Healthy is the New Skinny

Ok...I'll own up to it..I lied. I didn't post you pictures on Fotography Friday! I'm sorry! I WILL post you one today! I PROMISE!

Moving on...life has been crazy lazy. I'd like to say that I awake at 6am to get my school done by noon and then  spend the rest of the day walking around talking to butterflies and reading. But...this is real life. So I'm either doing the very BARE minimum of school and watching tv and sleeping. Don't judge me.

Fall is settling in...and in Iowa you never know exactly what to expect when this time of year approaches. We could have snow by the morning. NOT that I'm pulling for it. So it's October 28th and I'm FREEZING. But...I'm still enjoying fall. I LOVE fall. It's probably my favorite season. The beautiful colors on the trees are just...breathtaking. It's fall! What is NOT to like about it?! Apple pie. Apple turnovers. Apple orchards. Changing leaves. Thanksgiving. Homemade soup. Fall is glorious. Thank You Lord for fall. Amen.

Recently, I've been seeing SO many things (Mainly on Pinterest. Yes...I AM pretty much obsessed.) about how being skinny is a need. "Nothing tastes better than skinny feels." Clearly they've never had my Aunt's Banana Split Dessert. But anyway...that's pathetic. A few years ago I may have actually adopted this as my motto. But now...it just makes me sad. We tell ourselves "I NEED to be skinny." NO! Who said skinny is beautiful? Who suddenly decided that you need to be skinny to be attractive? Well they can go...jump off a bridge. Or run six miles. I'm going to eat some cookies and spend time with my family. Yes, I will try my best to keep my body healthy by working out weekly and try to eat healthy, but I will not punish my body because it doesn't look exactly like the chick on tv. We need to stop focusing on hating ourselves and getting skinny and start loving ourselves. That's not an excuse to pig out and let your body go to waste by not keeping it healthy. But where in the Bible does it say what a beautiful woman wieghs? You know a hundred years ago a woman with curves was considered gorgeous. Do you remember when people actually ADDED to their butts? They wanted them bigger! And in Anne of Green Gables Anne is jealous because she's thinner than Diana. Anne actually wants to weigh more. Amen, Anne. The point is...thin hasn't always been in. And I say we bring healthy back! (That's right, I made THAT reference. Uh-huh.) For real though, thin is not the same as healthy. And healthy is waaay better than skinny. Personally, I struggle with looking in the mirror and saying "You are pretty." I think it's boastful but...honestly, girls are so hard on themselves these days I think it's ok for us to call a spade a spade and tell ourselves we are beautiful. {Don't get cocky. Yeah, you. It's not a "I'm a diva, and look better than you." thang.} Lets start seeing ourselves how our Creator sees us. See..I don't get complimented often. Not at all. I can think of three times in my life when a boy my age has commented on my looks in a positive way (The negatives will go to my sisters boyfriend>:[ ). Once when I was about twelve a kid said "Wow...serious Hannah." on a Facebook picture. At age twelve I was pretty excited to hear a boy say something about my looks. A few years later my best friend told me a guy I knew said I was cute. I blushed. {Don't judge me} And it made me feel good about myself. Then last year at classes (Homeschooler classes...I know...I'm a rebel.) one of my guy friends commented on how he liked my bangs. Another guy friend agreed. Ok...one more. My sister's boyfriend said I looked nice at prom...score one for the sister's boyfriend.

Anyway...I learned two things from these comments. First, I'm very glad that I'm friends with the kind of boys who respectfully and sweetly compliment me. Second, when those four boys commented on my looks I wasn't super thin. In fact The first comment came in the years I call myself "butter ball". A boy still thought I was pretty. The last two were the years of my life where I wasn't diligently workingout or counting calories. So...the conclussion is...you don't have to be Kate Middleton to be attractive. Not that boys thinking you're attractive is important, but don't be afriad of not finding a man who thinks you're beautiful.

But Somebody already thinks you're beautiful. Yes. I'm about to get cheesy. But for real...the Creator who made everything that we find so beautiful in this world also made you. So sometimes we feel ugly, right? Sometimes we call ourselves ugly. So if we are also made by this Creator but say we are ugly, that doesn't make sense. The God who made everything that's so beautiful in this world turned around a made an ugly human. Well...that's not exactly consistent. See...He didn't wait to make the ugliest thing til last...He waited to be His masterpiece to top of His creation. YOU were His masterpiece. You and I are this Creator's masterpiece. Think about that, my dear. You're beautiful.

Love,

Hannah Dorothy

Fotography Friday

I took this on the way back to the car at the apple orcahrd the other day. I went with my sisters and my oldest sister's boyfriend to take some of Abi's (middle sister) senior pictures. God is creative. Amen.

