Swimsuit wearing in public!

Last Friday, Chris and I took our friend Ryan to our favorite local swimming hole... and brought along Koda, of course! Koda loves swimming more than he loves breathing.

I usually just go in in my clothes with Koda, because I don't like being in a bathing suit... not around friends, not where strangers could happen upon me. It's nerve-wracking. I am not THAT at peace with my body yet.

But these photos that Chris took of me that day, when I let down my guard and jumped into the water in my suit (even though Ryan was there and there were people hiking all around), changed a lot for me. I look carefree, I look confident in these pictures. I am not guarding myself, hiding myself with my arms or anything I normally would.

AND it helps that working out so much has REALLY paid off. I do wish I had a "before" picture from last year to show you (but, uhhh, I would not let someone take a photo of me then! NO WAY!). But my muscles are visible, really visible, to the world. I feel like I look strong... and it makes me feel strong :)

My body isn't perfect, it's obvious in these photos. But the plusses outweigh the minuses, especially because one of the plusses is that I am smiling so big :D

So here is me, enjoying life, not feeling self-conscious, and ready to get out into public this summer in a swimsuit (still just a one piece though.... bikini talk is no where close haha!)