¡Hola! Last week (4/12/12) marked my 11 month natural hair anniversary, since my big chop. I have been so busy that I did not write a post for my 10 month anniversary. I was promoted to a new position at work back in November 2011 and have been busy with training and getting in synch with the new position. I am not going to say I “love” my job, but the pay is pretty good.

I am currently taking classes in photography from the New York Institute of Photography (NYIP) and these have been keeping me pretty busy. I have a little experience in photography from what I have picked up from blogs and websites over the years, but I wanted some formal training in case I decide to do this full-time. I have a degree in Information Technology, so it will all go hand-in-hand.

My hair has been doing very well on this journey despite breaking off AGAIN in the crown area after I had gotten it to grow back! I think this was due to putting a permanent color in my hair back in June 2011 and I have come to realize that my hair HATES chemicals of any sort! I am not mad in the least bit and needless to say, I will not be putting anymore permanent color in my hair. I will do the semi-permanent coloring to cover my gray hairs, but that is about as far as I will be going with chemicals from this point on. I have been letting the color that I put in grow out and hopefully most of it will be out by the end of the summer, maybe sooner. With regular trims every three month, I have managed to cut most of it out.

I have not straightened my hair since being natural. I have thought about doing it, but after reading blogs and watching YouTube videos of naturalistas who have straightened their hair and experienced heat damage, I will just pass on joining the straight hair team. I have come too far in my journey to damage it like that and since my hair was damaged with the permanent color, I will not be adding insult to injury. My hair has grown back to the length it was in its relaxed state and I am sure if I were to straighten it through flat ironing it would be past its relaxed state length. So, I will just enjoy my tightly coiled, kinky curly 4A-C hair. Plus, the thought of blow drying and flat ironing my hair is making me tired just THINKING about it!  I like to style and go without a lot of fanfare.

I moved into a new house back in December and because of the unusually warm weather we have been having here in St. Louis, the grass grew quicker than I had hoped. I thought I was going to have to buy another lawn mower because the one I have had for 12 years now, had not been used in eight years. This was due to living in an apartment/townhome in an apartment complex and not needing to cut the grass. When I called around for price quotes on tune ups, companies were quoting $145! I said for that price I may as well buy a new lawn mower. However, being the “curious” person I am and always wanting to figure out how to do something, I was able to “tune up” my current lawn mower and it cost me all of $20 bucks! I figured out how to change the spark plug and just added some fresh oil and gasoline and the grass cutting games began! Next up, I will sharpen the blade. I found a YouTube video tutorial, so I will be attempting this task in the near future. Stay tuned!

I have also been busy getting documents together for a passport card to go on a cruise to the Bahamas with my family in July. I never knew it was so hard to get a freaking passport! Geez!!!The first set of documents I sent in must not have been enough to establish my identity, so I had to send in additional documents with my name/photo, name/signature, or name/photo/signature to prove my identity. I had to fill out additional forms listing my previous addresses, schools attended, previous employment, and immediate family members. Hell, I started to prick my damn finger and draw some blood so I could attach it to application! I have not traveled in years other than by car and things have changed so much since 9/11. But anyway after re-filing all the paperwork, my passport card finally came and the next day my documents were returned. I am really looking forward to this much needed vacation! I promised myself when I finished my degree last year that I was going to go on a cruise. I have paid for my cruise in full and now I need to get my spending money together. I see some overtime in my future in next few weeks. I will be taking lots and lots of pictures and will post them on here.

Next month I have to travel to pick my son up from school and haul him and all his stuff back home. He will be completing his junior year of college and only has one year left! Class of 2013! He will be graduating next year on my birthday! What a great birthday present! I remember the day he left as a freshman and now we are almost finished. This time has flown by and like I tell all parents who are sending their kids off to college for the first time, the first year is the hardest and you will be texting/calling them all the time to make sure they are alright and coping with being away from home. However once you both get through the freshman year, the next three years will be a piece of cake! My son is planning on going to graduate school for Pre-Law (where is yet to be determined), but we will see what he decides in the next year. I told him I did not care what he did as long as he got that 4-year degree. He is very talented in graphic design, so he could end up doing this.

Well, those are my natural hair updates and other happenings that have been going on with me lately. I keep saying I need to write more on this blog and post more videos on my YouTube Channel, but with my crazy work hours and now taking classes in photography I will blog and vlog when time permits.

As always, peace and hair grease!