It’s been a week since I jetted away from Colorado on my first “mama trip” in 8 years…all the way to one of my favorite places, Santa Cruz, California!

I flew right into the open arms of dear friends. Monica flew in from Texas, and Sarah joined us from the redwoods.

This was taken just 2 blocks from our perfect ocean cottage.

Staring at the ocean and soaking up the sound of the crashing waves.

31 weeks pregnant…by the sea. Pure happy.

So much time was spent together in the little living room. Listening to music. Soothing our souls. Talking for hours and hours about life, family, passions, and trials.

One of the most very sacred moments we had together was walking through the redwoods at dusk…

…touching the soft, damp moss. Oh how I’ve missed it!

And finally arriving…in the dark…at the opening of an enormous redwood. Sarah had gone ahead and prepared a space for us INSIDE of the hollow Felton mother tree. Twinkling white lights everywhere. Hot candy cane tea and dark chocolate. Sarah and Monica prayed for me, the baby, the birth, our friendship.  Sarah knit me a beautiful and oh-so-soft “prayer shawl” that will be treasured forever. We laughed and talked and sat for a long while in the silence of the woods. When we finally emerged and stepped out in the expanse of redwoods, a screech owl let out a loud screeeeeeeech above our heads and then continued to fly along with us as we walked out. So symbolic :: wisdom shared among mothers. Mere words could never convey the magic that happened that night at Henry Cowell, but we all felt it, and will remember forever.

We walked down Pacific Ave…stopping in little shops and touching all the pretty things.

We indulged in the magic at Verve Coffee 4 times over the weekend. Mmmmm….

Love.

My dreads have new beads and wraps to remember our sweet time together.

And this…the last moment at the ocean that we spent together. Sitting close. Praying together. What a blessing these women are in my life. The gratitude I have surrounding this weekend is immeasurable. So thankful.

And then I flew home to my babies and my sweetie. Life is good.

I’ve always loved yarn. There is something magical that happens when I touch it & look at it. But that’s as far as it goes I am not a knitter, but I am certainly envious of those with great knitting skill (which at times seems like ALL of my friends). I bought these so that I can wrap my dreads with them and use them for art with the girls.

HOWEVER…we want to become a knitting family!!

We have tried half-heartedly a couple of times, but we’re serious now. I would love some advice from some of you more experienced yarn women.

• What needles and type of yarn should we buy?
• What is your favorite online tutorial? Or is it better to seek out a class? Books?
• How did you start knitting? I’d LOVE to hear your stories!!

*Edited to add: I just signed up for Ravelry under “livelightly”. Add me as your friend so I can become a knitter!

 

The Mullers are in Colorado! That’s right…our dear friends from Omaha, NE came out for a few days to visit and we had a blast. These should be familiar faces to you if you’ve been around my blog for awhile. After spotting each other at the Des Moines Farmer’s Market in the summer of 2004 (both of us slinging our babes)…we decided we had much in common and have been hanging out  for the past 7 years.

So…what did we do?

We smooshed into our van so we could drive around together and do fun stuff.

Isaiah stalked all of the best skate parks…and we loved watching his sweet tricks.

We played A LOT.

We drove up to Nederland and enjoyed the mountain views.

Denise showed up sporting brand new baby dreads…how cute is she?! I was so excited to see she finally did it!

We spent time on Pearl Street.

And found cool new shops.

We hiked up the trails at Chautauqua and I only had to stop 4 times to catch my breath. To my defense, I was carrying an almost 2-year-old and a very heavy camera.

All smiles on the way DOWN!

The kids loved climbing on the rocks.

We showed those mountains who was boss!

We ate lots and lots of yummy food…John Henry and Annora have celiac disease, so we were on the hunt for gluten-free and vegetarian options. Boulder has LOTS of that…and we were pleased.

But most importantly…we spent time talking about life. Laughing together over tea and other delicious hot beverages. Reminiscing about times gone by. Reconnecting with old friends is the best.

