Weekend Wrap-up - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

THIS WEEK: was the first whole week spent at home in a long while it seems. We've had so many little family outings and work thingies that I've always had something on the horizon that I was mentally and sometimes emotionally preparing for, so it was a nice little break. Richard took my laptop to get fixed by a good friend of his after it crashed mid-youtube upload, and it came back as good as new! So I'm writing from it now, and I have high hopes of progression in every aspect moving forward. 
     April was really a tough month, but I feel like it was also very needed and very important. There was wonderful time spent with family, and lots of happy days, but I also dwealt on pain more than usual. I felt more failure, more helplessness, more fear, and more burdening sorrow than I've had weigh on me in a while, so going into May and a new Monday at the same times seems like just the blessing I needed to reset myself a bit and move forward. Soaking all of that darkness into myself and using it to propel me onward and upward, letting it give me more depth of spirit and empathy in my soul. 
     I had some really good realizations about myself this past month, lots of parenting inspiration to further help each child with their current struggles, lots of strengthening talks with Richard, many mental notes of how I can be better. I accomplished a bunch of projects that have needed done for over a year some of them, so all in all, right now at least.haha I'm feeling good, breathing deep, and breathing in the last bits of April air while they last.

SNAPSHOTS OF THE WEEK: 


TO-DO'S & GOALS FOR THE WEEK:
- write up a new little health and fitness plan for May
- organize my blogging schedule for May
- set a new YouTUbe posting goal
- sort the office once and for all
- work at finishing the gallery wall
- start teaching the girls piano weekly
-start trying yoga again
- work on my friendships
- set up the girl's chore charts
- set work hours for myself
- keep up with water drinking (I've been awful)
- try to get more sleep
- make more smoothies
- take each kiddie out on a date
- plan a family trip for after school ends
- keep up the good deed days with the kiddos
- give myself more grace 
- write a letter, on paper
- cook more
- spend as much time in the sun as I can

A FEW FACTS:


  • Did you know that I can't snap my fingers? yeah, no. I've tried and tried for years. So many people have tried to teach me, but to no avail.haha I don't know anyone else who struggles with this on the planet, so please tell me if you do too! We can start a support group.haha
  • I have a big thing for documentaries and especially ones related to nature and wildlife like Planet Earth. Oddly enough (or not surprising at all depending on how you look at it.haha) Richard loves it too! 
  • My parents taught us growing up that chocolate was bad for you, so we weren't allowed to eat it. I didn't end up having a single chocolate thing until I was about 12. A friend gave me an oreo and I just couldn't withstand the peer-pressure! haha So really though, I'm not kidding.haha


SOMETHING TO TAKE AWAY:
"Strength doesn't come from what you can do easily, 
it comes from accomplishing the thing that you once thought you couldn't."
- Rikki Rogers


Cheers for the new week ahead my friends:)
So long April! 

xoxoxo


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Weekend Wrap-up - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

Flower Updo - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

Hello friends,

     The purple crepe myrtle flowers in our yard are so beautiful, I got ready early and took hair pictures outside in the early morning sunlight.  Such lovely flowers make the perfect background for this flower updo.  I created this hairstyle by making several small rope braids and winding them up into rose buns.  I added a rosebud spiral pin in the center of each "hair" flower, then added extra flower clips as accents.  Thank you for coming to see my post!
















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Flower Updo - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

Crown Braid - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

Hi friends,

     Yesterday I read a beautiful quote on Lilith Moon's Facebook page, "Your hair is a crown you never take off!"  What a lovely thought.  It inspired my hairstyle today.

     I made a lace braid that wrapped halfway around my head and ended in a side braided bun.  I pulled on the edges of my braid to make it stand up like a crown.  Here are pictures taken in the afternoon sun, on a very colorful day <3








 





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Crown Braid - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

another hair tutorial + video - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

Good to be back again guys:) As most of you guys know, there were a handful of extra tough days the last couple of weeks (10-month mark, wedding anniversary, his birthday, etc) that made posting here kinda tough. I didn't want to delve deeper into things and share a bunch of stuff here, so instead of sharing 'lighter' things, I just stayed away pretty much. But now I'm here and loving it! 

I looked back in my archives to see when I last posted a new hair tutorial, and it was in February of last year:/ So as I say in the video, it feels great to not only be getting another tutorial video out but to have it be for these curls that I have been asked for over and over and over for years! Here ya go:


I hope that you give it a try and see how it works for you, and if you have any questions feel free as always to leave them in the comments so I can help you out! Happy curling, and good luck with the rest of your week ahead my friends:)

xoxo


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another hair tutorial + video - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

Faux 7-Strand French Braid - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

Hello friends,

     Yesterday it poured rain, but thankfully that didn't keep me from taking hair pictures.  I set my camera up in front of the window, and sat in my colorful hammock-chair and twirled around to show each angle of my braid.  To make this braid, I first made a 3-strand accent braid, then I braided the rest of my hair in a 4-strand French braid.  I pinned the 3-strand braid along one side of my French braid, to make my braid look thicker and more complicated.  I draped the length of my braid over one shoulder, folded it up, and clipped it in place with hair clips.  Thank you for coming by my blog to see!















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Faux 7-Strand French Braid - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

Wavy Updo - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

Hi friends,

     Today I fixed my hair in a wavy updo, by making two buns held in place with many hairclips.  I did start out by making a small poofy section at the front, to give my hair some volume and avoid the "scraped back" look.

     I have exciting news, my "Hello from Andrea" letter that I wrote to share with friends is now posted here on my blog in German!  Thank you to all my friends from Germany and other German-speaking countries, who follow my hairstyle posts.  I'm so glad our paths have crossed <3















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Wavy Updo - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

Hair Bow - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

Hi everyone,

     I finally found a video that helped me learn how to make an actual hair bow~ what a cute idea!  I kept this hair bow as the main point of focus, and draped the length of my hair loosely over one shoulder.  I can't wait to add a random hair bow to other hairstyles in the future, how very feminine and fun :-)













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Hair Bow - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

Springtime Waterfall Updo - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens

Hello friends,

     How wonderful to be back in my island home, for many reasons~ one of the top reasons being that now I can post more regularly on my blog!  Today I fixed my hair in a side updo style, using two criss-crossed waterfall braids.  This hairstyle has a fun, springtime feel that just matches my dress.
   
     Thank you so much for coming to see my new post!  Please check back soon to see new braids and hairstyles.  I hope to reach one million views by my birthday in June.  Feel free to browse through my past posts and share your favorites with friends.  You can help direct new viewers my way <3







 






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Springtime Waterfall Updo - Natural hairstyle for mens and womens