So cool in 7th grade

(Gena, Me, KTJ, Issa, Kylie, and Sam in 1997)

In Junior High we had this thing called "Shang-hi" where we would go to a persons house the morning of their birthday before school, wake them up and then put them in silly clothes that they had to wear for the rest of the day. I had no idea how or where this tradition started, but it seemed to sweep through my school my 7th grade year.

This picture was taken on my good friend, KTJ's, birthday (I've had this nick name for her since elementary school because there were so many Katie's in school that they had to distinguish them by using the initial of their last name name, in her case a "J").

Looking back on pictures from my junior high and high school days is really quite embarrassing. If you can believe it, this is actually one of the better pictures, where the clothes don't seem quite as baggy and the braces have not been put on yet.

Puberty and Junior high is such a bad combo. It is the chicken and the egg quandary: Is Junior High so horrible because of puberty or is puberty so bad because of junior high? The world may never know. I remember receiving specific instructions from one of our biology teachers telling the class to wear deodorant because our bodies were changing and she flat out told us we STUNK! haha

I didn't realize how much of Junior High I have blocked out until I have been recently forced to remember how it was in order to relate to the girls at my church. Most of the time I still feel like I am teenager, so I was surprised to find that when I tried to think of specific stories I could barely recall even one! I wouldn't say I had a really difficult time in junior high, rather I think a better word to use would be "awkward." Then again, who knows! I apparently can't remember much, so maybe it was difficult.

I know this is a random post, but I stumbled upon this photo and it made me laugh and I was amazed that when I look at each one of these girls how they still hold a special place in my heart.