in 13 days i turn 30. whew.
last night, thankfully to a water leak in our house, i was able to look through old photo albums. how does a water leak get me to old photo albums? well you see, due to the water leak we had to move a LOT of furniture out of the way of the water. one of the pieces of furniture was a bookshelf. this said bookshelf houses all of our photo albums. so, we emptied the bookshelf to move it and presto! i got to look at old pictures!
why is this important? well during my trip down memory lane i found pictures of my 20th birthday party. i should scan some of the pictures for you guys. but a few words: tiara. keg stands. very ex-boyfriends. lots of underage drinking (sorry mom, it happens).
so, this made me think....what has happened over the past TEN years!? what was i doing then? and what am i doing now? who was i then? and who am i now? (i kind of touched on this with my epilepsy stuff, since it all did start a little over ten years ago. but i promise this will be different!!)
20 year-old kendra: (let's see if i can remember her....)
* i was a sophomore at appalachian state university
* i had brain surgery 3 days after my twentieth birthday. three days. some birthday present.
* not to go on and on about my epilepsy, but 20 year old kendra had a hard year with it: i withdrew from asu (because i wasn't fully recovered from surgery yet), moved home for a few months, worked part-time, doctor tried to take me off my meds too soon (in my opinion), more seizures, so back on the same meds.
* being only 20 and already having experienced college, i still wanted to live like i was in college. so, i did. that was difficult for me and my parents....while living at home. so, i eventually moved out (much to my parents disliking).
* i transfered to north carolina state university and started taking classes in the fall.
* i loved college life: football games. parties. friends. drinking. staying up late. classes, sometimes. it wasn't great for my health, but i didn't care because i was having fun!! whooooo!
* i also loved my job. i worked for raleigh parks and recreation at a community center. i did a little bit of everything. camp counselor. score keeper. front desk staff. you name it, i did it. it was awesome.
* some might say i was a bit selfish then. i just was really involved in what i liked to do...not much else. so, if that is your definition of selfish, then....
* life was so laid back and carefree. i had no plan for the future, unless the future was the upcoming weekend. i lived moment-to-moment.
30 year-old kendra:
* i am one semester, a thesis and an internship away from completing my graduate degree in recreational therapy.(YAY!!)
* i completed my undergraduate degree a year ago (20 year-old kendra probably had something to do with that....plus some of her friends, 21-23 year-old kendra).
* i am engaged! to the man of my dreams. we are getting married in about 5 months. holy shit...5 MONTHS!!! there is still so much to do!!!
* i love being busy. busy with school. busy with family and friends. busy with events. busy traveling. it really doesn't matter. i just like to do things. preferably fun things. i don't like do things i don't like....which you know, makes sense...
* i am silly. and laugh alllllllllll the time. i am happy. tremendously happy.
* there is a bright side to everything. i don't take life too seriously. it's too short and it would probably kill me. i think it frustrates keith sometimes when i laugh about the things that go wrong. you can either laugh or cry. i choose to laugh. it makes the situation easier to deal with.
* i care about my family and friends more than they will ever know. the other people in my life come before i do. i will do anything for anyone else before i will do something for myself. it makes productivity around here slow sometimes....but worth it.
* i get excited about the little things. for example, our apartment won the holiday door decorating contest!!! sooo we won a prize!! (i'll take some pictures to show you what a #1 decorated door looks like, just in case you want yours to look like the best).
* my seizures are finally under control. i am on a medicine that doesn't make me balloon up (retain water). for now, it is working. most days i feel good. i have learned to take care of myself. i know my limits (but i don't always listen to them). plus, i have a great support system now to help me :)
i think 20 year-old kendra wouldn't even recognize me today. some days i don't feel like i've changed at all. and other days i know i have. and i think that is good thing. 20 year-old kendra was a good person....but this version of myself, well she is stunning and pretty amazing :)
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