Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Time Warp

The picture on the left is me,  four years ago on my twenty-ninth birthday. The one on the right is me, today. I'm sort of freaked out as I look at them side by side. Very little looks the same to me, aside from that funny upper lip shape.

In fact, they don't even look like the same person to me; definitely related, but not the same person. And I guess, in a way, that's the reality. Aren't we ever-evolving?

The girl on the left has no idea that she's going to move across the country. In fact, she can't even imagine her husband finishing school. She's obsessed with her new blog. She dreams of writing for a living. She is deathly afraid of dogs. She tucks her kids into bed each night.

The girl on the right writes for a living, struggles to maintain her blog, is in love with the east coast, and dreams of finishing a novel. Not only does she own a dog, she frequently talks in sugary, baby talk to larger dogs. She keeps losing the same five pounds over and over again, but needs to lose 15. She tucks her kids into bed each night.

And what about the girl four years from now? What is she doing? Where has she been? Is she still tucking those kids in? Did she finish that novel? And most importantly, what does her hair look like?

Who were you four years ago?

29 comments:

Kelly S. said...

I think you look almost exactly the same! Except for hair that is longer. You look like you haven't aged a day. That humid east coast air must agree with your skin!

Kelly S. said...

PS And you are still so beautiful!
PPS I've always thought so.

Kristina P. said...

You are seriously still as gorgeous.

Alyssa said...

on my recent trip my friend repeated something (thankfully frequently) to me that I loved so I am passing it along to you:

You are beautiful sista!

Also, my sister and I were recently looking at family photos and she commented on the weird habit my upper lip has of disappearing and said "where did that come from? no one else in the family has that?" So, I hear ya.

Emily said...

Great, great post. I bet the woman on the right, in four years, is going to be as inspiring as she is now. Just a hunch.

Dede said...

This was fun to read! I think you look different too, but in a really good way-not that you were hot before. I think you age VERY well...not that you look aged (I hope that came across nice not mean).

I think back 4 years and a was newly married and getting ready to move to another state. I loved my new husband, but it doesn't compare to the love I have for him now. I never would have thought I would have such an adorable, sweet little boy and the love that brings into my life. I would say that the last four years have been the best of my life. I am excited for the next four.

Ali said...

Four years ago? I was drowning in small-child-dom. Unsure of myself. Hunting for something bigger. Now? Actually, not that much has changed, but I do have a blog. And shorter hair. Sadly, with grey strands.

amy said...

Loved reading this post. Time passes so quickly especially with kids but looking back you realize how much you can change in just a few years.

Four years ago I was very nervous about becoming a mama. And now I love tucking my kids in each night.

MAB said...

Four years ago I was still reeling after my husband came out of the non-believing Mormon closet. I was an overwhelmed mother of two toddlers. Choosing paint colors for our first house.

Now, I'm appreciative of my husband's different views, the house has been painted and repainted. I"m an overwhelmed mother of three young children. And now I have a blog.

Leslie said...

Dang, my sis is gorgeous, talented, and inspiring!

Four years ago ... UGH!!
Now ... better in many ways!
Four years from now? No idea! Possibly an insane asylum is in the near future.

Cathy said...

Four years ago I had just gotten home from vacationing in Hawaii. And I was newly preggo with my firstborn. Good times. And I love your hair.

readplayrun said...

i think you look even more beautiful and i bet that will continue to be true as you age. your funny sweet soul will always shine through! :)

marta said...

ooh i adore this idea. and i hope hope hope you still have your curls in four years. thanks for sharing. it's crazy looking back ain't it!?

kami @ nobiggie.net said...

I wish I could know that one. I wish I could be the two years 10 pounds lighter version of me.

I love your hair right now! Darling!

4 years from now, I'll be in line at your 2nd book signing. :)

Kellybee said...

I love this post! What a great perspective. I'll have to put some thought into this, and post something on my blog...

Travelin'Oma said...

You are darling in both photos, but you look hip and sophisticated in the more recent one. You look successful, loving life.

Four years ago I was just learning how to do what I do. I've come a long way, baby!

Mindi said...

4 years from now i will just have come home from a long weekend with you and a few cherished, close, intellectually stimulating, smokin' hot foxes with kickin' bodies.

i'll stop in just long enough to ooh and aah over abbey's perfect 4.0 grades, accept the love and adoration every other child that i birthded wants to bestow on me, then i will jump in my mid-life-crisis car (either a bmw or porsche--still so old school!)and whiz off to my next series of multi-million dollar lectures.


yep. that sounds just about right.....

Leslie said...

Hey, are you wearing red lipstick??

Christy said...

I really enjoyed this post! Loved the photos too. You were beautiful yesterday & you are beautiful today, inside & out!

Becky said...

Love this post! And I love both of you! It's truly no fair that you haven't aged at all. I probably would cry if I saw a side by side of me now vs four years ago. Ugg. You are a beautiful lady!

Annie said...

wow! you have made me think today. thanks, i think. we were just getting ready to buy our first house. that we were only going to live in for 2 years. 4 years later, still here. and we are not leaving anytime soon thanks to new adventurous church callings!

and, you are gorgeous, and inspiring!

Mia said...

You are as beautiful as ever. I love the pictures, and the post. I am excited to see where we both are in 4 years. I think the future holds so much possibility and happiness, with just enough sadness to make us appreciate good.

Kate said...

Four years ago I was still healing from a hard move into a new neighborhood and area, I would hardly look a boy in the eye, and I liked having chickens. Now, I'm comfortable with my little world, I have more guy friends than girl friends, and I hate chickens. In four years, I'll be graduating college and landing a fab job as a sportswriter. In theory. :)

Suzie said...

You look happier, wiser & a littl emore at peace in photo #2. Oh, and you look exactly like an author.

You're a little green in #1. But bright-eyed!

What a fascinating post.
In 4 years so much may change for me.
Lindsay will be 27
Hannah 24
Keaton 20
Emma 12
I could have only 1 kid home & I might just pitch a tent on a beach somewhere and work on my tan.
With straight hair.

Jodi said...

Four years ago I was fighting depression . . . and losing. I was getting ready to mainstream a little boy with autism that couldn't speak. How do you succeed in school when you can't speak?! My oldest was just diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome and I had a busy little one year old who was being neglected.

I like today much better.

Angie said...

Your hair will look great.

Brittany said...

it's so funny because to think about four years from now, that doesn't seem THAT far away... but to think of four years ago- it's like a hundred years.

4 years ago i had just turned 29, just had my first baby- a boy, had been married one year, was working full time and had gone back to work full time 2 weeks after birth.

i've just turned 33, had another baby- a girl- last year, moved to another city, quit my job, stay at home and still stress out and worry about everything that may or may not ever really happen.

ca-ray-zy.
i loved reading this post ;)

Artax said...

Love this post, though I'm late to the commenting. I'm hoping for four more years of your great blog. And a book. And let's throw in one from me, too.

Omgirl said...

This blog post is such an interesting concept. I feel like very very little has changed about my life in the last four years. I have another child, but the routine is about the same, just plus 1. My hair has gotten shorter, longer, shorter, darker, lighter, redder, darker. But my LIFE, my actually day to day is just about the same. So what interests me about this post is to think about what it might be like in 4 years, and the hope that it will be very different. A new house in a new city or even a new state? A new child or if not a new job? A new career for my husband and some of our current financial nightmares finally over? It's a happy thought to think four years ahead! (However, the thought of my kids being four years older, having a nearly NINE year old, is terrifying!!!)

Related Posts with Thumbnails