{Hate Love Your Body}

This month, 

I asked my lovelies to 

share 

their favorite body part, 

or feature.

Throughout this post,

you will see 

their beautiful eyes,

long flowing hair,

and even an adorable button nose.

What you won't see

is the words that several used

to describe their current

struggle

with accepting their bodies.

For most of my life
I have struggled
with my body image.

I have struggled
with measuring up
to what I believed was 

beautiful, 

often based on
 the culture of the moment.

I've always been 

insecure 

about my long nose,
rosy red cheeks

and

my long second toes.

No matter what I've weighed,

or even what size I've worn,

I've looked into the mirror
and often felt

disappointed.

Where does this devaluation come from?

Yes,

I can look at society,

Hollywood,

propaganda…

and I can 

point the blame.

What would that really solve?

Nothing.

We have it all…
wrong.

Our culture tells us to first:
be skinnier,
be more fashionable,
be this skin color or that,
follow this trend,
buy this brand,
do this,
and definitely,
don't do that
then we will
feel good
about ourselves.

And we've believed them.

They tell us to
change first,
then we will love
our body.

But does that work?

Do you really spend time
taking care of the things in your life
that you don't
love?

Challenge yourself to
stop
thinking that
changing yourself
will result in
finally loving yourself.

Start
thinking that
loving yourself 
will give you
the motivation to
make positive changes.

I've lost 28 pounds in the last four months.  

I now can say 

"I am no longer overweight", 

but I'm not yet happy

with my body.  

When I look in the mirror, 

I still don't see a skinny person.  

I still struggle to see 

an acceptable version of myself.  

Some people say that 

your mind has a way of 

protecting you emotionally, 

especially after a significant weight loss, 

just in case 

you were to pack the pounds 

right back on.  

Some days I feel 

larger 

than I felt weeks ago.  

In searching for the root cause 

of my inability to accept and enjoy where I've gotten, 

I realized that I have to 

first love and accept my body

 to see myself 

the way I truly am.

***

Let us start choosing to 

love 

our bodies,

to value the gift and function

of each and every

part.

And in loving them 

how they are now,

let us watch as

almost

effortlessly,

we begin to take better care,

and see ourselves

how we've always wanted 

to be seen.

I'm starting with

my nose,

and ending with

my toes.

{Feautured Lovely+GIVEAWAY!}MeetAmy of Up Mommy Creek

I am a 30 year old mom.

I was a goody-two-shoes growing up. 

I loved school (yes...I was one of THOSE kids), 

I went straight from highschool to university and started a pretty decent job right after graduation. 

However, 

2 years in I felt like I was missing something in my life, 

and decided to leave it all behind

and travel to Thailand. 

A couple of years, 

a few countries and many miles later, 

I finally found myself, 

and also found the love of my life. 

We decided to head on back to the Great White North (I am a Canadian) and settle down. 

Now, 

I pretty much spend my days chasing after my little man, 

trying to keep Kitty from destroying the house, 

and when I get a spare second I try to squeeze in some yoga or 

cuddle up on the couch with a good book.

Our little family consists of me, my husband, 

my 9 month old son Finnley 

and our dumb (but very pretty!) cat Kitty. 

My husband and I met while travelling in Thailand, and

we knew pretty quick we were soul-mates 

(as cliche as that is!). 

It took us a couple of years to figure out we couldn't fight fate, and so we married, got a cat and eventually were lucky enough to be able to add to our family with a bouncing baby boy! 

My family is silly, funny, loving 

and I think we're perfect 

(but I may be a bit biased...)

Once I found out I was pregnant, 

and after the excitement wore off, 

I started to realize that I really had no idea what I was doing. 

So, I started 

Up Mommy Creek 

as a way to express my sheer and utter bafflement with the whole experience of pregnancy. 

Since we've progressed now into the land of parenting,

it's really no different. 

I am still clueless and just fly by the seat of my pants usually. 

Parenting is hard work and it's been quite an adventure to figure it all out. 

So on my blog you will usually find a story about something strange 

or ridiculous that recently happened, 

or a recipe that I love, 

or some of my attempts at photographing my son. 

It's pretty much an eclectic mix of all things me (and some things Finnley…)!

Courtney here:

Amy won my featured ad space giveaway last month!  

I've enjoyed getting to know her family and son through her blog.

You can also find her on Twitter, Facebook & Pinterest!

Make sure you give her a visit and say hey!  

But wait…

before you go, 

Amy has generously offered up 

a $15 Starbucks Giftcard 

to one of you lovelies!

Enter via Rafflecopter below (click here if you don't see the widget):

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Sneak Peek & Introduction...

This month I asked my lovelies to share their favorite body part/feature.  I am really excited to share their responses with you this Thursday as a part of my Meltdown series, and thought I'd give you a sneak peek…by introducing one of my newest lovelies: Jill.

