Freaking Gorgeous

It’s National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and I couldn’t be more excited!  One year ago from now I remember I was walking to the university recreation center to get in my daily workout as I was training for my first half marathon. I remember feeling a little bit down, nothing drastic, but I was a little stressed with school and therefore I was having a, dare-I-say-it, fat day.

I walked into the bathroom at the rec center and there were post-its all over the mirror. They each had a different message that made the point that you are beautiful or your are worthy. These messages instantly put a smile to my face. Later that evening I was on my way to night class when I decided to use the restroom before class started. Again I saw post-it notes scattered all along the mirror and on each bathroom stall.

I instantly felt better about myself.

The post-its had a website written on the bottom of them: operationbeautiful.com. I knew I was meant to find this website and discover the world of blogging. This is when the wheels started turning about creating  My Pinky Toes.

In honor of NEDAwareness, I plan on leaving my own little operation beautiful notes in different places throughout the week. (I’m not going to lie…I put the post-it above in my own bathroom!) I challenge you to do the same to spread awareness about the importance of body image, eating disorder awareness, and loving yourself. Or just give yourself an affirmation each morning. Or just remind somebody you know that they are freaking gorgeous…because you know it’s true!

ang

NEDA posted a pretty sweet tweet this morning that I want to share: Most models are thinner than 98% of Americans. Instead of trying to change our bodies, how about we try to change our culture? #NEDAwareness

Two Thousand and Eleven, It’s Been Lovely

In two thousand and eleven I…

…started a blog! Never before in my life did I have the intention of writing and then sharing my writing with anyone and everyone on the internet. However, I’ve ended up absolutely loving it, and I credit my blog along with other blogs I read for being the fuel behind two thousand and eleven’s greatness!

…started out the year with a four mile race, Love 2 Run, in February. My blog wasn’t born yet so I wasn’t here to tell you about it, but I did PR (it was only the third race I’d ever done before in my life, and the second time in this race) with a time of 35:15.

…ran my first 10K…then my second 10K…then my third 10K…each one with a PR!

…trained my dog to give high-fives.

…won a local race! It was a small 5K race…a very very small race, since I won with a stopwatch time of 25:09. Nonetheless I won an awesome trophy, and it was for a super great cause to support a local little girl with osteosarcoma. The same little girl who happens to be my Make-A-Wish wish kid and who is a huge inspiration to anyone who knows her.

…greatly improved my body image.

…didn’t get into nursing school.

…got into nursing school!

…ran my first half marathon, which happened to be my one really big goal that I wanted to achieve this year! I also had a secret goal of running it in less than two hours…which I also achieved with a time of 1:59.10!

…went to Mexico with all my amigos!

…was a blonde for awhile. Literally, not figuratively. Well, maybe both.

…ran my second half marathon and PRed with a time of 1:52.52.

…got my husband to run a 5K with me…and my mom, sister, and stepdad! It was for the Susan G. Komen race in Kansas City, obviously a great cause, especially considering my mom kicked breast cancer’s booty.

…coached middle school volleyball with some of the sweetest girls I’ve ever met!

…tried mushrooms…grilled…and liked them.

…raised money for Girls on the Run as a SoleMate!

…ran a marathon. A MARATHON! A ridiculously hilly but beautiful nonetheless twenty-six point two miles all over Kansas City, Missouri, and I loved every single second of it…all four hours and fifteen minutes! I set out the year with hopes of finishing a half marathon…what I didn’t know was that I was going to fall in love with running. Once my half was completed in April I knew I needed more! Never before in my life did I imagine I’d run a marathon, but crossing that finish line was the proudest moment of my life.

This year has been amazing. However, it wouldn’t have been nearly as great had I not walked into the women’s restroom back in February and discovered a little post-it note on the mirror that said, “You are beautiful.” That’s when I discovered Operation Beautiful and the entire world of blogging…a world of inspiration, motivation, and support from some pretty amazing people.

Two thousand and eleven, it’s been lovely.

ang

A Friday Affirmation In A Flash

Hey you!

Stop whatever you are doing right now.

Find a mirror…in your bathroom, your bedroom, or in your purse.

Look at it.

Now smile.

Not just any smile. Make it a big cheesy, embarrassing, you-can-see-all-your-pearly-whites, Jim Carrey’d be jealous kind of smile.

Take a mental picture of that image. (Flash!)

Tell yourself that you are beautiful. That your smile is beautiful…

…and you deserve to be happy! Always.

ang

Oh Lovely Pinterest

About two weeks ago I made a discovery that has changed my life.

I have spent hours exploring this discovery, and yet I still don’t really know what I’m doing. It has jumpstarted the wheels in my creative head spinning, so much so that everyone in my family should expect homemade Christmas gifts this year. I have ideas exploding in my head, yet I haven’t put many into action yet. It has made me become even more unproductive than I was before.

If you are at all familiar with it, I’m sure you have already guessed…

…and if you are not already familiar with it, get onboard! Join the bandwagon. You won’t even miss all the wasted hours browsing other peoples boards!

I like to think of Pinterest as a tool to create online inspiration boards. You can “pin” photos of absolutely anything to boards for your own personal account. Currently I have several boards…one for products I want, one for what my dream home might look like, but by far my favorite board is for things I want to try to make! (If you’d like to see my boards, just follow me here!)

Pinterest inspired me to get out a needle and thread yesterday and cut apart a couple of t-shirts. While I do consider myself a creative person, I definitely would not say that I’m handy with a needle and thread. Just ask my mother-in-law who I ask to sew anything and everything that needs fixing that comes from my home. (This would include sewing a button on a pair of pants…pathetic, I know. In fact, so pathetic that my husband decided to learn to sew a button himself, and he ended up fixing the button on my last pair of pants!) It’s not so much that I don’t know how to sew…it’s just that I don’t want to.

Or rather, that I didn’t want to.

But, Pinterest made me want to! The proof…

I made this scarf! The directions for this scarf did, in fact, require a sewing machine. I didn’t want to wait to find someone with a sewing machine and then have to drive to their house (which would at least be an hours drive from where I live), so my impatient booty threaded the needle and went to work!

I think it’s rather cute. (So family and friends, which of you would like a scarf like this one for Christmas?!)

But…I discovered something about this lovely website yesterday that made me think of it as not so lovely. I realized that you can search pins by categories. One of the categories that caught my eye, obviously, was the fitness category. Fitness equals loveliness in my book. So I clicked on it and began browsing. I found many lovely pins…many of which were inspiring phrases. I found this lovely pin called a runner’s prayer…

Lovely, right?

Then I found other images that I’d fit into the “thinspiration” (gag) category…images of women who do not look healthy or fit. I found phrases that expressed negative words about being “fat” and about what foods should be eaten (or rather, not eaten). There were phrases designed to make someone feel guilty about themselves.

Not so lovely anymore.

I do understand that on Pinterest, people can “pin” literally anything in the cyber world that they want. Therefore people can share these more or less tough-love (er, no love?)type of images or phrases. But how is the idea of thinness equals beauty ever going to change when so many people believe in it? How will this ever change?!

Little by little, it can change. We just have to believe in the good things. We have to remind ourselves what real beauty is. Not numbers. Not weight. Not what you look like.

Then, my faith was reignited in Pinterest when also in the fitness category I found this little gem…

(Image pinned from Operation Beautiful)

There is always going to be some negativity coming from somewhere in the world. It is just up to us to ignore it and look to the positive.

ang

That Nasty Little Word

This blog is by no means “thinspiration.” In fact, I hate even saying that word or having it associated with my name.

This blog is, in fact, the complete opposite of that little nasty word. It is a place to come to hopefully feel loved, to feel love for yourself, and to feel empowered. If somehow you found my blog because you were curious about that word, please don’t be let down because this wasn’t what your were looking for. But still, please read on…

With everything out there in the world, magazines, diet pills ads, television shows, and so much more, it is too easy to compare ourselves to unrealistic, airbrushed images of what the world thinks is beautiful.

Beautiful is that fact that we are all so unique and different. Nobody has the same hands, feet, legs that I do, and I am grateful for that.

Beautiful is the fact that my body can do amazing things. It can dance (poorly!), it can play volleyball, it can run. Pretty soon it will run 26.2 miles for Girls on the Run.

Beautiful is the fact that my body can exist so effortlessly. My heart beats on its own, making sure that every part of me is alive and thriving. I breathe without having to think about it, filling my lungs with beautiful life.

Beautiful is the fact that, even if my hips are set a little wider than someone I might try to compare myself to, someday that will be so beneficial when I have my first baby.

Beautiful is the fact that I can look into the mirror without wanting to change something. I appreciate every part of myself from the tip of my nose, to my stomach, to my knees, and all the way down to my pinky toes. I realize that God made me with a special idea and intention…why would I want to change that?!

In a world full of false images, there is hope that there is more to life than looking a certain way. There is hope that a negative body image can turn into a positive body image with hard work and the power of the mind. There is hope that our struggles are worth all the hard work because there is a world of happiness on the other side. There is hope that one can recover from an eating disorder or any other illness that may be hurtful. I did.

