{ I was given a challenge.....sort of..... }

Do not color your hair until August 23rd.

Such simple words, and yet they hit me like a ton of bricks.  Oh friends, I'm in for a big fight with myself hahahaha

Alright let me back track a bit and tell you how this came about.  And then I'm going to give you photos of my hair and show you what's happening.

I had my hair appointment this morning.  My hair is super thick, and very unmanageable if it's not cut, layered and given some texture.  It has been 3 months since my last cut and I was struggling with the unruly mop of a mess on my head.

I went to my hairdresser (who is amazing by the way) and she gave me just what I needed.  She knows my hair so well and knows what to cut, where to cut and how to cut it.  After lots of texturizing, layering, point cutting and snips here and there, I was feeling great.

Then I said to her "Hey Tara, I have a lot of grays coming in and I just hate that I have to color every 3 weeks, it's a bit annoying, wish I could do something about it.".

So she tells me that we should try some lowlights.  Here's the thing, I have been coloring my own hair for years, mainly because I don't have the money to go and get it done professionally, it's too much money.  Curt keeps pushing me to go and do it, but I just don't.

But I was thinking, you know my birthday is coming up in August and maybe that would be a gift to myself.  So I made the appointment with her, and she is always booked up so her next available isn't until August 23rd.......mind you my birthday is the 10th, BUT it's fine, still my birthday month right?

She then challenges me NOT to color my hair until then, to just let it go natural, let the grays come out and then we'll do a nice color when I see her in a few weeks.

HELP ME!!!!  According to her I'm 75% gray already.  Again, HELP ME!!!  hahahah

So I told her I would do my best to not reach for the dye bottle and try very very hard to leave it as is.  I know it's best and it will be nice to do a proper color but I'm not sure how I'll feel through this challenge.   Think I can do it?

There is no denying that I'm getting older, my wrinkles around the eyes certainly don't try to hide that fact.

I think I need to just embrace the changes and remind myself on a daily basis, that some others are not as blessed or lucky to make it to my age.  It's all about being thankful for what we have and where we are.

Doesn't make it easy though does it?  But I am going to try super duper hard to make it through this challenge.  I will let you know how I'm getting on, and I may even keep sharing pictures of my hair as the weeks go.  It will be interesting to see how much gray I really do have and how it will look after the color is done.

I guess you could say today was a me day.  Usually I start my morning on the computer, but today I kept it shut off.  After Curt had left for work, I grabbed my cup of coffee and my cereal, sat on the couch, pulled the blanket over my legs and sat and read from 7am to 10am.

3 hours of quiet, uninterrupted reading time, and wow did that feel good.  I'm not halfway through the book and already wishing it never to end.

After my hair appointment, I met up with Curt for lunch at the pizza place a few doors down from the salon and then made my way home.

Did a bit of cleaning, some dishes, played with Marley, talked to Nick for about an hour, and then made a cup of coffee and once again sat on the couch with my book for another hour.

I would never do this, because I feel so guilty just sitting and reading, but it did me a world of good and put me in such a good mood to be able to indulge in something I thoroughly enjoy, without worrying, without interruptions, and without feeling like I was doing something wrong.

Sometimes that's all we need as moms and homemakers, to sit down and indulge ourselves.

Dinner tonight was a simple Alfredo pasta with broccoli and mushrooms.  I've decided that I'm going to do a meatless meal every week.  It will give us a break from meat heavy dishes and it will be a little cheaper too with the prices of meat having gone up so much lately.

I'll share the recipe on the blog tomorrow, as I made the pasta in my pressure cooker. 

Ok, Mister Marley is giving me the cute eyes beckoning for me to get into bed.  He is ready to go to sleep but likes to have someone to snuggle with.

I better oblige him.  Have a blessed night everyone :)