Back to School!

Started off this school week right! I got through 3 days with my new children. I am so excited to have my babies (freshmen). They bring a new feel and light to the school that I always look forward to. My classes are big (normal), the older kids are difficult (typical) but I am ready for the challenges that this year has to bring. My first full week starts tomorrow. I am ready to go!f Halfway planned and I feel like I'm moving things along quite well. :)

2 weeks left!

In 2 more weeks my baby will be going to daycare and I will be headed back to work. Bittersweet because I spent the entire summer with my Kart baby and now I have to go to seeing him for half a day. But he is getting to be such a big boy!

Today he decided to stand up. He has always tried and he would shake while attempting it, but today he did it more than once and did not fall at all. He can now reach the cords on the tv stand. It is getting harder and harder to keep this boy down! 

Heading back to work. I am in no way close to being ready for this year. I'm teaching a class that I have little to no experience with, and I have no idea how much/what I should teach them compared to how the book sees it. I am not ready!

I am getting better with my hair care but soon I may end up locking my hair. I always admired women with dreads but I was never sure if I could pull it off. I told myself I need to give myself a few months to play with my hair. To see if I get any better at it. If not, I'm going for the gold! Who knows, I may end up loving it!!!

What have I been spending most of this day doing??? Wedding planning. I'm trying to figure out what kind of budget and savings I need to have in order to have this wedding sooner rather than later. Hmm! I have a lot to think about.

Hair Tales

So since it's summer, I have been dabbling with my hair styles. 


I tried wash and go twice and it was a major fail. I think I will try once more just to make sure I can't do it. 


But I have been doing twists 

and twist-outs for the most part.

 It's been a real learning process, but I am starting to love it.

 I am even considering getting dreads....but I think I'll  hold off until my hair is a bit longer/I find easier ways to do my hair. :)

Hellurrrrrr Again

It has been a long time since I blogged. I feel terrible but just so busy. Between  school, Karter, and summer approaching I am stressed. I even began a countdown at school. I'm sitting here watching Karter rollaround and drool everywhere!!! Man do I love this baby.

I have decided I'm going to pick  back up with my diet in the summer. I really have nothing else to do.  No job. And Karter is going to be at a daycare half the time. I will be available.

I think it's time I really set forth some effort and some guidelines. And David is going to help me. I told him he needs to come up with the exercises and the diet. I need to have somebody to be accountable with. Even though he makes me cheat. He will probably be more on me since he made it up. Here's to a more me. This post baby belly is not me. I swear it's getting bigger >_<

BTW David and I are getting married!!!! He sho did put a ring on it. We have not even discussed when or where, but it's coming. I am thinking nothing too fancy or expensive. But you know we need to plan around the baby

So it's time for me to continue to get in my summer state of mind...but first! I need to finish grades :)

I am soooo close to being done.

Yeah me!

Hairspray WoW!

Ok so this has nothing to do with hairspray, but yes, it does have to do with hair. I haven't talked very much about my hair. So here ensues the hair diaries of Miss Traci Lynn!

So last time we discussed my hair, I had a big chop done. Eventually it got a little out of control so I was trying stuff and trying stuff.Twist outs, braid outs, fluffy puff, bobby pins, head bands....I was getting done with my hair and playing it up.

This is my twist out with head band on left. My braid out with hair pins on right.

 So these are both put together using twist-outs. The green shirt hair style is just my hair pinned to one side. My hair sculpture so lovely named but a fellow teacher. The burgundy sweater hair style is all of it pulled together with a ribbon (not ready for a pony tail holder since I wanted the fullness) and a simple headband.

 I did end up cutting my hair some more! But here are some hair styles on dry hair. Just pulled together because I was tired of it. The afro is "inside the house" hair and nothing more.

 And lastly I now have havana twists! This has all occurred since March. It's only been a little over a month.

Out of the twist/braid outs, my fave would have to be the twist out. It looks better to me. Also my fluff puff in curls is a def fave along with the hair sculpture. I can work this out after all! :)

One thing I really need to work on it doing hair styles with the havana twist. That will def have to be documented. My typical is down or a few in the front pinned back to keep it out my face. I really need to do some hair sculptures with this hair!

