I haven’t written here in a long time. It occurred to me a while ago and Janelle also reminded me that I never updated the blog. If you follow our Instagram page you would remember that I posted in 2018 that I was expecting a baby girl. Well my loves, it’s time for an update.
The month of October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month. I’ve shared my loss story and post-loss journey on my personal blog Simply Just Myah. You can check it out for the full story but I’ll give you a summary here.
In 2018, I shared on our Instagram page about C and I expecting a baby girl, unfortunately I had some complications due to pre eclampsia and had to have an emergency C-section at 28 weeks. Her name, Nevaeh Zaniyah, she was such a strong fighter. Unfortunately on October 18, 2018, she took her final breath.
Losing a child is a pain I would wish on no one. It was also then I learned how taboo the topic of miscarriages and infant loss is. So many people C and I knew have had the loss of a child whether through infancy or miscarriage. So many of our friends and family have experienced this pain and some of them said they never talked about it because they felt as if they couldn’t.
When those who have experienced this loss do talk about it, there are those who don’t know the pain but are there to comfort you through the loss, there are those who don’t know what to say, so they may end up saying something that is unknowingly insensitive to the situation, then there are those who are boldly insensitive. Thankfully C and I have not heard any bold insensitive comments or at least to our faces.
It’s ok to not know what to say, just show support, and be kind and mindful to your friends and family who have been dealt this blow in life.
On November 25, 2019 at 39 weeks and 4 days. I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy Adriel Zamari Levere via VBAC (full birth story on Simply Just Myah).
Some people as I mentioned before, sometimes through no fault of their own, (because talking about babies dying is taboo) will say things that they may think are ok, but really they are not.
Like it’s your first mothers/fathers day, how does it feel. This year wasn’t our first, we became parents when our daughter was born, because she died doesn’t mean that we are no longer parents, her dying didn’t take away our parenthood.
Or saying that we won’t be so sad now that we have this new baby- this not a nice thing to say. We will always be sad, we think about her and miss her every day, some days more than others. Saying that loss parents won’t be as sad because they have a new baby is not something they want to hear.
We love our baby boy so much, he’s 11 months now. At the same time, we can’t help but think what life would be like having him and his big sister playing together, growing to love each and protect each other. I know that the personality she had when she was here for those five weeks, that she would have been the best big sister to him.
For full stories on the journey from our loss to our rainbow. Here are the links.
It’s been a battle to get back here. Yup, writing on our blog, not because of not wanting to but because of the many things going on in my life.
In today’s post I’ll like to share a battle that’s been a constant part my life mainly now that I’m in university, that is worry & fear. So many times I came online to post the following but felt vulnerable and unsure and still do but I decided to trust God and go for it despite my feelings. I hope by sharing this it helps you in what you will face this year and give you the courage to do the things you need to do that you may have been putting off.
“Even When It Hurts”
“We all go through trials,” hearing this from someone during one is far from comforting. When we are going through a struggle, a trying situation, what looks like an impossible situation or grief we know quite well that we are not the only ones who’ve been through this and many times we know others have been through worst. Hearing those words not only come across as inconsiderate but hurt because we’re already trying to be strong in facing what ever the situation is. Instead of helping those words seem to be condemning you.
(Sunday Morning 4:30 a.m. – 7th October 2018)
This morning I awoke worried and concerned about an assignment that’s due at 11:59 p.m. The programme I need to complete this assignment I do not have and our school isn’t usually open on weekends unless there is a class on Saturdays. Most of the time there is but you have to arrive while the tutor is there and usually only get to stay as long as them because they lock up afterwards.
This was my predicament yesterday. It had been very difficult to fit in this assignment which was given on Monday due to my schedule – personal tasks, other tasks, assignments, tests, homework. and classes. So yesterday, Saturday, I went to school to, start and complete it, however, I was unable to complete it within the time the tutor was there. I was overwhelmed…
Another student in a year above me was at school and I asked her if I could use her laptop to complete it since she had the programme and she said yes but she and it would only be available at 4.p.m. today, Sunday (the day of submission). I felt hope but was still afraid… (what if something goes wrong or don’t get through). Yesterday I came home and worked on something else in the mean time until I had to rest but awoke this morning with the same overwhelming and fearful feeling.
