Finally

I went and got may hair done at the Curls Gone Wild salon in Gilbert. It was awesome. My hair has never looked like this dry before. I did not think my hair was ugly before, but now it is manageable. The biggest change is not how it looks to me, but how it feels. Before when I would wear my hair down after about an hour or two it was in a pony tail because it was huge and felt huge and smothering. Not anymore. This picture was taken a few hours after I got it done and as I was heading off for a (a very fun and very needed) girls night out.

 Funny things about that picture: Josephs head looks huge (it doesn't just look huge - it is huge) and he is about to bust out of those overalls and it is the first time her ever wore them. First and last time.

These pictures were taken tonight (Sunday) after essentially doing nothing to it for the past couple of days. I put it up in a clip while I showered and then spritzed it a little and then ran off to church.

It turns out I am not very good at taking pictures of myself in the mirror.

I don't want to go into all the details of what it is I do with my hair but involves - no shampoo or sulfate free shampoo. I have not been using shampoo for over a year now - just baking soda and water, but I think I will stop that now because I have been taught that I can clean with conditioner, I just need to give my scalp and good message all over and rinse and my hair will be clean. It involves a lot of water and conditioner and gel with no silicone or alcohol. I learned everything form Melanie my hair dresser at the salon and from the book, Curly Girl. If you have curly, wavy, or frizzy hair - you need that book. It will be the best $13.95 you ever spend. Seriously, get it! If you don't have curly hair buy it for someone you know who does. It will be the best gift you can give.

I love knowing how to do my hair and I am sad that I have gone so much of my life not knowing how to do it. I am glad I will know how to teach my children to do their hair. I have also enjoyed the knowledge that has come along with this whole experience because they don't just tell you what to do, they tell you why. I like that. I like my hair. The end.

I reached my goal

You all may have noticed before I did that my hair is long. Really long for me. My goal (set years ago) was to grow it to my chest. The other morning I realized - I'm there.

As a reward I am taking myself to a curly hair salon called Curls Gone Wild in Gilbert. I am so excited that it is there. I had a consultation and the stylist is going to show me how to get my hair to be more manageable. So it doesn't end up in a pony tail every day. But it probably will anyway cause...I have a baby and he already grabs my hair.
Anyway, I am really excited cause it is hard to find someone who knows what to do with my hair. She had a lot of great reviews online so maybe she can teach me a thing or two about my hair.

Happy New Year ramblings

This year will definitely be awesome cause this little guy is here. Getting to witness (and completely enable) the first year of another persons life is a precious gift that I don't intend to waste. A lot of milestones will be hit for this little guy in 2011 and I am excited for him.

 So I had a baby and he is now old enough that I feel a little more in control of my life. I miss the tiny baby already but I have to admit that I am glad that stage has passed because even though I love the sweet tiny baby, there is so much craziness. Like no sleep, trying to figure out feeding, and hormones. Things seem to be getting back to normal and I am grateful. I had another basement sale and it was a lot of fun. we had 12 vendors there and it was fun meeting all of those great gals.

Christmas came and went and I didn't make anything this year. Except an advent calendar for my friend. Oh yeah and our stockings. I go the idea online somewhere. I saw a picture of it last year (?) the year before (?) and I don't remember where, but it reminded me of a friend and I owed her so I made it for her and was lame and did not even make a way to hang it. It was everything I could do to get it ready by the 1st.

I started this post on the first Monday of the year and that week tuned out to be a crazy one (for reason beyond my control). So here I am a week later pretending it is the first week of the year. last week left me very physically and emotionally drained and tired. I hope to recover soon.

I have some New Years resolutions (that got completely ignored last week) that I hope I can master this year. Here they are:

1. Say 10 minute prayers - they don't actually have to be 10 minutes exactly, but the idea is that when I think I am done praying to stop and think of more, cause there is always more. This will also mean more meditating which is something I need.