BTWwwwwwssssssssssssss
I quit my challenge and diet (ish). I got too busy and Spring Break was on. I suck :P

Fed Up!

I'm so tired of these stanking 30-day challenges!!! After a long day at work, I just don't have too much energy to do the challenges and take care of my babes. I don't even grade papers at home anymore. I just completely check out of school work when I'm home.

I am starting the habit of doing some of my squats at school so that when I come home, it's a smaller amount to do. But everything else needs to be done at home. It is currently 7:08pm and I gave myself until 8pm to do my challenge. I also wanted to get some cardio in! So at 8pm I will be hitting that Zumba and prepping for the scandal that is Scandal!\

Btw, I currently weigh 113.2 lbs. and I think I may even see a difference in my belly! My goal is to get to 108 lbs. I didn't really pick a date, so i'm going to go with May 2nd. That's the Friday before I head to Jamaica. 5 lbs to go people
5!

3 30-day Challenges??? Really!?!

Why yes. I am crazy enough to do 3 challenges at once and they all overlap. They have the same exercises so I am really going above the 30-day challenge criteria.

I am currently in the middle of completing the last exercises of my combined 3 challenges.
I am dead.
I hate squats!!! They just suck. They're hard. They're difficult.
I hate them!!

I still have 10 lunges and 35 more squats to do.

No big deal, right? Ummm yes it is!

I already did 90 squats, 10 lunges, 60 sit-ups, 102 crunches, 12 leg raises, 15 bridges and a 20 sec plank!

I am spent! Which is why I am currently on the floor taking a break. And it doesn't help that I have been out the house since 11:30am and it is currently 11pm. I probably got home around 9:35pm. I don't have the energy but I will NOT give up on this challenge. 

I recently began Day 1 of my 5k training. I ran outside and it was wonderful. I will continue to do this as the weather permits.

Although I did not get the results I wanted (or really see any results period!) from my first challenge I will keep going.

My goal is to not give up and keep up with exercising daily and eating healthy. 

Afterall I have lost about 4lbs. so I am clearly doing something.

I can even button my pants now! This above all is some serious progress.

 ;)

And btw, Kelly Rowland is in my ears and her album bangs! Looovesss it!

Progress!

I weighed in at 115 lbs. today! That is 3 lbs. less. since March 17th.

I lost 3 pounds!!! 

(It could quite possibly be what i'm wearing but I think if it's not 3lbs. it is something and that's good enough for me!)

This diet must really be working! This is so exciting. I'm the type of person that if I don't see any progress, I give up. But I see the light. It's at the end of the tunnel. And I am going to get there.

Some things that I stay constant with for my diet are:

• No bread
• No beef or pork
• I stick to fish and if I need it, I can do chicken
• Spinach leaves are de-lish!
• Veggies and fruit are what I am starting to love
• I only drink green tea and lemon water (if I crave it, I drink coffee but that has only been once)

I've been very good with my 30 day challenge and I am pumped to start April's challenges. It will overlap with the one I currently have but that is fine. Just need to make sure I get a chart or something to keep track.

April comes and I will be going hard.

Progress is a process and I am sooo glad i'm getting there :)

The {More Me} Fitness Journey

Sitting here thinking about what challenges and exercises I will do next starting April 1st.
I am loving these 30 day challenges. Finished day 15 of the ab and squat challenge

I am feeling might good. My abs felt it today. It definitely was not because of the reps because it was a small amount. Maybe it is due to the pace I put my self at. Completed it in under 15 minutes (and that was with me playing around watching this movie).

Now for next month, I was considering a lot of things but I think I finally settled on my plan. I would like to to do the 30 day ab challenge, 30 day butt challenge (Arty will appreciate that one!), and Zumba on the Wii. I checked out this gym today and considered going but i'm like why? All the tools that I need can be found at home. I don't want to pay that extra money. And these 30 day challenges look fun.

So I guess I found my recipe for disaster success. Pictures of my current challenge midway "results" coming soon!

Dress Code Violation, rant!

I was just watching the news and there is a middle school in Illinois that was banning leggings (or let you wear them if you have on a skirt or shirt passed finger tips). The kids there filed a petition about the banning of leggings.
I'm sorry but nobody wants to see your little behind. I'm irritated the news would even entertain this story. The news anchors wanted to say "but it is in style."

