First Person Friday.

by

carla1505

I had a fleeting thought that today could be an uber-serious post chock full of musings & mullings regarding the fact I turn forty tomorrow.

FLEETING.

EPHEMERAL.

The thing is Ive nary a musing or a mulling in my head.

Im thankful I feel better today than I did at thirty.

I’m more energetic, centered, and plain ole comfortable in my own skin.

The fact that the aforementioned skin is far more wrinkly than it was at thirty?  That doesnt bother me yet in the least.

Check in with me at 50—–will I have changed my tune?  Who can say.

Ive loved each piece of my life thus far.

Sure there are a few specific moments I adored not so much (please to see first heartbreak and cross-reference under being horribly embarrassed about the fact I was a band geek) and yet, even with enjoying all these moments, I wouldnt return to any and “live it all again” if given the opportunity.

I am content where I am right now.

I am curious where life will take me over the next (G-d willing) forty years.

I wake up each day at the ass-crack of dawn and think: SERIOUSLY? THIS IS MY LIFE?! How in earth did I get so lucky?

I am grateful.

I am grateful and I am scanner-less

There was a small chance of this being a complete Carla over the years movie-worthy montage were I not.

As a result here are just three pictures.

Three photos which are sort of indicative of my life journey.

Me at three. Yammering on the phone (which would, I guess, now be replaced my ever present Sidekick handheld).

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Me at 20.  Tanned, in full-on beer & pizza diet-mode & obviously smitten with the Sun-In (thanks Dad for sending this one my way):

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Me at 23.
This was taken soon after I discovered my love of the iron and, if memory serves, I’d just emerged from 9 days backcountry camping/climbing:

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(This photo also ties back into my pondering the fact I am what I repeatedly do. I want to, again, repeatedly climb.)

This is me this morning.
On my second to last day of being thirty nine.
HappyTired & ever grateful.

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Comments

  1. Happy ALMOST birthday! I hope you guys have a great weekend celebrating. Love all of the pictures and glad to hear how great you feel in your own skin! You rock 🙂

  2. Love those photos – I am so glad you are happy with where you are at now. I think that is the best thing about being 40, we are more relaxed about life/health/work/body image etc (hope that is even truer for 50 – eek!).

  3. LOVING the pics – oh i do so love First person friday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY (nearly!) Can I say that, as someone who REALLY struggled last September with turning 30, I only HOPE that I feel at 40, as you said, thankful that I feel better then than i do now at 30……if that makes any sense at all.

    What I’m trying to say is that i think youre blinkin fabulous and look forward to reading all about this latest adventure in your life! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIZ! love, Liz xxxx

  4. Fab post MizFit – it’s so refreshing to read about someone who is genuinely happy with their life. The pics are fabulous! Wishing you all the best for your birthday – hope it is the start of some more wonderful adventures for you 😀

  6. Happy early birthday!!!

    I had entirely forgotten the summers I spent with sun in as well 🙂

  7. Carla through the years…I love it!

    And it all fits your “First Person Friday” post so well – which I also is a feature here that completely is awesome.

    So…40…just around the corner…

    Carla, you’re an amazingly wonderful person – and that’s because you’ve become you through all your life experiences these last 39 years and 364 days. Your birthday cake will shine, not because of all the candles on there, because you’ll be standing beside that cake…and you shine brightly, always, out into the world!

    (Now, don’t eat all that cake yourself…)

  8. I think I used to get to distracted by other people and their lives and comparing mine to what they had.

    Most days in my mind I came up short.

    Turning 40 for me was a time of relation and seeing that what I had was pretty great by itself.

    Sounds as though you have already chosen to view your life through the prism of gratitude and happiness.

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

    Nan

  9. Well look at ya!

    Age 3 – Cute
    Age 20 – Cute Hottie
    Age 23 – Cute Hottie with Muscles
    Age (almost) 40)- Cute Hottie with Muscles energetic, centered, and plain ole comfortable in her own skin.

    Sounds great to me!!!

  10. I don’t comment often but always read.

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY from a woman who grinned at the pictures and at the fact you used the word: ephemeral.

  13. Oh goodness! You look so different in the photo with your father!

    Not even younger–just like a different person.

    I, too, see you as Nan and hope to follow suit with seeing all things in my life as gifts and neither positive nor negative.

    HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY!

  16. I really LOVE your Friday posts, getting to knw you…the REAL you.

    Thank you for sharing and wish there was not thousands of miles between dwelling places as I think our kisds(my youngest anyway) would have a blast playing together!(the Mommies too LOL)

    Have a super day!

  17. HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY!

    What are you doing to celebrate?

