Oh February.

Here are lots of pictures of our life the past few weeks!

Watching some Baby Einstein.

Trying to get into the fridge!

Sweet Tibby.

Bella Bean under the table.

Looking at all the snow! 

Showing me his muscles!

Mark using his toy ;)

Sweet husband cleaning my car off with a broom.

Tibby has spotted a Bella Bean!

Tibby loved digging for her ball.

Samuel watching the dogs play.

Our backyard.

Lots of icicles! And they got bigger!  

American Idol(s)

We are so blessed.

I just wanted to type that out so I can look at it, read it, and remind myself of that truth.

The bible study I am still doing (Stuck by Jennie Allen) has been kicking my butt...well, my heart and soul actually. It has been SO GOOD.
And hard.
And humbling.

I like the way the study is set up. It's not pages upon pages of reading and homework. Her questions are always based on scripture, but they are not just looking for an answer you can find right in the verse. They are more open-ended and introspective, forcing you to look deep into your heart and consider your motives, your thoughts, your decisions.

I like that a lot. I enjoy learning and digging deep into scripture as well, of course. But my heart needed this rejuvenation.

It's alarming to me how easy it is to slip slowly into sin. It's not always quite so obvious. Two weeks ago, our topic of study was idols. That typically made me think of false gods, literal idols (like statues), money...tangible things. Things that seem blatantly obvious that they are idols in our lives.

Well, I don't worship another God or money or people so I have no idols....right?


WRONG.

They were hiding deep in my heart, creeping out into my life while I hardly noticed:
anxiety.
fear
worry
trying to control & plan
wanting, yearning, needing a house
jealousy...

Not tangible things, but just as real and able to be idols in my life.

In Matthew 6, it tells us not to worry. God cares and plans for the birds and the flowers and the fields with such detail. WE are His children and He cares for us. WE were made in His image. Our life is so much more than clothes and food and the worries of tomorrow. God is already in our tomorrows.

My life is so much more than these strongholds in my heart. Why was I chasing things that were empty and unfulfilling? Would I really be content with more money/clothes/things? A job? A house? More kids? These are all good things. But they are not the most important things. If I place my hope and security in these things, and they disappear, I will be left hopeless and empty and yearning for more.

But my hope is in the Lord. If I look to Him first, He will provide all the things I need. He cares for me. Worry not. Fear not. My God is with me.

Amen.

Discontent.

"Love must be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. Show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction, be persisten in prayer. Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Be in agreement with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Try to do what is honorable in everyone's eyes. If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone. Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord.  Romans 12:9-19

Sometimes I know things in my head, but not my heart. What is in our hearts is our true self.

Our thoughts.

Our dreams.

Our plans.

Our desires.

Our secrets.


I didn't even realize how ugly my heart has been. I mean, I had thought about it. I would think, "I shouldn't be feeling this way, /thinking this way/ doing this." 

But that was the extent of it. I did nothing about it. So it settled in my heart.


I am doing this bible study called Stuck by Jennie Allen. That is exactly how I have felt lately.

Just stuck.

Last week, the topic of study was mad. During the week, I was thinking, "Yeah, sure, I have been mad." It was a good study. It made me reevaluate my attitude. Okay, good.

This week, the topic was discontent.

Oh boy. I could feel my heart fluttering before I even started reading the next sentence.

You see, I knew in my head that I was discontent. But I refused to let that knowledge seep into my heart because I knew I would be convicted. The Lord would break me down...break my evil, jealous, prideful, selfish, lonely, discontent heart into a million pieces.

But He will put it back together. I knew this, too.

I was afraid of the pruning that would take place. It is painful. It is necessary. And it is good.


God is good.

YOU GUYS.

I have a confession...

I POO'D! (For those of you just joining, pretty please refer back to my earlier posts here and here so you know that I am in fact not talking about those bathroom habits...)

Okay, I know it's not the worst thing. But I am kicking myself now because I think my hair is freaking out a little. 

I'll be honest, though, I kind of freaked out a little. My hair was doing slightly better the 2nd week, which was so good! But then I remembered I had a hair appointment soon. I did read that one wash wouldn't hurt your hair. I also read about a woman's experience in a salon that was....stinky. 

