Independence Day!

I will start off by saying that I am EXHAUSTED after this weekend. With all the running around we did, early mornings and the late nights, I definitely could use a good nap! Over all, I think it was a great weekend though. We tried catching fireflies, had a fish fry (on the grill), got some ice cream, went to a friend's camp, saw some fireworks, went to the beach, got sun burnt, and had a blast! I got to spend some quality time with family and friends, I indulged just enough to get it out of my system, but still stayed on track as far as workouts are concerned, and passed up some goodies when I really didn't want them. Brady, Bristol and I had a nice family day after all the chaos of the holiday weekend too! We took her to the Maine Wildlife Park to see all the animals, and she even pointed and named some in her book when we got home! Our beach trip was very impromptu however, and the decision was made after we left MWP and needed to cool off. So we stopped at WalMart and went in and all grabbed a bathing suit and headed to the checkout line. This is something that I haven't done in FOREVER! Never would I ever have gotten a bathing suit on such short notice, just found matching pieces and went for it. This was huge for me, considering just last week was the first time in a long time I even dared wear a bathing suit to the beach without a cover up of some sort. It was definitely a great feeling, and I am SO thankful that it fit, and also that even though I hesitated a little I still stepped onto the sand and dove into the water <3! When I was on the sand watching Brady and Bristol play in the water I realized something, that each and every person I saw on the beach and in the water were laughing and playing along with their children or sitting on their beach chairs soaking up those few rays of sunshine. Not one person was sitting there sulking like I would have been doing probably even a month ago. Granted, I'm sure not every person was 100% comfortable, but they weren't staring each other down with judging eyes, no one was going around with a little clipboard making notes and comments on each other's body and everyone was too busy owning their little spot on the sand to care what anyone else was doing (unless they had a curious little human that just wanted to see what kind of toys the other kids were playing with). I honestly realized that the beach is a place for leisure, recreation, and most importantly FUN, and seeing people having so much fun made it that much more fun for me, because I never used to see the beach like that. It was always torture to me. The heat, the lack of clothing, the sunburns, the sand getting all over everything, it was never fun! Just seeing people enjoying themselves brought a smile to my face, and it didn't matter what they were wearing, or what they weren't! It was definitely a revelation, and a huge weight lifted off my shoulders! I realized that the beach isn't a bad place at all, I was just making it out to be that way before. Negativity attracts negativity! Also I proved to myself, again, that my image issues truly are all in my head, but I'm that much closer to kicking the negative habit and moving forward with my happy life, not only for my own sake, but my family's as well.

I hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend, now let's make the rest of the summer the best of the summer :D