2. Finish the Book of Mormon that I am marking for Grace. I do pretty good to read everyday and I just want to keep that up.

3. Go to the temple once a month. This shouldn't be hard for us but it is because we are lame.

4. Do yoga three times and week. At least. I know it would make my body feel so much better. Right now my back hurts me more than it should. When I stand up from sitting for a long time my lower back pops and it is hard for me to stand straight up. I feel like I am way too young to feel like this. I know doing yoga would help, now it will just be motivating myself to do it.

5. Go to a hot yoga class once this year.

6. Early to bed, early to rise. My goal is in bed by 10 up by 6 maybe even 5:30 depending on the schedule Joseph gets on.

7. Go on 1 date a month with Russ. Sometimes it feels like this is a selfish desire because I like doing it so much, but in reality it is a need for the whole family. I would really like to say once a week, but I am a realist.

8. Read the first 2 Harry Potter books with William. We are already three chapters into the first one.

9. The house. Ha! There is so much I want to get done with the house that I don't want to put any of it on this list. It needs its own list. But I do want to start posting pictures on this blog room by room for motivation to get them done and some feedback and advice. Sometimes you just need a pair of fresh eyes, cause I am kinda in a rut when it comes to decorating. I was sick when we moved in so my attitude was, "just put that there for now" and now that I have had things that way for so long it is hard for me to envision another way.

10. My most important resolution I just came up with right now and that is - Be Happy. I am happiest when I am spending non stressful time with my family. But somehow the "stuff" of life gets in my way. And for some reason I get more frustrated with my family when the "stuff" competes for my time, But I love my family more. Why does this happen? It is a mystery to me, but my goal is to reverse it. And anytime I can - just let the "stuff" go and be happy.

happy new year.

A beautiful New Year

I just posted this picture because I love it and I think it is beautiful. I am not sure where it came from. The kids are playing outside and have been playing well together for hours. That is so nice.

I should be packing them into the car to go get some groceries, but it is hard to interrupt them when they play so nicely.

This morning I started my new years resolution. Do you want to hear it? Here it is...

get up at 5:30 every day

Not a big deal for some people, but for me it is. It is hard for me to get out of bed when I don't really need to and my children sleep in so I always have too. But no longer. This morning I woke up, snuggled with Russ for awhile, made and ate breakfast, did 45 minutes of YogaLati's, showered, dressed, read 10 pages in the Book of Mormon, took a 45 min. nap, all before Gracie woke at 9 and then she and I snuggled for 20 min. It was one of the best mornings ever!

Taking a nap wasn't in the plan, but my eyes were having a hard time staying open and the kids were still asleep but would be waking soon so I just decided that this resolution isn't supposed to be a punishment and I got everything done that I wanted to do so I just laid down until they woke me up.

I know that not every morning will go this smoothly and I am sure I will be tired, but I am going to do this and it is going to be awesome. And once I find the recipe I want to use I want to start making bread in the morning too. (Samantha or Jennie feel free to send me your favorite recipes)

This week is also awesome because not only is it the start of a new year, we are going to Disneyland on Friday! We are driving up on Thursday and then playing all day Friday. I am not a huge Disneyland person. I have only been a few times myself and all I really remember is Splash Mountain. The best part is that we are going with my family. My parents got everyone tickets for Christmas. I think that is the reason I am so excited is because I think it will be so much more fun to spend it with more of the family. Not everyone is going and that is a bummer but it is hard to get everyone together when there are so many of us. I will miss those that can't be there, but am excited for those that will be there.

When we come back Russ' brother and his cute family will be here visiting and it will be pretty awesome to see and visit with them.

Then later this month we are supposed to close on our house. On the 20th to be exact. And this is my favorite house of all the houses we have seen (which is a lot). Here is a sneak peak of the bathroom - sorry it is not a great picture.

Who wouldn't love a bathroom this cute? Okay probably everyone wouldn't, but I do. I really do love this house so much. So January is going to be a great start of a fabulous year.