Ikea Giftcard Winner! (and radiant words from strong ladies)

The winner of the $25 Ikea gift card (randomly chosen by Rafflecopter) is...Becky!  Becky said "I am my own lady because I live a little outside the norm. Small house, thrifted clothes, couponing crazy, and sharing it all with the world!"   Please e-mail me so I can send you your card!

I want to thank everyone who took time to poke around the new site.  I saw people checking out the pages and some older posts, and it made my heart swell to get so much support, from comments here, friends sharing the site in social circles, and even being told in person that they liked what they saw.  Having this space means a lot to me, and I hope you'll follow along as we continue to spark conversations and uplift each other.

I had some really beautiful comments from people telling me what makes them feel like their own lady.  Here are a few gems:

"I feel my strongest lady self when I walk into a work meeting calm, collected, prepared, and overall confident that I'm doing a great job. I have more and more days like that, which is something to be happy about."

"I guess when I feel like my own lady most is when I put aside the day to day chores, worries etc. and truly spend time with my family. I find this hard to do but it is when I am most alive and fullfilled."

"I'm being my own lady when I use power tools to make something from nothing... and don't have to ask for help!"

"What makes me my own lady: laughing too loud, smooching the cheeks of my 2 grown sons, wearing a 2 piece bathing suit when I know I shouldn't, drinking Real Sangria, thinking my husband is HOT, believing in prayer, dancing...badly, singing...badly, loving being a teacher, and loving JESUS!"

"I am my own lady when I do something that I want, without giving it a second thought. I am constantly overthinking things and have recently felt proud of myself when I make a decision without second-guessing myself and contemplating if it is "the right" decision or not."

"I guess I feel most like a lady when I get a comment on my outfit or hair from one of my K students." 

"So, I guess what makes me my own lady is that I don't let anything stop me from being BOLDLY perseverant for the things that I passionately believe in, being STRONG enough to do my own dirty work, and being humble enough to know that it's all a GIFT!"

I also heard from friends who had some trouble with the comments section (working on that) that being their own lady had to do with letting go of guilt, cultivating an identify outside of motherhood, or putting themselves first above all else.   Go to the comments and read more wisdom.  I hear your words, ladies.

I love reading through these because it shows that we all have specific things that make us feel genuine, but it all boils down to the same thing: we want to do what we do and not apologize for it.  There are layers of rules and emotional attachments and social structures that tell us we need to apologize.  Or be quiet about it.  Or stop making such a big deal out of nothing.  But that's bullshit, and we can help each other get to an unapologetic glowing state.

I hope you can take these lion-roar or brave-whispered words from other radiant ladies and let them encourage you as you move through your day and your weekend.  Keep shining!

Image credit here, text added by me