39 Signs You Were a Preteen in the 2000's.

Even though the 90's were my favorite decade to live through, the 2000's were pretty incredible too. I was going through that awkward stage of growing up and trying (and failing) to be cool. The Olsen twins and Hilary Duff were my idols, and my dreams included getting my first kiss and being in the audience of an episode of TRL. 
If you were a preteen in the 2000's, then you'll love this list!
1 | You remember thinking that Y2K wasn't going to be a big deal, and you thought the adults needed to chill out. You also thought that if the power did go out, you thought it'd turn into an epic (semi-permanent) camping trip. 
2 | You flipped your ish when you found out that the girl from Casper Meets Wendy was going to be Lizzie McGuire (which ended up being your favorite show in the universe).

3 | One word: Chokers
4 | You listened to Avril Lavigne and felt like she just got you because why did people have to go and make things so complicated? 

5 | Midnight Harry Potter book and movie releases will always be the most epic releases. 
6 | If you and your best friend didn't have Best Friends necklaces, were you even really best friends? 
7 | When you redid your "teenager" bedroom, you had to get a canopy...and a lava lamp.
8 | When the teacher rolled in the TV and VCR cart, you knew it was going to be a good note passing class. 
9 | You remember when MTV actually stood for Music Television, and you loved watching TRL after school and getting ready to the morning music videos. 

10 | Teen Beat, YM, and J-14 were your bibles, not only for the articles, but largely because of the ginormous posters. 
11 | It didn't matter if they were uncomfortable, toe rings were worn.
12 | You did MASH as many times as you needed to to get the future you wanted.
13 | Dreamboats: Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Erik von Detten, Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, David Gallagher, Jason Behr, Nate Richert, Rider Strong, and Scott Weinger

14 | Origami meant making a million paper fortune tellers.
15 | Stressing out over the band color of your braces (and coordinating it with the holidays).
16 | You dreaded getting called on in class to do a problem on the projector. 
17 | You hated that annoying person who got up to use the spinny pencil sharpener. Why didn't they just invest in a mechanical pencil? '
18 | The first time you saw Hilary Duff on MTV was monumental. 

19 | You were actually kind of excited about purple ketchup because red ketchup was so overused. Green ketchup, on the other hand, was super gross. 
20 | Getting your classmates together to do the "down by the riverside, the hanky panky" game at recess was the perfect excuse to almost hold your crush's hand. 
21 | You screamed when you saw Lizzie and Gordo kiss in The Lizzie McGuire Movie. 

22 | You convinced your parents to buy you candy cigarettes every time you were at the gas station, because pretending to smoke them made you look cool. 
23 | You're still waiting for someone to serenade you on the school intercom with band accompaniment a la 10 Things I Hate About You. 

24 | You wore colorful rubber bracelets all up your arm. If you were feeling a little depressed or rebellious, you wore all black ones. 
25 | You were pissed when they changed the cast of All That. 
26 | So Weird had you questioning whether supernatural things actually existed. 

27 | The stress of choosing your AIM away message was so real. 
28 | Now CDs had all of the best songs on it (minus, like, three. There were always three meh songs.). 
29 | You and your friends had a Slam Book. 
30 | You hated when you put in a Blockbuster VHS and the person who had it before you didn't rewind it. (Umm...hello...be kind, please rewind). 
31 | You still think the best episode of Even Stevens was "Influenza," which was the musical episode. You're still waiting on the musical Lizzie McGuire episode.

32 | Colorful scrunchies. The scrunchier, the better. 
33 | Printing out MapQuest directions and still getting lost.
34 | The stress of choosing your MySpace profile song (even though everyone paused it as soon as they got to your page). And then the thrill of being able to make a playlist and not have just one song. 
35 | You cheated during Heads-Up 7-Up by looking at people's shoes (I actually never did this, but I know you did. Cheater.). 
36 | Blo-Pens, my friend. Blo-Pens.
37 | You had a mini collection of tinted sunglasses, mostly from the Mary-Kate and Ashley brand. 

38 | Every time you took a drink of milk, you acted like you were in a Got Milk? ad. 
39 | You made book covers for your textbooks out of brown paper bags from the grocery store and then decorated them. 
Were you a 2000's pre-teen? 

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Life Makes Scents.

