a letter to my sisters.

this is a post that has been on my heart for a long time. and here it is - just for you girls. 

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Dear girls,

I know it's hard - being a girl. Periods, bra shopping, unbalanced hormones, weight worries, I know.

Even better than just being a girl, I know how hard it is being a strong girl. Holding back tears when all you want to do is cry. Saying "it's okay" or "don't worry about it" when it really isn't, and you wish they would.

I know it's hard to handle all the pressure that comes with being a woman in today's society.

The media is telling you, "Be hot. Be sexy. Be tan. Be gorgeous. Be fake. Be like Kim Kardashian and Jessica Simpson."

I know. And I also know it's hard to not want to be those things. Society says "go ahead, you'll feel better about yourself." And that might be true in the moment when a guy whistles at you, or tells you you're gorgeous. It might feel good when you're walking away from someone, and you know they're admiring you from behind. That all feels good then and there.

But it won't later, after you think about what's actually going on in those situations. No boy or man, when staring that intensely at your body, is having clean thoughts.

Remember that the next time you leave the house in that maybe too low-cut top, or those jeans that are a little bit too tight. You're not doing yourself any favor.

Girls; you are precious jewels. You are all, each and every one of you, daughters of the most high King!

You're a princess!! Treat your body accordingly. Don't flaunt what you have just because you can. Don't cover up the masterpiece God made - the masterpiece that is your beautiful face - with ten pounds of foundation. Don't, under any circumstances, let anyone tell you that you "look better" that way.

God didn't mess up when He made your eyes, nose, lips, teeth, ears, or anything. The only reason you feel like you're not pretty enough, is because of how the media and society promotes "beauty" - but it's not the kind of beauty you want.

A verse in the famous 31st chapter of Proverbs says "charm is deceitful, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."

Oh, my dear sisters. How I so desperately wish I could convey this to you better! If I'm being honest with you right here and right now, I have some things I hate about my body - but that I have learned to love because my maker created me with those features - and He calls me beautiful. And you know what?

He calls YOU beautiful too.

There is no substitute for character, integrity, love, honesty, purity, joyfulness.....and there is nothing more beautiful than those things.

If you're feeling lonely, desperate for someone to love you, craving attention - stop, please, my dear, stop.

Go look in the mirror - look yourself square in the eyes - and tell yourself that God did a wonderful job. Tell HIM that He made a beautiful woman.

Ladies, it's hard to be pure, strong, full of integrity. It's hard to be unceasingly joyful, and undoubtedly honest. It's not an easy task.

But if it wasn't so hard, what the heck would we need God for?

So, girls. This letter was for you. Each and every one of you reading. Young, old, married, dating, or single. This letter was for YOU.

You are beautiful without the makeup, without the designer clothes, without the tight dress. You are beautiful because you are a princess. You are God's daughter. You, my dear, are gorgeous for your heart - not your body.

Remember that, forever and always, that you are something special and deserve to be treated as so. Don't ever let any man treat you less than you deserve - because every princess deserves the best.

Sincerely, and with all my love,

Your Sister

guest post: chelsea leigh of happy bow lucky

hello, beautiful readers!!

i'm chelsea! :)

and i blog over @ happy bow lucky!

(i'm the one on the right!) ;)

first of all, i just want to thank Ruthanne for asking me to guest post for her!

she is one of the sweetest people i have met in the blog world...

and i love her so!

we are very blessed to have such a beautiful soul to gain wisdom & insight from!

thanks again, lady!

have fun on your trip.

praying for safe travels for you!

XOXOXOXO.

now...to the guest post.

i talk about myself on my blog ALL THE TIME.

so, today, i am going to tell you all about my relationship.

...with my handsome MAN.

his name is Justin.

yes, he really is that gorgeous.

he is my fiance.

he plays the guitar & sings. (SWOOOOON)

and i love him DEARLY.

we started "dating" when i was 13...

and he was *pause* 17!

(i know. i know)

we never could hang out alone, though.

we were always with friends or family.

and we never went on a first official date until i was 17. :)

(daddy's rules)

and it was all so worth it.

(just babies!^^^)

justin & i did not have the perfect relationship right from the get go.

we have never claimed to.

we argued all the time.

we fought.

he was no mr. perfect.

and i was no princess.

we became sexually active. (still remained virgins, by God's grace!)

but we lost a LOT of our childhood & innocence.

we broke up 2 different times...

which totaled 5 months away from each other.

it was the hardest thing we've ever done,

but it was so needed.

we were immature.

we were young.

and all we wanted was each other.

i hate admitting this...

and it hurts me to do so.

i feel very guilty.

but i want to be bare & open before you.

when i was dating Justin, he came before the Lord.

he came before spending time in prayer.

he came before worship.

he came before listening to Christ's voice.

he came before reading the Word.

he came before it all.

he was my world.

and Jesus was in 2nd place. :(

(i know. i'm such an awful person!)

but during those times apart, we sought Jesus so radically.

