Unshed Tears

01 I found tears tonight for the first time since I cut my dreads off... It was while reading another woman's wonderful story of her journey with dreadlocks. I cried for the past I was letting go and at the same time for the future that is ahead of me. These tears of memories and tears of joy didn't fall though, they pooled in my eyes and in the end that is where they stayed. Her words also mirror so many of my own feelings that it takes my breath away.

Because of this I HAVE to share her story with you. She shaved her head completely, and looks amazing! Maybe by summer I will take that step

http://theorganicsister.com/shaving-my-head/

The End Of A 6 Year Journey

01 This last Sunday morning, I was joined by two of my best friends and my mom for cutting off my dreadlocks. Many have asked why and what it comes down to for me, was that it was just time. They didn't feel like mine anymore. I am so happy that I made this decision and feel so fresh and rejuvenated and ready to start another chapter in my life.  I am also happy that I cut them for me, and not for anyone else. Thank you everyone for your support and love in my life!

Things that are interesting with short hair after having dreads for 6 years (and 12 days)

Running my fingers through it.

washing it... and drying it ( it is so fast!) 

brushing my hair... it makes me scalp all tingly

sleeping.

taking a bubble bath... I need to get a bath pillow now!

being naked... I feel REALLY naked now!

The cold air and the wind outside
I HAVE SO MANY COWLICKS! 

And for those of you who wanted to be here with me, and couldn't, here are the pictures that Lauren took, as well as the time lapse video that I created while I was cutting them. It begins with me taking a final count before I cut them.

How many do you think I had?

Thank you so much Lauren for photographing this... something I wouldn't have been able to do without you! You did a fantastic job of capturing this moment in my life!


And at last, the video...

A 6 year journey

01

In 6 years... What I can tell from the pictures

My hair has grown

a lot

I know how to style my bangs

I added a couple tattoos

I have upgraded glasses

I wear less bracelets

and less rings

I wear more color

my environment is pastel instead of black.

more confidence.

In 6 years... What you can't tell from the picture

I have cut my bangs 10+ Times - mostly by myself

I added more than a couple tattoos... see about me page

I have dated 6 people in those 6 years

I own more jewelry now than I did then... less plastic, more metal

I had two pairs of glasses between these ones... I think

I have learned to live in the moment instead of the past or the future

I have learned to love unconditionally and to forgive (both myself and others)

I have made so many many supportive friends and kept most of the ones that I care about deeply

I have also lost a couple friendships that I treasured... maybe one day I will hear from them again.

In these 6 years I have learned to love, to forgive and to move past what is behind me.

Dread Beads. - Review

01

Here is an list of shops I have found with beautiful dread beads. 

Any that are bold I have personally made purchases from.

This is my Shop - Adoptabeads. They are made from clay and one of a kind.

Glass
Hummblebee Designs - Does amazing custom work - I have a handful of beads by her.
BeatleBabyGlassWorks   - Has a special section for large hole/dread beads.

InfiniteCosmosGirl - This is one of my favorite shops for glass beads, their work is gorgous and their customer service is great!.
GiaPet - Dreads/Large Hole Section
PiedPipersEmporium - Dread Bead Seciton.

Creative Glass Work - HUGE selection of Glass rings, perfect for dreads.

Wood


Ceramic
JJ Pottery - Beads Section
JJPotteryBeads


Peyote
TheBeadJunkie- Etsy Shop - has a handful of Peyote Sleeves
KnottySleves - HUGE peyote sleeve collection.

Clay
LurvingYourLocks   - Beautiful Goddess beads and earthy looking spirals.

Leather
SnappingDragon - has a handful of leather dread cuffs.


Stone
Just two items from Smartiwarmz Shop. Natual Pebble Beads. & Sodalite Bead

Metal
Seididread - Has Metal Spirals as well as metal sleeves.

Fiber
Ebrown - Natual Fiber Beads.HUGE SELECTION.
BHangTiez - Hemp Dread beads and Rings.

Bone
Alalana - Has a couple bone beads. light and dark in color.



Finally an Etsy search for Dread Bead  24 pages in all!

Strawberry Shortcake

01 My hair is now blond, the color of shortcake. There are a handful of red dreads mixed in. The red dreads remind me a bit of strawberries. I think I may neutralize the blond a bit.... it is still just the color that the bleach left it. I have a box of blond, just ran out of time last night. I will post pictures once people have seen it, I want to see reactions in person. This is a big change for me. I am still debating how I feel about it...

Short Bangs.

01

I really like how my new short bangs are behaving tonight.
Wash + Condition + Blowdry + Curl + Hairspray = perfect bangs!
Then again this is them after an entire day of things.

I love how my bangs look with my dreads.

Yellow Sparkly Sunflower bead.

01 So Linea made this bead after I said I would like to see one that was yellow and glittery.... I love it, I really do. It looks like sunflower petals that have been encased in glass. I Think i may have to buy it... especially since Alice broke :( I should post a picture of her broken... anyway, here is the sunflower bead.... that i am most likely buying. :)

Meet Alice

01

This Is Alice
My New Little Froggy Bead.
She only fits a few of my larger dreads,
but she has already taken to loving the one she is currently on.
She was even upside down for a while yesterday!

I adopted her from: InfiniteCosmosGirl.etsy.com

:)

Kyia Has Dreads

01 I put Kyia's Dreads in tonight.
It took us almost exactly 3 hours.
We watched Friends.
Ate Hard Boiled Eggs.
And Ate Ice Cream.

She looks Awesome!

I Colored Them

01

I used Nice 'n easy semi permanent dye because i decided i wanted to become a redhead :) (well more auburn but it's more fun to say redhead)

I love it :) it makes me happy so i figured i would share!

Dreads=Love (+14 months)

01 Wow and i just looked up at my signature counter thing as i was previewing my post and wow yesterday my dreads turned 14 months and i didn't even notice!!! *GASP*

anyways i suppose this is sort of an update... my dreads are tightening up like crazy and becoming solid, in a good way of course.

I have some little dreads forming from the long part of my bangs, very fun since they are about 80% natural... i play with them sometimes.

I am also thinking about adding some sort of red tone to my dreads, i feel like they are a bit dull being that it is winter (my hair has more shine in the summer) I have some conditioner that is to help accentuate warm/red tones in your hair, i am thinking about experimenting with it on one of them, and if it works i will most likely use it on all of them. i am also expecting that they will soak up color like crazy since my hair hasn't been conditioned since October or November of 2006

anyways

Here is the Dreads=Love Picture.

First One

01 One of my baby dreads...
one of the ones forming from the long bangs I had....

HAS A LOOP! :)

YAY

Dread Boy

01 Matt and I were playing around with slow and fast shutter speeds last night.
I made him swing his dreads around for me.
Here is one of my favorite pictures I took of him.
:)

Peyote Stitches

01 I decided to try my hand at peyote stitches tonight... they are fun, yet tedious to make. I am really happy with how they turned out! Here are pictures! The first one pictured is my Gemini and clouds one :) I like it a lot. It has a few problems, but that is alright, it was only my second one. The second one pictured is my first one that I made.

323 Days.

01 323 days, 2 hours, 48 minutes and 20 seconds can be converted to one of these units:

* 27,917,300 seconds
* 465,288 minutes (rounded down)
* 7754 hours (rounded down)
* 46 weeks (rounded down)


So, that is how long i have had my dreads for. The start time is calculated from the time that my first picture with a full head of dreads was taken at.

I can't believe how incredibly much my dreads have changed since i got them! CRAZY!

I love them more and more each day.








Calculations From Timeanddate.com