flashback friday

I have been itching to jump on the flashback friday bandwagon for a while and decided late last night that I simply cannot delay the sharing of bad hair and fond memories any longer. I was unsuccessful in getting anyone to join my claw bangs thursday project so I thought flashback friday would be a good way for me to not only continue to publicly laugh at myself but would also provide a venue for reminiscing about the non-hair related events in my past. That being said I could think of no better way to start off my flashback friday project than with some hair pics from the past.

When I was 12 I began my first scrapbook project. It consisted of most of the pictures taken of me from birth through that summer. I gathered piles of magazines and began to cut words and pictures (like the one above) I liked in order to decorate my scrapbook pages. I also used an excessive amount of glitter because apparently I was ahead of my time when it came to bling. I have taken care over the years to preserve my scrapbook (I didn't use archival paper or glue so there has been fading and some deterioration of the pages) and treasure it, not only for the pictures (many of which are pure classic) but for the unique style of the times that the pages reflect. Apparently even at 12 I was aware of the fact that my past was full of bad hair. The page above starts off a section full of hair pics that I am pretty sure were never in style.

Above:
Top - Family photo circa 1986.
Bottom - Class photo from the 4th grade with an arrow pointing to me. I loved Mrs. Oler (my teacher) and studying Idaho history (I made a topographical map of Idaho out of clay for my final project and my mom covered a binder with an old potato sack to hold all my Idaho history papers). I remember that my mom made the shirt I am wearing and that I felt extremely hip in my awesome heart broach. My first encounter with a classic mean girl (who continued to haunt me through junior high and part of high school) happened when we were both assigned to the same fourth grade class and while I desperately wanted to fit in she didn't make it easy. This was also the year I discovered that I have a deformed ear.

Above:
Top - I am the one in the blue sweater and long necklace.
Middle Right - I am on the far right. This was taken right after Christmas and we (two of my sisters, my cousin, and me) are displaying our favorite present.
Middle Left - I am in the middle holding the baby (my brother Travis). I distinctly remember this day and thinking that my hair looked amazing.
Bottom - This is me and my dad on Christmas morning. You can't see it in the pic but I am sporting my new "Idaho" sweatshirt. My mom made a sweatshirt for each of us and then had a cool "Idaho" graphic ironed on it.

Well that's it for my first installment of flashback friday. I am looking forward to many more friday's full of reminiscing both my recent and not so recent past. I hope I have inspired you to play along.

p.s. photobooth friday isn't going away, for the love of photobooths I won't let it go the way of claw bangs thursday, even if all the photobooths disappear today I have enough strips to keep things going for a long while. I may alternate between flashback friday and photobooth friday and some friday's I may get crazy and double post, though I am sure there will be many friday's that I take a nap or climb a mountain or vacuum and don't post at all.

p.p.s. Just kidding about the vacuuming part.

claw bangs thursday

1990. In honor of Halloween. This is me and Darci dressed up as cats.

claw bangs thursday

1990. Girls Camp. That is me curling my bangs with a stick I heated over the fire. I have mentioned before that claw bangs were a major part of my identity but I think this picture typifies the extremes I would go to in order to achieve the perfect claw.

claw bangs thursday

It is hard to stay depressed when you have Claw Bangs Thursday to look forward to. Judging by the lack of response to my call for claw bangs pictures I am beginning to think that most folks don't get as much pleasure out of ridiculous old pictures of themselves as I do. However, I find it therapeutic on many different levels. In the case of this lovely dance picture it just makes me laugh.

1990. This is a page straight out of my scrapbook and proof that claw bangs were a major Idaho thing. Now it is true that I am the only girl from Idaho Falls (the big city) in the group picture where as the rest of the girls were from Shelley or Firth (farming towns that still get out of school for spud harvest) regardless claw bangs were all the rage. There is really so much more that could be said about this picture, the costume, the way I scrap booked the pictures with glitter and the word "star" cut from a magazine, not to mention the fact that I am the most uncoordinated dancer ever to take the stage but I'll just stick to the claw bangs for the sake of time and my self-esteem (some things still aren't funny).

claw bangs thursday

I have been looking through a ton of old pics and I am beginning to realize that claw bangs weren't as much of an Idaho thing as they were an Amy thing. Apparently I felt that claw bangs we so much a part of my identity that I wore them skiing and as you can see from this photo I am the only one with perfectly sculpted claw bangs.

This picture was taken at Grand Targhee probably in 1994. From left to right: Tyra (sister), Lara (sister), Trevor (brother), Kara (could have been a sister), and me.

photobooth friday

Summer 1991. The summer between 8th and 9th grade I lived with my aunt and her family in Mount Airy, Maryland. I met some great friends who I kept in touch with for a while but unfortunately now I can't remember most of their names now. This is my first ever photobooth picture taken with Rebekah in a mall in Mount Airy. I had beautiful "claw bangs" back then even though it was 1991 (in Idaho things stay "in-style" for a lot longer than they do in the rest of the country).
I am beginning to run out of photobooth pics (though Charlie did have his first solo shoot a couple of weeks ago and those pics will be coming soon) I am thinking of starting a "Claw Bangs Thursday" post and am inviting everyone to participate. If you want to do it just post your claw bangs picture to your blog on Thursday for my viewing pleasure. If you are too young to have ever had claw bangs or didn't grow up in Idaho where claw bangs were in style until the mid 1990's then you'll have to take a rain check (you never know they could come back) on participating in this one.