Safety Drill Practice

Our After School Routine:

I rush to the car.

Drive to the school.

Park car.

Walk to front of the school.

Pick Z up from the carpool line (because it is waaaay quicker than waiting in that long carpool line).

Z says goodbye to her teacher and "boyfriend" (another story).

Z tackles me with her biggest hug (Lord, help me to cherish these precious moments even more).

We hold hands.

She tells me about her day as we walk back to the car.

Yesterday, she excitedly tells me that her school practiced three drills that day: tornado, fire, and lockdown. It's amazing how our minds are wired because instantly my mind flashed back to Sandy Hook. As she was sharing the details of each drill, I slightly tuned her out in the midst of my overwhelming thoughts...

Read more at: Beautifully Curled: safety drill practice

From Beautifully Curled: wash day | protein + wigging it + updo finally

Read more at: Beautifully Curled: wash day | protein + wigging it + updo finally

Humanly Flawed but Spiritually Confident

Just something the Spirit within spoke to me this past weekend that I wanted to share:

My confidence comes from knowing that God has made me unique and that I do not have to live in the bondage of trying to meet societal expectations. I am free to be me and to strive to live only by His holy standards. As a Christian, I do not have it all together, and I struggle with so many inner battles (anxiety being the greatest of all). I fall, I stumble, I get hurt and sometimes hurt others. I cry, get frustrated, and angry about life from time to time. I desire so much to please God yet the devil sometimes convinces me that I can't because I am too flawed. When I come to my senses and be still, I see God's provision over my life. That's when I get back up again and move another step forward. The beauty of my journey is that when I give my best, He will cover the rest. My peace rests in Him. ALWAYS. 

Without God, I am NOTHING. With God, I am perfect just the way I am. So are you...

Be blessed and Be.YOU.ALWAYS. Have a great weekend!

Started Over from Ground Zero: My Confessional Update

I give mad props to bloggers who actually blog consistently over a long period of time. It pretty much boils down to priorities, and honestly, blogging about my hair journey just has not been one of those urgent top 5 (or better yet top 50) priorities over the past year now. Sometimes a break is good. I make no apologies for that. What matters is that I found enough motivation to come back and blow away a little dust for a hair update.

So my confession as one can see is that I (well my husband) cut all my hair off my head.  One of my major hair goals was (still is...) to grow my hair to waist length mainly through protective styling. I was short of 3-4 inches before I grew tired. Tired of dealing with the long detangling sessions in the shower; tired of hours upon hours (avg 6-8 hrs) spent twisting my hair into protective styles; tired of struggling with my episodes of trichotillomania (will expound more in a later post) when life got stressful thus hindering my goals. I just got weary stressing over something I mainly considered "just hair". All of this while learning how to properly style and manage my daughter's hair, which requires different techniques due to her very soft, fine, and tighter texture (totally opposite from my course, wiry, and looser texture). All of this while living life.

For the sake of my sanity, something had to give.

Hair should never be a stressor for anyone, and for someone who is already anxiety ridden, I did not need another addition to my list. Don't give me wrong, I love long natural hair. However, I decided at my current stage of my life, simplicity reigned over my hair goals hands down.  Therefore, I had no qualms about clipping all my hair off last November to the lowest it has ever been EVER (I was born with a head full of hair).  I will post more in detail about my low cut experience in a later post but will sum it up as: LIBERATING. To top it off, my husband was so supportive and thought I was so beautiful. ::Aw::

The above picture was taken at the beginning of January and was the last time my hair was cut low. Currently growing back, I am truly enjoying this phase of my hair journey. I have had time to focus on my goals and on top of that, have learned how to cornrow my daughter's hair where it is presentable outside the home! I will eventually post a style gallery of her hairstyles on my blog. Until then, you can check me out on instagram (kocason12) for pictures of hairstyles I have done on her hair so far. Her hair is thriving, and I am thrilled to have a very efficient routine established for her that has been working for over a year now.

So what about my progress? I will let the picture speak for itself...

All smiles!

Be You. Be Blessed...

