Jen Going Natural

Twist Outs and School Update

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 15:08:00 +0000

Hello everyone! I want to give you all an update about my presentation for my master's degree. July 19, I presented to my committee and besides some technical problems that I solved by being prepared everything went beautifully. My committee gave me the highest score you can earn for your degree. They were excited and very pleased with my work. At the end of my presentation I was asked to leave so that the committee could discuss how to score me. I had just sat down when I was asked to come back in and told that I had impressed the committee and they loved my work! So, now I have earned my master's and all I need to do is finish up two classes and complete a practicum this fall. I will be completely done with everything this December. I will be the first person in my family (dad's side) to have earned my undergrad and graduate degrees.

On a completely different note I promised to update everyone about my hair. Since my hair is getting much longer I have been stretching my hair through twists and then twist outs to prevent fairy knots. I remember last year I would have hits and misses with twist outs, but this year I have been loving my twist outs.

Above is a collage of the various twist outs I have worn over the past several months. This collage are first day twist outs so you can see how my twist outs vary. They are all two strand twist outs. Some were done with just conditioner on wet hair and some I did on dry hair. I need to experiment with adding a gel to my hair because the humidity is a killer on my hair. I have been using a curling pudding to better define my twist outs, but I find that it doesn't hold the curl definition like gel does.

Of course I get more definition when I do more two strand twists, but that takes more time and with my hair getting longer I have been exploring how my hair looks if I do about eight twists. I have found the I get more stretch with less twists, but less definition with more fluffy hair. My two year anniversary is August 9 and I plan to update everything then with a length check and maybe a short video. Until next time....
Blessings!

I'm back and I'm Bra Strap Length!

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 02:14:00 +0000

BSL June 23, 2013

Hello everyone! Yes, I'm alive. I'm sorry that I haven't been around to connect and blog with all of you. I have completed my literature review and my action research project. My adviser was so impressed with my action research project that she wants me to publish my results. Needless to say that this has made me even more busy. I'm also taking 9 credits this summer, working summer school and presenting for my Masters' July 19. I decided to have a really busy summer to have everything done this December since my grant money runs out this fall.

Anyway, since my first class starts tomorrow I wanted to post a quick post about my hair. My two year anniversary of my big chop is this August, but I have met my goal I set for this year. I wanted to have bra strap length by my anniversary and I have achieved it almost two months early. I'm very pleased with my growth and retention.

For the past couple of months I have drifted away from my usual WNG's and moved to twist outs because I'm liking my results better now that my hair is longer. I have been using It's Perfectly Natural product to twist up my hair and now I'm loving my twist outs!

Today's twist out that I wore to church. The interesting thing is that two ladies at church today who hated my TWA told me how much they loved my twist out today. One of them said that my hair was beautiful and asked to touch my curls. Of course I remember that this same lady gave me the stink eye when I stopped relaxing my hair and her look said "that girl is crazy to cut off all her hair" and "natural my foot that girl is nappy!". Now she thinks that my hair is beautiful. Amazing how you get some length and now they have vision and love my curls. Whatever!

To be honest I have been noticing that I have been getting Fairy Knots (single strand knots), so I had to do something different with my styling and I have found that I can co-wash my hair, then wear it in a bun (while wet) then that same night I will twist it up. Sometimes I will wear my two strand twists for a day or two then as a twist out for about two days, then I will pull my hair up in a twist out puff for a day or two. This has allowed me to go all week with only co-washing my hair once. Now, the humidity is making my my hair huge! I mean big fluffy, afro twist out huge! This is fine for around the house, but at school I have to represent and I may have to flat twist the the front and then pin it back to control my rising of my hair.

I want to thank everyone who has newly joined my blog! I promise that I will try to get more posts in this summer, but I will be in class, teaching and getting my presentation ready. I do intend to make a post of some of the twist outs I have worn over the past couple of months. Until next time...
Blessings!

Snowy Days

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 19:19:00 +0000

Hello everyone! I have been busy with writing my thesis, but I decided to take a quick break and get a picture of me coming home from church to show you how I have been wearing my hair lately and the snow that we have been getting up here in MN. The past several days have been nothing but snow, cold and gray weather. At this time last year the temps were in the 60's and 70's. Now getting above 45 degrees is a warm day.

Anyway, I have been natural for 20 months and my hair is measuring a little above 11 inches in the front and on the sides. I have been doing a lot of wash n go's because I don't have much time to do much else and it's pretty. I pray all is well with my blog friends and I hope to have more time once I have finished my thesis.

