Operation: Length Retention -- GIGO

When I was a teenager, there was a saying floating around Evangelical youth groups of America, "Garbage In; Garbage Out."  The thought was that if you put negative/bad things in your life, you'd be adversely affected, whereas if you input good things, you'd become more like Christ.

Regardless, I have been trying to apply this concept in terms of taking care of my hair by putting good things into my body.  I stumbled upon the Kim Coles' Grow-Out Challenge at the end of June.  It's too late to enter the contest, but I still want to do the project because I want to grow healthier hair.  Part of the challenge is to drink 64 ounces of water a day.  What could be a better thing to put into the body?

I'm not the greatest at picturing measurements and sizes in my head (omg, ikr...what kind of science teacher am I????), so at first I thought 64 ounces would be no problem.  I thought I already drank a lot of water.  When I measured it out, it turned out to be enough water to fill an entire pitcher.

I love this pitcher...I got it at a garage sale a few years ago.

Anyway, as it turns out, drinking a whole pitcher of water every day is not as easy as it seems.  I started at the beginning of this month, which was the hardest.  It has become easier with each day passing.  I will say, even though I now have to pee like a madman, my skin seems clearer.  Also, my body seems to tolerate the multi-vitamin I take every day.  Before drinking all of this water, my body didn't seem to like the vitamin so much.  I am looking forward to seeing the long-term effects of this process!

Famous Last Words

Soooo...yeah.  I saw this picture in the July 2011 edition of Essence (p. 56) & thought to myself, "Hey, that looks easy!  I should try it..."

***sigh*** Well, it wasn't as easy as I thought.  After listening to a Church on the Move podcast once & then Israel & New Breed's Live From Another Level [disc 2] three times, here is the final outcome.  I'm not really pleased with the results (I'm a perfectionist) but it's gonna have to do for the week...

A Time to Rest, pt. I

In Ecclesiastes 3, we read that everything has its season.  This summer I have been struggling through a season of rest, and plan on doing a few blogs about the things I am learning.  This post is part one of many.
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Many of my good friends know that I have an, ahem, affinity for cleaning.  It is not uncommon for me to say in the middle of a phone call, "Ay, can I put you on speakerphone right quick?  I'm trying to clean this toilet/clean this fishbowl/dismantle and wipe down this refrigerator/dismantle and wipe down this washing machine."

Some might call me OCD, but I think I clean a lot because it gives me something to do, as well as a sense of satisfaction.  When I was a kid, my mom would compile a long list of things that needed to be cleaned by the end of the summer.  The list ranged from washing blinds to scrubbing tiles on my hands and knees with a small brush.  I always hated pulling weeds, yet every year it'd be on the list.  There was a colony of wasps in the backyard that always lurked around me when I'd pull weeds in the hot sun and make me nervous.  Anyway, every week, she'd choose an area for me to focus on.  By the end of the summer, it was all done.  I swore that once I "grew up," I'd never spend my summers cleaning.

Well, here I am all grown up...and what have I done every summer since I've moved out of my parents' house?  That's right, made a 2 page list of things to clean and proudly completed it by the end of the summer.  This summer, before I even sat down to make my list, I started things off right by giving my refrigerator a thorough cleaning.  Man, there's nothing like taking apart a fridge, cleaning every inch, and putting it together again.  Seriously.

Anyway, shortly after that, I went on vacation with my parents and my paternal side of the family.  When I returned, I got ready to make my list of things to clean (especially since I just discovered "stickies" on my mac), as well as a list of tests/notes/videos to make for next school year.  Suddenly, the Holy Spirit challenged me and I heard a resounding, "NO! Just rest," in my spirit.  I was troubled because there was so much I wanted to DO this summer.  I am a task-oriented person and I just find so much joy in doing.

Instead, I did what I felt instructed to do, to rest.  And I have tried really hard to continue to do that.  At the beginning of this month I would get up, eat, read, catch up on past episodes of SYTYCD, and take a nap.  And even now, as I am doing a brief stint teaching summer school, I am challenging myself not to overplan (which I usually do) and to take things one day at a time.  It's hard to give up control, but I find myself at a greater peace and actually enjoying life.

As I was sharing at worship practice the other day (yes, some kind of way I'm on the worship team at church...I play the violin...that's a whole 'nother story), I'm learning that rest is not passive.  It is active.  As I choose to rest, I allow myself to be filled.  And as I am filled, I will be able to pour out and serve others from the overflow.  The days of striving are over.  Pray for me as I choose to rest.

Stay encouraged.

Product Review: SheaMoisture

Soooo...I'm thinking about renaming my blog "Natural Hair Tips from My Cousin."

My cousin kept raving about SheaMoisture products for months.  She was even leaving cryptic voice messages on my cellular phone about it.  "Oh my hair is so soft now that I'm using SheaMoisture, blah, blah..."

I for one, am a creature of habit and slow to change.  I've been natural for 5 years and kind of had my products & regimen in-tact.  I had a styling product (that I think I may have mentioned in an earlier post) that I'd been using and loving for years and wasn't really looking for anything new.  On top of that, I'm quite frugal...my personal motto for most things in life is "5 dollars or less."  So, when I went to Walgreens to take a look at the SheaMoisture products, I was not thrilled about the price ($9.99 for everything that I saw).  I reluctantly purchased the Organic Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie...mainly because I thought it smelled good.

Let me tell you, that purchase was WELL WORTH the $10 spent!  I have done away with my old styling product and am now hooked on the Organic Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie for several reasons:

1. It smells SO GOOD!  Seriously, it smells like something you want to eat...even days after being applied.
2. It is organic & doesn't have weird, man-made ingredients.  When I look at the label, I can pretty much pronounce all of the ingredients & identify what they are.  I can't remember if I've talked about this before, but a lot of my family has had cancer (either survived it or died from it), so I'm very cautious about chemicals, ingredients, radiation, etc.
3. My hair has been SO SOFT and SO SILKY because of it!  I think part of the manageable texture might be because I have been cowashing, but I think the SheaMoisture product has something to do with it too.
4. The product is not at all sticky, but rather naturally oily.  My old styling creme always left my hands and hair feeling so sticky, that I was self-conscious about anyone touching it because of the sticky residue.  This product is not sticky at all and when I touch my twists, my hands still feel clean.

All in all, another great recommendation from my cousin!  Now, she's leaving msgs on my phone about a black tea rinse...yeah, I'm still skeptical about that one... ;-)