help...again

You guys?!

I need your help. For real.

Can you hop on over here and vote for me (in the head chic in charge category). My girl Ebony is hosting a hair challenge and I need your help to get to the winning spot. Well why should you bother... because we're friends right?! This would really mean a lot to me!!

It was a year ago that I started my healthy hair journey. I think I've come a long way. I'm not where I'd like to be but I think the overall heath of my hair has improved. I know some of you must be thinking- this is so vain- I mean really a hair contest?!

But you see- it's a black girl thing. I think across all generations there are African American females who have struggled with her hair. This stems from many reasons all of which I'm not sure I could explain properly here on this platform. But it's real and still on going.

I strive to have healthy hair as a part of overall 'being healthy'. I think I've made progress in this past year. I've learned so much about healthy hair care and as a result my hair has benefited which has boosted my overall self confidence. I still have people who know me pretty well ask me am I wearing a weave. And there are times that I am sitting around with my family and take off my wig (because wigs make you very hot!) and someone will say- I didn't know that was a wig!!

I've managed to do a couple of new hairstyles here and there. This is a result of my new found care about my hair

I am no where near the end of my journey. Seeing the results of other care bloggers astound me and let's me know that I can do it. I kind of want to see if I can achieve waist length hair. I mean- it's possible right?! I foresee my journey getting a little bit harder because we are moving to a new location that does not have a large population of African American women- and I'm positive that the nearest hair salon is about 20 to 30 minutes away.

I have some ideas about how I'm going to proceed from here as well as some short term goals. But for now can you spare and minute and vote for me? please.

WW: they make my heart melt

Help us choose

A few weeks ago I briefly mention that we were moving... remember? Of course I'll go into more detail later but right now I have to take a minute to get you guys opinions. We need to choose somewhere to live- so welcome to house hunters- FMTM edition!


Before I start here are some things to keep in mind:
1. We currently do not have any outdoor space and this is something we would like to be able to enjoy in the future.
2. We are moving away from ALL of our family and friends- I mean we don't know anyone where we are going so that means we will be hosting visitors of some sort at different points.
3. We currently enjoy a 2.5 bedroom (the half a 'bedroom' doesn't have a closet in it) and it works but I would like to have an office, and possibly a guest bedroom... maybe some room to expand our family?
4. I have not personally seen ANY of these spaces- I am relying solely on my husband 'knowing me' and lots of camera phone pics to help him make a decision.
5. We want to have a lease signed for August 15. He has to be out of temporary housing by 8/27 (I think) so at this point 8/15 is our best option. He thinks if worse came to worse he could get the employer to allow him to stay until 9/1 (they are very accepting and mindful of the fact that we have a little baby).

So, my husband has spent the last 2 weeks narrowing down our choices. He feels like these are our top two options:

HOUSE #1

I think this is my fave. It has 5 bedrooms (one of which is already designed to be a home office- score!) For the most part the house is pretty updated. The floors are gorgeous (I'm not a fan of carpet), it's spacious (according to hubby), the layout is nice, and we would be able to have overnight guests - no sweat!

The cons: the backyard sucks! - it's mostly gravel and I don't foresee that being enjoyable next summer with a toddler. There is a nice grassy part but it's mainly on the side of the home. So it would be hard to sit on the back deck and watch the children while they play. However- we can still grill out (this is major for us) but according to hubby we would be eating next to our cars :(

Because the home is an older home we are concerned about heating costs. Older homes are notorious for their poor insulation and the realtor didn't seem to think that it had been updated. We live in a older hard to stay warm house now and it's not pretty. I'm sure it wouldn't be fun to do that in an 1860 2,700 sq ft Victorian either. PLUS, we prefer gas stoves. we've live with an electric stove before- yea the food gets cooked but a gas stove in ideal. And lastly, it's on a main (but not too busy) road.

And then there's this... It's almost everything the Victorian isn't. ALMOST.

HOUSE #2

There's only 3 bedrooms (as opposed to the five). The floors are really nice but the home has a very prominent oak wood presence. While this isn't the worse- it's not the best either.

The layout seems to be workable. I think we could enjoy living here.

But this has by far got to be the best part...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We get to enjoy the great outdoors!! We'll need a grill, nice patio furniture and lots of sweet tea :)

What it really comes down to in indoor space vs. outdoor space and price. While we will only be able to use the outdoor space a few months out of the year (that I plan on extending by investing in a heat lamp or a fire pit) I think house number #2 is more economically sound for us. But I thought I would solicit your opinion. What do you think??

Random Ramblings

My thoughts are all over the place and I cannot form a coherent post to save my life! I have so much in my drafts but I feel like they aren't yet finished to be able to publish them. I know I have been absent from posting but I'm still around reading blogs and commenting here and there.

I think my inability to write is because I have a huge decision hanging over my head and it's actually taking up most of my thinking power. So here are a compilation of thoughts- bare with me please!


1. My son likes dogs. Whenever he sees one (weather he knows the doggy or not) he lights up! He starts laughing and giggling and reaches out to grab them. He even stuck his hand in the mouth of my sister-in- law's dog! Who does that?! My husband has been begging me since we got married to get a dog. Augh! I don't particularly care to live with one. I think when little bit starts walking and talking I'm going to get outnumbered. I'm thinking of ways to even the score back out.

2. I've been trying to update my posts. The ones already published. I've gone back to fix spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. sidenote: if you see a mistake tell me- I'm not one who doesn't like to be corrected grammatically- especially published material. An email will suffice (thanks!) More recently I updated this post- the thing is I'm not sure if I've ever told you. So go re-read (please) and plus I added pictures.

3.  I don't know how to reply to comments on a blog post. Plus, I think because my layout was all in HTML code the 'reply' feature is lost. Besides, I normally reply to comments via email because I do it from my phone. And, you don't even get notifications when someone replies to your comment right (or is that just me) and do you remember to go back to a comment you left just to see if there is a reply from someone? So please hop on over and read this post about being a no reply commenter. It would really help me out. I like talking to you all!

4. We're moving. This is a huge source of stress in my life right now (and hence my inability to write). It doesn't have to be but we are moving out of state about 3 to 4 hours away from where we currently are, the logistics of it hasn't yet been worked out, my husband is going first leaving us in 2 weeks, and this is the first time I've ever lived 'away' from my family. I think we will be living apart for approximately 6-8 weeks. :/

5. Remember when my celeb crush Tia Mowry was pregnant?! Well now older (twin) sister Tamera is expecting a baby this October!!! I love those twins. I'm still trying to catch up on Tia &Tamera episodes from this season.

6. Every year my church celebrates graduates by having 'Graduate and Achievement Sunday'. I love this day!!! We start with post bach degrees and honor every child's accomplishment down to daycare graduation. It's so cute to see the little ones excited over their standing ovation. They are always SO proud of their accomplishments. I think this is the breeding ground for a supportive community and things like this encourages children to do well.

And this ends my random nothings... I'm working on a real post though...

WW: Independence Day