dear 16 year old me

Dear 16 year old Jennifer (you don't go by Jen yet),

At this point in your life you are stuck between being a child and being an adult.

You have already graduated and are currently working low paying jobs to pay your car insurance and gas.

Don't be in such a hurry to grow up.

I know that a lot of times it's hard to fit in with kids your own age, but trust me when I say that you will have PLENTY of time to be an adult.

And sometimes, the responsibility is not all that it's cracked up to be.

Everything is super dramatic in your life, a hint that you might not be as mature as you think you are.
Trust that as an adult, you will try to hang onto your youth and eventually will use your own children as a means to do just that. ;)
You want so hard to look older.
Let me tell you that eventually you will LOVE it when people tell you that you look younger than you are.
True beauty doesn't lie in makeup and hairspray and push up bras.
It lies in being a good person.
Honorable.
Dependable.
Responsible.
Loving and caring.
You are all of these things already. Keep it up.
And always, always remember the episode of Full House where Becky teaches D.J. that being naturally beautiful is WAY better than being "made up" beautiful.

I know that you are boy crazy and currently there are two boys that keep breaking your heart,

but know that just three short years from now the guy for you will enter your life.

You will eventually love him SO much and he will love you right back.

He will become your best friend, husband, confidante and father of your children.

And because of him, those two other guys will become completely obsolete.

I know it's hard to be patient, but he is so worth it.

Some things never change.

You still wear flip flops ALL the time.

Driving with your car windows down with the radio blasting is still just as fun.

Reading is still your favorite pastime. 

You are still a people pleaser.

Klutziness does not go away with age.

Neither does the intense need to constantly crack your knuckles.

You are still super emotional and people often take you for granted,

but you never tell them how you feel (did you see the part about being a people pleaser?).

Other things do change.

Your friends are not the same.

You no longer wear overalls 90% of the time.

While you feel that there is always room for improvement, you have become more and more comfortable in your own skin.

You hardly ever see your family.

You have a bit of an easier time saying no.

Over the last 13 years your life has had many ups and quite a few downs as well.

You have been through life experiences that you never gave a second thought to before.

Don't worry so much about the future.

Or about being the person that your family and friends think you should.

You are you; you are beautiful.

You will never please everybody and you will learn to (mostly) accept this.

Your life will turn out so amazing!

All the great things and people will be worth all of the hard times to get there.

Continue to be nice.

You affect people in ways that you don't yet know about.

Stop worrying about having a family.

Stop letting people dictate who and what you care about.

You will get to where you need/want to be.

Your children are going to come, starting much sooner than you think.

And they will be the lights of your life.

Stop worrying.

You've started to find solace in music, continue doing that.

It's a healthy obsession.

No matter how thin (or heavy) you get, you will always feel the need to look different.

Embrace your curves.

You are beautiful.

Don't put too much of yourself out there.

The world can sometimes be a cruel place.

Don't invest more into your friendships than others do.

You always do this and more often than not you get hurt.

One day being in the "popular" crowd will no longer matter to you.

You will become a homebody and your favorite people to be around will be your husband and kids.

All the worrying that you do about fitting in will eventually not matter.

Life changes so much, so fast.

Embrace that and love your life, no matter what.

Practice cooking now, because you will be mercilessly teased by your future husband about you lack of culinary skills.

Don't worry though, you do eventually learn to cook. Really well.

Some people who you put up on a pedestal will be knocked down.

It's okay. That's part of life.

Always trust your instincts and trust God to bring you through any and every situation.

You may not know it yet, but you're a fighter.

And a damn good one.

There is a lot more that I could tell you, but I'm writing a letter, not a novel.

This will all probably go in one ear and out the other,

but I'm living proof that everything turns out good in the end.

All my love,

29 year old Jen

All of the credit for this post has to be given to Ashley from Little Miss Momma.

I remember reading her post awhile ago and was so impressed.

Now I've finally gotten around to my own letter.

What would say to your 16 year old self?

peace, love, and all things sparkly.