goodbye 18

I cleaned out my closet.
You know how you open a new chapter in life sometimes, and you feel the need to clean out a very old one?
Yep. I had to let go of the exciting year of 18. That was a different life than the one I'm living now. I was on top of the world and had the confidence of a queen. I was one of five state 4-H officers, which in my limited scope of reality meant I had arrived. I was a mentor, and a teacher, a motivational speaker, and a leader of teens statewide. I was popular and pretty, assertive and bubbly, concieted and proud. And God was nowhere to be found on my list of priorities. Thankfully He sought me out a short time later.

Anyways, if I could go back to 18 & smack myself upside the head for some of the clothes I wore, I'd do it.

• Goodbye shorty shorts from the dark depths of my bottom drawer.
• Goodbye big sweater with a cat's face on it (I don't like cats, but it was a gift from childhood so it took a long time to let go)
• Goodbye dark pinstriped power suits with big ol' shoulder pads and short skirts
• Goodbye sassy slogan shirts (most)
• Goodbye too-short summer dresses
• Goodbye... no wait. Stay a little longer REALLY CUTE SHOES
• Goodbye beautiful sparkly blue formal dress with scratchy poofy lining. I was a princess with your help. (however, I would NOT want my daughters playing dress-up in you. Modest you were not)
• Goodbye excessive copies of the basic dark blue shirt, because I have wayyyyyy too many.

Don't worry, I didn't get rid of ALL the princess dresses.
I kept a few formals after I wore them around the house for a bit. I hope I never get too old to like playing dress up. Nope, I'm keeping them. I'll find a reason to wear them for real again. The inaguaral ball for instance.
Kristy laughed at me. But I don't care. Its fun to feel young and pretty, even if its just for a minute in your own house.

Goodbye 18, hello 25.