Literally. The hairdresser spritzed her hair down with water, which reactivated the vinegar smell! I'd be slightly embarrassed. 

So I poo'd. And I went to the salon. And I let her wash my hair (it had been a long week of sickness in our house and I couldn't resist those few minutes of someone massaging my scalp, okay?!) It was so nice. And I love my new haircut, by the way. I will post a picture at the end!

Back home I go to my No Poo habits. I wash my hair with my baking soda and vinegar rinse, no problem. Hair is nice and clean. Until the VERY NEXT DAY. My hair was a grease ball already! So sad.

I'm sticking with this though, I tell ya! I want it to work! I am a little nervous it might not work quite as well with my new short hair. But that may be partially due to the fact that I can't stop running my fingers through it because I love how it feels! :)

I'll give you a quick rundown of the last 2 weeks to let you know where I am today!

Day 8/Wednesday: Washed hair tonight. Upped baking soda back up to 1 tablespoon in 1 cup warm water. Added about 1/2 tablespoon of honey to help with static. Used all solution this time since my scalp was super oily. And I watered down my ACV and added an extra drop or two of my grapefruit essential oil. Sprayed only on ends; Super soft! My scalp was pretty dry so I spritzed a tiny bit on my roots and combed through. Pat my hair down with a soft cotton Tshirt and let air dry. Kinda poofy. But feels so good and clean!

Day 13/Monday: Yeah, I went 5 days! My hair was pulled up a lot :) But slightly less greasy looking. Did the normal ratios, but only used half my "shampoo"- my hair is still dry and flaky, even with the tea tree oil. So I used a little more conditioner towards my roots.

Day 15/Wednesday: This was the day I did it. I poo'd. I used the last product I purchased before going No Poo (this stuff) which, come to find out, is NOT organic like the product name suggested. Anyway, of course my hair felt glorious and smelled wonderful.

Day 16/Thursday: Hair appointment day. I let my hair be washed again. 2 days in a row. It felt so nice. But it completely defeated the purpose of this journey. Kicking myself now.

Day 19/Sunday: Although my hair was an awful mess by the day after my hair cut, I had nowhere to be so I waited until today to start my No Poo regimen again. I used probably about 1/4 cup of my shampoo compared to my usual 1 cup. My scalp was so dry, yet my hair greasy. Frustrating! So I was a little more liberal with the vinegar rinse on my scalp this time. Just trying to get it balanced!

Day 22/Wednesday: Today. My hair is doing ever so slightly better. I still think part of the greasiness is because I literally can not stop running my hands through my new short hair. I LOVE it so much! So at least I love something about this week ;)

So there you have it. A little backtracking, but I think I'll be okay. I'm excited to see if and/or how my short hair will change anything about my routine. 

We shall see!

Sorry for the terrible quality...Iphone pic :)

A reason to celebrate.

Wow.

I kinda suck at this blogging thing.

It has been quite the week and a half, though! Lots of ups and downs. Just life.

We celebrated Samuel's first birthday (woah, we have a one year old!), I fell off the No Poo wagon (only for a few days..), I chopped my hair off (pictures coming soon!), and we all got sick (boooo).

So yeah. But I have loads of cute and fun pictures from the week. Okay, mostly of Samuel's birthday :)

Signature face.

Of course his favorite toy was the first one we opened!

Not too thrilled about the hat.

No clue what is about to happen :)

Singing "Happy Birthday" :)

FaceTime party with family. So so thankful for cool technology.

Looking at himself in the camera :)

Our big one year old boy!

After-cake bath!

That's all I got for now. I promise I will try to update the No Poo journey in the next few days!

Week One of No Poo

Here I go!

Day 1/Wednesday: Scalp burned a little. Probably the sores on my head from scratching my dry scalp :( Used all of both mixtures. Only did ACV rinse on ends of hair so my hair didn't get too greasy. Letting air dry. Hair smells like vinegar. Most definitely need some essential oil (I'm thinking lavender or peppermint!) Hair does feel nice and clean though! (The vinegar smell goes away completely when your hair is dry! I let mine air dry. The dryer is not my friend.)

