Gossiping Girl

So, for those of you who read my last post, I don't want you to get the wrong impression of me.

I actually really enjoyed my teenage years. There's so many great memories that I wouldn't trade for the world.

So, to indulge you all, I thought I'd leave some gossip about myself in my teenage years, sort of as a memoir.

Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start).

I was thirteen when I got my first 'boyfriend.' I still remember our first date pretty vividly. We went to see Grind, a skateboarding movie with Adam Brody that I thought would be a lot more amusing, at a small theater by our house. Brilliant me decided that we should get there half an hour early. So, because the movie theater wasn't exactly up with the times, it didn't bother to show ads or puzzles prior to the previews. So, my date and I sat in the dark screening room for half an hour while I searched my brain for engaging conversation topics (to little avail). Awkward experience- slightly. Still, it was a good learning experience for me. I learned to be prepared to make conversation on any date.

For those of you wondering, I actually did have a great time with this guy. The 'relationship' didn't last (surprise, surprise, since we were so young), but to this day, he's still one of my best friends. (lol, and he'll probably smack me for writing about him :-P)

I was fourteen when I started high school. I definitely did not like it in the beginning, but I leared to love it. I really grew and learned a lot about myself in high school. I found some great friends and had some great times. I still miss my high school and my related activities. I was one of those kids who was super involved, from Marching Band to NHS to serving as president of WYSE (Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering, similar to an academic team). Being involved really helped me to feel as though I was part of the community, and I made some great friends and memories.

When I was fifteen, I took driver's ed. Probably one of the scariest experiences of my life. I did not see any reason to put my uncoordinated self behind the wheel of a four-wheeled death machine. In my first couple days at range, when we were learning how to drive the car in reverse, I backed the car up over the curb. My instructor was pissed and watched me like a hawk from then on. I did manage to pass driver's ed, however, and I'm a pretty decent driver (knock on wood).

I was the girl who turned sweet sixteen and was never kissed. Did that drive me nuts? Absolutely! I was totally boy crazy. My most prominent memories from that age are about fighting over boys with other girls. Not that I won any of those fights.

Seventeen was an exciting age for me. I had a car, money from a part-time job, and my legal curfew was midnight on weekends. I felt like the world was my sandbox (yes, I just quoted Rugrats), and I played in it all weekend long with my friends. This was probably my most social experience in my life. Thursday nites were always spent planning for Fridays and Saturdays. I don't even wanna think about how much money I wasted, but it was good times.

Turning legal was not celebrated as scandalously as I would have hoped. I still have not purchased porn or been to a strip club. I bought a lottery ticket on my 18th birthday (the guy almost didn't sell it to me, either!), and I've bought maybe one other one since. I'm such a good girl :-P
That year had lots of other fun moments, though. I went to two senior proms (one with my bestie and one with my current boyfriend), gave a pretty awesome valedictorian speech at my graduation, and started college (finally, classes with boys again!)

Nineteen was finally the age at which I did all the stuff I should have done before I hit Sweet Sixteen.I got my first real boyfriend, my first kiss, and all that fun stuff. This was definitely the highlight of age 19 for me. It was the perfect finale for my teen years.

Now that I'm a few weeks into being 20, I'm realizing it's not as bad as I had anticipated. I don't feel all that old. In fact, I'm just as immature as I was a few weeks (and years) ago. A couple weeks ago, I was skipping- yes skipping- down my driveway and singing. My sister was like, "How are you 20?"

I definitely loved my teen years, but I'm determined not to let the fun die down. Here's to the next decade!