School Pictures

My daughter is taking her Pre-K3 school pictures today. And it had me thinking back to grade school and taking my own school pictures.

My missing teeth and big glasses... Thick straight-cut bangs... uniform always too small on me.

Needless to say, I was an awkward-looking kid. But I was always an extrovert and loud and obnoxious (all  of these not in a good way)

(yep you guessed it! thats me on the far right)

Everyone looked back at the turn of the decade and asked.... where was I 10 years ago? Well, I was 14 and a freshman in high school! A FRESHMAN! The epitome of awkward years.

It really was not until I was a sophomore that I became un-ugly. You know what I mean. That ugly duckling you've been since you were 10 or so....Well that went away at 15 for me. And I got slimmer glasses and my braces were off and my flat chest finally started to show signs of life and growth!

At 17 I finally chilled out and lost a bit of my obnoxiousness. I started to mature. I was really a late maturer. But once I got the hang of it.... I took off flying into mature land. Thinking I was much more grown than I really was.

(Bottom Left)

And now I'm 24 and life is so grown up now. It is a very real world for me--at times a very surreal world! But I've come a long way, and I've not forgotten a single step in the journey. 

--I remember the painful rejections, The break-ups, The plays I performed in, The songs I blasted on the radio, The kisses, The F's, The awards, The classes, The stresses, The laughs, The love... and it all got me here: