Beautiful Freedom Part 2

  Becky's Real Beauty post from last year was the #1 most-read post.  You can go back here and read it to see why.  That post was a turning point in the healing journey Becky has taken.  It was part of the beginning, not the end...and this is more of the story!  

  When Becky started her journey, she started with the inside...where real beauty is cultivated.  When she got the inside all gorgeous, she started on the outside.  See, even though Becky's spirit was cleaned out and she was busy putting out the old stuff and putting in the new, she realized that her physical well-being was neglected.  So at the beginning of 2012, she decided that she wanted her outside to match her gorgeous inside!  

  Becky started a little Facebook weight-loss group.  She invited her friends to join, thinking it would be a great way for them to share tips, struggles, and victories.  But her little Facebook group quickly grew into many members...many Becky didn't even know!  It became a big support system for women who wanted to get healthy and lose weight.  Friendships were formed, weight was lost, lives got healthier, and beauty was multiplied!  

  Becky has lost 35 pounds this year, and she feels like her outside beauty now matches her inside.  It's not about getting skinny, though, it's about being healthy, eating right, and being a good example to her children. She's also discovered a new love...running.  She's run several 5k's this year and she keeps setting and reaching new goals for herself.  I love to hear about a new time she's set or a new race she's signed up to run!  

  We all know that Real Beauty is not  just about what we see when we look at a woman.  Becky was stunning before she lost weight and gained physical strength.  But when we feel good physically, and we are taking care of our bodies, and we are eating healthy foods, it helps that inner beauty shine through!  Ask Becky...she knows!  

  

Catching up With Some Beautiful Girls

I was looking through old posts on the blog today while thinking about the Beautiful Girls we've photographed and interviewed.  Because a beautiful girl's life is not stagnant, many of them have had life-changing experiences over the last several months!  Today I want to take the opportunity to catch up with some Beautiful Girls!  

 This beauty is about to celebrate her 16th birthday on Tuesday....

  ...this one just celebrated her 90th.

   This smart girl is learning sign language...

...and this one is learning to love running. (More of her inspiring story later!)

This beautiful bride spent a day this summer marrying the love of her life...

...and this teeny beauty spent a summer day fearlessly flinging herself down the world's largest slip-n-slide.

This sweet girl just became a big sister to a new baby brother....

...while this marvelous mom of three boys moved away, bought a house, and announced that she's expecting a fourth.  (fingers crossed that it's a girl this time!)

This stunning beauty just had a baby boy....

...while this athletic beauty was killing at softball games (You go, girl!).

This beautiful girl got her driver's license and her first job...

...and this one started college.

This cutie with the miraculous birth story drove off with her family to her new home in New Jersey...

...and the amazing girl who delivered her flew off to spend a month in Germany.

These two creative and clever cuties left us to move home to Richmond...

...and these two (with all the boys in their life) are spending an adventurous summer in California.

This shiny, fit, gorgeous beauty became a grandmother to a beautiful girl...

...while this one is busy packing up and moving out of a house she's owned for years.

  Beautiful Girls are busy girls, that's for sure!  They're doing things, big life-changing things and little day-to-day things that keep the world turning.  What have you been doing, beautiful girl?  Tell us!

Not the Beautiful Life She Expected, Even MORE Beautiful!

I started to write about my beautiful friend, Hannah, when I noticed a post on Facebook from her husband, Joe.  He was, once again, declaring his love for her.  At that moment, I realized that there is no one else in the world who knows how beautiful Hannah is than Joe.  I asked him to write about her.  I was expecting a short post, he's a guy after all...but what I got is a story about the life of a young woman, the plans she had, and the way those plans changed into the beautiful life she now has with her fabulous husband and her precious children Esther, Zac, and baby Benji.  

Piercing behind the soft and gentle demeanor is the spirit of an independent, determined, and beautiful woman. Hannah Elisabeth never imagined the turns and twists that her life would take when she stepped onto the campus of Liberty University in the Fall of 2005. Determined that she would set off on her own and make a difference in the world, she never thought that she would be back residing in Upstate New York with her husband and three children. 

Why? She had plans already set out of what she wanted to do and where God would want her. That is, she would finish her degree at Liberty University in Nursing. Then she would serve on mission field somewhere in Africa. She did not have her heart set on a family and if she happened to meet someone to share her life with on the journey, so be it. But that was not her intention. She was not a “boy-crazy” college girl who was looking for romance. She had a goal – to meet the needs of others. 

Little did she know that romance would find her... In a fast paced series of events, she became involved in a local Church, met the Youth Pastor who misread her genuine kindness for flirtation, fell in love with him, and was married by the next summer. Then a few months later, she found out that she was expecting a bundle of joy who would change the direction and plan that she had for herself. Quickly finding herself engrossed by morning sickness and the prospect of taking care of a little one, she changed her major so that she could finish her degree from home. 

