." So what you are saying is that being in a committed relationship hinders me from experiencing the world? No, what you mean is being in a committed relationship keeps you monogamous and to hell with that in our twenties right? Wrong! Experiencing life does not have to come from multiple sex partners or one night stands after last call for drinks, experiencing life is what you make of it! Having a fruitful and rewarding time in life, even in your twenties, can come from all sorts of things’ I agree that in this young age with nothing tying you down, you should travel,  see the world, but why do you have to be single to do that ? 

Again, being in a committed relationship in your 20's and being married at 21 is not the same thing. No one is saying that every committed person in their 20's should go off and get hitched but I am saying to stop bombarding them with your constant negativity. Yes, albeit it is words of advice and sometimes it is needed to hear, most times it is just that, negative. When you see a happy couple today in their 20's, you hear mostly the same reactions. “You are too young to be tied down." “You have your whole life ahead of you, go live it." Has it ever occurred to people that maybe life can still be lived even in a serious relationship? I have been with my boyfriend for over three years, and yes he makes me want to strangle him at times (as I know It is the same for him) but being with him has not slowed me down any. If nothing else being with him has helped me blossom, helped me mature...help me grow. Do I need him to define me? No. Will breaking up with him and being single for the next four years make me happy? Hell no! Why is it socially unacceptable to be happily committed in your twenties now; yet our grandparents and their parents did it with ease? Not only that, they made it work. The divorce rate today is around 50% versus the 10-20% back in the 40's and 50's.Yes, I know times are different but does that make it okay? Who’s to say they were not on to something? I can say without a doubt that I am 25 years old and happily committed to this man who pushes me constantly, encourages me deeply and loves me fiercely. I think I will stick to experiencing life with this man of mine my way and let the rest of the 20 something’s stumbled through the next 7-8 years of their lives making memories they wish they never had. 

Till next time

Xoxxo CeeCee 

30 before 30!

Well that was a fast weekend! I have learned that the more fun I have on the weekends the faster the time goes by. I mean really, it was just Friday morning and here we are closing out a Monday. UGH!

None the less it was a great weekend.  I said goodbye to my babies after having them for two weeks, and we ended with of course the pool and lunch. Then I celebrated the recent marriage of a good friend of mine Saturday night. Finally the Babylove and I ended the weekend cuddled up watching movies all day Sunday, until we went to the pool so he could begin teaching me to swim!

Speaking of learning how to swim, it is one of the things I would love to cross off my 30 before 30 list. I think having a list of goals or things you would like to achieve by a certain time is a great idea. Not goals your parents set for you, or accomplishments your teachers would like to see you achieve but things you would actually like to see yourself do, things you yearn to do, things you are passionate about.

It does not have to be anything amazing or spectacular just something for you. I started my list a year ago after reading one that my friend had posted; I take pride in being able to cross things off my list no matter how small. I do not have extraordinary things on my list because a) I want to actually do the things on my list and b) some extraordinary things just are not my cup of tea. I am simple in my taste of things and I would say that my list reflects just that. Here is my list, and with only 4 and a half more years left to go, I am eager to begin crossing off more things!  I hope to hear some of yours!

30 THINGS TO DO BEFORE TURNING 30! 

 1.)    Take a girls trip

2.)    Take a professional cooking class

3.)    Learn to swim

4.)    Take a couples trip

5.)    Travel out of the country

6.)    Run at least 2 5k’s

7.)    Get into shape

8.)    Finish a short story

9.)    Become more involved with God

10.)  Pay off my debt

11.) Do a boudoir photo shoot

12.) Take a creative writing class

13.) Make a 4 course meal from scratch

14.) Finish a scrapbook

15.) Take a spontaneous trip

16.) Start a blog (Hooray!) 

17.) Ride in a limo (Yes i am a child)

18.) Take a road trip with the big 4(Siblings road trip)

19.) Go to a Florida home game (Go GATORS)

20.) Get my bachelors degree

21.) Go on a real camping trip (Jessica get ready!)

22.) Help build a house

23.) Conquer my fear of shooting guns

24.) Pay it forward in a big way

25.) Own a home

26.) Take a Cruise

27.) Take a ballroom dance class

28.) Direct Traffic (Yeah this is not a joke lol)

29.)   Have a kid(s)

30.) Marry the Love of my life

So obviously I have a ways to go but I know I can get it all done. I do not want to waste the best years of my life by just watching TV or drinking, I plan to take a little initiative and actually enjoy the life I live.