Day 2/Thursday: Didn't wash hair. No need. Hair still really soft and clean! A bit of a poof ball since I didn't use any product on it yesterday. Wasn't sure if I was "supposed" to? Still learning.*

Day 3/Friday: No wash today. Hair starting to feel oily at roots for sure, but its different...my hair still feels clean and it doesn't feel weighed down. Not too super gross yet ;) I will probably just wear a headband.

Day 3

Day 3

Day 4/Saturday: Roots very oily. Comb hair a little to distribute some of the oils (not grease...this is just the excess oil my hair is still producing) Most of my hair still feels very clean, although laying more flat and kind of static prone.

Day 5/Sunday: Okay, I've gone as long as I could! Definitely read for clean hair. Mixed my "shampoo" and "conditioner". Did a little less than 1 tbsp of baking soda- developed some sores on the nape of my neck. I think it was due to a few things: maybe too much baking soda for my sensitive skin, and I used the whole mixture and dumped it on my head last time. This time I used a squirt bottle to get it mostly on my scalp and I only used half of my mixture. For my vinegar rinse, I added some grapefruit oil. My hair feels amazing and CLEAN. Let's see if I can go another 4 or 5 days!

Day 6/Monday: Hair still feels clean. Lots of static today though!

Day7/Tuesday: Hair is starting to feel oily, and a lot faster than after my last wash. Hmm...

Day8/Wednesday (today): Wow, what a long week. My hair is a complete grease ball today :( Yuck! Pulled it back and trying to remember this is normal for the transition phase. I may wash again tonight. Going 3 days between washes is pretty good, but I hope this transition phase is over soon!

I should also say that I do still shower daily. I promise. I do try not to get my hair wet because the vinegar smell reactivates. But I've also read it's good to do water rinses so you can still scrub your scalp to help remove dirt and germs. So maybe I will try that!

*Note: I did find that most people still use products on their hair like normal if need be. The key is to make sure you scrub your scalp when you wash because the scrubbing is what really cleans your hair! 


Sorry for the lack of pictures. I forgot most days! I'm sticking with this for at least a few more weeks.

I may need to invest in some super cute headbands soon, though! 

My husband called me an alchemist.

He was only teasing. I promise he still loves me. And he did, too.

This week is going surprisingly better than I thought.

I've read a few different ways of jumping into this No Poo thing. Some go at it very gradually; they wait a few days longer in between washes using their normal shampoo and/or add a little of the baking soda mixture into dwindling shampoo bottles.

Or you can jump right into using No Poo but still wash every other day.

Or you could go full force and wash your hair only once or twice a week! 

I should also clarify the point of this No Poo thing. Really, there are a few different goals and it's because you can personalize this whole process. But basically, it's to

break the cycle. 

Of using shampoo daily, that is. Shampooing regularly has only been around for about 100 years or so. Seriously! The saying women used, "Sorry, I have to wash my hair" actually had some truth to it. Ladies only washed their hair ONCE A MONTH. And their hair was gorgeous. 

But consumerism started seeping into our society and that got bumped up to twice a month, once a week, and eventually this notion of washing our hair daily became the norm. Oh, consumerism. 

I suppose I should give a little backstory to my hair-washing habits.

My hair isn't super curly. It's naturally wavy. And big. And poofy. Lovely. Basically, I have to do something to my hair or it's a wild mess. Usually I put mousse or some sort of hair gel in it and let it air dry curly. I don't flat iron it often.

That being said, I do not wash my curly hair every day. It's at least every other day, sometimes a day more. Over the years, I've learned (especially with curly hair) that it's better to not wash every day. Curly hair thrives on moisture; otherwise, it's frizzy :(

Remember how normal shampoo dries your hair out?? Because you use it every day? Hmmm...Starting to come full circle here, people.

The beginning stages of my transformation into a hippie. 

That's about how I feel. No offense to real life hippies out there. 

This is the basic recipe most everyone starts with, and what I used:

• 1tbsp baking soda in 1 cup water.
• 1 tbsp ACV (apple cider vinegar) in 1 cup water & a few drops of tea tree oil. 

