This week you have grown to the size of an avocado and have been giving mama some pretty awesome gas. I learned that your bones are now in place and can probably hear me when I talk....and fart. You probably heard me expressing my frustrations about some folks' unsolicited "advice" on how we should raise you, and what choices we will make regarding you. Hopefully, you won't ever meet these people. Don't worry, you aren't missing out.
Let's continue in our letters!*
#4- 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could:
1- You are not as fat as you think you are. And you're at least 100 times more beautiful than you realize. Seriously. In 10 years, you'll wish you were as "fat" as when you thought you were fat. Remember where true beauty comes from: confidence. Quit worrying so much about your pizza face.
2- High school boyfriends are extremely overrated. Break up with him now and go have fun with other people who's mothers aren't trying to plan your "future wedding" every time you come over for Sunday dinner.
3- Call your Papa more. Learn as much as you can about his life, his time in the military, his time at NASA and your extended family. It is so important to know where you come from.
4- It really doesn't matter what your classmates think of you. Most of these losers will become fathers and mothers to multiple children from multiple partners, find themselves in the "Just Busted" paper, gain a ton of weight and/or be jealous of the fact that you had higher standards than they did at 16. Try not to be surprised when a former teammate approaches you years after graduation and compliments you on the type of person you were in high school, even though they made fun of you for it. It's OK that you're the only LDS member in your grade, that you are in Band, and that you are friends with the "weirdos" (AKA the gay kids, fellow Band geeks and assorted nerds.)
5- Go with your gut. You will be faced with many choices in the next couple of years, and if you listen to your gut, and not what others tell you to do, you will be just fine. (And I think you do a pretty good job of that, just for the record.)
6- Don't be upset if your 5 Year Plan doesn't work out like you'd want it to. So far, so good. Just be patient, and trust that everything happens for a very specific reason. You have a lot of learning and growing to do.
7- There is always something you can learn from someone else. Good or bad. Get to know as many different kinds of people as you can, and be grateful for the lessons that they teach you.
8- Get a job and invest some money in Google stock. Or a CD, or an IRA Roth account.
9- Spend more time with your siblings. I know they seem annoying right now, but after you've all left the house, you will ache for simpler times and their company.
10- Learn to say "no" to things. Like, now. If you don't want to do something, you don't have to. Don't worry about impressing the wrong people, trying to make everyone happy or doing crap that you don't want to do.
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| That's me, back row, towards the middle....with the Cello. I later joined the Drum Line, as you cannot march with a Cello. |
#5- 5 things that make you most happy right now:
1- Cooking a great meal and sharing it with friends and family. Food is often the easiest way for me to show my love for others. I consider food, not math, to be the universal language.
2- Traveling to new places. I love being somewhere I have never been and being surrounded by people I don't know. Something about being surrounded, yet completely anonymous that I love.
3- The beach...any coast. Any time of year.
4- My family....most days. I love your dad, your fur-brother, your aunts and uncles, your grandmas and grandpas, and many friends that I consider to be family. You are fortunate to already be loved by so many people.
5- Peaceful moments. That could be enjoying some quality company, having a full tummy, having delicious conversations, having an aesthetic experience, quiet moments snuggling with your daddy, being moved by nature, feeling at peace about my life's direction, letting things go, getting my hands dirty working in a garden or flowerbed, hearing your sweet little heart beating very fast....I could go on forever.
Until next week, sweet baby.
Love,
Mama
Here's some tunes:
No One's Gonna Love You- Band of Horses
Completely Not Me- Jenny Lewis
Pachuca Sunrise- Minus the Bear
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry- Hank Williams
*Letters 1-3
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