no-shave-november

Inspired by a film we watched last year and in honor of No-Shave-November, Braeden has decided to let his hair and beard grow unchecked for the next 6 months. (You can follow his journey at winterofthebeard.tumblr.com.) But, in order to be able to legitimately say that his hair/beard growth was the evidence of 6 months only, he had to start from scratch.

So this morning Braeden went from this:

Can you read the trepidation in his face?

 To this:

Shaved head and full beard? Not bad, eh?

 To this:

Whhhhaaaaa?!

As he says, "I look like a hungry, angry baby!" I've got to say, it is strange seeing him clean-shaven for the first time (when we met he had a lil' goatee and since we've dated he's always had a full beard of various lengths). This is also the shortest his hair has ever been in his life.

I must admit, I miss the beard (you know of my deep love for beards in general), but his cheeks are now smooth and it's nice to actually feel some facial skin for once. What I'm least looking forward to? The terrible sandpapery skin that is the in-between phase between clean shaven and bearded: nobody likes that: nobody.

But I still love him!

Since Braeden blogged about his plan, our friend Jared has decided to join Braeden in his bearded journey. Because he's awesome like that. In his own words:

I have united with my brother Braeden Jones in a contest of beardom affectionately known as Winter of the Beard. The rules: Shave day one, leave untrimmed for 6 months. The prize: one AWESOME beard. Everyone wins if you finish.

That's right, everyone wins if you finish. (I'm looking at you, Jacob Seifert.)

I admire Braed for just going for it: I've been thinking of shaving my head for years now but have never gotten up the courage to do it. After some across the country road-tripping and long conversation about said secret desires, my friend Claire promptly went back to school and shaved her head: what a woman. Who knows? Maybe some day I'll have as much courage myself.