April 14 and several inches of snow. Welcome to MN!

I'm meeting with my adviser this Wednesday to go over my rough draft. I have to turn in my first draft April 30 for a grade for my research class and then I will be given more feedback to expand it into my full thesis which will be due this fall. Then in December I will have to present it to the committee along with my action research project that I'm conducting now. I'm taking this one step at a time and so far I'm proud of my progress. I was the only one in my research class that had a completed first draft last week, so that tells me that I'm a little ahead of my classmates. I've noticed that the older students with families and a mortgage (like myself) do the reading, complete the work (on time), and don't miss class. I'm sending a lot of money to get my Master's, but it's not just the money. It's the time away from my family and the hope for a better life that push me to do well. Anyway, I have to work on my action research project write up so I hope to connect with you all soon. Until next time...

Blessings!

I've Been Featured!

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 03:43:00 +0000

Hello everyone! I have been soooo busy with my studies that I have been MIA for over a month, but I had to make myself stop reading journal articles to do a quick post. I have been featured on my university's web site! I did a flat twist out and I'm the only minority featured! Check it out and let me know what you think. Until next time...
Blessings!

One Wash N Go and Three Days of Wear

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 03:23:00 +0000

Hello everyone! I've been wearing my hair in a wash n go this week after wearing my flat twist out for three days. I love wearing my hair in a flat twist out, but it only looks good for two days. That third day was me being totally lazy. Well the temps have been all over the place here in MN. From below freezing and single digits to above freezing and warm for January. So, the wash n go has been comfortable to wear wet if I pick the right morning to wash my hair, which of course is what I did this week.

Left is day one, middle day two and right day three.

Well, since my hair has been filling in nicely I decided to start playing with a center part. I think that I'm pulling off the look without the spot being noticed pretty well. I wore clips in my hair to hold the curls out of my eyes because my hair is getting longer (fist pump in the air) and I achieved this look with just conditioner. No gel! This time last year I was an Eco Styler gel wearer and I loved it! Now, I'm busy and find that every gel I use eventually flakes but my conditioner is clear and stays clear until I wash it out.

I'm finding that for me gel is better for the humid months when I want hold and no frizz. I also like to use it to slick down my edges when I wear a puff, pony tail, or bun. Now to be honest yes, I did spray some water in my hair and I did smooth some conditioner into my hair to revitalize my curls, but this is basically the curly girl method so that is not anything new. Overall, my wash n go's keep there shape and slowly friz out, and softens as it frizzes. My twist outs only look good on day one and start to look matted and undefined by day two. That's okay a little bit, but by day three I'm starting to look like a hot mess! I'm a professional and I need to look presentable. So, I have to get creative by pinning up the sides and pulling my hair up into a puff, which is alright. While my wash n go's are still rocking and looking awesome with no modifications on day three. Let me know your thoughts, just be nice. Until next time...

Blessings!

Birthday Party at Feed My Starving Children

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 03:01:00 +0000

Hello everyone! This was a wonderful day for me. The hubby arranged to have us and 25 of our friends volunteer at Feed My Starving Children. We spent two hours packing food for an orphanage in El Salvador. Between my birthday party guests, a Boy Scout troop, and a church group we packed enough food for 70 children to eat one meal a day for one year.

What I really liked about this experience was that all kinds of people were there. My group alone had Christians and Hindus. It doesn't matter what your religion is, feeding hungry children is the right thing to do. Now, I did have to bring a babysitter for my son because he isn't old enough to pack food, but he had fun playing with his favorite babysitter. Since this was so successful I just might have the hubby do this every year. Why not make it a tradition! I would rather volunteer my time and money than spend money on a party anytime. Now, the hubby did order cupcakes and we handed out cupcakes at the end to everyone including some of the other volunteers not in our group.

Flat twist out with my no makeup makeup look. Birthday party hair.

Now for my hair. I put my hair into about 9 flat twists last night. I used just a little bit of water and some gel. My hair came out lovely! In fact I got so many compliments that I was kinda gushing towards the end of the experience. The lead volunteer actually stopped me to complement me about my hair. I liked my hair so much that I wore a pink flower in the morning and then my purple and white flower in the afternoon. I also got complements about my skin. Many people thought that I wasn't wearing any makeup but I did admit that I was. I call this my no makeup, makeup look. I really wanted a look that showed my face. Sometimes, I tend to wear really red lips, so this more natural look is more of how I look without makeup without having the "she's wearing makeup" look.
Let me know what you think. Until next time...
Blessings!

My First Bun...The Good and the Cold

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Hello everyone! This past Friday I decided to do my first bun. After blow drying my hair on New Year's Day I had this big fluffy hair that really showed it's length. I then did a Bantu Knot out that was quite lovely with all my cascading curls. For Friday I decided that I wanted to do a bun, so Thursday night I made a visit to Sally's and got a donut. I totally cheated because I have never worn a bun and I wanted it to look good and install easily.

So, I did a bun on the back of my head. I really liked the look, but there are some real pros and cons to wearing your hair up.

Pros: Protective styles that have your ends tucked away is great for length retention. Sleek elegant buns can give you a very professional sexy look. This bun was really easy to install and took only a few moments. I felt like this style really put my face on display and if you like to play with makeup this is the look to show it off.

Cons: It is really cold here in Minnesota and that wind blowing on my ears, neck and quite frankly my head brought tears to my eyes! I can't emphasize how cold it is up north here. I have a thyroid problem and I'm always cold to begin with, then 8 degrees windy weather makes it worse. The bun didn't allow me to wear a hat and I ended up wearing a scarf and head wrap, but I didn't realize how wearing my hair down keeps me warm. I also ended up applying a lot of gel to keep those flyaway hairs down. This means that I will have to rinse out my hair to get all that crunchy out. So, this was a one day style for me unless I'm wearing a bun the whole week.

I really like my new earrings!

I don't want it to seem like I'm complaining, because I really liked this look. I just feel for me I need to consider doing this in the summer or warmer days.

I'm finding that what works for me doesn't necessary work for others. I can wear a wash n go with great curl definition, but my two strand twist outs can be hit or miss especially on day two. My wash n go's get big and fluffy, I can wear them for days and I can do things like puffs, pinned up sides, and pompadours with little effort.

But, my two strand twist outs look good on day one and go down hill after I have slept on them. Even when I pineapple! Only my flat twist outs look good for a couple of days and that's because I re-twist every night. I simple don't want to give the time and effort to re-twist two strand twists every night, so my twist outs just look slept on after day one. Never fluffy or full looking.

My hair is still wet, so those curls shrunk up something fierce. This is my WNG from 1/5/2013

On a completely different topic, I want to show everyone my wash n go after doing my blow out earlier in the week. This look was achieved with conditioner no gel applied. Being that this was the first time I straightened my hair with heat I wanted to make sure my curls would bounce back and they did! I really liked my stretched out hair with the Bantu Knot out and I think I will be exploring banding and African threading methods to stretch my hair without heat. But, I can't beat how pretty my curls are when I do a wash n go. Until next time...

Blessings!

Viviscal Update 6 Months

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:05:00 +0000

Hello everyone! So, I finally got around to finishing up my video update of Viviscal. I have been using Viviscal since June 2012 to help regrow my hair. My last relaxer was March 2011 and A LOT of my hair fell out. This is the reason why I went natural!

My spot is not completely gone, but it has shrunk. The spot use to start about an inch behind my hair line and extend to the top of my head. Then it went across to both my temples. Now, it is only in the front of my head and the top of my head is filled in. The two pictures below show my hair in June 2012 and December 2012.

The left picture is my hair in June 2012. The spot extend from the front all the way to the back. In the picture on the right the spot is just in the front and I have to zoom in closer with my camera to get a picture of the spot. My hair looks and feels thicker now. As you can see I have hair growing on the top of my head.

Below is a video I made with my final results. Please share your thoughts and let me know if any of you are considering trying Viviscal. Until next time...
Blessings!

Bantu Knot Out on my Blown Out Stretched Hair

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 02:47:00 +0000

Bantu Knots and tough sleeping.

Hello everyone! Can you tell that I'm not in school right now. Even though I'm back to work, my grad classes don't start until February and since I'm waiting for my textbook to be shipped to my I totally feel like I have a ton of time for myself. Yep pee! Anyway, with this extra time I have been playing with my hair. Which means I got to watch some YouTube videos and though, hey I can do that! So, with my big fluffy blown out hair I did about 12-14 Bantu Knots all over my head last night before I went to bed with my satin scarf and for back up my satin pillow case.

I will admit that I watched one of KimmayTube's videos and decided to try her method since I had this blown out big hair going on. In the morning I poured some jojoba oil on my hands and took the knots out. After separating the knots a little (being careful to avoid frizz) I ended up with this finished look below.

Can I say luscious, wavy, cascading curls. What more can a girl ask for from a Bantu Knot out!

Well, I absolutely love the results! I got these cascading wavy curls and got to keep the fullness and volume of my big hair. All I can say is WOW! Now that hubby of mine was kinda pawing at me. Touching my hair and sniffing my neck. I thought he was going to take a bite out of my neck because he wouldn't leave me alone. I first thought it was the delicious turkey pot pie I made today, which could of contributed to the sniffing. Big hair I guess equals lots of attention, or he feels like he can pet me because usually I'm telling him not to touch (my hair) because I don't want my curl definition to be messed up.

Anyway, at school it was either "I love it!", or "What did you do with you hair?", or the safe comment "I like your flower". I found that throughout the day I was constantly pushing my bangs out of my eyes. Hello, that hasn't happened in over two years! I find that with the Bantu Knot out, my hair continued to fall and get bigger. The next time I try this I should probably do more knots or separate the knots less. I don't know if I will get to wearing a bun this week. With awesomely wavy hair and the cold temps, down may be in order. Until next time...

Blessings!

Well I did it!

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 21:14:00 +0000

Happy New Year everyone! I can't believe I let my son stay up until midnight last night. He didn't get crabby and he loved watching the ball drop in New York Times Square. We had some friends over that we hadn't seen in a while and it was an evening of eating junk food playing Sequence and catching up with some friends. They are empty nesters and we have a three year old. Surprisingly, our ages aren't that much apart. They got married and had children young and the hubby and I didn't.

Anyway, I decided to co-wash and blow out my hair this morning. After watching several YouTube videos about flat ironing and seeing how long that took I decided to use my curling iron instead of flat ironing my hair. The process took almost two hours and my arms were exhausted by the time I finished. I knew my hair wouldn't be bone straight because I didn't flat iron, but then this is the closest I have felt to feeling like Dina Ross.

Wet hair before blow out.

So, I used my leave in conditioner Aussie Moist, but I added some Castor and Jojoba Oils to my conditioner. I then sprayed some heat protector from the Aussie line. I figured that since they are from the same line they should work well together. I then sectioned my hair and used the tension method to blow dry my hair. This method has some pros and cons. I like that my roots are really straight, but I hated that it took a REALLY LONG time to dry. I had my blow drier on warm and I ended up using my brush to get the ends straight.

Left my hair sectioned and right all done with blow out.

So, I took a little break after drying my hair to rest and cool off before I sectioned and started the curling process. This was much quicker and I used a big barrel iron 1.5 inches. My curling iron has setting from 0-25. I set my iron at 19 and prayed that it wouldn't be too cool or too hot. The heat protector says to use on wet hair and I made the mistake of spraying a little on my dried hair. My hair started to revert back to it's curly state and I had to blow it out again. As I ironed my hair I only ran the curling iron through my hair once. I just wanted a little curl to bring the ends under and to give my hair some style.

I sectioned my hair, and curled each section under to get a soft big hair look.

So, after almost two hours from start to finish my hair is blown out and curled. It's super big and lots of volume. I will see how long I can wear it like this, but I have no plans to use any more heat to maintain this look. I've been wanting to play with some buns and maybe this big hair is long enough to do that this week.

Since I had to cook today I ended up pulling my hair back and clipping it to get it out of my face. This process has allowed me to look at my hair and see that my ends are pretty healthy. After spending several hours straightening my hair I don't think I want to do this again for a long time. I can wash my hair, condition and two strand twist my hair in half the time it took for me to blow dry and curl. This just reminded me that I don't want to be a slave to a hair drier, flat iron, or curling iron ever again. Please let me know your thoughts, just be nice. Until next time...

Blessings!

Two Strand Twist Out for Hubby's Birthday!

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 20:23:00 +0000

Hello everyone! I'm feeling very blessed to have some time to blog! Last week I finished up my first semester of Grad classes and earned straight A's. I did so well that my adviser is recommending me to do another independent study with a very well known gifted and talented author and teacher next semester. She is currently writing four books and teaching! Wow!

Christmas was a blast here in cold MN and even colder in ND. Christmas day was -7 in ND and I was missing warm and balmy MN that was 9 degrees. I feel very blessed to have wonderful friends and healthy family, but I need a vacation from my vacation. Anyway, I haven't posted anything about hair in a while so here is my two strand twist out I did today for my hubby's birthday.

Dec.29, 2012 two strand twist out.

My hair is getting longer and I'm noticing that my hair grows faster in the summer and slower in the winter. No complaints from me. I'm just happy that my hair is healthy. I could live without the fairy knots (single strand knots). I looked back at my blog and saw that I haven't done a two strand twist out on my entire head since this past summer. Below is a picture of the last two strand twist out.

June 12, 2012 two strand twist out.

As you can see my hair has grown a lot since June 2012. When I pull the curls down in the front, my hair is now curling around my chin. Almost ten inches now and I'm thrilled!

My birthday is in a couple of weeks and the hubby out did himself this time. I'm huge on quality time with the ones I love and since I don't need or want for any material things the hubby arranged for me and 25 of our friends and family to volunteer at Feed My Starving Children on the Saturday before my birthday. What better way than to pack food for hungry children all over the world for your birthday party!

On a different note, I'm considering flat ironing my hair for my birthday. Of course my mother wants me to relax it again (NEVER happening again mom), but maybe a once a year thing during my birthday month . I'm not sure yet. Kinda scary to go this long with curls and then risk the possible damaging effects of flat ironing. Pipe in and let me know what you think. I respect my natural hair readers, just be nice. Until next time...

Blessings!

Light at the end of the tunnel

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 04:22:00 +0000

Just a very quick note since I haven't posted in over a month. I'm finishing up my last project and I'm on page 20 of my write up. It's due Wednesday and I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. My advisor is so pleased with me that she wants me to write my thesis next semester to get it out of the way, then finish up my classes this summer and fall 2013. That would mean that I would be done next December 2013 instead of spring 2014. I promise I will post soon and I have missed you all. If I don't post before Christmas, I want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas!

I think I'm in love...well at least a style I really like!

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 02:28:00 +0000

Hello everyone! I'm totally loving my hair in flat twist outs! I find that I can control the direction of how my curls will lay better with a flat twist out then a two strand twist out. I have also learned to cheat a little by just re-twisting just the front. The results are that my hair gets fuller and fuller as the days go by. In the last two weeks I think I have worn my hair in a flat twist out on about 10 of those days.

I took these pictures last Thursday and my son demanded to be in a picture. So, I swooped him out of the tub, tossed a towel on him and snapped a quick picture. Of course he is chewing on his new car from grandma. My son loves it when I take a picture of him with my digital camera and then show him the picture. Until next time...
Blessings!

Flat twist out and loving it!

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 19:31:00 +0000


Ignore my wierd face, I'm just trying to get a good picture of my hair.

Hello everyone! The hubby and I both had teacher convention today so we got to spend the day together and actually have lunch alone without our toddler! Last night I was debating what to do with my hair because I usually co-wash on Wednesdays, but didn't because I was loving my two strand twist out. So, since my two strand twist out was getting fuzzy I decided to try some flat twists.

Last night I put nine flat twists in my hair, sprayed a little water (focus on little) on the twists and went to bed on my satin pillow. This morning I decided to take the flat twists out before I got in the shower to see how they looked and I was in love!! I still thinking this is the bomb!

As you can see from the collage, I'm loving this style! It was wet and drizzly so my hair is even bigger than it was this morning when I left for the convention. I think plump is a good word to describe how my hair felt after being outside.

Flat twist out before misty weather made it fuller.

I liked the (wet) two strand twist out, but this flat twist out is awesome. My hair is stretched a little, the curl pattern is lovely and my hair is soft and bouncy. It only took me about 20 minutes to install the flat twists and that was because I was trying to make the front parts consistent and even. The back was just part and twist.

This look will easily start coming into the rotation of styles, I just need to figure out how to maintain it for a couple of days. Until next time...
Blessings!

Church hair - twist out

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:19:00 +0000

Hello everyone! It's been awhile since I've posted anything about my hair. Well, yesterday I decided to two strand twist my whole head and today I wore a twist out. At first, I looked at my results and didn't know what I was going to do with my hair. So, I separated my hair and fluffed out the roots and added my signature flower.

The hubby liked the look. I think partly because he didn't want to be late for church this morning and because he liked the different style on me. He actually asked we what this style was called! The man amazes me sometimes. He has been listening to me ramble about my hair and the different styles I have been doing. I heard him on the phone to his mother explaining that I was wearing my hair in a "twist out" today and it looked good.

It only took me about 30 minutes to make about 25 twists in my hair. All I used was my Aussie Moist conditioner as my leave in and then I started to twist my hair. I think that tomorrow I will like it even more the bigger it gets. I took a picture of the back of my head and as clear as day my grays are sticking out and waving at me.

The ends of my hair have a nice coil and then I notice those grays.

Until, next time...
Blessings!

My friend Keith

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Hello everyone! As many of you already know last Thursday September 27, 2012 my friend Keith Basinski was a victim of a work place shooting. He was the UPS driver that just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. My hubby and I met Keith at our church were we happened to sit in the same section. We got to know him through other friends and he was the one who got us involved into Royal Rangers which is a Christian version of Boys Scouts at our church.

Keith lived his life quietly and morally. His three children are all adults and his daughter just had a baby three weeks ago. He was planning to meet his first grandchild later this month on a well earned vacation.

My hubby took this picture of Keith painting the new garage at church.

Keith was very much involved in children's ministry even though all his children were grown. When I taught the kindergarten class for Royal Rangers he was the guy that the kids loved to play with. He would come up with the funniest games to play inside when it was really cold outside. He would color with the kids and read stories to them. I never heard him raise his voice and he was reliable and dependable.

Just three weeks ago my hubby was asked by our church to paint a new garage. The hubby called Keith and his response was when do you want to do it. Last week the church acknowledged all the people that worked to build, roof, and paint the new garage. Keith's name was accidentally left out. His response was, and I quote "I didn't do it to get my name in the church bulletin". If you ever needed help and he could help you he would drop everything. The only bad thing I can say about Keith is that he was a Green Bay Packer fan and this is Minnesota! Of course we forgave him because he was from Green Bay.

Keith was well loved and he will be missed. The only comforting thing is that I know he is with the Lord. He was a born again Christian and he wasn't ashamed of that fact. I cried today in church when our pastor talked about him and the hubby wasn't holding anything back. Click here to view a video from one of our local stations about Keith. In the video Keith's brother Jeff is interviewed. Jeff is the person my hubby drove around Thursday night and Friday morning to identify the body and meet with the ME. Until I see you in heaven Keith...
Blessings!

How I've been wearing my hair lately

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 21:16:00 +0000

Hello everyone! First of all I want to thank everyone for the prayers for Keith and his family. I plan to do a post about him sometime this week.

It has been a long time since I posted anything about my hair. About three weeks. So, I went through my camera and noticed that I had three different pictures on the exact same style that I wore on three different days. It's basically a wash n go (about 2-3 days old) style with the bangs in a flat twist and of course a flower.

I'm amazed that I basically tip my head the same way and that this style basically comes out the same way every time.

Next, is a flat twist out from the picture on the right. I liked the way my hair was stretched and the overall look was big hair.

Today I wore a wash n go. Simple and the curls are very nice. The weather is gorgeous and I decided to take a walk along the creek by my house. The trees are changing and the leaves are worth maybe a drive to check out.

Thank you for following me even though I haven't posted a lot lately. Until next time...
Blessings!

Prayers please

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 03:49:00 +0000

Up here in Minneapolis a horrible work place shooting happened today. A church friend who is a UPS driver was involved in the shooting. At this point I don't know if he was a victim (at this point 3 are confirmed dead), injured (4 hospitalized), or a witness (dozens). All I know is that his USP truck has been confirmed at the scene and all the TV footage shows yellow "do not cross" tape pulled around his truck. This incident happened in a very quiet "safe" neighborhood and my husband works just blocks away. I'm begging for prayers! It's 10:45pm and the hubby drove down to the scene when he found out that our friend is involved to meet with his adult children. Please raise our friend Keith up in your prays and his family.

Versatile Blogger Award

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 20:02:00 +0000

I have been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by not one but three lovely ladies! JazzWife, Natmane and Coilybella. Thank you and I'm honored that you ladies would think about me and pass this award to me.

I have been really busy. Between attending my grad classes, going to work, mommy time with my son, hubby time (you all know what I mean), cooking, house work , and shopping my life is very busy. I hate to appear to be ignoring my blog and all my blog friends, but I'm trying to get ahead on my school work because I will be going to Arkansas the first weekend in October for a family reunion on my mother's side of the family (her father's side). Anyway back to the award.

Here are the rules for nomination

Thank the Blogger who nominated you

Share (7) random facts about yourself

Nominate (15) fellow blogger that you recently discovered or follow regularly

Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs

Add the Versatile Blogger Award to your post

Seven random facts about me:

1. My father was in the Air Force and I got to live in Spain for three years as a child.

2. My husband is my best friend and I put my marriage first even before my relationship with my son. (Don't judge me, if you have a strong marriage your relationship with your children will be strong.)

3. I don't listen to secular music in my car. Only instrumental/classical and christian music in car. This has made me a kinder more flexible driver and my doctor says it has lowered my blood pressure.

