How do you get your hair to grow so long?

Okay so this is a different kind of post but a lot of people have been asking me lately how I get my hair to grow so long! So I figured that I would fill you all in on my secrets!

Secret #1: I live in a humid climate. I understand that I lot of you cannot change where you live, or don't want to...BUT the more time your hair has in humidity, the better. It really has helped my hair stay healthy and not brittle. So maybe some time in a steam room once a week would really help. Plus it is great for your scalp because lets be honest, your scalp is just skin and skin needs moisture too!

Secret #2: I RARELY blow dry my hair. And by rarely I mean like once every other week or so. When I do blow dry my hair, I let it sit in a towel to dry as much as I can before I take heat to it. The less heat time my hair has to endure the better!! And trust me when I say, if I blow dry straight out of the shower, it will take 30 minutes to get my hair to a damp state, because well humidity and the fact that I have so much hair!

Secret #3: I try to never brush my hair wet. Before I get in the shower I brush my hair out, and then I let it sit in a towel uncombed. I also blow dry my hair uncombed... It isn't until my hair is mostly dry again that I will brush it out and finish blowing it dry. This has greatly improved my breakage amount.

Secret #4: Heat protectant. Let me just say that I use this every time any form of heat is going to be touching my hair. Whether that is blow dryer, flat iron, SUNSHINE! The sun is a source of heat that we don't think to protect our locks from, but it is super important! I noticed a huge difference after I started using it before I went into the sun for a long time.

Secret #5: Every time I am in any form of water that is not a shower (pool, ocean, etc.) I apply leave in conditioner before I get in and the moment I get out. Now I have to say that from personal experience....you do not want to put this close to your hair line before you get it. It will run into your eyes and you will think someone lit your eyes on fire. I usually only cover the ends of my hair up until the pieces underneath hit my scalp. After I get out, I put that stuff on everything. I look crazy at the beach putting it in my hair, but my hair would be so damaged if I did not do this. Because the salt or chemicals in a pool really do a number on my strands by the time I am able to wash my hair out.

Secret #6: Even more rare than me using a blow dryer, is me using a flat iron. One, it is way too hot and by the time I step outside for ten minutes my nice straight hair has started to curl up. Two, it is so much work....Have you ever tried to straighten thick hair that is this long? It takes forever.... So if I want my hair a bit straighter, all I do is the ends and top layers (after I spray heat protectant of course). This cuts down on time and always cuts down on the amount of hair that is getting heat applied to it.

So basically summed up.... I use way less heat... If I want curls, I do braids or heatless curls.... If I want straight, I only straighten what I absolutely must. I only blow dry when I have to, and I protect from all kinds of heat! I don't brush it when it is wet and I use lots of stuff to keep moisture in it!

My favorite hair products are Marc Jacobs Oil of Morocco Argan Oil collection. I love the blow dry smoothing cream, it helps it to be less frizzy and easier to get a comb through! I use it even when I don't blow dry my hair! I LOVE the styling oil spray for when it is dry though! Because my hair tangles SO fast and this spray loosens my tangles without making my hair look oily or dirty. It keeps my hair from getting tangled throughout the day as well. LESS IS MORE with this stuff, you can make a bottle last foreverrrrr because it is so potent you need so little of it. You can find it at Ulta! I highly suggest looking at the links and finding some for yourself! It is cheap and I have had my bottles for about 6 months and still have some in them!

Anyways, sorry for the random post of today!

Love, Kiki

Calm in the ever raging storm...

To say that my faith has been weak lately is an understatement. I have been struggling, mostly the depression talking once again. Convincing me that no one cares, especially the One who created the universe. The darkness is all I'm seeing again.

Then recently we lost a family member...suddenly and unexpected. At the age of 10.

"How could You take her away?? How dare You?"

Now let me just start by saying that the loss I'm feeling is nothing compared to the loss that those closest to her are feeling. My feelings are so small compared to my aunt and uncle's grief. I can't fathom how much they are going through and this is not to take away from them at all. They are going through hell and that is not something I want anyone to think I am comparing my own sorrow with. This is just my current struggle and how this has effected me.

JoJo and I weren't close in age, so we didn't grow up together. Life has taken me away from my family so it had been a few years since I saw her. They joined our family a while ago, so I didn't have the privilege of knowing her from birth or anything like that. I just got a few holidays and times when we could all get together as a family. I didn't have years with her, I didn't have the chance to know her favorite color or what she would have wanted to be when she grew up.

You see as a military wife, you give up so much. You give up the privilege of seeing your family every holiday and birthday. You give up all the memories you could make with them, watching everyone grow up and experience life. You move away and people who are dear to your heart become distant. You lose touch, you can't call everyone and keep up with everyone. You lose touch. Plain and simple.

But you hold onto the hope that, this too shall pass. You'll be home eventually and you'll get back into their lives. There will be future holidays and family reunions, you can attend them and then you'll get to know everyone again. You will have the chance later. You hold onto to that for dear life. Because without that hope, the fact that you miss everything at home is crushing.

And then you fall smack into the reality that is not the case. You don't get to have that future. I am drowning in hopelessness wondering if I'll have the chance to be involved in my family's life again. Who will I never get the chance to make more memories with?  Who will I have to hold onto the memories I have, knowing I missed out on so much of their lives and I'll never get the chance to make up for that?

I was already standing on the edge of my darkness again. Battling with depression once again. My ever present friend/enemy. And this was the push over the edge.

How could a God who could have stopped this, just stand by and let it happen? How dare He take her when she didn't even have the chance to fully experience life.

"How could you?"

I know God can handle my questions. I know He can take my faith being weak. If He couldn't I wouldn't believe in Him.

Here is the conclusion that I have come to as I sit crying silently on the plane.

Life sucks. Period. Life is just made to destroy us. Its science, everything is going to a state of decay at all times. Life hits you hard, sometimes wave after wave, sometimes with a tsunami. Life is brutal. It doesn't care about you.

God didn't say that He came to save us from life. He didn't say that suddenly life would love you and stop being an ass. If that is how life worked, a lot more people would believe in God simply for a get through life easy pass.

No, the storms will still hit you. And they will make you fear for your life. They will rock your boat, they will toss you around, they might even throw you overboard. But the difference is, you have someone in your boat with His arms outstretched, ready to take over when you can't grip the sail anymore, when you have fallen out. He is present at all times to calm us and give us peace beyond understanding. He didn't say He would save us from every storm, but He promised to be in them with us. He promised us His love and grace at every moment of the calm and the storm.

So the calm that I am finding in my heart right now is this: this life is not all I get. I have eternity to know and love and be with my family. I am not limited to the memories I have with JoJo on earth.

And until I see you again, I'll hold onto the memories that I do have with you. I will hold onto your smile and your laugh.

It is not fair that you are gone. That will probably never make sense to me. I will always carry regret I couldn't know you longer and more. But I won't lose my hope because someday, we can make up for the lost time.

Keep an eye on us okay? See you soon.

If you would like to donate to my family, here is the gofundme link. Please keep my family in your prayers and thoughts this week as they lay to rest their child, something one should never have to do.

 https://www.gofundme.com/c7a3t-in-memory-of-johanna

Also a huge thank you to my friend who made it possible for me to come home for the funeral. You are a bleeding from God, truly an angel walking on the earth. Thank you will never be enough...