5 Years Ago

When I was looking back at past anniversary posts I came across a post I wrote 5 years ago about where we'd be 5 years from then, which happens to be now. You can find the post here. I thought it would be fun to revisit that post, compare my predictions to where we actually are, and make some predictions about where we'll be 5 years from now.

Marriage

What I Predicted for 2018: 
Ty and I will be celebrating 7 years of marriage.  In the perfect world I will still be able to fit into my wedding dress and will put it on to celebrate our anniversary.  I was able to cram into it 3 months pregnant last year for our anniversary, so that shouldn't be too much of a stretch.

Where We Are in 2018:
We just celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. I was able to put my wedding dress on and we danced to our first dance song while I wore it. When I got my dress out it was wet and there was mold growing on it!

Predictions for 5 Years From Now:
We will be celebrating 12 years of marriage. We'll have quite the list of added songs to our list of songs we've danced to for our anniversary. I'm going to go ahead and predict there will be another Ed Sheeran song on the list because he seems to be pretty good at cranking out amazing slow dance songs. I still plan to be pulling my wedding dress out and am going to predict that I got it somewhat clean after our wet dress shenanigans from this year.

Children

What I Predicted for 2018: 

Carter will be 5 and a half years old and will be gearing up to start kindergarten in the fall.  I don't even want to think about him being old enough for that, oh my!  I'm sure Carter will have at least one sibling, probably 2 or 3 years old.  Ty and I have talked about 2 or 3 kids.  Lately I've been slipping in, maybe 4...  It's so hard to know right now.  I feel like after our last child I'll just know that our family is complete and we are done.  Right now I'm so obsessed with pregnancy and babies I just can't picture being done after 2, but I won't know until the time comes. 

Where We Are in 2018:

Carter is in fact 5.5 years old, that was an easy prediction to make! Elise is 3 so I was really close on how old his sibling would be. I was a bit wrong about just knowing when our family was complete. That really wasn't the case for me at all. I really wanted to have another child after Elise was born but Ty knew the moment she was born that he was done. I was so torn and it was the hardest decision to make. I knew Ty was more certain about stopping at 2 than I was about having another. I was worried that if we had a 3rd when I knew Ty wasn't on board that I would feel bad asking him for help with the baby and would then resent him for not helping, so I decided to stop at 2. I have just recently gotten to the point where I don't have baby fever anytime I see a baby. For a while I felt a little pang of jealousy anytime I saw a pregnant mom with 2 kids or a mom with 3 kids. Now I find myself thinking, thank goodness that's not me. So I guess I'm finally starting to get over the wanting another baby stage, although I still have my moments. The older Elise has gotten and the more independent she has become, the harder it has gotten to imagine going through the baby stage again. We're in a really wonderful place right now!

Look at our sweet littles!

Predictions for 5 Years From Now:

I remember writing about Carter being 5.5 and preparing for kindergarten and that just feeling so old and forever away. Now I find myself thinking 10.5 is so old. It's hard to even imagine that age. I love 5.5 and 3 so much right now. Both kids are at such fun and awesome ages. In 5 years they will be 10.5 and 8, say what?! So Carter will be preparing for 5th grade which will be his last year in elementary before moving up to middle school. Elise will be preparing for 3rd grade and will also be in elementary school in the Spanish immersion program. It will be interesting to see what extracurriculars they are both interested in. Right now they both love gymnastics and Carter was so so about soccer. I'm going to say he will grow to love soccer. They both like to run the fun runs at races so I'm guessing they will both still run fun runs and Carter may be prepping for his first 5k. They both also love to read and create artwork. Both those activities will be important parts of their lives in the future.

Pets

What I Predicted for 2018: 

What is an even crazier number to think about is that Harper will be 10 years old and Skippy will be somewhere around 13 if the vet's original estimate for his age was correct.  I know Harper and Carter's relationship will be even more special.  I doubt she will be sleeping in our room anymore, I bet she will be sleeping with Carter by then! 

