Patience, Hair, Patience

You have a vision, you have a purpose, you can see the finish product right in front of you but you have so much more work to do before it is done. Patience. It is definitely something you have to learn in life.

My journey to see my natural hair texture has been just that a journey. There have been times where I want to just give up and say forget this. I don't care if I don't see the curls anymore. But then there are other times where I get so excited about the process, I look at how far I've come. My hair is growing like crazy, it's big, it's puffy and I love it. Through the entire process I have to learn to be patient, there are times when I don't want to be patient and I contemplate throwing in a relaxer or just doing a BC (big chop). But I have to remember to stay calm, be patient and just wait. I chose a long transition so I could get used to the curls and the texture.

There are weeks when I get real excited about trying new styles, other weeks I am ready to just say for get it and throw a relaxer in it. But then I remember the pain, the headaches, the money I have to spend and all the trouble I have to go through for my roots to only swell up and need a touch up in 4-6 weeks. Nope that's okay I will continue on this journey of learning my natural hair texture.

Living in VA definitely helps with the transition because the weather is so different here from what it is in Massachusetts. The humidity makes my hair big and fluffy, I have found a hair dresser that specializes in natural hair, and one of my younger sisters has decided to go natural. The two of us are constantly looking at different styles, she's always asking about the texture of her hair, different products, and hair styles. She got a kick out of using EEVO in her hair. She told the hair dresser what I was doing one night and the hair dresser said: 'Girl, EVOO will become your friend lol' So this journey has it ups and downs, but I know that being able to finally see my natural hair texture will be amazing.

Once I figure out this weekend's hair style I'll do another post.

New Year, New Journey....or is it?

Happy New Year! It's a new year, new journey, resolutions to be made. Do you really make resolutions? I haven't made one in years, if I say I'm going to do something or not do something then that's it. I don't wait until January to decide to change things. It changes when I make that declaration.

I'm still working on getting things in order with my business, a lot of behind the scenes work gets put into place beforehand. I am also going to be opening the blog back up. After much prayer and talking with my business coach things will be much different this time. You can check out the blog here and let me know what you think. There is quite a bit that will be happening there. I'm excited and ready to share with everyone. I've had some people ask if I was going to do Foodie Friday's again and I am. That will definitely be back, along with Taste Test Tuesday, where I showcase new products or just products people see and want me to test out. My journey to becoming my own boss continues.

I went home to Massachusetts for what was supposed to just be Christmas weekend but turned into a 10 day stay. I really enjoyed visiting with my family and friends. I even surprised my family by blow drying and straightening my hair. I was surprised at the length but after 3 days I missed my curls lol. I stood strong and waited almost 3 weeks before I washed my hair. I'm proud of myself. There are still some relaxed ends that I need to get rid of, so I'll cut a little more off in a few months. This transition is taking it's course but I am loving my hair even if other's don't.

My cousin Tiara has finished her transition and is completely natural now. Her curls look amazing. People spent the entire week mixing us up. If my hair had remained curly during this visit it would have been even worse. We do look just a like so we can't help it. Once I find the picture we took I'll post it.

This also happen to be our first Christmas without my great-grandmother. It was kind of sad, but we celebrated her life the way she would want us to. One of my cousins moved into her house so I went over there to hang out with him and it was a bitter sweet moment walking into that house knowing that she wouldn't be sitting in her recliner looking at me. I definitely felt her presence in the home.

A lot has happened!!!

So it's been a while since I have last posted here. A lot has happened since March. I have settled in with my new job, which I absolutely love, found my home church, and I'm working on getting my bakery up and running. In between all of that I have been traveling a lot, visiting family and friends.

While doing all of that traveling I had to opportunity to do some leisure reading. About a year ago I became an Ambassador for Harlequin Books, in which they send me a book to review every few weeks, followed by a survey and the opportunity to distribute the other 4 copies to friends, family, strangers, etc. 4 copies isn't a lot and most of the time I really do enjoy the books that they send, so I have decided  that I will write a blog post about each of the books. This way, I can go into more detail about the book and let you know what I thought about it. The first post will be up by the end of the week!!

