Every Day in May: Day 18

My mission, today: Tell a story from your childhood. Dig deep and try to be descriptive about what you remember and how you felt. Man, this is tough. I used to have the best memory. Now, I have a kid and a memory that requires daily notes in my iPhone and a blog to rehash good times. Dang you, 2013.

I had the best childhood. I grew up on 20 acres, with my mom, dad, and sister -- and my maternal grandparents just up the road. It's so hard for me to hone in one one awesome memory, because every day was an adventure for me.

Photo: Engagement Session with TL Photography
Clearly, I've never lost my love for my country roots)

I rode horses. My days were full of early wake-ups, feeding the horses, cleaning stalls, cleaning the barn, organizing the feed and tack rooms. We used to "play horse show", where we'd set up the cones and poles in our big outdoor arena and execute flawless, national-level patterns on foot -- since we worked hard every day to get our horses to that level. Sometimes it was just easiest to do it ourselves.

We built forts and "hang outs" in the woods; we'd sneak folding chairs and little empty coffee cans from the house to decorate, and a rake/pitchfork from the barn to "clean".

There were apple trees all over our property, so we rarely had to go in for lunch.

I felt safe. I felt alive. I had more energy than I needed; the days were long and the weeks, endless.

We had an upstairs playroom that we never kept clean. I mean, never. My mom and dad avoided it, because when they saw it in all it's glory, they had nervous breakdowns. I remember rare moments of being perched in front of the TV (probably 8pm on Friday nights, watching Full House - TGIF!) watching my mom with an armload of stuff, heading upstairs to the attics -- which you could only access THROUGH the playroom. Katie and I would hold our breath, waiting for it: "CORIAAAAANNE! KATIE!!!! Get up here right now!" and then we would turn on the TV in the playroom and clean while half-watching TGIF.

I remember spending rainy days watching and re-watching old family videos. I couldn't get enough of them. Remembering that makes me want to make sure I take enough videos for Porter. However, with technology like it is now, my kids will have no shortage of photos and videos to pour over.

My mom used to wallpaper houses. I helped; rolling the strips of trendy floral in the bathtub, getting them ready to hang.

My grandparents had rental houses. I hated going along with the adults to clean-up the rentals, but again - another day, another adventure. I also hated going along to Brookedale Lumber (my grandpa and dad built out house from the ground up; we spent a lot of time at Brookedale). The only good part about Brookedale was the free popcorn: buttery and salty, but kind of stale. I used to head straight for the popcorn machine while the adults went off to find what they were looking for.

My first year at the National Horse Show, we lived on frozen yogurt. This was before fro-yo was all the rage. I still can't eat peach fro-yo without getting brilliant flashbacks of the hot Oklahoma summers, the smell and the sound of horseshoes on the cement.

I love my childhood. I miss it. And now, with a child of my own, my mind is focused daily on giving him even an ounce of the memories that I have.