How embarrassing

Oh, the things you find at mom’s house, right?

Poor Rocky.  At the age of 12, made to dress like the cowboys (Roy Rogers) my mom always idolized.  She would rummage and thrift “outfits” for my kids when they came to visit.  Then, she’d set up a “photo studio.”  This was in 1997.  I totally forgot to scan Tredessa’s photo shoot, for which she may now thank me monetarily.  Hahahaha.  HE WAS SOOOOOO CUTE!!  *kiss*kiss

This was me at one.  My mom was pregnant with little Joey-to-be.  She somehow thought that frizzing my hair up with tiny pin-curls would make for a festive shot.  I was quite obviously trying to flee.  Tami was never pin-curled like me.  My whole life: bobbypins and frizz.  Geez.

I can live with this picture.  Timmy (who seems hungry here) was maybe 3 weeks old, meaning I was 3 1/2.  You will note that already, at that young age, I was the replica of my dad with the eyebrows and lower eye lids (aka: bags).  What 3 1/2 year old has those?  Me!  Fifty years later, is it any wonder?

So, my mom’s use of questionable outfits and props started early – on me!  My Grandma Allison had given me this dress.  I was 11 and the darts did not have anything to hold them in place.  And then my mom made me put on my grandma’s floppy hat.  Like me, you may ask yourself what my parents were thinking letting me out of the house with that stringy hair???  Holiness girls could not cut their hair, you see.  Boo.  Note my extremely authentic smile.  Good times in Ames, Iowa at the grandparent’s house.

Once finally eschewing those tight pin-curls, my parents moved the family to Robert, LA where the humidity caused my adolescent hair to kink and wave and get frizzy.  I actually had to get my hair chemically straightened there, and then use an 8000-degree curling iron to keep it “smooth”.  In this picture, I am a junior in high school who is not allowed to wear make-up, with long, stringy (fuzzy?) hair, and finally, the dark brows and lashes work for me.  Secret?  A little dab of Vaseline applied ever-so-slightly.  My terrible eyesight now may be attributed to a petroleum-based beauty regimen.

I went neutral.  Or something.  This is a dress my mom made for me for some occasion or another at church (the building in the shot).  Yes, I had a brown silk flower in my hair (hair combs were the late-70s rage).  Which I had sort of {brazenly} cut.  And curled a little.  What goes around, comes around.

Tim called this my “Kathryn Kuhlman” look.  Brothers! 

Oh, and I would like to lay claim to this little treasure:

Perry Como.  Album in  pristine condition.  If I don’t find my own copy soon, I hereby request this as part of my inheritance.


My mom has boxes of treasures…and items suitable for blackmail.  She is the greatest treasure of them all, though.   :)

1 thought on “How embarrassing

  1. Pure beauty!!!! There is no way I could have gone with no make-up at that age. I’ll have to do a post on youth. Then again that would be kinda scary! I got to go through all the pictures at my moms house. She told me to take all mine to share with my kids. I laughed and told her I didn’t want to scare them away. I got some really bad pictures of me! I’ll share them some time with you.

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