A long history of hair that boils down to one simple question

Someone told me once, "When you need a change in your life, but can't make it happen, you cut your hair." That is such an accurate quote for my current situation. I really want a change. I desparately need a change. But as that is not in the cards for us right now, I decided to cut my hair. Let me rephrase that. I decided to completely chop my hair.

Now, I've had many hairstyles in my life. If I had a picture of all of them, I'd post them because I love using pictures in my posts. But since I don't, I'll simply describe some of them to you. I started out this life with crazy hair.

It looked a lot like Ellie's hair in this picture: sticking straight up with a mind of its own. Then it grew out and I had long, stick-straight hair with bangs until 3rd grade. Then, I got a perm which made my head look like a triangle. And not in a good way. But I don't think triangle heads are ever really that great unless you are from the pointed city where everything has a point. (Just like this post has a point which I will eventually get to.)

So, I did the permed-hair thing for about 3 years. Then, I got to middle school and realized that permed hair was no longer the cool thing. So, I grew out the curls and started placing GIANT ribbon bow clips in my hair. This I really wish I had a picture of because it would make you pee-your-pants laugh. And where I got the idea that giant ribbon bows were cooler than permed hair, I will never know.

I think 8th grade was probably where I had my most boring hairstyle. It was a chin-length bob with bangs, and it worked. Then I moved on to high school. That was a pretty big deal, of course, and I needed a hairdo that would stand out. So my sister, who was going to cosmetology school at the time, gave me an a-line bob which I absolutely loved! I would have that haircut again except that it only looks good for about 3 weeks before it needs to be cut again. And it took me about 45 minutes to style. And really, what mom has that kind of time to devote to styling her hair. My answer? Not a mom with small children.

I eventually grew my hair long again. When I was ready for another change, I didn't cut it. I colored it. Yep, it was blonde highlights for me. Senior year was the biggest change. I went from hair that went to the center of my back to a super short cut. It looked like this, but shorter in the back.

Of all the hairstyles I've had, that was my favorite. It seriously took me longer to wash my hair than it did to style it. But eventually I missed having long hair to run my fingers through. So I started the 5 year battle of short vs. long hair. I've been wearing various styles of long for the past few years all the while wrestling with myself about cutting it super short again. The thing with short hair is that I always end up wanting long hair again. And so begins the 6 month journey of horrible hair while I wait for it to grow.

So, now that you are up to speed on the history of my hair (is anyone still reading, I wonder?), we come to my hair appointment today. I should have know that it would not be a good experience when I, first, showed up 2 hours early, and then, came back 5 mintues late. I had this perfect picture of the hairstyle I wanted.

Isn't it adorable? I asked the lady cutting my hair if this would be an easy hair cut to style. She gave me this long speech about "I've never cut your hair, so I don't know how it will be, blah blah blah." After a much-too-long dicussion, we decided to do a longer version of this. That way, I could still tuck the layers behind my ears. Then, if I decided that I wanted it shorter, she could always trim a little more. What I ended up with, to me, looks nothing like this photo.

My friend, Candace, really likes it, but I just can't decide. Do you like it? or should I go back and have her trim it a little. Aaarrrghhh!! I just don't know what to do!!! Please! Tell me what to do!