I Did It!

I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to post these, Lizy, but I've hardly had a moment to call my own the last several days.  Anyway, for those who are not lucky enough to see me all the time, here is a terrible self-portrait of what my hair looked like before:

And here are the immediately after shots:

This is one that I had taken with my stylist, Carolina.  She is so sweet, and such a good stylist!  When I left the salon, I went to Jennifer's to collect Elora, and she was kind enough to snap a few more pictures for me--even after looking after Elora while I was off getting my hair did. 

I really like the cut, she did it exactly the way I asked her to, but I wasn't such a fan of the curled style she did.  It was just a little too poofy for me, though everyone at the shop thought it was just darling with the curls. (Thank you, ladies, for the ego boost.  ^_^)   If I could get both sides to look like the (Photo) right side, I would love it.  I'll have to experiment more with curls, to see if I can't get it to work.

And this is what it looked like pulled up into a clip.  This I really like!  It shows off that I have long bangs now, which is what I wanted.  I have some pictures now of what it looks like without the curl, but I haven't put them on my computer yet so that will just have to go in another post.  At least I got these up.

It's Time For a Change

I'm really, really just not happy with my hair.  I haven't been happy with it since before Elora was born.  I've had the same basic style--just different lengths--since high school, with only two exceptions: the two big hair shows I modeled for in college.  (I'll have to post pictures of those one day.)  So, it's time for a change.  But I'm scared.  I'm really vain about my hair, and I feel a bit insecure with short hair.  Never mind that I see beautiful women with short hair all the time, I seem to think that I can't look good unless I have long, flowing tresses.  I'm not even going to take any of the length this time, I'm just going to add layers.  A lot of them.

 photo pulled from sleekhairstyles.blogspot.com

This is the first of several inspiration photos.  This is America Ferrera (of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants fame), sporting a long layered look.  My hair isn't this long, so it will probably look a lot more like Mandy Moore's hair in these, my second and third inspiration pics:

photos from socialbutterflies and heyugly

And then, I found this picture just a few minutes ago, and I really like this style too.  Thoughts?  Kelly and Lizy, you were the most opinionated about the other style, so I want to know what you think about this one.

photo from hollywoodtoday

Pretty much everyone I've asked so far has told me to go for it, so I'm going to go for it.  And now, I'm chomping at the bit to get it done, lest I lose the guts to do it.  But, Carolina, who I know will do a good job, is booked through next week, and I don't know of any other good stylists.  We'll have to see how it goes.  I'll post pictures when I make up my mind and get it done.

Fußball Craze

Brandon had duty on Tuesday, so Elora and I went up to have lunch with him at the dining facility on base.  It was nothing fancy, but it was good to get to spend some time with him since he had to stay overnight at the Unit.

Oh, I just love it when he's in uniform.  Right after I snapped this picture, Elora took his hat and put it on her head.  I was so mad that I'd already put the camera away!

On the way home after lunch, I decided to snap some pictures of all the flags that have appeared around my little town.  The started cropping up just before the start of the World Cup, and now I see them everywhere.  There are more German flags than anything else, but there are a lot of flags from elsewhere too.

I wasn't expecting to see the Stars and Stripes, though, and I can't tell you how good it made me feel to see it.  I'm not sure who put it up; I know there are several other families in this town who are stationed here just like we are, but we've been strongly discouraged from anything that might identify us as Americans lest we be identified as targets.  So it makes me wonder if it might be an American expatriate who just happens to be living in my town, or someone local who happens to favor the American team.  Whoever they are, it was very good to see someone flying our flag.

With the World Cup on, it's like a portion of the German population has gone temporarily insane.  In addition to all of the benign flag waving, people go around screaming, yelling, and blowing their car horns during games, every time Germany scores or wins.  One of our neighbors even has a vuvuzela, and they aren't so discerning about when to blow it.  Anytime seems to be a good one, though they do go craziest with it during games.  There was one night last week that I laid in bed and listened to the ruckus for a good hour after I turned in.  It was after 11 before it finally stopped or I tuned it out and fell asleep, whichever happened first.  It's exciting, and I'm glad that people are getting so into the spirit of things, but I must say that I'll be glad when things settle back down.
 

