Have any of you heard of the Radical Self Love project?  It was started by blogger and writer Gala Darling.  Being a woman and having two amazing and beautiful daughters, it's something that really struck a chord with me.  I really do not want my girls growing up hating themselves and their bodies.  Thinking they need to change things to make people love them.  We are constantly bombarded by images telling us we are not good enough.  Problem body?  Go on this diet?  Problem hair? Use this conditioner.  Problem face?  Use this make up.  Well, what if you really ARE born with it and the make up companies don't want you to find out because they are afraid that without that self doubt, without that fear, you might not buy their make up.

No make up, didn't do my hair.  

I liked how I looked even without make up.  Is that ok?

My daughters and I discuss our tummies.  You have a tummy, I have a tummy.  They are different but they are all beautiful.  I love my tummy, I tell them.  The truth is that I'm working on loving my tummy.  Maybe by the time they are grown up I will be all the way there.  I hope that while I convince my daughters to question imagery and advertising I can teach myself the same things.   

Hair and make up, plus a carnation.  My striped dress.

I have decided to start a Radical Self Love Bible.  If you click the link you can see some examples.  It's pretty much a journal dedicated to loving yourself.  ALL of your self.  Even the tummy that sticks out too much.  Even that mole with the hair growing out of it.  Even the big nose.  Even the curly/straight/soft/kinky/long/short/thick/fine hair growing out of your head.  It's kind of a scary thing.  The fact that you might just be beautiful BECAUSE of these "flaws" and not in spite of them.  I think I need a big dose of self love because lately I've been feeling the old demon of self doubt trying to stick his foot in the door.  I want to love myself because I want to teach my girls to love themselves.  I don't want to discuss my "flaws" and my extra pounds because it breaks my heart to think of my girls looking at themselves that way.

Now I need to get myself a new notebook.  For now, I'll leave you with a couple of impersonal type pages from my old journal to give you an idea of what kind of a book you can use (the answer is whichever kind you like) and some materials you can incorporate.  I love using window envelopes.  You can stamp them, glue on them,stick photos or words inside of them.  Cut up old books, old comics, use colored markers or your favorite kind of pen.  I'm looking forward to starting.

Are you in need of any Radical Self Love?  What do you think of the idea?  

P.S.  Ever since I heard the spoken word poem "Pretty" by Katie Makki.  I have wanted to print the entire thing on a blanket and wrap myself in it.  Wrap my kids in it.  I love it.

Banff Vacation

Our first vacation in years and we decided to go to Banff.  It's close, it's beautiful and the mountains had been calling me for two years.  I'd been dying to head out!  At first we thought maybe we would stay in a hotel but our vacation budget shrunk considerably when we found out we had to do a brake job on our car.

We started talking about camping.  We would still get to have a holiday, the weather looked like it would hold and the kids are not toddlers any more (they are 7 and 8) so we might even get some sleep.  An adventure!

We pulled the tent out of the shed and went though all of our camping supplies.  We have a large-ish tent, which is more comfortable than a wee one.  You can actually stand in it when you get dressed.  We had everything we needed except for a few tiny propane tanks and some food.  We stocked up and headed out last Wednesday morning.

My husband, Jeff, had researched some camp grounds on-line and Two Jack Lakeside seemed to have the best reviews.  It's first come, first served - no reservations.  Luckily someone had decided not to take one of the (almost) lakeside spots and we got it! 

 The lake and mountains surrounding it were gorgeous!  The weather was cool and pretty much perfect for hiking.  We set up our tent, had a quick lunch and headed out to Lower Bankhead Trail.  Bankhead was a coal mining town in the early 20th century. It's now a ghost town and made for an amazing hike.

The old structures are all being taken back by the mountain.  All over Bankhead there are "wild" rhubarb plants growing, spread from the gardens of the Chinese labourers. It has spread everywhere and tiny plants even grow in the discarded coal piles.  There are warnings posted not to eat any plants that grow in the area.

My 8 year old on one of the ruins in Bankhead.

The ruins and the interpretive trail were probably my favourite part of our trip.  I would love to go again and wear some amazing ball gown and do a photo shoot in the ruins.

Having a pink-haired little pixie girl was fantastic to photograph all over Banff.

In the evening we went back to our camp site by the lake.  The light and the clouds and the sky and the lake were all so amazing.  We had no cell service at our site, which I thought was great.  It really made us feel like we were far away from everything.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of my 7 year old.  It's the pink hair!  She's my own little pixie fairy, my life sized Strawberry Shortcake doll.  

It's almost a shame to do a black and white version but that's what this photo called for.

They were having so much fun together!  

It was such a great back drop.  It felt like you couldn't take a bad picture!

So, I just kept taking them...

The next day we were all so tired!  None of us slept well.  I was afraid a bear would get us in the night.  It's not even logical.  The parks are managed so well and the staff really keep track of the bears so as long as you are locking up all of your yummy smelling stuff then you really don't have to worry.  But I worried anyway.  Jeff and I slept on nice, thick foamy mattresses but my 8 year old had the air mattress.  Air mattresses are cold!  Foam seems to shoot your body heat right back at you but the air mattress is just cold!  We went for a little hike around the lake and the kids found some ground squirrel holes.  

The squirrels are so friendly.  Probably because they get fed by people  A LOT!  You are not supposed to feed them but they are pretty cute and a little irresistible.  Just look at that face!!

That face is pretty irresistible, too.  

We went to the town of Banff and wandered around.  We went to the Banff candy store.  I remember it from my own childhood and it's the store I always imagine when I read about Honeydukes in the  Harry Potter books.

Next we went for another hike.  This one was a doozy!  It was a very steep hike up the mountain to a waterfall.  The mosquitoes were killer!  So was the view.

We made it to the top.  It was really a tough hike.  My butt still hurts from that climb!

We decided we would cram in one more hike.  It was a really short one on Tunnel Mountain.  I really wanted to go and my family indulged me.  We were all so tired we just wanted to go back to camp and sleep.

Those were my last real pics of the trip.  We stopped at the Upper Banff Hot Springs  on our way out of town on Friday morning.  By the time we were done there we were so hungry!  We went back into town and found the yummiest little burger joint, the Eddie Burger Bar.  I had the Kiwi burger on a gluten free bun (lamb, of course!) and Jeff had the Greek burger.  They were really good, the staff was busy but really friendly and helpful.

With full bellies, we headed back on the three hour drive home.

It was a great vacation!  We are already planning to go again next year.  I really want to go glamping next time, though.  I better get to work on that.