<3

Fall Favorites, Mommy Mode, and Marriage

"I hate the word "hate"." Ohhh Mama...she cracks me up:)

In other news...Fall Favorites For the Day include but are not limited to;)

 1. Breakfast with my Mama

2. Homemade bread and apple jelly times five

3. Discovering Pinterest. I thought it was overrated. I was wrong.

4. Homemade noodles in spaghetti for supper. YUM.

5. Babysitting four of the most precious little boys ever. (Yes, the precious little boys I always talk about.)

Recently I've been in major mommy-mode. I need children. That sounded a wee bit weird...I don't mean I want to have a child right now, I mean that I need to babysit much, much more and that I really don't mind if someone accidently leaves their child at my house. Oh well, guess that means I can keep it. I also cannot wait to have my own children. For real...babies are so very precious and I want to be a mommy more than anything. But to have children you need a husband.

After highschool and maybe college you settle down. You get married, you have kids. Nothing is wrong with that. Nothing. Honestly, that's all I've ever wanted. 1 Corinthians 7:8 says "Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do." 1 Corinthians 7:24 "Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them." 1 Corinthians 7:27 "Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife." For years all that women (most women) have wanted was to be married to the man of their dreams and because marriage is a wonderful thing we assume it's what God wants for us. I'm not saying everyone does this, there are so many people out there are so diligent in seaking God's will in their possible marriages and asking God to lead them to the right one. But...that's just it...aren't we approaching marriage as a must. A need. A fact of life? How many of us would be ok with never getting married? I think the reason Paul was saying this was because when you're married you don't have as much freedom to just pick up and go where God leads you. I'm not saying you loose freedom but you don't have the same freedom as you did before. Can I honestly say to my Savior that I will still love Him, still follow Him faithfully if marriage is not in His plans for my life? At the moment, I'm not sure I can. Sometimes it feels like I'm just waiting until I can date and find "the one" so that life can be hunky-dory but the Bible says that if you do marry you will facemany troubles (1 Cor. 7:28). I'm getting better at understanding that life will not be perfect when/if I get married, life is still life. But I feel like I don't have something I need and that something is a man. But I don't need a man. I only need a Savior and He is more than a man. 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 "I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord." That's beautiful. To be fully committed to the Lord. But the Bible also says in 1 Corinthians 7:28 "But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this." I know marriage is (or can be, this world perverts it so much) a wonderful, wnderful God glorifying thing and in no way am I trying to sway people into "singleness". But these verses have just got me thinking. Now this is just a small portion of the Bible and what it has to say about marriage so I will continue to seek out what it says about it. Leave your views and advice in my Thought Collector (AKA comment!!) And as an online ministry pointed out the surroundings and such were different back then, but I refuse to let that be an "excuse" to ignore what these passages say. It may have been different but God knew what it was going to be like in America 2011 and He still wrote these things. Prayers as I continue to seek His will for my life are welcomed :)

On another note...ok so I'm still on the note of boys...am I such a total girl? Please, don't answer that. I was standing in front of the mirror today thinking to myself "I need to run...guys don't really find a flabby tummy attractive. Guys will think I'm pretty once I'm a little more toned." Now, mind you, I'm not looking for a boyfriend. I wont be for at least three to four more years, so remind me...why do I care what boys think of me? And why do I want them noticing my body? And the boy I want to date will not date me becaus I have a toned tummy. And what do I really know about how guys think?! Why do I assume I know what the right boy finds attractive? Exactly. I don't. So...if I'm not looking for a boy why am I trying to impress all of them?

But I do need to keep my body healthy. After all...it's the dweling place of the Holy Spirit. Remember, ladies, thin is not the same thing as healthy. Prayers for keeping myself healthy are also welcome. I have serious issues with snacking too much...what else do you do while translating spanish homework?!

Many things to think about my friends...drop by the thought collector and leave your extra thoughts :)

Thanks for reading, lovelies!

Love,

Hannah Dorothy

One. Two. Three.

 Number One

I'm super excited about this blog all of a sudden..do not ask me why I just am. Oh. And I would like to announce that I now have six followers. Ba.Oosh. Any who diddle...I've got a few things I want to share to my whole six followers. I love photography so I'm starting something called Fotography Friday {Don't worry...I know that photography is in fact spelled wrong..but the f-f thing is working for me}. So keep checking back on Fridays!

Number Two

My friend told me about his blog { http://operationbeautiful.com/ } and I absolutely loved it. You gotta check it out. Anyway, I want to support her and make it a goal to put at least one random Operation Beautiful note somewhere each week. Join in and tell me how it goes:) I can't wait to get started, I'm gonna put a pad of sticky notes in my purse so I can stick one whenever I get a chance. 

Number Three

I've started a list of things I want to do this Fall and Winter and will be adding to it on here:) Join me if you want! I've already crossed a few things off mine and will add it later:)

Thanks for reading, lovelies:)
Love,
Hannah Dorothy