That does not mean that it is appropriate.
They are running around with see-through, tight leggings and crop tops. Excuse me but you are not grown, have a seat.

And don't get me started on these boys that have the nerves to wear belts but have their pants below their behind. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They can have several seats.


If you all don't get your kids!!!

Diets and Parties

Diet
I decided that I need to be on a diet so I need to eat healthier. More veggies and fruit, less sugar. I am very serious about this aside from all the people that want to tempt me. I do have girl scout cookies chilling and I crave chocolate. I just really want to lose some baby weight. I weighed myself on Monday and I was at about 118lbs.
Probably in 2 weeks i'll measure up again and see what changes I see. I'm also going to base it off of how well I can fit in my clothes (can I zip my pants or not..that is a serious question!)
I did have a student look at me today and start singing..."Miss Johnson got her body back. Miss Johnson got her body back."
-------------I'll take that as a confidence booster any day. Sometimes people can really tear you down and not even mean it...so it was nice to hear that from a kid that I just know in passing.


Bachelorette Party
This past weekend got to celebrate one of Kendra's last times as a single woman in the nasty Nati. Overall good and fun and unexpected weekend. We are def some bad women out here

Chop....BiiiiiG Chop!

I went to the shop to get my hair done cause I needed it!

Do you see this madness??? Man is it a chore to do my hair! That's why I ended up at the shop.

So i'm playing with my iphone (finally upgraded..yea!) and decided that it's very important that I document everything. Especially an event as big as this.

This is my commitment to going natural..especially since I had enough hair already.
I mean here's a picture from January with my hair straight. #Drippy





Then this happened....

 Then this was the end...

Ta Da! Natural living here I come =]]]

Abs Abs Baybee!

So I am in Day 5 of my 30-day ab and squat challenge. Check it out!

My abs are on FIRE!!!

Like i'm going to die  very soon. But i'm getting through. I guess my goal is to lose like 10 lbs so I can fit in my clothes. Yeah..post-pregnant body is still a little big. I can't button my pants :/

So here's to hoping that I can work out everyday on top of the challenge and that I can stick to my diet..ish!


Btw...Hair popping today!!!

Flat twist and Curls

Found a new hairstyle thanks to the website: napturallycurly.com

Guess its called a slated flat twist up-do/
It is flat twists covering most of my head and then curls off to the side. It is a big hair scene.

 Here I am after I finished the twists and have my hair in the rollers. It was a very long process.

 This is how it looked from the side. Excuse my boyfriend {looking good!} and me brushing my teeth. I was running late for work! But yeah. It was very big and poofy. I wish I would have had perm rods, but you use what you got.

 Here's a side view

 And front view.

Overall I wish it was less poofy, but it was a good first attempt 

:)

And so it begins....

I am going through a lot of changes for the better this year.

• New mom of my beautiful baby boy Karter Davion
• Deciding to go natural with my hair [[no relaxer since Dec 2012 :) ]]
• Getting a hot new body [[or close to it!]]

I guess these things will be the premise of this blog. A way for me to document and remember my journey to a {more me}.

New Mommy ::: My precious is going to be 3 months soon. I am completely obsessed with this dear little boy. Even his cries make my heart melt. That's my baby boy! And I oh so love him. He is currently crying in his sleep..lol

Natural Hair ::: Natural hair is hard! And I am transitioning so my hair is out of control!!!!

 But I plan to keep this up. I've tried a few styles and 98% of them turned out horrible. But I will continue to try.

Hot New Body ::: So today I started a 30-day ab and squat challenge. This after pregnancy body is no joke. I may have gotten "thicker in all the right places" (at least according to the boyfriend) but I can't fit into my clothes anymore! I went from a size 1 to at least a size 3. I'm not exactly sure because I refuse to buy new clothes.

But for this challenge...With the help of my boyfriend I got through 10 sit-ups, 10 crunches, and 25 squats. Those sit-ups were no joke. You may think it was nothing but mannnn....i'm kind of regretting starting this challenge..hahaha!

But I am determined. The lazy person in me doesn't want to do it. But inside I want to be fit and healthy. On top of the challenge, I will be on a sort of diet to help with progress.

So here it is....

Traci Lynn

Journeying to a {More Me}