Another discovery in my natural hair journey

Soooooooo I was in Macy's the other day looking at Carol's Daughter hair products when I started reading some handouts from her.  One of them talked about the "scab hair period". This hair period is the first 6-8 months of your hair grown.  According to Carol that is not your true curl pattern because your hair is growing out of damaged hair follicles. Once the follicles heal, your true curl pattern will start to come through.  I don't know how true this is, but it gives me something else to look forward to!

Reflecting on 2012

I woke up this morning to a phone call from the University of Virginia to officially offer me the position of tutor coordinator. After talking to the women in HR I started to reflect on everything that has happened this year.  The year started with me dating someone I was not very interested in and ended with me being in love with a wonderful man. Of course each year starts with me in financial ruins (that is a bit extreme I know) but this year is ending with financial blessings.  I started the year with relaxed hair and I am ending it natural and getting to the point where I love my hair.  This year I lost a close friend but reconciled with an old one.  I am transitioning into a position that will allow me to try new things and change a tutor program for the better.  As I type this I realize that this year I got something in my life that I have always lacked in the past: balance.  More than any other blessing from above I am thankful for that. I am praying that this will continue to be constant in my life.  finally I am looking forward to seeing what 2013, and age 29, will bring.

It's been a minute!

Wow time sure does fly.  I didn't realize it had been this long since I hit up the blog.  In the past few weeks I have been dealing with a few things: my hair and my spiritual walk.  I feel like I am at a crossroads in my spiritual walk.  I am not sure where to go next so keep me in your prayers as I listen and walk with God.

As my hair gets longer, it is becoming more and more difficult for me to manage. Since my post about my first official bad hair day, I have had about 10 bad hair days.  This may sound a bit conceited, but I am used to looking a certain way with minimal effort.  Natural hair definitely makes you redefine what beauty is!  Yesterday was really bad, so after viewing numerous YouTube clips, I decided to try finger shingling.  Oh I am in absolute LOVE with my hair!  It looks so shiny and neat.  I have absolutely NO frizz, which is something I was beginning to think was impossible.  I think I found my twa style, YAY!

Through all of the difficulties of the past few weeks, I am so glad that my relationship is still going strong.  Normally it would be the first thing to go, but I think I have found the man that fits me.  Never thought I would say that.  Boy does it feel nice...

The ugly phase

So I think I have reached my "ugly" phase; the phase in your natural hair process when no matter what you do, every day is a bad hair day.  Today was bad hair day five.  My hair routine was working perfectly until this week: Co-wash, oil, gel and go.    You Tube has been my best friend these past few days viewing natural hair clips one after the other.  Nothing has worked.  The up side to all of this is that my hair is growing so quickly.  The down side is nothing that I do is preventing this frizziness.  Maybe it will quickly grow through this phase.  My fingers are crossed...

1st official bad hair day

Well it finally happened.  After 3 wonderful months of growing my hair, today was a bad hair day.  I know that every product won't work in my hair, but so far I have had great luck with every product I've tried.  I purchased a leave-in conditioner a few weeks ago and decided to try it this morning after watching natural hair blogs last night.  Oh man, all day my hair looked like those tennis balls that you throw at the pad with the Velcro on it.  My day was so busy though, that I didn't notice it until around 6:30.  All I could think was "really, I looked like this ALL day."  Bye bye leave-in conditioner!

A pain in my...

No not there, in my neck!  Yesterday I had the worst back pain of my LIFE!  It bought me to tears.  Even pain meds didn't help.  I was at my wit's end when my homegirl offered to give me some muscle relaxers until I have my chiropractic appointment on Friday.  I was hesitant, but the pain made me give in.
Yo, whoever invented these things I'm sure have been thanked a million times over.  It felt so great to be able to sit on the couch and watch TV instead of laying in the floor.

One pound down!

I know that may not sound like a lot but after 4 months of losing no pounds, losing one in 6 days has really put a smile on my face!  AND I cycled 22 miles today in spinning class!  That is all.

