unravelled

It's been a couple of months now since I went to Portland to get dreads. A lot has happened in those two months. I've followed dread journeys of two others before going to start my own. My friend Denise, and the lovely Sara. Both of them talk about how their journey with dreads parallel their lives and their personal journeys. Sadly, the same is true in my case.

My dreads started going crazy after just over a week of having them. I knew they would go through wild stages, but I had some pretty reckless loops of undreaded hair coming out. I tried to wait it out, thinking it would get better over time, and I scoured the internet (mostly flickr dread pools) for others who have experienced the same thing. I wished I were closer to Stephanie so she could take a look and help manage my crazy mess. I finally found Evelyn, an experienced dread stylist in Santa Cruz (about an hour & a half away from me) and made an appointment to see her. Brooklyn and I went to see Evelyn one day and hoped that she could tame my locks.. but after a careful observation of my dreads, she recommended combing them out and starting over. She said she could try to work with them if I wanted, but that it would likely take at least 5 hours. I decided to go home and start the work of combing them out.

(these photos were taken a week or two before going to see Evelyn... it actually got much worse, but I don't have photos of the final stage before I combed them out.)

(about half way through combing out... there were still a few in the back... it took about four days.)

Meanwhile, as my hair was coming unravelled, my marriage was too. Joe moved out this week. I'm not going into details here but I did want to let you know that this is happening. Please keep our family in your prayers, especially our four children: Brooklyn (nearly 13), Zeke (turning 11 on Sunday), Mercy (4) and Judah (2).

the necklace project

My necklace project post is up on the in the wish studio blog today. Check it out here!

sisterly fashion show

This is Brooklyn.

She loves to organize things and plan events of all kinds. This morning, she planned a fashion show with her little sister. Brooklyn currently loves to wear dresses and skirts. Mercy, not so much. So this morning, Brooklyn got some of Mercy's dresses out of the closet and coaxed her into trying them on. Mercy was a good sport, and quite the little model. She got to pick out her own shoes and sweaters/jackets to go with the dresses. They had me wait outside and Brooklyn announced Mercy with each outfit, describing the ensemble.

This first picture was kind of dark, so we moved from the backyard to the front for better light. I still like this photo though, especially with the little skateboarder in the background. Maybe I'll share a video of him tomorrow. (My Nikon is out of commission right now.. again. I'm thinking I should have gone with a Cannon. But the iphone is doing a good job capturing my cuties for now!)

(You may notice our grass is... umm... thirsty. I notice this daily too, but keep forgetting to do something about it. Maybe tomorrow.)

This is one of my very favorite thrift store finds in a really long time. This picture doesn't totally capture it, and the ribbon came off when she tried it on this morning. It's such a darling dress, and it fits her perfectly. Hopefully she'll wear it again and again and I'll get some better photos next time.

I hope you enjoyed this little fashion show! I sure did!!!

retreat

A couple weekends ago I went on a women's retreat with some ladies from my church. This is a yearly thing and I always look forward to it so much. The timing for this year's retreat really could not have been more perfect.

This was the view from my room (shared with three dear friends)...

We were at Zephyr Cove in beautiful Lake Tahoe. I could so get used to waking up to these views every morning.

It was so nice to get away and have some girl time.

We were romanced with this peaceful atmosphere and amazing scenery by the Lover of our Souls. Meals were made for us, our sheets were washed for us and our rooms cleaned when we were finished.

We played crazy games, sang silly songs and got into deep heart level worship. We laughed and cried. We prayed and listened, caught up with each other and got real.

We deepened some friendships and began a few new ones. I was so blessed. It's always a little hard coming "down the mountain" from these amazing weekends, but I was refreshed, full of peace, and ready to love on my kids.