Dear 7 year old Kristy
You moved to TN. You told your parents the people here talk funny. Everyone asked "what are you?" and you were SO confused. Nobody had black hair like you. Later in life, you will love your hair color, just not your hair style/texture. You also saw a real cow for the first time! You wrote a story in your journal and it said you wanted a farm, 3 boys and a nice husband to live happily ever after. Even at age 28, you still want those 3 boys and you will have that husband!
Dear 12 year old KristyYou're in middle school. You already knew you wanted to be a teacher. In fact, you once stood up to your mean teacher and got punished. You are going through many changes and will not find your true self until college. You got good grades and existed, but always observed and never spoke. You internalize a lot. You will change later and never look back. You also ate your first sausage ball,
haha but you don't eat sausage. You didn't know what it was but to this day you still love sausage balls but do not eat sausage plain. You also went on your first of many cruises to come and this triggered your love of traveling and seeing the world.
Dear 16 year old Kristy
You're driving. The first thing you did was go pick up your two best friends and eat Mexican. Later in life, you will still be a
Mexican food fiend! Your mean parents put you on Dave Ramsey as a kid. How rude! They matched whatever you earned and you could have the car of your choice. You didn't go to prom. You didn't date. You were not popular. In fact, you didn't like high school and kept a close group of friends, some if which you are still friends with. You told yourself you would never do drugs, drive drunk, or have
pre-marital sex. You were the strictest rule follower ever!! You are so bossy too, but that is what kept you out of trouble. You were so NOT normal. Don't worry, you're about to thrive. College is just around the corner.
Dear 18-21 year old KristyThis is the time of your life. Repeat. This is the time of your life. You just didn't know it at the time. You went to college and blossomed into a talkative, loud, fairly popular, control freak. You were still so strict with yourself. You got a scholarship and made the best friends of your life. In fact, you joined a sorority, who would have thought! This decision changed your life forever and you should be so grateful. Ten years later, you will still be friends with these amazing ladies and you found your soul sister. You jumped into your first real relationship immediately and of course, walked the straight and narrow. There was little room for mistake and you thought you were in love. You graduated cum
laud in 4 years and ta-
da, became a teacher just like you said when you were 7 years old. You got out of the relationship upon graduating and your world changed. You dated a football player, one of your best male friends and spent every weekend in downtown Nashville at clubs. haha You love rap music. You were so skinny and your hair was beautiful!!! Although the club scene wasn't for you, you were trying to be the norm. You still never did anything bad and kept the 3 promises you made yourself in high school. Don't regret any of these decisions, it has made you into the person you are and soon you will get your first job and meet your future husband.
Dear 23 year old Kristy
You met your future husband....at the rec center! You didn't pick him yourself, God provided him. While you are growing into your personal best, you still have these rules you make up. You would NEVER date someone who works out, they must be players, you would NEVER date
someone with a tattoo, you had all these rules. These rules always kept you safe. But, he had green eyes and a wonderful heart. He had many tattoos, his ear is pierced, he works out daily, all the things that you were against but you didn't think twice. You see, on your 2
nd date he flat out told you he wanted 1 Corinthians...and what did you do? You pulled the laminated quote you carried in your wallet out and tossed it across the table. Now, that was God. 6 months later you would be engaged, 9 months later you were getting married on the beach! Your life was just beginning and it was magical. Cherish these moments forever. You're about to start living!
Dear 24-27 year old Kristy
Your life is wonderful. You bought a house, your first fur baby, traveled to Europe, turned 25 in Paris, cruised the
Caribbean, started your own business, became an aunt and Godmother and met some of your best friends/co-workers. Marriage has been wonderful, but still hard. You are one stubborn b*%&H. You now speak your mind, you are more secure than you've ever been. You grew into the person you always wanted to be. You are very honest and have a hard time holding back. Remember those college girls? You'll still be best friends with them. They are in your life for a purpose. STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES, these are the days of your life! One day you will look back and cherish these years. Don't rush things. You won't fail so don't worry, you'll have kids some day, you know you've already got your names picked out. You'll do everything you want to, just not on your time. You can't plan everything. Enjoy the ride.
Dear 28 year old KristyYou can do it.
Dear 30 year old Kristy who is two and a half years down the road....FYI, honey I want a big birthday party with bright colors and Mary will make the cake. Just give the girls the money to plan it.
Aunt E had to butt her big head in this picture!
Sadly, I didn't take any pictures on July 4th. We do a cook out with Steven's family of 50. :o) Then, we came home and watched the fireworks from our deck. Zane did great too and wasn't scared one bit. Big perk!
Check out the awesome chairs you get to sit in!
We drove to Collierville to the little antique stores and town square. It was really cute. Along the way, we saw Allan from the Hangover! Yep, look closely, he is pumping gas. Totally looked like him!! Sadly, those are suspenders and not the baby in the Bjorn.
A little piece of heaven. Sarah took me to a historic mass salvage center. Rows and rows of doors, windows, corbels, knobs, architectural pieces, you name it, they had it!!
I was in heaven! Mepmhis has some amazing places the visit downtown. Sarah and I had blast just hanging out and talking. We can talk for hours and not get bored. Sometimes we tell the same stories over and over but they never get old. I had a great time!
Here's my super sister cooking me dinner! She is a pro at jumbo coconut shrimp
A bowl of coconut milk and freshly chopped parsley
peeling the shrimp and cutting down the backside to get the junk out
I left a picture out of her breading the shrimp by dipping them into the coconut chunks
Use your deep fryer and.....
Exactly two years ago today my family made the big haul home--upstate NY. This is the first time that Steven has met any family member since they live SO far away. (oh, and they don't travel) Here's my only living grandparent, my Grandma, rocking 80 years old in this picture!