(even though i had another guy in my life - again, i know)

we dove into the Word.

we spent every morning & night frantically searching the Scriptures.

because we couldn't get enough.

that is when Jesus became more to me.

He meant so much more to me than Justin did.

and i never thought that was possible.

Jesus became my Best Friend.

my Love.

and my #1 favorite in all the world.

justin & i got back together in the fall of 2010.

we dated & things were miraculously different.

he pursued me.

i respected him.

we didn't fight.

it was as close to perfect as you could get.

he FINALLY proposed December 20, 2011.

and now we are getting married June 23, 2012!

it has been such a long journey, but one that i wouldn't change for the world!

justin & i still don't have it all together.

we argue every now & then (although it's NOTHING like it used to be!)

but we know what love means.

we know we are in this for the long haul.

it's not about feelings.

it's about choice.

it's about choosing to love each other every day of our lives.

and to work hard to keep our relationship healthy.

justin & i have been through more things than you can imagine these past (almost) 6 years.

i got shingles....if that tells you anything. :/

but through it all, i find myself so amazed at the Lord's hand in our relationship.

He only wanted to be 1st in both of our lives.

that is all.

and even though we had to take some MAJORLY tough roads to get there,

we are both happy & excited for the next stage in our lives....

MARRIAGE.

praise the Lord. hallelujah.

so... i just want to encourage you guys...

if you are on a tough road right now.

or if you are facing something difficult that there seems to be no way out of...

turn to Jesus.

He alone is the answer.

not your MAN.

not your best friend.

not chocolate.

not anything, but Him alone.

run to Him.

and when you arrive...

seek His face like never before.

your answer will come.

and i promise you it will be so worth it.

thanks again for letting me guest post, love!

i enjoyed it so much!!

and if you guys want to stop by my blog - that would be AWESOME!

be sure to let me know you are visiting from Ruthanne's blog!

thanks for reading! :)

isn't she adorable? if you do not love this girl with all your heart by now, you need to see a doctor. She has become such a dear friend to me in the month or so I've known her - and I can tell you this - she has such an amazing heart. I just love her soooo much! :) head on over to her blog and show her some love! :)

xoxoxoxo!

-Ruthanne

hello seattle.

 oh, Seattle. how I love you. I feel like I should be listening to "hello, Seattle" by Adam Young right now....but I'm not...ha! anyway.

I don't have time to write up a full post now - you'll get all the details later, but I wanted to share my favorite instagrams of the past couple days.

 flight; happy; pastry; market; chocolate; gyro; city mountains; windy; cloudy; harbor.

xoxo,

Ruthanne

ps.

have you been reading the guest posts? mckenzie jean posted yesterday, and miss hannah today! and I have one more coming up for you tomorrow!

guest post: hannah of 17 inch heart

Hi Ruthanne lovers! I'm Hannah from 17 Inch Heart. Don't you just love when you make new friends? I think it's probably just about the best feeling out there! I admire Ruthanne's beautiful little blog- and not to mention she is sweet as pie...or in this case, cupcakes! Not going to lie, I kind of have a little addiction!

But with Valentines day right around the corner I thought I'd share a yummy recipe that's easy and perfect for such a happy day!

Strawberry Lovecakes

Ingredients: 4.5 cups cake flour, 3 cups sugar, 5 1/4 teaspoons baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1 cup pureed frozen strawberries, 8 egg whites, 2/3 cup milk, 1 or 2 drops of food coloring
The process: Preheat the oven to 350 and line pan with cupcake liners. With an electric mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add the butter and strawberry puree and then mix to the blended ingredients. Raise the speed to medium and beat until it resembles ice cream! In another bowl, whisk together egg whites and red food coloring. Add this mixture to the other ingredients. Bake in oven for 15-18 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool after baking! Then eat up!

-

Hope you love 'em :)

for more giant sized fun, follow me over to my little corner of the blogosphere @17inheart.com :)

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isn't she adorable? I just love her :) And her love of cupcakes! Eep! Head on over to her blog, friends - you will love it!! :)

hugs!

-Ruthanne

guest post: mckenzie jean of basil

Helllllllo loves! Guess where I am today? Seattle! Trying to figure out which danged starbucks to go into and which one to leave alone. Problematic, I know. Anyway! I have a few fun ladies guest posting for me while I'm gone, and guess who get's to start y'all off? Miss Mckenzie of Basil :) She is the epitome of awesome - so please read on :) Hugs to you all!

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Would you believe me if I told you I considered (and actually typed it out) starting this post with:

What's up all my homiesssss!

Don't worry, I hit backspace quicker than you can say "homies." 

I'm Mckenzie Jean, from over at Basil.