Gluten-free: Day three

Before I even touch the title, let me tell you how it happened.  After MONTHS of lacking energy, being moody and gaining weight despite working out (and not just ANY working out, taking spinning classes).  I was fed up to HERE (you know what that looks like) with my current state.  So after browsing the web and self-diagnosing, I was convinced that it was my thyroid.  I made an appointment with a primary care doctor that specialized in thyroid and diabetes.

I pull out my notepad and give her the rundown of my symptoms.  I mean I put everything that I have felt for the past few months.  She was so patient as I went through my list.  After I finished she checked my thyroid.  She then suggested that maybe I have a gluten allergy.  My first thought was, GYRL BYE!

How can I have a gluten allergy?  Does she not know that I love bread, crackers, cereal, beer, pasta and everything else that has gluten?  Is she trying to ruin my life?  I'm assuming she could read my mind because she began to tell me how many people have gluten allergies and that they can live a normal lifestyle and enjoy the same foods as before.  Then she told me to try it for 2 weeks.

So after three days I realize that I feel amazing! I have had energy these past few days that I have not had in about 2 years.  My mood is even different, I was so happy when I woke up this morning that I did a little dance for my cat.  Hopefully this feeling will last.  I'll keep you updated...

Don't sweat the small stuff!

I know that I let the small stuff bother me sometime, even when I should ignore it, it still manages to control my thoughts and sometimes my actions. Don't judge me, they say admittance is the first step to solving a problem right?

Well I have to admit that lately it seems that everyone and everything has been getting under my skin.  I mean, stuff that I did not EVER think would be a factor has been used against me.  How did this even happen?  My conclusion was that the enemy was trying to keep me down.  That was until I attended church this morning.  Pastor Parries said it best: God uses the enemy to PROMOTE you; don't let the enemy DEMOTE you. 

What an epiphany!  Whoever the enemy may be in your life (job, boss, spouse, cashier at Walmart that charged you twice for the same item) they are not the enemy; instead they are the way to promotion.  The Lord will always create ways for you to show your faithfulness and trust in Him.  These ways are oftentimes presented to you as an obstacle.  It ultimately is up to you to use the experience to build your character and faith instead of letting the enemy set you back. 

So with that said, I am actively changing my thought process. Others will not control the way I do me! 

My cat POOPED in my floor!

The woes of having a pet.  My cat decided to take a nice hot dump in the middle of my living room this morning with two empty litter boxes at his disposal.  When he does stuff like that it makes me wonder if he is being as a*#hole.  But according to every cat blog I've ever read, cat are not spiteful.  That is a bunch of bologna if I ever did read it.  The first two times he dropped a stinky load in my living room it was because I went out of town.  Since then he has done it about 6 more times.  My patience is starting to run thin; not to mention the shower curtain he has destroyed and the curtains that are on their last leg.  I'm not even going to talk about my mattress and couch.  Anybody want a cat?

Milestones

In the last few weeks of not blogging, I hit the 8-week anniversary of my big chop and the seven week mark on my new relationship.  Both of these events have been great for me.  My hair is growing and giving me both challenges and rewards.  My relationship is growing and getting stronger everyday.

One thing that I am most thankful about in my relationship is that through each issue that we encounter, we use it to strengthen our relationship, not hinder it.  Dating someone that listens with genuine interest, means what he says and does anything to put a smile on your face is so awesome.  I know it sounds cheesy but it has definitely gotten me through some bad days.  Knowing that your well-being is important to someone other than yourself is a feeling I cannot describe;  knowing that someone else's well-being is a priority is your life is a very humbling experience.  As the days go by, I am excited about our relationship and where it will go.   

The adult 20

Forget the freshmen 15, I have adapted a new concept called the adult 20.  It is the 20 lbs that you gain when you get absorbed in your job and every other aspect of your life and food becames as awesome as thatn45-minute cycling class used to be.  When happy hour replaces your Friday evening workout and lifting chips and salsa becomes your bicep curls.  Yes I must say I am a victim of the adult 20. 

I never thought this would happen to me.  I mean, I was THAT girl in college that lost 40 lbs in a year and worked out for fun.  I knew that working out made me feel good; I forgot that eating does also.  So now I am in the process of going to back to my undergraduate thinking.  Boy is it hard but joining the Y and taking a cycling class three times a week is a start right? 