When you hear a song, it's so easy to go back in time to a moment that that song reminds you of - like when you had your first dance with a boy or when you went on your first road trip with friends or when you had your first kiss. Songs always remind me of little memories.
One thing that can also make you travel back in time is scents. Sometimes, when you smell something, it pinpoints a certain memory in your mind. 
MIDDLE SCHOOL CRUSHES: Sweet Pea at Bath and Body Works When I was in middle school, I pretty much lived in Bath and Body Works scents. For every holiday and birthday, my friends and I always exchanged Bath and Body Works lotions, body washes, plug-ins, etc. One of my favorites was Sweet Pea, not only because it was pink and smelled awesome, but also because that's my dad's nickname for me. I also enjoyed Cucumber Melon and Japanese Cherry Blossom. 

Probably the most hideous picture taken of me ever. Also, my first time ever dancing with a boy. 

PUBERTY: Paris Hilton I've never been a huge Paris Hilton fan, but I do love her first perfume. I remember when I first discovered this perfume, I was obsessed. Too bad I didn't know how to wear perfume. I was so used to my little middle school body spray scents that I used it like that. Little did I know, you could probably smell me from a mile away. I wore so much of it. The only person who complained was my older brother, and my parents sat me down for a talk to tell me that I was wearing too much. I have no idea why no one actually tried to teach me how to wear it. All of my poor classmates had to deal with it for weeks!

I guess I loved myself. Check the military crease in my pants.

FRESHMAN YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL: Pure Seduction at Victoria's Secret When I was younger, I used to be embarrassed just to walk by Victoria's Secret. It was a sexy store, and I didn't want anyone to think of me as sexy. I didn't even really know what it meant to be sexy. When I first ventured into the store, I was attracted to the scents, and I would spend time smelling all of them, but not buying anything (I was in high school after all, and I had zero money). When I discovered Pure Seduction, I fell in love with it, and I still wear it today. 

Freshman year: When I discovered the art of layering. And yes, I did choose those glasses all by myself. 

DALLAS ROAD TRIPS: Juicy Couture When I went on my first road trip to Dallas, my high school friends (who I'm still friends with now) introduced me to Juicy Couture. How I had never heard of the store before is a mystery to me. I guess I lived under a rock. At the time, they only had their first perfume out, and we all agreed it smelled so awful, but my friend, Sarah, gave us teeny tiny bottles of it for Christmas anyway. Later, they came out with Viva La Juicy, which was a huge improvement, and I have a small bottle of it that I like to dash on from time to time. 

High school = a lot of duck faces and not smiling in any pictures

COLLEGE: Wonderstruck by Taylor Swift I loved Taylor ever since I first saw her music video for "Tim McGraw," so of course I jumped at the chance to use her perfume when I was college. My mom bought me my first bottle, and I still use the scent almost every day. 

What are some of your favorite memories associated with scents?
Scent images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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the truth about santa.

I found out that Santa wasn't real in the third grade. I believed in all of the make-believe characters for about an average amount of time. I feel like I found out that they weren't real at the correct ages. Santa was the last to go though. I don't remember how I found out about the tooth fairy or the Easter bunny. 

Apparently I should've listened to my original instincts and not trust him. Silly me.

I was pretty sassy when it came to the tooth fairy. In the few years that I lived with just my dad and my older brother, I feel like my dad did a pretty awesome job keeping all of the characters alive. The tooth fairy always gave me a dollar when I lost a tooth, but one time I wrote the tooth fairy a note saying that I wanted $2 instead of $1. I really don't know why. I mean, I was 6. What did I need money for anyways? My dad (or the tooth fairy rather) gave me $2, and I was pretty dang happy.
I don't remember the Easter bunny being a huge thing. I only have one vivid getting a basket from the Easter bunny once, and it was when I was living in Arkansas with my dad, step-mom, and 3 brothers and sisters. That was probably the last time we got anything from the Easter bunny.

Don't let the shirt fool you. I do not like cats. I did, however, wear a lot of hand-me-downs.

I think it was 3rd grade when I found out about Santa. My step-sister, step-brother, and I had made all of these cute crafts for Santa at school. Also, at our house, we didn't leave out milk and cookies for Santa. We left out sweet potato pie and something to drink (I think it was wine, but I don't really remember). Everything Santa related went according to plan. It wasn't until about a week later that we found out the devastating news. We found all of the crafts that we made for Santa in a kitchen drawer. We asked our parents if Santa was real, and they told us the devastating truth. So sad. It's a funny story to look back on though.

Notice Rocko's Modern Life on the telly and those awesome handmade candy canes on the tree. 

How did you find out about Santa?

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10 favorite disney channel original movies.

I didn't get Disney Channel until I moved back to the U.S. when I was eight. I lived my whole life watching Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, and I had no idea what I was missing! I watched Disney Channel up until the shows started getting dumb (I mean, I was getting older). I thought that Disney Channel movies weren't up to par with what they were when I was younger. I really hate that some Disney Channel Original Movies are gone forever because they aren't sold on DVD. Depressed. Luckily, some play on Disney (super late at night) or you can purchase on eBay.

