Hey there y’all, and happy Hump Day!

Hope you’re enjoying this lovely Wednesday. The weather in Durham is a cool, breezy 90 degrees (note the sarcasm) and I’ve been spending it in an almost Arctic office.  We call it the frozen tundra.  After yesterday’s in-office lunch ordeal, I decided it’d be wise to come back home and eat on my little perch.

I have been taking to typing and eating and chopping up here, this little counter might be my favorite aspect of my tiny little apartment. It’s bar height, and it’s perfect for a giant like myself.  Lunch was FANTASTIC, just what I was craving:

On the menu:

• Steamed veggies (the same as I had with last night’s tasty fish! Total mood booster)
• Coke Zero
• Sandwich Thin featuring:
• Turkey
• Provolone cheese
• tomato
• spinach
• one fried egg!

Perfect and delish.  I also nibbled on a few chips from Trader Joes while cooking and watching Pretty Little Liars (my Wednesday lunch show of choice!)

Now let’s get onto the good stuff.

Last time I was home, I rifled around in my old bedroom, as I always do when I return home.  And I found some REAL gems…. That’s right, various IDs since like… 7th grade.  Now, I present to you:

The Evolution of Jordan

This shot’s from 7th grade, and I’m pretty sure the fiercest of the bunch.  Clearly, I was Sm-eyes-ing. And presenting quality posture.  Did everyone at your school do those single-strand bangs that we all were into, pulled tight to your head?

Yeah, no, me either, this was def a fluke.

Up next, we have a snapshot from 10th grade (we’ll call 8th and 9th my “black” period during which I refused to take photos…. or I couldn’t find those ones.)  I think this was when I started standing up straighter, and truly coming into myself.  I was on the varsity basketball and volleyball teams, playing lotsa sports, and finally feeling like I had a place in the world/school. I also shopped almost exclusively at PacSun and owned more tshirts with little characters or logos on the front than I own VS underwear now (hint… well over 30… and 40).  It was a pretty good time.

In 11th grade, my mom finally started demanding a modicum of fashion sense from her eldest child.  I thank her for this every day of my life.  At this point, I was thinking almost exclusively about colleges to go to, Junior proms, and being the captain of my sports.  Oh, and boys.  But let’s be honest, even though I had my first real kiss at 16, stuff didn’t start getting really interesting until my senior year.

Don’t worry, this wasn’t in the yearbook or anything (at least I’m pretty sure…)  Since we had fancy shmancy senior portraits taken, these were just IDs used for lunch and to get discounts at the movie theater.  And I figured, it was my last year at this joint, I was already accepted to UNC (GO TARHEELS!! LOVE OF MY LIFE!!), go hard or go home.  As the photographer counted back from three (3… 2…. 1!) I hammed it up REAL big at the ONE and got this beaut to have and hold for the rest of my life.  That year, I was voted Most School Spirit, Most Likely to Change the World, and (shocker) Best Sense of Humor. I wish they’d just used this picture for the yearbook superlative shot, it would’ve summed it all up….  (PS So as not to hurt anyone’s feelings, I chose Best Sense of Humor since we weren’t supposed to hoard the superlatives.  BUT THE TRUTH’S OUT NOW, GARNET VALLEY ALUM! Sorry for spilling the beans. But not that sorry.)

I hated my first one card with a fiery passion. My eyebrows are huge, I’m cracked out from having spent the past 2.5 days at Orientation (not sleeping and sneaking out to Durham to play beer ping pong with friends), and my hair looks like a horse’s tail.

Well, wouldn’t you know that got stolen (though, not for good) in 2007, so I had to get this bad boy:

My most used ID of my school years, you can really see the weight on my face in this one.  So I guess my junior year was when the poundage started going on. Something to do with moving into the fraternity house and having constant access to my bean-cheese-hot sauce dip at all hours of the night…. really did a number on me.

And now, here we are!

Hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane… Because that was a blast to write.

Can’t wait to get a new ID, maybe I’ll post that one to see how things have changed.

Do you keep your old IDs like a secret hoarder (or like me)?

What’s your favorite ID picture of you? (mine’s the senior year one, hands down.)