Where We Are in 2018:

Harper is 10 and Skippy is 13ish. Harper loves both the kids but in small doses. She went through a long stretch sleeping in Carter's room but is back in our room. Carter liked her to sleep on his bed and I think she would just get too hot. She prefers to sleep on the floor. Skippy has an interesting relationship with Elise. He loves her but is also terrified of her. He runs from her but when he is caught he just lays there and lets her love on him. It is very rare for him to ever scratch the kids which is amazing!

Harper is 10.

Skippy is 12-13ish.

Predictions for 5 Years From Now:

This just makes me sad to think about. I've had Harper since she was a puppy so I don't like to even think about her being gone. There's a possibility she'll still be alive at 15 and I'm going to go ahead and predict that is the case. Most likely Skippy will be gone. I really can't imagine replacing either of our pets. If it were up to me we probably wouldn't, but it will depend on the kids. I could see having some other random pet like a hamster or something because the kids would be old enough to actually care for it themselves. I don't want to get any other animals until the kids can take responsibility for caring for them on their own. Right now Elise really wants a pet frog. We looked at them at the pet store and the information said they are unacceptable pets for kids under the age of 5 so she decided that was okay and she could wait until she was 5. I'm predicting she will have decided she no longer wants a frog by the time she is 5.

Work

What I Predicted for 2018: 

I will be in a first or second grade classroom and honestly believe I will still be teaching multi-age with my current co-teacher.  When you've got a good thing goin might as well stick with it!  After 5 more years I will have learned even more and will be a more effective teacher.  I'm proud of where I am now and know with 5 more years of experience, my abilities can only improve.  I see Ty working his way up and becoming a leader at his company. 

Where We Are in 2018:

This is the area I got the most wrong. I am currently a stay at home mom. I'm preparing to go back to work next school year at a church preschool just 3 days a week. I've been at home for 4 years now. Ty has changed jobs twice since I wrote this and has just been at his current job for a few months.

Predictions for 5 Years From Now:

In 5 years I think I will be back to work in the public school system. I see myself in 1st or 2nd grade but it will just depend on what positions are open at that time. I imagine it will be my 2nd year back in the public school setting. I see myself staying at the church preschool for around 3 years to give myself more flexibility as Elise starts school. I hate to even attempt to guess with Ty, his career has been so fluid and changing. I see him where he is currently but in a management position.

Home

What I Predicted for 2018: 

Ty, I know you're reading this, so I want you to know I expect our master bathroom remodel to be finished within the next 5 years!  :o)  I see us in our current home, but revamped.  I have lots of projects I would like to do and I think we can get them done within 5 years...  They include a remodel to our guest bathroom, painting our kitchen and kitchen cabinets, painting the exterior of the house, and decorating the current guest room for Carter before baby #2.  In my dreams our garage would be organized and cute and the laundry room would be painted and adorable.  Priorities here, my friends. 

Where We Are in 2018:

There was some talk for a while of moving into a better school district since I wasn't working in the best school district anymore so my kids couldn't go there. Eventually we figured things out and got Carter into a magnet school so we stayed put. Ty finished the master bathroom remodel a long time ago and also completed a remodel of the guest/main bathroom. We painted our kitchen and kitchen cabinets, although painting the cabinets was a waste as the paint is already all chipped again! We also painted the exterior of the house. Carter's room was redone and we repainted the nursery for Elise. I've also painted the entryway and the laundry room. The garage is a constant work in progress. We just have so much stuff with all my classroom materials stored in our attic and garage so it's hard to keep from busting at the seams. Ty got a shed for the backyard which has helped with our garage situation a little. He's also gotten really into weight lifting so our garage is his gym which takes up room.

Mom helping paint the exterior of our house.

Predictions for 5 Years From Now:

Really I love our house and we aren't in desperate need of more room. We could use more storage space and I'd love to have a guest room but nothing that necessitates a move. I can easily see us still living in our current home and if that's the case I'm sure more remodeling and revamping will occur over the next 5 years. Since I'll have been back to work for a few years I could see us having moved to a little bit bigger house so we'd have a guest room for our parents when they visit. That's really the only reason why I consider moving. A playroom would also be nice. I just love be a quarter mile walk from the library and a half mile walk from a playground as well as an ice cream shop. We're also less than a mile from Jeremy and 15 minutes from Thomas. We're in a nice location to where we can get to any suburb of Tulsa within 30 minutes which is wonderful.

