Hey there! Nothing really big to report. I'm still in the transition. Not giving up! I'm approaching month 4. July 23 will be the date, in fact. More shedding, some breaking. It just looks rough! I tried to wash it myself the other night and I looked like the Heat Miser! That's done. I have an appointment to get my hair done on Saturday. I'm going to ask for the twist out (braiding it, letting it dry and then unravelling the braids). My hair looked good when I did it like that when my hair was longer so it will probably be pretty cute with it being a little bit shorter. I know that I'll get through this but I've made up my mind on a couple of things:

1) I will try the Design Essentials Strengthening System as soon as the young lady starts offering it. She advised that she will be offering it soon. I'm hoping that it will be this summer, i.e before the end of the month. Not sure how much longer I can go with my hair like this. Basically, it works like a keratin treatment without the harmful formaldehyde because the active ingredient is cysteine amino acid, which is part of what makes up the hair, anyway. It makes the hair smooth and silky when you blow it dry but still allows for some curl when you want to where it naturally. And, perhaps best of all, it washes out after 3 months so, if you don't like it, you don't have to go back to it. So I wouldn't have to go through the transition again.

2) I am going to get this book called Grow It Long. There are a lot of books and other information out there about going natural. This one seems to take it and advises on how to help it grow healthy, too. It's currently at my nape. By this time next year, I'm hoping that it will be at least at my shoulders if not beyond. I'm going to see if I can get it to bra length. It's been there before but it seems like it gets there and then starts breaking - probably because the hair has had perm for so long. So I can only imagine how healthy it will be without perm!

I'm not giving up! I'm still moving forward. I'll take pictures after I get it done this weekend. Pictures each month, in fact, to show the growth!