Oh to be a teenager again…NOT!

A couple weekends ago I got my hands on my childhood pictures from my parents’ house.  The initial reason I wanted them was because I wanted to post a picture of my foxy mom on Facebook for Mother’s Day.

And I also promised you all in a previous post that I would share a childhood picture of me with the Easter Bunny.

 

So not only can you see the lady’s watch underneath her costume (?!?!) but also check out the eyes on that thing!  Creepy.  Reminds me of a homemade wrestler’s outfit or something.  The lady in red is a looker though, isn’t she?

But what really sparked this article was a combination of me looking at my teenage pictures as well as a recent Glee episode we caught up with on the DVR.  Quinn is the popular, blond, pretty cheerleader captain and an old picture of her, overweight with braces and glasses, was discovered.  And she was a brunette at the time, which I don’t understand why that is always the underdog hair color!  I like my brown hair, thank you very much!

So while I am far from a Quinn Fabray (age as well as looks), I thought I’d show you all some of my teenage pictures to prove that younger is definitely not always better!

  Digging the poufy, fried hair, floral dress and major shoulder pads, huh?

There’s a theme with the hair, which is NEVER again 🙂

Here’s one of Deena and I with our friend Jess (I’m the one in the middle <—that’s sarcasm).  Hopefully Deena doesn’t fire me for posting this…which she shouldn’t because she looks pretty as always in the picture.

I can’t even think of a comment for this one because my glasses are too distracting.

This one takes the cake though:

If anyone EVER sees me sporting this look, right down to the dirty K-Swiss, please pull me aside and gently tell me I need to go to the insane asylum, thank you.

And you know how you hear people say that kids go through an ugly phase?  Your parents may have called it “awkward” just to be nice and not give you a complex.  Well, this was my ugly/awkward phase (pre-teen years)…

…complete with the feathered hair and gap in my front teeth from wearing a pre-braces jaw widener.  All I need in this picture is the head gear!  Good thing my beautiful Grandma is in the picture to take away the attention from those eyebrows on my forehead!!

So anyway, now that we’ve all stopped laughing, maybe…would I want my metabolism and non-cellulite butt back? Sure.  But would I want to go back to that stage in my life?  No way!  I am happy with the woman I have become, my family and the life I have made for myself.  I am much more confident and sure of who I am now than how I was in those pictures.  Teen years are all about fitting in and worrying about what other people will think.  And while I do still worry about making friends in the neighborhood and looking nice, I am not doing it to please anyone else. I’m doing it for me.  And I think that’s the biggest difference.  Not to mention, I’m so much better at taking care of myself these days.  Part of it was my cancer scare…it made me take a look at what I was eating as well as my fitness level.  And while I’ve always exercised, I would say I’m healthier now than I have ever been (thank you, cancer???).  And hair and make up and skin?  Oh, I’m so much better about that…at least I sure hope so!  At minimum, I’ve learned to pluck my eyebrows!

So before you wish back the younger days, think about your life now and appreciate the person you have become.  And if you are able to laugh at your past “styles” like I can laugh at mine, and are interested in an upcoming beauty giveaway we have in the works, get those teenage pictures ready!  We want to give you a chance to show our readers how far you’ve come in this thing called life, and maybe even win our giveaway while you’re doing it! 

Thanks for joining me on this flashback to my childhood.  Now, I think I’ll stick to the present!