I’ve been constantly praying asking God to help me to stop worrying and fearing because I know He always work things out. I read verses, listened to sermons on relating topics and even made notes. Yes, these helped but I still fall back to worrying. I apologized numerously to God for my behaviour and fear. I know he loves me and wants what’s best for me but do I allow myself to really see this and believe it or do I just allow the fear to overpower everything else?
As I awoke this morning I prayed for help and trust then I got some tea and turned on my laptop in search of some worship music. I came to one of my favourites “Elohim” by Hillsong.
A few tears began trickling down, I know God loves me and his love is great and as the words “God is patient God is kind” was sung I found myself being upset at myself and apologized yet again. After the song ended I saw another song on the side panel–
Even When It Hurts (Praise Song) Live – Hillsong UNITED
I don’t know if I can express how this made me feel but it touched me deeply and after listening with eyes closed I scrolled down and saw this.
Ricky Ryan Ray 1 year ago
“My wife and I want nothin more than to have a child. We have been trying for two years now and every month we are let down. This Sunday morning, after my wife thought she was finally pregnant, she started her day off with confirmation that she is in fact, not pregnant. We almost didn’t go to church. We haven’t felt like God can even hear our prayers for a child. We thought “let’s just stay home and skip church today. We can read the Bible together.” We were both depressed, especially my sweet wife. However, my wife said “I still want to go.” So we went. Every song sang this morning was about praising God in hard times. This song was sang as a special and boy did it hit home. When the line “even when it hurts like hell, I’ll praise you.” We lost it. My wife and I both couldn’t hold back tears. We understood in that moment that God will give us a child when he gives us a child. The ONLY THING we are asked to do as Christians is love and praise God and love and serve others. We aren’t asked to be jealous of those around us with children or whatever else it is we are envious of. He doesn’t ask us to victimize ourselves and be ashamed of our short comings or bad dealings. God gives what he gives and he allows what he allows and we are to praise him regardless because WE KNOW that his will is being done his will is good and nothing will change that. Not even a child or the lack their of. I love God, I love my wife, I love our future kids. I love all of you reading this but only because Jesus loved me first.”
Wow he said it all. Even though my situation is different I could totally relate and I could see all of my areas that aligned as I read. but did you see what he said? Read the highlighted area above… I am to love and praise God and love and serve others, yes I knew that before but it goes on I am not to victimize myself or be ashamed of my shortcomings or bad dealings. Hmm … but isn’t that what I’ve been doing? Beating myself up because I am worrying constantly apologizing to God and worrying over the fact that I worry and fear? I have to stop beating myself up, praise God even more through the trials.
“God gives what he gives and he allows what he allows and we are to praise him regardless because WE KNOW that his will is being done his will is good and nothing will change that.” Ricky Ryan Ray
God brought me here for his purpose and his plan, without his urging and going before me I would have stayed in Barbados. I would have stayed away from these additional fears, risks involved and would have avoided being away from my family and friends for almost 4 years. There is something bigger in the end of this and I must believe that. I must remember all of those times God came through for me in the tiny things and the impossible. I must remember this is His plan and he is before me… This is far from easy and I am still trying to figure out how but I thought that sharing this morning’s experience would help someone out there and I just had to.
Here are a few verses and videos that may also help:
Psalm 18:2 – The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
Psalm 32:7+8 – Thou art my hiding place though shalt preserve me from trouble thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Psalm 34:8-9 – O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 9 O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
Psalm 37:4 – Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
John 14:13 – And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 16:23 – And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Matthew 6: 34 – Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Matthew 18:19 – Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
2nd Tim 1:7 – For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Rom 8:28 – And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Deuteronomy 20:4 – For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
Joshua 1:9 – Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Romans 8:31-39– What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(I find writing them on small index cards and storing in my wallet helps)
Even though my post “Even When It Hurts” was written in October 2018. It is still so relevant. Looking back I know that I’ve face much more and even back then I had already been through bigger of tougher situations. I felt timid posting because this situation may seem small to some. However, I hope that this posts helps you in whatever trying situation you maybe facing.
