Bloggers of the Day (chosen randomly from your comments)

• Newlywed, Newly Veg – Anna creates amazing meals and shares gorgeous photography. Look, how pretty! Plus, she’s such a sweetheart!
• Kris Tastes – Krista is another great cook and photographer, plus a runner. I want to make BOTH of these recipes.
• Frontyard Foodie – Diana has a gorgeous newborn baby boy and already is whipping upthings in the kitchen, like pumpkin butter and pickled peppers.

Crazy. That would come as the initial thought when considering posting a picture of your pregnant body in a bikini where anyone with an internet connection could stumble across it. Too bad my mind doesn’t quite work like that. Empowered immediately follows feelings of crazy. When the opportunity to practice what I state to believe opens up, who am I to deny it?

What would that say if I shied away because posting such an exposed picture could strike fear in a woman’s (aka my) heart? Haven’t I worked long and hard to grow into a more self-loving person? Shouldn’t my actions speak louder than my words which claim I feel proud of my body and all it provides me? I spent an entire 30 Days working to share a message of loving ourselves, inside and out, including appreciating the gifts of our bodies.

So when Michelle from Eating Journey asks me to share an Exposed message on my blog, what would it say if I avoided it because what I look like in a bikini right now is not something I would have posted with confidence even six months ago? You know we can all be pretty picky of the photos we share with others - being sure to pick only the ones where we successfully managed a flattering body angle, smile, open eyes, combed hair, and still look natural. Well, that goes all out the window for me today, folks. So hello world, this is me!

In reality, though, that isn’t truly ME. When completing this project, this image becomes a blank canvas. A place to splash the truth and paint the person behind the skin. Those outward qualities are not the defining truths of my whole. They are not the mother, the wife, the friend, the child of God, the woman passionately blogging her heart out to the world, the fitness enthusiast, the bookworm, the football fan, or the cockroach hater. The real me looks more like this…

…but covered with even more text to even begin to tell my story. We are not what we see in the mirror. And a picture of you, or me, is worth so much more than a thousand words. It is worth a soul, a heart, a life. Expose the reality. That is what matters. That is who you are. Beautiful, purposeful, created with love, and deserving of all the care and respect in this world.

• What’s something you would write on your “blank canvas” to paint the beautiful picture of who you are?
• To learn more or to participate in the Exposed Movement, CLICK HERE!
• Something to do? Ask me anything by CLICKING HERE. Turns out the box on my sidebar didn’t work, so CLICK to ask away. C’mon! I only have one question so far and will need more to do a Q&A during November.

Bloggers of the Day (chosen randomly from your comments)

• All Kinds of Hungry shares good food and fun events of life.
• A Side of Simple focuses on the simple joys we can find from food to travel to apple picking. 🙂
• Live For The Run documents her trainings for races and triathalons, as well as a lot of fun, including UGA football!

Also, check out my guest post over at Lisa’s blog. If you have never read I’m An Okie, you are seriously missing out. And one last thing before I move on to today’s daily happenings. Thanks for the comments on this morning’s post and whether or not you find more inspiration in “real women” and how that applies to blogging. I never get sick of hearing your thoughts. 🙂

I know a lot of you out there dislike Tuesdays. The weekend still looms far in the distance and you feel exhausted from Monday. Makes perfect sense. However, I usually dance on the rooftops for Tuesday because that means the madness of Monday has ended. I had a great day today…despite nothing spectacular happening. Normal always makes me smile. And yes, normal includes reading one million children books together.

I started the day like any other with a bowl of oats. I’m all about adding in dried fruit these days. I love the chew from things like raisins and dried apple. Something about it screams fall to me as well.

I accidentally lost track of time this morning while getting us dressed and ready for the gym and ate a little later than normal. My big bowl ended up having only 30 minutes to digest before heading to spin class. Not a good combination. It felt like a brick in my stomach the entire workout and like my food was up in my throat. It doesn’t help that I already feel like that quite often with my stomach being pushed up to make friends and hug my lungs and heart either.

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You see that #1 with the arrow pointing to the flattened pancake? Yea, that’s what is happening to my stomach right now. Fun, huh? I don’t think its quite as fun as some of the things people have said to me recently. I have a list of some from just the past three days.

• Oh, when are you due? … In THREE months? Wow! You look so far along already!!! haha (grocery store clerk)
• You’re about to pop any day now, huh? (spin instructor)
• You get noticeably bigger every time I see you! haha (church member)
• Awww, look at that huge belly. (my mom)
• Are you sure you don’t have twins in there? Or triplets! haha (store clerk)
• You must get terrible stretch marks from going from so small to so big. haha (gym daycare worker)

Hahahahahahahahaha. Excuse me while I bust a gut from your hilarity. Or more aptly, break my water and drop the baby right here right now for you since that seems feasible for my size. For the record, in no universe does telling someone they look huge, keep getting bigger, or that they must be carrying triplets constitute a compliment. Glad we’re clear on that.

Glad we’re also clear on the fact that I take these comments with a grain of salt and don’t truly take offense to them. I feel great and that’s all I concern myself with. Although it would be nice if such a thing as a verbal filter existed for me to pass out as Christmas gifts. Just saying.

And now, would you mind rolling me into the kitchen so I can share a delicious taco dinner with my family?

Then I will appropriately finish the night out watching The Biggest Loser with my sister. With some ice cream and pickles on the side, but of course. 😉

• What’s the strangest “compliment” you have ever received?
• How long do you have to eat before a workout?