Passport Photo Memories

Do you look back at old photos of yourself and smile or cringe?  Do you laugh and say, "Those were the days?"  I find myself doing all three when I look at my old passport photos (I'm a saver, so I have them in our lock box).  In the spirit of openness, and in case you need a good laugh, I've posted them below, along with some memories.  

At 16



 My first passport.  I don't remember why my mom got us passports but I still remember going to have the pictures taken.  I was wearing my favorite outfit and I thought the pictures looked great!  Such a dorky '90's girl- over sized glasses, turtleneck and college sweater, and long, middle-parted hair.  I thought I was so grown up but 16 seems so little to me now!

 

 

At 20

Holy cow, is that the same girl!?  This picture was taken when I got back from Semester At Sea, a life-changing four months spent sailing around the world.  My mom didn't recognize me when she picked me up at the airport- really, I was standing in front of her and she looked around me for her daughter!  She still asks me how long my hair is before she picks me up from a trip because of that.  At this point, I thought I knew myself and had everything figured out- at least I knew enough to know that I really had no idea about life.  While I loved having my head shaved, to me this haircut is visual expression of how directionless I felt at the time.  The doors of my world had been thrown open and I had no idea where to go after that.  Luckily, I found my way through, one step at a time.


At 29

Happiness pie- a picture that looks like me!  No glasses, a bright smile, and flat, well-behaved hair.  This picture was taken after D and I returned from our honeymoon in Costa Rica (meaning that I had to travel for my honeymoon on my last passport (see picture above).  I almost didn't make it through immigration!).  I felt like I was finally on the road to my life.  I had a wonderful husband, a good job, and was about to head to Antarctica for the first time.  D and I were going to live an adventure-filled, traveling lifestyle and this was the passport that was going to get me there! 

 

 

And I guess it has gotten me there, here, where I am now.  They all have.