Through Crystal's Eyes: Letter to my 21 Year Old Self

This is a great idea! I'm so glad someone else came up with the idea. My husband and I have actually been having conversations lately about what we wish we knew then that we know now. So here goes!

Dear Crystal (21),

You rock! You have so many things going for you and you are headed in the right direction. You definitely don’t think you need one bit of advice, but just as you would, I am going to give it to you!

Stop harassing Jim about getting married! It’s annoying. Seriously. You are so lucky to have found such a wonderful person to spend your life with. Having a big party and a piece of paper is not as important as have founding the right one. You will get those eventually. Relax.

Start traveling now! There are so many beautiful places in this world and once you travel somewhere once, you will be immediately infected with the travel bug. Take a trip to Europe and explore Ireland, Germany and England. You will want to do this one day but you won’t realize it till after your honeymoon (which rocks by the way) and then soon after it will become difficult.

Enjoy the little things that you don’t realize are the “little things”:

- emptying the dishwasher without a toddler emptying your clean dishes onto the floor and climbing into the dishwasher

- having a clean home for longer than 2 hours

- going to see a movie whenever the hell you want

- shopping for yourself

- going out with friends during the week

- actually having “extra” money

- going to the bathroom alone

- having a few beers with dinner and not feeling like shit the next day

- driving with all the windows down and super loud music

- last minute “anything”

- getting out of the house on time

Stop eating meat & drastically reduce your dairy intake. Do the research. You’ll understand. By doing this you will avoid excessive days at the gym, crying in a fitting room while trying on bathing suits, and just downright feeling like shit about your body over 20 pounds. Some people may say to stop drinking alcohol to stay healthy too, but where’s the fun in that? Enjoy hanging out late, drinking too much and being able to function the next day. Around 26, that shit gets hard!

When you finish your bachelor’s degree, keep going for your Masters! It will be so much easier and get done faster if you just keep going. I mean, what the hell do you need a “break” from anyway? Working and going to the bar fit in just fine with a school schedule. You will eventually go back, but it will take you years to complete. (Hint: I’m still going).

I won’t tell you everything, but these are just a few of the small things I wish I would have known about now that I am looking back. I know you’re curious too, so I’ll tell you this: Yes, being a mom is absolutely amazing and it IS “The best decision you ever made”! But don’t rush; you really have all the time in the world!

Keep it up!
Crystal (29)

These are the oldest pictures I could find right now. Enjoy!