If you would like me to share more verses or anything else feel free to comment and I can make a post on just verses for you.
Do have have a happy, safe and blessed new year. God bless you loves!
“But I don’t want to go outside, there are people out there”
Hey Islandistas and Islandistos (lol – Islandistos, you know who you are).
So here we go! When my friend who is a very talented artist asked me to fill in as a model, I was excited and ready to lend my support, I mean who doesn’t like being painted in body paint right!? The introvert in me did not remember that there will be plenty of people just staring at me!
It all dawned on me when I arrived and the painting began, it was as if a nuclear bomb had exploded my little bubble and the internal panic insued but I kept it together guys, I held it together and only because she and her photographer husband made me feel comfortable and at ease.
All in all I had fun, I sat completly still, I did not blink, and somehow “hid” the rise and fall of my chest as I breathed. I looked at that exit sign for as long as I cannot remember. The fun part was due to her amazing painting and my super stillness is that persons thought I was a statue. But!!!! when I moved, deciding to change positions -people freaked right out.
I recall this one guy who was speaking to my husband and the photographer and the photographer said to him, pointing to me, you know that’s his wife. The guy looked at me and said “wife, that’s a statue”. I blinked and moved my head a bit… he jumped back and almost dropped his phone. Poor guy! There were many more who were also caught by surprise as well.
It’s summer and you know the months of June, July and August are known for weddings. Today I’m going to share two looks from a wedding two of our Lifestyleislandista’s wore when they attended a morning wedding this June.
We hope these looks inspire you as you attend your formal events this summer.
Janelle’s Look:
Fascinators are quite trendy at this time but they also gave a soft, feminine, elegant and unique touch to your outfit.
This beautiful rose pink fascinator was made by my mum I told her not to worry to make me one when I realized how busy she was, but that morning when I stopped by it was sitting there ready for me. I was super excited and it was gorgeous!
Thank you mummy! ^_^
I styled my hair in a low side one and added some gold dangling earrings which I made. (PS. Check out Wabbimail’s on Instagram and Facebook to see more of my products)
My dress was made with spring and summery floral Georgette which I accented with yellow and pink Peau- de- soie to break up the floral and tie the look together.
I also chose a yellow clutch instead of pink which gave a nice contrast to the pink but blended nicely with the floral and top.
Lastly I got these gorgeous rose pink/fuchsia heels from “Superstyle Shoe Shop” Barbados to complete my look.
Joanna’s Look:
I don’t think you can ever go wrong wearing a hat to a morning garden wedding. When paired well it’s gives a lady a tasteful elegant edge as well as helps keep the sun at bay.
Here Joanna is wearing a beautiful medium yellow sinamay hat which gives a soft yet gentle contrast to the turquoise wrap dress she is wearing. Her dress was made by me, Janelle (Wabbimail’s) and she added a pair of delicate turquiose and gold drop earrings and a gem stone and gold necklace to the look.
Joanna then added a double strand pearl bracelet as a decorative touch and accompanied it with a small neutral chocolate brown clutch.
Lastly she chose a pair of medium yellow round tip pumps from “Payless Shoesource” to complete her look.
Hope you enjoyed our June Wedding Look-book and that it inspires you and your looks for any weddings, cocktail parties, work formals and dinners parties this summer!
Jo here. Today I want to share 3 budget friendly, fun date ideas with you that range from low budget to slightly fancy pancy. Recently hubby and I took a break from work to celebrate our 7 yr anniversary and his 30th birthday.
We decided we wanted to make the most of our 2 day break and do as much as we could on a budget and still feel slightly “posh” (jokes).
