Simple.

I have grown very fond of the phrase - Count it all as joy.  

And when I hear this phrase used, it is not as a statement but as an invitation.  

I like when the phrase is expressed this way because it is a hint in which the answer is spelled right in front of your eyes even below the riddle but written upside down, so it even still takes a little effort to know the answer when decided #igiveup

One reason I am fond of this statement is because before I heard the string of words expressed in my favorite way, I had already felt what accepting the invitation felt like.  I understood the message in totality.

One of the ways I count joy is...my hair.  🙃

When I’m feeling low knowing I am #inthemiddle, my hair reminds me in my reflection. #iamcreatedwithcare

It is a gift from Mom and Dad, and from there I have arrived to thinking about the idea of all the choices made with great love it took to create the hair on my head.  🤯😄

[1/31/22 One day last year Kate was spiritedly speaking out loud to me and Dad listening on.  She was enumerating all the undeniable moments she was meant to be.  In Germany, Grandma Sugarplum’s school was bombed just after she felt moved to flee.  In the Air Force, Grandpa Boldt survived piloting a plane under attack. Life has to be the most simple gift we are given.]

In adulthood, I make an effort to take even greater care of my hair.  

When younger, the more hairspray, the better!  #helmethead  You could actually hear the crunch!!!

I’d spray some kind of Salon Selective product that would activate in the sun to lighten the strands.  My hair turned orange! 

That and skimming moistened Kool-Aid powder was the extent of me experimenting with the act of coloring my hair.  

Carol, our hairstylist growing up, encouraged me to consider altering my hair with a body wave versus a perm.  I’m glad I listened because I could hardly handle styling a body wave.  #eak

Growing up I felt so accomplished when I’d spend the night away from home.  With Grandma.  (I can count the number of sleepovers I’ve had from elementary to high school on one hand 😂.)  Infusium 23 is a scent of my childhood.  It’s the shampoo Grandma would use.  They’ve changed the formula since, but it is my favorite brand of shampoo and conditioner. 

I think she used Aussie, too.  But I vividly remember Infusium 23 with that tiny little spout you’d have to dig with the nail of your finger to open.  

The idea Grandma would bathe and sleep was always strange to me.  I don’t know why, then, but my thirty year old self has the maturity to answer, why, for my five year old self - because it was something she did for the good of herself only.  

My mom sits down to eat just as everyone is finishing, too.  

I had a deep conditioning treatment done once at a salon, and I liked it so much I did it twice.  But after twice,  I convinced myself I could replicate this at home, and I got so excited when I found foil caps at Sally’s, too.  

I walked in with a notion and walked out with exactly what I was hoping for.  #bonus It’s more fun, too!

Deep conditioning once a week is one of my favorite things to do, yet still I have to convince and motivate myself to do it.  I do have the answer for why that is now - it helps care for the texture of my hair.  But the texture doesn’t appear without extra effort in styling.  And just the sheer weight of product in my hair can induce a headache.  😕 #choices

But my hair is kind to me.  It gives me a glimpse of my effort first thing when I awake in the morning.  Just that little moment together #keepsmegoing  Then the weight of my natural oils and sweat of the day whisk the waves away! 

I have grown an appreciation for the degree of oils produced by my sebaceous glands!  #letmecount After a really good day, Matt will tell me he has enough grease to fry up an entire chicken on just my forehead!  #🤨 #countingitalljoy