Finally!

I've been saying I was going to start a natural hair blog for a while now. Here it is! I guess I should start off by introducing myself, huh? I'm a 23, soon to be 24, year old college student. I'm working on my B.S. in Electrical Engineering and B.S. in Computer Engineering. I LOVE engineering lol. I'm a mom to the most lovable 4 year old you'd ever meet. I have a loving boyfriend/fiance (I'll save that for another post) who is my best friend (most of the time lol). After undergrad, I plan to pursue my M.S. in Engineering Management.

So, what made me go natural, you say?

Well, I've always been a big fan of healthy living. Over the recent years, I've been trying to find ways to live more naturally. I was also getting really tired of going through phases with my (relaxed) hair. I would have a few months where it would be nice and thick and healthy...then something would happen...over styling, changing hair products, season changes...and my hair would break off. I would then be forced to cut it and let it grow back. This vicious cycle was getting old and tired, and I soon was forced to face the fact that I would never have long flowing hair that every female with relaxed hair wished for at one point or another. At the same time, I was wanting to "get back to my roots". Going natural made all the sense in the world, right?

At least that's what I thought....

You want to know about my transition period? Which one?

I started my first transitioning process in October 2008. I was completely unprepared for the journey I was about to begin. Silly me, I thought that I could just flat iron my new growth until I was ready to cut my hair. Ha! Boy, was I wrong. Two months later, I was back on the creamy crack.

Ironically, I started my second transition in October 2009. This time I was for real. I stumbled across videos on Youtube and natural hair websites that made the process a little more comfortable. I transistioned from October '09 til April '10. I had micro braids all of February and March. I was planning to leave them in until May (eek! I know) but my hair had other plans. My new growth was looking ridiculous. I took the braids out over a period of 2-3 days, finishing on April 1st. I looked at my hair in the mirror and went into complete shock. WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS I GOING TO DO WITH ALL OF THIS NEW GROWTH?!

Before the braids, my transitioning style of choice was flexi-rod sets. My roots were way to thick and my ends were so mangled from being in the braids that a flexi-rod set seemed a bit out of the picture. After I had put my son to be bed, I washed my hair and decided it was time. I took a pair of scissors, looked myself in the mirror and asked myself, "What are you afraid of? You're fearless, right?" and I chopped away. I didn't stop cutting until I was about 2/3 finished because I was afraid that if I stopped before then, I'd freak out. I finished my BC and looked at my hair. I had no clue what I was going to do with my hair, but I figured I'd figure something out. This was the new and improved me.

Yesterday (May 1st) marked a month since I BC'd. I feel so comfortable and confident now. My boyfriend loves my hair. I love my hair. I don't really care what anyone else thinks because it's my hair.

You wanna know why I decided to start a blog, too? Dang, you ask a lot of questions lol!

Actually, I've had a personal blog (online journal) on Xanga for a few years. I wanted to start an actual blog to share my experiences with natural hair, living, etc. I plan to also do some posts about things other than my natural hair journey. I haven't quite figured out exactly what those other subjects will be, but I'll think of something!

Well, I think that's enough about me.

Until next time,
+Natural*Li