So date number 1 – Our first date was a beach day (picnic). It was a school day so childcare was sorted. We packed our bags and went to the grocery store and picked up some of our favorite snacks. Hubby knows the best beaches on the west coast so we drove to St.James and rented some beach chairs (optional obviously), lounged and had lovely sea baths.
Tips:
Pack snacks that are yummy cold or room temp so you don’t need a cooler or flask.
Pack glasses for your drinks if you want to feel special
Don’t forget sunscreen
(lol at hubby’s face)
This date is our cheapest and most relaxed date. You can easily do this for $40 (including transport or gas)
Date number 2:
Movie Night – We had not been to the movies in 4yrs. So this was a treat and we decided to go to Limegrove cinemas. Which is the more expensive of the cinemas here in Barbados. But we went on a Tuesday which is their discount night and tickets are $15. We watched Wonder Woman and I felt like a real teenage girl jumping and ducking at all the thrills in the movie. It was well made and we had fun.
In terms of food we just had popcorn as we weren’t very hungry. But the service there was great! They bring the snacks to your seat.
We wore our slightly cheesy cutesy matching Mr and Mrs T shirts. And it was nice to feel like a new couple dating again.
This is our mid-range date you can do this date for approx” $60.
Tips:
1. Take advantage of discounts
2. Eat dinner first
Our 3rd date was a splurge date, and the most common date. A dinner date. We went to one of our favourite spots and it was delish!
Although this was a splurge for us here are some ways you can save and get more for your money.
Ask a family member to babysit if you have kids, instead of a sitter.
Order 4 or more appetisers to share instead of entrees. That way you get to try more dishes for the same price of less.
Skip bottled water , tap water is fine.
Mention if its a special occassion, many places give a dessert for free!
I hope my tips really helped you guys plan your next date day/night.
A beautiful country scenery with great wind and an amazing view.
The use of my Barbadian dialect will be used at some point in this post.
We left off last time at my wedding DIY’s. There is still a few more you will see in this post. Now it’s time to get into the wedding day.
Picture this. A beautiful country scenery with great wind and an amazing view – perfect for your wedding day if you are having an outdoor wedding. Our beautiful wedding was held at the Country Life Estate in the parish of St.George/St John (It’s on the border of both).
Beautifully decorated, Collen Webster- the owner did a spectacular job at getting everything ready and trust me when I say specacular because there was an event the night before and my wedding was a morning wedding. (The event before lasted well into the night and I would know because my mini bridal party and I slept over in the room provided for the wedding party). Country Life not only hosts your wedding and reception but they also offer a number of other services such as breakfast and lunch for you and your bridal party when you stay the night before the wedding,
Many people thought I was going to be a nervous wreck, that I would not sleep (but what dem feel it is, listen I love muh sleep). I was the most calm person ever, I was worried about nothing. I arrived at the venue with all my wedding favours ready to hand off to be stocked away until the morning. I settled in, told mom and dad goodbye so they could go and collect C and his best man from the hotel. (C dropped his car off to our honeymoon hotel), Then I ate my veggie burger and messaged C to let him know I had arrived and all the other mushy stuff while I waited on my maid of honour and flower girl to arrive so we could lock the door for the night.
In the morning we woke up around 6 am, I went upstairs to see drop some pens off for the guest signing and then went down to have some breakfast and prepare for when the make-up artist ( Liezel Artistrii), and dress designer (also my cousin) would arrive. We ate and talked and each had a shower while we waited. When they (makeup and dress designer) arrived we got to having our make-up done. At this point our photographer Akira Joseph Photography arrived and began taking some shots of us getting ready and upstairs with the decor and guest. Make up was done, and hair ( I got my hair done the previous day), dress was on, everyone was ready by 9:30 am ( by this time mom, dad and our ring bearer had come). I was ready and not nervous, I was just super excited to get upstairs and get married to C.
The wedding was at 10 am and at about 10 mins or 5 mins to 10 I got the news, one of the pastors had not arrived as yet (WHATTTTTT)…….I was like let it be known I was ready and not the hold up (and it was later said at the recpetion that I was ready EARLY).