3 weeks into my journey

It will be three weeks on Saturday since I started my natural journey.  It is amazing how much you pay attention to your hair when you go through such a huge transition.  I have noticed every grey hair, every highlight, and every curl pattern since cutting it off.  Watching it grow these past few weeks has been very educational.  I have become a student of natural hair, desiring to learn everything about clarifying, moisturizing, cleaning and maintaining.  My education has mainly been through blogs.  One of my favorites is Black girl with Long Hair.  I also like Natural resources salon on Facebook.  The creator of this site, also a natural hair stylist, has done so much with natural hair, she is truly amazing.  Follow her! 

My enthusiasm for natural hair is growing everyday.  I have gotten so many compliments on my short cut, even from people that I felt would have something bad to say.  I love the positive feedback, but regardless to what others think I feel strong and beautiful sans relaxed hair.  When I used to listen to my aunt talk about why going natural was both an emotional and spiritual journey, I used to think she was being too deep about it.  Now I fully understand.  For me it has become a journey of myself-a journey that is making me more awareness of my needs, desires and goals. 

Look at my 3-week-old  TWA

Oh Pinterest, how I love thee!

I am a fan of the thrifty and the creative. For this reason I am obsessed with Pinterest.

Pintrest is creativity on steroids.  Pinterest is the only website that can teach you how to make detergent to clean old stains, teach you about art and photography, put a cute outfit together, and make you laugh while you prepare the smoothie with outmeal to replenish you after doing of the workouts you pinned. On pinterest, people who have sat in their houses and came up with great ideas or tried different things can display it to the world. 

This post is random I know; I just had to say that.  Let me finish making this ranch dressing from skim milk and Greek yogurt. 

Optimism is kinda awesome

I've been in a really good mood these past few days.  I am finally beginning to feel like I fit in Orlando.  I have a church home, great colleagues and I even have friends now!  9 long months without friends has made me truly appreciate the value of having girlfriends that I can talk to and have a good time with.  To top it all off, I have one more day of work this week!  I have a laundry list of things that I need to do, but I bet I end up sitting in the house watching TV. I will probably be on Pinterest for hours on end until I can find something to cook, craft or drink.  Hell I might even go to the beach.  Why not? I'm on vacation!  Finally, I have plans for this weekend that I am looking forward to....

Slow and steady wins the race...

I lost two more pounds!

Okay, a little background story.  Since I have been living in Orlando, I have managed to gain 25 lbs!  I honestly don't know what happened...maybe it was the late night eating and up-downs for the couch to the refrigerator.  Whatever caused this, I decided to not take this laying down (after eating Haagen-Das Swiss Vanilla Almond ice cream).  SO I started getting up at 5:45 in the morning and doing at least 45 minutes in the gym 5 days a week.  In three weeks, I have lost 3 lbs.    After two weeks of no weight loss I started to get discouraged.  In my early 20s I could stop drinking soda and lose 6 lbs in one week. Despite my slow weight loss I continued to get up and hit the treadmill then do weight training.  My hard work is starting to show: 3 lbs in one week.  I'm going to try Insanity on Saturday.  I hear it is pretty intense but I think I have built up enough stamina in the past few weeks to give it a try.  I'll let you know how it goes.

The Maturity of Mainstream Media

While looking through a brochure for NuvaRing today I noticed that most of the models in the booklet were natural.  After seeing this I began to look through other magazines, Web sites and television media.  So many media avenues are beginning to embrace a woman's choice to style her tresses sans chemicals.  This is a huge step for natural women of all colors and ethnicities! For decades Mainstream media has pushed a certain "look" onto women.  That look included thin, fair-skinned women with straight long hair.  To see African American, white and multi-racial women with naturally curly hair of all lengths and styles throughout the mainstream media is truly awesome.  Society is finally attempting to break the mold that was expected of women for so long; instead society is beginning to embrace the individuality of women.

When life gives you lemons

...make a skinny margarita; it's less calories! 

