M.I.A.

To say it's been a while since my last post would be an understatement. I'm not going to offer any excuses for being M.I.A., but I do want to apologize to you for the down time.  There have been several events that have occurred over these past two months that have changed the dynamics for both me and my family and it has taken us some time to adjust to and welcome the changes with God's help and guidance.  Just recently my husband and I were victims of a hit and run accident.  Although we were not physically injured (major damage was done to our vehicle) we have since reprioritized our day to day living.  We have since begun to put more focus and attention as to what God's purpose is for our lives and that of our children. We have learned a lot both as a couple and individually and we each have grown from this experience.

"Tomorrow isn't promised to us. So live as if today is your last day on earth. Love like you've never loved before...."- Gregory James Upson

What's in a package?

If we are too busy being consumed with fulfilling our own heart's desires, we will ultimately neglect the needs of others.  Become part of something larger than yourself.  This is my personal goal for 2013!

Where the green grass grows

"The grass ain't always greener on the other side, it's only green where you water it."  Heard this while listening to a song earlier today (Long As You Love Me - JB).  I have heard people say, "the grass is greener on the other side", but what a great comeback response to such tomfoolery!

A White Christmas!

 We were awakened this morning to the sound of hard rain and lightening, but look at it now! Wonderful snow!  Just a beautiful and wonderful blanket of snow on Christmas day!

A bird's footprints in the snow found on our doorstep.  

A view of the winter wonderland from our dining room window.  

The beginning stages of the family igloo (not sure if anyone will stay in it) and snow covered foliage. We received a lot of snow today and now the family and I are all bundled up keeping warm.  I hope your Christmas was a blessed one as well.  Merry Christmas and God Bless You!

Little Angels!

What a blessing you can be in someone's life by simply taking the time to care!

For the past year I've been having this feeling of wanting to do more with my life regarding caring for others.  I would have talks with my husband regarding wanting to give back to our community in some way, but didn't quite know where to begin. I thank God for guiding me in this direction as I find that by my actively acting on this desire to help and to be of service to others, I find a since of peace and joy in knowing that I have, in some sort of way, helped make a difference in someone else's life in a positive and encouraging way.

Quote of the day!

One lovely blog award...

Love, Peace & Happy Tresses has been given the "One Lovely Blog Award" from Jeni from
Just Grow Already!. This award was truly an unexpected, wonderful surprise. Thank you Jeni!

In accepting this award I will share 7 things about myself:

1)  I love seafood!  My favorite is crawfish with BBQ crab legs a close second.

2)  Love listening to country music. My mom grew up on farm and I guess I'm a country girl at heart.

3)  I watch Green Lantern, Young Justice, ThunderCats and Legends of Kora on Saturday mornings. Hey, I'm the only girl in a house full of men.

4)  I wear eyeglasses.

5)  Considering returning to school to study law.

6)  Hubby calls me "baby girl" even though I'm older than he is.

7)  I love eating Kimchi!

Here are a few more lovely blogs!

Precious Curls

Fro Stoppa

For The Love of My Fro
From Alx With Love

He Is Risen!

Song

"God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives."

Giving Glory to God, my Savior Lives!

Have a wonderful and blessed Easter!

Becoming natural changed my life for good!

I absolutely adore chokers!

I was loving my new hair!  I was trying on different clothing and accessories to create a look,  "MY" look. I purchased new clothes and updated items I already had. I had a new sense of boldness and I was ready for the world.

Although I was ready for the world, the world wasn't ready for me wearing my natural hair out.  Those who knew me wanted me to go back to wearing my hair straight.  I even had my husband's friends say to him, "I liked it better when it was straight".  I've heard many negative comments during my early months, especially when wearing my hair in twists, but guess what my response was to all the drama and fuss?  This is MY hair and I wear it they way I choose to please ME.  I had my husband's full support (remember, he shaved my head for me for my second BC) and his love.  Our son loved me as I was.  It was their love and support that helped me stay on my natural journey.  Without their love and support my journey would have been difficult, and for that I am truly grateful.

In the beginning I tried...

to fall in love with my natural tresses worn in its natural state, but doing so proved to be at times difficult.  After my pregnancy my hair had grown much longer and trying to maintain it daily with a newborn, work, school, and maintaining a family, etc... was a bit much.  I didn't know how to get my hair to look and feel soft when dry as it did when wet.  When wetting my hair in the shower, I could and would run my fingers through my strands.   That was, at the time, the only time I  loved my hair.  It was how my hair looked and felt after it dried that I wasn't too fond of.  It would feel dry and brittle.  Forget trying to run my fingers through it.  I didn't know how to style it in this state, thus I did what I knew how to do and that was to press it straight.  Thanks Mom!  You are my rock!
 