Beautiful is the fact that there is hope.

ang

People Need People

(From The Girls From Ames, a note from Kelly to Angela)

As I finished reading Jeffrey Zaslow’s The Girls From Ames, I couldn’t help but keep thinking the same thing…

People need people.

It’s a simple concept really, but I don’t think that people rely on each other enough. I could be biased, though. I know that I am so unbelievably lucky to have all the people and support in my life that I do. My husband, my dog, my mom, my dad, my sister, all my girlfriends, guy friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, Mamaw…Lord knows that I’ve used each and every one of them to fall back on time and again. My hearts hurts for those people who may feel like they are alone. If you feel that way, I’m here to tell you that you are not alone. I am here for you! It doesn’t matter if you have just one person or ten people like the Ames girls…we need each other.

Reading about Kelly and Angela’s journey and struggles with breast cancer was very eye opening for me. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was a freshman in high school. I think I was a freshman. I remember when she told my sister and me that I felt sad, but I the thought never crossed my mind that I’d ever be without her. It’s strange how somehow I just knew she’d be okay. I feel bad though, now looking back, that I was so caught up in my own life that I wasn’t a big support for her. I mean, I can’t even really remember what grade I was in. I know by just being her daughter that gave her something to live for, but what I mean is that I wasn’t there for her to cry to or to vent to or just to be whatever she needed to be. I just didn’t know back then that she needed that or how to be it. Just like the Ames girls, as I’ve grown older I realize I may do things different now. Different situations throughout your life make you stronger, more ready.

My mom had many, many, many (and still does) people looking out for her and praying for her. See…people need people. And luckily, she kicked cancer’s booty and will be walking this weekend in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure! Go momma!

As Kelly mentioned that her friends, sisters, are there to catch her if she stumbles, “catching” someone can have so many different meanings. Sometimes it means lending an ear to someone…sometimes it means giving advice…sometimes it means throwing a party for someone…sometimes it means providing the bottle of wine to share…but whatever the case, the same things rings true…

…people need people.

I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be writing this blog if it weren’t for me finding the Operation Beautiful note in the bathroom at my gym. I needed that person to put that there. I know I wouldn’t be so happy and in love if it weren’t for my husband. I needed him. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have the guts to say what I need to say sometimes if it weren’t for my little sister showing me it’s okay. I needed her…

…and I still do, and I always will.

It’s just so true. We just need each other.

Thank you to my dear friend Casey for giving me the idea of starting a book club through my blog, and thank you to all my friends and family for reading this book with me and commenting when you were able. Thank you for bearing with me as I skipped weeks, slacked on reading a little, and took three months to finish one book! Thank you Zaslow and the girls from Ames for sharing this story and helping me to open my eyes to so many different things. I needed you all!

And so we have it…we’ve shared our final book club blog post on The Girls From Ames…our final cup of coffee together.

ang

 

 

Amazing

I’m so excited! Alaina from the Sweetness of Life blog tagged me with the Stylish Blogger Award!

I’m so happy that I got this…as a new blogger, sometimes it feels like no one really reads my blog in my little corner of the world, so it is nice to know that there are people out there reading! I don’t know how stylish I am, but I’m still excited to get it!

The rules of the “Stylish Blogger Award” are:

1. Say seven things about yourself.
2. Pass on to other bloggers.
3. Contact them and let them know you have done so.

So…number one: I’m crazily, happily, still head-over-hills after being together nine years married to the man of my dreams!Number two: This said man of my dreams is very tall…almost a foot and a half taller than me. I am pretty short though, 5’3″…although that is kind of tall for my italian family!Number three: When we are 90, he will most likely be hunchback and I will probably have severe low back problems due too much time spent like the above picture (and mind you, I am in four inch heals!)

Number four: I am obsessed with Yogurtini!Tart blueberry and berry soft serve, strawberries, blueberries, mango, chocolate chips, and coconut…Heaven!

Number five: I am a SoleMate for Girls on the Run! I have raised $260 so far. I am so grateful for all the donations that I have received already, but I would really like to go above and beyond for this organizations. It is just amazing.

Number six: I’m pretty sure I’m obsessed with the word amazing. I probably use it at least twice in every post.

Number seven: Operation Beautiful is one of the reasons I was inspired to start blogging…and I think YOU are amazing! 

Now it’s time for me to pass this on to other bloggers! Ready, set…..GO:

My beautiful cousin Kelsie blogs at HappyMonday.

Katie who blogs at HealthyDivaEats.

Allison at PickyEatingRD.

Carly who blogs at CarlyBananas.

And Jenny at FitnessHealthandFood.

Number eight: I love chips and salsa…too much…but I don’t care. I want some right now, but I think I used all the salsa two days ago. Maybe I’ll just go to the store. I just thought you should know that about me.

ang