December '13 Length Check

23 Months Natural

I need to divulge a lot of information about what my hair has gone through over the past month, but I won't bog this post down with it. I'll discuss my latest salon visit in another post, so stay tuned. Here's the check for December (pre salon visit):

 December 6 = 96 weeks natural (~1 year, 11 months)

55 weeks since the BC (~1 year)

December 25 = 99 weeks natural (~1 year, 11.75 months...lol)

58 weeks since the BC (~1 year, 1.5 months)



My hair hasn't grown, but the pictures are only about 3 weeks apart, so that's to be expected! LOL!! Next year, I'll do length checks every two months, as well as on my naturalversary and on my big-chopiversary.

I call being natural my journey, because it's just that...a journey! I am continuously learning things along the way. Now that I'm away from my cosmetologist and her healthy hands and I have to do this thing on my own, I'm making mistakes...and that's okay. I would much rather be the one making mistakes on my own hair than have someone else making the mistakes. My hair is ever changing and regardless of the mistakes I make, it's ever growing!!

At the end of this year, with this last length check, I'll say that I love being natural and I hope to continue to learn the skills I need to take care of my hair so it can continue to be as healthy as it can be!!

P.S. - It's New Year's Eve and this day is the last 24 hours of the year. I'm sure most of you will be out celebrating tonight so please be safe and have fun! Let the countdown to 2014 begin!



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Introvert Finale

I had to get into these last two points on the Introvert list before the end of the year. I have a plan for my blog next year, so I want to start afresh come 2014. With that being said, let's get to it!

Myth #9) Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.

Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways. Just look it up.

This is an interesting point. I don't know many people who don't know how to relax and have fun. I'm always up for both of those! I don't agree with the not being a thrill seeker or adrenaline junkie because I love things like rollercoasters (for instance) and could ride a coaster 2 and 3 times just to get that adrenaline rush. I love having fun, being in fun environments, and being around people I can have fun with!!! Fun isn't always easy to come by, though. There are times when you have to think really hard to find something to do, let alone find something fun to do. Fun times can be tough to come by so it would make things 10 times better to have a someone I could turn to who always knew something fun to do at any given moment. I get agitated and restless when I want to do something and can't find anything or think of anything to do. Those days are no good!

There are also times when I'm likely to shut down if there's too much talking going on at one time, or if there's a lot of noise going on around me. This can be very overwhelming for me and I'll just need a second or two away from all the ruckus to get my footing. I get irritated and a headache starts brewing...I guess it has to do with all that Dopamine floating around...lol.



Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts. A world without Introverts would be a world with few scientists, musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers, doctors, mathematicians, writers, and philosophers. That being said, there are still plenty of techniques an Extrovert can learn in order to interact with Introverts. (Yes, I reversed these two terms on purpose to show you how biased our society is.) Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race. In fact, one study (Silverman, 1986) showed that the percentage of Introverts increases with IQ.

There's really not much I need to elaborate on this one. This paragraph speaks to much of what this series was about. There's no need for anyone to fix themselves whether they be an Introvert or Extrovert. It's all about understanding one another better. Everyone is different. There are even differences within both categories of people. We all share the same Earth. Everyone doesn't have to "be friends" and you don't have to care about any of these things I've pointed out in this series...but if there are people in your lives that are a different from you, it's a lot better interacting with one another when there's a level of understanding. This is why I chose to do this series. I hope it's helped someone out there!!

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I'm An Introvert - 5

It's the holidays and Introverts everywhere are in crisis!!!! Just kidding, lol. I actually look forward to holidays, especially the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's trio. Now that I'm an adult, there are office holiday parties and celebrations with friends to look forward to around this season as well as the usual family gatherings. I enjoy celebrating and I love having fun with friends and family. Introverts are thought to be the exact opposite, but this goes to show that not everyone fits into a certain mold!! Here are today's two points:

Myth #7) Introverts are weird.

Introverts are often individualists. They don't follow the crowd. They'd prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don't make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.

I would say I'm definitely a little weird, but aren't we all?! I have little quirks about me that are specific to me and I, along with a few of my friends and family members, think those things make me a little weird...lol!

