And....Bee has emerged from the shadows

** Emerges from the wilderness, looks around, walks out and sits amongst the crowd**

So.... What's been up?

I know......some of you guys are probably like "where the hock you been?" It's been like 2 months since I last posted! No other excuse I can give but.... LIFE.

I'll give a year end update:

*School/Work- Classes started really consuming the free time I had in between shifts and was constantly battling with my sleep time..... it was a definite struggle! But thankfully I made it through and COMPLETED my RN-BSN program this month! Thank ya Jesus! So now all my time is devoted to lazy days and work lol

*Home/Life- We hosted a holiday at our house this year and it was work trying to make sure we could accommodate as much as possible..... but it turned out great! In the midst of preparing for that, my mother joined our household after a big move out of state so I've been helping her get adjusted and settled into the area and re-adjusted to the state Texas in general. 

With all that, Lewis and I are gearing up for the upcoming year. God has definitely blessed us this year and we are preparing for everything that He has in store for us in 2015! I'm super excited :)

So you could say I sort of took a hiatus for a minute...... but I plan to be full force next year, my life is evolving and I want you guys to be a part of it!

With that being said, hope everyone has a great and safe New Year's and I pray that I see you all in the 2015!

Updates

Life has been moving lately for me (in a great way):  finishing summer school and preparing for fall semester, transitioning from my old job to a new one (better, yay!) celebratin' and decoratin' lol. Here's the scoop:

School- Not sure if I ever made it super clear, but I enrolled back into to school shortly after finishing my nursing program. Where I live, most of the hospital systems are wanting to go "magnet status" and that basically means that they aren't looking to hire the ADN (which is my degree) they want the BSN so it's extremely hard to get a job in the hospital right now as an ADN. It wasn't my original plan to jump right back into school, but God has a funny way of doing things..... He made it too simple for me to get in, the course load isn't as bad as I imagined and the program length is incredibly short! So here I am, about to finish my first of 2 semesters.

Job- The last time I talked about my job, I was on a serious soap box about having to work so much! I was not used to working 40hrs 5 days a week (and I still hate it btw) but there were other elements of that job that I subconsciously didn't agree with as well that led me to continue to look for other jobs elsewhere- ANYWHERE. Again I feel like God stepped in and placed me exactly where it was time for me to be, He opened a door for me that got closed on two separate occasions by man. And when He opened that door, He had management begging on my behalf for me to get that spot! PRAISE HIM! I am truly thankful for the opportunity that was created for me and I do not plan to take it lightly! I am in this position to better mold my knowledge as a nurse..... you can call me a sponge cause I plan to soak it ALL in lol

Celebrating- Hubby and I recently celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary! Gosh I can't believe its already been that long..... Thankfully it's been a wonderful first year full of blessings and triumphs for us! My continual prayer is that the Lord helps us build on the foundation we have laid together. I can't wait to see what the following years have in store for us, I know it will be  nothing less than great :)

Decorating- We've been in our house for 6 months and it still looks like a blank slate. Blame it on my inability to make a hasty decision but I feel like if it's something that we are going to look at everyday for the next 3-5 years, I need to make sure I don't make a terrible choice. So for that reason (and lack of downtime) we are just now really starting to decorate the space. Finally bought and brought home our new couch, a dining room table and put down some hardwood floors. Still got a long ways to go but at least our home is starting to take form. Pics and posts coming soon!

Now that everyone is pretty much caught up with what's going on with me, it's time to revamp my blog!

But first let me finish this schoolwork..... see ya later ;)

Relaxer update

Recently relaxed my hair after 11wks of stretching. I would have gone longer since I have discovered wigs but with my family coming into town for my pinning ceremony and my new growth becoming more and more unmanageable, I figured I should go ahead and get it done. 

State of my hair before the relaxer

Around 6wks post I purchased a bottle of MSM tablets that were 1500 in strength instead of the normal 1000 mg that I bought in the past. This was actually partly an accident because I realized I bought the wrong dosage as soon as I walked out of the store, but since they were tablets and not capsules I figured it couldn't hurt to take these and see how things go. I also started doubling my hair nail and skin supplement for the vitamin benefits. 

 Needless to say, by 9wks, my new growth (in my eyes) was CRAY. No amount of product would lay my edges or any part of my hair down... it only got worse as the days went on. It was hard to blend my hair in with the wigs anymore. 

