Hello :)
I was asked to go to Youngstown, Ohio area to help Beth's dream of being knotty come true :) What a sincere honor and joy it was!
Beth is an herbalist and has 3 kids. She is married to Jim who does some awesome work with silver. I was honored to be asked to help her out.
When I got there, the smells of her little shop overwhelmed me and SMELLED SO GOOD!!! Beth gave me a huge hug, checked out my dreadlocks and we sat down to chat.
Her hair was mid-lower back. I should have measured how long it was. I was so worried it would take a lot of time but it actually only took about 18 hours. We did 3/4 inch sections through most of her hair...some are only 1/2 inch sections. We used the accelerator and then I did 7 dreadies the first night.
Tuesday, Beth's daughters (Leah, Becca and Jen) came over to help dreadlock. Her girls are amazing. I kinda got adopted into the family. We all got so silly and laughed SO hard. My stomach really hurt! Her hair was a great texture as the dreadlocks went in fairly easily. Her daughters really seemed to love giving "mom" the locks she wanted. When we finished the day, there were only 7 more to go...woohoo!
Wednesday, Beth and I took an hour long road trip to meet up with Jennifer Rose! Jenn worked on my hair as I was waxing Beth's hair. It was awesome. I wish we had more time but I KNOW we will all meet again.
We got back to Beth's house and had a pizza party with her daughter and two of her grandkids. It was just so much fun.
I really, REALLY enjoyed my time with them all! I look forward to Beth's locks maturing and helping her out as much as I can.
Fellow dreadheadhq users...please welcome BETH!!!
peace love and locks,
b
so in reflecting on the fact that ive had dreadlocks for almost 6 months, figured i would do a few product reviews for ya!
Dreadheadhq Shampoo...
This stuff is simply amazing. i love how clear it is when it comes out of the bottle...you can see the difference right off the bat! i use a nickle size portion every monday and thursday when i wash. my locks feel amazing after. i like how they dry so fast...then again, my hair is only to my shoulders. i let my son try it (he has regular hair)...and woah, his hair was SOOOO SMOOTH and felt and looked amazing! i recommend this shampoo to EVERYONE!
Dreadheadhq Wax...
ok, disclaimer. if you DON'T like wax, relax. this is MY review. please do not post negative comments on this!
so this wax smells amazing. i LOVE the hemp seed oil...its just awesome. i used the suggested amounts from dreadheadhq and used it for 1 month full time and 1 month part time. it has helped my locks keep form, i have NO residue or dirty spots as people claim you can have with wax. i have been without wax for 4 months now...and my hair is clean, healthy and scent-sational!
Dreadheadhq Butta...
do i really need to say anymore? the smell is insane! i was at shakori hills grassroots festival and people i was around said my locks smelled good enough to eat! i LOVE how soft and frizz-free my locks are. i dont use it daily...only every other week. this is probably one of my fav products!
HONCHO :)
HONCHO = LOVE! i didnt think i would miss a brush on my scalp cuz my daughter had been doing my perms for a few years...but oh man, i sure did. so i sucked it up and got this. oh was i just really not prepared for this! it feels so good! ya know, when a dog scratches up against something and has that look of "oh yeah"? yeah, thats kinda of how it feels...just wonderful. its like the honcho is kissing my scalp so my hair grows faster! if i could marry an inanimate object...this would be it.
Hope this helps you decide what to use! there are other products that i use that i will do reviews for another day! (blogspot has been crashing and its making me scared that i will have to do this for a 3rd time!)
peace, love and locks!
b
i am in the process of saving $ so i can move down south and buy some land to start SALTED EARTH HOMESTEAD. for several years, i have been desiring a place where i can hold concerts often, have fresh eggs, have a nice garden to supply veggies, maybe some fruit trees, log cabin, solar panels or wind turbines....to get back down to basics i guess. rick reese said he would be more than willing to build the log cabin...so now i need to just save save save.
in trying to think outside the box for extra income to make my dream a reality, it occured to me i should prob offer my bathsalts. knowing that my dreadlocks matured faster than 6 months, i figured out it had to be my salts. the bathsalts have helped my skin in ways that i cannot begin to explain.
so knowing i would be seeing jonny and sloan, i decided to bring them some to try. as a way of saying thankyou and hoping they would feel the positive effects that i felt. well not only did they love them, they agreed they would help dreadlocks!
so................
i posted on the dhhq site and found a few people that were willing to try them out. what excited me more is i shipped one to denmark and the other to uk! that was amazing!
and the response from people using them have been INCREDIBLE! i started the etsy store thanks to the help of a wonderful Amy (again! not sure what i would do without her help!) and waiting my first sale. several people have emailed asking questions...so just waiting.