We can’t wait to see them again SOON. We crammed a lot of goodness into just 3 days, but there is still so much to do! You can see the full set of photos here.

Oh, and be sure to check out John Henry’s company, What Cheer. If you need a website created…he is your man. Seriously. He rocks. And if you live near Omaha…go to one of Denise’s classes at Bhadra Yoga. She just started teaching there and she’s amazing.

We have two more sets of friends coming to visit in the next 2 weeks…the Hasslers from Indiana and Monica from Portland. Yippeeeee!! I’m more than a little excited.

Hope you’re all having a great week!

Breathing a sigh of relief…I think we are finally coming out of the fog after 5 days of the flu. It will take awhile for things to get “back to normal” around here…but we are working on it. I think I’ll start with laundry

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the past week. My favorite new throw blanket, my sweet Bella who is growing up before my eyes, and my smiley Lucy. Life is good.

And now for some inspiration!

I haven’t been a huge fan of chai in the past, but it’s growing on me! I found this amazing homemade recipe on Pinterest. Can’t wait to try it.

Have you been trying to limit your time on Facebook or just your time online in general? Check out this cool site.

Tara, Justin, and Zeb are starting a new journey! They leave Vegas today in their new rig. Love this family.

My heart just aches for Japan right now. Here is a neat page with some Twitter updates from Japan (in English).

These little dwellings are SO awesome. I hope they can survive…

Yummy yummy dreads. So much color! Love her whimsical art.

I get warm and fuzzy feelings when I see our very first RV out there on the road again.

Faryn’s work is amazing. Love love love.

I’m LOVING this post by Mandy at Messy Canvas. There is such joy in the little stuff. The little “finds”, quotes, things that friends send me. And I long to have a space in the house that is just my stuff. Heck, I need to do this just so I can FIND my stuff. Now I have to figure out where on earth I could do it Every corner is currently occupied. Do you have something like this in your home?

Have an inspired Monday! xxoo

 

 

 

Being that I don’t have a house of my own to decorate for the holidays, I decided to decorate my hair I found these delicious felted wool dreads on Etsy…and fell in love with them immediately. I was craving a little change and these were just the ticket!

I’m not sure how long I will keep them or how they will “settle” into my dreads once I wash them, etc. But for now, I adore them and just couldn’t wait to show y’all (yes, I’m missing my Texas friends).

Back in my college days, when dreads were just a fascination for me…I stalked a girl that worked at the natural foods store in Grand Forks, ND. She had long blonde dreads with a few purple accents. It was then and there that I decided to dread my hair someday. So thank you mystery dreaded beauty…

Dreads + Purple + Wool = Happy Mama.

**For those of you who have dreads and want to know HOW I attached them…they are just one long piece that is pulled through the loose part of my roots and tied in a knot.

Ooooooooh looky what we have here…a double giveaway!

Up for grabs:

• Little Bird Vintage Designs “Big Bird” Sport Blankie (in pink/green or blue/green)
• Tweet Baby Designs Cherry Amber Necklace + Chomping Teething Necklace of your choice

These mamas are creating all kinds of goodies for your little babes…and boy do they have expertise in baby “stuff”! Grace from Little Bird Vintage Designs is a mama to 3 (soon to be 4!) little birds and Ashlee from Tweet Baby Designs is mama to 6 little tweets. That’s a lot of little ones.

Grace’s blankie is SO soft and yummy (they make lovey sizes as well!). How cute is that bird?! And I just can’t say enough about Ashlee’s amber necklaces…I swear by them for the teething season! And don’t forget the adorable chomping necklace! Lucy used to chew on my dreads when she was that age…I think she would have liked these much better!

Both stores have more than what is featured here, so be sure to go browse around a bit! Here are some special discounts just for you!

Little Bird Vintage Designs: 10% off your order // enter FLOCK
Tweet Baby Designs: 15% off your order // enter SARA15

*note: Etsy has now enabled coupon codes…hooray!

