Memory Monday 8.8.11

I'm back. And all this build up will end with me talking about... hair. This will come as a surprise to exactly zero people who know me... I love to change my hair color. Like, in college I might have had a problem. And when Will and I got married I decided that my biggest marital sacrifice was going to be to stop coloring my hair. Think about that - moving in with another human being (a guy, for that matter), sharing a bank account, moving to a new city 350 miles from home and I thought that not coloring my hair was the biggest sacrifice I was making. Unbelievable. 

I have been a blonde*, a brunette and a red head. I have had bangs, layers, a bowl cut in 5th grade and a borderline mullet in high school. I have grown it out and chopped it off - pretty much an endless cycle at this point. I think the reasons I have changed so much are two fold: (1) my hair is naturally that "non-color" mousy-brown/dirty blonde color so I can get away with having all sorts of colors and (2) my mom starting highlighting my hair when I was young because she was bound and determined that I would stay blonde. I was pretty well behaved in junior high and high school (I am generally well behaved because I do not like confrontation and hate getting in trouble) so one day in high school - I think in the 11th grade - I went to the salon and decided to go buck wild... and color my hair dark blonde. Yeah. That's right. Dark. Blonde. And I think it had a touch of red in it... that'll show my mom to tell me what to do! Well, not long after that the mullet happened (see below) and I had to immediately go back to blonde just to save myself somewhat. And, when I say immediately... my mom drove me right back to the salon and said that if my hair was going to be that short then I at LEAST had to have some highlights. I was at the salon for probably six hours that day. But I digress... From there on out I enjoyed changing my hair color almost every time I went to get it done. And now... I am back to blonde. Looks like she was right all along. Darn the luck. Love you, mom. :-)
*if you're curious about "blond" vs. "blonde," as I was when spell check told me not to put an "e" at the end then click here. I think I am supposed to use the "e" because I'm female. Weird.  

I have tried to put these photos in chronological order but, no kidding, I can't do it! I can't even remember when I was what. It's bizarre. So, instead I will just show you all the different colors that I've been through the years. Maybe one of these will inspire your next change (do not see the mullet, almost black bangs or white blonde for inspiration, though. Just trust me).

Me as a little blonde baby - I guess I had a bit of a widow's peak when I was little, too. Our kids don't have a chance. Ha!

My mom's little blonde angel.

Quality = Zero because the best I could do was taking a picture of a picture in my scrapbook but this is when I went buck-wild and dyed my hair "dark blonde." Also, shout out to super young Wes Buchman.

Mullet. There's really not a whole lot else to say.

Back to blonde and mullet grown out before high school graduation - whew!

This is what I mean by "white blonde." My niece Ada would say that, "Aunt Caroline's hair is tooooooo blonde."

I'm the one with the black bangs and the ugly sweater. Ah... college.

For those of you who don't know... this is what we call the "Kappa Poof." I fought it for as long as I could in college. And then I embraced it. Embraced it big time.

Chop-chop in college.

Not blonde at my wedding. Mary Neal = heartbroken.

I waited a year and a half to do the "chop your hair off after you get married" thing. But I did donate it. All 12 inches of it.

Getting blonder post marriage. I had a friend in hair school so I could FINALLY afford highlights again!

A couple of weekends ago - back to the basics and loving it!

And that, my friends, is the brief (I know it didn't feel brief but it was) story of my ever changing hair! Happy Monday!