Let's sing it...Do U Know What Today Is? It's My Anniversary...Anniversary

It's been a year already?!! At the beginning it seemed so far away but now that I've made it, time has really flown by. I've enjoyed all 365 days of my braidlocs, even my fuzzy days. My locs are definitely maturing. My curly q's are few and I have locs that are almost completely loc'd. It will probably take another 6 months for it to be completely loc'd....we will see. I experienced a lot of shrinkage, which I understood would come with the territory but I've also seen a lot of growth. I heard that after a year the growth really takes off. I've combined some locs because I didn't like the look of the very thin locs that were located in the front and sides. I just combined them by two strand twisting them. I haven't had any issues with them unraveling. If I decide to get a nappy tool before it's too late I can combine them by interlocking them but for right now they are okay. I contemplated coloring a couple of months ago but chickened out after I purchased a box of color. I decided to wait after my locs have matured. Just a few weeks ago I decided to try something different while freshing up the new growth. I've started twisting the front and sides of my hair and will continue to latchhook the top and the back. It's an experiment to see how I would like the look compared to latching. We will see.

This journey has introduced new freedom for me. I definitely need freedom with my lifestyle. Having two girls, a teenager with long permed hair and a 2.5 yr old with special needs, I don't have much time fuss with my own hair. Deciding to loc my youngest daughter's hair has also given me one less thing to deal with when it comes to her development. It gives me more time to focus on her most important needs.

My mom has been monitoring my progress and decided to loc her hair as well. She's been natural for almost 3.5 yrs. She is the one who helped motivate me to go natural in the first place. I started her braidlocs on Feb 26th-27th, two hours devoted to each day. She didn't want her locs as small as mine but she still has more than she thought she would. She's already enjoying the freedom of not having to manipulate her hair everyday. I'll post a pic really soon.

I'm looking forward to many more years to follow!