The tea tree oil is supposed to help with super dryness and flakes and maybe help mask the smell of vinegar. You can also used some herbs or essential oils.

What are you supposed to put this stuff in? For now, I'm using small tupperware containers. But I'm heading to the dollar store later to find some squeeze bottles and/or spray bottles so I can be more precise with the application.

I'll be back Wednesday to let you know how the first week went!

No Poo...

Yes, you read that right.


No, I'm not constipated.


'No Poo' is the shortened 'No Shampoo' Method.


And no, I'm not crazy, I promise!

(Or a hippie)


So if I'm not using shampoo to wash my hair, am I still washing my hair??!

Don't worry, I'm still washing my hair. Silly. Just not the "normal" way, I suppose...

I don't even remember how I heard of this craziness...that's what I thought when I read about it the first time, anyway. I thought it was too granola for me, and I didn't care about saving the earth or saving money or blah blah blah. It just wasn't me. (Wow, I kinda sound snobby, huh? I promise I'm not. Just being honest!)

So over the past 6 months or so, I've found myself going back to this subject, reading countless websites and blogs.

You see, I like to be informed before I do anything. Like, fully informed. I want all the information and facts possible so I can make an informed, well educated decision.

That's a lot of information.

I've been trying to slowly work myself up to it. First, I told my husband about it to make sure he wouldn't leave me out of fear or realization that he'd married a crazy person.

Then, I bought the supplies. (more on this later)

I set my supplies out.

I walked by them every day and they just stared at me. Taunting me. But I wasn't ready. (Really, I think I was just nervous to try something so different!)

I read more blogs.

More websites.

And finally, today, I just did it. I realized that there was a wealth of almost unending information and opinion on this topic. I needed to just dive in and experience it for myself first hand. Because a lot of this is trial and error.

I'm a little nervous. And unsure. And I feel slightly crazy and hippie-like. But mostly, I'm excited.




And I'm sure you are probably excited to know what exactly I'm doing, right?? If you have even read this far...

The No Poo Method strays from the conventional shampoos and conditioners. It uses 2 basic ingredients you will most likely find in your pantry:

1. Baking soda
2. Apple Cider Vinegar 

Yep. Crazy, right? Stay with me here. Baking soda is a cleaning agent, yes? It has numerous uses. And it's used in toothpaste. Heck, I'm pretty sure it used to be the ONLY thing used to clean those pearly whites.

So why is it so far out to use it to clean our hair? We've become accustomed to a vicious cycle when it comes to hair care. And when it comes down to it, in my honest opinion, it's all about making money for these businesses.

Most shampoos, while they smell lovely and foam up to make a nice later, are full of chemicals. Everything is these days. Those very harsh chemicals 'clean' your hair, but they also strip your hair of natural oils. Now your hair is dry.

Oh, no worries, have some conditioner (more chemicals). I've read that a few actually have wax in them, as well, which is why your hair is so silky and smooth. For about 5 minutes.

So THEN there's a mountain of other hair care products you load onto your hair to get it to maybe stay styled for the day.

And since your hair is so full of gunk, it's left feeling heavy/greasy/frizzy/flat/gross. Those are not fun words for hair. So the cycle continues. And you spend lots of money and time "fixing" your problematic hair.

Unless you're super lucky and have great natural, beautiful hair. In which case, I dislike you.

Not really, I'm just jealous. But seriously, why are you reading this then? ;)




There is much more to be said about this, but I won't here. There are tons of websites that go into way more detail.

Over the next 30 days or so, I will be trying and experimenting with this process to see if it's for me. It might not me. It's not for everyone. Since it's such a shock to our hair, it takes 2-4 weeks to adjust. Also known as the transition period. I really want to try this for a few reasons:

• My scalp has been so SUPER dry and flaky! This natural method can be used to treat this, and if used regularly (no shampoo) the problem is said to not resurface. 
• It's natural. I've been exploring other natural and organic things as well.
• It is cheap! Not my number one reason, but hey, I'm not complaining!

Sorry for the super long post! The rest will hopefully not be so long. I'll try to be back every few days with updates!