Flashback Friday: It's Inner Beauty that Counts

A blogger I adore..."Anne Glamore" over in My Tiny Kingdom http://www.mytinykingdom.com/ does this thing every Friday that she calls Flashback Friday.

This week, she tells about her boys school photos and reminisces on her own jr.high school photos and the awkwardness of those delicate years.

I can relate to the feeling of having one's prepubesent body suddenly having a mind all it's own and the hapless, hopeless feeling that things were about to get ugly.

I present this as proof.....a photo collage of my 6th, 7th, an 8th grade school photos.

I refer to this work as "The Awkward Years."

My 6th grade year, despite my best efforts, my hair would fix itself. I am wearing my favorite drawstring-neck peasant shirt, that unfortunately, didn't photograph very well. To the people who always tell me that I look like my mom...here is proof that I look more like my dad. I think that it was taken just after gym, which is why I look somewhat dishevealed. Note that my ears are covered, because they stuck out....a lot. But not quite as much as a tooth on the bottom right side of my mouth. It stuck out like the bulldog on the Looney Toon cartoons. I had become a pro at only smiling with my top teeth to cover this very embarrasing flaw. Not a one of these photos were given out. I have every last one of them.

7th grade, I was beginning to get control of my hair. My "wings" were still a little wayward thanks to the wicked cowlick I have right up front, but you can at least tell they are supposed to be wings. I loved this outfit...a jade green color-block sweater and matching jade green pants. Despite my numerous insecurities, when I wore this outfit, I thought I was the bomb. Make note of the jade cloisonne' necklace. They were all the rage that year, and I was the first one who had one. I loved saying cloisonne' because it sounded expensive. It was such an improvement over the previous years photo, I actually gave this one to my family. Ears still conveniently covered.

8th grade, as you can tell, I am getting more confident. It awas never as evident before, but with the three photos together, it is very obvious, as my smile is getting bigger, though still covering that off-set tooth. Mother let me wear some make up. Look how much confidence the Bonne Bell lipgloss and the Pink Cheekers blush seem to give me! The hair is much improved, (though still covering my ears). I was getting up at 4:30 a.m to acheive this look and I was darn proud of it. This was the year I got my braces and thus the last year I only smiled with my top teeth. I loved this photo so much, I'm quite surprised I have this one.