Posts Tagged: swimming
Summer Lovin’
We are in the water nearly every day of the week. Appropriately so, as it’s so hot outside. On the first day of summer I feel like it’s the twenty-third, because that’s how many days we’ve dipped into a pool.
We’re already tanned (except for the boy that got his Papa’s skin-tone), and it’s not even July yet. More’s coming, and it’s coming with a trip to Buffalo for my father’s 60th birthday on the Fourth of July along with the Macedonian Festival at our church.
I vowed not to complain about the heat after the long, cold winter we had. So, I won’t. Instead, I will welcome every day filled with splish-splashes, butter cookies, cold water, the smell of chlorine, and bathing suits hanging to dry outside.
[Images captured on my Droid Eris with FxCamera and Retro Camera]
I Have Swimsuit Confidence!
Mishi + Summer = Swimming All The Time
I have never felt this confident in a bathing suit. In the past I was always worried about how the suit fit and if I’d fall out, or if I look like a granny (because, truth be told I love me a swim skirt!) This suit? is awesome. It holds me together, and there’s no chance of falling out—even if Davey grabs me while swimming around. You know, kind of like what happened last year when a certain lifeguard boy saw a whole bunch of Mishi that he probably shouldn’t have seen. My favorite part of the suit is under my swim skirt. There are boy shorts, and I. Love. Them.
The pool opens next week, here in Georgia, and it just can’t open soon enough!
I’ll be totally honest… I haven’t always had swimsuit confidence. I still am not 100% sure that I do, but I’m definitely at a place in my life where I believe that I am beautiful despite the extra pounds I’m carrying on my frame. I believe that I am healthy, though I could stand to exercise a little more these days, and now that there’s a lull in my hectic schedule I will definitely be ramping up my regiment.
Curvy Girl Guide + Lands’ End = Awesome
When I joined the Curvy Girl Guide I knew I was joining a movement of greatness. I’ve always been that confident girl, the one who likes attention, who believes she’s a size 8/10 despite being an 18/20. That’s why I was so jazzed when I was asked to join CGG; I wanted my confidence to spill into the internet.
That’s why it was so important that I put myself into my new Lands’ End bathing suit for the newest Project Real Campaign. We are taking part in National Swimsuit Confidence Week. To celebrate, Lands’ End and Curvy Girl Guide will be encouraging women everywhere to gather their confidence to look smoking hot in their swimsuits!
We’ll also be hosting a Twitter party on Wednesday, May 25 from 1-2 pm EDT, where Lands’ End will give away 10 Lands’ End Swimsuits and 10 Lands’ End Beach Towels as well as announce exclusive swimsuit promotions!
You + Social Media = What You Can Do
* Get the Twibbon – Go to http://twibbon.com/join/I-Have-Swimsuit-Confidence-2 and display the “I have swimsuit confidence!” Twibbon on your Twitter profile photo. Send a tweet to @LandsEndPR proclaiming “I have swimsuit confidence!” #landsend for a chance to be entered to win a $500 Lands’ End gift card – winner announced May 27.
* Participate in a Week of Tweets – Mark your calendar each day May 23 – 27, 2011 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. CDST so you can join in the series of National Swimsuit Confidence Week events on Twitter. Follow @LandsEndPR and tweet at #landsend. We will be announcing exclusive swimwear promotions, giving away great prizes and inspiring women to embrace their swimsuit beauty.
* Bloggers: Join the Movement – On May 23, 2011, 21 women from Curvy Girl Guide will show off their swimsuit confidence by posting a photo in a 2011 Lands’ End Swimsuit. You can join in by posting your swimsuit photo on May 23, 2011 to inspire your followers – send a link to libby.schmeisser@landsend.com for a chance to win one of five $100 Lands’ End gift cards.
& you can, too!!
[Disclosure: I received my Lands’ End swimsuit in exchange for my part in the Swimsuit Confidence Campaign in partnership with Curvy Girl Guide.]
#reverb {d 4}
December 4 – WONDER.
How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year? (Prompt Author: Jeffrey Davis)
The biggest cultivation of wonder, this year, definitely came from all the physical activity I incorporated into my day-to-day life, this summer. I biked and/or ran about 6 days of the week, along with swimming almost every day. People said I was crazy. Why on earth would I want to go into the Georgia heat and humidity to do that stuff?
For me it was all about proving to myself that I could do it. That I could make myself uncomfortable and succeed . That I could push myself and just do it.
And, I did it. I succeeded.
I ran a 5K.
I biked almost 6 miles straight.
I lost about 20 pounds
I dropped *almost* two dress sizes. (I could get into that size 18, if I was OK with muffin-top, which I am not!)
Unfortunately, the wonder of it all has slowed down once the kids’ school year started and the days got shorter (and colder.) I do try to get in a half hour of some kind of activity, daily. It’s important. I want to be healthy and I don’t care if I lose another pound; I want to be healthy and not worry about if my body will fail me.
It’s been wonderful to keep pushing myself, to feel uncomfortable, to sweat, to breath heavily, and to know I’m alive. I want to keep feeling this wonder.
The Story of BlogHer {Part III}
Swimming In The Sea
Last year after BlogHer in Chicago I was moved to write about those that touched me. Those people that I had connected with through blogging that finally materialized into living, breathing creatures before me. People that could hug me. People that could laugh at my silliness. People that would share real life moments in a real live city, and not just via email, twitter, or the blogosphere. I wrote about them, introducing them [to you], because it was a new level of love and admiration that had sprung forth from the conference.
This year I came to find that the conference morphed into being more about me and who I am in the grand scheme of the matrix of bloggers and personalities. There were familiar faces everywhere. There were quickly passing minutes on a cushy bench; perfect for a quick gab session. There were hugs and kisses in the elevator, as well as accidental encounters. There were waves from across the estrogen filled room. There were commitments, and parties, and very little downtime—until it was solidly scheduled in. There was so much, so many, and so little time that—at times—it kinda felt a little bit like drowning.
Around every corner, though, was instant resuscitation; whether it was the quiet of a hotel room in the early morning hours, the seclusion of an unused panel room where tears were shared along with smiles and words of wisdom, or the arms of a group of besties enveloping you. It didn’t matter, it was there and accessible. The best part being that you didn’t have to look hard to find it, you just had to keep swimming.
Weekly Winners {The “Our Week in Pictures” Edition}
“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.”—Jim Valvano
Our week filled with laughter, thought, and emotion…
Sunday: We enjoyed some fun time at Bogg’s Creek, laughing and splashing, getting all dirty.
Monday: We swam at our local pool where it’s filled with seven different kinds of crazy fun.
Tuesday: We hoped and prayed that Michael’s truck would start so we could get it out of Dawson Forest (it didn’t start, but we got it out, later that night, with help from a neighbor).
Wednesday: Just another lazy dog day of Summer; kick back, relax, read, and reflect.
Thursday: Davey and I admired Miss Beverly’s flowers at sunset. I also announced my “Shooting from the Hip” Photo Contest where you can win your very own HighKey Camera Strap; won’t you please enter!
Friday: Sometimes [you] just gotta fall asleep where you eat, making your Mama and Papa laugh at your snoring and cry about just how big you’ve grown.
Saturday: And, sometimes you just gotta eat, eat, eat, and eat some more! Thanking your lucky stars for a sale on meat, a slow cooker, and a man who knows how to make his own barbecue sauce.
Back to Sunday again! Now you must go visit Lotus for more Winners!