State of my hair after relaxer

I cut it! Let's face it thouh: it needed to be done. After a long thought and reflecting on how the only way it would be a complete full head of even hair again was to even it up completely.... I just went for it. I didn't even feel bad! Best part about this is that now the underprocessed  parts of my hair strands are my ends so as my hair continues to grow, I can finally do away with it with each trim. I'm excited! My hair is so shiny and bouncy.... I miss my hair being like this, but most of all I've missed wearing my hair down!

Hair currently
It sits about shoulder length in the back and slightly above in the front. Amanda cut light layers all over to offset the portion of my hair that is still recovering from damage so that it didn't look choppy in the back. I'm really feeling cut, it fits my face and goes along great in this transition phase I feel myself going through... My husband approves it to so that's always a +!

Love this fresh start for my hair, ready to make great hair moves next year now :)

Relaxer update

After having my sew-in  up for around 4 weeks I had no other choice but to take it down, it was becoming difficult to blend my leave out with the hair since I wasn't flat ironing it. At the take down I was 10 wks post relaxer and I felt like 13 wks! My hair was so unmanageable, along with the tangles from shed hair that hadn't been allowed to escape for 4 weeks was my new growth and the under processed portions of my hair that were NOT allowing me to accurately comb through my hair without unnecessary breakage. So I decided not to wait any longer and got a relaxer at 11 wks.

Relaxer Update

**Written July 12th, 2013***

Relaxed after 15 wks, my longest stretch this year. I think I like it better when I stretch 11-12 wks, so I'm thinking I'll be sticking to that from now on. I didn't really have much of a problem with the stretch itself [mainly because my hair was in a protective style for 6wks of it] it was just at 13 wks post, I felt like I had to blow dry it after every wash just to be able to manage it and I didn't want to rely on heat to stretch it out.

I am pleased with how quickly my hair is recovering from the damage and how nicely it's growing back in. There is still maybe about a 2 in. difference between the broken pieces and my unaffected hair but I plan to just get my hair to certain length and then trim back to that length until all my hair is one uniformed length again. I've been APL since April but I began to trim it up then...... I'm just going to let it grow back to APL and then keep it there until my strands "catch up."

I feel as though the senagalese twists were a good protective style, I think I just like braids better. They hold there form longer and your hair isn't as noticeable as with the twists. My verdict: I'll stick to braids.

Focusing on keeping my ends as healthy as possible and retaining length!

O:AWE update

Time to update about how things are going with my "Operation: All wedding everything" plan! I thought about updating last month but then decided against it for some reason or another.....come to think of it, I don't really know why I didn't update.... hmm, oh well! Here's a recap of the month:

Relaxer update

Decided to take me sew-in down after 4 wks because my scalp was itchy something awful...... and since I'm in a no heat challenge blending my hair with the weave was becoming more and more difficult. The style I wore is great as a protective style for me and I plan to definitely re-visit it again! My hair was 10wks post when  I took the sew-in out but I wanted to make sure my scalp and hair was really clean and pre-treated so I waited an extra week to relax. I was looking for a chelating shampoo locally but ended up settling for a hard water shampoo from Sally's by Ion when I couldn't find one. In my opinion, that shampoo was money well spent! I hadn't felt my hair hold moisture like that in.......EVER lol. It got my hair way cleaner than the clarifier I had been using (since the beginning of my hair journey) but when I think about it then I was dealing with different water too so, I won't trash talk my old faithful!

I went back to Amanda (who did my last relaxer) and she hooked me up like last time. She actually gave me a complimentary DC which I was appreciative of! I tried to explain to her that my hair was still underprocessed but I guess because she couldn't flat out see the texture difference (when my hair isn't straightened, it's very hard to see what's new growth and what's relaxed... O.o awh lawd) when applying the relaxer, she didn't get to go over the underprocessed hair like we planned. She could really see what I was talking about once she fully washed my hair and was getting ready to put me under the dryer.

"Oh wow. You have about 2 1/2 inches of underprocessed hair all over!" was her response after she examined my strands.......Finally somebody sees what I see! We talked about what I should do about it and came up with a plan. I feel like I'm in good hands!


Enough babbling, on to the results!

I am thrilled to have such noticeable growth from one stretch to the next! Although my hair is still uneven, it's filling it nicely and that is something to be happy about. The longest piece measures down to APL and the rest of my hair is not too far behind it! Amanda took the courtesy of showing me the broken strands that are the reason behind my thin and uneven strands..... So now I know what I need to focus on.

My next relaxer will be 1-2wks before my wedding, which puts me at either 14 or 15 wks post...... I think baggying my ends and putting my hair away is the best way for me to retain most if not all of the length I gain this stretch!

I'm ready.

