Every time I put these overalls on I feel like a child again. And in the best way! I want to run around and roll down hills, and forget how stressful school is, and how much I hate early mornings. I was never one to wish away my childhood, so I think it'd be pretty nice to make an appearance there every now and again.
My project is going so well, by the way. I think I already have four submissions. Which may not seem like a lot, but it's awesome to me. I will post them as soon as I have gathered them together. I'm still looking for more though.
These last few days have been a trial of faith for me. I don't always love school, even though I love learning. Unstructured learning for the win! Books, and real world learning, as opposed to the classroom, are my cup of tea. Lately school has been more stressful than normal. This isn't a surprise, seeing as it is almost finals week. But I'm just a train wreck right now. And school is hard. And life is hard. And sometimes really sucky things happen. But, I've been keeping my chin up, so to speak. Even when times are a little bit crappy.
Also, is there a group out there for people who are addicted to books? I seriously can't stop buying them...
I have this idea. It came about because of two things. I have recently started working on my Personal Progress again. I earned it when I was in the youth program in church, but I wanted to start it again so that I can be working towards a goal. One of the values that we focus on in the program is "Divine Nature". Basically, the person that you are, your talents and strengths, are important, and you are that person for a reason.
The second piece to this happened when I was looking at an ad on facebook. The ad featured a model, who true to supermodel fashion was very slim. Not unhealthily so, and in no way did she look anorexic. She looked healthy, and strong, and like she works hard for her body. However, every other comment on the photo was bashing her, and tearing her down for being "skinny", "ugly", "in need of a cheeseburger". Etc, etc, etc. It disgusted me. In a world where we are so conscious not to say unkind words about someone who is overweight, or something along those lines, it is apparently okay to say horribly demeaning things to someone who is smaller. Skinny shaming is just as harmful as fat shaming. Why is this such a problem? I won't go into too much detail in this post, but I see it as a combination of issues. While one part of the problem is the portrayal in the media of women, I actually think the worse culprit lies in the other side of things. Our peers, our family, ourselves. Who is a harsher judge on our bodies than we are? I rarely think mean things about other women and their bodies. My own though? I could look at any of these pictures and destroy the self-confidence of the girl in them.
And the thing is, I don't remember seeing actresses on TV and thinking I was ugly because I didn't look like them. In fact, the first time I distinctly recall feeling ugly wasn't until one Thanksgiving when my cousin and I were hanging out in the bathroom. We were examining our bodies in the mirror. I didn't see myself as ugly. However, I had heard many a girl, mostly my friends and family, disparaging their bodies while I listened, wondering if that was how I should feel about myself. On this particular day, my cousin pointed out how large her thighs were (they weren't). Immediately, I looked at my own body, ready to contribute. And suddenly, I saw. My body and all its' adolescent flaws was staring right back at me.
And thus is starts. We compare our outer beauty to that of others. And that's simply wrong. Our bodies are simply physical things that house our spirits. Our spirits are the truly important puzzle pieces here. Our outward appearance is not a reflection of who we are as a person. I'm not saying to not put your best food forward, but I am saying that for a moment, perhaps we could step back and force ourselves to stop criticizing the girl (or guy) we see in the mirror. Maybe we would all be better off that way.
So here's my challenge
Take a piece of paper. Write down a handful of things that you love about yourself. Don't ask for help on this. Don't ask anyone what they like about you. Come up with these attributes and traits all on your own. Write them down, take a picture, and either:
Send it here: nancyandsarai@gmail.com
Post it on Facebook, tag me, and then link to this blog {the-puddle-jumpers.blogspot.com}
Or post it on instagram using the tag #puddlejumpersiloveme
If you don't want it posted here on the blog, just simply tell me so. Otherwise, they're going up!
Oh hey hey hey. Guess what this month is. Did you guess it? Have you realized that it is BIRTHDAY MONTH?
This is really of significance to my mother and me. She seems to always care so much about my birthday...