Sounds silly, but this is a great coping mechanism when your first reaction is to have a pity party.  It is so easy for me to get wrapped up in the fact that I am lacking a love life.  I would love to go on a date, or have a crush on a guy, or smize across the room to a handsome gentleman.  I often find myself singing the "why me" song, but today in class one of my students said something so profound.  When asked why she was a morning person her reply was, "It's a new day".  It truly is! That comment gave me SO much perspective.  Waking up in the morning is truly a blessing. Waking up with sound mind and body is even more of a blessing.  Instead of harping on the shoulda, coulda, wouldas, why not focus on the blessings?  They will bring so much more meaning to your life.

Now time to practice what I preach...

"Finger" coils

While I was at work today (don't judge me) I stumbled across a really good YouTube clip about finger coils.  Instead of spending ALL day finger coiling your hair, you can use a hairbrush to get the job done.  I can not WAIT until my hair is long enough to do this!

Quick "finger" coils- define your TWA

Professor Erica

So my first day went great!  Of course they were super quiet at first, but they were really good sports when it came to introducing themselves and participating in the icebreaker activity.  I was so surprised that I was not nervous; I so expected to be.  I thought it was going to be like the first time I had to teach a class in grad school. I was so overwhelmed preparing for class I thought I was going to cry.  I did get choked up one time.  You know how you are so nervous that while you are talking you get the cracklings in your throat and it makes you unable to speak?  None of that happened today. 

They were assigned homework on the first day though.  Hopefully they all did it or else I may have to turn into Miss Viola Swamp...

Lessons learned

As a person who has moved around quite a bit in my adult life, I often try to figure out why God sends me to each place.  In Tampa Bay I became a woman.  In Blacksburg (the second time) I became a professional.  In Orlando, I am learning how to be in a relationship.  Now this may sound silly, since I am currently single, and haven't been on a date in about 4 months, but I am learning all these things from the friendships I have formed with happily married woman.

God has surrounded me with women that show what it takes to love your husband and value your union.  Women that put God first in their marriage, and work hard to uphold Him daily in their relationships.  Anyone can get married; it takes true committment and a conscious decision to be a good wife. Through these women I am learning that love is persistent, loyal and unconditional.  I am thankful for these women; I intend to learn as much as I can to prepare myself for when God sends me my husband.

You betta do it!

Bald hair don't care...that is my new motto as I begin my natural hair journey.  Yep you heard me, I did the BC or big chop today!  My hair is all gone.  Despite that I have cut my hair off in the past, this experience was a bit different.  The first time I cut it was just because.  It was a terrible experience.  At that point in my life I didn't have the confidence to wear it.  The second time it was because of a haircut gone bad.  The cut looked phenomenal though--the cause for the haircut created an effect of satisfaction after coming back from such a hair trauma. 

This time the first thing I felt was fear.  What if this is a total flop?  The thought that this may be a failure made me scared to even try it.  The next emotion was excitement.  I have been talking about doing this for a few weeks now and to finally begin my transition was almost overwhelming.  When she turned me to the mirror all I could feel was relief.  I feared that this chop would be like the first one, but when I saw it I knew I could carry it.

Another bad hair cut

Morning all! Despite only 6 hours of sleep, I was surprisingly energetic today.  I decided to try and make a peanut butter smoothie.  I have heard great things about them and since I make smoothies every morning for me and one of my coworkers, I wanted to experiment before I took it to her.  Oh what a disaster that was!  It tastes absolutely horrible to me!  I am going to stick to my fruit blended smoothies.  So breakfast ended up being a spinach and Swiss cheese omelet.  That was a complete success.  I know that part of the story probably wasn't necessary but I wanted to share it anyway before I got to the good part. 

So I went into the bathroom and caught a glimpse of my hair.  Lately I am not a huge fan of it.  It is so limp and lifeless.  Anyway I took a look at my shortest side and noticed that it looks a HOT mess!  I went to a new stylist last week and she really did a number on me.  Since I have been in Orlando, this is the second bad haircut I have received.  The first one was the result of the stylist using hair clippers to take down my sides instead of scissors.  You can just imagine how blended that was.  I am so over my hair being mistreated, hence another reason why I am transitioning to my natural hair. 

