Welcome to the Love Your Body series, featuring guest posts from amazing women bloggers who are brave, inspiring, beautiful, smart, and pretty kick ass! They are here to share their body-related stories to encourage and inspire you to Love Your Body. 

As I sit here reading through a few of their guest posts, I am not only learning about who they are but I am learning from them as well. Every day isn't going to be an "I Love My Body" kind of day, but guess what ladies? That's okay! Life is a journey, it's a roller-coaster of emotions filled with ups and downs.  Some days our jeans will fit better than others, some days our hair won't cooperate because of the high humidity. And on those days you'll just want to scream, "I hate my thighs" or "I hate my hair", and that's okay, we all have those days. 

But what is not okay is to feel ashamed of your body, especially because someone else said, "Those jeans look terrible on you" or "Wow, I really hate that hair color on you". It's also not okay to feel bad about how you look because the media keeps body shaming celebrities like Kelly Clarkson, Melissa McCarthy, Mindy Kaling, P!nk, and others. 

Ladies, don't compare yourself to someone else and don't strive to look like someone else. LOVE YOU; love your hair, love your thighs, your eyes, your skin tone, your booty, love it all and just LOVE YOUR BODY! 

To all who are new here: Hi, I'm Diana. I'm 6 foot tall, weigh 215 lbs, I have grey hair coming in, I wear size 14 jeans, large to x-large top, glasses, size 10/11 shoes, and I LOVE MY BODY! 

These things about my body don't define who I am as a person. Growing up and being teased for being the tallest girl, for being "big boned" {overweight}, having bushy eye brows, stained teeth, and frizzy hair, I thought that's who I was and I thought these things would follow me every where I went. 

But then in college and post graduation I finally met people who inspired me to be more than a label, I met people who thought I was beautiful, who thought I was funny and intelligent. I met people who believed in me and pushed me to believe in myself, which is why my word for this year is "Believe". 

{My favorite necklace from Creative Carmella}

It took me some time to finally Love My Body, but thanks to those around me and thanks to getting away from those who put me down, I can say it and I can say I love myself and I believe in myself. I'm paying it forward to anyone who wants to listen, anyone who needs to believe, who needs to hear the words, "You are beautiful" because you are. You are beautiful and you are worth it. 

Thank you for listening to my Love Your Body story, stay tuned to next Wednesday when Marie of Just Plain Marie will share her story with us. 

Big News: The Game of Love Reveal

It's been a while since I posted and I have a good reason too! I've been busy working on a secret project with my boss and today is the big reveal of The Game of Love...

It started three years ago in 2012 when she shared a DIY bed sheet game board she made for her husband for their first wedding anniversary. Today, she has turned the game into a product you can purchase online...genius! 

I'm so excited for Monica and can't wait to see where The Game of Love takes her. If you are tired of not feeling the love and connection you once had, then this is for you. Or if you have a friend getting married, know a couple who has been going through tough times, or maybe you want to surprise your loved one and ask them to marry you...then this is for you! 

Haha, at first I was going to share a new recipe, but I wanted to let you know why I've been a little MIA lately...so recipe tomorrow then on Wednesday I'm going to share details of my new blog series "Love Your Body". Stay tuned. 

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day! 

{PS, stop by The Painted Home to enter to win The Game of Love!} 

Throwback Thursday and a Giveaway Winner!

Since it's our wedding anniversary month I thought I would share a few wedding photos for readers who haven't seen them before. I loved everything about our big day, it was just as beautiful as I dreamed it would be. Yes, that sounds a bit cheesy, but it's true! 

What was your wedding day like or what do you hope your wedding will be like if you haven't said 'I do' yet? To read more about our wedding click here.

If you have any wedding questions, feel free to ask! 

Are you ready to find out who won the Shop Rite $25 gift card?!! Drum roll please....

Congrats to Heather Walrath! A big thank you to everyone who entered! 

Stay tuned for more wedding fun on Throwback Thursdays! Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!