My hair is GONE...and lots more

Ok, it's been such a long time since I've posted that I'm not going to elaborate as much as I normally would (yeah, yeah...stop cheering). Let's see...what has happened since my last post. (A quick list before I go into my new 'do)
-made a couple of more trips to Del Rio to get moved in (including the one with Herc & Tigris)
-cleaned my new apartment
-camped out in the apartment on the famous military moving air mattress for 3 nights
-cut my hair
-worked
-handed in the keys to the horrible apartment-YEA!!!!!
-made our final "moving trip" to Del Rio on 21 Mar
- Went to Houston (6-hr drive) for my sisters house warming party on 22 Mar (Is everyone moving this month????)
-Came back to Del Rio on 25 Mar, got lots of cool stuff from Lowes and did a lot of putting away to get our home together.
-Went countertop shopping -can't wait to blog about this, but I'm not going to until I know it's a for sure thing...maybe tomorrow :-)

Ok, now for my new 'do....
So, as I told all of you already I was planning on donating my hair to Locks of Love, but I was clueless on which cut to get. I told myself I was going to wait to cut it until my haircut could be somewhat close to my shoulders, but after nights and nights of having my hair get caught in my underarm, after feeling totally blah after weeks of moving and being in an apartment with nothing in it except cleaning supplies I decided it was time to do it...although I had no idea what kind of cut to get.
Tuesday morning when Joe left to outprocess I called Toni and Guy since I knew they would be able to suggest a haircut that would look good on me. Since Andrea and my sister, Cynthia, told me that lots of places will do the Locks of Love cut for free I called them to see if they would cut for free. Unfortunately they did not offer the free cut, but still I knew I wanted to go there because I was very nervous about getting my hair cut so short and I wanted to feel safe. So, I spent the rest of the day telling myself I was really going to do it and I started getting pretty excited about donating my hair. Yeah, I know most of you are thinking "So what...it's a freaking haircut!" But understand this...I haven't had a short haircut since I was a toddler....so this is a big deal for Valerie. When Joe got home I told him I called Toni & Guy, they don't do the free cut, but I'm going there anyways. So, he called them and here's what he said, " My wife is donating her beautiful long black hair to Locks of Love and I was wondering if you did free cuts for that." I guess he thought that would convince them, but again they said no, but did tell him that they needed a model for a specific haircut. If I decided to do it and got there in time to fill the slot the cut would be free so of course I totally jumped all over it. We got to the mall super early to make sure nobody beat me to the free cut and I was so ready to donate my hair. I thought I was ready until I got there and saw the hair cut they needed the model for. The hair cut was much shorter than I ever thought my hair would be and suddenly the excitement left and nervousness set in. Joe, the hair stylist and about 3 other people were staring at me waiting for me to decide so I said Yes. The stylist said the haircut would look really good on me, and I figure she wasn't selling anything since it was a free cut...or at least that's what I hoped. For the next hour Joe and I wandered around the mall waiting for 5:30 to roll around. I really can't believe I was so nervous about the haircut. Joe suggested we get something to eat so I wasn't hungry during the cut because he knows a hungry Valerie isn't a very happy Valerie especially when nervousness is in the picture. Finally the time had come...5:30 and I was sitting in the chair with Joe taking pictures of the whole thing.

Waiting in the chair
Look at my long hair!


Roxxy is brushing my hair while I'm thinking...HURRY UP!

As they tied of my hair I had so many thoughts...am I sure I want to do this already? What if she accidentally cuts off too much and my hair is too short for the cut? What if she doesn't cut off enough to send my hair off and this was pointless? So many thoughts.

One step closer...tying off the Locks of Love

I've seen plenty of makeover shows where the girl tears up when her long hair is cut and I make fun of every single one, but this time it was me. I couldn't believe it y'all. My stomach was on the floor and my heart was racing as they cut off 11 inches of my hair. That was it...4 cuts and 11 inches were gone...no turning back now!

The first snip

It's GONE!!!

I couldn't believe what Roxxy was handing to me


No turning back now

Joe having fun with my Locks of Love while I'm getting my wash

When we got to the back to wash it and people saw my hair was gone I got a little emotional and my eyes were watery. I didn't cry (thank god) but I do admit they there was wateriness there. What a DORK!!! hehehe. Anyways. Almost 2hrs later it was done...the new 'do. Yes, I did say 2 hrs. Why 2hrs your asking? At Toni & Guy everyone there gets evaluated to continue the learning process. Everything the girl did her evaluator checked it and critiqued her. Not only was she being evaluated but her evaluator was also being evaluated. It sounds bad, but made me feel better because I knew I was getting a super precise haircut. I've gotta admit y'all...although short hair takes a lot longer to do than my old hair I do love it and so does Joe. Do I love it as much as my medium length hair? I'm not sure, but as times I do. One thing I haven't figured out is a good way to work out with it. As of now I'm just tucking my hair behind my ears every 5 minutes...VERY ANNOYING! My hair is definitely easier in uniform. They day after I got it cut I went into work and it was great not having to pull it back. Yeah, it only took me about 5 seconds to get it into a bun, but I liked short hair. Oh, and one AWESOME part...when I'm in the car with a bun I can't lean my head back because I have this huge bun in the way...now, super comfy...no bun in the way. YEA! hehehe, yeah, it's the little things.
So, here I am in Del Rio and nobody will know me as many of you would describe me. Before I was Valerie Solis with the long black hair that was in uniform everyday. Now, I'm Valerie Goldsworthy with short hair running around base in civis. hehehe...weirdness. Anyways...here are some more pics.

Getting started with the cut

Almost finished (they did get rid of that tail looking part in the back)


My new 'do

This is when the evaluator got mad at me for tucking my hair behind my ear...oops.

Me, Roxxy and my Locks of Love
(Notice I once again tucked my hair behind my ear. Gotta break that habit.)