thirty.one

Today is my thirty-first birthday.  Sometimes I wonder how in the world I got to be this old!  I mean, really, I should still be 17!  But I wouldn't change my life for the world.  The last month has been extremely difficult for my family as my dad was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.  He seems to responding well to chemotherapy and I am thankful that I am able to take him to his treatments.  It is a good time for us.  Going through these trials makes me thankful that I am thirty-one, that I have been blessed with a beautiful family and amazingly fantastic friends.

Me at Seventeen

If I could go back to my 17 year old self, I would tell her that she will have heartaches that make her feel like she could die, but she will come out on top! I would tell her, her parents are the biggest blessing and the smartest people in her life.  That her silly, shaved-head boyfriend will be the best husband and best dad in the world.  I would tell her to enjoy the time she has with all the people she loves and to take lots of pictures, because when they are gone, pictures and memories is all she will have.  I would tell her to appreciate her friends more because they will be the ones there, still by her side, even at 31!  I would tell her when she is 22, she will fall madly in love with a tiny six pound, four ounce boy and her life will never be the same.  And then again at 26, her heart will double in size all because of little curly headed boy. I would tell her that her annoying brother will grow into a sweet man with a big heart who loves those tiny baby boys as much as she does.  I would tell her that 30 isn't old even though she thinks you shouldn't trust anyone over 30! Thirty is actually liberating, because at 30, she will know who she really is and what she really believes in.  And thirty-one?  Well, it's good.  It's really good.

"My wish for you is that this life becomes all that you want it to.  I hope your dreams stay big and your worries stay small."