Till next time,

xoxxo CeeCee

Wedding Fever!

 Yay we have made it through yet another week. Hooray for that not hooray for it being only 5 more weeks of summer left :( but i am trying to stay busy with fun filled days and "happy drink" filled nights ;). 

It seems like i am always in some sort of fever, baby fever, wedding fever, blog fever, craft fever and most times when i am in that fever i am in it hardcore, if you don't believe me just check my Pinterest lol. 
      Right now i am in full blown wedding fever mode,  (maybe its been going on for the past 12 months but whose counting?) My boyfriend's brother just got engaged to his girlfriend of 4 years a few weeks back and after living with them for a year we became pretty close, so naturally i was excited for them when they got engaged. The Real kind of excited though not the fake facebook friend excited where we see yet another couple getting engaged and we quickly hit the "like" button and proceed to insert some automatic "yay congratulations, so happy for you" response that we all know we do not mean. I know i am not the only one who has done that! 

Anyway i am really happy for them and seeing as how i am apart of the Bridal party i am doubly happy because i figured this is a way to unleash some of my wedding fever crazy through a healthy and productive outlet. Hahah what I initially thought was a good outlet turned into the gasoline i needed to fuel my already crazy wedding fever, nonetheless i got to dust off the old Pinterest wedding board (because it had been weeks since i pinned anything there ;)) and help the Bride to be (Brandy) with her wedding book. 

Now i am all about the crafts and DIY things so when we discussed a wedding planner not being in the budget for them i was oh so eager to help her start her own wedding book to get her to the Big day and through the big day! You can easily buy your own wedding planning book but from what i hear they can get pretty expensive and sometimes have things you really do not need in them. A DIY wedding book is a lot cheaper and is customized to what you want and need.  I found some really cute ideas on Pinterest but really the free printable templates were my favorite from all the sites i looked at, the rest is pretty much up to your own designs. 

What i noticed from almost every DIY wedding book were these sections; Budget, Ceremony & Reception, Wedding Party, Mr. & Mrs., Important and Guest. 

Each section seems pretty self explanatory so i feel there is no need to go into detail on what should go into each section, should you need further help i read a lot from this awesome blog called DIY Bride.  Click here for the link to her blog :) 

The most amazing site that i found really useful provided free printable templates to use in your wedding book, it has everything from a guest list to a Wedding emergency checklist, you can print what you need and skip the things you do not need, yes it is harsh on your printer but well worth it in the end lol. Click Here for the site to print out free printable templates for your own Wedding book. 

To get started i had all i needed already at the house pretty much, although i did stop by the dollar store to pick up a zipper pouch ( to hold business cards and any receipts they will accumulate) and for sticky notes but the rest i had at home. 

           Here are some things you might need 

• 1-3 inch binder - If you are planning a huge formal wedding i would get the bigger binder but for a smaller event a 1-1 and a half inch binder should do just fine. 
• Scissors 
• Glue
• Pictures (Should you want them on the binder) 
• Labels / Page dividers
• Clear protective sheets ( For each section, in case you rip things out of magazines or for things that cant be hole punched) 

That is pretty much all i used (Along with the inserted templates and Calendars) plus decorative scrap booking paper to add some flare and i think it turned out great!! She loved it and since she did not even know what a Wedding book was or what it should consist of i was happy to offer her my services lol. 

The Back! 

Inside templates

The Front! 

I hope this was helpful and maybe inspired you to fire up your own DIY wedding books!! 

xoxxo CeeCee 

Happy Wednesday !

Yay! Wednesday is here and that means the week is almost over!! 
Today's post is all about rest and relaxation, i have had all six of the younger siblings for the last week and a half (minus the two day break my brother gave me) and taking them places day after day and keeping them entertained has been fun but extremely exhausting. So i have made this Wednesday DEAR day. Drop everything and read, besides sitting in a nice hot bubble bath with a glass of wine, reading is the most relaxing and rewarding of my hobbies (yes i consider wine drinking and bubble taking a serious hobby ;)) . After the initial groans and eye rolls we compromised on me making nachos for lunch and them getting to pick out whatever snacks they wanted to compensate for the "boredom" of reading i am putting them through. haha 

What better craft for a reading day than making bookmarks? I am awful about dog earring my pages so i bought myself numerous bookmarks time and time again that all end up lost or in the trash somehow. I think its because they end up in the black hole that is my purse and are never seen again, so naturally i wanted the girls to make their own because its fun and free! 