Hair blowdried then straightened

I wore my hair straight for a little over two years.  Spring, fall and winter seasons were the best times of the year to wear my hair straight, however, it was during the summer months wearing my hair straight was troublesome for me.   

In the south our summers are both hot and humid!

Trying to maintain my pressed tresses worn down during the summer was brutal.  My hair would frizz something fierce and unless I had my A/C on full blast at night, I would wake up to "sweated" out edges and roots.  There were times in the morning I just didn't have time to "re-straighten" my hair before heading out to daycare and to work.  So, I created the up-do style below as my signature style to help me through the summer months.  Even with the humidity, I didn't mind a lil' frizz when sporting this style.   As long as my look was "contained" I was okay.

Staple up-do for summer months. 

Finally, it was during one hot and brutal summer with temperatures hitting in the triple digits I said
ENOUGH! No more styling with heat.  I had to learn how to take care of my natural tresses without using heat. So, I began washing my strands and applying a hair oil I found within an east indian grocery store to my wet hair.  I would apply oil to a section of hair then create single twist strands pinned elongated (as flat as I could get it) going to the back, side, front of my head.  I still didn't know how to "style" it without heat, so once my hair dried, I would wear a headwrap or my favorite cap (during fall and winter) before heading out.  I also did this because even with the oil from the indian store my hair still didn't feel quite right to the touch.

I had a colored scarf for every outfit worn.

Wearing my favorite Page Boy Hat of that time.

Although I didn't wear my  natural tresses "out", I was still on the right path for me.  I loved the sense of freedom I felt from not having to depend upon "heat" styling my hair. I now could begin to embrace and truly fall in love with my natural tresses. I truly felt free!  I loved not having to worry about the weather, especially when it rained.  Chuckle! I loved not having to wake up in the morning early to heat up my irons.  I L.O.V.E.D. IT!  However, even still with this new found freedom, I was in search  for something more.  

Here's where I'm at...

A few years back I used to participate in posting on-line images and personal experiences of my natural hair journey and did so for a few years.  I no longer have my original on-line photo album, but I do have many of the images documenting my ups and downs, my successes and failures when trying to get it "right" when styling my tresses in their natural form.  I've decided that I will begin sharing with you how I wore my hair when I returned to work following my maternity leave.  During my pregnancy I was on bed rest for 6 months, thus doing anything to my hair was not my main focus.  However, it was during this time my hair grew extremely fast, thus after delivery I had a lot more hair to deal with than before.  My TWA was not so teeny weeny anymore and I did not know what to do with my hair in order to keep my curls soft and moisturized in its curly state.  I tried every product found at the local BSS and nothing worked.  So, I wore it straight until I was fed up with trying to keep it straight during the summer's hot and humid months.  This was when my "natural" journey for me truly began!


With sincere thanks to you all!

Finally, thank you all for your emails and for your wonderful comments.  Please know that I truly appreciate you making your presence known and for your love and support.  Cyber hug!  I want you all to know that I've come a long way since my early days as a natural and my plan is to share with you what I've learned along the way.  There was a time when I wanted to give up being natural and go back to the relaxer, but I'm so grateful to my Mom for telling me to hang in there.  She once said to me, "Don't give up.  You'll find that miracle product soon!"  What I discoverd over the years was that it was more to it than just finding that miracle product...it was So Much More!

Wet set twist-out

 So, with all that being said (well that being written), please stay tuned for the "Chronicles of Love, Peace and Happy Tresses".  Also, as of today, I'm wearing my hair in small wet set twists.  This set of twists will have been in for a week tomorrow.  I've taken a few images and I will publish in my upcoming post.

Again, thank you for your love and support.  Have a very blessed weekend!

Welcome...I am so happy you stopped by!

Wow! I finally did it! I created my first blog and I am so excited. I have so much to write about and share that I am bursting at the seams. This is my first entry and it really is just about me sharing with you my blog's purpose and that is to keep you in the know on the things I know. It's just that simple! I don't claim to know a lot, but I have learned some very important things during this time that God has allowed me to live my life while here on this planet and hopefully what I've learned will be of some help to you. I will write about things that I feel bring about love, peace and happiness in many aspects of my life.  Also, my blog's title "Love, Peace and Happy Tresses" is a good indication that one of the things that I love is taking great care of my natural tresses.  Although it is not my number one love, it is within my top ten list of things that I do love.  So, in my blog I will also share my natural hair journey with you as well.

Off to sort my topics, images and to do more reading on customizing my blog. I want your visit with me to be an enjoyable time for you!

Peace and Blessings!