Anyone who knows me probably thinks I am overreacting about the haircut.  Just to prove it to you, I am posting the pic I took this morning.  I can't do the hit and miss cuts anymore.  I just can't...

Really lady?  HOW could she think this was a good cut?

My natural hair transition has officially begun!

So lately all I have been talking about is my decision to go natural.  I was talking to my girl LeTanya and it hit me: my transition officially began today--I consciously sat down and decided that I am going to do this. I have started strategizing my approach to start growing my hair out for th BC or big chop.  With two different lengths of hair, and soon two different textures, this can get very messy.  The next step is to try and find a way to make this transition as smooth as possible.  As I progress, I may post pictures. We shall see...

Teaching the youth of today

What a title huh?  I wanted to sound educated and sophisticated.  No seriously, I will be teaching my first college course starting June 25 for a group of incoming freshmen student athletes.  Excited?  YES.  Nervous?  YES.  Prepared?  Well, depends on what you mean by prepared--My syllabus is done.  All jokes aside, I am so excited about the opportunity to teach.  I have done it with children under the age of 5.  That was quite an experience.  I am looking forward to watching my students grow and learn about the university.  I am also looking forward to being one of the first professors they interact with.  They will get a taste of what college is like from their experience in my and Margaret's course.  They will also be pushed to do well and to strive for excellence, as these things are very important to me.  Monday should be interesting.  I will blog about my first day so check in if you are interested in finding out how it went.

Battle of the Bulge

It's back!  The weight that I worked SO hard to get off has returned!  Countless spinning, step, boot camp, and body combat classes were all in vain...I just let the weight creep back up on me.  After months--14 to be exact, but months sound like less time than a year--I have gotten back on it.  I am up at 6 am every morning to do cardio and weights before work.  I have revamped my eating habits, cutting my caloric count to under 1400 calories a day.  I am not bragging: instead I say all of this to say I HAVE ONLY LOST 1.5 LBS IN 3 WEEKS!  Oh weight, why must you hold on?  My relationship with late night fast food runs and daily lunch outings with my coworkers has ended.  I have cut out the sweetness in my cocktails and turned my back on beer. So why must you linger?  Despite my small strides though, I will continue to persevere.  I will fit into my skinny jeans again!

Back to My Roots

After much debating and going back and forth, I have decided to join the drones of women who have let go of the creamy crack: I am going natural.  Now I must keep it real--I am not doing this because of some epiphany or for a spiritual reason.  Honestly I am tired of the same hairstyle and the same look.  Natural hair allows women to experiment and be creative.  It has its own element of spontaneity.  I am fascinated with all the beautiful things that ethnic women are doing with their natural locks: twist outs, coils, dreads, Afros; the styles are endless. 

With my excitement does come a bit of doubt:  How will my hair look in its natural state?  I have had relaxed hair since the age of six, because my hair was so "rough and unmanageable".  New growth absolutely annoys me, forcing me to relx my hair often to keep it straight.  I have taught myself to both love and nurture my relaxed hair.  Will I feel that way about my hair in its natural state?

Despite my doubt, I'm going for it.  I will be doing the big chop soon.  Stay tuned for photos and my journey though this new transition in my life...

I'm losing my thunder

Gyrl bye!  I just knew that moving to Orlando was going to spark a new fire into my social life.  Before you say what you are thinking, Orlando is not only Disney World.  There are so many things to do here that I was compelled to mention in my job interview that it would bring balance to my professional and personal life.  Fast forward 10 months--I have never been so socially inept in my entire adult life.  It took me 9 months to find a friend.  The search continues for Mr. Right...hell I can't even find Mr. Right Now!  Aside from the fact that I have yet to find a place to hang out where the men are either single or old enough to rent a car without a deposit, I rarely leave my living room.  If a downtown hot spot had a couch and a no shoes policy I would definitely be in there.  Nightlife beauty is becoming hard work! Heels have started to hurt my feet and standing around drinking and trying to be sexy has become irrelevant.  The effort required to be noticed has become a dubious undertaking. The adoption of this new philosophy in my life has opened the door to originality.  Unfortunately it closed the door on my former awesomeness.  The comfort of home is great but oh how I want that old thing back...