here we go
Yesterday, after reading my version of a blog, my roommate reflected on the first time she saw my facebook - “when you write, you sound like the perkiest person in the world…!!!” And that is not me at all. Not to say that I’m un-perky, but anyone who knows me knows I’m a windmill, I can spin out of control with the slightest gust of wind. I have incredibly intense mood changes, and I’m not afraid to show how I feel. That being said, I feel like I should write at least kind of how I am, some of the time. I do get incredibly perky at times, but usually those are the times when those around me have to be the most careful - the perkier I am, the more easily my mood can instantly do a 180.
I figured that, if I’m going to be writing in this, I should write a little bit about myself. I’m 18 and go to school at UW-Seattle. I grew up in Orange, Ohio which is a suburb of Cleveland. I am in a long distance relationship. My boyfriend’s name is Nick, and he is still home in Ohio. He has enlisted in the marines, and is leaving for bootcamp on February 23. Afte boot camp and his mos school, he will (hopefully) be stationed near Seattle and will be moving here in September.
Here at school, I am generally incredibly happy. I have two best friends (Erin and Erinn) and yes I do get sad that my name is not Erin/n too. My other close friends include a girl named Kelly, and two boys in the heart of a bromance, Jon and Brad. They are basically the only reason I’m ok with being 3,000 miles away from my family and home, and they are the best friends I have ever had.
I have a long history of weight and body image issues. Since 7th grade, my weight has fluctuated from my lowest (142, summer after 7th grade and again summer after junior year of hs) and my highest, 175 (end of 8th grade). I’ve spent two summers at Camp Shane and had a great time there, and during my junior year of high school I did jenny craig which worked tremendously. This is when I reached 142 on my own. I then, however, started dating Nick, and he wreaked havoc on my diet. I can’t complain - we had a great time going to dinner, eating ice cream after long walks and sharing milkshakes at the diner. My mornings changed from two hour workouts at the jcc to sleeping until 11 after returning home at 3am. I also went on birth control around this time, which didn’t help. Nick swept me off my feet, and when I started complaining about the 20 lb I had put on, he insisted that he didn’t notice and that I looked great. Whether or not he has I’ll never know, but he still tells me I’m beautiful; not once has he made any negative comments about my appearance and I think that has helped me tremendously.
A year and a half later, I’ve still not lost the 20 lb but I think I’m finally ready to. My friends and I are doing it together. It’s hard, though - I have a long history of emotional eating, and recently I’ve been extremely sad. When I first came to school, everything was new and exciting, and I was absolutely thrilled to be away from home. Now, though, after being home for winter break I’m not doing as well. I miss my dog, Lilly, a Lhaso Apso. I have two younger brothers, 14 and 16, and I hate not being there to watch them go through high school. Being away from Nick is the hardest. We have never gone a day without talking, and when I lived at home we never went more than two days without seeing each other. Here, we never go a day without talking. What I’m stressing about the most is not being able to speak to him for three solid months. We will be able to write letters, but I’m worried about how heavily I depend on him. Oh well. All I can do is try not to think about it for now.
Erinn, gear up - it’s going to be a long three months.
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