The guest were seated and they called us up. I walked down the aisle with dad to the song “When God Made You” and I remember Collen saying “keep your bouquet by your waist”
This beautiful boquet was customized by my mom. When we bought it, it was just the calla lillies but mom added the purple flowers, the beads around the base and the peacock feathers.
I remember that for all of 1 min and it was back up by my chest, listen I did just wanna get up dey, get the wedding over wid, cause I don’t like being de center of attention. Anyhow cermony was beautiful and if you ask me what the pastor’s sermon was about…all I remember was he said something bout Adam and Eve. I was in nny own little bubble of bliss.
C’s sister played a beautiful rendition of on her flute of “I Swear” (This was the first song C and I sang to each other over the phone). We exited the ceremony to “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and all the cameras were flashing. All the people were coming to congratulate up and everything. During the cocktail hour we took our photos while the guest ate (I really wanted fishcakes and samosas but I aint get none).
Time came to start the reception and we entered to “Still the One by Shania Twain”. We ate, the food was great, speeches were too. My most memorable speech was the one dad gave when had our song played “Forever Young by Rod Stewart” (he dedicated this song to me on my 16th birthday).
For our first dance C and I chose From This Moment by Shania Twain and Bryan White (I had to look at our songs list while writing this post because neither of us could remember)
Another favourite of mine was the cake!!!!!!
This wonderful, beautiful and delicious cake was done by fellow lifestyler Jo and her husband who are the owners of As Cute As A Cupcake – Barbados.
My flavour of choice was chocolate fudge which was the bottom tier while C’s flavour of choice was strawberry which was the top tier. The cupcakes were vanilla and chocolate fudge. When we cut the cake I did not want to share my piece because it was so gooooodddd. So I ate that then got another piece to feed him with. #chocolateislife.
All in all. I enjoyed our wedding and had a blast. Below is a slideshow of some photos from our wedding.
Hope you’re doing well. I’ve got an cute outfit for you!
If you’ve been following us for a while you know that I am a Fashion Designer. In 2015 to 2016 I pursued and completed a Textiles and Material Design Level 3 NVQ Course and I shared a bit of my Textiles Exhibition with you on our instagram page. Feel free to head on over to check it out, and if you want to see more pics you can stop by my business page Wabbimails.
So June 1st 2017 was our graduation and our invitation said business wear.
So seeing that I don’t have any business suits and I didn’t want to wear one for this occasion even if I had I decided to pull some of favs that I thought would work and I came up with theses. Enjoy!
My gorgeous lace jacket and light blue camisole.
Pearls & Jeweled necklace
Hair – Pin Up & Curls
Side View – Sporting my Nude Gloss Bag
Full Body
Certified & Feeling Good
Hope you enjoyed my first fashion post!
Don’t forget to follow, like, share and comment if you did!
Finally the wedding recap is here. Well part one anyway.
I got married!!!and let me just tell you that wedding planning without a wedding planner is fun but it can tiring especially when all of your health issues decide to rebel all at once.
Luckily I had help from mom with the DIY’s. It was fun to do them even with low energy levels which reminds me to inform you that during the planning process, taking vitamins daily is essential especially Vitamins B & C. I had to use more Vitamin C as I ended up with a sinus infection then after barely recovering from that, I got the flu; after that was another sinus infection. Not to mention the muscle spasms, scoliosis and endometriosis pain.(insert long growl). An entire month and a half of my body defying me. Along with the vitamins, if you are a religious person PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!!! PRAYER got me through the times I felt like saying, forget this! let’s elope!
Let’s get back to the good stuff.
Our Invitations
These amazing invites were done by the extremely talented Shonah of Dot_Ink Designs. We met with her and looked through her many designs and chose the one we loved the most, which was a pocket fold design. She transformed it using our theme (PEACOCK). Our colours werePURPLE, TURQUOISE & LIME GREEN. For the minimal details, I created our direction cards whilst my mom dealt with the outer envelope-ribbon design. Everyone loved these invites and so did we.
