Happy 2nd anniversary to you! Sometimes I forget you are in my life, until you start making your presence known in unwelcoming ways. I'm starting to see traces of you in my reflection, I feel you in my acid reflux, and, for the first time, I understand the agony of lower back pain. Our anniversary. It's a yearly reminder of how much I have to catch up to you. Marriage, husband, kids, you've got quite a list for me. Isn't a successful career and a bay area mortgage enough to satiate your greed?

But you are not all evil.

Through you, I've traveled the world. Through you, I take pride in my independence. Through you, I finally have the confidence to showcase my passion for photography, without letting every "unliked" picture define my talent. Perhaps your greatest gift has been to humble me. Through disappointments and failures, heartaches and headaches, you've helped me realize that one's "perfect" plans rarely equates to God's plans, that control doesn't yield power, nor success, nor happiness in relationships, and that a fast metabolism eventually slows down. You remind me of the need to occasionally relinquish control and let the moments, the people who are important, and God lead the way.

While I'll still make every effort to defy your presence - fitness bootcamp, anti-aging concoctions - I'm beginning to see the humor in some of your ways. Like when my six-year old niece adamantly informs her Mom that her life plan will not include a husband or kids, "just like her auntie", maybe I do have a valuable role after all.

There's a place for you and I to cohabit, and may even thrive together. Let's call a truce.

To commemorate, here's me on our anniversary. May there be many more.

To my friends and readers, thank you for following my blog. Your comments, compliments, and encouragements make me the happiest I've ever been.

Till next time, Ngoc.

(Self portraits shall be an obligatory birthday tradition)