All the Feels: Confessions Of a 'Full House' Fanatic

Full House first aired in 1987, making me 3 years old. I'm pretty sure I started watching then, at age 3, but having seen every episode 3,000+ times at this point in my life, I am not exactly sure when exactly the obsession started. The show quickly became my most favorite thing in the whole world. I lived for TGIF and I would watch the episodes over and over on an endless loop for hours.

Sometimes I would dress up my little sister and we would recreate episodes, scene by scene and line for line. My favorite episodes were always those when both Mary-Kate and Ashley would be on screen at the same time so my sister and I didn't have to fight over who would get to play Michelle - we clearly took these recreations very seriously!

Netflix's revival Fuller House is here in it's entirety and I don't think it has fully sunk in yet - the Tanner family is back! (Well, most of them at least - Michelle Tanner, you will be visibly absent and seriously missed.) I have personally scheduled a binge-watching session for the next 24 hours, so if you need me, that's where I'll be. And I will be back to report on it the following Monday, so stay tuned. For now, I will confess (profess?) my love for the original show to the world:

Handwritten letters to the cast

When I was 8 years old I started handwriting letters to the cast. I vividly remember pressing pause on the VCR (for the younger generations: you actually had to press pause with your fingers because remotes didn't do that yet) so I could get the spelling of their names correct. I have no idea how my mom knew where to send these letters before Google and IMDb but she did, and I received autographed head shots in return. The first autograph that came was from Mary-Kate and Ashley and was personalized, but it arrived torn and, of course, I was devastated. So my amazing mom wrote to their people herself, explaining what happened to the autograph (it survived Hurricane Andrew, which is why it came ripped) and to my surprise, another one came!

Notice the backwards "Y" in Mary-Kate - I have always attributed that to her actually signing the autograph and not an adult impersonating her signature.

I would later receive copies of "autographed" head shots from Jodie Sweetin and Lori Loughlin. Those were not personalized but I cherished them just as much, just in case you couldn't tell by the fact that I still own all of these 24 years later:

My VHS collection, organized by episode

Please excuse whatever it is that my hair was doing in this picture, but you're looking at my extensive Full House VHS collection before my mom insisted they had to go (something about needing a VCR to ever use these things again?).

As a kid, I would physically tape every single episode of Full House and each VHS was then accurately labeled based on which episodes were on the tape - basically you could tell I was OCD from age 6. Each label explained the episodes on that tape, like 'car in the kitchen' or 'good & bad Michelle' and were accompanied by an 'old' or 'new' label as well; I assume I had some sort of precise system for identifying what was considered an old vs. a new episode.

Ever since my collection was thrown away, I have been dying for the 'Full House house' as I call it, which is the complete boxed set of DVD's that comes in a Tanner family house. But now with Netflix and you know, the internet, there is really no reason to invest in this because it will eventually end up in the same place as my VHS collection.

Olsen-related gifts

If you know me, you know of my obsession, it is absolutely a part of my personality. Case in point: My most talented friend Window Jackie created this custom Mary-Kate and Ashley painting for me for one of my birthdays. To this day, it hangs in my bedroom - I am married and my husband knows he really has no choice on the matter, it will hang there forever. Period.

Meeting John Stamos & the infamous Ashley Olsen sighting

While I have never been one to shy away from asking for pics with celebs, the night I met John Stamos was different. I ran into Stamos on the pink carpet the night I snuck into the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2008 and he was literally one of the only people in attendance that night I couldn't bring myself to ask for a photo. I was so star struck, I decided to forgo asking while he was amongst the most gorgeous women in the world, so I asked for a hug instead and he sweetly obliged. And let me just say - HAVE MERCY! - the man is gorgeous, beyond gorgeous, and he basically doesn't age. I couldn't believe my eyes, I mean I was hugging Uncle Jesse!

Not to be upstaged, but my life-long dream actually came true the day my sister graduated from law school. To make a very long, surreal story short, Ashley Olsen was in attendance to watch a close friend of hers graduate as well. The ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall and every seat was filled - and while I knew the Olsen's friend was graduating, there was no way of knowing if they were going to attend and if so, finding them in a packed house was going to be nearly impossible. Well, I believe someone, somewhere was smiling down on me that day because as their friend walked across the stage, nearly 5 feet away from me, there was Ashley Olsen, standing up and cheering along with the girl's entire family. I thought I was hallucinating — an actual Olsen twin, just casually sitting in the row in front of me. While I was never going to be able to ask for a picture (and I am pretty sure she would have said no if I did), I was happy enough knowing I finally got to see her, in person, after years of idolizing them. It was a really surreal moment for me. You guys, Ashley Olsen! Of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen! I still don't believe it happened to this day.

I truly wish in these moments I could have called my 10-year-old self and told her she would eventually be in the presence of Uncle Jesse and 1/2 of Michelle Tanner. I don't think I would've even believed myself. But it's true. It happened. Twice!

'Fuller House' Netflix revival: Proof that dreams really do come true

When you wish upon a star - am I right?! Be sure to check back with me next week, I can't wait to share all the feels with you. I am literally counting the seconds until that blue and white plaid couch is back on my screen and I can finally hear those 3 words again!

Everywhere you look...