Then just a few months after their daughter, Esther, was brought into the world, she relocated to Southwest Virginia, in the Hills of Appalachia, to join her husband in Youth Ministry. There she felt an immediate connection with the youth and began to pour her heart into them. Shortly after, Hannah and her husband decided that they wanted to continue to add to their family; however, this time the pregnancy was a little more difficult. Facing bed rest for herself and then later a premature birth, Zac was born into the world at 34 weeks gestation. The next week felt like the most difficult one that Hannah had to ever have encountered as Zac spent the time in the NICU in Johnson City, TN. Hannah remained strong during this entire time and used the knowledge she had received from college to help take care of Zac. However, that would not turn out to be her largest hurdle.

Just over a year later, Hannah would find herself in the same hospital going through labor. This time, after feeling confident that the pregnancy would go smoothly, they ran into some difficulty that they did not anticipate. During a routine ultrasound at the beginning of pregnancy, the doctor indicated that there was a strong possibility that the baby had a genetic abnormality. After further testing, it was indicated that the baby not only had Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome), but may also have a heart condition. And like Zac, but at a much faster pace, Hannah’s pregnancy led to bed rest and early contractions. At 26 weeks gestation, Benji entered the world at only 2lbs. During the next 77 days, Hannah stayed primarily in Johnson City, TN with Benji in the NICU while her family was an hour and a half away. 

While there, she learned better than the doctor and the nurses Benji’s needs and often instructed them on the procedures that were set in place. She advocated for him relentlessly, even once stopping an almost accidental overdose of caffeine into his system. When he was finally released, he found himself only home a few weeks before he contracted RSV. The results were a series of hospital stays which involved surgery and then later pneumonia. Medical tests concluded that Benji did indeed have a hole in his heart, had chronic lung disease, pulmonary hyper tension, and silently aspirates. Throughout the entire time, Hannah remained strong and poised in front of others. Seldom, did she let others see the weight that was upon her shoulders. 
With almost mathematical precision, Hannah balances the medical care for her son, the role of a mother, keeping care of the needs of the home, and being a supportive wife to her husband. She works endlessly around the clock to make sure that everything is in order. She considers the needs of everyone else, before she looks to herself. She goes almost every night with broken sleep as she responds to her children needing assistance or to malfunctioning technology which needs to be reset. 

Hannah may not have earned her degree in nursing, but she certainly has earned an honorary one. She has also earned the deep love and respect of her husband and children. She has also changed her world for the better. She is a Beautiful Girl. 

Beautiful Wedding Planner Extraordinaire!

  Nestled in, set back a little from English Tavern Road, sits a beautiful manor.  Glencliff Manor has become one of our favorite places.  The main house is stately, the gardens are charming, the little gazebo is quaint and reflective with its pretty little bridge.  The grounds boast lovingly tended greenery, graceful cherry blossom trees, a cheerful and colorful little potting shed, an inviting pool, and a picturesque pasture.  A pergola, archways, and a line of evergreens round out the gorgeous backdrop.  All sorts of friendly animals reside at Glencliff, ducks, dogs, cats, a horse, chickens, peacocks...even an alpaca named Evan.


  But the animals are not the friendliest residents you can find at Glencliff, and the gardens are not the most beautiful attraction there, either.  The most beautiful thing about Glencliff Manor is its owner, Teresa.  

  Aubrianah and I only met Teresa a few months ago, but she quickly became on of our favorite people.  Teresa has allowed Aubrianah to do lots of photo shoots on the grounds, and each time she has made us feel welcome and comfortable at her home.  She is generous and fun, and we love just being around her and her beautiful husband, Steve.  

 Teresa is also the wedding coordinator at Glencliff.  She has amazing ideas to make a wedding special, and she will bend over backwards to make a bride feel special.  The word she chose for her beauty board was 'compassion', a trait any bride would be blessed to get in her wedding planner, a trait any husband would want in his wife, and a trait every child needs in a mother.  Teresa's clients, her husband, and her children see this compassionate love on display for them, through Teresa.  


  Teresa is creative, inventive, hard-working, professional, fun, compassionate, and generous.  All those traits make her a Beautiful Girl!  


www.glencliffmanor.com  

Beautiful Brides

  We just want to take a moment to congratulate one of our favorite sets of sister, Sarah and Keri, on their recent weddings!  We've loved these two since they landed here in Lynchburg to study at Liberty University, and we could tell right away that they were Beautiful Girls.  It didn't take long for two amazing guys to notice the same thing!  We love you, Sarah and Keri, and we hope and pray all the best and beautiful blessings for you and your new grooms!  

  Sarah with the sisters' fabulous dad...what an exciting year he must have had, marrying off two of his beautiful daughters!

  The gorgeous Keri, who had one of the BEST weddings I've ever attended, and married into one of my favorite families!  

Beautiful 40

  My husband and I turned 40 this year.  His birthday was in February and mine in May.  He didn't seem to mind a bit, but it's been hard on me.


  That's why, when 'it' was finally said today, as in 'the thing that has never been said before', I got really excited.  I mean, I think I scared the woman who said it because I screamed joyfully.  