    Judging by how you seem not to have aged much since the photo of you 16 years ago I am guessing not much drinking or partying 🙂

    Mere

  18. Happy Birthday!

    I myself just turned 40 & still wax/wane with acceptance of the changes. You look great, better with age, we all can’t say that!

    namaste =)

  19. Happy Birthday!

    How did they come up with that phrase 40 and fabulous before you ever turned 40 because surely that phrase was written for you.

    Have a great one and here’s to 40 more!

  22. How wonderful that you are so grateful about getting older!!

    I love that you’re thankful, energetic, centered and more comfortable in your own skin. What a gift life has given you!

    Like ALL of your posts, it got me thinking: I feel the exact same way. I turned 40 last year and (so far) am loving my 40’s. I know more and more every day who I am and I really truly LIKE who I am — inside and out — and it’s clear you feel the same about yourself.

    What a great gift.

    HAPPY (one day early) BIRTHDAY!!!!

    Giving you a great big virtual hug,
    Dinneen

  26. Happy tomorrow birthday! Birthdays are so much fun. New opportunities await!

    I love how your smile hasn’t changed a bit from when you were three.

  27. Happy almost 40 Birthday! 🙂 This post brought a tear to my eye. Thanks for sharing the pictures. I know that you will have a great(ful) day tomorrow!

    xo
    Natalia 🙂

  29. skating past in my newtome (used 19.99 BARGAIN) old school roller skates.

    Thank you for your kind birthday thoughts and wishes.

    the Tornado and her (waitforit) BARBIE skates beckon.

  30. I love the pictures! Happy early Birthday!

    and as I read this, I can hear your voice talking. Having met you in person, I *KNOW* this is really who you are.
    which makes you all the more awesome. 🙂

  32. This post seriously brought tears to my eyes. (and not because there were serious spelling errors either). I have found myself lately facing a serious issue with regard to my relationship where he is struggling with the, what he calls “lack of excitement” in his life. And I said, “You are telling me, someone with tons of “excitement” (and gratitude for BREATHING every day!) that you are unappreciative of all the good that you have in your life!?!

    I’m glad to see so much gratitude here. How did we all get so GD lucky?

  33. Happy birthday to you
    Happy birthday to you
    Happy birthday to you…ouou
    HAPPY BIRTHDAAAY TOOO YOUUUU!

    Loved the photos and that you can get into my head. Yes, at this stage in my life I feel very grateful to be alive at all and to enjoy so many joyful moments. I am glad I found you during my XMAS break…digital fiddling.. well, I found you earlier through my favorite videofitness site, but I got stuck in December. There is a reason for everything .

    I posted this elsewhere in response to my birthday celebration, but I will repost it here.. because I love it so…

    “Everyday, ordinary, daily life should be a rambunctious celebration, a focus on the positive, a paean to possibility and glee”.

    Source: http://37days.typepad.com/37days/2005/04/celebrate_every.html

    I wish you all the joy and happiness that your heart can hold. Keep rocking TT’s mom 🙂

    xoxo!

  35. Happy Birthday! You’re a great role model and inspiration 🙂 Love the gratitude stuff…totally has changed how I look at my life. Thanks! Have a fantastic birthday!

  36. Awwwww, you were adorable! That’s where the toddler tornado genes come from.

    I’m here to promise you that there is life after 40, especially considering that you’ve been taking care of yourself all along. 50 will be no sweat!

    Have a great birthday weekend!

  38. Happy early B-day, Miz!!

    I have to say, I love your love of life. It’s so inspiring when women are excited about getting older – I get so tired of the media and friends talking about wrinkles, surgery, yada yada. I love your outlook. Life only gets better – if we let it. 🙂

  39. I love all the pictures! You are one beautiful sister/wife/daughter/girlfriend/mama/woman! Can we be 90-yr-old climbers together?

    Thank you for this post. I feel so much better at 30 than I did at 20 and I hope in 9 years to echo your sentiments about 40! You make it look good, girl!

  41. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! I love those pics!

    I’m kind of in the same boat – I’m 38 and the thought of turning 40 excites me – I’m looking forward to it instead of being scared of it. I feel so much better now than I did at 30 – mentally and physically.

    I hope your 40th is your happiest, most peace-filled birthday yet!

  42. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARLA!

    Oh my gosh, you are so cute! Loved seeing how you’ve blossomed over the years.

    Hope your day is full of wonderful things.

    (Must dig out old photos of the Bag Lady…. cannot remember how she looked when she turned 40. Betting she looked better than she did when she turned 50! Must remedy that before she turns 60…. the years between 45 and 50 were not kind to the Bag Lady)

  43. HAPPY BIRTHDAY-EVE!

    I love, love, love the pictures. I think your 40’s are going to be all kinds of awesome, and I love the gratitude and positive attitude that you’re taking with you!

    And anytime you want to fire up a scanner and montage the hell out of the blog, you won’t have any objections from us.

    Hope tomorrow is wonderful!

