My whole life I had never been one to tell anyone it was my birthday. I was never that little girl (or adult for that matter) that said, "Hey, my birthday's coming up, what are you gonna get me?"; I was always extremely shy to bring any attention to myself, so the idea of all these people showing me an overwhelming amount of affection all at once terrified me. (Of course this doesn't include my birthday parties thrown by my family.) Then as I got older I hated the idea that I "wasn't young" anymore, so I kept my birthday and age private for that reason, too. This year I've had a total change of heart and perception. A month or so ago I thought to myself how depressing it was going to be turning 28, and how ancient it made me feel. But immediately the optimistic part of me jumped in, and I thought about how much life I've had. All the experiences. All the love. All the friendships I've built. The beautiful things I've seen and places I've been. The stories I've gathered, through happiness and heartache alike, to share with my future kids. All these wonderful blessings that I've been alive to be apart of. And when I thought of it like that, I realized that is the way I want to always receive the notion of getting older. Through every mistake I've made, and boy have I made a ton, I can honestly say that I just keep getting better as the years go by, and I'm very happy with who I am. That's the most important thing, I think, to be happy with ourselves. To accept ourselves. So never again will I let myself fall into pessimistic mode when February rolls around. I shouldn't huff and pout, I should be happy and thankful that I've still got a life to live! So in sharing with y'all that my birthday is coming up, I'm not looking for a buttload of "Happy Birthday" comments [that day] and please don't feel obligated; this is simply my way of celebrating my life, finally being free of my awkward birthday blues! And no one should feel awkward or shy about celebrating the gift of life. Can I get an Amen? ;)
Now, 10 years ago, in 2002, I was 18 years old. Couldn't break 100 pounds to save my life, and the only reason I was able to get into the military being underweight was because some of the instructors had me drink an entire jug of water before weigh-ins! I was also put into a group that was allowed more time to eat during chow (we were normally given about 5 minutes) and I was given cakes when we were sooo NOT ALLOWED sweets, all in the name of putting weight on this little trainee.
My ex's mom (who is amazing) threw me a surprise Barbie party for my 18th birthday
3 significant events from my 18th year:
 |
| Here I am lookin' awkward b/c I didn't expect this. lol |
High School Graduation; joining the Air Force; graduating bootcamp
This little feature will also serve as a means of y'all getting to know more about me. Things will get personal in the next couple days when I go back to the next couple years, and I'm feeling a little nervous about sharing something that I haven't talked about, but what little skepticism I do have is overshadowed by the fact that I know none of y'all are ones to judge. From everything I've seen thus far, y'all are incredibly open-minded, accepting and encouraging. And I love that about every one of you.
Coming back to do an outfit post along with sharing an amazing thing that happened today!
Love,
Roni
This is amazing Roni ! thank you so much for sharing such beautiful story's .
ReplyDeleteCant wait to see more pictures i enjoy seeing pictures from when we were young it's fun.
i enjoy lots of post you share with us, your sence of humor brings tons of smiles to my face i can feel down and ( seriously ) come to the blog world read yours and just crack up and enjoy ! your awesome woman.
Thank you, Ruby, that's REALLY sweet and you know it means a lot to me. :) Can't wait to hang out and watch tv again. hehe
DeleteAmen!! Except that I am totally guilty of the shy awkward bday blues phase. I avoid telling people my birthday is coming up. It is so dumb - really, I know. Hopefully your posts will help me snap out of it. We are still in the beginning half of our lives!! I really like that you are doing this series of posts. And it is really cool that your trainers helped you out like that :]
ReplyDeletehaha, I figured there were other people like me that get shy, so I guess it's just something you'll overcome one random day on your own. And yesss, we are in the beginning, this is seriously JUST the beginning. I was talking to my good friend about that the other day. About how our parents and grandparents would probably give anything to be this young again, so I shouldn't call myself names like "ancient" anymore, LOL.
DeleteThank you for your nice words.
I love this! I'm going to do this too. Man, oh man, so much has happened since then. Maybe I can get mom to send me some of my pics from back in the day. I can't believe that 10 years ago, you joined & I did too. We were both so young! And you SO look young. Can't wait 'til you get to the year you met me!
