The Story of My Hair in Pictures

I've had the itch to try a new style for a while now. My hair has been long for the last couple of years and although I really like long hair (as does Jackie), it gets old to me especially in the heat and humidity around here. I've always been one who enjoys doing all sorts of different things with my looks. In fact this is probably the longest my hair has been the same in years and years.

I recently cleaned out our closet and couldn't resist going through our big box of pictures when I came to it. I thought I'd share some of the pictures of my hair-dos throughout the years with you guys!

From the start I was a gutsy girl. Here I am sporting a statement-making mohawk:

Soon I moved on to a trendy boy cut.

In kindergarten I tried out some blunt bangs. (I really thought I was smiling in this picture. I think I was scared every single day of kindergarten.)

By 3rd grade I'd loosen up enough to smile in school pictures. Perhaps because of my stylin' bug-deflector bangs! For some reason I've always liked this photo. The rainbow is cheery, isn't it? I was so happy to be back at school that day. I'd been out with the chicken pox; you can still see a spot on my neck.

I'm not exactly sure how old I was in this next picture but I was feeling sassy in my shoulder-length perm!

In junior high I discovered the bob. I think I was one of the first in my school to try it and I loved it.

So over the years I've gone back to it again and again. I also discovered Sun-In in high school. Not so crazy about it now, however.

I grew my hair out after that and was well on my way to having long hair again but then a boy broke my heart and it wasn't enough to wash him out of my hair, I chopped him right out of it and ended up with the shortest version of my bob that I'd had to date.

Then I grew it out long and straight and natural for my senior year so that I could have a pretty up-do for prom. I dyed it right before prom and it came out a little purple looking. You can't see my hair in this picture but I wanted to post it anyway. Because I loved that dress and I loved my antique glass jewelry and it really was a fantastic night with great friends!

Eventually the purple-y color washed out into a nice dark auburn and I got it layered and cut in a flippy 'do for graduation. Here I am with my friend, Sarah, (also pictured lookin' hot above) whose long silky locks I always admired.

After graduation I chopped it off even more...the shortest ever. I could spike it up a little on top and tuck it behind my ears or I could flip it out. It was really fun. Especially when you are playing Charlie's Angels.

I couldn't resist going back to the bob, though. Did I mention that I've always loved it?

Cut it. Grow it out. Dye it. Blonde? I think I look like a TV anchorwoman here!

Then I tried a perm again for the first time in years and years. It was a fun change!

But it wasn't long before I straightened it and revisited the blunt bangs look from kindergarten. I don't know if Keeleigh inspired me or I inspired her. I was pregnant with Jathan in this picture. And you know what happens during pregnancy. HORMONES! Which whisper to a woman, "Cut your hair, cut your hair..."

So I did! Into a short graduated bob.

Isn't hair so much fun? = )

I kept it relatively short and dye-free for a couple of years.

Then around the time we moved to NOLA I began growing it out again.

But then. I got pregnant with Ryland. Those hormones whispered to me. So I took this picture trying to convince myself that I didn't need to cut it. That my long hair was so pretty. And if I could have these soft curls last all day every day I would but if that's possible in this humidity I don't know how to achieve it.

So I surrendered to the heat and the hormones and cut it. Again.

I thought that I wanted it to grow out long and straight and all one length but that ended up being pretty boring so I went to a great hairstylist named Kenneth at Wal-mart (gasp!) who entertained me with stories from his very different life as he turned my limp, lifeless locks into this:

Which inevitably grew out into this:

And although no one knew it but me and Jackie, I was pregnant with Piper in that picture (the belt was really getting tight!) and bound and determined not to cut off the hair I'd worked so hard to grow long! And I didn't cut it off. Not exactly anyway. I just decided to get some layers.

I finally made it through out a pregnancy without getting a drastic cut so now I know that it's not the hormones talking to me, I really do want to cut my hair much to the disappointment of Jackie. = P And guess what cut I'm attracted to? Yes, my beloved bob which is now extremely popular. If I were 18 or 20 and drop dead gorgeous I would totally try out one of these bold cuts:

But those look really scary to me. So I will probably go with something less terrifying like one of these:

Mainly I'm worried that my square-ish shaped face will look fatter if I go too short. And there is the issue of the side-swept bangs and layers that I currently have that would have to be worked around. But wouldn't it feel nice to have a bare neck this summer!

So I have an appointment scheduled when I go back to Alabama later this month. What do yall think? Should I go for it?