Wednesday, May 21, 2014

My prayer for today

Sometimes, I wake up singing. Today was one of those days. While cooking up my scrambled eggs, I started singing a little melody and adding my own words in. Today's song was a prayer where I thanked God for the ability to see, hear, cook and sing. Simple stuff, I know. But in the next verse, I said something that surprised myself.

I sang: "I'm an independent me. But I depend on You! Whatever You need, whatever You want, that's what I will do."

That is powerful! I've never prayed that prayer before, but I felt it and I meant every single word that I sang. God is truly moving in my life and I can't wait to see where He takes me next. 

Have a beautiful, wonderful day y'all! God bless.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Today's Google Doodle: Rubik's Cube

#FactAboutMe: I've never been able to solve a Rubik's cube puzzle. That's what makes today's Google Doodle so much fun--it's an interactive Rubik's cube that you can play right on your computer screen! I know what I'll be doing at work today...

Sunday, May 4, 2014

My Natural Hair Journey (so far)

As promised, here is the blog post about my natural hair journey. This may be a bit lengthy, but please bear with me.

I was "tenderheaded"
Like other black girls born in the late-80's, I had my natural hair when I was young (birth - age 6 or so). By the time I hit elementary school, my parents added two new siblings to the family (Andrea and Andrew), and my mom was tasked with hair care for my sister and I. Andrea and I didn't make it easy for her, either. (Haha!) I never liked getting my hair done. I was one of those "tenderheaded" children who cried every time I saw the comb or brush come out.
Me and my afro puffs, age 2


I used to have the cutest hairstyles as a kid...little Afro puffs, twists, braids with beads at the end, etc. But things changed in elementary school. That's when I got my first relaxer. My shiny, straight hair flowed down past my shoulders, and I couldn't have been happier. I finally had straight hair like my mom and my friends at school.
Early on, my hair really held up with the relaxers. I didn't have any split ends or heat damage, whatsoever. Most of the credit goes to my mom, though for taking care of my hair. Also, like many other girls my age, I spent a lot of time at the hair salons on the weekend getting my hair styled. Once I started caring for my own hair during high school (ie: washing, blow drying, styling), I started to experience breakage. I wore ponytails all the time and the elastic scrunchies tore my hair to pieces. The fact that I was on a competitive swim team during the summer and winter didn't help, either.

In my senior year of high school (2007), I decided that I was tired of my broken, damaged tresses, so I made an appointment with my hairdresser for my "Big Chop" (BC). I had more than 6 inches of my hair cut off. The results were amazing! I was so relieved to be rid of my relaxer that took so much effort to maintain. My hair was fully "natural" again. I was free! But I was wrong. Actually, that's when the problems began.

My Big Chop!

All done--voila!

After the big chop, I thought I could use the same hair products that I had previously used on my relaxed hair. I continued to use high heat when blow drying my hair and (since I could no longer do a ponytail), I styled with a flat iron. My hair was growing rapidly, but it was always dry and looked dull. When I got to college--only a year after my BC--I relaxed my hair again. I never took the time to learn how my hair behaved, how it grew, and what it needed. 
Relaxed hair, summer 2008.
Shortly after relaxing, I felt like such a failure. I had given up on being natural. It was too hard for me. To make matters worse, the straight styles of yore didn't look quite as good on me. I also cut myself some bangs, which didn't quite turn out as I intended. They were WAY too short! But, just like hair does...it continued to grow. A few years later, it had grown back to shoulder length. Still, I couldn't seem to make it grow past my shoulders.

Frustrated with the lack of hair growth and constant hair breakage, I decided to embark on another natural hair journey in November of 2012, which was a year into my Master's program. This time, I cut it all off, down to about 1" of hair. This time, I was determined to go natural, and stay natural. I bought new hair care products, including deep conditioners, sulfate-free shampoos, and an Afro pick. I also did lots of research about caring for natural hair online, including websites like Curly Nikki and YouTube. There are so many more resources out there now than there were 5 years prior, when I first went natural.


I've been natural for 18 months now, and I feel great! Since my BC, I have learned how to style my hair several ways, including: two strand twists, flat twists and (my favorite) the Afro. In the first few months after my BC, my styling options were very limited. I mostly just wore my hair in a Teeny-Weeny-Afro (TWA). Around the 6-month mark, I got my hair professionally braided into extensions as a protective style. That lasted for a few months. More recently, I've been wearing twist-outs, which add lots of volume and show my hair's length. And, even though my hair may not be shoulder length, I know that it is much healthier and stronger than it was when I had relaxers. This journey has been tough so far, but very rewarding. I am so proud to be a member of the natural hair community and I look forward to the years ahead of happy, healthy hair growth.


Are you considering "going natural"? Or, if you're already natural, what has your journey been like so far?