  45. In New Zealand it’s already your birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We’ll keep the party going till it hits over there 🙂

  46. Welcome to the 40s.

    They are fab & so are you.

    Thank you for sharing pieces of your life with us.

  48. Totally with you about being more comfortable at 40. Well, not today so much because of the 30-Day Shred, but… Can I suggest that we ignore the number of candles on our cakes as studiously as we ignore the number on our scales?

  51. You are amazing Miz and I hope you have a 40th birthday that you will never forget. I’m right behind you! 🙂

  52. Happy *early* birthday!!! i never would have guessed you are going to be 40. cheers to being happy!!

  55. Breaking out the cute on Friday–nice! 🙂 I love your Friday posts (and all your posts), and I hope you have a wonderful birthday! I think 40 will look great on you. 🙂

  56. I just turned 30 so I know what these milestones are like! Congrats on living your best life, there’s no better birthday gift to yourself!

  58. Congratulations on an amazing first 40 years, and a happy early birthday! Do not be ashamed of being a band geek – I danced with the marching band for 4 years in college, and it had its awful moments, but I can’t deny that it did a whole lot for my college experience! I dated one trumpet player through all of those 4 years, and now I’m dating a drummer that I was too blind to see at the time. 😉 Ok, so maybe it’s just a dating service, but hey I’m not gonna knock it!

    Can’t wait to hear what you do to celebrate the big 4-0! ENJOY!

  59. happy almost birthday!!!!!!!! i love the pics (and went through a sun-in phase as well, only to be replaced by perma-blonde at the salon. teehee!)

    beautiful pictures, and so happy for you that you have the life you want and the “you” you want! there is no better way to celebrate a birthday!

  61. Aww I had so much fun going down memory lane with you! You are and have been just plain gorgeous in every way. I think Tornado looks like you in your baby picture aww! Too cute! Ok I’m gushing like a weirdo, sorry!
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Cheers to being a strong and healthy woman in better shape at 40 than this 25-year-old looking up to you right now!

    – Annabel

  62. happy bday… onward and upward… keep your feet on the ground.. but keep reaching for the stars
    gp

  63. Happy almost birthday. We will celebrate next weekend in Chicago, right?

    The gift of getting older is being able to reflect on what we as individuals love. What we’ve longed for. And finding permission to seek out those passions and reignite our curiosities as time allows. Without caring how they appear to the rest of the world.

    Climb on.

    Myself, I really need to get a hike in the Grand Canyon planned.

  64. Seeing these pictures has put my whole day into motion! Thank you for sharing peeks into your life with these wonderful pictures. It’s plain that you are living life, constantly building.

    I’m looking forward to 40, too!

    This was the perfect way to sum up what all of this fitness/health/weight blogging is about.

    Just perfect.

  65. I love the 40’s. I have learn so much about myself in the last 9 years. I wouldn’t ever want to go back…..

    Loved the pics….you look great!

  66. Thanks for sharing and taking us on a wee bit of your life’s journey. Luv the pic’s!
    Have a very happy birthday. Wishing you happiness and health always.
    Can’t wait to turn 40 – sounds wonderful!!

  67. You were a band geek too!

    I knew I loved you.

    Have a fabulous weekend.

    Thanks for sharing it with us.

  69. What a beautiful post. I’m without words for it.

    It was great seeing a few flashback pictures.

    Happy Birthday (in case I don’t get a chance to say it tomorrow)!

  70. Happy early birthday! I love this post, and the transition between 20 and 23 is really interesting. Just 3 years, but so different.

  71. I hope to be the first one to wish you a happy birthday tomorrow!

    You have just got better over the years… and you are a major source of inspiration for me, even though I’m only about 50 days younger than you!

  72. Tomorrow’s plans? Ren Man has asked me repeatedly and, really, I just want to do our saturday routine.

    (he has been working so so much it has been eons since we have…)

    Walk around the lake.
    Starbucks. 🙂
    Hang out.
    Maybe paint pottery w/sister & her family.
    Sushi.
    Just be together.

    (yeah, I know. It totally rings way to close to the “nice little saturday planned…” line from Old School.)

  75. What a wonderful blog!! I love that you’re happytired – the happy part is the best part!! I too find that I’m getting more comfortable as I “age” LOL I think a big part of that is my outlook on life – I appreciate so much more and don’t sweat the small stuff.

    Hau’oli la hanau!! (Happy Birthday in Hawaiian!)

  77. Happy almost bday!!!!!!! Loved the trip thru memory lane with you! You have improved with age! Hey, I was feeling great at 40!!!! It was just a couple years after my bodybuilding days. I found that a bit later in life than you!Check back in with me at 50 when I am 61! I have a feeling you will feel better than me BUT those change of life hormones area bit**!!!! 🙂 Had to get a tease in there!