Relaxer update

I recently bit the bullet and headed to a salon for a relaxer re-touch. Let's face it, I felt I had entirely too much under proccessed hair I was dealing with and could not properly correct it. My salon visit went surprisingly well.... and I'll speak more on that in a second. Let's take a look at my hair........

Ya'll I just can't get it right, apparently. No, what I think seriously happened was this: I already had a thinning spot in my ends and I struggled with finding a proper moisturizer for my VERY THIRSTY ends during this stretch. So I ended up with more thinning and breakage. I wanted to just tell the stylist to cut my hair when she showed it to me, but I am in KISS boot camp challenge and I want to try and at least nurse my ends for a while until I know for sure what I want to do. My hair goal for the challenge was to make BSL by June..... that light is already looking really dim. I'm not a quitter though! I've already made the necessary changes to my hair routine to get me (hopefully) on the right track. I've incorporated Elasta QP Mango Butter and Olive oil moisturizer and Aphogee's pro-vitamin leave -in conditioner into my hair routine ( a moisturizer and a leave-in are what I have been searching for this past stretch!)..... wish me luck with these items, I'll give my opinion after a period of use

My salon visit: It went sooo well! I actually found Amanda (stylist) on Craigslist....Where I find everybody and everything else lol  and she was the most pleasant person to be around! She told me she specializes in healthy hair and that she had alot of natural clients....... what surprised about the entire visit was the fact that she was Mexican! Amanda told me that she first learned how to do hair on African American textures..... What a blessing! I may go back to for other services she offers but I know definitely I'm in her chair for my next relaxer! I'm just excited that I finally found someone who listens and gives helpful advice..... Thank you baby Jesus

I will admit, I slacked last year with my hair, especially toward the end. And I hate that I have to start off the year with my hair looking like this, but this really just gives me the motivation I need to go hard in this too along with the other aspects of my life.

I'll call it a SET-UP not a SETBACK.

Have any of you had any recent hair issues? What types of moisturizers do you use? Leave-ins? Got any tips you want to share....... leave them here!

Little update

I hope you all are having a very splendid Sunday!!! It's finals time for me so if you were wondering why I hadn't really posted, my final material has been in my hand, on my mind and in my face lately. I actually take my final tomorrow afternoon so once it's over it should be back to your regularly scheduled program lol......

It's been a little over 30 days since I started taking Mineral rich energy drink. *If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's the POST* At first I couldn't really tell if I had gotten any significant growth cause ::as if I can say it enough lol:: my hair is still currently under processed so I can't just LOOK at my hair and see a difference..... but I did notice that it is has gotten very thick; to me that equates potential length. YAY! Here's a little length comparison:

Dec '12

Oct '12

See a difference? I will do a 60 day review next month when I get my relaxer!! I re-ordered the drink on Wednesday cause I was running really low and I finally ran out completely Saturday. My new bottle comes in sometime next week and I can't wait! Have a good day :)

Hair news: Relaxer update

This post is about a week overdue cause I actually relaxed my hair last week, but I wanted to get this up and tell you guys all about my plan......


I relaxed my hair at 12 wks post and I had never been so happy to see my hair straight (or straighter, I should say). I decided to give self relaxing another go (with NO help from Lewis this time lol) and do someones half and half method I saw on youtube.... IMO it worked but it didn't work, catch my drift? Lol Basically the half and half method was almost what I need to do to self relax, I just need to tweak it to my own liking. For instance I did it where you part ear to ear and relax the top or back first and then do the opposite. Well I don't own a shower hose to wash my hair, I just use the faucet in the tub so trying to figure out which end to do first was a challenge! Then after I decided on the back, the only way I could do it without getting the front of my head wet was to turn on the shower and do it that way...... so by the end of the morning I had basically taken 3 showers relaxing my hair smh. Next time I think I'll part my hair straight down the middle and attempt it that way, seems more faucet friendly.

The only other problem I ran into with my hair, and this one is the most frustrating at the moment, is that my new growth is seeming very resistant to the relaxer! I was not able (once again)  to get my hair to straighten out-really at all. I mean it stretched out, but that's about it. Literally none of my new growth got straight, not even my edges! So I am again left with texlaxed hair   severely underproccessed hair. It would be all good if that's what I was aiming for, but it isn't. I don't know what to do at the moment..... maybe I should stop trying to do my own hair...... or maybe I'm not working it through enough? Idk.

Although I had my issues with the relaxing process, my hair turned out pretty good!

I do have a thin spot in the middle back (if you can't tell I just pointed it out for ya) that I will address in separate post..... Check my length out though! Excited. I think I could use a little dusting.... but I'll wait until I research the self trim some more.

