I might seem like a well-adjusted adult, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I was one of the weird kids. In high school I went through phases where I dressed like an emo kid and then a hippie. I was both a band kid and a cheerleader. Through it all, I was a weirdo. A fun weirdo, but a weirdo nonetheless. Thankfully, I have friends who accepted my weirdness and are a little weird themselves.

This might sound like I’m writing a negative post, but let me fast-forward to my message before I post the pictures: It is okay to be weird. You can be weird and unpopular and still go on to become an adult fulfilling whatever sort of life you want to live. Weird people settle down and have families. Weird people travel the world and live out of their suitcases. Weird people start their own successful businesses. When you march to the beat of your own drummer, it is easier to hear the direction of the music.

My close group of weirdos liked to have a fun time in our small town doing whatever we could think of. We played on the playgrounds and got stuck in the baby swings. We played hide and seek in cars where you hid somewhere in town and called everyone else with a clue. It was all harmless fun and amazingly, we did it all without alcohol. People who sort of knew us will probably be shocked to figure out we weren’t drinking, just weird.

The night before we left for college, two friends and I were hanging out trying to figure out what to do with our time. Somehow we came up with a plan that ended up going something like this:

• Put on weird costumes
• Kidnap Amanda when she was done with work and make her come along
• Take enough pictures to fill 2 disposable cameras
• Stop at the gas station for a gallon of ice cream to split 4 ways
• Go to Wal-Mart for a posing session before developing the film
• Stay out as late as possible before going off to college the next day.

Here I am in a Renaissance fair costume. Eating a candle? and holding flowers? We thought we were really funny. After this, we piled into my friend’s old beater and drove to the coffee shop where Amanda worked. Once we knew she was done with work, we walked in, pushed her into the bathroom, shoved a dress in her hands and told her to get changed. She describes it as “Get in loser, we’re going to Wal-Mart.” It was like Mean Girls, but the indie film version.

Here we are walking around. Nothing to see here.

I think we were pretending to ride a broomstick? I mean, we were just pumping gas like normal people. P.S. this is my hands-down, favorite picture of Amanda and I. And we have some real doozies.

Medieval lady and hippie posing in a Wal-Mart parking lot. High fashion if I ever saw it.

I don’t even know. There isn’t much to do in a small town, but Wal-Mart is open 24-7.

And that ended our night.

So now you know my deep dark secret. I was one of the weird kids. And if you ask my husband, I still am weird. He frequently says he should just video me all the time because we have some viral video material. I don’t think there is anything weird about me. (Although Mac’s side-eye is a bit telling…)