your hair looks like a rat's nest.- steve schwedhelm

that's what steve said to me this morning about the back of my hair, as i sat at my computer desk, after waking up. you see...my hair is fine, naturally curly and i have a lot of it (yes, i straighten it every time i wear it down). all that equates to it knotting super easy. always has, but with it being way overdue for a haircut, the knotting is that much worse. and so, being on the brink of my entire head of hair being in knots, steve's comment made me laugh.

my dread day is quickly approaching. i fly to oregon on the 17th and my dread appointment is on the 18th. not everyone understands why i'm doing this and i respect that; however, getting dreads is just something that i want and need to do.

i've heard everything about dreads... they're gross. they're dirty. they stink. you're going to look terrible. i'll support you but when you hate them, i'll say, i told you so.

and sure...some are gross and dirty and look terrible. but not all. i keep joking with my friends that i'm going to have pretty dreads. and i'm sure there are some hard core dread heads out there that will laugh at me and my pretty dreads. but oh well.

my dreads are going to be done by stephanie at akemi salon, in portland. she will be doing a type of crochet method to dread (knot) my hair. the other way is done by backcombing and coating the hair with wax. oh, and there's the other way...of just not coming your hair and letting it naturally do it's thing. with the crochet method, no wax is necessary, which makes me very happy. i will not be using any wax at all on my dreads...ever.

another thing that many might not realize...dreads require a lot of maintenance. as growth happens, that hair has to be dreaded (crocheted or knotted) into the the dreads. this obviously requires time and assistance. many just go back to the salon every few months to get the maintenance done. not living near the salon, will require that i do much of the maintenance myself. however, i will also be recruiting friends and family to help, with those hard to reach and see places. we're going to be like little monkeys as they help me groom my hair. :-)

while i'm so excited about getting my dreads, there is some natural hesitation, just as with any drastic hair style change (cut). in college, i went from long to really, really short hair and the feelings i'm experiencing with dreads are similar. a couple questions that often run through my mind... what happens if i hate them? what happens if my scalp is too sensitive?

throughout this process, one thing is for sure...i will always be honest. if i love them, you'll know. if i hate them or am having a difficult time with them, you'll know that too.

here's some pics that i found on the internet of dreads that i love. i'm going to leave some loose hair in front, kind of like the girl in the first photo (who just got voted off survivor yesterday). i long for my dreads to be a bit longer but stephanie says that dread extensions are really tough, so i will have to let them grow naturally.

my dear friend, denise, got her dreads done by stephanie a little over three months ago. she actually just went back for a maintenance appointment last week. anyways, you can read more about her dread journey and the process here, on her blog. she also has photos of herself with dreads throughout her recent blog posts. she too, has the loose hair in front...and a magical head of free, flowing, beautiful dreads.

have a dread question (or any question really), feel free to ask. i will add the answer to the bottom of this post.