I had my mom send me some old photos via text and this was one that made me laugh.  I was such a chubby cheeked little chipmunk!! I want to say I must have been around 9 or 10?  4th or 5th grade…

It was before braces and bras, I’ll tell ya that much!

I’m wearing my New Kids on the Block t-shirt as well as a watch.  I was a total fan girl and crushed hard on Jonathon!!

Hangin Tough, Step-by-Step, you name it, I knew it. I’d carry around my little yellow Sony Walkman and jam those cassette tapes!

This would be my natural hair color, which I still can’t believe both my kids seem to have.  I believe that I’m standing in my doorway to my bedroom.  Each of us three girls had our own rooms.  My parents had to put an addition on after the 3rd!

I’m holding my little hamster, Mikey.  We went to the mall and I believe it was Woolworths (I don’t think there are any around now.) They had the cutest display of Teddy Bear Hamsters.  I begged my parents for one, because you know a few cats and dogs weren’t enough apparently.  My dad said a firm no, but my mom for some reason I’m still unsure of, said yes! She hates mice and rats so I’m still shocked as to how I ended up with a hamster! (Kind of like me currently with reptiles…hell to the no!!   I just have that feeling Joe and the kids will come home with a Bearded Dragon or something creepy.)

Mikey was such a good little guy!!  He had this ball that he’d roll around in and he definitely took a tumble down our stairs once or twice. He was okay!! And his name?  Oh, I felt that if I named him after my dad, my dad would be okay with him! haha

Apparently it worked because later that year for Christmas, Santa made him a HUGE hamster cage…it was like a big condo for hamsters!  Mikey liked to escape/chew his way out of the top of the plastic cage, and I had trouble sleeping at night since they are nocturnal.

I think this picture sums up my childhood extremely well.  I think I was overall a pretty happy kid, my parents more than provided for us, loved us and encouraged me to always do my best.  I was never one to really follow a crowd, I kind of did my own thing.  I didn’t have a ‘clique’ and always tried to be nice to everyone.

I was, still am, a total dork.  I love that my parents kept my childhood innocence for as long as they possibly could.  I can honestly say that I do the same for my two and will continue to do it as well.  I was probably one of the last girls to wear eye liner.  (I started after I got married at 28).

Oh, the memories!