Starting Over in January 2013

::Blows away the dust::

Yes, it has been almost one year since my last posting on here. I have no excuses except for living life and learning more about myself. I came back because I am still getting visitors to my blog to my surprise and also because, as an introvert, blogging is a great outlet to express myself to many more individuals. Truly God loves me too much to allow me to hold inside many of the life lessons He has taught me through my trials, failures, mistakes, and experiences. I am getting to the point where it just doesn't feel right anymore to hoard such knowledge and wisdom from others who may really benefit from such information.

I am definitely not the same person now as I was at the beginning of the year; I am not where I desire to be for sure but am glad I am growing into a more confident person in my own skin. The biggest lessons adhering to my heart lately are: DO NOT be afraid to be an awesome ME and DO NOT live out my life as OTHERS would see it. This does not mean I should not strive to seek out wisdom from those who God has placed in my life to help guide me. Rather these two lessons have continuously encouraged me to move FEARLESSLY and FAITHFULLY forward with the purpose God has beset before without FEARING how I may disapprove others simply on the basis that my current route toward my goals is different from what some may expect of me. My road has been difficult due to lots of misguided choices and my failed attempt(s) to please others, but I have honestly learned so much about God, myself, and others throughout my challenges.  My attitude is not so much of being nonchalant but more so being focused on ME and my personal talents and how I can use them to please God rather than please others. I have lived longed enough in depression, anxiety, and self pity to know that these WILL do no good for my goals and dreams so why not try to be honest with myself and face life under a more positive spin? ::Snapping out of INSANE mode::

I have started asking God SINCERELY(with lots of tears) what lesson(s) is He trying to teach me in my circumstances. Why fight full force against Him knowing He only wants to perfect me and develop me into a better servant to carry out the purpose He has created specifically for me. Most times, I realized all along that He has been answering my prayers (for more strength, more confidence, more patience, etc) in ways not expected. Hence, His mysterious ways against my limited understanding. I am grateful for each lesson albeit many have been HARD, but I KNOW God is working to transform my thinking of one more spiritually sound. I have this burning desire to be the best I can be in Him and that starts by having the right mentality. What a man thinks, he is. This may seem irrelevant to some but this is the foundation I need strengthened if I have any aspirations to do the "impossible" through Him. I have not figured out all of life's secrets for I struggle just like the next person, but I am definitely a work in progress and know that the basis of all success begins with FAITH.

Besides gaining some much needed spiritual and mental revelations, a lot has happened over the course of this year. The highlights are marriage, changes in career aspirations, and engaging in the challenges of an ever blossoming toddler.

As far as hair goes? I will simply say this: the longer my daughter's hair has gotten, the shorter mine has gotten. It is literally the shortest it has ever been. Right now, it has not been my season to upkeep long hair while learning how to care for hers and manage life especially during my first year of marriage (which I am loving by the way!). Don't despair, my goal is obtain healthy long hair, which I am certain can be achieved in 3-5 years tops. Some may say that is too long but I say that time will pass anyway. :)

I plan to discuss all these things and more starting in January. In the meanwhile, I will work on revamping the blog little by little. Don't want to create big promises right now with so much going on, but I do have small goals set aside to help keep me motivated.

I truly hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday season! Be blessed and BE.You! :) (Taking my own advice.)

Happy New Year!!!

Hi all!  Happy New Year!

There is something about a new year that gives you that sense of newness, hope, inspiration...kind of like a rebirth. It is like having a clean slate to start year off refreshed while leaving the past in the past. I am very excited for what 2012 will bring into my life journey. I am so thankful to God in advanced for all the many blessings He has in store for me this upcoming year.

I know I have fell off the blog, twitter, and YouTube radar for a minute, but I had to deal with some very serious issues over the past year. 2011 has been a mental whirlwind and emotional roller coaster for me. It has knocked me down to some pretty low lows and had me feeling in another place other than in the rational world. Nevertheless, through it all, God was always there to pick me back up again because He was never out of sight even during my darkest moments. God is so faithful! Now that 2012 is here and I can reflect back and honestly say that I am in a MUCH better place spiritually, emotional, and mentally than I was in 2011. Praise God!

I plan to be more active this year at the least with my blogging and twitter. I am going slow because I have a lot of things going on in my life and I don't want to overwhelm myself with the social networking world. God, my health, and my family come first. I will be posting my Misses and Hits of 2011 lists in the next post so stay tuned!

