Me and Rae Lewis-Thornton

I had a faboulous time at the Masquerade Party which was sponsored by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Guest speaker was Rae Lewis-Thornton the woman that has HIV/AIDS. She gave an exceptionally speech and telling us as African women how important it is for us to get checked and to protect ourselves. This woman is phenomenal and a true fighter. She was selling a new book entitled "Amazing Grace." I can't wait to start reading it.

You can't really see my hair but it was in a updo. It was raining and my curls fell in the front. I'm gonna wash my hair tomorrow. On consultant told me to wash my hair without banding and see what happens.

My updo

This is my attempt with a updo. It looks cute in the back but I need a little bit more length at the top. Me and my soror are going to a Masquerade Party tomorrow night. I braided the front of my hair to have some type of curls in the front. I will take pics when I am all dollied up:)

My Hubby

This is my hubby. Although he prefers long hair, he has been very supportive and patient during my journey. This pic was taken when I was in transition (wearing micorbraids).

Retigtening

This past Saturday I had my hair retightened. I missed my appt in November so when I got my hair retigtened on Sunday I had alot of new growth. It took about 8 hours. I'm 4 month into my journey and I'm enjoying it.

My Princess

This is my one and only niece. Laila. Isn't she adorable. That is my hear. Everyone says she looks like me. Here is a pic of her in her ballerina outfit. My sister is gonna keep her hair natural.

SLd 4 Month

Finally, I thought it would never get here. I have been locked for 4 months. I have seen alot of changes in the my hair. My hair is growing rapidly, my hair is full and I can feel that the back of hair is locking then the front. I'm always playing in my hair. I can't wait til I reach a year. Sorry for the blurry pics, my son took this picture.

Sisterlocked

August 9, 2005 was the day I got my hair locked. It took me 3 days and I have 578 locs. I think I started off with about 3 inches of new growth. Wearing microbraids for over a year did some damage to my hair. I wore a headband for about a month because of the MAJOR parts. My locks were done by Tonya. :)

Out with the perm, in with the microbraids

My last perm was April 2004. I relapsed twice, but this time I was determined to go through with it. At the time I didn't know what I wanted to do with my hair but after so much damage I decided to let it grow out. I started wearing microbraids for a little over a year. Here is a pic of me and my D.I.V.A.S (Dynamic, Intelligent, Versatile, Accomplished, Sistahs), daugher, Bre, my son, Receo and my sister, Lilly.

My relaxer dazes

This is a picture of me a couple of years ago. I've always had long hair and this was my style (french row). I wore this hairstyle out. It was something that was low maintenance and didn't require me to do my hair in the morning. Also another hairstyle that I use to wear was crimps. Unfortunately, using the crimp iron (which were EXTREMELY HOT) my hair lost its fullness. This is a pic of me being crown "Ms. Illinois" of the Order of Eastern Star, M.F.A.M. Hello to all my SiStars.:)