7 Things: Childhood Edition

Well my friends, the time has come for my 7 childhood facts post whether you like it or not. I know I'm lucky when I can honestly say that I had an idyllic childhood. I was in my own little world for most of the time and now looking back at those pictures I realize that I was truly the biggest dork the world has ever seen. But you know what? For all the great memories I have I'd say it was all worth it. I have to warn you, some of these photos aren't the highest quality. My brother kidnapped our scanner so I was forced to use my iPhone as a replacement. Here we go...

Here I am at the cusp of my awkward phase. I remember being so proud of my newly gold braces free mouth and wanting my picture taken to commemorate the event. I think this was taken at Sears or somewhere embarrassing. I was probably 12 here.

Ok, I don't think I was the cutest baby, but I look so happy in this picture I couldn't resist posting it.

My parents being the travel bugs that they are took me to Italy when I was 7 months old. Can't say I remember it but my parents tell me everywhere they went people would yell "bella bambina!" which means "beautiful baby" and beg to hold me. I just love Italians. I can't get over my mom's huge glasses here.

A family photo taken on Janney Lane, the lane of my childhood. Sorry Maddy and Hayley, you guys weren't born yet.

Yep, proof that I was a little Disney obsessed. My sister Chelsea and I both got reeeallly into the dressing up thing, as you can see by this picture.

This picture slays me. When I look at it, there are no words. The hat alone should be banned from any period past Victorian times. I cannot believe I was allowed to leave the house looking like this. But hey, I thought I looked pretty dang good and was having fun...and I guess that's all that matters.

I love this picture of the 5 of us. Here we are having a ball in Hawaii. Unbeknownst to most people who look at this picture, not long after it was taken and we were seated in the restaurant of this fancy Hawaiian hotel, Hayley (the youngest) decided to take a big poop right in the middle of her chair (the kind with the rubber strips on the seat) which immedietely fell through the strips and onto the floor below. My dad had to as discretely as possible scoop the poop up with napkins and carry it past the diners into the trash. Oh the life of the Black family is never boring.

Ok, now the family is complete. This picture perfectly illustrates our dorky homeschooly family. Our yearly family photos were taken for our company's catalogue hence the audio books in Alex's and Maddy's hands. Don't ask why Chelsea and I are holding dolls. That's a whole other story.

Ok, here are the facts:

1.) I was obsessed with opera at a very young age. I was probably around 4 years old when I first watched La Traviata on TV and fell so much in love with it that my parents bought me the video that I played over and over. They were baffled. It was all in Italian so I couldn't even understand the words but I think the costumes and romance and dramatic music won me over and eventually lead to my parents love of opera. Yep, my weirdness started at a very young age.

2.) I broke my leg falling off our porch right after I learned how to walk. I had to resort to crawling all over again this time while dragging my casted leg behind me. My mom still beats herself up about it. It's ok mom, I don't remember a thing.

3.) For my 7th birthday I flew in a hot air balloon over the Rogue Valley. I remember loving it and not being phased by the fact that we were hundreds of feet above ground in a rickety little basket. Perhaps that is why I have such a big fascination with hot air balloons now and want to be proposed in one...

4.) My first crush was on Richie who sat kitty corner to me in the first grade. He had chubby rosy cheeks and a mullet. Yeah, I don't understand it either.

5.) My obsession with movies started at a very young age. I remember watching Cinderella multiple times in a day and trying to have my sister Chelsea join me. She would often lose interest early in and I was so glued to the television screen that I would talk to her and comment on the movie as if she were still in the room. Eventually I would turn around to realize I've been talking to myself the whole time.

6.) Not only was I a metal mouth, but I was a gold metal mouth. I got gold braces when I was 11 because I thought gold was way "cooler" than silver braces. I am now constantly reminded of how silly I was to think that and how it actually made me look like I had yellow chunky teeth. Great, thanks for letting me know after I couldn't do anything about it. It didn't stop there though. I also had a big metal contraption on the roof of my mouth that my mom had to crank tighter every morning, then headgear (very bad time in my life), then rubber bands, then a thinner contraption on the roof of my mouth, then a retainer. Needless to say I run at the sight of orthodontists now.

7.) After going to a children's fair with my dad and being crowned a princess by someone dressed up as a queen, I truly believed I was a real princess for what felt like years. I remember telling people my big "secret" and thinking they'd be jealous. Oh my I really had quite the imagination.

So there you have it. I hope you were entertained by all the dorkiness you just had to take in. I don't have enough faithful followers to tag 7 people for this, but I'd love to see a 7 Things post from Kelly, Grace, and Christianna. So girls, if you feel so lead...