MLK Day

Today we observe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday (January 15)! 

Dr. King showed us the power of one in changing the way people think.
He was a great man who lead the Civil Rights Movement and moved a nation.

From his great speech "I Have A Dream" to the many marches for equal rights, this man deserves his spot in history!

Happy Belated Birthday Dr. King and Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. day!

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A New Fitness YouTube Channel!

By now, I'm sure you all know I started blogging as a way to document my natural hair journey (see my very first blog post). My blog has developed a lot over this past year and has blossomed into what it is today. There are many things I share with you all along the way because this is my space to share whatever it is I want to and I'm enjoying myself so far!

Like me, my boyfriend is on a journey of his own. For the past year and some change he's been working very hard on living a healthier lifestyle. His story and journey are amazing and he's decided to share it with the world. Unlike me...lol...he's more of an extrovert so he's taking a different approach! He's started a YouTube Channel:

C.Bake.Presents FlightSchoolFitness
^^^This is the homepage link^^^

Here's a quick video for you to check out right now:

If you want to know what Flight School is...watch THIS!

Don't just stop at watching just these two videos...please check out his YouTube Channel homepage (link above)! He's not a trainer or anything along those lines, but he will be talking about the methods he's used for weight lifting, healthier eating, etc. He'll also talk about other interests/hobbies of his like music, cutting hair, doing parodies, etc.. I love him!! He's intelligent, witty, and entertaining and I'm sure you'll enjoy his channel!! I would greatly appreciate it if you ALL would check it out and....

SUBSCRIBE to the channel

LIKE some of the videos

& COMMENT!!

When I get up enough nerve to start my YouTube channel he's going to produce it! LOL...so support him!

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Happy 106

Today is the day the best sorority in the world was founded!!

Happy Founders Day

106 Years of sisterhood never looked so good!!!

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Damaged Hair Options

What to do when you have damaged hair

You guys know about my recent hair dilemma (if not, read this). As time passes, I get more depressed about the state of my hair. My 2 week wash date has come and gone but I haven't touched my hair since my salon visit. I'm just not feeling the whole doing-my-own-hair thing at the moment, so I'm kind of on strike. I know that might not exactly be the healthiest move to make but I've at least been brainstorming different approaches I can take moving forward.

Sew-in

First, I'm seriously considering getting a sew-in. I've had a sew-in twice before. One of the last times my hair started breaking off (before going natural), my stylist at the time suggested I try it. The first time, I got a half sew-in. She braided parts of my hair while leaving other parts of my hair out to blend with the weave. This was a tough feat at the time because my hair was red, so finding hair to match wasn't easy. I must admit that my stylist did a very wonderful job though. I loved that sew-in and it was so natural. The second time I got a full sew-in. I didn't really like the full sew-in because it didn't look as natural as the half sew-in...and why would it?

Why a sew-in?

I'm considering getting a full sew-in for two reasons:

1. My hair would be braided, covered, and protected allowing it the opportunity to grow. My hair would have the opportunity to grow enough so that hopefully I can get all my split ends completely cut off and not even miss the hair that needs to be cut. You guys know me by now so you know I'll miss any hair that's cut off but I'm hoping this will soften the blow a bit. 
2. I don't want to get a half sew-in because any hair that's left out will have to be constantly flat ironed. Having to constantly flat iron my hair could potentially damage the curl pattern of that hair. When you get sew-ins you have them for at least two to three months. You still have to wash the hair (and your hair) so that would be a lot of heat that would need to be applied. I already have one issue with split ends. I don't need another one.

I'm very nervous about getting a sew-in for several reasons. I got my the last full sew-in done by somebody whose work I knew and I didn't like it. I'd seen her do full sew-ins before that didn't look bad but I wasn't happy with the job she did for me. Now that I'm in DC and I haven't been able to find a decent natural hair salon or get decent referrals from people, I'm going to have to put my hair into somebody's hands blindly. Sew-ins are too expensive to trust someone I don't know...especially if I won't like the results. So I'm still in the contemplation stage about this. I've asked around about stylists and I have a couple of options. We'll just have to see what move I make.