To enter the giveaway (enter a new comment for each one you complete):

• Leave me a comment below and tell me what you are reading right now or what your most recent favorite movie/TV show is.
• Share this giveaway on Facebook
• Share this giveaway on Twitter

I will announce the winner on Tuesday, December 7. Entry cut off is 12 p.m. CST.

Ever since we left Portland last November, I have been looking forward to going back. For many reasons, but mostly to see my sweet friends Monica and Shauna and to go see Stephanie, The Dread Goddess. When we broke down in Spokane, we lost an entire WEEK of good times in PDX…so so so sad. BUT, I did make it in time for our girls day out and will get to spend a week enjoying all that this beautiful city has to offer.

We started the day at Pix Patisserie…a delightful little coffee/sweets shop. They even grind their own hazelnuts into a paste for lattes. Wow. Then we walked across the street and I grabbed a bite of breakfast at Tasty and Sons. Another wow. I ordered up an amazing orange curry glazed potatoes and egg dish and devoured it all. Yum. We arrived at our favorite spot, Akemi Salon with full tummies.

Stephanie was there waiting for us and got right down to business. One of the things I miss the most about having dreads is having someone else mess with my hair. Coloring, cutting, coiffing. Yes, I loved being pampered. So now I have made it a yearly tradition to trek to Portland to see Stephanie.  Stephanie is one of the few people I trust implicitly with my dreads…and I can just relax in her chair and chat away about life and love and rainy days.

There are great magazines and books to read…including a lovely book completely dedicated to typographical tattoos *swoon*. Sitting on the sweet orange couch, there is hot tea available…to accompany the sounds of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and ethereal French music playing in the background. We enjoyed many hours of blissed out dready sisterhood.

After hugs and goodbyes, we headed to MeeSen Thai. This little Thai eatery…with it’s open garage-door front (this seems to be commonplace in Portland), decorative glass water pitchers with metal cups, and super friendly waiters won my heart immediately. We had fresh spring rolls with peanut sauce and pad thai for all. Seriously delicious with an amazing vibe.

I was sad to see them go…but not for long! We’re all meeting up at the Saturday Market. My sister, Laura, flew into town today from Minneapolis and we’re driving to Cannon Beach for the weekend. Yay! More fun to come!

There is an entire photo set to peruse here. And the question of the day is:

“If you’ve been to Portland, what was your very favorite thing?”

*Squeeeeeeeel* Isn’t it adorable? I’ve loved Catina’s art from the moment I set eyes on it YEARS ago. It’s so quirky and delicious…and the colors are crazy vibrant. Catina and I have been online friends for as long as I can remember…her beautiful dreads played a big part in my decision to dread my own hair…and one of her pieces of art has graced the walls of nearly all of our homes.

She also makes wonderfully unique jewelry…

And joy of all joys…both of these pieces are up for grabs! I will choose 2 different winners…the first drawing will be for the art, and the second for the necklace. I will take entries for the giveaway through 12:00 CST on Monday, May 17.

To enter:

• Check out Catina Jane’s website and Etsy store and let me know what your favorite piece is.
• Facebook or Twitter for an additional entry: I just entered the Catina Jane Arts Giveaway on Walk Slowly, Live Wildly…check it out! http://bit.ly/cCrB7m
• Blog on your own blog for yet another entry.

Be sure to put each entry on a new comment below…I choose the winner by comment number, so if you put them all in one comment, it only counts once.

Catina is offering FREE SHIPPING to my blog readers as well…and she has just stocked her store with tons of beautiful new art and jewelry! Just enter the words “Walk Slowly” in the comments for your order. Be sure to take advantage of this offer, it will expire on May 20, 2010.

I have made it to the THREE year mark…that “magical” time when dreads come into their own. The rumored “three year bliss” does exist. My dreads are finally long enough, tight enough, wonderful enough to love fully every day.

