I Think I Have a New Identity!

The first part of this post is really to my family and friends: Would you believe it if I said I think I have curly hair? Yup, I believe I do.

So I've come familiar with this book called Curly Girl. I haven't read the book, but have come familiar with its principles on this website, put out by some Christian girls.

I've always had difficult hair. The last woman who cut my hair this summer, finally admitted this to me! I've never had a hairdresser agree with me! I just thought something was majorly wrong with me for NEVER being able to do my hair like they do in the salons! They convinced me that if I used the right shampoo and conditioner and put the right product in, it would do wonders. Well I never was able to re-create what they did and because of that, my hair almost always is up in a ponytail or back in a clip.

Yesterday I shampooed and blow-dryed as usual. I actually had what I would typically call a "good" hair day, but like most days, it just ended up big and poofy. Had it been humid, it would have ended up frizzy too.

So today, I rinsed my hair well, and put a huge glop of conditioner in my palm, and just worked it well through every inch of my hair. I then finger combed it and rinsed well again. I didn't twist my hair up in its usual turban, but just blotted it dry, and then put some gel in it. That was it, I just left it to air dry. Here's a picture of my hair today!

Those are definitely waves, maybe even the starts of curls, right?!? From what I'm reading, I potentially could have CURLY hair! Huh? I feel like I have a new identity! You see as a child, I definitely had straight hair. So, I still consider myself to have straight hair (just like I still consider myself "blonde", but my husband, who is truly a blonde, reminds me that I do not have blonde hair! You see the pictures of my kids - he's right!) Anyway, when I was a teen (when I actually started caring about how my hair looked!), I started washing it more, drying it more, getting perms, and just making a mess of my hair! Although I had beautiful straight hair as a kid, I'm pretty certain my hair changed when I hit puberty now that I think about it! So I've been fighting this for many, MANY years! Not anymore, I'm going to do my best to follow this Curly Girl routine, and see what my hair does!

Oh, and the reason this post is directed to my family and friends is that I don't want you to think I got a perm when you see me next! (Does anyone get perms anymore?)

And on another note, I know I've kind of not finished some of the things I said I would (like a review of the Deceptively Delicious cookbook for one), but I will. Life is calling me away from the blog! Also, when I started this blog, I wrote about more spiritual things, and have also drifted away from that. I guess you can say I'm in a spiritual phase of just sitting back, being quiet and trying to listen what God has for me. I think that is a good place to be sometimes.

Blessings,

Jen

P.S. Confession time - I was tired this morning, so I said, "just one cup of coffee won't hurt." Do you know, I could not even finish it? I barely drank half a cup. Can I say it tasted the way I imagine eating an ashtray would taste? Yuck! It SOOO wasn't worth it. I'm enjoying my cup of french vanilla tea (black)! Much better taste! And getting off that much caffeine has been amazing for me overall. I just feel "even". Getting up in the morning has been easier (I must be sleeping better), and I don't get the crash in the afternoon. I never thought I'd do this, but I'm SO glad I did!

Say Bye Bye to Coffee!!

Well, I did it. I broke myself from the coffee addiction. Yes, there, I said it. I was addicted to coffee. I also was a coffee snob. If I didn't have half and half, I was offended. I hated how I would dream about having my coffee in the morning. Yes, coffee had a hold on me. I didn't go cold turkey. I couldn't bear the headaches while being home raising and training my kids. So my husband (yes he did it with me!) and I switched to a cup of tea in the morning. Thankfully that was enough to keep the headaches at bay.

Will I never have another cup of coffee? No, I'm sure I will, but I needed to get over this hump of ***NEEDING*** it.

Now, to tackle sugar......sigh!

You've Gotta Try This!

I was very afraid at first, but am no longer after seeing the huge benefits! What is this that I'm going to encourage you to try? No, its not the latest gadget that will make your life easier, nor is it the latest delicious, quick and healthy recipe. Nope, what I've been doing that has been so great is plain, old fashioned WALKING. Yes, I've been joining my neighbor at 5 AM - yes that's right, 5 AM - and going for a just under 2 mile walk. It has been amazing. I'll admit that generally I would get up when the first child would wake up and basically feel like I was playing catch-up all day long. By the time I drank my lukewarm coffee, my 3rd child would be up and I'd wonder, okay, now how am I supposed to shower? Baby in pack-n-play, kids in front of a video. How irritating, this is not how I want my days to be - and the irritation would show in my attitude many days.

So I finally realized I need to take some control here (with the help of my Lord!), and make this work. Now my weekdays have been looking like this:

4:45 a.m. alarm goes off; get up throw on work-out clothes that were laid out the night before
5:00 a.m. meet neighbor at end of our driveway and WALK
5:30-ish a.m. get back and shower and dress (and actually blow-dry my hair and put on makeup!)
6:00 a.m. start coffee and unload dishwasher
6:15 a.m. read a verse from the Bible and pray (while quietly enjoying my HOT coffee!)
6:30 a.m. look at my watch and realize that I don't usually get up until 7 a.m. and marvel at what I've accomplished!

I am enjoying this and think I will continue to enjoy it (until maybe that first drizzly morning - yes, my neighbor and I agreed that even on those mornings we'll walk!)

Blessings,

Jen