***

Hey guys! I'm Jill and I blog over at I Know the Plans I Have for You! Some of the things that you will find there are furniture redos, crafty creations, home decor on a budget, tutorials and some of the {crazy} that is my everyday life! I'm thrilled to be here today, and I love that Courtney is creative in the way that she does introductions.

Although I thought this would be an easy one, (capturing my favorite body part/feature) I found my self struggling to highlight a body part! I'm not one to be the subject on the other end of the lens, but with that said,  my favorite feature has always been my eyes. I love to do my eyes up when I go out! Eyes are the one thing that doesn't feel fat when they get dressed up (except for mornings lately, lol), and you can make such an impact with just a little mascara or a great smokey eye!

Congratulations Courtney on your weight loss success! Your doing great! Thanks for having me, and I would love for you guys to come by and browse through I Know the Plans I Have for You! I have some exciting things coming up that I would love for you to be a part of!


You can follow me here:   

***

Remember to SPREAD THE WORD about the MAY DAY FOLLOW FEST! 

There is a $20 STARBUCKS CARD up for grabs!

Guest Feature: Laura {Our Reflection}

My name is Laura and I'm the one behind Our Reflection. I'm a full-time working mother of two beautiful daughters: Rachel who is 14 and Charlie who's 6. I've been married to Chaz for over 10 years and he's the most amazing encouraging man in the world. When I'm not at my 8-5 or being "mommy", I'm a lifestyle photographer based in Monterey, California. I have a weakness for Starbucks and love the color yellow.

For a few months now I feel God has put something in my heart to somehow giveback to the community, but I was never sure just what. I prayed about it a lot. A few weeks ago I was sitting in church reading the bulletin and something just jumped out to me. A Heart for the Hungry. Our church's food pantry was empty. The pantry that used to feed hundreds of families, now, there’s a sign on the door that says “Sorry, there are no food bags available at this time.”

That was it! That’s what my heart wanted to do. Fill those pantry shelves until they’re overflowing! Could I do this alone? No. I needed help. I had this idea of having a table set up in front of a local grocery stores collecting non-perishable food donations, a Food Drive. But I wanted to do more . My idea grew to wanting a table set up in front of every single grocery store in the area, all at the same time. Crazy? I thought so at first. Man, did I pray about it again and again. Slowly, things started to fall into place. Once I started looking for volunteers, they started pouring out of the wood work. Even random strangers that heard of the event asked if they could help out. We ended up with over 25 people helping this little BIG dream come to reality.

My vision came to life. This was my weekend.

{and this isn't everyone!}

We decorated the food donation barrels {10 of them which were donated with a value of $50 each!}, rented the U-Haul truck, gathered our amazing volunteers and headed out!

The day called for rain. We didn't get sprinkled on, it was an all out downpour. As soon as each table was set up, the sky's flood gates opened and I hadn't seen rain like that in ages. Everyone was soaked. But was that going to stop us? No way. We were determined! And it didn't stop people from giving. We had a few people even wheel out a cart full of groceries and just leave it next to our bins. The entire cart fulls were for the Food Drive! I didn't know what to say. Thank you just didn't seem like enough but was all I could say. It made me really emotional. People have such good hearts. The world has put such a dark cloud over humanity, but it's not true. Most people want to give out of the goodness of their hearts. They want to help others. And it showed this very day.

We ended the day with each of our barrels filled to the brim and food bags all around each table. The church's food pantry was so packed the door wouldn't close. This was all God's doing. It started as a thought God had placed on my heart, ended up feeding dozens {even hundreds maybe} of low-income families.

This was such a eye opening experience I just can't wait to do it again. I encourage each and everyone of you to find a way to give back to the community. There's so much out there that needs help and it takes so little to made a huge impact on someones life.

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35

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Guest Feature: Toothbrush Painting with Kids

Hey lovelies! I'd like to introduce you to a lovely and creative mama that I met through VoiceBoks, Dominique!  Today she is sharing a fantastic and fun activity to get you through those rainy Spring days when you can't get the little ones outside to play.  Enjoy!




Being cooped up in the house with the kids due to the rain need not be a bad thing. There are many different activities which one can do with the little ones to occupy them.

Spray painting is what I have been recently doing with my kids. All of us find it fun to do together on a rainy afternoon. Here are the items that are needed.

• Old tooth brushes
• Paints
• Cut outs/stencils. ( We used bread cutters as I have many around the house)
• Drawing paper
• Tape ( To hold the cut outs/stencils or drawing paper in position)

I made the kids wear aprons as it can be quite messy and also placed paper at the bottom around their table to prevent the paints from ending up on the floor during the spraying sessions.
 There are a few ways to do spray painting.
 1. Coat the brush with paint then make your child brush through a wire mash or kitchen strainer. This is good for younger kids who are not able to control the brush properly. The effect will be similar to the finished product shown in the first picture above.
 2. Let the kid try flicking the brush above the drawing paper to get the "spray" effect. Do note that the paint would have to be slightly wetter then usual to be able to flick the brush around. 3. Use your finger to spray the paint around. This is what I did with my 5 yr old and he really enjoyed it. It didn't bother him that his hands ended up multicoloured at the end of the activity.