This year has been a crazy one. Full of wonder and magical moments. Deep joy…and deep sorrow. Endings and beginnings.

It started out with us being back in Bozeman and living in a house.
We found an amazing midwife and friend.
We lived temporarily in Boulder, CO for 6 weeks.
Then, my brother almost died.
Then, my grandma died.
Lucy was born!
Family visited.
And more family visited.
We bought the Minnie Winnie.
We did some traveling and some more traveling.
We sold the Minnie Winnie.
We bought the Big Alpine.
Then, we sold everything AGAIN and went back on the road.
With TWO kids this time.
We explored Washington, Oregon, and California.
We flew back to Iowa.
We flew back to Montana.
We drove 15 hours back to Minnesota.
We flew back to the RV in California.
Whew!

And that was the year of 2009. All without the stress of doing my hair.
LOVE IT.

Yes, LOVE. I have not once regretted my decision to dread my hair. I really can’t imagine myself without them now. They’re just a part of my being.
Some observations in the third year:

• My washing/drying process hasn’t changed much. I still wash about once a week (every 2-3 days in the summer) with diluted Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap and rinse with diluted apple cider vinegar. I usually dry them a little bit to fluff them up. I will occasionally wash just my bangs mid-way through the week.
• Many of you have commented about the loose hair that I have in the front. It’s always been that way…they just never dreaded up, and I like them that way!
• I dye them blonde about every 3-4 months. I go to the Aveda training school in West Des Moines whenever we’re back in Iowa. The first time was pretty funny…they didn’t really know what to do with me and my crazy hair, but after they figured it out, it was fast and cheap! I love them blonde and I don’t really ever plan on dying them back to my natural color. I have been throwing around the idea of putting in some color on a few dreads…like purple. I love purple.
• My hair continues to be a spiritual journey for me. They have taught me about acceptance, change, contentment…and I continue to learn from them daily! I choose to be “set apart” from the norm of our culture…which parallels my walk with Jesus.
• I’ve been wearing them down a lot more now that they are longer and I like the versatility. I wore them back/up/under a bandana for 3 years and I paid those dues…it’s time to let them fly! I wear a rubber band around my wrist all the time though…I probably put them up and down 3-4 times a day depending on what I’m doing at the time.
• They still do their own thing. Some ends are looser than others. Some are super short, some are very long. Some are stick straight and others are like a winding country road. Some of the roots are loose and some are tight. And I like it that way. You cannot “tame” dreads, and that’s the beauty of it. I really don’t mess with them much except to wash them.
• Lucy loves my dreads. They are her built in toys and teether.
• I looove beads in my dreads. They make me happy.
• I have an incredibly supportive husband who loves my dreads.
• How long will I keep them? Forever I hope. When I am old, I shall wear purple…and DREADS!

In this third year of dreadiness, I have had the chance to meet up with more fun dready mamas. In Portland, I met up with Shauna and Monica. I love those beautiful, talented women! And of course Bethany and Jordan and Gillian in Eugene with their crazy amazing dreads.

In October, I was able to experience the “dready love fest”. I had the chance to visit Stephanie, “The Dread Goddess” at Akemi Salon in Portland (on far right in photo below). She did some much needed maintenance on my dreads…I recommend her HIGHLY! You can read about it on Denise’s blog here. For those of you just starting out and want to skip a lot of the craziness, she “crochets” dreads instead of just backcombing and they look great right from the beginning. It’s worth traveling to Portland to see her! Love love love.

When you have dreads and you are able to spend time in the presence of others who have dreads…especially other women, there is just something magical about it. There is such acceptance and love…it’s awesome. That’s why I love traveling so much…so I can find all of you!! Anyone up for a huge dready retreat somewhere where we can all be together? Hmmmmm….

