blogger, author, body positivity advocate

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Read my thoughts and real-talk
about motherhood, bullying, and everything
from social media to bad drivers.
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about me

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I’m a writer living in Utah with my husband,

toddler Mason, baby boy Logan and pug Willy. I’m an author, procrastinator, sports fan, list-maker,

food lover, car-singer, and most of all a work in progress.

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Real Talk, Delivered

Coffee with your sister? Wine with your girlfriends? That’s what an email from me will be like. Full of truth, vulnerability, encouragement and maybe a little butt-kicking from time to time.

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I believe you and I are enough and that we are beautiful just the way we are, but it wasn’t always that way. Here you’ll find blog posts about body positivity, resources that have helped me, and people I love who share messages I believe in.

 
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Want more body positivity? Join my Facebook group!

 

In my other, not-so-secret, life, I write erotic romance novels full of swear words and super hot sex.

 

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Quick, what's your first reaction when you see the first picture? Now what about the second one? ✨ If your gut reaction is "Damn she looks good in that second picture." You aren't alone. Today I was scrolling and saw a picture of an old high school friend I haven't seen in a while who had clearly lost weight and my first thought was, "She looks good. She looks really good!" And that is a problem. 🙈 If we want to make all bodies and all people feel loved and worthy (which we do), than we have to stop basing worth and giving compliments based on weight and size. I am clearly still learning how to do this. It's hard to go against everything we have been taught our entire lives and it takes time to fight back against thoughts that come automatically to us. 🖤 Sure, my friend does look good right now, and sure I do look good in the second picture, but that doesn't mean she looked bad before. That doesn't mean I look bad in the first picture. Our first thoughts when we see pictures shouldn't even be about people's bodies, because we are all so much more than just a body to be looked at.
5 simple steps to self-love, for real this time. ❤️ 1. Ignore the opinions/standards of other people. 2. Stop comparing yourself to strangers on the internet. 3. Take care of yourself from a place of love. 4. Embrace your different. 5. Let go of expectations ❤️ This week on the blog (link in bio) I'm talking about five things you can do to love yourself, your body and your life more. They aren't easy, but they are simple. ❤️ What else should be added to this list?
I’m working on a blog post for next week called 5 Simple Steps to Self-love. The old me would’ve rolled my eyes at that but I’ve discovered something in the past year. Just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy. ❤️ I used to equate simple with easy but they definitely not the same. Loving yourself is as simple as making the choice to practice self love everyday, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Being positive about your body is as simple as deciding it is good and worthy of love, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Practicing self love and self care is a simple as making time to do it, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. ❤️ You get the point. Change is hard AF!! Changing our mindset, especially when it comes to our bodies, is really difficult. But it’s soooo worth it.
You are just the right amount. In a world where it always seems like there is always someone prettier, richer, happier than you it is easy to feel like you are not enough. But instead of feeling like I wasn't enough, I have always felt like I was too much. ✨ I'm big, I'm loud, I'm sarcastic, I'm opinionated, I'm super competitive. I can be moody and emotional, and I like to be right about things. For me feelings of being too much were way more prevalent than ones of not enough. Would anyone be able to love ALLLL of this? All of these curves, all of this attitude, all of this craziness? ✨ And while I've found lots of people that love all of me, I still get plagued with feelings of being "too much". Too opinionated, too controversial, too big, too everything. I still get the feeling that I should downplay so I'm not too much. But I can tell you from experience that is no fun! ✨ There is no happiness found in hiding your true self so someone will love you. There is no happiness is quieting your opinions and passions so you don't upset people. There is no happiness found in pretending to be someone you're not. The people that are meant to be in your life will love you and all your craziness, and you will be so much happier being who you were meant to be. ✨ @msrachelhollis said it best when she said, "I refuse to live as half myself because other people can't handle all of me." And @simplysadiejane summed it up nicely when she said, "You are never too much, and always enough." ✨ Leave me an emoji below if you can relate!!
Sometimes I think God messed up. That I was meant to have daughters instead of these two adorable, stinky boys. Like what am I supposed to teach these little men about body positivity and self-love? Couldn't I have more of an impact on little girls than I ever could on these boys? Couldn't I do a better job at raising strong, confident women? 💙 I'll never know why my life didn't include little girls of my own to raise and teach them all the things I wish I would've know years ago. But I do know it's my responsibility to raise my two sons as the next generation of men. And I plan to teach them everything I can about their role in body positivity and how to treat women. 💙 I hope I can teach them that women are more than just objects to be looked at. That girls are unique and strong in their own way, but that doesn't mean they are superior just because they are men. I hope I can teach them to value and respect women for more than just their bodies. I hope I can teach them to be comfortable and confident in their own skin because body image issues aren't reserved just for girls. I hope I can teach them this and so much more. 💙 I'm still figuring out how to raise these little boys but getting it right is one of the most important things I can do. 💙 What do you wish boys/men knew about all things body image/body positivity?
This is me. No makeup. No product in my hair. No filter or retouching. No crazy angles to hide my double chin. Just me. I didn’t always like this girl, but the first step to loving yourself is accepting you just the way you are. ❤️ I used to hate my unruly, curly hair. Now it’s one of my favorite things. I used to hate my glasses but now I think I look weird without them. I used to hate my blonde eyelashes but that’s what you get with red hair and fair skin. What I once thought were flaws I now realize are the things that make me me. ❤️ Don’t get me wrong. I still love makeup and making my hair straight and shiny, I still love getting dressed up and wearing a dozen different colors of lipstick. But I’m also okay and 100% comfortable being this girl. The one with fair skin and freckles. The one with frizzy red hair and glasses. ❤️ What is your favorite thing about yourself?!