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm excited to read yours when you do it then. March...27th, right??? Omg, why have I always wanted to say yours was the 31st of March? I think cause my other girlfriend's is that day. ANYWAY, you need to get your old pics from tu mama! I've been wanting to see them. Just tell her to send whatever she can find from when you were in high school. I'll get to you in what, 2003 or 2004? I forget which was the official year we met and when we actually started hanging out religiously.
DeleteOoh what a good idea! Can't wait to read more of this. I like what you said about getting better as you get older. That's a nice way to think of it!
ReplyDeleteHey spanks! Glad you liked this little rando thing I decided to do. :)
DeleteWhat a great concept! Twenty-eight is still a ways away for me, but I look forward to the years ahead and certainly am excited for "getting better." I really look forward to reading and getting to know a bit more about you! :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your youth. That's what I always tell people your age. I mean, it's not like I'm a grannie or anything, but I've lived through almost 10 years more of what y'all have and I think I've had my fair share of experiences to be able to tell youngsters that. Enjoy every day, every lesson and don't rush to grow up. You really do just want desperately to get back to your youth the older you get. :) Thanks for enjoying this post!
Deleteyou may not be wanting buttloads of Happy Birthday messages but you are getting them! :) Happy Happy Early B-day! I wish had your problem of not being able to gain weight then I could eat ice cream all day and not feel guilty. Looking forward to the rest of your posts.
ReplyDeleteLOL! I love that I can always expect to laugh when I read your comments. And hey that was back then that I had the weight problem, not anymore. I can certainly pack on some pounds nowadays, especially since ice cream is my 2nd favorite food!
DeleteGirl, ancient?!?! I'll be 33 a few weeks after your bday, LOL! I like seeing the Roni or Yore'. I've never been a "it's my bday" type of person per se'. But birthdays are super important to me. I think it is so important that people feel genuinely loved, needed, wanted and appreciated on their birthday if at no other time. AND I am known for throwing my own bday shindig, LOL! I am very particular about what I want so I'd rather just plan it myself, LOL! Hmmm, maybe you've given me an idea to do something similar on my blog for my bday. Can't wait to see the upcoming posts!
ReplyDeleteWith Class & Sass,
~Khalilah~
HAHA!!! I take my ancient comment back! In fact, I'm done with the name calling to myself. Hey, you're gonna be the most stylish and hawtest 33 y/o ever!
DeleteI love how I just got this whole message of celebrating my life, but yet you've always felt that way. That's why I adore you! You're seriously one of the most positive people I've ever met. I didn't even think about it like the way you said about it being important for people to feel loved, needed and appreciated on their bday, if at no other time. That's so true!
I look forward to getting to know the old you if you do a post like this! HAHA @ "Roni o Yore". That was super funny/cool to read! Love it. *hugs*
I was thinking about it and I have the absolute worst memory EVER. I can remember big events (with pics). But other than that? No dice. I don't think I'd be able to remember things from the past few years to do a post like this. Maybe I AM old, LOL!
DeleteLOLOLOL!!!! Wowwww (in Flava Flav's voice). Nice, Khalilah. Way to forget your life. Ya fish! haha
DeleteI love this post!! Awww Look at you as teenager & you still look the same!!..& Your instructors were pretty cool for coming up with that weigh in trick!! lol..Good thing they thought of it bc subsequently you met Mikey =) ..I can't wait to see what comes in the next 9 days..I love learning more about my friends over old pictures.....and girl I have always loved birthdays! I usually celebrate my birthday for atleast 2 or 3 weeks. & everyone knows when it's coming bc I can't contain my excitement that I've reached another year. I love birthdays! I love celebrating all of the milestones, obstacles, triumphs, and falls I overcame in that year and the achievements I've made too. It's such a blessing to see another year pass. I am glad that you have now found the BIRTHDAY JOY too!! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, doll. I'll take that teenager comment as a compliment! Wee! I don't wanna look old, that terrifies me. I'll take getting older, I have no choice, but I wanna stay looking young at least. Hehe And you're right. Everything happens for a reason, and I think I might have just been meant to meet Mr. Eulo. ;)
DeleteI love that you love birthdays! You were so positive and accepting of getting older. I wanna be just like that. :) And amen to everything you said. You said it perfectly. Yay for birthday joy!!! ♥