Scalp Massages

Secondly, about six months ago, I wrote about Scalp Massages. I was supposed to be making a 30 day challenge out of it. Now that my hair is "damaged", I have a little more incentive behind doing everything I can to help it grow and be healthier. I want to re-encourage myself to do this and not necessarily as a challenge but as an ongoing process. Since the new year came in and my hair is straight, I've been brushing my hair for about 25 strokes a night (which is something my cosmetologist suggested a while back). I've been doing this with no trouble at all and it made me think; if I can do that, I can definitely get on this scalp massage train. I plan to start the massages as soon as I wash my hair, so until then I'm sticking with brushing.

NOVEMBER 2015 UPDATE:

A couple of decisions were made after writing this post. I finally decided upon a DC salon and the initial goal was to slowly trim my hair until all the split ends were gone. If you haven't figured this out on your own, a slow trim defeats the purpose! When that began to be unbearable, I made some more decisions about what to do with my damaged hair. I trimmed all the split ends off and got a full sew-in!

I never got into the scalp massages and I decided that brushing my hair so much wasn't too good for it as it was already shedding like crazy. I did protective styling for the winter of 2014 with two sew-ins. I made some mistakes but learned a lot about how to take care of my hair during protective styling like this.

It's been a very long journey from this post to now. I'm in a different and better place with my hair. I'm still trying out salons and I'm currently protective styling for 2015. Check out all I've learned about my natural hair! I'm sure there are some gems in there for you too!

What other natural or home remedies have you used to stimulate growth?? I'm all ears!

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Sunday Social

I will go on and preface this by saying January is my new blog month. I've mentioned in several posts how this is my year to expand my blog. I've also highlighted some of my favorite posts from last year to show off what I've done (despite computer issues). This week's Sunday Social just so happens to go along with my monthly theme, so I saw it as a sign that I had to participate!


1. What is the name of your blog? How long have you been blogging?
The name of my blog is Just Mi! I've been blogging for one year! Read My 1st Blogiversary to see what I had to say about it!

2. Why do you blog?
In one word, HAIR! That's the main reason I started blogging. I talked about my blog spot in a couple of places: Sunday Social, About Mi, Liebster Award #3, etc. etc. Of course my blog has grown into a place where I feel comfortable doing other things besides talking about hair...like sharing recipes, talking about me and the things I go through or have gone through, participating in blog hops, and so on. I've actually started a series where I'll be sharing some of my favorite posts from my first year periodically called the Flashback series. I just posted my first one this past Friday. Check it out here: Flashback Friday!

3. What is the first blog you ever followed?

My best friend, IRL, Nicole's blog @ Pharr Away. She's a major reason why I became interested in blogging. Check her out!

4. What is your favorite post you wrote in 2013?

My favorite post was I'm An Introvert - 2. I felt really misunderstood as an "introvert", so I really wanted to devote some space on my blog to talking about it. This post is my most viewed (and the series was definitely the most commented on) post. It made me feel good to know there were so many people who could relate to the things I had to say about being an Introvert. Check out the other posts in that series too: Let's Just Admit It...I'm An Introvert, I'm An Introvert - 3, I'm An Introvert - 4, I'm An Introvert - 5, Introvert Finale.

5. What are your blogging goals for 2014.

As I said in my intro paragraph, 2014 is all about blog expansion for me! The first year was like a trial. I had to jump out there, get my feet wet, get over some of the hesitations I had, and learn as much as I could.  Now I'm ready to dive in head first! My focus is on growing my blog and creating better connections with other bloggers.

6. Top 3 favorite blogs to follow?

I talked about three of my favorite blogs in this post, so I'll highlight three other blogs that I've come to enjoy a little more over the year.

1. Lovely You

2. knocking on thirty | A Montage of Unrealized Ambition

3. Blogging While Single and Over 30: Past, Present, and Future! New Seasons!

So that's it for this social. Definitely go and check the ladies out that I've mentioned in this post as well as check out some of my older posts that's I've linked in today and....

Please, please, PLEASE! follow me on my new Twitter account (@justmiblog)!!!! 

To go hand in hand with my blog expansion I had to get with it!!

Be Blessed!

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