Some of my favorite Disney Channel Original Movies:

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Tru Confessions: Well, I already loved Shia, so I figured I would like this movies. One of two DCOM that have made me cry. Seriously, Shia was flawless in this. That library scene...sobbing. Why can't I buy this on DVD though? I watched it on YouTube, but I wish I could just buy it.

The Color of Friendship: Obviously a great message. Making races come together. Loved this.

Cadet Kelly: I knew this would be awesome because I loved (still love) me some Hilary Duff and Christy Carlson Romano. I love watching that end performance. 

Get a Clue: I'm a sucker for Lindsay Lohan movies, and this was no exception. Add a little bit of Alfalfa, and it's perf. Plus I love a good teen mystery movie.

Gotta Kick It Up: I don't even remember what this movie is about, I just remember loving it. And that it had dancing in it, and I love all movies with dancing. Plus this is the only DCOM with Hispanics in it. 

Zenon: I mean, who doesn't love this movie? Moving on.

The Other Me: My favorite scene is the cafeteria scene where everyone is dancing to *NSYNC. Seriously, monumental work, Disney Channel.

Smart House: I was waiting for there to be a contest for me to enter to win a house for my family. Little did I know at the time that you had to be at least 18 (sometimes 21) to enter any kind of contest like that. I just wanted to dance to giant B*Witched music videos in my bedroom. Too much?

Quints: The other DCOM that made me cry. I was seriously feeling her pain when she just wanted to give up on her art because her parents kept forgetting about her. Girl, I feel ya. 

Stepsister from Planet Weird: Okay, this movie is a weird one, but I still really liked it, okay? Don't judge me.

These were just my top ten. It was seriously hard to narrow it down. Really, every DCOM from 1997 to 2002 is awesome, and there are a few other from later years that make the cut, like High School Musical (did that really come out SEVEN YEARS AGO!? I'm old). 

What are some of your favorite DCOMs?

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my first trip to the big apple.

When I was in 8th grade, I was in advanced art. Now, I don't want any of you to get the impression that I was actually really good. I was just okay. My favorite piece was a drawing I did of Chip from Beauty and the Beast. Sadly, after I moved from South Carolina, all of my artwork got lost. I get depressed about it sometimes. I still have Chip around here somewhere though.

Anyway, for advanced art, we got to take a trip to New York City! To be honest, that was the main reason I joined. I mean, who wouldn't want to go to NYC?! Even though we took a school bus (not a charter bus. A school bus) all the way there from South Carolina. I had so much fun. Now I already mentioned my first trip to NYC a few months back when I was talking about my friend, Ashley, but I thought the trip deserved some more recognition. Be prepared for some really cute pictures of me.

This was taken at Toys R Us. I don't think kids appreciate that store enough these days. We were pretty excited though. My favorite part was the Cabbage Patch Dolls Exhibit. I used to have a doll named Tiffany. This was the group I hung out with in NYC. Melissa, Ashley, and Emily. Notice my cute Sketchers. I was really stylin' back in the day. 

In the distance, you can see the Statue of Liberty. This was my eighth grade advanced art class and our teacher Mrs. Timmerman, or Mrs. T. About three of us look happy in this picture. 

We got all dressed up for a Broadway musical! We went and saw Mamma Mia. I was absolutely fascinated by the show. It was amazing. I was unbelievably happy when they decided to make a movie adaptation. 

As I mentioned, this was a trip for advanced art, so of course we did lots of artsy things as well. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of anything else (I was using a disposable camera after all), but I'll still share my fun experiences.

• Metropolitan Museum and Guggenheim: What an amazing experience. So much gorgeousness. I would definitely love to go back. 
• Radio City Music Hall: Our teacher was telling us that she had a huge surprise for us. We saw a poster that Mary J. Blige was going to be performing, and we were convinced that we were going to get to meet her. It didn't happen. We did meet a Rockette though. She was a freaking skyscraper and unbelievably gorgeous and super sweet.
• Empire State Building: We stood on the top and looked at the view for awhile. It was so pretty. I don't care that it's tourist-y. I was in 8th grade so I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Still do. Don't know if I could handle the crowd all over again though. 
• TRL! No, we didn't get to visit the studio or meet Carson, but we did see it from the outside. Unfortunately, they weren't filming that day, so we didn't get to see any of the action, but it was still really neat!

NYC is one of the most magical cities in the world. I don't think I could live there, but I definitely love visiting. 

-- tiffanykhyla.

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