Be Blessed and Be.YOU.Always! ~Kris

Another Quick Earring #Giveaway--Ends Tomorrow Night

Here is another earring giveaway for my followers on Blogger to celebrate reaching the "100+ followers" milestone. This week, I will be giving away a pair of hoop earrings. The winner will choose a pair from the batch below as her prize:

Entering the giveaway is really simple. Check out the widget below to find out how to earn up to 5 entries total.

The contest will end Sunday, August 14th @ 11:59 EST.

The winner will be randomly chosen through random.org and announced on my blog Monday.

Best wishes to all the entrants! If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Thanks!

The Winner of the "Less than 24 Hour Earring Giveaway" is...

Thanks to all who entered my giveaway for a pair of earrings designed and made by moi! The first time I did a giveaway on my blog, things did not turn out as well as I would like because blogger had some issues with posts not publishing when scheduled so that giveaway did not go through. Because of that, I wanted to make sure this one ran much smoother, and it did!

I received 11 entries for the giveaway in the following order by which each entry was posted under the comment section:

1. @Ms_McRae
2. @CurlySel 
3. Nefertiti (Google)
4. @Nonnie_22
5. @DatFunkyFro
6. @RiverRenewed  
7. @CourtneyToneya
8. @lnaturalchica 
9. Diva Locks (Google)
10. @LatinaR 
11. @LaQuishaHall

I went to Random.org to generate the lucky winner. Here are the results via print screen:

The Effects of the Baggy Method on Natural Hair

Thursday night, I decided to help curb my hair dryness by doing the baggy method. I will explain in detail what the baggy method is in a later post, but basically it is where you create a steaming effect on your head by locking in moisturized hair underneath a plastic cap or bag. The warm environment opens up the cuticles along your hair shaft thus allowing moisture to easily diffuse into the strand for improved moisture balance and hair elasticity. Here are some pictures breaking down the steps I took in utilizing the baggy method on my dry natural hair:

My hair was saturated with water. This is a texture shot of just water on my hair alone. My hair just looks pitifully dry even with water alone. :(

Curlformers Giveaway!

Mainly Braids is hosting a giveaway for Curlformers!! 

Z's Hairstyle: Simple Braided Pigtails

I decided to do Zakiah's hair in a simple braided pigtail style for the day. She finally has gotten over the stage of pulling out barrettes from her hair so I can do more styles like this one in the future. Before, she would pull those things out and almost rip her hair out trying to get them off. #cringes Now she actually likes when I put them in her hair. :)

Here are some pictures:

The "Less than 24 Hour #Giveaway" for a Pair of Handmade Earrings (Closed)

So it dawned on me that I have over 100 followers on my blog. ::smiles::

I want to say thank you all for taking the time out to follow my blog whether or not you read all my posts, some of my posts, or have never read any of them before (with this one being your first...lol).

As a token of my appreciation, I want to host a quick giveaway for my followers. This giveaway will end tomorrow at 12:00PM EST to be shipped off on Monday morning.

The rules are very simple.

Spirtual Lesson: It Ain't Over

Currently, I am in a state of uncertainty in my life. So much is going on, so much to do, so little time.  Thinking carnally, I have been having a hard time grasping how in the world all the scrambled pieces of my life will fall together.  Quite naturally with this frame of thinking and worrying, I start to get down and feel overwhelmed. Thankfully I have enough sense to turn on my Pandora to the Yolanda Adams station when I begin to lose sight of where God is trying to take me in life and get discouraged. Of course I can just pick up my bible and start reading scripture, but there is something about inspirational songs that instantly bring life to my soul especially when I the devil is attacking me at all angles and can't make another move.

The devil knows how to get me (and us all at one point or another) to a very dark place by feeding the flesh with doubt, fear, anxiety, worthlessness, and of course, uncertainty.  Honestly, he has been attacking me hard lately. Beating me down day by day trying to convince me that I am too deep in my situation, too weak to get through it, and too small to get over it.  But trust, don't think I am giving him any credit for anything. See, the devil wants me to believe that no matter how hard I try, I am down and out forever and there is no hope for me. He desperately wants me to believe that poor decisions I have made in my past have made my present situation too hard to change for the good in the future. He wants me to believe my life is over.