Are you tempted to try out this activity at home with your kids?

Dominique Goh, Singaporean elementary school teacher, freelance writer and mom of three who is passionate about parenting and educating kids. In her free time you can see her dabbling in photography, cooking and cake decorating and blogging at Dominique’s Desk.

Home Management Made Simple! Featuring the Lovely {Imprintalish}

Hello again Baxtron{Life} readers!!! I'm pretty excited to be back today and sharing with you something that has made me a new woman! You see, the winter blues hit me hard in February and I have been slowly trying to motivate myself back to where I used to be. The beautiful weather we've been having these last few weeks was a tremendous help, but the main thing that has been keeping me on my toes is my new Home Management Binder that I put together. It has been a lifesaver, I'm not sure how I got anything done without it! Well, maybe that's the point...I didn't!

Meet my Home Management Binder!!!

I started with this beautiful textured turquoise binder (it came with the colorful tabs too!) from the Martha Stewart line, ya I splurged, and buying pretty things always makes me feel better! LOL! I also stocked up on some paper, ink for my printer, some clear page covers and a couple clear pocket dividers too...

...and a 3-hole punch! I can't believe I didn't own one of these-so fun!

The first tab is the most used. It's our go to calender with everything from a to-do list, to meal plans, to kids schedules. I saw this one over at A Bowl Full of Lemons and I find it works well for us right now, we don't really have crazy busy schedules....Once the kids get into school and activities though, I'm sure we'll need to upgrade to a bigger 'system', but right now this one is perfect!

The next tab is equally important to me! My Blogging To Do's!! I had a smaller notebook that I used to keep track of everything in, but as my blog grew, it just wasn't working for me anymore. Now, I can see everything at once, my main calender is on the left, which is where I keep track of when my posts are scheduled. All of my Sponsors are listed at the bottom and I can check them off as I get their Ads. I originally got this idea from The Letter 4, but came up with my own take on it, as I needed a bigger calender and smaller Sponsor section. On the right  side of my binder is where I keep track of everything else...Guest Posts, Giveaways, Ideas…

Oh and, just in case you like them...I made them available so you can download them for FREE!!!! :D

Blog Calender:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BxF4se67_X0XcGZQVEZ5eklSUi1BdEpmc215R0F4dw

Blog To Do List:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BxF4se67_X0XeHVMdjBwOU9TWnUtMFRPWloxQUdNUQ

The next tab is where I keep track of all the daily cleaning that needs to be done and groceries that are needed. I love these lists that came from Simple Mom and what's really cool is that I covered each page with a clear page cover and now I use it as a dry erase board. So I can check off what I need and then wipe it away!!

The grocery one is here and the cleaning list is here.

And the last tab is where I inserted this handy dandy clear pocket system-for Coupons!!! I labeled a section for Kids, Grocery/Household and Beauty. This may be a little small for some of you Coupon Queens, but again, it's just perfect for me!

Well, that's it! That is how I stay on top of things and make sure my life runs as smoothly as it can with a husband and two very busy little boys! How do you keep organized? Do you have a special system for staying sane? I'd love to hear it...come on over to my blog, Imprintalish and say hi!

"Pinning!" Denim Denim Denim

Welcome to "Pinning!"

A Weekly Pinterest Link-Up

(Share pins, meet others who love "Pinning", get inspired!)

First timer?  It's simple:

 Please follow your hosts: Courtney & Kimberly

then

 Link up your favorite pins post for the week

and

Link back to the party

<center><a href="http://www.baxtronlife.com/search/label/Pinning" target="_blank"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gbvryU40_Qo/Ty_cGnh2JNI/AAAAAAAAB9k/iwfB9OZ7SFo/s200/PinningHalf.jpg" height="150" width="150" /></a></center>

Each week a winner will be chosen to flaunt the title of "Pinning-est" for successfully wowing us with the best Pinterest find.  The winner will be featured/announced in the following week's post!

I'm loving denim right now, maybe because I really need to buy a pair of new jeans, or maybe because there is nothing like a perfectly fitting pair of denim pants.  This week I wanted to share what some of my favorite lovelies are loving in denim as well, enjoy!

1} 2} 3} 4} 5}

Denim Jacket Anne Taylor Loft

vía ExPress-O

Cropped Jeans Abercrombie & Fitch

via PetitHood

via AE

Do you have a favorite piece of denim?

THANK YOU for Linking up last week!  

Check out this week's Pinning-est:
Tranae from Becoming Fabulous

via Polyvore {Jnifr}

Check out Tranae on Pinterest!


Here's your button Tranae!

Are you "Pinning"?  

Come on, everyone is doing it.  

Join us MONDAYS for weekly sharing of Pinterest finds.