Our Home Town

It's already Sunday. Where did the time go? I was able to get a couple of pages done since Friday. It seems like every time I sit down to create it is either the internet distracting me or I have mommy duties to fulfill. So, today I am declaring a scrapping marathon. :) More of my favorite shows are starting their newest seasons today: Once Upon a Time, Revenge, and Homeland. I have the DVR set, just in case I forget to tune in on time. I just know I will forget somehow. Now, I have a few pages I want to share before I get back to scrapping away the weekend.

Time-2-Scrap/Aida's Hair

I have had quite a weekend. Scrapping...browsing the internet....styling hair and all of that goodness. First, I will share the photos of my daughter's hair. I usually take about 2 hours on a Saturday or Sunday to wash her hair and put in mini twists. For me, 2 hours is not a lot of time because the twists are usually small and I let her keep them up for two weeks. She has eczema, so I co-wash her twists 2 or 3 times during that time period. I wash her hair with the same products I use for myself - these shampoos: Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo, Shea Moisture Organic Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Shine Shampoo. KeraCare Cleansing Cream; or these conditioners:Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner, Aubrey Organics GPB Conditioner or Cantu Shea Butter Moisturizing Rinse Out Conditioner. For a leave-in conditioner, I have am in love with the Giovanni Direct Leave-in Conditioner (the regular version or weightless moisture). I usually catch it on sale at Vitacost.com and buy 2 or 3 bottles at a time. When twisting her hair, I rub Amla & Olive Heavy Cream by Qhemet Biologics (QB) and Coconut Oil on the section of hair I am working on and I start parting small pieces with my fingers for twisting. I dab my fingertips in Aethiopika Hydrate & Twist Butter by QB to seal the twist.

All About the Words

We had a long rough night Thursday and Friday was pretty much the same thing. Aida has been waking up every night around 2 or 3 am to go potty. No matter how much juice, or milk she has or does not have before bedtime, it never fails that she wakes up at the same time. Thursday night she had a tummy ache and would not stay in bed. I hate when she has tummy issues; I hate seeing her in pain or uncomfortable.  Thankfully she was okay by the time she got settled in at daycare. I called to check on her a few hours after dropping her off and she was fine and playing as usual. When I arrived to pick her up, she just screamed "Mommy" and ran to me...almost made me lose my balance. Little moments like that keep reminding me of how much I am not ready for her to attend school next year (lol!).

Random Thoughts

Been a moment since I have posted. Decided to update my blog once again. Certain things I am just not good at making a decision about. What I like one day could be something totally different the next day. I am going to try to blog more often. I used to blog (online) all the time in college. I had a couple of blogs that were just about random things I dealt with day to day. I have always felt like an outsider when I was school, so the journal keeping started when I was about in the 4th or 5th grade. It has never stopped. I can think more clearly if I can go back and read the words. I will tell anyone that I am not a good listener. I know it is true. It was very hard for me to listen during school. I would read at home either before class or after when it was time to do my homework (lol!). Somehow I still made the honor roll. I am a visual learner 100%. I do not like watching video tutorials because I just do not listen well. Write up and let me use the search function (ctrl + f) and we will be good!

Henna + Indigo = Loving my natural hair...even more!

So this post is a little bit different. I mentioned using Henna on my hair and have yet to post about my experience. I especially want to document for myself as a reference ....and I definitely need to do it while it is fresh on my mind. I am going to start with a little background on my natural hair journey.

When I was about 5 or 6 years old, my mom started perming my hair. I can remember getting it pressed a couple of times, but mostly remember getting that burning white stuff put on my scalp. I absolutely hated it. As I got older and was going to the hair salon, I watched our stylist (and wonderful family friend) as she did my mom's hair. I wanted to learn. I always knew that I needed to nurture my hair before it could look the way I wanted it to. With chemicals, a little extra care is needed...but all hair needs "special" care. By the 11th grade, our stylist moved to another state and I started doing my own hair. I learned quickly that cheap shampoos were no good. I had to persuade my parents that letting me spend money on decent hair products I was saving them money. '$60 for a hair product bundle that'd last me 3 months or so' vs '$30-40 per hair salon trip.' Of course, the product bundle won out. I loved experimenting with or without relaxers. I started blowing my hair straight and just wearing it big with a head band. My hair has been black, brown, red and blonde. All the colors in the world did not have me satisfied with my hair.



When I was pregnant with my daughter in 2007, I had not had a perm in about 2 months. I decided, no more chemicals. I continued to flat-iron, blow dry and roller set my hair if I was tired of twisting it. I started transitioning using the Organix shampoos and conditioners and using Elasta QP Mango Butter, Olive Oil, and Cantu Shea Butter leave-in to twist my hair. I flat-ironed my hair sometimes and had micro braids and twists. It was not until November 2011 that I was finally and completely free. I let my guy cut off the final permed ends. At first I did not want to because I did not know what to do with such short hair. I had at least 3 inches of length, so I kept doing the twist outs. They just got easier and easier and I started seeing how coily my hair was...and I fell in love. I have major scalp issues (seborrhoeic dermatitis) and since I have not used perms, I do not have that problem any more. Goodbye sore, raw scalp....good bye flaky forehead...I absolutely am happy I made this choice.  Here are a few photos of my hair this year before my Henna experience:

The Days Behind Me

This has been quite a weekend. I took the entire Saturday to Henna  (+ Indigo)  my hair. I will have an entire blog post on this tomorrow hopefully.  It was a lonnngggg day...all I will say for now. Sunday we took our daughter Aida to the McWane Science Center to see Dora and Diego. Photos will come soon. I spent so much time on my hair that I was exhausted. I ended up styling it in mini twists and I love it!! Hope I can keep it up at LEAST two weeks because it took me about 11 hours to twist all this hair. Ugh!! I know right...that was half a day..lol! Right now I just wanted to share a few of my latest scrapbook pages.