Hi everyone! I'm starting my hair journal today in an effort to grow my hair from this short cut (a layered bob at the chin) to the beautiful classic length that I really admire. I know it's going to take a really long time, and I know I'll need patience. I'm so glad I found this website, since before I had to just fight my urge to cut it on my own. Now I have buddies in the growing out process. I also love seeing everyone's pictures of their long locks-so beautiful and inspiring.
To be honest, growing out my hair means more to me than just having a beautiful long length. I haven't had long hair in several years, I have always given in and cut it to some "cute" look that people at the salon, or friends tell me is perfect for me. I've also thought that since I have a fairly round face, I needed to have some short cut with a lot of height on top (quote from a stylist).  So I'll be growing a backbone about my own image, at the same time as growing out my hair. The other reason I used to cut my hair was to change it when I was bored or stressed.

One other detail of what's going on in my life-I'm finishing up a Master's degree and job-searching for a position in my new field-education. I'm hoping I can stick with growing out my hair, in the midst of job-hunting stress, and avoid cutting it just for a change-like I used to do.

I also think it's a step for me away from unnatural concepts of beauty and femininity, to a more classic, natural and personal look. To get my hair healthy and long, I'll have to stop coloring it, and curling it and just enjoy my natural texture and color. Hopefuly it will be more me, and I'll learn more patience and self-confidence in this area of my life.

Right now my hair is about 6-8 inch layers. It's somewhat wavy, fairly thick, and back to it's natural color-a medium brunette. It's pretty healthy and shiny-just too short. Here I go!

Thanks for your support! I look forward to reading your journals too.

Thanks bikerbraid! I'll posta picture  soon (assuming I figure it out, heh.heh)

I was wondering...how do I start one of those countdowns to shoulder length hair which show up at the bottom of others comments?

Also...I tried using some olive oil on my hair this afternoon. Mixed it in with the conditioner, and sat back for a nice soak in the tub. Over the Rhine is my favorite band, and I sang along with their "Ohio" album and read parts of "Out of Africa", which for the record is very different from the movie. I personally love both versions.

My cat tried to lick the olive oil out of my hair, as she sat on the side of the tub. So even if it doesn't help my hair...the olive oil conditioner combo tastes good apparently.


Anyway, now I've started rambling.   -rtg

Congrats on beginning your journal!  I wanted to let you know that I also started out with VERY short hair.  That was a year and a half ago, and now my length is close to reaching my first goal of BSL (bra strap length).  Yes, growing long and healthy hair takes time and patience but, boy, is it worth the effort.  So never give up, never surrender, and let us know if you need help with anything!   

Yeah! I just had my interview this morning, and they offered me the position! So I'll be teaching in this great district not far from my house. I'm so excited. What a relief...I've been applying for jobs all summer and I'm done now. Just waiting on the paperwork to go through.


On the hair front:
Woke up early enough this morning so my hair could air dry-no blow fryer before the interview. It was still kind of flat and not the right shape though, which I'll just have to put up with since I want to let it grow a  few months before my next trim. Can't wait for the long hair. I think I'll buy some Burt's Bees Shampoo this weekend and give it a shot. I've been happy with some of their skincare, so maybe the hair care is good too. Any opinions on that?

BTW, I'm liking this website so much. Thank you for setting it up, LL people. I know  I can finally do the long hair thing with friends! (fade in the music: We are family, I got all my sisters with me...)

Ok, better go tackle some laundry. I have folks coming into town tomorrow, so I need to have at least one clean towel to offer them.

Congrats on the new job!  Also sounds as if you're discovering new found patience with your hair--hang in there.   

Quote:


Hi roomtogrow!  Congrats on the new job... 

As per the Burt's Bees shampoo... I've been using their grapefruit and sugarbeet champoo and conditioner for about 2 weeks now and REALLY like it!  The shampoo is sulfate-free, and the conditioner is cone-free, so.. what more is a girl to ask for?

The ridiculously awesome SMELL of oranges, grapefruit and lemon!    I can personally say I love this stuff!

