This Time I Mean It

This may be stupid.


It may be silly.


It may be trivial.


And it certainly may be mundane.



But...


that doesn't change the fact that I want to share something with you.

I have a goal that I haven't been able to achieve. I have promised myself before. I have sworn to myself that I would do everything in my power to achieve this goal.



To no avail.



I have broken that promise. Many, many times.

Well, I've set this goal again. I've made the promise again.




But this time I mean it.




And in thinking about how to make this time the time that I actually follow through - I thought that maybe if I make a public statement, I will hold myself to a higher standard. Maybe if I blog about it, I will have a better chance of achieving it.


Maybe.


We'll see.


Are you curious what the goal is? Prepare yourself for the stupid, silly, trivial and mundane...

Because I've promised myself this many, many, many, many times and I have not been able to keep that promise for over 13 years. 13 years! And I need your help. I am enlisting your help.


Drum roll, please...


I have a goal to grow out my hair.

And I have very little patience with this particular area in my life. Here's the proof:




It all started when I was about 12 years old - that's me on the right and the cute girl on the left is one of my best childhood friends, Anjenelle. I decided around this time that I would grow my hair long. Which lasted about a year before I lost patience and cut it:




I'm the one in the BYU Basketball shirt. After I cut it I decided I wanted to grow it out and this time I had the most patience of my life. I grew it for about 3 years. This is how long it got:




This picture was taken on my 17th birthday (which is in April). I didn't cut my hair again until later that year in the summer, but this was the last picture I could find before I did this:




And it was only a few months after this picture was taken, that I did this:




This picture was taken right before a jazz dance at my high school. My hair was a very short pixie. I was a Senior. I was almost 18. And I decided that, even though I really liked my pixie cut, I really wanted long hair. So I grew it out:




It was about this time - I was just barely able to pin it behind my ears - that I decided that it didn't make sense to grow my hair long when I really liked it short:





This is me and my sister on January 1, 1999. So naturally, my resolution was to... you guessed it, grow my hair long! I really focused for a couple of years and got it to here:




This was taken in April of 2002. This was the runner-up picture for my wedding announcement to Adam. And it was only a few months after we got married that I cut my hair. Again.




And it was pretty much immediately after I cut it that I promised myself that I would actually grow my hair out. But then during the process I really started to like it mid length - about chin length - and kept that for a few years. But then I got motivated to really grow it out. Again.




This picture was taken in December 2007. Audrey was a month old. And that was the first time my hair had touched my shoulders in over a decade! It was exciting. It was magical. It was great. Until...




Yep, I cut it again. This is me and Audrey in April 2008. I kept it short for a few months and then started to grow it out.





I made it until March 2009. This picture was taken on my sister's birthday in February - my mom was in town so we celebrated together. And then I cut my hair. Again.





And then I decided to grow it out. Again. This was taken last June. And it was pretty much right after this that I decided that i really want to experience long hair at least once in my adult life. And this time I mean it.


No, seriously. This time, THIS TIME, is going to be different.



THIS. TIME. I. MEAN. IT.



How is it going to be different? You ask.

I am going to set a specific, objectifyable goal. Instead of just having a goal to grow it out or grow it long, my goal is to grow it until I can hold onto it by reaching my hand around my back... basically, grow it until it is well past my shoulders, mid-back length. And I am going to do it. I am determined.

And to bring us full-circle... well, more like full-spiral (we've been here many, many, many times before): this is where I am today:






It's just barely to the point where I can pin it behind my ears. I realize this will be a long process, but this time I will do it. And with the whole world (or at least the whole "web") as my witness, how can I fail?!