Fast forward to right now…we are in San Diego, where we have spent time with the lovely Boho Girl, Denise and her family again. She took all of the amazing photos of my dreads. Thank you thank you thank you Denise…for making me feel beautiful!! We had a wonderful time communing and eating together…the time flew by too fast. She wrote about our time together on her blog here. If you aren’t reading her blog on a regular basis, you should be!

Here’s to another year of adventures…on the road, with dreadlocks!

If you are new to my blog, here are the links to:
Why I Have Dreadlocks
One Year Dreadiversary
Two Year Dreadiversary
My Dreadlock Journey – A Photo Gallery

Photos used with permission – by Denise Andrade – Boho Photography

Another year has gone by…a year of seeing AMAZING sights, meeting INSPIRING people, and LIVING life to the fullest. Let me just say…I’m so glad I didn’t have to do my hair for any of it! Ok, well, I take that back. I did “do” my hair for my sister’s wedding and that was fun. But other than that, my hair didn’t slow me down or cause me any strife. I love my dreads. But they are definitely still in process. I’m waiting for the magical three year mark, which is the time when other dreadies have said they really started to enjoy them.

My dreads are constantly changing. There is a lot of loose hair and new growth, particularly around the crown of my head, and then those hairs just pick a dread to attach themselves to or they start a new little dread on their own. I’m not one to mess around much with my new growth…I figure it will just do it’s own thing. I have several dreads around my face that seem to be hanging on by just a few hairs, so I may intentionally join those with some other hair to reinforce them. But it’s pretty crazy how strong just a few strands of hair can be!

They are definitely mature dreads…I don’t do anything to them except for wash them about once a week with Dr. Bronner’s and then rinse with a dliuted solution of apple cider vinegar. They take about 18 hours to dry, so I will occasionally use a blow dryer to get that process started. No need to have ice in my hair as I run out into the Montana chill. They stay a bit “fluffier” that way too it seems.

Although I love to be “au natural”…I’ve never been so happy as when I dyed my dreads blonde this summer. They felt so much more like me after that! I had them done in Eugene, OR at an “alternative” hair salon. I didn’t really love the bright, barbie-like color at first, but it toned itself down after awhile. There was a little miscommunication with the stylist I dyed them again at an Aveda salon right before my sister’s wedding. I’m letting them go through this pregnancy and then will dye them again right before the baby is born.

I still love to put little beadies and peyote stitches in the “decorate” them. My dear friend, Becky…the one who put my dreads in for me…sent me a fun green and white one at Christmastime (as seen in the photo above). Yay! The colorful hemp string that she put in last year is still hanging on with no signs of coming out anytime soon. It’s fun to see how much they’ve grown since she tied that in.

Speaking of growth…yes, they’re longer. But not long enough! The thing is that they are all different lengths because my haircut at the time of putting them in was layered. If I had to go back and do it all over, I would probably wait until my hair was the same length before putting them in. Makes things a lot easier! I still have really short pieces all around my face, and then long in the back. Kind of a dread mullet if you will. I’m hoping all this good eatin’ and prenatal vitamins will help them grow, grow, grow this year.

When I’m out of the house, I ALWAYS have them in a bandana, headband, or wrap. It’s not that I’m too self-conscious to wear them down, they just get in my way. Those short pieces around my face aren’t quite long enough to keep themselves tucked behind my ears…so they hang right in my eyes. I actually like using some bobby pins to pin the front back, but I don’t often do that. It’s so much easier to just throw something on them and go. At home, I let them down and relax a bit more.

I’ve had the privilege of meeting so many really cool dready mamas (and papas!) while we’ve been on the road…and have put dreads into several people’s hair as well Some have left them in…and some haven’t. And that’s why I love dreads. They allow you to explore parts of your inner being…things that you never knew existed…feelings surface that you never knew you had…and you come out the other side a changed person. Whether you HAVE dreads now, HAD dreads, or WANT dreads…they will always stay with you. Ahhhhh…the journeys of life. Here’s to another good year!

Click here to see the entire process, including a couple of other 2 year photos.