jeremypassion:

This is important! Read up! You could save a life.

You can Save someone’s life by sharing this.

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters… S.T..R …
My friend sent this to me …and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a party, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. (they offered to call ambulance)

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid’s husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.)
She had suffered a stroke at the party . Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.

Some don’t die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this…

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke…totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Remember the ‘3’ steps, STR . Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster.
The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions :

S * Ask the individual to SMILE ..
T * = TALK. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (eg ‘It is sunny out today’).
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS .

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call the ambulance and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

NOTE : Another ‘sign’ of a stroke is
1. Ask the person to ‘stick’ out their tongue.
2. If the tongue is ‘crooked’, if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.

A prominent cardiologist says if everyone who gets this status shares it; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

Trying to get from point A to point B. What the heck am I gonna do in the mean time? Seriously need some adventure in my life for the ride. Any ideas?

These are some earrings I’ve made. I held them over the kindle just so you could see the detail a little better. Is anybody else into making jewelry or just crafts in general? How do you stay interested? How do you keep it fresh? Because I tend to get all excited about and I start doing it non-stop and end up feeling burned out.

…because I needed these in my life. Can’t WAIT for them to come :D

me too :)

blackbruise:

Oh sweet Jesus, come back.

lmao! XD

Bizarre as it was, I really enjoyed this movie :)

“God,

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.”

Whenever you are enraged, hurt, worried, depressed, betrayed, lonely, discouraged, or dissatisfied with the way things are going, before you let these feelings overtake you, STOP. Take a deep breath. In for five seconds, hold for two, exhale for five. Continue this breath pattern for as long as it takes to get your heart rate back to normal and say this prayer. Say it as many times as necessary, but mean what you’re saying. Let go of your anxiety, and chill.

I luvz em.

A New Hair Resolution: Protective Style Challenge 2012

This post is about a goal of mine that I want to share with everyone. I’ve included the following information for people who are just starting out and are new to this whole hair care shebang. If I’m telling you something you already know or that you disagree with, just skip over that part. I just wanted to be thorough.

For those who are new to taking care of / growing out your own hair, if you have questions feel free to ask me. I know when I started out everything was new to me and I was hungry for any information I could find about hair—and I’m still learning. But now that I have a little experience I want to do whatever I can to help make it easier for other people.

Hey Ladies (and gents and whoever else reads this post),

This year, I’ve decided that I’m going to retain all of the hair I grow with the use of protective hairstyles and products that will help me maintain the balance of protein and moisture in my hair. If you want to join me in this challenge, you have to set a realistic hair growth goal for yourself.

To make sure your goal is attainable you will have to measure your hair. If you already know the rate of your hair growth per month, multiply that number by 12 and add that to the amount of hair you have now. This will give you the amount of hair you can expect to have the same time next year—if you retain all the hair you grow between now and then. I suggest you do it this way so even if you decide to join in on the challenge later in the year you can participate for the same length of time.

If you’re not certain of your rate of hair growth, all you have to do is measure it at the beginning of the month and then again at the end of the month and the difference will be the amount of hair you gain each month. But note that this measurement will only be accurate if you retain all the hair for that particular month.

For those who don’t know how to measure their hair (particularly those with natural hair who have to stretch it to measure it):

grab a small section of hair in the area you want to measure and extend it straight out from your head in the direction it grows (if you measure from the top, extend the hair straight up, if you measure from the back, straight out behind you, etc.) and position the ruler so the zero is touching your scalp next to your hair. You will want to do this all over your head; the top, each side, and the back. You may want to have someone help you with this. Write down all of these measurements and measure in the same places each month to track your progress. If your hair gets too long for the ruler, start using measuring tape.

My hair grows half an inch every month and it was 8.5 inches long at the beginning of this month so by the end of December it’ll be 6 inches longer, or 14.5 inches. With that said, it’s time for you to set a similar goal for yourself. If you have a specific goal in mind, it’ll really help you stay on track and hold yourself accountable.

Here’s how I plan to retain the length of my hair:

1)      I won’t be using any heat. No blow dryers, flat irons, curling irons, hot combs—no heat appliances whatsoever.