i talked to gary weeks sunday and mentioned to him that in september, i wanted to do a push to raise $ for www.hopeforheather.org and he said ok. so in september, there will be tourquise lids and saltcloths. $1 from each purchase will go to help fund ovarian cancer research and help carry on Heather Week's legacy. will be nice to help out.
i want to do something for cervical cancer awareness also...so i'm looking into that.
so i guess salted earth homestead was created a little earlier than i planned...but it's all good! i am hoping others can enjoy the effects of the salts and share them with everyone. i will eventually be putting out there different uses for the salts aside from skin and dreadlock care.
if you havent had the chance to try them, my etsy store is linked to my facebook, or you can add saltedearth homestead to your friends list via fb (pick the one that has the pic...the other one i couldnt get into after it was created..)
well, i just did a nice soak at michelle's house so i better go do some palm rolling and cwr!
peace, love and locks,
b
2 blogs in a week :) woohoo!
tomorrow, my church family is Rocking the Routine! instead of our regular service, we are all meeting at 9am and having a worship service TOGETHER! (i have been a member for 5 years. there are people i still haven't met because i attend the 1045 service....not the 9am one!) it will be nice to meet new people, see who sits where i normally sit and to have the church so packed it spills out into fellowship hall! then we are all going out on projects around our church and into the community. i am helping with the HOPE FOR HEATHER ribbons (www.hopeforheather.org) that will be passed out at the fair and other functions. i am feeling really good about helping because heather is my friend gary's daughter. she passed away too early due to cancer. she and i were both sick at the same time. i feel so blessed i am still alive and living a wonderful life. i sometimes feel guilty that she is gone...she was so young, full of talent and life. it was hard seeing my friend's family grieve in such a hard way.
there are about 20 other things people can do for rock the routine. some are going to vera house to do some interior painting, helping sort clothing for the refugee clothing drive, going to the rescue mission and helping out, cleaning up a park, helping a single mom with limited income with some work around the house....
seriously, how amazing is that?!
after we do our "jobs", we are all meeting back at the church for a coverdish dinner and then a worship celebration together. unfortunatly, noah has a birthday party to attend so i will miss out on that.
BUT
at 7pm, we are going to believer's chapel (i think...gotta check the tickets) to worship with PAUL BALOCHE!!! come on! i am so excited. for those of you that do not know him, he is well worth the lookup. he is one of the top worship leaders in the country...i beg to say in the WORLD...but that might be a little outlandish...might be right on...not sure. when he and ROBIN MARK get together...oh man, its INSANE!
i am fairly excited (ok, fairly is an UNDERSTATEMENT) for tomorrow. going to sleep tonight might be a little difficut.
at SOME point, between pneumonia and rock the routine, i GOTTA find time to work on my dreadlocks...they need some serious attention. been kinda lax since vacation.
well, i gotta go get some things done. just dont want to overdo it too much today.
peace, love and locks,
betsy
hey,
i need to apologize for the lack of blogging. where i am living, there is only dialup and its SLOOOOOOOOOOW. (yes, i live that far into the country) thank you michelle for the use of your laptop and internet!
ok so, i promised i would blog about spring break and meeting jonny and sloan...so here goes!
april 16th, we left ny and got into philly to watch roy "doc" halliday pitch an almost shut out game (until madson got in that is) on opening weekend and his home opener. we had the dhhq sign and made phanvision (the internal closed circuit tv). jonny and sloan were watching mlb.tv to see if they saw us but they didnt.
after the game, we headed down to sc to spend time with my family. we had a great cookout and spent a nice afternoon together. after the cookout, noah and i went to greystone park for a photo shoot with my friends pam and randy. it was a lot of fun. noah got to play in the river with josiah and hudson. it was a blast!
monday the 19th, we went and met up with jonny and sloan!!!!! they met me at the door of piggy park and was greeted with hugs. (yes john, i gave jonny a bear hug for you!) we shared a meal together and talked about some ideas for dhhq and to get to know eachother better. it was a nice time...i wish we could have had more time but i had to get on the road to avoid traffic.
we got into temple a few hours early (i HAD to avoid atlanta rush hour) and suprised the burns family. we got there, knocked and walked into their home. tj came down the stairs and was shocked we were there...i grabbed the little stinker and hugged him and started tearing up. skylar was next, then kaitlyn...then connor. it was nuts. they grew up so much in 3 years. bob and i pulled a prank on christen and spent the night with them. it was so awesome catching up with them. noah had a SINCERE BLAST catching up with his old friends. it was nice watching them play...it was like no time passed at all.
on 4/20, rick reese made the trip into temple to spend the evening with me! it was so amazing seeing him. we went in and got his name tattooed on the tattoo in memory of chris hobler. it was awesome. i hadnt seen him since july 1999. psycho tattoo did a great job.
