Hair cuts and the Air Force

Many of you probably heard me complain for months about the terrible-awful-no-good-very-bad haircut that I got back in March. For those who by some miracle did not hear about it, or a recap for those who did, here’s the short version …I’ve been trying to grow my hair out since May of 2010, which is quite a process for me because my hair grows really slow. Then when I got engaged, I really wanted my hair long for the wedding. In that fateful month of March, I went to Dellaria’s to get a trim, trying to keeps the locks nice and healthy for the big day. I told the woman that I was growing my hair out and to only take off the dry, split ends. Pretty routine. When she styled my hair, I asked her to curl it and then I pinned it back for military ball that night, so as far as I knew my hair was feelin good and lookin good… But two days later when I went to straighten my hair, I discovered the damage…the left side was longer than the right, I had layers up to the middle of my ear, I could no longer put my hair back in a ponytail, the layers were choppy and uneven, my bangs were janky, and the tapering around my face was also uneven. It was a complete disaster.

So…it’s been seven months…and I decided I really need a haircut again. I asked a few friends where they go because I refused to go anywhere without a recommendation. In the end, I decided to go to an Aveda studio, called Avant, in downtown Grand Forks. I was not disappointed.

Although the receptionist was either having a bad day or clearly did not care about customers, my stylist, Tara, was incredible. First, she put some product in my hair and gave me a head massage. She listened to exactly how I wanted my hair, and was able to execute the cut beautifully, taking her time as she both cut and styled. It looks like she barely took any length off, but my hair feels so healthy. She fixed my awful layers, thank goodness. I also got a complimentary paraffin treatment! The overall atmosphere was relaxing and the staff seemed pretty down to earth. I expected the cost to be really high, but it was pretty reasonable for a high end salon. For a trim it cost $28 + tip, but I was expecting upwards of $40, so I was pleasantly surprised. I will definitely be going there in the future, and scheduling my appointments with Tara.

Other than that…

Josh is currently helping out with the Saint Michael’s high school youth group retreat. Last weekend he went to Minnesota with the middle school youth group. He really seems to be enjoying it and I hope to help out more in the future. Josh also starts work on Monday at the Grand Forks Air Force base! He’s excited and nervous to start, because there’s alot to learn…but he’s going to be great. And I’ll be giving him haircuts more frequently. They already arranged his training dates, but luckily he won’t have to leave for a while. He’s scheduled to leave in April sometime and will be gone 7-9 weeks, but like I said, that’s still pretty distant on the horizon. And we’re very thankful for that.

What is frustrating though, is that we still do not have the vast majority of our belongings…nor will we have it until the end of October or later. Which means that we’ll have been here for 2+ months without any furniture and basically 75% of our stuff. Josh couldn’t get the paperwork for moving until he got his orders, and he didn’t get his orders until a week ago. So we now have the papers, which we’ll turn in Monday, but then they take 3 weeks to process. Then they send the movers and bring our stuff, and I have no idea how long that takes. When Josh told me this, I just cried. I know it seems silly, and an extra month isn’t very long in the grand scheme of things, but it’s just been hard to keep a positive attitude about it. Ultimately, I know that it’s purifying and that it is greater to have Josh with me then any material object(s)…but I’d like to be able to serve my husband dinner on a kitchen table and have friends over. So, really looking forward to November. Pray for my attitude and perspective. I know it’s not fair to Josh when I’m frustrated with the way his employer (i.e. the government) operates and really, a bad attitude doesn’t help anything. Plus so many people in this world live with much less than we currently have in our apartment. I mean, we have a roof over our heads, a bed and food right? I cannot complain.

Although I like to poke fun at Josh for being my “househusband”, I’ll miss having him at home when I get back from class 🙂

Well, I have a Modern Grammar exam on Tuesday and I definitely need to study for that. I hope all of you are well! Please email or call either of us if you want to catch up! Or write a letter! We love hearing from our loved ones 🙂