But praise be to God, there is a song for my life right now: It Ain't Over by Maurette Brown Clark. Every line to the song speaks to me because it represents my present situation. What I love the most about this song is the part where she sings: But the impossible is God's chance to work a miracle, a miracle. See, what seems impossible to us is never impossible to God. God can do anything. So when He so easily solves our seemly impossible situations, we, from the eyesight of men, see them as miracles. Another line I like is when she goes on to say: Jesus defeated all your enemies way before the fight began. Um, can we say what an omnipotent and omniscient God we serve? He had all (not some) our situations and trials under control before we even had the idea to get ourselves in the mess we most times get ourselves into. The devil never had a chance because God defeated him a long time ago. Since the devil knows this, he cleverly tries to see if we can give him life through giving into our weaknesses and losing faith in God's promises. In moments like these, we must remember that when we are weak, we are strong through God. He is the only One who provides us all the power, strength, and wisdom we need to overcome the devil and claim the victory that has already been won for His children.

So if you are feeling like it is over, whether it is a situation with your job, school, unemployment, family, friends, health, just KNOW it is not. And never feel like you are all alone (this is one of the devil's greatest illusions). The devil does not have the final word, you do not have the final word, your circumstances do not have the final word. It is God who has the final say in all that manifests in life on this earth because He is the only One in control. So don't give the devil any power and don't lose hope. If you fall, stumble, fall down even further than before, it is still not over. God is still working through you and on you. Just look up to Him. He already has EVERYTHING planned out. He already knew you were going to be in the situation you are in right now. The good news is that you are going to win. He has already promised the victory.

Here are the lyrics to the song. Hopefully they will touch at least one person like they have touched me over and over again. Here is a video to the song.

Verse I
I know the odds are stacked against you
And it seems there's no way out
I know the issue seems unchangeable
And that there's no reason to shout
But the impossible is God's chance
To work a miracle, a miracle
So just know

Chorus
It ain't over until God says it's over
It ain't over until God says it's done
It ain't over until God says it's over
Keep fighting until your victory is won

Verse II
He never said it would be easy
But you're a winner in the end
Jesus defeated all your enemies
Way before the fight began
But the impossible is God's chance
To work a miracle, a miracle
So just know

Chorus

Bridge
When people say you can't, remember
(He can, He can)
When you don't know what to do,
Please remember
(He has the master plan)
He will free you from your sin
And give you peace within
So hold your head up high
You're gonna win
(You're gonna win)

Chorus

Vamp
Keep fighting, keep praying, keep fasting
It ain't over, no
Keep pressing, progressing, keep moving
It ain't over, no
Keep reading, interceding, keep believing
It ain't over, no
Keep trusting, keep trying, keep travailing
It ain't over, no
Keep living, keep giving, keep going
It ain't over, no (8x)
Keep fighting until your victory is won

White Toddler Wants To Be "Brown Like Beyonce"--Your Thoughts?

I saw this posted on Beads Braids and Beyond's blog who found this off Black Girl with Long Hair's blog. I thought I would share it with you all and see what your thoughts are. This is the first time I have ever seen the beauty role reversed. How about you?



In a way, it is refreshing to see a child of another race (and of such a young age) express such appreciation for the beauty of the African-American rich skin color. However, it is kind of upsetting because she should see her skin color just as beautiful.

Do you think the young toddler's mother has a role in how her daughter views light/dark skin?

Bald to Waist Length in 4 Years

I found this nice hair chart on google and thought I would share it with you all as a guide to track your rate of hair growth (in inches) as it relates to time (in years). This chart is based on the average hair growth rate of 0.5 inches per month which translates to 6 inches a year. It would take approximately four years for the average woman to grow her hair out from bald to waist length. Of course, this is an approximation because there are several factors that can influence reaching hair milestones including:

• Hair growth rate (some women experience faster or slower hair growth rates due to genetics)
• Height (shorter women tend to reach hair goals faster than taller women)
• Retention (excellent hair care can maximize retention of older ends and lead to faster results while poorer retention (due to breakage) can push back hair goals)
• Growth aids (some women use these growth aids to speed up hair growth in order to reach milestones quicker)

Hope this chart helps give you an idea of how long (on average) it can take for your hair to reach certain length milestones. My question to you is:

What is your hair goal and about how long you believe it will take to meet your goal?

How Do You Use Aloe Vera on Your Natural Hair? Share Your Recipes!

I have this huge bottle of aloe vera juice sitting in my refrigerator. Although it does not expire until June 2013, it has been opened for over 4 months now. I read from some sources that aloe vera juice starts to turn bad 2-3 months after opening while some sources say that it is still good past that time window. I decided to hop on the latter bandwagon and use the remaining half of the bottle for my hair until it is gone.

I opened the bottle to see if there was anything floating inside and to check for any odd smells. All seemed normal. I do not drink the juice although I know it has some great digestive health benefits. I tried it once, and it tasted horrible...I am not sure if it is because it has been opened for a while or because that is how it tastes naturally. Either way, it is a no go for me.

I decided to incorporate aloe vera juice in my hair as a daily spritz. My hair has been a little more on the dry side lately even underneath the wig so I need to up my moisturizing routine to every other day and see how much that will help with the dryness factor.

Water has a pH of 7 (neutral), so when it runs over our hair (pH of 4-5), it causes our hair to temporarily relax. In addition to that, water causes the cuticles to lift along the hair shaft. Therefore some friction can result as we run our hands down our hair prior to adding any conditioner or other product on our hair following rinsing it with water.

For my spritz recipe, I used one part aloe vera juice, one part filtered water, and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. I mixed these three ingredients in a cheap spray bottle from Wal-mart and proceeded to run water over my hair because water is the ultimate source of moisture for our hair. When I used my aloe vera juice mixture (with a pH in the 4-5 range), my hair instantly became smoother as I worked the mixture down my hair because the cuticles have been closed (due to the low pH). The olive oil served as a sealant to aid in keeping the moisture in my hair until the next time I use the mixture. I braided my hair up and was well on my way with smooth and moisturized hair.

If it was not for Kimmaytube explaining the scientific relationship between pH and our hair, I probably would not have fully understood why aloe vera has such great benefits to our hair (although for a long time, I knew it was a staple used by many people). :)

The question, how do you incorporate aloe vera (juice or gel) in your hair routine? Please leave your recipes below to share with me and others. I still have half a bottle to use. :)

Pictures of Zakiah's #Naturalhair Journey

Today has been dedicated to Zakiah's hair. She is on a hair journey as well, and it is my responsibility to make sure she is on a healthy journey from the start. She was born with a head full of hair and then went through a shedding phase. I gave her one haircut some time after she was six months to get rid of the mullet/whimsy look and even out her curly hair shape. Ever since then, her hair has been on the go!

The last two pictures were taken on her first birthday. Over a year later, here is where Zakiah's hair is today:

Amazing right?! Her hair texture is so unique and so beautiful. What is even more amazing is how tall she has gotten. She looks more like a 3 year old than a 2 year old. I can't imagine how she and her hair will be a year from now although I am not rushing the thought at all...she is growing up fast as it is right now. :)

She is over 3 feet already! Eek!

I Love How Connected Braids Look on Zakiah's #Naturalhair

When cornrowing fails (although it is improving ::smiles::), I can rely on connecting Zakiah's braids either down or up in rows. This was her hair style last week and it lasted 5 days and was done on lightly damp hair. Here are some pictures of her hair style at different angles:

Results of My 4th Cornrow Attempt on Z's #Naturalhair

I did my 4th set of cornrows on Zakiah's the weekend before last. I banded her hair the night before to help stretch her hair without the use of heat. The results of the banding can be found in this post. I decided to try something a little different from the straight back look and went with the diagonal cornrows. The results are on the left.

One issue I have been having is the fuzziness of her braids. During my previous cornrowing attempts, I thought tension had a huge factor in the outcome of that issue. I tried to add just a little more tension to see if that would help but it was to no avail. Plus, I was not comfortable with pulling her hair tight just to get neater cornrows. That would defeat the purpose of protective styling.

Banding is a Great Way to Stretch Young Kids Hair Without Heat

Here are the results of banding Zakiah's hair. Her hair was stretched quite nicely without the use of any heat. Banding is definitely a method I will be using for a long time on Zakiah's hair in addition to mine. The pictures did not turn out as great as I would like but they do show how stretched her hair got from banding. I will update with better pictures of the results of banding when I use this method next time.