4. For the first time ever, I bought a new car recently.

5. I love my dogs, but after having my son, in the future it will either be children or animals not both.

6. I hate wearing the color green. It makes me look sick.

7. I have divided my garden and planted my flowers in my neighbors gardens without asking. I'm called the "gorilla gardener" in my neighborhood.

Okay, so I'm not going to nominate 15 other bloggers. I just don't have the time to look up everyone who has done this and not. So, this is what I'm gonna do. If you have read this and not been nominated, I'm nominating you. I promise, I will tomorrow night read whoever does this in response to my suggestion.

Until next time...

Blessings

Zucchini bread kind of weekend

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 03:19:00 +0000

Tomato thief caught red pawed and looking guilty.

The evidence, half eaten tomato.

Hello everyone! This weekend has been busy. I got all my homework done on Saturday leaving my Sunday wide open. I finally got some tomatoes worth canning and to my demise I found that two of my very large heirloom tomatoes were half eaten and left to rot on the ground. At first I thought "do squirrels eat tomatoes?". Then I caught my little dog Peanut Butter nibbling on a tomato right on the vine! Can you believe my mutt is eating my tomatoes? Hello! At first I was really mad, but then I had to get my camera and take a picture of her looking all guilty and of course the evidence of a half eaten tomato. My son chased her around the backyard saying over and over "leave the tomatoes alone Peanut" and "not yours". It was so cute! My son chasing the dog and the dog looking and acting like her paw was caught in the cookie jar.

Anyway, back to my zucchini. I made six loaves of zucchini bread today and I still have enough zucchini to probably make six more loaves. I bought about twenty dollars worth of supplies to make my zucchini bread. So, if I get 12 loaves that's $1.66 per loaf. Not bad. I found a recipe that I liked and I swapped out using whole wheat flour instead of all purpose. I found that when you swap out all purpose flour with whole wheat flour you need to add some water to moisten the batter. Well, it only took the hubby one batch to demand a loaf for work. So, two loaves became four, then six and tomorrow I'm making two more loaves because I still have some zucchini left.

Zucchini bread cooling.

Here's the recipe I used. Let me know if you try making this bread. If you prefer to use all purpose flour just omit the water. Until next time...
Blessings!

Mom's Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, water and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife alone the edges then remove bread from pan, and completely cool on rack. Bread can be frozen.

Click here to watch the video to make zucchini bread.

One wash n go ... three great looks

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 03:11:00 +0000

Hello everyone! I started my grad classes this week and I'm blown away with all the reading I need to do. My independent study will be more work than taking a class, but I didn't want another evening class. Seeing my hubby and spending time with my boy is too important. I woke up at six this morning and realized that this was the end of my third week of being back to work. I observed that it was dark outside and that three weeks ago the sun was up. I went snow boot shopping with my son today and the high temp today was only 68 degrees. So, for me summer is officially over and winter will be here sooner than I want and fall (even though it's beautiful) is just a reminder that winter is almost upon us.

Anyway, I did my usual wash n go this week and I got three great looks out of it. The first two photos are my wash n go from my nephew's birthday party on Saturday that I posted this past Monday. I simply pinned the sides with a barrette on top of my head, made a pompadour with my bangs, and added a flower (of course). Besides a low grade headache four hours later, this was an easy quick style and I will do it again. Next time, I will figure out how to do this without the headache.

This next group of pictures is day two and day three hair. The top row is day two. I decided to twist my bangs that were in the pompadour into about nine small twists before I went to bed. I sprayed a little water and slept in my silk scarf. In the morning I took my twists out, pulled my hair into a puff, and add my new purple flower. Cute style and I got a lot of compliments on my new flower and earrings.

For day three hair. I didn't do much. I didn't re-twist, I just went to bed with my silk scarf, pulled my new headband on and fluffed my hair. I also got some compliments on this look. I love how my hair is bigger, but the curls are still popping! If you look closely in the back my grays are sticking out. I don't care. I even have a few in the front. So. I love this new headband. It's just tight enough to hold my hair back, without slipping or causing a headache. I love the fact that my hair is long enough to have bangs! The extremes in MN tempatures this week had me in shorts and then wool socks today. I'm loving the fact that I can wear my hair up or down so I can be warm or cool.

My son and his zucchini. I love this picture.

On a totally different topic. A neighbor of mine shared some zucchini with us and my son wanted to be a big boy and carry it home. This large zucchini was too heavy for him, so I had to help him out. I had to get a picture of him with this zucchini. I plan to make zucchini bread this weekend, but first I got homework and reading. Until next time...
Blessings!