Hey ladies, thanks for the encouragement about the new job. NF, I think I SHALL try some of the Burt's Bees shampoo. Sounds wonderful. I love great smells, and it's even better if they are all natural.
Ok, so tonight DH took me out for dinner to celebrate ...a very nice time out at a little pub. Afterwards, we sauntered down the street to a used-book store and I bought a nice old edition of "Wind in the Willows". It seemed to suit the mood of the blue dress I was wearing and the light rain outside the shop.  (He bought Arthur C. Clark-classic sci-fi which I've lately begun to appreciate-but only the vintage books.)
Now we've just assembled a bookshelf from IKEA, because we have so many books that our first one was old and tired and sagging beneath the weight of our combined libraries. Also, it was impossible to find anything specific on it.
Of course with the added shelf space, now I'll have an excuse to buy more used books, and then another book shelf will be needed-at which point we'll have to get rid of the kitchen table or something to make room.
But when it comes to great books, especially used ones with strangers' notes, scribbles, and underlined sections, I just can't pass them up. Especially when they are sold in little used book stores when it's raining outside-ahh, the evil marketing genius of making it rain poetically outside a bookstore. 
Ok, better finish up here and head off to bed.
-RTG

Ok then, it's not just me, Angelspun!  Book stores and rain are some of the best things in the world

Well, I'm excited about my new position, just hoping the paperwork goes through soon so I know my start date. (Although it's a school and that has a specific start date, my employment will be starting as a long-term sub, and then moving up, so I don't know my whole schedule yet.) I'm trying not to be too antsy about it. I have a tendency to get nervous about these new things, when as DH pointed out, I should at this point just be purely excited that I have a job. And, I don't have to send out another resume for a while. Yippee!

I've realized that I need to relax in a lot of areas of my life. For a while there, I totally dropped all my hobbies, which made me kind of a timebomb of anxiety. No wonder my friends were so eager for me to get back to work after grad school. I loved grad school, having time to read, wander around great libraries, and study something of real interest to me. But there was a lot of down time, when not at work or studying, and for some reason in there- I stopped doing watercolor, sketching, and plunking around on the piano. The only hobbies I maintained were reading occasionally and yoga (just barely).

Now I'm realizing that these are all key parts of who I am and how I function, so I really want to make time for them. They also make me a nicer person to be around, I'm sure, which my students and DH will appreciate. Hee, hee. 

In other hair-related news, I know it's growing little-by-little, because it's blowing in my face more as I drive. It's been so short in the past, that it's been a while since I've had that happen! I also stopped to think about how in the past three years I had permed and colored it, and chopped it all off. Now that it's back to my own color and texture (since the short cut took off all the damage) I'm realizing my hair is a pretty gutsy little thing-growing back after all that abuse. Now I promise, hair, I will take care of you! No color, sprays, perms, curling irons, or blow fryers. I wonder: are bobby pins okay?

Alright, well it's Saturday morning and my green tea is brewing. Yeah! Day two of the no-coffee, just tea scenario. I'm not even grouchy! (yet     
-rtg

By the way, my first goal...don't think I've mentioned this, is going to be shoulder length. Since I'm growing out layers, I don't know how long this will take. Right now I'm at 8 inches in the longest parts. Sigh. 
After shoulder length, then BSL, then waist length, then the world! MWWAHHHAAAHHHA (evil laughter.)
Now I just have to wait, and condition a lot.

You should try Snowy's Deep Moisturizing treatment using the conditioner... ooooo....! [/quote]

Oooohhhh. What's snowy's deep moisturizing treatment?
Thanks, NF!

Sounds as if you're making real progress, RTG! Keep up the good work!

Bobby pins are usually pretty safe - I use them often. As long as they don't have sharp edges or pull any hair out.

It's so nice to have a reading, sketching, piano-playing, long-hair-admiring kindred spirit here! 

Ahh, Saturdays are wonderful. Chatted with a friend this morning for a while, then I sat around and watched cartoons and drank my coffee. As an elementary school teacher, watching cartoons is more socially acceptable-it counts as field research! 
Anyway, here I am all set to graduate in December with my masters with clinical work in education and suddenly I'm wondering if I should stick around another year and crank out a thesis. That would make my degree a masters of arts in education instead of the clinical degree. Ugg. I don't really feel like doing one, but then everyone says "what's the point of putting time and money into grad school if you don't write a thesis?" Hmm. Good point. I'm already very much in debt with student loans. I need to decide in the next week or two, so  I can change my course load before my final class.
My new job (teaching) should start next week or so. I'll be subbing until mid-Sept, and then be long-term subbing in the same class for a few months which will be nicer. In the meantime, I'm getting a bit stir crazy with just my summer class, house work, and waiting to hear when I start. I don't want to start other big projects because I may get the call and need to start work Monday, or it could be in another week. Oh, well. I'll just enjoy my last days of summer, and read a book. Oh, poor me, right? I have days off! Still, until I start getting a paycheck again, days off feel less like vacation and more like -unemployment! Also, dh and all my friends in the area are working all the time, so they can't hang out much.

