Ghosts of Summers Past - An Anniversary of Sorts

You will get so tired of this image.
And I bought it, so I own the rights to it.
Coming to a coffee mug under your Christmas tree soon!

I love this picture. I look like such a dork, and I just love it. To me, it sums up the whole tagline of my blog, "The story of my rebirth!" You could fairly say that in July 2009 (almost to the day!), life as I knew it ended and "Free Julie" was born. I got off to a hugely stumbling and tumultuous start, but damn, look at me now. That silly picture just sort of sums up this whole rebirth, weight loss and fitness journey for me. I could end the blog here with that picture: I am trim, I am exercising, I'm happy (okay, I'm ridiculously giddy) and kind of foolish looking. I am reveling. (Oh heck, I'm in love, too, but you know, I'm still struggling with that whole "keeping my big mouth shut" thing.)

My friend Barb saw this picture on facebook and said, "Julie, you should take this picture and compare it to the pre-surgery one. And then give yourself a great big hug. You look great." Barb and I have been friends for twenty years: we have lived through some shit together. Sometimes we talk about the bad place I was at emotionally over the last few years: broke, alone, exhausted. When I look at these pictures from previous summers, I see a woman who was at the absolute end of her rope, but still trying to hang on. Desperate and hopeless, but tenacious, too. I am very proud of her me.

July 2009

July 2010. Hey, I'm on the roof of my 62-story building in this picture.
You do not know how close I came to "falling" off the roof that day.

July 2011. On the skyscraper roof again. Five months post-op.
Do you like me better as a brunette or  a redhead?

(Or a blonde? This picture is from 2002.
 I'm only showing you because it was my blonde phase.)

July 2012. Don't say I didn't warn you - you're gonna get tired of this picture.

That may all sound melancholy, but my spirits are anything but! Okay, I'm still stinging a bit from yesterday's plastic surgery consult, but, as promised, I've regrouped. Going to see some doctor(s) who take my insurance. Gonna figure out a way to make this happen.

And as we kick off Year Four of Free Julie (the person, not the blog), it's full steam ahead, baby! We're gonna do some exercisin', some runnin', some real life-enhancement stuff. Magic. You just wait and see.

Happy anniversary to me. :)