ADD has a hold of me!!--Happy Belated Nappiversary to ME!

I forgot to announce  that my Nappiversary was on July 24!!  Yes, it's been one year (and some change, now) since I cut off the last of the perm and embraced my real hair.  In celebration of one year of natural hair, here's a my story in a nutshell:

Birthday girl- 3/12/10-Happy 30th!

I had natural hair until I was 7 years old and my paternal grandmother decided that I needed to have a Jheri curl.  Of course, she decided this on my dad's weekend without consulting my mother.  I can't imagine how upset my mother must have been to send her baby off with two pigtails and have her return with a greasy, drippy head of curls.  After blessing my Grandma Dot out, my mother essentially opted to just let it grow out and deal with it as best she could (thank God for banana clips!).  After growing out the curl that wasn't all that carefree for 2 years, I got a relaxer at 9 years old and maintained one ever since. I had rinses, highlights, all over color that I did at home (trying to lighten my hair a little, I turned myself into a caramel SKUNK) and even had 2 weaves (one horrible, MC-Lyte mushroom style one from someone who just wanted some money and another fabulous interlock weave that invited the attention of one of the finest dudes on campus, sigh) .  I always planned to go natural, but I planned to wait until I was ready to have kids because perms are bad for pregnant women.  Well, no children, yet, but here it is!  I started off stretching my relaxers out to encourage healthy growth during the winter and after getting my last one in October 2009, I figured, if I can go 2 months, 3 months, etc., why not go FOREVER!?! 

Day of Big Chop 7/24/09