3 Month Check In

I think about 3 months ago I started the Kim Coles' Grow Out Challenge.  I know heat is a "no-no" during this 6 month challenge, but this weekend, time & curiosity got the best of me, so I blow-dried my hair for the first time in forever.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the length of my ponytail!  My hair has not been this healthy since I was in middle school.

Even though I have fallen off a couple of times, I am still trying to conquer the 64oz. of water a day thing.  I have been pretty faithful in keeping up with my vitamin intake (a women's vitamin & a cod liver oil pill) every day.  I have also been making sure that I eat my "5 a day" fruits & veggies, especially green veggies. Supposedly, I'm anemic, so the green veggies are rich in iron & keep me from dragging.

I can honestly say, if anything, this is the most energetic I've felt at the beginning of a school year during my whole stint as a teacher (4 years)!  Perhaps part of it is finally getting the swing of things, but I have been less stressed, more active, and overall just feeling plain good.  This challenge has yielded some EXCELLENT results!

Um, Yeah...We're Done!

So, this year marked my 10-year anniversary of my on-again, off-again, quite complicated relationship with Proactiv.  We are getting a divorce.

I can't even get all of this crap to fit in my trash can!

As a high schooler, my acne seemed to go from bad to worse.  My mom would try to "help" me, but I wanted to be left alone.  I kept hoping that if I didn't talk about it, it would just go away.  Well, that didn't happen. And by the time I was a senior, she went on a limb & ordered Proactiv.

It worked pretty well.  Except for the side effects.  The solution has a bleaching agent, so many of my clothes, sheets, pillowcases, etc. are/were discolored because of it.  Also, the mask uses sulfur, so I was walking around smelling like rotten eggs.  Yeah.  Not the business.

Over the years, I have realized that what it truly comes down to is that I have extremely sensitive skin, especially on my face.  I can't use scented anything (lotion, detergent, soaps, etc.); I have to keep things that touch my face (ie. the phone) really clean, & I can't have things (or ppl ;-) ) touching my face for long periods of time.  Otherwise, I WILL break out.

I've mentioned it before, but I've been on a quest to use beauty products that do not have synthetic ingredients.  Which is why I was OVERJOYED to find that SheaMoisture has an acne treatment kit!  It's at Target.

It costs more than the regular SheaMoisture products...about $16, but it's well worth the purchase!  I have really smooth, clear skin & I LOVE that it uses natural ingredients.

I also think that drinking a TON more water, keeping my hands off my face, & changing my communication methods have helped a whole lot.  I changed my cell phone plan so that I finally have unlimited texting...so I do that a lot more instead of calling.  Also, if I know I'm going to be on the phone for a long time, I have been using Google Talk on my computer, so that I don't have to hold anything to my face.

Finally, the skin I always wanted! :-D

Shedding Season

When I was a child, my mom used to take me to this kiddie salon to get my hair pressed by a woman named Ms. Regina.  I liked Ms. Regina a lot.  She knew how to get my kinky hair bone straight, and, unlike my mother, she didn't slip the hot comb and accidentally burn my ear or neck in the process.

Every once in awhile, she'd notice that my hair was coming out, but would assure me with these words--"It's ok; it's shedding season."

I thought about those words, "shedding season," the other day when looking at the flowers on my balcony.  About 3-4 weeks ago, I looked out my window & noticed that NO flowers were growing, which shocked me.  I saw this:

Most of the flowers had died & dried up on the stems

I decided at that time that I needed to prune my little plants, so that (without getting too scientific) new growth could form.  I pulled off all the dead flowers & hoped for the best.  Several weeks went by & nothing happened.  Then, the other day when I came back from my FABULOUS vacation to West Michigan, I looked out and saw the following:

New life formed!

Forward movement has been on my mind a lot lately...frankly, all year.  The verse that I decided to "claim" for 2011 has been Deut. 2:3, "You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward."  I have been declaring that I would move "northward" in all areas of my life, no matter the cost.

Honestly, moving forward can be a bit painful.  It's easy to get comfortable where you are or to hold on to unnecessary items.  But, what I am learning, is that God can't bless you with something new if you're still holding on to the old.  It's shedding season, y'all.

Stay encouraged.