On the hair front, it's growing slowly-I guess. Since mine is still too short for a pony tail, it's in all sorts of oddly pinned-up arrangements. Some days it manages to look chic, or at least presentable. Other days the sides fall out of the pins, and only the top tufts stay up-then I look like Pebbles from the Flintstones. Word of advice-never ever cut your hair this short! Growing it out is wretched! Ok, I'm over that. I know it will grow, and now I have a chance to keep it healthy from a short length as it grows out. Yeah!
I still love my BB shampoo. Smells so good I want to eat it.
Ok-better go seize the day-before it's gone. Looks like it will rain today, which makes me happy. I love rainy weather. bye, all. -rtg

Angelspun, thanks for the advice. I do appreciate it. I'm praying and thinking about it all right now.  Also, I'm waiting to hear back from the advisor about which course route I'm eligible for. I'll let you know if I start the thesis-believe me, you'll hear about it. (Groan)

Wow. DH got my birthday present early- very early (my b-day is not til next month), but he already assembled it because it's too big for him to hide it in the apartment.
It's a gorgeous drawing table with adjustable legs, a paint brush tray and an adjustable light. I got it two days ago and already I've been using every spare minute at it (waking up at night to paint), and getting ideas for drawings while I'm eating breakfast. I'm so excited about it!  Painting and drawing are so relaxing for me. Now our kitchen table won't be covered in art supplies every time we sit down to eat!

You were in MN and didn't stop in to say Hi??!!    LOL, yes, the woods and lakes are wonderful up here.  You must return when the fall colors are at their best!  Our maple is already starting to show signs of turning.

Congrats on surviving your first sub assignment.  Subbing is never easy - I still remember some of the stunts we pulled on subs.    8) 

Well, school is keeping me busy, as I study all my curriculum to take over the third grade for the rest of the year when the other teacher takes her long term leave. It's my first time having my own class, and it's really exciting. I'm trying not to be too overwhelmed right now as  I plan for report cards and parent conferences. I met my class the other day and subbed the afternoon for them. I'll be teaching them full-time starting in the next week or two.

Yesterday we went to a local Celtic fest. We danced some of the circle dances they call in groups, and it was hilarious. I wore a green skirt  with Celtic horses entwined on it which I bought in Ireland. So many of us had no idea what we were doing and it was really fun to fly around in circles with other people you've never met who also don't know which direction to dance. I also saw several men and women with gorgeous long hair, braided, flowing free, upswept with flowers. Wow. Very inspiring.
There's nothing like listening to live Irish music while enjoying a Guiness and eating roasted corn in the sunshine to help celebrate the end of summer.

Last night I had more hair dreams. In them my hair was varying lengths past my shoulders, and I kept playing with it while I talked to people. When I woke up, I expected it to be that long. Sigh. At least it's slowly growing out. Does anyone else have hair dreams? Or am I the only crazy one?
D.H. laughs when I tell him about my obsession. He told me I have a "long hair radar" because I always notice people with long hair. He decided yesterday that he's going to grow his out too. Unlike mine which is deep brown, his is very thick natural blonde with darker streaks. I've never known him with very long hair, but I've seen an old picture. It's gorgeous. Yippie! We just need to find ways for him to wear it to the office as it grows out. Right now it's fairly short.  Until the front gets long enough for him to put it behind his ears, it's going to be kind of shaggy over his eyes. Any suggestions for this stage of hair for men?

Thanks, BB! Yes, you should go to a Celtic fest whenever you can. They are always so much fun, and a great chance to make those near and dear to you dance a jig.

Congrats on making Ruby!

By the way, I like the new look of the site! Very nice.