  I feel the need to tell you the circumstances, because they make the fact that 'it' was said even more unbelievable.  I am not a morning person.  Actually, that's an understatement.  I hate mornings.  Six o'clock only comes once in my day.  Seven and usually eight o'clock, too.  I can't think in the morning, I can't talk, I can barely even SEE.  I.  Hate.  Mornings.  
  But I love my friend Jessica, I love her more than I hate mornings.  Jessica was having a yard sale this morning starting at seven o'clock.  Seven o'clock IN THE MORNING, and she could use some help.  So I rolled out of my bed at six, stumbled into the shower, threw on my husband's old t-shirt and my pants (how I remembered to wear pants at six o'clock IN THE MORNING is beyond me), and went out the door.  No brushed hair, no makeup, grumbling, half-blind from morning allergy.  It's really cold in the morning, and there's too much traffic, by the way, and the sun is way too sunny.  


  So what's the point in telling you that I had barely taken a shower, wore nothing on my face but a sour expression, and was freezing all day so I was wearing my holey, old-lady sweater over my husband's old t-shirt and who knows what kind of crazy pants?  


  Because, when the day was almost done, I met one of Jessica's neighbors.  And she was talking about her kids, and I mentioned my kids, and she said it.  The thing that has never been said.  


  I've complained about it, and if you know me pretty well I've complained about it to you.  You may have even been compelled to say the thing that has never been said, but I couldn't count it because I made you say it.


  See, I had my kids when I was pretty young.  My son was born when I was 21, my daughter came along when I was 24.  I already told you that my husband and I are now 40, our children are now 19 and almost 16.  No one, no one without my coercion, has ever met me, found out how old my children are, and said this thing, the thing that was finally said to me today:  


"You don't look like you have a 19-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter!!!"  


  YES!  THANK YOU!  I have heard this said to other women, I've said it to other women myself.  People say it to my husband.  No one has ever said it to me until today.  Was 40 the magic number?  Was it 19?  Was it my non made-up face?  The big t-shirt?  I don't know. 


  Then, of course, I got reflective about it.  The initial high of the compliment was great.  But then I started thinking.  Is it my goal to LOOK like I couldn't have had time to raise the children I've raised?  Um, NO!  My kids are amazing, beautiful, fun, practically perfect people.  I've been raising that boy for 19 years, and it's been difficult and wonderful and I'm just about done.  I've been raising that girl for almost 16 years and it's been demanding and fabulous.  Raising children is the most challenging and the most fulfilling thing I have ever done, or will ever do.  I want it to show.  


  So, I'm done complaining.  I got my one time 'you don't look like'.  I liked it.  But I don't need another.  I'm 40 years old.  I have a 40-year-old husband, a 19-year-old son, and an (almost) 16-year-old daughter.  We have each other, and we look like it.  And we're all beautiful.  


  

Crybaby Beauty

  The other day, my daughter reminded me of an incident that happened about twelve years ago.  I won't get into the details, but it had to do with an especially aggressive debt collector, a misunderstanding, and a lack of knowledge of my own rights.  The collector called me, scared me, and I started to cry.  My daughter remarked, while remembering the incident, that it had been the first time she'd ever seen me cry.


  Really?  The first time?  I feel like I cry all the time.  Maybe I do, now.  But apparently I didn't always, or at least my child didn't notice it.  


  Have you ever looked into a mirror while you are crying?  I have, I don't recommend it.  I am not such a pretty crybaby.  I have cried when I'm angry at my husband for complaining about dinner....not so pretty.  I've cried when I didn't get my way.  I've cried when jealousy has overcome me, when I argued with a friend over some triviality, when my son would rather spend time with his friends than with me, when my daughter won't take my advice, when someone at my church said some unthinking thing I thought was mean.  Keep the mirrors away from me when I'm crying about those things, because I am not pretty.  


  But sometimes, I'm beautiful.  Even with the red, scrunched up face, smudged mascara, streaming eyes, and sniffling nose, I'm a beautiful crybaby.  And so are you!  I've cried at weddings.  I cry when I hear stories of salvation.  I cry at baptisms.  Sometimes I cry when I hear songs that remind me of people I don't see often.  I cry when my son sings praise songs, because I love to hear his journey.  I cry when my daughter goes off to camp, because I know I'm going to miss her.  


  All the crying that comes from LOVE, I'm ok with.  Weeping about the empty nest coming quickly....I'm ok with that, I'll miss having them around every day. Crying because I still miss my dad and my grandparents...I'm ok with that, too.  I love them.  


  And what about all that crying that comes from happiness?  Seeing my daughter's photograph in a magazine, checking my son's first year of college grades and seeing that he made it through! There's happiness in that, and relief.  The tears are a release of all that happy.  


  But my favorite kind of beautiful crying is when it comes from laughter.  I didn't ask my daughter if she remembers the first time she saw me laugh until I cried, but I hope she doesn't remember a beginning.  I do it a lot, and I hope I've always done it.  




PS...Baby 'A' here in the picture is pouting because we annoyed her.  She's still beautiful, isn't she?  I'm not so pretty when my crying is cause by being annoyed, though!  Ha!


 ****So what about you?  When's the last time you cried, and was it not-so-pretty crying, or was it beautiful?