Welp, thanks for reading and checking my pics out..... if you have ANY tips on self relaxing, self trimming/dusting or anything else please share with me! I refuse to go back to a stylist if I don't have to!

Randomness....and updates.

This flex in nursing school I'm taking mental health theory and clinical. I'm not really interested in going into the field but it is interesting to read  about all the different types of mental illness that are out there..... and even cooler to actually see it in real life. But I swear by the end of this class, I will have diagnosed myself and everybody around me!! Have you ever read about something and think to yaself "OMGoodness, that is SO me" or had a feeling that somebody you know matched the sign and symptoms to a "T"? Lol...... man, this class is going to be very informative.....

I got 2, wait scratch that, 3 exams lined up for this week so I've been a nervous lately. Not really sure how to study since it's the first exam, don't know what to expect in the questions..... especially pharmacology. All that class is is drugs, drugs, their class, adverse effects and more drugs! I've been studying most of the day for that one. Pray for me!

Really been preoccupied with school lately so in an attempted to not deal with my hair last week I ended up doing my entire head in straw curls...*Will do a separate post on this*.... they lasted exactly a week until I got tired of looking at them; just washed my hair last night. Dreading that I have to wake up and figure out what to to with it every morning. I'm sure I'll find something. Currently 8 wks post... but looking more like 12 because of the under processed hair.

The wedding planning is basically at a stand still for now until I get my school work more under control and balanced with my home life. I got the call that my dress came in yesterday so I'm super excited to pick it uuuuuupppppp!! Ugh, I can't wait to lay eyes on it and try it on again :) Prolly do that later this week after all my test are through and Lewis leaves for work, can't have him eye-spying on it..... yea, he can be nosy like that. We are still really just saving the funds ::and still playing the savings game:: for the whole sha-bang and will prolly start purchasing things come the beginning of the year.

 Next on our planning list is catering, reception hall, and engagement pictures....... 9 months to go!

Since my incident with that coworker at my job, I have been a bit leery about being put with her patients cause I don't want to go through what I went through the first time-again. But so far, so good. We did have to work together again but thankfully I was on the opposite unit. It's only a matter of time before we cross paths again though and I hope it goes better. I ain't no killer but don't push me..... Other than, my job has been plenty pleasant. Just trying to manage my time the best I can, I can't be everywhere at once.

That pretty much sums up what I've been up to lately...... What about you? Whatcha been up to?

Relaxer update July '12

Relaxed earlier this week after my usual 11-12 week stretch, the only MAJOR difference was that this time I didn't go to a salon..... I tackled it myself! So, here are the results:

As you can tell, my NG didn't get relaxed hardly at all......... there is a bit of a story behind that. Last month my stylist sent out a mass text telling everyone that she had moved out of town, which left me with two options: find another stylist to relax my hair who wants to constantly cut my hair or just figure out how to do it myself. 

Naturally I chose the most cost effective method. :)

SN: Revlon regular lye relaxer was used for this session.

I enlisted the help of my fiance'.... only to quickly realize that, next time that shouldn't be the best idea. HA! He claimed that he had helped put on relaxers many times with his sisters.... but maybe that was a VERY LONG TIME AGO because I don't think he fully grasped the idea of the pace you have to maintain in order to apply and smooth the relaxer throughout the hair. So we weren't able to smooth much of any of my hair after my sweet fiance took his SWEET time applying the relaxer to his part of my hair :/... As you can tell from my not-so-relaxed roots. And yes it looks like this all over my head..... 

I'm not knocking the ladies that texlax their hair...... but I hate this!!! I am able to comb thru my hair

but it's not straight ANYWHERE! Not even my edges :( I look about 3 or 4 wks post.

Nothing I can do to correct it for another 12 wks either.....

On the flip side, I got some good growth! And as you can tell, I DON'T NEED A DAMN TRIM! Lol.... Stylists, smh.

Drawing a blank. Almost.....

I've haven't been posting these past couple of days because.... well I haven't had much to talk about..... Any suggestions?

I went to visit my hometown over the past weekend to see my girl graduate from her Surgical Technician program ::Congrats Sham!:: and ended up staying 2 extra days. To be honest, at times I felt out of place... mainly cause I no longer live there..... Like everybody would be winding down doing their own thing and I was kinda left kicking around dirt rocks lol. But overall, I enjoyed seeing everybody again.... it's been almost 6 months.

Wedding Stuff: Still haven't fully gotten started yet.. I know sad... I'm a little scatter-brained when it comes down to it I think. I should just pick one area at a time and focus on it, that will prolly ease my overwhelmed mind. Now I just need to find my starting point.......