I got a question the other day on twitter asking me about my natural hair journey.....I'm still on the path. This head full of thick curly kinks is steady growing. The VA humidity makes it look even bigger, my roots swell something serious. I love it though, there are a lot of women at my job that are rocking their natural curls as well, one just did the BC and it came out beautiful!!! Speaking of natural hair, one of my younger sisters has gone natural...that's 3 of us so far!!! She has TWA and it's so cute!! Funny thing is she kind of went natural by accident. LOL She got pregnant last year and kept her hair in braids the whole time, so now there is no more relaxer left. I was doing a twist out on my hair one night and she said 'Can you do mine, when I take my braids out? Now you know I was excited!! Doing her twist out was so much fun, she actually wore the twist the work for the week and then rocked the twist out for about 4 days..said she felt like a totally different person. Woo Hoo!! We are doing this natural hair journey together and loving it. I need to take more pictures of my hair, maybe I can get the enthusiasm to do it this weekend. I'm thinking braids and a bantu knot out will be my weekend style, it just might be my style for a week knowing me. LOL

Food, food and more food.....well as you know I have another blog called Tastey Treats by Kim (here) where I discuss everything food related, write product reviews, and give out recipes. Well after working on that for a year I have finally decided to do what people have been asking me to do...sell my baked goods! I have started the process of working on my home based bakery, getting my business plan in order, along with with a product listing. But....I still need a name LOL Yeah I know I should probably already have one, but I don't..I'm working on it. I don't want it to be something I just threw together, I want it to have a meaning..some purpose. Brainstorming sessions are releasing some interesting characteristics, and I'm playing around with a few words to see if anything sticks. Hopefully I will have a name picked out soon. It's a lot of work to do, but I am really motivated and extremely happy that I have a support system to help me through this process along with my business coach Shivawn Mitchell from L.O.V.E. Consulting. She is amazing! If you are ready to live out your vision...CONTACT HER!! My journey to having my own bakery has begun, there have been some sleepless nights but I don't realize them until the next day when I get to work and I'm exhausted lol. I'm loving my journey and all it has to offer!!

New place, new journey...

So I took some time off from writing on this blog. I put my hair kinky twists for about 2 months just to be different. I need that time to come up with a hair regime, hairstyles and I knew I had of other stuff going on. The time off was great, I learned a lot and I watched my hair grow tremendously. Everyday I fall more in love with my hair, yeah I still get the nay sayers asking me why my hair isn't straight or why I won't get the 'Creamy Crack' put in my hair. Ummm....NO! I am who I am, let me enjoy my hair. Right now it's pressed just because I wanted to see what it would look like and boy has it grown. I was really shocked. But I do miss my curls so I may go back to my curly state sometime very very soon. I need to wash my hair anyway so that is a good excuse.

Besides my hair, I took some time to work on my bakery business. I have been doing a lot more baking these past few months and it is has taken time away from a lot of things, but I love it. About 3-4 days out the week I am in my kitchen baking cookies, cakes, pies, cupcakes either for myself or for others. I am so grateful for the support that I receive from family and friends. Here is the link to my blog 'Tastey Treats by Kim' Right now I am doing '25 Days of Cookies' for the month of December. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Another thing I am working on is L.O.V.E Movement, an online networking site and magazine for women. The founder Shivawn, which I met on another networking site, has been gracious enough to give me my own section called 'Kimberlee's Kitchen.' I was in tears when she told me she was doing this. It's amazing, I tell you. When someone else sees something in you and is willing to help you grow it is such a wonderful feeling. I am truly honored for this opportunity. Stop by the site and check us out!

Enough for now, I will be blogging much more now that I have moved the blog and I am back into my writing routine. Until next time...Be Blessed!

The time has come.....

Over the past few weeks a lot of things have changed. I lost a cousin (which shook me the core), prayer life intensified, I've paid off some bills and I have been seriously job hunting in Virginia. But one thing that happened is God has told me to end my employment with Tastefully Simple. As much as I love this company, the products, training and other consultants it is time for me to go. I love food, my friends call me a foodie LOL. I am preparing myself for my next step. I know what I would like it to be but I am not quite sure if it is what God has in store for me. My head is spinning thinking about all the recipes that I would like to work on, cupcakes, cakes, cookies, brownies. I probably should have gone to Pastry School 10 years ago. But gotta do things God's way. So I must continue to be patient, pray and wait to see what He has in store for me.

On another not my hair is amazing! It's been 4 months since my last dose of creamy crack. I am truly enjoying the journey. Looking at the curls that are forming, I get excited just thinking about how my hair will be once it is back to it's natural state. Family still thinks I'm crazy for not having a relaxer but thanks to friends, blogs, and forums I am going to continue with this journey. Since I am planning on being a long term transition-er ( I want to be completely natural for my 30th birthday August 2012) I have created a list of hairstyles that I want to try. Now this list is LONG!!! Maybe one day I will post it as a checklist to see how many of them I can accomplish. Among that list, is a list of protective hairstyles for me to try as well. The winter is coming so I will be in the house more, on top of job hunting, I am now able to get those protective styles that I have always wanted but have not gotten before because I always had a relaxer.

I am so excited about trying out the different styles and learning about my hair. Right now I have kinky twists in, these will stay in for at least 6-8 weeks. Then I will look for another style to have. When I take these I will be cutting off some relaxed ends. I know I will. LOL When I cut off those 3 inches before it felt good and my hair grew even more. It almost felt like freedom to rid my self of straight hair. I need to post of pictures of my hair journey, maybe I will do a slide show for the next post.