on 4/21 we drove back into columbia to meet up with jonny and sloan one more time (a whole 15 min) then met up with mom and my old friend michael for lunch. we fought traffic in columbia and made it to nc.
shakori hills.
i dont know even where to begin. we got in LATE wednesday night and set up tent and walked around our other "home". thursday was all hurry. it was nice. festival goers started showing up, you could hear sound systems from the various stages starting there "check 1 2" and rusted root arrived. i got the message to meet preach backstage at grove stage and we walked around. it was nice spending time with him. walked with patrick on accident for a few minutes. their concert was awesome. this was the first time preach saw my dreadlocks. he said they were pretty amazing. dirk loved them too! larry (road manager) asked if i could loan him a few...he is rather crazy...but i like him. they, unfortunatly, left right after the show and preach promised to see me soon. patrick and dirk gave lots of hugs and said next time we should be able to get more time together. the cool part about their show was michael's brother came on stage for "send me on my way". was cool to meet him. they seem rather close. the rest of the weekend was a huge blur! it went so fast. the weather was incredible, i got to hang out with curtis (a shakori friend) and met so many new people. i got to reconnect with the burgess family and it was great catching up and spending time together.
leaving shakori was sad. i saw so many concerts...bela fleck was incredible...bassekou rocked, holy ghost tent revival tore the roof down...it was just amazing.
now that i am home, i got the ok from jonny and sloan to plan a camping weekend with dhhq so we can all meet those that have helped our dreadlock journey. i am going to be getting ahold of shakori hills to see about a group rate. it's central nc, would be cheaper than going elsewhere and there are lots of amazing bands. might be a cheaper option for folks. so im going to be looking into it this month.
thanks to everyone for your hospitality and love! it was an amazing time!
peace, love and locks,
betsy
hey folks!
well, since ive been questioned by a few people about medicines...and i firmly believe conventional medicines arent the greatest...
here is what i do to help with my constant state of pain...
for starters, i do take estrogen due to the hystrectomy. im not really a fan of it...but it works. the hot flashes were just so bad.
secondly, i drink emergen-c. it is PACKED with vitamin c which helps me not get sick and helps me feel better. believe this is or not, i prefer the pink lemonaid flavor so far! (that was given to me by a friend who didnt like them.) the raspberry is my second favorite.
now, to help with my migraines and pain, i DO use thieve's oil. its pretty amazing. it has also helped keep away colds! a few drops on my feet massaged in and poof! when i DO get a cold, i use RSV. it's amazing :) it's a combination of every euclyputus plant oil crushed and smells awesome. i actually stumbled on it when i had H1N1 columbus day weekend!
i have been lucky to use the pt that i was taught and breathing techniques i learned. the diet i use has helped also. now if the weight would start coming off i would be happier :) that will come off eventually!
the other thing that i have been asked is how am i healing...well good news in that area! i am discharged from the nurse as of friday!! i mean, all they have been doing is dressing changes (wet to dry) and vitals. they were monitoring my pain and claimed i should take the pain meds as prescribed...but if i can make it without taking them...well, then everyone wins! i save my insurance company money, i save me money and i dont have to infect my body with man made chemicals! its a win - win imo!
i feel that i am setting a great example to my son be seeking alternative medicines that are godly made...not man made. yes, the estrogen and emergen-c ARE manmade...but nothing else is.
ok, hope this helps those curious minds!
im heading to bed. i didnt sleep well last night and i have SO MUCH to do tomorrow :)
peace, love and dreads
b
ps...if you believe in the power of prayer, my son and i could use all the prayer you can give! when i am at liberty to discuss more, i gladly will!
oh yeah, so i was really encouraged the other day when i stumbled across amy. she is a dreadhead momma and pretty down to earth. she and i became fb friends and she says she now has a blog and asked me to read it. we have more in common than i realized! i was pretty shocked to read that i was the encouragement for her to start blogging! how awesome :) well, she is totally MORE computer literate than i am. i thought i was ok...but she has helped me get this blog where i wanted it! i noticed she had a really cute layout. she mentioned this site and that she saw one that made her think of me. voila, its the one i liked the best! so here ya go....! tada! my new look :) its awesome!
it caused me to sit back and think...
i mean, ive only had locks for just over 4 months now. but the WHOLE DHHQ (www.dreadheadhq.com) community has been INSANELY LOVING! always there with encouragement, words of advice if meh locks are needing words of advice, a laugh if i am having a hard day...shoot, jennifer is sending me a .7mm crochet hook cuz she got several from ebay and didnt need that many and i am sending her (jen - they went out in the mail today!) bath salts that i make...these are people i have NEVER MET! but know that if i am in the area, meeting them would be totally a possibility! i mean, amazing.
ok, well, castle is on tv and ive had such a busy few days! i have LOTS to do before i take off for vacation :)
peace, love and dreads,
b
