Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Get to Know Me Through Profile Pictures

Last night I was looking through some old posts and thinking about some new ones and I realized I never talk about myself. Except for the one "Get to Know Me" post I did a couple of months ago, I haven't really divulged too much information about myself. My blog is really more about my son and documenting our journey together, but I understand that people don't want to follow a blog if they know nothing about the person writing it. You guys know tons about my son, but really nothing about me. Lately, I have been becoming really consumed in my role as a mother and have really lost who I am. It doesn't help that I live in a place where I don't know anyone; I don't have anyone to be myself around, reminisce with, laugh at, or just generally enjoy life with. I miss my people terribly. Boo Hoo, right?!? Well anywho, I am going to make an effort to start writing more about myself: thoughts, feelings, experiences, etc. on MY blog. So here is my start: getting to know me through my personal Facebook profile pictures. 

This is my very first profile picture on Facebook. I started my Facebook account my junior year of college in 2006. This pretty much sums up my personality perfectly. I can't remember why, but I thought it would be funny to get in the trunk of my friend's car and stick my head out of the arm rest hole in the back seat. I think we were going through a drive-thru at the time. I probably stayed in there for a while too; anything to be different. 

One of the best parts of my life: my mother. I have always been a big family person. I have had strong connections to my parents for as long as I can remember. At 28 years old, I still don't do anything without asking my mother first. I never make any big decisions without her input and she knows the most about me. She has experienced everything with me and now that I am a mom myself, I realize how much she has done for me. All the sacrifices, unconditional love, quality time, and support have not gone unnoticed or appreciated. 
Left: Dumb and Dumber scooter ride :)
Right: Us at a wedding

My grandma used to live in South Carolina, so we vacationed there many times. I am a Cancer so I'm a water person by nature. I could spend hours and hours at the beach; no other place in the world is more relaxing to me. Life just seems to all fall away when I am sitting in front of the ocean. Nothing else matters when I'm laying in the sun, with my feet in the sand, listening to the waves crash. As young as I can remember, I knew I had a special connection to water. I'm not particularly a fan of lakes or rivers, I really am just all about the ocean. When I lived in Florida for a year, I went to the beach as much as possible. It is truly therapeutic for me. I am hoping to make our way to the ocean soon, as we are only about an hour and a half away from it.

Confession: I am weird. Like do-silly-things-because-I am-bored kind of weird. As evidenced in the first picture above, as well as these below. 
Left: If you know anything about me, you have to know that I am obsessed with the yellow peanut M&M. I always say that life would be so much better if characters like him were real. He is the most lovable, cuddly, and dopey big ole guy ever. He is just so naive and cute. How could you ever be upset if you had this guy following you around, making goofy jokes and cuddling on you! Even Myles knows about him! We have random yellow peanut M&M merchandise around our house and whenever Myles sees him, he always does this thing with his hands like he's eating and says "NOMMY, NOMMY". 
This picture was taken in Vegas at the M&M store. Vegas was the first big vacation Mark and I went on (December 2008). We went to get out of the Illinois winter, and of course, it snowed for the first time in like 5 years when we where there!
Right: I used to have this awesome papasan chair. I loved that thing, even though it was actually quite difficult to get comfortable in. I'm guessing that's why they aren't too popular anymore. Looks fun, but not exactly practical. Well one day when I was trying to get out of it, I fell over. The seat came off with me and landed on top of me. After I stopped hysterically laughing, I realized, "hey, this must be what a turtle feels like!" So my boyfriend at the time figured it was a good Kodak moment and then I decided it was profile picture worthy!

This is my mother's father, one of my most favorite men! I could go on and on about how connected I have always felt to this man and how much love we shared. When my parents first got divorced, we lived with my grandparents for a while. My grandpa always made me feel really special. I pretended I was a pop star named Tina and he would introduce me on his microphone and then I would perform for him. My grandma would do my hair for school and make me the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever. They eventually moved to Arkansas, but I always visited them in the summer time. It's hard to explain the connection I have always felt with them. Even to this day (18 years since she passed away), I still feel my grandma with me all the time. I know we would have stayed really close and she would have loved to meet Myles. I am lucky to have had more time to spend with my grandpa before he passed, but I do still miss him dearly as well. He could always make you laugh with his (mostly inappropriate) jokes and loved to sing good old country classics. I am so grateful for their love and influence in my life.

I moved to Florida after I graduated from college because I didn't want to stick around the Midwest. We had an opportunity to rent a house for cheap and it all just fell into place. I was ready to experience what life had to offer elsewhere. Once we moved, I started the process of transferring my teaching certificate so that I could start applying for jobs there. In the meantime, I applied for some retail jobs. I accepted a job at Victoria Secret an hour after I had an interview at Forever 21. I started both jobs on Black Friday! As time went on, I began working a lot at both jobs. I worked on the sales floor at VS and I hated it. I am not a sales person and dealing with teenage, spoiled girls is definitely not my forte. I had made my  decision to quit, but was just procrastinating because I don't like confrontations. Well procrastination actually worked in my favor this time because before I got a chance to quit, I was asked to work in the backroom on processing shipment. It only took one shift for me to realize that I loved it. It turned out to be the perfect job for me and I was so happy I didn't quit. The best part of changing positions was not the work though, it was finding my Florida besties. It took me many, many months to find my wolf-pack in Florida, but it was totally worth it. I found 3 of the greatest friends that have ever existed; completely fun and genuinely good people. I love and miss them dearly!
Left: Karen and I making sure we were prepared for an iceberg attack on our cruise. 
Right: Julia 'painting' my hair. I do not recommend this approach for anyone. It was the first time I tried it (out of complete boredom) and all I know is NEVER again. It hurt so bad.. why anyone does this willingly I will never know.


Left: All of us on fancy dinner night on our cruise. We were celebrating Karen turning the big 3-0! This was hands down the best vacation of my life. I don't get to see these girls that often anymore, so I cherish the time we spend together and this was a trip I will never forget! Can't wait for the next one!
Right: Angela's 21st birthday. This was right before I moved. If you ask them, I think this was the night that I told them I was moving back to Illinois. This picture is happily sitting on my nightstand. Sure hope to see these beautiful faces again soon.

And lastly, a couple of just me.
Left: I absolutely love Chicago. Where I grew up in Illinois is about 90 northwest of Chicago, so I was lucky enough to visit often. No matter how many times I have been there, I still get a giddy feeling every time I start to see the skyline. I love the hustle and bustle of the city coupled with the most amazing architecture. You can always find something fun and adventurous to do in the city and it never gets old. Ever since I can remember, I have loved the building in the picture that I am pointing at. It is really unique and just a fun piece of architecture. Because of that, this is one of my favorite pictures of myself. 
Right: This is just a picture from a random night. Nothing special, but I looked like I was actually happy. I love pictures, but I feel like I never take good ones, so I don't have many of just myself. This was one of the rare times my profile picture has been one of just myself.

What do your profile pictures say about you? Do you have many pictures of just yourself?

16 comments :

  1. This is a fun post! You first picture is awesome! It's so fun to back through and look at what's changed and is still the same in our lives.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is such a great post! Going through old profile pictures had to be fun! It would definitely be an adventure that's for sure :) There are so many changes over the years that looking back like this would definitely bring back a lot of memories.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Desiree @ Macke MonologuesApril 8, 2014 at 1:27 PM

    My mom and I are the same way! She is usually the first person I go to when it comes to making big decisions (even before the hubby sometimes).
    Thought I'm a Virgo, I am a water lover. Give me a like, an ocean, a pool. I don't care. Just give me water and I'll be happy as a clam. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a cute idea! I love all the photos and the stories behind them! That last photo of you is gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I use the TimeHop app too. It's fun to see what I was doing or putting in Facebook throughout the years. Sometimes a little embarrassing, but I have always tried to not get too personal on Facebook. But in college I might have put a little too much info sometimes :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I had more than 100 over the past 7 years so far. It's funny because since I have had my son, they are now all of him. I don't take many pictures anymore, even with him, because I just never put myself together. So looking back made me a little sad. I wish I had the energy to pull myself together more often :) It made me miss my past life a little, but I am so happy now too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Awe thank you so much! It is one of my favorite pictures of me. I don't take many as I said, so it is super rare when I get one I actually like! I'm probably a little too critical of myself (like most are), so I tend to shy away from putting pictures of myself on my blog. Thanks so much for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's so sad with my mom I even still ask her to make phone calls for me! I hate talking on the phone, especially to customer service and such, so I try to find a reason why I can't and ask her! My mom helped me with all my son's birthday party planning too! It just always feels better to have her opinion or agreement.
    That's so awesome that you got to move right by the ocean then! So perfect for you. I wish we lived a little closer. For some reason with a toddler 1 1/2 seems like a long time to be in a car. I need to just bite the bullet and get there though!

    ReplyDelete
  9. You are so gorgeous it's not even fair. My husband is a cancer and apparently we are the complete opposites on the astro chart with a best/worst compatibility! I knew I liked you! lol I can tell you are a fun time even before the stories. I love the relationship you have with your grandparents. The “Tina” gig, and the grilled cheese sandwiches. My Oma (grandma) makes the BEST quesadillas and I know you understand exactly what I mean. I had a job at Wet Seal and I agree- it was NOT for me. But I’m very
    confrontational so instead of sticking it out I wrote a letter to my manager that talked about how if they wanted me to wear their clothes to work they should give them to me for free instead of making me buy them….then I had her read it in front of me. I don’t see why you don’t like pictures of yourself when you’re gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is such a great idea and I enjoyed reading more about you! (sorry if that was a duplicate comment - my other one disappeared!). :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks for stopping by! I only got one comment so no worries! I figured I never really write about myself or post pictures so it would be a different way to talk more about myself. I'm not so good at it, but I am trying more!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks, but I think that southern Cali sun is getting to you! I am far from gorgeous! And those pictures are from my glory days, which are no more! None of them are from after Myles. I am so bummed about my appearance now, I don't have any motivation to put myself together. I feel so blah and frumpy! I think a new do is in order for sure. That's funny about the astro signs. I don't really follow that stuff too much, but I am def a water person. I think Mark and I are opposites as well. I know we are on the Chinese charts. Something about a grandma's food with cheese is magic, I tell ya!
    LOL retail killed me! But I never had the guts to say anything, so GO YOU for sticking up for yourself. I could never. I'm such a coward, although I think I am becoming a little better in my age with standing up for myself.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Those are all great!!! I love the one with you under the papasan chair... Hilarious!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks! It's funny to see the types of profile pictures you put up over time! It's so different now that I have a kid, all my pictures are of him! I think it's awesome that we have something like Facebook to see ourselves change over time (sometimes a good thing, sometimes bad too lol)! Thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  15. You are too funny. I love the picture of the round chair on your WHOLE body. You did look like a human turtle. I have a love/hate relationship with those chairs too. You really can't get comfortable and if you get lucky once, you can't figure out how to sit that same way again. I love your idea of profile pictures to get to know you. VERY CREATIVE.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I used to do a lot of goofy stuff... too bad adulthood has made me lame! I am too serious now! It's cool to look back through all of your profile pictures, especially if you have had a FB for a while. I put some pretty funny stuff on there in my college days! Thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete

I LOVE that you are taking the time to read and comment on my blog! I always comment back either through email or as a reply on your comment :) Thanks for coming by!