2)      I will be using the following products to maintain both the strength and elasticity of my hair and prevent breakage (All can be bought at Walmart):

·         Loreal Sulfate Free Fortify System Reconstruct shampoo and conditioner (green tubes. make sure it says Reconstruct and has a purple top) $5.99 each

·         Organix Coconut Milk shampoo and conditioner $5.49 each 16oz

·         Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioning repair cream $5.49

·         Spring Valley extra virgin coconut oil* $9.96

If you feel you absolutely MUST use heat, you should use a heat protectant such as:

TRESemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray (you use this on damp hair and either blowdry it or air dry it before you flat iron). I got this at Giant Eagle a while back, can’t remember the cost. Remember this does not make your hair invincible.

Note that you don’t have to use exactly what I use, you just need a Strengthening shampoo and conditioner (something with protein* in it that is sulfate free), a Moisturizing shampoo and conditioner (something that is sulfate free ((no sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, etc.))), a daily leave in conditioner to replenish moisture when necessary and an oil** to seal that moisture in. So just be aware of these things if you’re going to substitute products. Also, you’ll want to use natural products and not those products in the beauty supply stores that are supposed to be for black people. They usually contain ingredients like petrolatum and mineral oil that coat the hair instead of penetrating it with moisture as well as block moisture for getting in.

*You have to be careful when you use products with protein and pay attention to the way your hair feels. Too much protein will cause your hair to start breaking—and so will too much moisture. If you can’t tell which one your hair needs, try this test:

Take one of your shed hairs and stretch it out with your fingers. If it stretches and stretches before finally breaking, your hair needs some protein. If it instantly breaks, your hair needs some moisture. If the hair just springs back like a rubber band, your hair has a proper balance of protein and moisture and you don’t need to use special products. Just pay attention to your hair so you can maintain this balance.

**I chose coconut oil (it needs to be EXTRA VIRGIN) because it is one of the few oils that is known to penetrate the hair shafts to moisturize throughout just like water does and is therefore safe to use on the scalp. You can use this or jojoba oil or you can do some of your own research to see if there are similar oils but whatever you do, you really should not put grease on your scalp. All that does is clog your scalp’s pores and make it harder for your hairs to get pushed out/grow.

As far as the protective styling part of this challenge goes, I’m going to be wearing twists most of the time. You can wear braids, buns, bantu knots, etcetera, as long as you moisturize and seal first and make sure that the ends of your hair are tucked in.

So now that I’ve talked your ears off (or typed your eyes out?) with over a thousand words about my favorite subject I’ll say good luck to all those who decide to participate in this challenge and happy hair growing :D There will be posts with more information on protective hairstyling, moisturizing and sealing, and possibly a rant about what these so-called black hair care products really do to our hair.

I’ve been wearing my hair natural for almost two years now and I’ve been researching, asking questions, and exchanging information with other ladies to find out everything I could about growing long hair. I’ve discovered that less is more. The less complicated your hair regimen, the easier it will be for you to retain length.

Yesterday, I decided to share my New Year’s Resolution with the ladies in my family and that is to retain all the hair that I grow this year. It’s a personal goal of mine so at first, I thought I would keep it to myself. I didn’t know how people would react. I didn’t know if they would believe I could do it. But when I thought about it, I decided that not only would I share my resolution, but I would turn it into a challenge for everyone so we could keep each other motivated. It’s good to have a support group when you’re trying to reach a goal.

So I sent the ladies in my family a pretty lengthy email with a lot of information I know about growing hair because I wasn’t quite sure what people knew already. I know that when I first made it a serious goal to grow my hair long I was learning all kinds of things I didn’t know. I’m going to include that information in another post. If there’s something you already know, just skip over it. I just wanted include as much as I could just in case people didn’t know so sorry if I come off as a know-it-all. I’m really not lol.

So now I want to address whoever comes across this blog and wants to grow their hair long to join in on this challenge. Measure your hair, take pictures, etc. And yes this challenge is geared towards black women but women and men of all ethnicities may join in and you can substitute products or tweak the regimen to suit your own hair needs. For instance, if you have oily hair already, you may not want to put coconut oil on your scalp etc.

The reason I’m focusing on the hair growth of black women is because up until a couple of years ago, I had no idea my hair could grow past shoulder length. As I think I may have said in another post, I had resigned myself to the belief that my hair would always be short and thin and lifeless. Now that I know otherwise, I want to share my knowledge with other black ladies. Our hair can grow. Just look at my pictures (please excuse the angle on the second one and if you’re going to ask about the hair on top of my head, it hasn’t been straightened yet).

A fit brain is very attractive! If yours could use a workout head over to dynamo.dictionary.com to brush up on your vocabulary.

thatoneastutefellow:

good thing Im 1/8th unicorn I’d hate to not embrace that

toocooltobehipster:

but they’re just like: