January in Review

I have to say, this has been the most successful and joyful year I have experienced in my life. Living out your dreams will change things. Like, really change things. I have been much happier this year and I have been extremely productive. I have busy days but I won't complain, I have been to the bottom and I don't want to go back there again.

I've started my real estate course and I am really excited to get started with this new stage in my life. I am a living testimony that God will take you through to show you that He will be with you the entire way. If He will take you to it, He will bring you through it, no doubt. God is so faithful and this year already has been phenomenal. I'm in an amazing place in my life and it feels great. So January in recapitulated (go on and Google it, I had to today when it was what we had to use in ToastMasters)...
1. I turned 23.
2. Sweetie turned 25
3. I love seeing my little niece grow. She is a whooping 9 lbs, a pound a week since she has been born!
4. I got a promotion
5. Started real estate class
6. Joined a ToastMasters Club
7. I've been taking such good care of my body. Taking vitamins and such (I'm still working on the physical part)
All in all, I want to say that I am for once, ACTIVELY pursuing my dreams and I can't express how great it really feels. I lived with fear inside of me so long. Now, I can see just how limitless my life is! If only I had figured this out before now. But I have to remember, things happen on God's time, not my own. So I accept all of this and give God a great big praise!

I don't know what you have gone through in the last year but please believe me when I tell you, God will surely keep you in your moments of weakness. I'm living my dreams now.
Words to describe this month:
1. Productive
2. Inspiring
3. Blessed
It is day 31 of the new year...What have you done with it?

Frugal and Fancy

I love Japanese steakhouses. Like so much that I swear I would have thousands in my pocket had I not given them so much of my money between 2005 (when I discovered their existence) til 2011. My parents have always said that I have expensive taste, which I do but not to the extent they exaggerate it to. So last year when I hit a swag in life, ergo finances, we decided that we would stop eating out so much. And boy did we! Until yesterday, we hadn't been out since September 2011. But it was a special occasion. My sweetie's birthday was on Saturday and because we have been in such a financial bind, I wasn't able to get him anything significant for his birthday. So tonight I checked my email and had an abundance of birthday gifts from restaurants in the area. (My birthday is next Monday). Low and behold there was a gift from Kanki (A Japanese Steakhouse). My sweetie also had one for his birthday. They gave us 6 days to redeem our free hibachi steak, chicken, or shrimp meals and well, who are we to turn down a free meal?! So after doing some plotting, we decided to go ahead and make the trip to eat. And it was worth it! We were among many celebrating birthdays but among FEW who knew about the free birthday meal. But since we did, I got my beloved steak while he had chicken, again, for free. We paid a total of 13 dollars for our meal because we got an appetizer and drinks but for the food we got, it was well worth it!

I shared this for inspiration...for myself. For a while I was missing the lifestyle where I knew that a substantial amount of money would surface and I could just spend as I pleased because I knew I would be ok. I realized how grateful I was for that free (expensive) meal and how much of a non-essential it actually was in my life at this point. I will now continue taking advantage of coupons, discounts, and freebies as I move forward into my adulthood. I find that we are actually able to stretch money by doing that...Who would have thought? So the first lesson I've learned from this year is that I can still live my fancy little lifestyle but modestly. Saving for outings is so much better than splurging and wishing for that money back. No longer will I be dealing with that issue because I am staying in my financial lane which includes saving money, just because. It's the smart thing to do!

There's Hope!!!!!!!!

Ok, so in the last three months, I have been sort of...length obsessed. In the beginning I was checking my hair every single day, taking pictures everyday. I didn't expect my hair to grow overnight but I wanted to have pictures so that I could document my progress. My first photoshoot was August 30th. So I have attempted to keep an accurate account of my growth so that I know I am doing the right things. Anyone feel me?

So anyway, I will try to get these pictures up here. No guarantee because I am not very computer savvy when it comes to getting things from point A to point B. A being my webcam, B being this blog...The point is, I see the growth. I have about an inch more than I did when I cut off the relaxed ends in August!! Needless to say, I am geek'd. I can finally see progress and that makes me excited!

September 12

October 18

November 17

The most obvious length differences can be seen in picture 1 and picture 5 & pictures 2 and picture 6! This has me pumped and excited! I now see that I am making growth and doing a good job at retaining length. Even though it is not much, it has motivated me to keep it up!

-This is just a little inspiration for those of you who are also newly natural! If you are anything like me, you need visuals so that you can make sure you are keeping up with your own progression.

Be encouraged and stay beautiful!

Celebrating a Milestone...

Natural hair milestone...I have been "natural" for 13 months after transitioning for 10 out of the 13 months. Well, my hair has been growing it up and last week I was complaining about not being able to do anything to it. Well, I tried to pull it into a puff and I was successful! However, the bands hurt my head...I have to figure out a less painful way to keep the puff going all day but I guess that comes with trial and error. I also wanted to pull my hair into a puff because the front of my hair is more wavy than coily and it was getting too long to just put a band around it...So anyway, check out my little puff! I think I was extremely successful for a first timer!

-Ignore all the books in the background. They are everywhere!!!! My boyfriend is in law school and well, I am a nerd!

I used one of those Goody's stretchy bands but I cut it, made it into a string, and tied it in the back!