On the hair front-nothing much to report. I'm loving the Burt's Bees Grapefruit Shampoo and conditioner. I guess my hair is slowly growing. I've been wearing it up a lot, with about twenty bobby pins to hold up the shorter lengths in back. It's kind of a messy updo. I'll do my first real measuring job in October, probably. The last time I got my hair cut was in June, when I CHOPPED it, but I've only been officially growing it out from that since July or August-when I decided to grow it long and then found this website. Yippee. To the casual observer, it doesn't look much longer yet, but I think it's growing. It will be much more obvious in the next couple of months when the shortest layers pass my chin and I can do more with it.
Ok, off to get some work done today. 

Hey all,
Just wanted to put in a few words...teaching is going really well, although I'm amazed how much I have to do. I'm finishing up my last graduate class as well, so I'll be happy when that's done next month! Yippee!
My hair was blah today. Blah, and flat. It was an off-day for washing, and by the mid afternoon it was just kind of laying on my head, not greasy, just blah. I've been tempted lately to get it trimmed to even the ends, but I think I should wait for more length first, so I don't lose sight of my first goal (Shoulder length.) In the past, when I was bored with my hair, I'd color it, but since I've worked hard to have virgin hair for the past two years, I don't want to mess that up.
I can do a tiny pony tail now, but it's very short and sprouty and kind of looks more like a sheep tail... So I'm just staying away from the scissors and pulling it back with bobby pins until it's long enough for a real pony tail...in a few months.

Hey all, prepare yourselves. My thoughts are a bit scattered today, so this is going to be hard to follow. 

My hair is down today and feeling really soft, although a bit too fluffy for the length (still short). I'm trying though. Just the fact that I haven't gotten it cut since June is huge for me!!! I used to be addicted to cutting it short, so now I've been "clean" since June! (hee, hee.) 
I'm learning to share my Burt's Bees shampoo as hubby is now growing out his blonde hair. He has wavy thick golden hair, which I'm jealous of...hee, hee. I can't wait till his is long and mine is long and we can sit around looking fabulous and talking about hair. Well, the latter might never happen, but I'd be happy to have mine past my shoulders for the first time in TEN YEARS!

Right now hubby's hair is in the beginning phases of growing out of his previous traditional "man cut".  By the way, you guys are really encouraging. I've been tempted by all my friends telling me to keep it short because it suits me. They have no idea what it'd look like long, and neither do I, because I haven't had it long in quite a while. When I did have it longer it was BSL, and before that, tail bone, when I was a kid.

A brief roomtogrow hair-history lesson:

For the past ten years, it's been anything bettween shaggy bobs to my shoulders, and one inch long pixie cuts. Nothing longer. So you see, I really have a lot of history against me here. But I know I can rule my own compulsions and grow it! So anyway, that whole rant was to say thanks for the support you guys give. Just looking at your hair pix is inspring. Soon I'll post one of my own. Unfortunately I don't have one from this summer when it was quite short, because if you saw that you'd see the growth I've had since then. Right now it's just going to look short.
But in context....yippee!

Ok, I need to get some work done. I'm turning in my ever for grad school this week...and then I graduate in the end of November! I'll have my masters degree in education, and a somewhat large student loan to pay off, but I'll be done!  I think hubby is going to take me horse riding to celebrate, or maybe to see the Nutcracker ballet, both of which I love!   

Congratulations on completing your degree.  What a wonderful accomplishment for you. Enjoy your reward(s) - both sound like a lot of fun.

I can't believe it's almost the holidays! Wow. We just came back from WI, where we spend Thanksgiving with family.
It's been warmer than usual around here, although I'm not complaining. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I'm loving the Burt's Bees Shampoo. I've been washing every two or three days. Since it's still pretty short, it starts to get a little oily by the third day, but I've found it's still manageable. Hopefully it will get less oily as my hair gets used to being washed less.

I can't wait til it's long enough to start braiding. I'm still doing french twists with lots of bobby pins.

roomtogrow wrote on Nov 27^th, 2006 at 7:34pm:


Good for you!   I too like that style and wear it alot.  Hubby says I looks like a medieval maiden and I bet you do too!

hey all...almost Christmas! Yeah. We'll be going to my folks house this year, which will be great. So just one more week of work and then some nice time off.
I went to see Scissor Man yesterday, and got a 1/4 of an inch off. It doesn't feel much shorter, since it was such a small amount and it looks a little thicker now. 
And I passed the crazy-roomtogrow-don't cut it all off test.....I went to a salon without getting a pixie cut. I told him "I'm growing it out." And he didn't pressure me...just trimmed it a tiny bit and did a deep conditioner. Yeah!
Happy Holidays!