Then and Now Pics - 15 Years Since High School

I realized today that it's been 15 years since I graduated from high school? What? How can that be? A lot has happened in all those years, namely marriage and three children, four if you count this house we're trying raise. I feel older sometimes - (I think), but most times, I still feel like that teenage girl of a decade and a half ago. I'm happy when I feel like a spring chick, when the music is up loud and I'm dancing in my bare feet with my kids or seat dancing alone in our (snort) minivan...when I wear plaid and polka dots and vintage floral (sometimes all together!) and a long hip bag and comfy slipper style shoes and a headband and pink blush and lip gloss. By the way, I haven't always been fond of wearing the color pink, but for months now I have been. Knowing I'm wearing pink blush just makes me smile at everyone I meet:)

Most of the time, my head is still in the clouds - thinking, dreaming, planning, creating. I'm still highly disorganized and messy - the way I kept my high school locker should have clued me in that neatness was not one of my strong points. Yes, I know *how* to be neat and I prefer to be orderly and of course, I do what I can to keep things tidy and clean in all our main living areas, but goodness, don't look in my locker..er..my closets and storage areas, and beware if you drop in while I'm working on a project! Oh, and NEVER look in my purse!

I think I've always been the type to march to my own beat and look at things a bit differently than the mainstream, but I'm not so sure I was always comfortable about it. Within the last couple of years, however, I've learned that much of my reservation around people really is just all in my head and that I care(d) entirely too much about whether or not folks were judging me for one reason or another. Now, with very few exceptions, I.just.don't.care because there are way too many more important and interesting things going on. Is this a 30-something realization? I found this in my 1924 "New Book of Etiquette" in the section on self-consciousness:

"What is self-consciousness? Unquestionably, self-sonsciousness is the result of too much self-thought. The self-conscious are always conscious of themselves, wondering whether they are impressing people, hoping that they are not making blunders, uncomfortable, unhappy, ill at ease! ...Forget about yourself! And there is only one sure way to forget about yourself. Think more of others! Take a keener and more sincere interest in people. Send your thoughts abroad, far beyond the selfish little boundaries of your personal world...It is when we forget ourselves that we do the really worth-while and interesting things. It is when we forget ourselves that we find beauty everywhere around us, that we see charm in the most commonplace people, that we feel happy and at ease in the company of our fellow beings. Forget about yourself!"

Isn't that wonderful?

So, about that photo above... The tiny photo on the left side was my 1992 graduation photo. Bangs! I had bangs! Well, everyone had bangs then only they teased theirs into "poofs". I tried bangs again last year, but they don't suit me now. Nowadays, 99.9% of the time I wear my hair up as pictured on the right. Someone recently told me that I look more mature with my hair down. Hmmm - don't know if that's the look I'm going for, lol, though at nearly 34, perhaps I should consider a new down-do. Would a couple of braids count? I remember when I went into labor with my third child, I had really long hair and sported one tiny little braid down the side of my head. So now I have photos of me holding my newborn with my long, hippy hair. I guess that's the extent of my long down-do style, but I've had many medium length styles:)


I'll be "away" for a while as I'm having all four wisdom teeth removed on Friday. I'll be *so* glad when it's over and I'm back in the swing of things around here. I've been working like crazy to get the place in order so that I can rest easily over the weekend and next week. If I'm able, I'll try and post some photos of the nest I made for my recovery. Take care, everyone!