You know, I always hear people say that people don't change. But I'm constantly amazed when I think back to 18-year-old Kendra and realize what a different person 25-year-old Kendra is. And not just the obvious "At 18 I was living my life for me, not for the Lord, and now my priorities are different" and not even the obvious "I wasn't married when I was 18" kind of different.
As a progressive young woman, I hated the idea of cooking and have always simply said "I can't cook," which could be loosly translated to "I don't want to cook, I have no desire to put the energy into cooking, and so I don't want to be required to cook." I've also thought it was silly when people wanted a garden because that's dirty outdoor work. I hated houseplants, thought fish tanks were dumb, and generally didn't want to be associated with anything domestic.
The change started slow, with one easy house plant and a goldfish that I didn't particularly care for, but felt obligated to keep alive. Slowly I developed an affinity (and now an obsession) with goldfish, and my plant collection slowly grew as well. Somehow all of this grew and mutated into a strong desire to have a backyard so that I can have an herb garden (and maybe some tomatos) and a koi pond. Take that, 18-year-old Kendra!
Most recently (and this all happened soon after my 25th birthday) I've developed this desire to cook daily meals. This really makes no sense, as my mom can tell you about the many times as a teenager that I ruined spaghetti (and really, how DO you ruin spaghetti?) when it was my day to cook dinner. My husband can tell you about all the times I refused to touch raw chicken or even look at it (and the many times I begged him to cook for us). But suddenly I'm the Crock Pot queen. I will insert ramblings into any conversation about the day's Crock Pot dinner, and the amazingly affordable price of bulk herbs at the health food store. I've even cut up raw chicken breasts into tiny pieces, and browned beef. Yesterday I had a couple girlfriends over for homemade taboulli. I love having real food at home, and I don't mind waking up early to prepare it in the Crock Pot so it's ready when I get home. (18-year-old Kendra is rolling her eyes and denying that I have the same birth certificate that she does).
But the icing on the cake, the thing I never even thought of refusing to do because the idea never popped into my mind that it was a possibility, is my new hobby. I knit. I am currently knitting a scarf. It's my first scarf, and so it will most likely be rather malformed, but I'm knitting it myself, and I'm oh-so-excited about it. I bring it with me to my friends' house to knit while we hang out. I am about to leave the computer so that I can watch some TV and knit. And I can't wait.
Do I blame all of these new, domestic traits on my turning 25? Do I blame them on getting married? Hormones? I really have no idea, and I'm not too concerned about it.
You can be sure that if my mom ever reads this the first thing she will say is "You know, Kendra, you've also always said that you don't want children. Just wait, that will be the next thing to change.
Don't hold your breath, Mom.
