Quick quick...

"Quick quick" is a pidgin term frequently used in Nigeria. It just means to hurry up quickly.

Life's been so busy for me the last few weeks but I wanted to do a quick update. The first words that came to mind was "quick quick" :-).

So here's a quick update on what's been going on with me.

We are all doing well. Just busy. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary about 3-weeks ago. My siblings ordered us this beautiful AND yummy edible arrangement in addition to a box of chocolate covered fruits. I love my awesome siblings!
J & I plan on taking some professional pictures in May to celebrate our anniversary.

Then to celebrate our anniversary, hubby and I went to a hibachi steakhouse for lunch and a movie. YUM!

Before we went out, J and JOE were playing. Check them out in their matching binkies. SMH!

Flowers from my love!

I loved the way my makeup turned out so I had to take a picture :-D

J got a bloody Mary.

I got some a rum drink. YUM YUM YUM!

Us. :-)

I must be old cause I don't recall it costing $11.50 for a matinee! Have things really changed that much? Granted, I haven't been to the movies in a while. Not trying to be cheap but this was RIDICULOUS!

JOE had an awesome Easter celebration with us and her grandparents. She very much enjoyed following their cat around.

Partial success this year! JOE was actually in a picture with the Easter bunny! Progress. Next year, we'll see if she'll sit next to him :-).

I was in training for re-certification all of last week hence my not blogging because when I got home, I had a lot to catch up on. We got these ultra tiny highlighters. I honestly have never seen highlighters this small!

Check out the binder from our training. Yup, we went through the ENTIRE thing in a week. And its just one of the courses I need towards my re-certification. YIKES!

Last weekend, we decided to tackle the front of our house to add some curb appeal. Ummm...6.5 hours later, we definitely LOVED the results but it was HARD WORK! But I am excited to start on the second phase once we price out contractors. If we can't find a reasonably priced one, we will be doing it ourselves.

Rough sketch of what I want in our front yard. Does it make any sense to you? Well, it is about 70% down and looks great!

And there's my little one playing with dirt. She ate it, smeared it all over herself and "planted" (by planting, I mean, she UNplanted) while we worked outside. But honestly, I have to commend her. She was out there with us for about 5-hours outside. Thankfully, the weather was FABULOUS!

Hubby was still able to smile after all was said and done. JOE was T-I-R-E-D!!!

I am still running twice a week. So far, loving it. I made my goal the week before last to run 2.3 miles in 30-minutes. My goal for last week was 2.4 but I had training and didn't get a chance to run. 

But back to work this week and I hit my goal on Tuesday and today. After taking a week long hiatus, I was so happy because my ankle has been bothering me (old injury) and I forgot to bring my brace to work. So make my goal really was an achievement for me.

It was actually 2.43 miles when I reached the 30-minute mark.

 I have been making this dress for JOE for the last 3-weeks! Why 3-weeks? Well, there was the time I set my sewing machine so I could do gathers and forgot how to reset it. Then the time that I got frustrated because I sewed the wrong piece on there and had to undo it. And then the time...anyways, you get the point. Its been a work in progress. I am hoping to finish it next week Monday and will post more about it later.

 On the last day of training, we were allowed to go in a little late. So I decided to spend some time with J & JOE. Check out their happy smiles!

I love the way JOE looks at her daddy so adoringly.

Until next time...have a blessed weekend!

Hair Update: 6-months update

I am officially 6-months post relaxer (as of last weekend). I plan on going until 12 or 17-months post before I chop off the rest of my relaxed ends.

Why 12 or 17? I am giving myself 2 dates. That way, if I feel like I am ready to chop it on my one year post relaxer anniversary, I don't feel disappointment in myself.
But if come October 2014, I feel like I can continue my "hair journey", I'll continue until next February which will be 17-months from my last relaxer and 12-months from when I made the decision to go natural. Have I fully confused you yet? :-).

To simplify, I'll either chop off the relaxed ends in mid-October 2014 or early February 2015.

Things are going OK so far. Can't really complain too much as far as dealing with both textures. I think its cause I have often stretched my texlax for 4-5 months. Perhaps now I'll start to really see what people are talking about when they say the 2 textures makes it difficult to manage?

For now, I try to do as little manipulation as possible. I wear styles that take 15-minutes or less to do. I do have a somewhat needy toddler so I need to make sure I can get my hair done while she is playing before she demands my attention.

Interesting conversation with J a few days go went like this:

J: So are you liking your hair journey so far?
Me: Hmmm...good question. I don't know. Why?
J: Well, you've been making progress so I hope you are starting to see the results you want.
Me: Hmmm...I hope so. I guess we'll see. It is certainly different.

I know a lot of people say they fall in love with their curls once they started transitioning. I am not entirely there yet. I do like that I have more texture but my hair feels "different" to me. Perhaps because I haven't had it natural in a very long time. Only time will tell. Perhaps once I take off the relaxed ends, I'll fall in love? I better!
Eitherways, as folks say, its just hair and as long as I can put it up in a bun, I am happy :-).

