Hello everyone, I hope you’re having a lovely morning/afternoon/evening! IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!! Today, July 22nd, 2021, I’m turning 18-years-old! That means eighteen years of Callie Elizabeth being on this earth, eighteen years of life, and eighteen years of experiences to celebrate, good and bad. Now, I usually wouldn’t do a post every year for my birthday, but today I’m officially an Adult, and turning eighteen symbolizes a new chapter of life, whether or not I’m actually going anywhere, going down a crazy new path, etc. In this post, I want to reflect and share. I want to reflect on my life and share some fun knicks and knacks with all of you. So, I guess this is gonna be a little bit of a self-love post 😉

･ﾟ:*just me feeling a bit pretty on my birthday*:･ﾟ

As I write this, I’m actually really nervous, but I want to share my growth. My ongoing goal in life is to share more love and encouragement, so that’s what I’ll do. I want to celebrate my past struggles and my growth, no matter how hard, because what we need most is to learn that we are not alone, we are not weird for having problems and struggles, and most of all, we are in this together. We are in life together, so why not lift each other up to encouragement and love through our own experiences.

A while back, I hit a rough patch in life that really kinda flipped me upside down. I won’t share many details, but that experience and hardship forced the imaginative, hopeful, and childish young Callie into a scary, tough, and dark chapter of life. I often think that if I wasn’t a Christian, I wouldn’t have made it through that period of life.

There were many times where I wished that that had never happened to me, that I could go back to who I was, but then I would have never grown. I would never have grown to be the stronger, more faithful, more grateful woman I am today. God often throws these challenging times our way to strengthen us and show that even if we can’t find that strength in ourselves, we can ALWAYS find it in him.

One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 41:13, “For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’” It’s a constant reminder that God is right there with you, that he is willing to help you, he WANTS to help you. I cannot stress enough how meaningful that verse can be when you’re in the depths of despair. Another verse was actually shared with me by a friend. It’s Psalm 61:2, “From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,” It is such a powerful verse, and can really mean a lot when you’re in the depths of despair, feeling at your lowest, crying out to God to lift you higher and help you.

So today, I celebrate everything. I will choose to celebrate every struggle, every hardship, every challenge in my life. I will celebrate the fact that I made it to eighteen. I will celebrate the fact that I am stronger. I will celebrate the fact that I have a Father up in Heaven who cares for me, who has a plan for me, and who gave me his hand to hold so I could make it to this day. Remember that there is a plan for you, there is a future for you, and that exact future holds so much hope, recovery, and relief. There will be a day where you will look back and say, “I did it. I’m better now.” I may not be perfect now, but I’m just happy to be here. It sure is great to be alive.

Some Fun Jokes To Spread A Smile On Your Face

Wow. That was a lot. I didn’t expect it to be so long; sorry about that, folks. Anyway, back to the fun birthday festivities…

I wanted to share some of my favorite jokes. I love jokes; they’re a big part of what makes me who I am, and hopefully, they can put a little smile on your lovely face. Now, my favorite jokes are “anti-jokes,” AKA jokes that have the no-duh sort of answer if that makes sense. Some of my favorite “anti-jokes” are as follows:

• Why did the Jordan stay home from the party? He wasn’t invited…

• What did one Frenchman say to the other? I don’t know; I don’t speak French.

• What did the tan, old farmer say when he lost his antique truck? “Where’s my truck?“

Please tell me I’m not the only one who finds these jokes funny. I need you all to humor me; it’s my birthday.

My People Book

As a little graduation “thingy,” I used inspiration from “sarsslife” on TikTok to create what I call my People Book. In my People Book, I wrote an entry about everyone who influenced me or otherwise left any kind of memory in my life, specifically my childhood. I love to keep track of all my memories and experiences, and, as said in my book, ‘I hold memories close, but people closer.’ I want to highlight perhaps the most influential person of my childhood years. My grandmother, Nan, was perhaps the most influential person in my life. Her first name is my middle name, and since she was so inspiring and taught me so many lessons, my pen name is Callie Elizabeth. I want her legacy to live through the granddaughter that she influenced so much.

"I have a few more memories with Nan. She died when I was 14, in 2017. She lived at [a retirement home] for a long time. We would eat brunch with her once a month on Sundays after church. While we were eating, she once said, 'Girls, look, eye candy,' at a college dude who she thought looked nice. We girls were very confused. We also went shopping with her once, and she wasn't a fan of all the 'blingy' stuff we chose. I once helped her clean out her apartment, and she gave me ice cream afterward. She saved a potholder from being burnt to a crisp during Thanksgiving once. She always told me that if I didn't eat my crust, my hair would be straight. I don't ear crusts; my hair is quite straight. She once told my sisters and me about how she hiked up a hill to get to school and how she was proposed to 7 times. Also, how her father lost his job as a store manager during the Depression. My last memory is of her lying on a bed connected to tubes. Her speech was drawled, and I don't remember what she said. I never said 'I love you,' because I didn't want to cry too hard."

“Nan,” continued.

"I included this back section because I have more to write about Nan. I'm realizing now how influential she was toward me throughout my time knowing her. I bear her first name as my middle name, and I'm said to look like her. She was very artistic, and we have many of her paintings and a few of her stitchwork. She told me about how she had my uncle Ty put his shoe next to a piece of paper and draw it. Nan also told me that I should always write my name and the date on any kind of art I create. I do. And I will always and forever continue to do so. I wish I had taken more time to talk with her about art and learn more lessons from her, especially since I've really grown in my love for art. As an author and amateur artist, I wish she was still here to give me encouragement and tips I need during times I don't feel so confident in my abilities. I think I'll dedicate this book to her. I love her very much."

I wrote a lot about Nan. I’ve really come to appreciate her more and all that she told me. Although I can’t see her anymore, I know I’ll be up in Heaven someday with her again.

One More Thing…

I always find a good Mad Lib pretty entertaining. In fact, just to go along with this post’s theme, I decided to create a fun mad lib for you! You can download/print/etc. this graphic and fill it out with some friends or family members for some silliness and giggles. Make sure you tell me the funniest phrase that you created, down in the comments!

Now, I suppose I won’t keep you here forever. I hope you learned something new, whether it was about me or some piece of advice that was sprinkled here and there throughout this post. I’m looking forward to the rest of my life, and I hope that 18 brings many blessings to remember and people to befriend. As always, keep on inspiring folks and loving yourself.