Made it to another year!

Today I celebrate my birth as well as my life.

Although I can still easily pass for a teenager, I’m actually 34 years old today! Crazy, right? And apparently this new diet that I’ve embraced also has the potential to reverse the aging process, so pretty soon I will look about 10. I might have to seriously consider tattooing my i.d. to my forehead.

I made it to another year! Yay me! (Insert happy dance right now.)

It’s now officially 31 years battling the cancer monster.

Who doesn’t like birthdays? I’ve always been a big fan of the birthday celebration. Any excuse to have people pamper you, to eat cake, and to receive awesome cards and gifts is always something to look forward to, in my opinion.

When you have cancer, birthdays seem to become much more meaningful though, and this takes on a whole new dimension when you have metastatic cancer. For instance, this afternoon I started crying a little, just out of nowhere really. They were both tears of joy and sadness (more like fear, I’d say). I was happy and excited to be celebrating another glorious year, but part of me was fearful of the future.

You begin to wonder will I be around to celebrate another year? How many birthdays will I see? So naturally you feel the urge to set mini milestones for yourself to reach.

I also began to think about all of those brave individuals that were my age or younger when they succumbed to this dreadful disease, and it begins to put life into perspective for me. Essentially life is a gift that is meant to be cherished and appreciated each and every day.

Which is why it sometimes irritates me when I hear people talking about how “old” they are getting each time another birthday rolls around. Seriously, you guys don’t know how lucky you are to be alive! You should feel proud to say that you are another year older. Being older means that you haven’t died yet. And not being dead is pretty cool. Definitely something to celebrate.

I look forward to growing old.

Since I’ve made it to 34, my next mini milestone is to reach 40! Seems like a lifetime away, but it’s something to work towards nonetheless. I don’t know how old I will be or whether I will celebrate the big 4-0. For now, I am going to content myself with being 34 years old!

I’m looking forward to some dairy and refined-sugar free cake. Hey, it’s better than nothing.

I feel great today and have nothing to complain about at this very moment, as there are so many people out there in far more unpleasant situations (or worse off) than me. I am so grateful to be alive on this very day.

Happy Birthday to me!

Love, health, and birthday cakes!
xo