Anyway. I haven't posted in a long time, which is pretty normal considering school and work. And I don't really feel bad, so moving on...
My birthday is at the end of this month, and family and friends keep asking me what I want. The thing is, I'm not a huge presents person. I love heartfelt, meaningful presents more than anything. This isn't to say I don't want nice things or nice presents. I'm just saying, I wouldn't love someone less if the gifts were nonexistent.
So for anyone wondering, this is my birthday wishlist.
This is the annotated edition of Peter Pan. I am deeply in love with this book, and everything in it, and everything in this annotated version. It is seriously splendid.
Nancy and I have decided that our latest obsession is lipstick. I mean, we've always loved it. Don't you doubt that. It's been a fun few years of figuring out colors and formulas that we like. However, it wasn't until just a few days ago that we realized that the main things missing from our every day outfits was... lipstick! I mean why not be the people who wear it every day??
So here it goes! We're going to wear lipstick every day until Christmas! This photo counts for yesterday, meaning twenty-nine days left. Lipstick for days! 30 days, to be exact.
The first dress up was for a ward Halloween party, where Nancy, Hannah, and I dressed up as The Aristocats. It was absolutely adorable!
And Porter was Wesley, and Carson was a sailor. The cutest sailor alive, might I add?
We had so much being cats! I thought it was a pretty creative costume, thanks to Nancy, who is apparently fantastic at costumes.
And then for a tri-stake dance, that wasn't even our stake, we went as... SILENT FILM STARS!
I have to say, this is the cutest couple.. er, best friend, costume I've ever seen! I'm a big fan.
This was my favorite picture of the night. A friendly werewolf really wanted to take a picture with me. So it ended up looking like a creepy classic film thriller! I love it.
If I could only wear vintage clothing for the rest of my life. Oh boy. I would smell like a Grandmother's attic. I definitely might have yesterday at church... But in my defense, I was not only wearing a vintage dress, but a vintage corset also. Yes. I wore a corset. I found it at the same store where I chanced upon this perfect dress. It wasn't uncomfortably tight--in fact, in the words of my new friend Katia "It just feels like a tight hug". And it did! I mean sitting down felt kind of weird at times, but it was still nice because it kept me all smoothed out under this dress.
Interesting story about the corset actually; I picked up the only one that I thought was cute, and I tried it on. To my excitement, it fit perfectly! What a great chance! And then after buying it, I happened to glance down at the size. Which was actually my exact bra size. Well now, that is pretty miraculous. I am in love with it!
Nancy and I have actually made a decision to start collecting more vintage clothing and accessories. We are huge fans of beautiful clothing, and we want more of it! It's too bad we have almost no money...
So that's that. We've decided that we are officially vintage ladies. We need to go find ourselves some shops a bit closer than Decades... SLC is a bit of a commute.
Bird Hairpin-Harmony (the tiny adorable shop in Provo)
I wish with all my heart that I had this one awesome video to show you right now...
Unfortunately, the video in question is on facebook and I'm technologically challenged enough to not know how to download it...
It's a video that my adorable roommate Tiffany made of our summer together. It's this insanely awesome video that chronicles the roommates and various friends, set to all our favorite jams from these last four months. Tiff just moved out (she signed a contract elsewhere before she knew she would have such awesome roommates this summer), and sadly, Joanna also went back to UPEN. Well, if I can find a way to download that video, I will post it here. It's just so wonderful.
We danced a lot this summer, stuck our bodies out the window of cars, had late night chats about anythign and everything, stargazed, cuddled, watched movies, made a douche jar, threw paint and water and fake snow at each other. It was really my favorite summer here. Made even better by the presence of Spencer. Sadly he did not make the video cut.. sorry Goosey!
Anyway, all this to say, for basically the first time in my life, I'm not as excited for fall as I usually am. I don't have enough money to take classes this semester, so I don't get back-to-school excitement, and my favorite people are splitting up, moving on, living their lives. Although I will most certainly be excited to finally be able to wear sweaters and tights EVERY DAY. What magic is this?!?!