So here are some pics of my hair from this week.

Bunning it! I decided to wear a bun to work on Tuesday.

Braided it on Tuesday evening and planned on doing a braid-out but decided against it.

I thought I did a good job but when I sent my sister a picture, she said "perhaps wear a wig"

So on Wednesday, I decided to "wig it" to work. I got a ton of compliments and I am not sure of how to take it. 1. Does my hair always look bad so now they are complimenting me? Or 2. Do people really like the look?

Since I run on Tuesday and Thursdays at work, on Thursday, I pretty much wore the braid out I initially planned to wear and pinned it up. I had a ton of things to do and didn't get a chance to take a picture. 

Today, its in a bun. Nothing new there! Its my go to style!

Well, until next time, have a fabulous weekend and remember to be kind to be strangers!

Photo Dump Wednesday

Its HUMP day! And THE BEST part of the day? It's also our 3rd wedding anniversary. It seems like we were just married a few days ago but its been 3-years. We've had a great time together in those years and I look forward to making more awesome memories (and babies) with him by my side :-).

OK. Enough of the mushy stuff...on to Photo Dump Wednesday.

One of my many favorite pictures from our wedding day.

I have a shoe calendar on my desk. I would LOVE to have these shoes! They look comfortable (with the front platform) AND cute! I could totally rock them this summer.

And speaking of feet...JOE's new favorite activity/my additional leg workouts. She sits like this and I get to lift her up and down.

A picture is worth a thousand words...

JOE is now in a big girl bed! J converted her bed last weekend. We spent too many nights running to her bed to make sure she didn't fall when she climbed out. This gives us some peace of mind.

JOE and her buddy "pinka-poo". She tries to feed him, snuggles with him and gives him LOTS of kisses.

I hit my running goal for the week yesterday! Woohoo! It was 2.3 miles in 30-minutes and I surpassed it :-). My next goal is 2.4 miles in 30-minutes. My ultimate goal is 3-miles in 35-minutes.

JOE's Easter basket. How CUTE is this? Thanks Peg for giving me the information on this. I know she is going to enjoy hunting for eggs.

Hope you're having an awesome week so far!

DIY: Shirt to Dress (refashion)

So, I have made several attempts to make adult DIY clothing items but haven't fully been successful. I figured the best way to work around this is to do a refashion. In hopes that once I am comfortable with that, I can then venture out on my own.

This refashion was quite an ordeal. The actual work time was about 2-hours from start to finish. BUT I had to deal with a bent needle on my sewing machine! Anyone who knows me knows that I don't care much for manuals. I am more a "figure it out on my own and consult the manual if it doesn't work as it should" kinda gal. Well, this was one time I had to break out the manual.
My sewing machine came with a Spanish and an English manual. Why could I only find the Spanish manual? Apparently, I hid the English one so well, I even hid it from myself!
Thankfully, after a 30-minute search, I eventually located it and was able to change out the needle and continue my work. Needless to say, this "simple" project took a lot longer than anticipated.

On to business. I pinned this idea about a year ago when I first got my sewing machine. I had 2-shirts I got a while back when I visited my folks in MA that were definitely a few sizes too big but they looked so comfortable as sleep wear so that's what I planned on using them for. But when I saw this idea, I figured, it would work for what I was trying to do.

Frumpy and oversize shit. Ignore my camera tripod. Yes, it is a tiney tiny one. J often laughs when he sees it set up but it works! :-P

Neck and sleeves cut to the length I want.

I used a chalk to mark where I want to put the elastic.

Then pinned away.

Outside of the elastic sewed in.

Inside of the elastic sewed in.

Then it was on to the sleeves.

While working, JOE got back home and decided to play with my camera. Here's her photography...

She's still going at it...

And another

I know...I need to organize this but haven't had a chance to. Yes...it is a walking hazard.

Back to our regularly scheduled program. I hand sewed the glittery embellishment on the front and on the sleeves.

While I finished up sewing, JOE entertained herself. Here is JOE's handy work. That's my Picasso waiting to be discovered!

The innocent face! I am just glad she wasn't writing on my iPAD. SMH!

And me wearing my refashioned top. What do you think?

I kinda like it! I have another one so I'll try to do a variation of this. 

And if I decided to wear it to run simple errands, I can dress it down with flip flops.

Couldn't get a clear picture because my baby girl was hanging on to my leg. The joys of motherhood! 

Before and after

Expertise needed: Beginner. It really just needed the use of you own imagination once you figure out what you want it to look like.

Total approximate time: Like I said earlier, this took A LOT longer than anticipated! 2-hours to be exact. Considering it was very simple hemming stuff, that was WAAAYYYY too long. BUT on a positive note, I now know where my manual is :-).

Total spent on materials: $0. I already had everything at home.

Feedback: I like this. It is comfortable and so easy to make. I definitely plan on making it again. 

Have a fabulously blessed week!