We took simple foam squares and cut them into rectangles, i then cut a hole at the top and slipped some ribbon through and let the girls decorate away :) They turned out pretty cute, i am sure they will eventually end up in someones trash but at least  this way i did not buy them and the craft got them away from the latest teenage trash they are watching on TV. 

They say "Life is an open book" and "Reading is magical"

 

After finishing our bookmarks the girls made pallets on the floor and got out the books, they whined initially but besides the loud crunching of nachos and the turning of pages, it is dead silent in this house :)!!

DEAR day is not complete without snacks!! 

Now i should go because i just got the "why the hell do we have to read and you get to type on the computer?" look. lol So i am closing technology for the next couple of hours and opening the book i have been dying to read all day! 

Happy Wednesday everybody and remember to take some time for YOU today! 

xoxxo CeeCee 

Happy Late Father's Day.

Have you ever been stuck between that time of the day where you are extremely exhausted and you are trying to nap yet everyone and everything  needs your attention? Well that is pretty much where i have been for the last hour (yes i am trying to nap at 3 pm) and so now without a nap or any caffeine to perk me up i am now in cranky bitch mode. I am too old to throw myself down and cry and too young to just pass out so here i am. lol 

Today I came across the cutest video on youtube called the Best Date Ever and of course i watched it and shed all types of tears.  I am a sap when it comes to things like that but luckily through those tears i knew exactly what today's post was going to be about. I know Father's Day was Sunday and it has come and gone but this video really hit home for me and i wanted to share it and how I feel on the subject. 

I have always been a firm believer in Father daughter dates, this is not to take away from mommy son dates because those are important too but being a girl, a daddy's girl at that, i can say without a doubt that having a loving father who took the time to teach me all he knew has made me who i am today. I remember being about 7 when my mom dressed me up in my best church dress, put curls in my hair, gave me her pearls to wear for the night and sent me off hand in hand with my first true love. He was suited up, tie and shoes to match and i could not have been happier as he opened the car door for me and handed me a single rose. I had an extreme perma-grin as we walked into the local IHOP for dinner  (Very Fancy) and he continued to be the perfect gentleman as he pulled out my chair,  placed my napkin in my lap and began to school me on the way a man is supposed to treat a woman. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world that night... until we realized he had locked his keys in the car and we had to wait an hour for my mom to show up with the spare hahaha. (the perfect first date)

None the less the memories of that night have stayed with me and they probably always will. 

I am incredibly grateful to have a father that loves me and has not only taken care of me but taken on three children that are not even his and raised them as his own. He is the strongest man i know and obviously my HERO. 

I admire the men who step up to the plate and take care of their children and i take my hat off to the men who do not have to do it and do it anyway. So happy late Father's Day to all the Dads, Step-dads, Grandpas, brothers and Uncles who have changed the lives of the children around them. 

I am a little bias when it comes to this Papa Bear of mine, " I may have found my Prince but my dad will always be my King." xoxxo CeeCee  

My First Blog Post!

Ahhh finally i did it! Well i think i did it. Maybe? After years of telling myself that i was going to do it i am finally attempting to blog. I am sure it will take me awhile to work out all the kinks in this thing but i am excited to try and share with the world. So if any bloggers out there have any tips and or advice i am all ears!  I guess the best place to start is with why i want to blog in the first place. 

#1 It is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family i do not see or hear from often (and who are not already on facebook) 

#2 I have a passion for writing and sharing almost everything and what better way to do that than by having people creep on my life? 

#3 I have seen so many cute blogs that i follow and read religiously and i thought to myself "yea i can do that". 
    
Now here i sit, after 30 minutes of staring at this blank template before realizing this may not be as easy as i thought, but none the less the stubborn bull in me wont let me give up. So i hope this blog becomes in your steady rotation of blogs to read and if you do not have a steady rotation of blogs, i hope this blog becomes the one you do read. 

                                                xoxxo CeeCee