Running

What I Predicted for 2018: 

There's a possibility that in 5 years our family will still be growing, so I imagine my running will still be sub-par.  I will be running somewhere between 3-5 days a week and I bet getting in less weekly mileage than I am now.  I don't see Carter chilling in a stroller for runs anymore, especially in a double stroller, but who knows.  In my dreams I would be running sub-22 minute 5ks and decent half-marathons, but I doubt my life will allow for that kind of training.  Ty will also be running, mostly obstacle course races and 5ks.  Carter might be participating in some kid fun runs at our races.

Where We Are in 2018:

Wow, I was pretty off with where I'd be with my running. I've recently been running better than ever. I average 5-6 days per week and usually at least 30 miles per week. I've been around 40 mile weeks lately. I've been running sub-22 minute 5ks consistently and really tend to run under 21 more often than not. I've also run a 10k PR, half marathon PR, and marathon PR in the past couple years. I never would have guessed that! I've also run 19 minute 5ks multiple times! Ty hasn't really gotten into obstacle course races. He had done a few when I wrote my post 5 years ago and hasn't really done many since. We have gotten more into trail running. I was right about Carter running fun runs and Elise has joined in on those.

On my way to a marathon PR after 10 years!

Predictions for 5 Years From Now:

In 5 years I will be 37. I think I will have run some more race PRs between now and then but will most likely no longer be running PRs at that time. I see Ty and myself both getting more into trail running. I could see myself running a marathon in the fall, a half in the spring, and running trail races in the off-season (winter and summer). I also might run an ultra at some point, nothing crazy like a 50 or 100 miler, but maybe a 50k. I mentioned Carter and Elise running earlier.

Family

What I Predicted for 2018: 

As much as I'd like to predict what will be happening with my parents, brothers, and Ty's family, there's just no way to know.  I would love it if I had gained another sister-in-law or two, but that's not quite in the works right now.  That doesn't necessarily mean anything though since 5 years ago I hadn't even met Ty!  I would love it for my dad if he were retired and working solely on his reading curriculum and coming to visit us with my mom!  Ty's parents are happy in their jobs and I see them both still working where they are.  Paul and Amanda will have moved back to our area of the country, a girl can dream, right?!!?  

Where We Are in 2018:
Paul and Amanda are still in Florida and no longer have plans to move back to this area of the country. We came really close to losing Jeremy in January of 2016 after an accident involving a truck pulling a trailer while he was running. We are so fortunate he lived through it and that was definitely something I never would have predicted! Ty's parents are both still working and Rocky is talking about retirement. My dad is also still working with no real talks of retirement. After Jeremy's accident he started looking into moving here but that hasn't happened. Just the one sister-in-law at this time.

Wyatt, Paul, and Amanda, and baby girl expected to arrive in August.

My family.

Predictions for 5 Years From Now:
Paul and Amanda will have 2 children (that's easy since they are due in August) and possibly a 3rd. I am sensing they will likely be the ones to break the 2 child boy/girl trend of the cousins. Rocky will be retired and Leina will still be working where she is. Dad will still be working as well. I try to picture whether Thomas will still be a school psychologist and it's hard to know with the current trend with education in Oklahoma. It is showing no signs of improving. 

I definitely wasn't laughing at my predictions from 5 years ago. Ty was impressed with how spot on I was in some areas. But looking back at this I realize how much our current situation colors what we see for the future. I was so in love with Carter and being a new mom, I couldn't picture anything but being a mom to a baby. Having young children right now makes it hard to picture life with older children. Staying home also makes it difficult to picture what things will be like when I go back to work and have kids in school. One thing I wrote 5 years ago still rings true: Life doesn't seem to take us where we think it will go. That's for sure! We'll see what things look like 5 years from now!