I consider myself an individualist. There have been times when I've gone against the grain just because so many people were going with the grain. I don't always like doing what everybody else is doing because I don't like being lumped into the "everybody" statements. I've always said that I'm not like anyone else, I'm unique. I have my own thoughts about things and I'm proud to be able to say that. I'm sure there are a lot of people who can say these very same things and I don't think that's weird but if you do...okay. :-)

Myth #8) Introverts are aloof nerds.

Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It's not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it's just that their inner world is much more stimulation and rewarding to them.

WOW!!! This is the story of my life!! I am definitely emotion-driven most of the time. I won't go all the way to say that I'm irrationally driven by my emotions, but a lot of the actions I take are driven by my emotions.

I'm a smart woman. I've been through a lot of things up to this point in my life and I've learned a lot from each situation. One of my goals in life is to be happy, so I strive to do things that'll contribute to my happiness. I don't see anything wrong with that! When things happen in life, there's usually an emotion attached to those events. I strongly feel my emotions, good ones and not so good ones, so I try to eradicate issues or problems in my life that cause not so good emotions. When there are issues I can't change for better or "make go away" and I have to deal with the not so good emotions on a consistent basis, I usually have a harder time dealing with those emotions.

I'm all for working towards solutions if I'm having issues with another person...that's not usually the problem. The "real life situations" are the toughest and wear me down the most and the quickest. When I'm not doing well emotionally, I put on a pretty good front for people. The only people I'll open up to are my close friends and family...and even then I don't like talking to a lot of them about my life issues because I know everybody has their own things going on too. I don't like "bothering" people and when I do decide to share, it's a big deal for me because I'm opening up which makes me vulnerable in a way. I don't share my feelings often and it's easy to hurt them so I'll usually internalize everything and hold everything in until I have a emotional breakdown!! That's not good, I know, but it's how I've learned to deal with things. I really abhor having hurt feelings.

Overall, I think I'm a great and wonderful person (:-D) but if there was one thing I could change about myself this would be it. Being super sensitive and super emotional sucks!! For now, I'm trying my best to work towards being less sensitive and emotional...but I'm at a loss for how you go about changing internal feelings. It's great, however, to have people around me who know these things about me. In the end, that just makes me love them even more!!!

Two more points and I will have finished this series!!!
Stay tuned!

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20 Questions

About Me

This has been an interesting weather season. We've had some very warm days along with some very cold days. This Sunday it snowed for the first time this season! Unfortunately it was only enough to get us a two hour delay Monday morning, but who's complaining?! Today, it started snowing at 7:00 AM. Something told me to check my work email and I'm glad I did because work for the day had been canceled!! It stopped snowing around noon so we won't get another day off. The sun came out this afternoon drying up most of the moisture from the snow.

I found these questions somewhere a while ago and I thought today would be a good day to post these since I haven't had access to a computer for a few days. I know I've probably answered some of these questions in previous posts, but it's a snow day...give me a break! :-D

November '13 Length Check

One Year Post Big Chop

Wow! The November length check has rolled around so quickly! Seems like just yesterday I was doing the October check. Let's jump in!

October 2 = 87 weeks natural (~1 year 9 months),

46 weeks since the BC (~11.5 months)

December 6 = 96 weeks natural (~1 year, 11 months)

55 weeks since the BC (~1 YEAR!!)

The Curl Is Back!

Washing My Natural Hair After it's Been Straightened

Between the October Length Check and Straightening My Own Hair posts I've had so much going on with my hair! I've gone from not knowing what to do to my hair without my cosmetologist, to deciding on wanting to wear it straight throughout the winter, all the while dealing with a very itchy scalp and a whole lot of shedding!

I wore my straightened hair for about three weeks before I decided to bring the curl back! After looking at all the hair that was shedding, I noticed I had a lot of split ends. I've never had issues with split ends, but after my little debacle with trying to blow dry, stretch, and straighten my hair, I'm not surprised.

I was past due for a wash, so I decided to take the time to super deep condition and moisturize my hair. Here are the steps and products I used:

PRODUCTS

Aquage Strengthening Shampoo

Beautiful Textures Rapid Repair Deep Conditioner

It's A 10 Miracle Leave-In Conditioner Plus Keratin

Influance Natural Oil

Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie

Design Essentials Natural Defining Crème Gel