Life: Guess what? I think I'm wearing ole Lewis down about another puppy!! This morning he told me that he wanted a girl dog but he was goin to wait til after we move into a bigger place... YEAS!!

I want to make our apt a little bit more home-like so I am slowly going to liven up each room.... starting with the living area. Got a few plans for it that I will share with you guys as they come together.

Still looking for a lil summer job, I may head to some of the temp services and see what they have available.

I think I may have myself a little plan!

I'm SO over the salon experience.

I have just decided that I will no longer visit a salon......

I had only been going now to get relaxers but after this last visit, if I EVER want to reach any of my goals I'm going to need to start doing my own relaxers as well. Why is it so hard for beauticians to understand that you don't need a damn trim every time you get a relaxer???? That hair strands naturally grows at uneven lengths and therefore is not going to be as even from the last time you cut it? ::sigh::  I mean the stylist had just given me a really good trim back in February, there was no need for the trim she gave me yesterday! I calmly asked her what she was doing cause my ends were in good shape and she replied "Oh I'm just getting the strays" I look down at the apron I had on and I saw ALOT of little pieces of hair that were maybe a 1/2 inch long..... I should've just told her to stop cause there went all the new growth I had over the course of my stretch!

I wanted to try and catch APL by the end of the summer..... that dream is dimly lit as of now. The reason why I hadn't thought of relaxing/trimming my hair myself (cause everything else I do already) is because I've always been a little worried about under processing the back. At this point though like I stated before if I want to reach ANY of my goals before the year is out, I need to take all matters into my own hands! As far as trimming goes.....I'll try and figure something out; but for now I must keep my ends in good shape to avoid them.

Well here are the relaxer pics

May relaxer

Feb. relaxer

Right side

Left side. STILL a work in progress

I'm going to start looking at relaxer application how-to's on Youtube.
 Have you ever had an experience like this? 

Catching up.

I've been M.I.A for a little over a week now and I thoroughly missed blogging! Life was definitely the reason..... Glad I finally get to chill :)

I have finished up/PASSED another nursing class [GO ME!] despite that #epicfail exam I took a few weeks ago. It feels good to be steadily moving toward starting my career.... although I struggle in this program sometimes, I still make a way to be successful!

Oh and guess what? I'm a level II student now!!! BOOH-YAH.

School spring break is next week but I actually finished classes on Monday so I have an extra week off! Just keeps getting better huh? Lol.

Since I have all this time to Veg-out, I'll be catching up on writing posts and what-not.... Let's do it!

Mind Right Monday!!

It's another week folks! Time to "get up off of that thang, and dance til you feel better"
......okay, not really.

I had a great time out of town with my friends!! We laughed, argued, disagreed, danced, made inside jokes and barely slept lol

I hope we can link up again before the year is up.... like the summer time, and out here so I can show everybody around and do stuff that I can't do with Lewis- you know, like pedicures and trying on clothes WITHOUT buying them :) We'll see though!


I want to change up my Mind right Monday stuff...... instead of like posting what I got going for the week I am going to put up some inspirational stuff you know, to get ya mind right for the week! Let me know if you are feeling it, totally hate it, or have suggestions on it....... Here goes:


Mind right Monday: "Appreciate the people in ya life that mean you well...... there ain't a price you can put on that person that knows just what to say when you need to hear it the most!"..... Get ya mind right.

Hope ya'll have an excellent week!!

My love

Is gone for the next 2 weeks :'(

For those that don't know, Lewis is an oilfield mechanic at a company here in San Antonio. He works on the diesel trucks out there and the equipment they use to do their job. He got picked to go out on location to supervise the equipment for 2wks somewhere near Mexico. Lewis doesn't know whether this is just a one-time deal, going to happen periodically or if this becomes his regular schedule....we'll find out when he comes back.

I miss him already :-/
He didn't really want to go, but he knows that the extra money can go towards paying off his apt in Tyler faster, as well as other things. And we need to be saving for the wedding..... so, it's for the better.

I hope he stays safe while he's out there.... the drug war out in and near Mexico is worse than ever.
But my boo PACKS HEAT (doyahearme?)..... he'll be fine :)
Praying for his safety!!

Update on my friend from yesterday:
She told me her bf claimed he was elected "wingman" by his buddy and had to play along in order for the friend to get in good with a girl...... and he didn't say anything cause he didn't want it to look suspicious. 
NOT SAYING ANYTHING MAKES YOU LOOK SUSPICIOUS.... duh.


I personally don't believe that horse ish..... but I told my friend to stay on top of that situation.... SMDH.
To each his own.