Happy Father's Day to dads and dads-to-be!

Last Weekend

We went for a walk.  These are some of the flowers still hanging in there.

Double click that second picture, the one with the yellow flowers, and take a look at it bigger.  See the spider?  I took a ton of pictures of those flowers, and never knew he was there until I got home and put the pictures on my computer.  

It was quite a warm day, so while I was taking pictures of flowers, Brandon and Elora found a shady spot at the edge of a field.  We took a few pics there, and kept going.

The sun was really intense.  Elora and I were both slathered in sunscreen, of course, but I could still feel my skin cooking.  We kept to the shade as much as possible.

We stopped several times along the way, to let Elora explore, and to snap pictures.  We walked to the top of the hill overlooking our town, and then turned back.  That's our little town in the background behind Elora.  It was a good afternoon, why don't we do that more often?

Some Like It Hot

I am loving this weather.  Hot?  Humid?  Who cares?  I'm not freezing, and I've actually been able to wear my tank tops and flip flops without eliciting those odd looks or raised eyebrows.  It actually reminds me a bit of  home, this weather.  And besides, I love what the humidity does to Elora's hair.

The more humidity in the air, the more her hair curls.  I love it.

We broke out the floor fans to keep the air moving in the house.  Elora was terribly interested in investigating the fan.  I took a ton of pictures; this one is my favorite.

She kept pushing the buttons on it, turning it on and off and changing the speed.  I had it stationary at first, but then she pulled the knob to let it turn.  After that she kept following the fan as it swung slowly back and forth, grabbing it and trying to hold it still.  Don't worry, I don't think she can get her hands through the cage, and anyway I stayed with her to make sure she didn't try anything dangerous.

Smileys and Pottys and Snails

Brandon's nephew has begun a new business venture making incense, and I volunteered to make a smiley face logo for him.  It's really simple, and nothing like what Jess can do, but he's really happy with it and so I am too.  I think I am going to go back and put "Chef" across the front of the hat, since that's his nickname.  Heck, that's the reason for the hat in the first place.

Last night, I ordered a potty for Elora, so we can start on the road to potty training.  I looked at a couple, but in the end it came down to the BabyBjorn Potty Chair, or the Fisher Price Pink Princess Potty Chair.  The first takes a simple, minimalist approach, while the second tries to make it fun.  I went for the fun one.

photo from fisher-price.com

It has 4 different little songs that it can play when she does her business, the seat comes off and can be used on the big toilet when she gets older, the bowl is removable for easy cleaning, and the back folds down to make it a step stool so she can reach to wash her hands.  Seriously, how cute is that?? 

We had a nice thunderstorm early this evening.  Thunderstorms are one of those things that I took for granted in Florida, and that I've missed terribly since coming here.  I wish I could have been at home to sit and enjoy it, butI was thankful that the angry looking sky didn't open up on me as I was running around Patch trying to get dinner, get cash for the babysitter, and get Elora.  I got to hear a bit of thunder, see a bit of lightening, and felt a few cool sprinkles before I drove out from under it one the way home.  

When I got there, I saw this guy cruising around the drive in front of my house.  I thought he was cool, so I ran upstairs and deposited Elora with her dad so I could run back down with the camera.  These are straight out of the camera, I didn't even crop them.

He obliged me by continuing to cruise,and I even caught him sticking out his tongue (I assume it's a tongue, I'm not really sure) to sample the tastes/textures/smells around him.  I always feel so special when I get to see things like this.  Maybe I would get to see these things more if I paid more attention, but then, perhaps they wouldn't be so special to me?  He's really neat, and I sincerely hope that some oblivious person didn't step on him before he could make his way back to the (relative) safety of the garden.