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This time has FLOWN by. I can’t wrap my head around the fact we’re all graduating in May! Wow! What a great journey this has been.

We recently took a trip to the ABS in Chicago!  What a great learning experience!! Soo many new things, products, ideas, techniques, and over all amazing experience. I met some great people there! Learn a lot about this industry as a whole, and will be attending it again next year! Some of the girls from our class have never been to Chicago before. Watching them marvel at all the art and buildings was a sight to see:) Everyone was taking pictures out the bus windows and “ooo-ing and ahh-ing” at all the new sights.

The  ABS was almost overwhelming at first. There’s vendors as far as the eye can see and sounds to draw you in to their booths. anything and everything was there from curling irons…..to hair extensions and everything in between. There was one booth that I was completely blown away by. That was the  “Rock You Hair, with Micheal O’Rourke” and his crew. He used to own “Big Sexy Hair” and updated and improved his product lines. He and 2 other stylists were on a stage “rockin’ out” hair cuts and talking about their every move. There women would volunteer for a hair cut, and not knowing what the end result would look like made their way on his stage. And with in 7 minutes, they have a FREE $300.00+ haircut, and looked totally amazing!!! The techniques they were using were the “cutting edge” ( no pun intended “of our industry !!! I could have watched them ALL DAY!

All in all this trip was super educational and very entertaining

We have our “Event” coming up in April. Our “Event” is a basic final showing of all the talents we have accumulated over the past year, and we put our talents to work on our long hair manikin heads and display all of our hard work and artistic abilities for the advisers, families, and area business owners to judge. It should be interesting to see what all these extremely talented girls/classmates will be presenting! I will keep you all informe of the final “Event” as we get closer.

This 2nd semester has been moving along pretty fast! It’s already Feb, and I’m just now blogging. There’s been a lot going on here in the Cosmetology classes, so forgive me, life’s been pretty busy!

In January….we got a new group of girls (and one guy:) that started! Yeah! Our entire class welcomed them with open arms and are all willing to lend a helping hand in anyway we can! On their first day, we helped them all check in all their “goodies” ( it’s like Christmas….but better) I could tell by all their faces they were excited! I think our class was just as excited to see another class starting, as the new students!!

Our class is all out on the salon floor now 3 days a week!!! I LOVE IT! We have clients all day long! The days are melting right into one another because the time flies by so fast. Everyday is something new. New color, perm, hair cut, roller set, ect! the clients are awesome and I have to say….so is this August class!!! CHEERS TO YOU GUYS! Everyone is getting amazing with all their own styles and techniques, it’s crazy to think we’re going to graduate already in MAY!

Today we had a professional make up artist and educator from Glo Minerals!! WOW ! Today was so educational and it was fun all at the same time. She kept us all interested in everything we discussed about the make up line and the skin care lines. There’s so much that I didn’t even know about skin care. I do know that one of the biggest lessons I learned today was sunscreen!!!!! USE it everyday!!! Very Important to the health of your skin!

I’ll keep ya’ll posted with more as this semester continues…….

I don’t know where the last 17 weeks went !!!! It’s already Christmas break! The first 17 weeks flew by. In this past 17 weeks, I’ve learned that I can accomplish anything I set my mind too AND that there’s never a “dumb” question. I’m not going to lie to you, there’s a lot to take in, and there’s a lot to learn in 17 weeks, however, the instrustors set you up for SUCCESS ! It’s impossible to fail at anything, unless you don’t put forth the effort to succeed. This has been a major life experience for me. I have learned that I am stronger than I thought. Being a mom of five, with a “normal” life ( with a lot of normal daily hassles of a family) , anything is possible. I have learned how to balance family, family life, and marriage, with school, homework, and lots of travel time…..it’s all working out. You have to have the mind set that “this is what I want to do”, and go for it. It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s been more than worth it.

During this 17 weeks, I have met some truly wonderful people! The girls you are in class with will soon become “friends”at least within my class, we are able to lean on one another for a new point of view on things, or just offer that extra word of encouragement when needed. We’ve all been there for one another, and we will be there for the next class as well…

If you are at all like me, and have always had an interest in beauty, fashion, haircolor, hair design, and everything that comes with it, this is the perfect career choice for you!!! I am looking forward already to the January classes to begin, and we’ve only been on break for a day!

To the girls in my class….can’t wait to see you all again in January!! And the the ones joining the Barber/Cosmetology course in Jan….can’t wait to meet you! Have a GREAT Holiday break!!! And to Ms. Lemke & Mrs. Brock…..thank you both!!! You have truly been the GREATEST instructors.

The students in the class before mine are approaching their graduation! At the end of the academic year for each class, each person has to do a big project on their long hair mannequin that they have been saving all year long then they present it in front of their friends, families, and some local cosmetologists and barbers. The presentation is called “The Event” and it was held on Monday November 21, unfortunatly I was unable to attend the actual event but I was lucky enough to watch the rehearsal and see all the AMAZING projects! The creativity and uniqueness was breathtaking! Each project was very well done and you could tell that each person took their time and carefully planned out each aspect of their design. Also, their projects weren’t just hair design, it was makeup, jewelry, draping, and the hair. I must say, I am really excited to do my project and I admire all the phenomenal designs the class before me put together. And to all of you reading this, I promise either me or Kimberly will post some pictures of  “The Event”……..by the way…..HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact we’ve been in school since Sept! The time is FLYING by faster than I ever imagined! Everyone is already starting to fall into their niche in haircoloring, styling, or chemical services….not to mention nails. There’s so many talented girls in our class! And they are from all walks of life! And we were all brought here together because of the love of hair and creativity! ( in a nutshell ) There’s been great opportunities here thus far. I’ve attended a haircolor seminar in Green Bay, and learned a lot about haircolor. And you may be a great “kitchen beautician”, but I can guarantee you, there’s PLENTY more that needs to be studied before you can become an actual hair-colorist! It’s confusing at first, but it will sink in. Trust me..I’m living proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks

And we also participated in the Gilbert Brown Foundation. ( The former Green Bay Packer player….”The Grave Digger”)…lol…WOW ! What an amazing experience that was. He held a Wellness weekend at an area hotel. We (students) had a choice of performing manicures or pedicures on clients. It was back to back pedicures for me!! I met wonderful people from all over, and not to mention…Gilbert Brown, his brother Kyle, and William Henderson!!!!!! They were all wonderful to us girls and even stopped from their busy day to pose for a group picture and some individual pictures as well! And signed them! There’s even more opportunities coming up in this year. I can’t wait to jump in to those as well.  So if you’re thinking that you’re stuck in a classroom day after day….think again! There’s many doors that will open….you just have to look around you! Some may be hidden at first, but you’ll be surprised what will be waiting for you!

Well we have 10 weeks under our belts! Where did the time go? I remember sitting in the classrom the first week just watching the class ahead of us working away out on the salon floor thinking…”When are we going to get out on that floor?” Well….that time is here!!! We all start out on the salon floor this Friday!! I’m only speaking for myself, however, I’m a little nearvous! I have a lot of “what if’s” going through my head. What if….I mix the wrong colors, and their hair turns green!?, What if the client moves, and I cut a chunk of hair and they have a huge bald spot?? I know my instructors aren’t going to let me “fail” out on the salon floor, because they have been working hard to set us all up for success. This is has been such an amazing journey in my life, I can’t even explain it!! And it’s only begun! There’s still sooo much to learn and master! The instructors have been there for us at every turn, and I know that they will continue to be there for us all through the rest of our education here! I will keep you posted

Have you ever seen a movie based in the 1920′s? If yes, then have you ever noticed the very unique wave petterns in the women’s hair? Well they are called finger waves and let me tell you, they are VERY DIFFICULT!  It is a very tedious process and a sticky one too…. when I say sticky, I seriously mean sticky. We had to use a product called hair sculpting lotion, it’s more like glue than lotion!! and we didn’t just use a little we literally DRENCHED the hair in “lotion” and then finger waved. It is a very confusing process that I don’t even know how well I can explain! Anyways, the end result is very unique and sophisticated…if you make it to the end!  I give major props to the hair stylists that have to do a lot of finger waving, it takes a lot of patience!!

WOW!! We are already in the 6th week of class!!!! It seems like we just started yesterday!! The amount of learning that we have done is simply amazing!!! Roller sets, perm wraps, pedi’s/mani’s, hairstyling, haircolor and the list goes on and on!! And there’s so much more to learn. I’m really looking forward to the nails and make up coming up soon in our program!  And I must say, it almost doesn’t seem like homework…you know the kind you hated in high school..it’s so exciting to learn about things you love to do! You can already start to see where some of the girls in our class are really gifted!! There’s a few that are GREAT at wrapping perms already ( just like a pr0 and you know who you are !!) lol.. I have to say that we have a GREAT bunch of girls in our class and I could’t be anymore happy to have  chosen this profession to explore and hopefully master soon!! I’m excited to go to school everyday and learn more and more! With in 3 weeks we will be out on the clinic floor to actually work with real clients! And I think that’s where the true creativity of this profession will shine in all of us. It’s crazy to think that at one time I thought I was “too old” to go back to school!! This was one of the BEST choices I have ever made! the instructors are simply amazing and my classmates couldn’t be a better group of girls! I will keep you posted in the following weeks!!

For all of you out there that are thinking about joing the B&C program prepare yourself for the ultimate first day of class!! Let me tell you, 25 girls+25 roll abouts+a billion things to put away= wow. I have to say though, it was so much fun! First, we arrived to class and everybody was kind of awkard and quiet (you know the ”first day feeling”) I was just standing around thinking about what was to come and then it was announced that we are going to start getting our kits together! Everybody worked together to carry big boxes of girly stuff into the classroom and we started unpacking all of the nick-nacks. It was exhilarating and exciting to see all of the amazing things that you get in your kit; from hair brushes, to makeup brushes, to mannequin heads the kit HAD IT ALL! I was like a little kid at Disney Land when I saw all of the stuff we got! That was, in my opinion, the best part! Anyways, after everyone had their kits neat and tidy things calmed down a bit and the instructors introduced themselves and then we went around the class and introduced ourselves. It was interesting to hear all of the different stories people had about how they chose the cosmetology program. After everyone was introduced we went over what exactly we were going to do throughout the year, as I was listening I couldn’t help but to smile; I was so excited! As the day went on, I became more and more comfortable and I knew right away, this is where I belong! That pretty much sums up the first day of Cosmetology! And every day after that keeps getting better!

Last week we were introduced to roller setting. WOW…there’s something you don’t see a lot of now days. However, I learned that there’s a lot you can actually do with a roller set!! A lot of the older clients will get a “roller set” on a Thursday, and it almost last till the following Thursday!!  It’s all in the roll, back combing ( or teasing) and the hair do itself.  There’s a LOT of back  combing involved!  All those ‘bump its’ don’t have a thing on back combing done properly with the right amount of spray! We’re in haircutting class all day tomorrow..and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store for our class!