out and about – Nappy Locs

September 29, 2015

Making Memories

When I got pregnant with our first child, my husband and I started talking about what kind of traditions we wanted to start. As DINKs, (Dual Income, No Kids) we had no traditions. We pretty much did whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. But now …

September 23, 2015

Things girls shouldn’t do

Fifteen or so years ago (boy am I getting old) I had dreams of owning a recycling business. Reusing old scrap metals wasn’t quite as fashionable here in the midwest and neither was the idea of women driving dump trucks. Back in the day, my …

August 17, 2015

A Bit of My Legacy

Some of you guys live in the most wonderful places. I remember as a kid being fascinated by elves, dwarves and fairies in the enchanted forest. You know the familiar story lines of little girls and boys taking a passage through the woods to get more quickly from point A to point B. Well this summer I had an opportunity to walk a trail as beautiful and lush as those in fairy land.

First let me say I have a fear of heights and I don’t like narrow trails. Especially, those where one side is a vertical mountain wall and the other side of the narrow path is a shear drop. When I first stepped onto the path the sounds of the city were ushered out only to be broken by the gentle sounds of water and the occassional singing of birds. It’s hard to describe but in this particular set of woods I felt as though I was being hugged and loved as I was greeted by the heavy fragrance of fresh pine. I had entered the enchanted forest were the pine trees were mighty and the fallen were covered with with thick moss and brillant fungi and lush ferns. It’s indescribable.I love you Seattle…. Lake 22….. I’m not saying I made it all the way up to the top….but it was beautiful none the less.

Hiking near lake 22

What made it more special was to see one of my favorite endeavors being passed on and made better. Other than the creator, my family gets my best. It seems my love of nature was passed on to me by granny Rena and so it continues….

My Son

Mt Rainier

August 11, 2015

Paying it Forward

One day while checking my facebook (which I know I do more than I should) I noticed a post about the latest twitter war between rappers. So I had to google it. For the next 20 -30 minutes I read about the major players, their …

July 17, 2015

Living to His Glory

I stopped for a moment to try and keep the sweat from dripping completely in my eye. There it was, a perfectly round drop precariously dangling from my lashes. It’s not quite 7 am, but I’ve been out pulling weeds from my neglected flower beds. …

July 11, 2015

Weekend Warrior

From my nappy brother:

People kept asking me if I was ready for the race, but honestly, the race wasn’t ready for me. I was sure of it, from the moment we parked the car outside of the Warrior Dash, this race was beneath me. That’s not to say I didn’t think it would be fun, I was honest when I told my sister that I looked forward to it, but when she kept insisting that “This is the real deal,” I just nodded. Of course this sort of thing might be hard for someone like her, but I had been training for this for over a month, running 5Ks over intense Missouri hills. I was ready.

We dropped our bags at the check in, and made our way toward the starting line, past the beer vendor and concert stage. Several times I had heard this race referred to as a “mud run”, and as I wandered to where the others were gathering I thought I knew why. There was a squelching noise that accompanied every step I took towards the starting area. Wet grass and dirt clung to my shoes, but it was nothing I hadn’t run in before. “WARRIOR DASH” was splashed in bright red across a black banner above the runners. Speakers blasted music all around us, and twin flame jets spat hot fire into the air above us. The race had begun, and I was ready.

About ten or so minutes in I realized that there was significantly more mud than I had anticipated. The mud sucked my shoe up to my ankle with every step, and it was all I could do to keep a brisk pace without twisting my foot clean off my body. I thought I had long since left my sister and her husband in the dust, until my brother in law, Ben, passed me by with a nonchalant “Sup?”

Eventually I was trudging downhill, and then suddenly I was sliding. Soon every step sent me slipping left and right along the trail. “This is terrible” Ben concluded, and I agreed. This was definitely the worst kind of mud to run in. I slid into a puddle with a massive splash. When I looked down I saw that I was up to my knees in muddy water. I stood corrected. Ben plowed on, and I would not be left behind.

During the course of the run we lifted ourselves over walls, walls that gradually grew higher and higher. Upon reaching the top of one particular wall and looking down over the other side I remembered that I was in fact afraid of heights. I laughed to myself as I grabbed the mud-slick rope and began my descent; it was a little late to be scared now.

Eventually came the final stretch of the race, and I was swimming underneath barbed wire in brown, gritty water. I had lost my glasses in the mud at this point, and there was no hope of finding them. I was exhausted as I lifted myself out of the last pit, covered from my head to my toes in wet, clinging earth, and all that I had waiting for me in the baggage I brought with me was a clean pair of sandals, but I did it. I wasn’t ready, but I did it anyway. Story of my life!

June 4, 2015

Catching my Breath

Life has been so busy lately, I feel like I need a break. It seems like I do a little work, try and take care of my family, work on my home and the day is gone, with nothing ever feeling finished. I joke all …

April 17, 2015

My Kili Trip

We set up the blog to provide tips about what we do with our hair and our products but it can become quite boring for you to read and for us to write if that’s all we discuss. So please bear with us as we …

Tag: out and about