Sunday, December 6, 2015

Dear Sweet Sixteen

Dear Sweet Sixteen,

You are something special!

In honor of my beautiful sister turning 16 in a mere 5 days, I have decided to dedicate this Sunday's letter to a walk down memory lane.  From age 15 to 16 is quite a big jump.  16 brings so many things: driver's license, a car, curfew, freedom, and much more.  To some people, it may not be a big deal, but to me it was.  I remember my sweet 16 clearly. Here's a nice little throwback to that very day. How embarrassing.

It was nothing big, no huge party, just a small celebration with my two (at the time) best friends.  It was a Friday, how perfect right? I went to school like normal (except I wore the sash pictured above), then right after my mom came and got me and we headed to the DMV where I passed my test with an 89% and was officially a licensed driver! Woo hoo! That was seriously such an exciting moment. When we got home, she opened the garage and there it was.  A 2000 Nissan Maxima.  My very own car :) I was not expecting it at all! I had accepted the fact that I was not getting a car for my birthday, so what a surprise that was. I remember I had a zebra print steering wheel cover, and beads around my mirror.  A typical teenage girl's car.  I named him Paul, and we had some great times.  That night I went to Olive Garden with my friends, and we drove around all night, just because we could.

I began driving all the time.  Any and every time we needed to go somewhere, I wanted to drive.  I loved running errands for my mom, I loved being able to shop on my own, I would even just drive around town going nowhere specific.  I loved being able to leave my house whenever.  It was just such a good feeling! I was also about halfway through high school at this time, and my baby mind could not think far enough into the future.  Every mistake was the end of the world, college was nothing but a dream, high school was as far as I could think.  Looking back, there are some things I wish I would have known, and so I will share these with you today:


  1. Enjoy your freedom - enjoy your new sense of freedom that you will gain.  Know that it's not going anywhere anytime soon, but it will not always feel the way it feels right now.
  2. Know that with this freedom, comes responsibility - do not take advantage of this freedom. You are still very young.  You may think you know everything and can do anything, but you cannot. Sorry to break it to you. Just be responsible.
  3. Honor your curfew - It sucks.  I hated having a curfew.  It wasn't until I moved away and didn't have one that I learned to appreciate it.  Mother's know best, I promise.  It will not last forever, so respect it while it does.  
  4. Do not text and drive! - This one is obvious.  Do not text, talk on the phone, snap-chat, twitter, anything.  The only thing that matters when you are behind the wheel is getting from point A to point B.  Everything else can wait.  
  5. Gas costs money - Do not waste it.  
  6. Don't stress the little things - This is the age when every little thing is a really big thing.  The boy will not matter in 10 years, neither will that C, or the girl that drives you nuts.  Try your best to let them go. 
  7. Remember the people that got you here - it is easy to get so lost in yourself and your life that you forget about those who have always been there, and who have helped you get to where you are.  
Sixteen is a brand new chapter in your life, but it sure is not the final one.  Enjoy it while it is here, but always remember that life goes on, and you have so much ahead of you.

This week I challenge everyone to  remember your younger years.  Try to live this week a little more freely than you normally would, and let go of the little things.

Have a wonderful week everyone, and Happy early Birthday to my baby sis :)

Yours Truly,
Pantless Sunday's

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