Dear Journal,

{Circa April 24th 1997}

Wow journal!
It's been 4-ever!

Well, cheerleading tryouts were the 21 &22 of this month, and I made it! Well, I really need to go to bed tonight, but I'll say a few things first. I asked my friend Chuck Butler to Sadies tonight. I put glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling w/ some of them forming a '?' and left a note asking him to go with me.We're gonna have a paintball war in the mountains for our date. {I'm so excited} Sadie Hawkins is May 10. We're picking out cheerleading uniforms May 8 and I can't wait for that either.

Well, I'm feeling pretty lousy right now because I feel like, I'm not very special. It's like, everyone has a boyfriend or someone special who cares about them... EXCEPT ME! I feel alone in this world. I also feel fat and ugly around people like Chantel and Darshell. Really, I do. I don't understand why it's not worth it to me to eat right and stuff. Chantel got 6 yellow roses from a secret admirer today, I haven't received roses for a darn thing yet. I just wish that for once I could be the girl who walks into a room and catches everybody's eye.

Umm.... forget that one!

Goodnight.

Dear 16 year old Lola,

* Very hip use of the number "4" in place of the WORD "for"? Check.

* Cheerleading tryouts? Check.

* Ask a boy to a dance in a cheesy, cheesy, and entirely unoriginal manner but be super-pleased with yourself anyway? Check.

* Compare yourself brutally to your prettier friends. Check.

* Hate yourself for eating too many Swedish Fish at lunch time and hate your body/wish you were someone else? Check.

* Look to boys {and various other factors outside of your control} to give your life meaning and purpose? Check.

* Feel deflated and sorry for yourself when EVERYBODY gets roses...except YOU? Check.

Conclusion: You did a great job at having the classic {albeit overly absorbed, and just a titch too dramatic}high school existence! Go you!

{And, thanks for snapping out of it. You know...eventually.}

Xo,
31 Year Old Lola

Dear Friends,

My lovely friend Shannan has started her own photography business, and she recently did our family photos, and I looooove them. And NOW, she has agreed to let me do a photography package giveaway here on my blog! Yay! Just in time for family Christmas card photos! Weeeee!

Stay tuned for details...
You can see some of her work here and here.

Xo,
Lola