Over at my little blog, I write about a few things. I (attempt) to blog about fashion, with simple pictures of what I wear day to day, but mainly I post stories. 

I love sharing stories, and I have quite a bit to share. 

I love sharing silly, awkward, strange, or ironic stories that happen in my day to day life. 

Unfortunately I have a billion awkward things happen to me, I never seem to be on short supply. 

I can tell you're on the edge of your seat with anticipation to hear one....so, I'll share one of my favorites. 

This is a story I have shared once on my own blog, several months ago, so chances that you've heard it are slim to none. 

But here I am, story recycling. 

Let me start it out with saying this, before I met my husband (we're high school sweethearts) I didn't date much. I just wasn't interested. I like to think I had a good head on my shoulders, and didn't see the point in dating that young. I mean really, what are the chances you'll end up marrying the person you're with in middle school, or even high school (I know, I know....me thinking this clearly meant it had to happen to me)? I just didn't want the drama of an insecure young relationship, I just wanted to have fun with my friends, and hold off on that part of my life. 

But, I did date some. 

And I'm definitely going by the definition of "date" according to my high school dictionary. 

You know, you meet someone, text them and giggle a bit, maybe meet up at the mall or skate park (thats definitely how I rolled.)

And then fast forward two weeks, and this here girl is bored out of her mind and moves one. 

Well...I had a certain experience during one of those "flings."
The kind of thing that will make high school you think that your life is forever over. 

The one that makes you immediately think of other schools you can transfer to because you're just that embarrassed. 

Me at my jr. prom. hovering over the cheese table.
 

So, Let me start from the beginning.
i met this boy.

At the skate park. 

(you thought I was kidding about that, DIDN'T YOU!)

Anyways, in typical high school fashion, I'm with a girlfriend, scopin' out the fresh meat

(I did NOT just say that.)

and we're on our way out, and all the suddne.....It happens. 

"Hey. Hey!"

We whip around with our hearts racing a million miles an hour..this was our moment to shine. 

All the emo poses we practiced for myspace photos were finally paying off...boys. 

one of them motions towards me and says:

"my friend thinks you're cute. Do you think he's cute?"

We were being stared at by a group of 8+ boys, and to be honest, I didn't even look to who he was pointing at.
High school me didn't care, I just blurted out 

"yes!"

They respond ever so suavely....."cool."

My friend and I ask them if they want to meet up at the mall later that night. 

They say yes.

Score.

So me and said boy (I finally found out which one he was via my AIM account....we swap myspace links. How did high schooler's date before myspace?! So vital.) start texting, chatting on AIM and on the phone for a couple of weeks. Being extra cautious to keep our coolness in tact. Playin' it smooth the whole way.

But then that moment came along. 

The moment mentioned earlier.

I grew up in Chicago, many-a-days were spent in Millenium park.

Its hard to reopen the wounds, but I'll do it.

I sacrifice so much for you guys.

That's how much I care about you all. 

Schools out for the day, I walk to my car, throw my purse, phone, and books in and then hop in to drive home.

As soon as I turn my car on, the next song on my mix CD comes on....I'll be, by Edwin McCain. 

If you're not familiar with it, stop right here.

Search it on youtube, and listen to it. 

Then resume reading. It will make this so much better for you.

And while its better for you, it will be a million times worse for me.

Now, this song moved me. It made me tear up each time. and I knew every single word.

I'm one of those car singers, the kind that belts it out with no shame. 

So I'm jamming out to good ol' Ed and having the time of my life driving home.

I lived close to my high school, the ride being only long enough for 1 song...its okay. Edwin was all I needed. 

I pull into the driveway right as the song ends. 

turn off my car.

pick up my books, purse.....and phone.

Which had pocket dialed someone.

SOMEONE.

THAT someone!

My phone picked and dialed the WORST possible person for that moment in time. 

And, the call was still going on. 

All 6+ minutes of it. 

I just serenaded this boy at the top of my lungs to Edwin McCain.  And he stayed on the phone, and listened to the whole thing. 

WHOLE. THING.

it was not pretty, either.

We never spoke again. 

I think it was for the best. 

Talk about awkward when we saw each other in the hallways.

At the drive-in

Feel free to stop by my blog and share your story.
I have a tab at the top made just for that.
Don't worry, you don't have to humiliate yourself with one from your awkward past 

(we all have it) 

I love sharing engagement, wedding, heartfelt stories as well. 

Feel free to e-mail me one at Mckenzie.Lund (at) gmail.com and I'll use yours as a guest post one day with a link back to your blog.

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Thanks Mckenzie! :) And I am so sorry for those of you who couldn't access the post earlier! I messed up with something on my phone last night....silly me! ANYWAY! Go on over to miss Mckenzie's adorable blog and say hello! :)

Have a fabulous day, friends!