(For posting on the blog, I have removed the names of our family and friends).
I made many attempts at designing our escort cards. Night after night I would attempt different designs until I finally settled on this design. For our table names we used flowers and birds. These wonderful designs were printed, cut and glued to the opposing card. That is – the purple bordered cards were glued to turquoise cardstock and vice versa. When they were completed I must say that I was very impressed with my DIY. I was a bit saddened that we didn’t get any photos of them though. After C (husband will be referred to as C) and I finished all the cutting and gluing with these at 1 in the morning while we did other DIY’s we were worn out.
(DIY) Wedding Fan Programs
All done and pre- packaged : never mind the Kraft paper bags under the fans: If you look closely though you will see the thank you tags I designed.
Template done using Microsoft Word
(Some names have been removed for their privacy purposes)
I can say that I enjoyed designing this template after looking at Pinterest for some layout inspiration. Mom and I put the finishing touches on these amazing wedding programs, one day before the wedding.
After being printed, the were folded in half and glued around the edges leaving just enough space to place and stick the Jumbo Craft Stick at the bottom. When that was step was completed, mom tied the ribbon around the craft stick and then it was complete.
We sourced the ribbons for used for these lovely Wedding Fan Programs from Amazon
Wedding Favors
When I tell you that our guests were well treated in the wedding favor arena, they were well -spoilt. For our wedding favors we gave:
Alcohol-free Caribbean black-cake cupcakes (packaged in cupcake boxes)
Mini chocolates (packages in mini bags * see photo below)
Candy (packaged in mini-treat boxes *see photo below)
Barbadian mini sweet treats package (done by Salena Spice Creations who did an amazing job) which consisted of mini: sugarcakes, tamarind balls, nut cakes and guava cheese. We also packaged these treats from Salena in purple mini-sized organza bags. (see photo below)
These Caribbean great-cake cupcakes were baked by my aunt and decorated by my mom. Here they are waiting to be placed in the packaging box.
Cupcakes boxed up and displayed.
Chocolates all packaged up in these mini bags.
Captured by our wonderful Wedding photographer. (Akira Joseph Photography). This box held the mini candy.
Our sweet treats from Salena Sweets packaged and ready to go.
Mr&Mrs boxes sourced from Amazon (These were supposed to be as the 5 x 5 x 7.5 in size to use as the cupcake boxes but upon arrival were 3 inches!!! I was upset but we put them to good use)
Even though going the DIY road was a bit tiring at first, in the end I really loved the finished product. It saved us lots of money. I will tell you though that I have earned a lot more respect for person who has a career in designing things like these, it is a lot of time and hard work and you have to ensure that it is perfect for the big day!
Today I want to have an honest chat about something I think we can all relate too.
Balance.
As women it seems like a lot of us feel like we need to have everything under control and perfect all the time. But is that possible? Is work – life balance actually attainable?
I think we look at each other and feel as though, the other person has it covered more than we do. Perfect home, perfect appearance, perfect career, well behaved and groomed kids, amazing relationship.. all day, everyday. After talking to other ladies I have come to these conclusions:
We contribute to each other feeling this way. When someone says they are struggling sometimes people take this opportunity to say how “great” they are at what the person is struggling with and tell them to get it together. Come on! Stop that, you know you struggle too. Share a tip and be there for your girl but don’t brag and DON’T criticise.
There is no such thing as balance, its more like a river. With ebbs and flows, some days you’ll be a domestic goddess and some days you won’t. Some weeks you’ll have lots of play time with your kids and some weeks will be full force work. Try not to feed the guilt or the feeling of failure when somethings feel unbalanced.
Flexibility and personal time is important. Things don’t always go as scheduled but you have to be able to roll with it. Also know your limits, know when you need to say no. If taking this order or accepting this project means that you are compromising your limit and putting yourself under unnecessary stress sometime its okay to say no. Take time for yourself even if its just 10 mins in the morning with a cup of tea.Now I struggle with this balance thing just like anyone, but I am working on it. I believe you can have it all just not all at once. Mom guilt is real and work responsibilities don’t end but doing your best is what matters. They say you can’t pour from an empty pitcher. So take care yourself don’t judge and go with the ebb and flow as much as you can.