Yeah it's nappy... and what?

So its funny how when I started this journey 2 months ago people had my back and supported me. But I guess now that my hair is growing out and you can see how wavy it is folks don't like it. In fact, can't stand it.

The humidity really did a number on my hair these past few days. Now that it's puffy ( I was too tired to do anything after traveling yesterday ) people got issues. I came home and told my grandmother I was going to get my hair done tonight and she goes I hope you are getting a relaxer because your hair is nappy. Yes gramma I know its nappy its mine. I politely let her know that I am not getting a relaxer, just a roller set. Then she starts to go on and on about how nappy my hair is. Uggghhh this is frustrating but I knew when I started this journey everyone wasn't going to be in my corner. My mom is okay as long as it is in a protective style. My girls are cool with it and just as excited as I am.

I guess I am just irritated about the whole thing. I will post again after my hair is done tonight.

Until then... Be Blessed!

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I love heat and humidity!!!!

Our family reunion was this weekend in Myrtle Beach, SC. It was at least 97 each day, shoot it's 93 outside now. I couldn't get my hair braided before I left home so I decided to just wash and do a bantu knot out or a braid out for the week. Well let's just say with all the swimming, visits to the water park and the humidity it was a lot of wash n go's going on. But I absolutely enjoyed the week with my hair.

The humidity made my hair big and beautiful. I loved it!! I already love the heat as it is and now that I know my hair enjoys it to, it's a done deal. One of my sisters said my ponytail was puffy, I said good, it's the way it's supposed to be. LOL I am truly embracing this journey. Although I did get many requests asking me when I was going to get a relaxer and why didn't I get one before I got to SC. Now the more people pester me and question why I do things, the more determination I have to stay on my journey.

I have to admit there are days when I want to give up and get the creamy crack put in my head but when I think about the pain, the scabs and the migraine that follows I just say 'No Thanks' and keep moving. I have made a goal with myself to learn how to corn roll my hair by the end of the summer. I refuse to pay people to do something I know I can do myself. Each month I will give myself a goal to achieve for my natural hair journey. I think this will make my process very interesting.

For July my goal was a bantu knot out. Now when I say my hair and the humidity loved this style, it really did love it. This will definitely be a hairstyle I will use often. I love the curls and the waves.

Thank you humidity for embracing my hair and giving me more confidence. Love Ya lots!!!

All this new growth!!!

So being that I am acquiring so much new growth I decided to get my hair braided. I figured this way it would be in a protective style for at least a month and by the time I come back from vacation I would take them out and get something else done. Well, not to sure how this is all going to turn out because these box braids have been in for less than a week and I already have 1/4 of new growth. How is that possible?


Don't get me wrong I'm loving this but I can't believe it's all happening so fast. Maybe I can get away with getting the first two rows of my box braids done over before I leave. My mother and my grandmother both said my hair grows too fast. So is that the reason my relaxers didn't last a month? 


I am truly enjoying this journey and I am excited to see what it will bring next. All this hair and all this new growth. But I love it!!


Blessings!!

All these chemicals...LOL

So last night I went through my 'hair' cabinet in my bathroom. I ended up printing out the list of '10 Chemicals to Avoid Putting On Your Hair' courtesy of Nappturality. As I was going through the cabinet and pulling out products I was surprised at the amount of products that I had and all the chemicals that were in them. WOW!!! It was actually kind of scary. I am determined to have healthy hair and rid myself of all the crazy chemicals so I put everything in a basket and gave it to my grandmother. She laughed and said 'Stick with it Pumpkin!'

I only have 5 products in the cabinet now. I still need to get a detangler and some aloe vera gel. But I'm good on everything else. I am enjoying the journey and learning so much as I go along. I feel that if I am going to do this, I am going to do it right, so getting rid of all those chemicals is a MUST!!

A New Day..A New Beginning

So after 2 years of going back and forth with my decisions on a lot of things I have decided that I am going to step out of my comfort zone and do things that I have been wanting to do. One of them being event planning and the other being 'going natural'. I'm nervous, scared and excited all at the same time, but this is something I must do for myself and no one else. 


Thanks to a very good friend I met on Twitter I can begin my transition stage with someone to talk to. It's a great feeling to know that you have someone to bounce your questions and ideas off of. It is something I have wanted to do but wasn't sure if I was ready for it. Now that I am, I am stepping out of my comfort zone and doing something I have never done. It feels wonderful to live out my purpose in life. 


I got my last relaxer in mid-May and I am now due for a touch up. My grandmother asked me if I wanted her to put my touch up in this week and I said 'no gramma, I'm all set. No more relaxer for me.' She just looked at me and smiled. That right there made me cry. My hair is thick and coarse but I love it. So I am going to embrace my newness and continue to enjoy life. 


Be Blessed!