i first saw this a few days into to National Health Blog Post Month and thought it would be a fun thing to participate in since it is diabetes awareness month. 


since i am starting late i decided instead of trying to get completely caught up i would start on the prompt from the day i first heard about NGBPM. maybe i can catch up from there..to keep record i am going to date this post as thursday, november 3rd, fyi.




Dear 18 year old me. Write a letter to yourself when you were 18. Be sure to tell yourself what to do more of, what to do less of, and what you have to look forward to in the next few (or several) years.


dear 18 year old me,


congrats on turning 18! that party will be talked about for years to come! especially the fact that a diabetic had an all-out-hold-nothing-back-eat-till-you-are-sick chocolate party..yep, you (we? i? not sure how this whole time travel things works..) totally rock. 


but i know you are worried. worried about dad coming home after 2 years of deployment. worried about graduation and life after, worried about what God's plan is for you. worried about work. worried about your friends that seem to be losing their minds. worried about love and lack of it .worried about the fact that you really do not want to deal with anything diabetes related. just worried, underneath all those smiles and the excitement. 


i wish i could tell you the next 5 years get better. but darling, they are just filled different kinds of battles. there will be lots of good things too, so don't worry. but you will be stretched, pulled, tried, and it is all a beautiful part of God's plan for your (our) life. 


graduation will be fun! don't worry, nothing embarrassing happens when you walk across the stage. enjoy every moment of it! it goes so very fast. hug dad a few more times that day. he is having a hard time thinking that when he left you were a little girl still struggling through math and living for the outdoors and how he missed you growing up, learning to drive, wearing make-up and all that goes with it. oh and bring a few extra socks and a new pair of shoes on the trip to Disney World...yours don't hold up so well. 


after graduation you and your best friend, Beth, will pack up way too much in the back of your volvo (you got a station wagon for graduation. you love it. it serves you well till you are 23 and it has 300.000+ miles on it.) and head to TN. you will LOVE every second of working at Above Rubies. living with your bff will teach you many things (and yes, she does marry him) and the friends you make will last for a long time...well most anyway. 


while you are there you will get a phone call late one night, it is mom telling you that she is going to have a baby. be careful running up the stairs to tell the girls, otherwise you will twist your ankle. mags will be born a few months after you move back home. and its the best thing in the world. 


i am not going to lie. those few months between moving back home, moving to the new house and mags being born are going to be the hardest ones you face until you are 23. but you survive and you don't get sent to jail for wanting to kill some people. living in the little house with a pregnant mother, a new friend who needs a place to stay, your dad after not for two years, and trying to figure out your life is stressful. trust me, i know! 


it will cause you to start your own business. it is successful, so don't listen to the naysayers. in fact, you will have a waiting list for YEARS!