Stepping out of my comfort zone

Way out.

SUAR recommends doing something every day that scares you.  Some days that is fulfilled just by getting up and dealing with the chaos here.  Just kidding.  Mostly.

Last week I did something that scared me.
A local swimsuit company opened a contest for someone to join their next photo shoot.  I love their suits.  Really.  I have a couple, I bought Malia one this year too.  They are cute, fit well and are functional.  Any mom who has ever chased after kids in a swimsuit knows that good fit and functional are musts!
So when I saw their email about looking for a model, I checked out their Facebook page.  And there I found a fabulously encouraging thing.  They asked their fans what they would like to see in a model.  Overwhelmingly the answer was "a normal person".  Clarified with comments including no plastic surgery, someone bigger than a size zero and not six feet tall, and more than any other comment-someone who is a mom!  Awesome, right?  Right.  Then they posted their first round of submissions.  Most of them were just normal women-and I loved it!
And then in the back of my mind I thought, "hey-I could submit a photo....."
Riiiiight.
But you know what?  You only live once.  One of my new year's resolutions was to step out of my comfort zone and take chances.  Heck, the worst that can happen is nothing, right?

So I had Aaron snap a few pictures for me.  Since we rarely go anywhere and certainly don't go anywhere exotic, we had a little fun in the backyard.  The kiddie pool is where it's at!

And the best part was that it really was fun.  Or maybe the best part was being brave enough to take pictures in a swimsuit and ending up with cute ones that I wasn't afraid to share.

Well, I sent a picture in and now it's up on their Facebook page.  Not ^that^ one, but this one:

If you are feeling so inclined, feel free to hop on over to their Facebook page, like Hapari, and like my photo in their Model Contest album.  It's on the fourth row down...pretty hard to miss the red umbrella!  Feel free to leave a comment too if you'd like.

While Hapari will ultimately pick their winner, they are posting the submissions to get feedback from their customers and fans.  There are some killer bodies in some of those photos-much, much more impressive than my post 8 kids state for sure.  But I have to say that it just thrills me that the majority of the likes and comments are on those pictures of regular women and moms, not the air brushed super model types.  Hopefully they will listen to their customers and pick one of those cute women!  And while it would sure be fun if it were me, I will be beyond thrilled  to see any one of those other cute moms walk away as the addition to Hapari's next photo shoot.

Also, if you happen to be looking for a cute suit, check them out.  And no, they don't know I'm blogging this, nor do I get anything out of it.  Well, ok, except hopefully a few more comments and likes on my photo.   But really, they just have great swimsuits!