Hope you’re well! Today I’m going share my “Twist Out” and how I maintained it this long for the first time. A few months has passed since I did it but no worries. Let’s get right into it.
Styling
“January 21st 2017”
After washing and conditioning my hair, I parted it into sections. I detangled each section by spritzing with water and then sealing with my “Homemade Whipped Shea Butter Cream.” I got the recipe from Naptural85 which is called “Do It Yourself: Natural Homemade Creamy and Fluffy Shea Butter Cremes Recipe” but I tweaked it a bit. I then made smaller sections and flat-twisted those being sure to add some more cream to the ends.
Depending on how big the section was after every 1-2 twist, I wrapped either 1 or 2 twist(s) over a straw and rolled it under. Next I secure them with a bobby pin.
N.B The straws were cut into halves or thirds which turned out to be about 3″ in length each.
That night I slept in a satin scarf. The next afternoon I undid the flat-twist after rubbing a bit of oil unto my fingers to prevent frizz.
Day 1:
Unravelled – “January 21st 2017”
I was so surprised at how soft and moisturized it came out. Even though it was more compact than usual it was super curly and cute. The photos don’t even do it justice. It was Saturday and I was off to a party. Was thrilled too when I received loads of compliments! Wow yay! Lol.
Hometime!
So after taking a few pictures for you guys, I decided to pull my hair up to see if the pineapple method (which I had never researched but guessed what it was, based on it’s name) would work.
Cute right!? But I still wasn’t sure if this would work for my really thick and curly hair so I started Youtubing ways to maintain a “Twist Out.” Why oh why did I never do this before? I would always ruin the style after day two by not properly maintaining it, but not tonight, I had to find a way. That’s when I found this video by “My Natural Sisters” How to Maintain a Twist Out on Natural Hair. After watching a few of these I decided to try to it and prayed it would work.
So to find out if it did let’s go to Day 2…
Day 2
Church – “22nd January 2017”
Yay! It worked!
So by using the same technique I had seen in the video I twisted chucks of the twist out together the night before. No combs, no brushes just my fingers finding the previous parts very gently and twisting large sections of hair together. Next I covered my hair with my satin scarf and went to bed.
On Sunday morning I unravelled gentled, shook out the twists and fluffed. I also used some booby pins and hair pins to achieve my style.
Day 3
Work and Home – “23rd January 2017”
Well guys I work from home and did not venture out on Monday so I didn’t take any pics. However, I just did what I had done on Sunday and maintained it the same way I did on Saturday night.
Day 4
To town for supplies- “24th January 2017”
“Still cute and still curly!” Ok guys, apart from getting a bit dry, my hair was still popping. lol. I was pretty pleased to see how long this style could last and I knew it could go a few more days if I wanted it to. I had scored big time finding that video and a few more. Happy but tired and knowing that my hair was dry I was ready for a change and probably a wash.
However, I did get some tips for moisturizing for the next time that I do this style. Such as is this other video by Naptural85 called “How To Maintain Wash and Go for 5 Days or More “Natural Hair.” Using some of the tips from this method and the previous method combined, I think my hair will last a whole lot longer and look even better. I will also in-cooperate a way to re-moisturize my scalp as it tends to get dry faster than my hair. I still have to do some experimenting there since I wouldn’t want to disturb my curls and make the style frizzy.
I hope you enjoyed seeing my results and I hope you got some helpful tips too!
Now I struggle with this balance thing just like anyone, but I am working on it. I believe you can have it all just not all at once. Mom guilt is real and work responsibilities don’t end but doing your best is what matters. They say you can’t pour from an empty pitcher. So take care yourself don’t judge and go with the ebb and flow as much as you can.
Lifestyleislandistas 