This is my friend Wendi.  She loves God and is using her talents for Him.  Last night, she delivered a spoken word at a worship night at my church.  Just wanted to share it with you all. 

Today, I’d just like to ask you to stop for a moment and say a prayer for my friend Cassie’s family. 

Cassie’s uncle, Scooter, was flying to Norman, OK, from Texas last night when his plane crashed.  He and his assistant, Amy, were found in the wreckage today.  Neither of them survived.  He had two teenagers and she had three young boys.  My heart is hurting so much for their friends and families.  I didn’t know Amy, but I’d met Scooter several times. Cassie is one of my closest and best friends, so I know her family well.  Please just ask God to surround them with comfort during this difficult time. 

I didn’t do a single blog post last week, so I thought I’d do a little photo round up of my week from Friday, February 10th through Friday, February 17th.  Except I didn’t actually take any photos on the 17th, oops.  But you get the idea…

Friday evening, February 10th, started off with some cool girls at Tucker’s Onion Burgers, one of my fave places to eat in OKC.

Then we headed over to The Plaza District for a little browsing at Live On The Plaza, where I saw a couple of things that piqued my interest…

Then I met up with my sweet friend Kim and others to celebrate her birthday with some bowling!  So fun!

Sunday morning, I had the privilege of photographing some special baptisms at church…

Then it was time for yet another birthday celebration, this time for my awesome nephew Daxon!

Monday evening, I enjoyed watching my girl Summer play ball…

Tuesday was Valentine’s Day, and it consisted of lunch with these fun girls…

…And chocolate covered strawberries, plus watching the Thunder game at my house with some cool girls.

Wednesday night was Big Switch at church, which is always a crazy fun time.

And in keeping with the theme of the week, we celebrated another birthday, for my lovely Shakari!

Thursday, I went to the eye doctor and left wearing contacts for the first time ever in all my thirty-one years.  Which means I can wear sunglasses again and still be able to see!  {But I’m not planning on retiring my actual glasses anytime soon.  I’m just a glasses-wearing girl.}

Thursday also consisted of an entire workday spent updating the software on my MacBook Pro.  A long process, for sure, but well worth it!  Here’s to being current.  For now. 

I would also just like to mention the fact that I wore these cool boots {some of my faves}, not once, but twice, last week.  So I thought they deserved to be featured here, too…

And that’s about it.  Overall, a really good week.  You might not guess it from these photos, but I learned a few big lessons from God throughout last week.  I am forever thankful to Him for this life He has blessed me with!

What about you guys??  Good week last week?  Bad?  Boring?  Exciting?  Tell me stuff!

~abi~

The winner of the Kynx ‘I Am Pure’ Hair Oil giveaway is TopModel!!  Thank you everyone for entering the contest, and please keep an eye open for more giveaways coming soon.  Topmodel, please email me at naturalhairbeauty@gmail.com, to provide your shipping address.  I will forward your information to my Kynx company connection.

If you have not already visited my online store for customized ethnic natural hair dolls, please go to Natural Girls United!.  As of today, for the Dreadlocks barbies, I have two for sale. Both dolls originally had straight hair, and I gave them gorgeous Dreadlocks!   Each doll has a different hair blend, so the texture and outcome is different. To see pricing, go to the details page for these dolls. They are not currently listed for sale, but will be posted tomorrow afternoon. If you are interested in these dolls, or some of the other dolls from the website, please email me at naturalgirlsunited@gmail.com.

Great photos posted on by Beyonce & Jay Z of their new baby girl, Blue Ivy Carter.  To see more, go to Hello Blue Ivy.

Let’s look at one of my senior portraits…

Now, let’s discuss.  {Because I’m so vain, I probably think this blog is about me…}

~hair
Okay, the first and most obvious thing we must talk about is The Hair.  Back then, I was known for my lonnnng hair, as opposed to the crazy colors I am known for now.   That was my 100% natural color, although I think it looks a little more red in this picture-of-a-picture than it ever actually was.

~lipstick
I was a fan of it then, still a fan of it today.

~teeth
I hadn’t discovered teeth whitening yet.  I don’t think anyone had.  Have you ever noticed how much more yellow people’s teeth are in old movies than in current ones.  Random.

~accessories
Earrings, check.  Necklace, check.  Rings, check.  Watch worn on the inside of my wrist because I was cool like that, check.  What can I say?  I’ve always been an accessories girl.

~outfit
Denim on denim.  Hmm.  I know that’s been a trend for the past couple of years, but I have never really worn denim with denim.  Unless maybe it was different shades.  Unlike here.  I don’t even know why I did that for this pic.  Also, I have to note that in this pic, my tank top was dangerously low cut for my strict Baptist rules.  It would never have been allowed at the school I graduated from here in Oklahoma. But I had my senior pictures done in Iowa the summer before my senior year.  Smart girl.   Also, the bottom half of this outfit was an ankle length denim skirt, not jeans.  Jeans were definitely not allowed. 

~body
I just have to say this: as a teen, I never truly appreciated my body.  Then, all I could see was how my hips protruded too much and my thighs were too fat.  {Not that my thighs even mattered, since I wasn’t allowed to wear pants, ever.  Skirts only!}  Now, all I can do is sigh in envy.  Please, teenage girls, appreciate your body instead of being unhappy about it!

Well, that was fun.  Now, on a completely unrelated note, I would like to let you all know that today I paid off an old credit card debt that I’ve had for years.  I’m excited!  Well, not excited that I had old debt to pay off {more like embarrassed}, but excited to have paid it!  In many ways, I feel like I haven’t become much wiser than I was as a seventeen year old, when this picture was taken.  But maybe, just maybe, the work God has done and is doing in me is finally starting to turn me into an adult.  

Happy Friday, my lovely friends!  Tell me about your weekend plans.  Or your seventeen year old self.  Or some debt you’ve conquered. 

~abi~

I don’t really think of myself as a tee shirt girl, but I realized that in the last week, I have worn three tee shirts by the cool guys over at Tree & Leaf.

These are all just random Instagram pix, so you can’t really see the shirts very well.  Here are the links, if you want to check them out:
~Vote Presti 2012 {Presti is the Thunder GM, in case you were wondering. }
~It Must Be The Beard {for my Beardfriend, James Harden}
~Well, there’s not a link for the last one.  It has “OKC” on the front, with a crown over it.  And the back says “Next Is Now”.  It’s also a Thunder shirt, obviously. 

I seem to only wear tee shirts that are Thunder gear or musician/band shirts.  What about you?  Are you a big fan of tee shirts?  What kind do you mostly wear?  Do you own any Tree & Leaf shirts?  If not, you should check out their website, for sure.  Or better yet, stop by the store!

~abi~