I'd been anxiously awaiting this year's I Love My Body photo shoot.  It's so personal and close to my heart and I always get very excited about it.  This was our third year and I wanted to make it the best yet!  I told all the participants to wear all white again and to add some "sparkle"....some gold and glittery accessories.  This year's theme was "sparkle."

I had my speech written and had loaded up on snacks and drinks.  Some Dunkin' Donuts coffee and donuts, Oreos, Ritz and some other goodies were all ready to go in my car.  The day of the shoot came and what do you know?  It was raining.  I decided why not...let's just go with it!  So, my brave girls came out in the rain to listen and support the message of I Love My Body and I was just absolutely thrilled.

My friend, Cherie, was there and also spoke and offered free 10 min laser coaching sessions.  She is a life coach at Growth, Inc in Blue Ridge and I was so thankful for her donating her time and talent at my event.  I spoke for about fifteen to thirty minutes about my story.  My struggles with my weight, body image, self esteem and how I found my way through them.  How I learned through God how to be ok with myself...most of the time anyway.  ;)  Then it was time for the photos.  First just a few simple group shots.

Empowering and positive words help remind us that we are beautiful.  We all deserve to feel beautiful.  I've struggled with a negative inner dialogue and I wanted everyone to try and replace that negativity with something different.  Something that can actually change how we feel about ourselves.

We showed our sparkle with glitter...a LOT of glitter.  :)

And we became a team.  Team Sparkle.  I was really impressed with how fearless these women were.  How quickly they stepped out of their comfort zones and celebrated themselves and became fast friends with each other.

Some brave souls got in the water for me for some gorgeous shots and even played in the water for some fun ones!

And we literally showed our sparkle with sparklers!

We had a blast.  The message is to love yourself.  Be genuine.  Don't let anyone dull your sparkle and make you feel less than.  Stand up and be somebody and don't believe the lies about how we have to be physically "beautiful" to be happy.  Our happiness is ours on the inside and it's ours to keep.

I Love My Body 2014