Pinned Up Sides

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 22:24:00 +0000

Wearing my flower and butterfly earrings for the party.

Hello everyone! This Labor Day weekend was my nephew's 5th birthday. My son and I fought Friday night traffic to ND for the party Saturday afternoon. I decided to stick to my routine and I washed my hair Saturday morning. I did a copy cat style that I saw on Minasek's blog by MsVCharles on You Tube and I really liked how it turned out on me. Minasek didn't like the results she got, but I liked what she did with her hair even though it wasn't the same look. I simply pulled back the sides on top of my head and pinned with a barrette. Then made a pompadour in the front and added a flower. My mom even complimented me on my curls! Which is very rare for her.

Anyway, this was an easy wash n go updo that was easy to turn into a high puff the next day. I'm noticing that now my hair is long enough for high puffs, updo's and ponytails that I'm experiencing some low grade headaches. I guess going over a year of wearing my hair down, my scalp is not used to the hair being piled up, pinned back, or pulled up. Any suggestions to remedy this problem? When I install these styles I don't feel like my hair is tight at all, but a few hours of wear seem to cause a low grade headache. Until next time...
Blessings!

Side view and loving those curls.

Pony puff with twist out bangs

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 01:35:00 +0000

Hello everyone! So the playing with my hair continues. I decided to twist my bangs last night and then this morning I decided to wear my hair up in a pony puff because it has been so hot. I took my twists out and really liked the look. The frizz in the front didn't bother me, in fact I like it a lot! I then pinned back part of my bangs and added a flower for my finished look. I like this look and it kept my hair off my neck on this hot day. Until next time...
Blessings!

Sidewalk chalk everywhere

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 01:32:00 +0000

Chalk everywhere compliments of my 3 year old son.

Hello everyone! Day two of back to school is done and I'm exhausted. Is it too soon to start counting down the days to summer break 2013? What a great summer break this was and now that I'm back to school I've forgotten that sleeping to 7:30am was sleeping in! My geriatric dogs are back to getting me up at 5:30am and since my alarm goes off at 6am I'm basically up for the day.

Well, up here in MN the weather has been heating up and we are having some very hot August weather this week. My son is loving the new backyard and for his birthday he got some sidewalk chalk. Don't tell him that the chalk is for the sidewalk. He discovered that he can run the chalk on the sidewalk, place his hand in the chalk, and then stamp hand prints on himself and me. What a joy it is to enjoy the last of the summer hanging out with my son in our backyard. I know that one day very soon he will be grown up and sprinting out the door, so I have to hold on to these precious moments while they last. Find joy in where you are now, because you're not guaranteed another. Until next time...
Blessings!

First high puff and pompadour...Blues look

noreply@blogger.com (JenJen) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 01:42:00 +0000

I wouldn't be me without a flower in my hair.

Hello everyone! With my hair growing out I have noticed that certain styles I did on my shorter hair just don't work out any more. So, I love my curly fro hawk but it no longer looks good on me. I did some research and found out the many naturals have been using banana clips to make fro hawks. I purchased a three pack of clips for about $4 dollars at Walgreens and decided to play with my hair Thursday night. Well, let me tell you that my hair may have a thinned out spot in the front, but everywhere else it is super thick. All that clip did was snap open every time I tried to clip my hair. So, after digging around in my hair stuff I came across some little tiny ponytail holders. Since I was playing with my hair I thought "why not". To my surprise I gathered all my hair and this little holder held my hair. I was able to pull and fluff my hair to show case my curls. This tiny little holder held my curls all day long and I never had to worry about a snapping clip and all my hair falling out.

So, on Friday I decided to try a high puff with a pompadour in the front. This was done on day 3 wash n go hair so I had some frizz, but still mostly curls. I used some water to spritz my hair, then a little conditioner, and some Mop Top gel to slick the hair in the back and sides. I used two pins to hold the pompadour down in the front.

First of all this is my first high puff and second, I was totally blown away with the compliments. I got so many compliments at school that I was thinking I need to do this more often. A teacher friend of mine said my hair reminded her of Billie Holiday. Wow! Hello! She loved wearing flowers and so do I. So, I'm calling this my Blues look. I still love my curly fro hawk and I plan to figure out how to do that style with longer hair. As for my banana clips, well I'm thinking about donating them since I have only "tried" to wear one the other two are brand new. Until next time...
Blessings!