    ENJOY and I know you will!!!!

  78. You look like such a baby, all wide-eyed and innocent in the picture with your dad! Love the trip through your years in photos – thanks for sharing!

    Happy almost birthday, Carla!

  81. Happy birthday!!!!

    Thanks for sharing the pics. Love the QT on the phone!!!

    Have a wonderful day tomorrow and a wonderful start to your new year. Rock on!!!!

  83. OMG TT looks like you! sooooo cute…

    It’s almost your birthday! WooHoo, my birthday is a national (erm personal) holiday… I hope yours is too!

  85. You look great in all the pics, Carla! Seriously, the smile really helps. You have such a radiant smile.

    Happy Birthday and here’s to the next 40 years!

  87. Okay, you have not changed AT ALL from 20 to (almost) 40. WOW – incredible!
    Have a very happy birthday!!

  89. Happy 40th! FYI, I found that the 40th didn’t bother me and the 50th TOTALLY rocks – I really felt I’d come into my own. Now that I’m on the slide into 60 it’s kind of freaking me out, but I expect by then I’ll be ready for that too! So far I’m enjoying every year more than the previous one.
    et

  90. Happy Birthday to You!!!
    As the immortal Dr. S wrote, “I wish we could do what they do in Katroo!” (Substituting beef jerky for the hot dogs, perhaps? 🙂 ) May your birthday exceed even the Birthday Bird’s wildest dreams!

    Love the pictures! Look at that–you had that mischievous, joyous gleam in your eye from the get-go! Thanks for being wonderful you, and for the difference you make in the world. You are so going to rock the 40s!

  91. Happy (early) Birthday!

    It’s funny, but with each decade that passes, I really appreciate where I’m at now. I wouldn’t want to go back. The wrinkles don’t even bother me. I’ve earned them. 😉

    LOVED the pictures!!!

  92. What’s wrong with band geeks, Missy?! I always was and always will be a big band/piano geek…and it has been quite profitable for me ;).

    I hope that by the age of 50 you will be even more self-content and confident. You deserve it.

  97. Come out of lurking to say HAPPY BDAY! Being 7 months into 40 myself, I can tell you it is all good on this side. Sometimes when I’m feeling timid or unsure of myself, I think, “You’re 40 for goodness sakes, just own it.” 40 is strong. And 40 looks great on you (so did 3 and 20, by the way).

  99. ***had*** such a beautiful smile!

    And Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

    (And now the next comment will be 100 Happy Birthday wishes!!)

  103. This is such an excellent, uplifting post. Also, you’ve had those amazing arms since 23?! Talk about inspiration! Happy birthday!

  106. Just stopping by to wish you an official Happy Birthday – and WELCOME to your 40’s – on behalf of all forty-somethings, we are glad to have you!!!

  107. I really love the First Person Friday posts! Good for you for being so happy with who and where you are on the brink of 40. (Happy Birthday – I LOVE my birthday…maybe being the middle child of three that day was MINE ALL MINE!)

    I was a band, choir AND drama geek so I understand, although I wouldn’t take it back. All these things help us become who we are and kept us on a certain path. I hope to achieve the “happy with oneself” state in the next couple of year. Peace!

  109. Have a wonderful birthday. I hope this year brings back to you all the great things you give to so many people.

  110. Happy Birthday, Carla. Have a wonderful day. When looking back at all these memories, I hope you will also take time to acknowledge all the wonderful advice, guidance and insight you’ve shared with all of us… and the gratitude we all feel for you being unapologetically YOU.

  111. Happy Birthday! I always seem to get ur posts a day later than u publish them, so my responses tend to be late. Anywhooo, my mom (56) told me that you don’t really start living and enjoying things until 40 because you have a better understanding of life and before that you’re learning how to live (I think she meant stabalize). So congrats! and happy birthday!

  112. Hey MizFit – let’s ride this wave together (I am counting down to Aug 22 when I hit 40).

    It’s an odd feeling isn’t it? So grateful, yet kind of scared…maybe because we are half dead?

    Who knows, but WE are headed on what could be an amazing journey so hold on my friend!

    Love,
    mV

    PS Love the sun in comment, I forgot all about that stuff! I bet they still make it.

  114. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Carla! I’m glad you’re embracing your age and thoroughly enjoying it.

    You said: “Check in with me at 50—–will I have changed my tune?” Trust me when I tell you, Carla, that it just keeps getting better. Each decade is better than the last. I love my life and really like who I’ve become now that I’m in my 50s.

    All your pics are just adorable. 🙂

    Celebrate–you deserve it! 😀

    –Susan

  116. Hey Miz,
    You inspire me! I love your ideas, photos and all else about your blog.

    If you keep going the way you are now you will love being 50 and your skin won’t be hanging.

    Make this moment even better than the last and happy, happy 40.

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