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Why I Choose to Dress Modestly

I grew up in a religion that encourages it's girls and women to dress modestly. My parents also believed this strongly and so I grew up always buying a one-piece and never a bikini, wearing skirts and and dresses that hit my knee and never showing my stomach or cleavage.

I always was fine with it.

Well, I got older. I moved away. I went to college. And now I am a career woman. I still choose to dress modestly. Not because my parents won't "let me out of the house looking like that," but because I want to. Why would I chose this?

Let me preface this by saying this is my choice. I am not saying that in any way anyone else's choice to dress differently is wrong or bad. I know many amazing, wonderful women that do not share my same views. That is fine. I am simply stating the reasons behind why I do this, as I know some people wonder.

Let's think about [a few of] the reasons I might choose not to. First of all, I might feel "prettier" wearing shorter skirts or showing a bit of cleavage. Guys like it, right? But why do they like it? It makes me "hot" and "sexy." Do I want a guy whose first impression of me is "sexy"... or "beautiful"? I choose beautiful. I can still be pretty and attractive to men by wearing a dress that goes to my knees and covers me up on top. I personally also have more respect for a man that is looking for a modestly dressed woman.

Competition. Not competition over boys, but girl competition. If you're a girl, you know what I'm talking about. I don't know why it exists, but it does. I have so many awesome girl friends, yet when I meet a new girl I feel some weird underlying competition. Not every time and not in every situation, but often it is there. [And it's strange because many times I end up being friends with the girl and forget about any sort of competition.] Sometimes the competition is because of jealousy. When I see a cute girl wearing short shorts and a tiny tank top, even in a classy way, I get a little jealous. She looks cute, right? Not slutty. But guess what I realized? I can look cute in my longer shorts and t-shirt too.

Those are my two main pulls of ever wanting to dress in a way that I deem as immodest, but there is one more: convenience. Holy cow, it is sometimes a nightmare to find modest clothes! Most especially in dresses and shorts. Thank goodness that maxi skirts are in style, but do I really want to be traipsing in a maxi all the time? No way. I want variety! I love sundresses just as much as the next girl. And when I go into Forever 21 I just about die. So many adorable dresses. Wouldn't it just be so much easier to buy one of those dresses that's a little too short, or a little too low, or even just spaghetti straps? Yes. Yes it would be. So how do I counter convenience? I counter it with the real reason behind why I choose to dress modestly.

I choose to dress modestly out of respect for myself and respect for God. Like I said above, I don't need to show more skin to get a guy to like me or to feel like I fit in with the girls. That is respecting myself. I also do it to show respect to my Heavenly Father. He made this body for me, and I need to treat it with the utmost care and respect. That doesn't mean that I should use it to get men, or use it to fit into the current "trends," but that I should treat it as what it is-a Heavenly gift. A gift designed for much more than being a sex-appeal, some kind of object, or even a model for the world's latest trends. Dressing modestly can be a challenge sometimes, but to show respect to myself and my God, it is a challenge I am willing to take on for the rest of my life.

Australia

T-minus 11 days.

And I'm still planning.

New Phone. Samsung Galaxy S3

Expect pictures from Instagram.

Because I have finally joined the world of smart phones.

And let me just say-mine is the best.

Here is a screen shot that I took all by myself:

Wanna know how hard it was?

I swiped my palm over the screen.

awesome!

I could keep talking about how cool it is and how it's better than the iphone,

but I'll get a lot of enemies and a lot of bored readers.

(p.s. I was once an iphone lover)

Also, I started sanding my dresser today.

After a few hours and lots of sawdust all over my body and in my hair...I'm still not done.

When I'm finished I'll have pictures and hopefully a little tutorial! 

Stadium of Fire, Pinterest, and the Start of a Project

Well, first things first. Like everyone else in the blogging world, I have to inform you about my 4th of July festivities!

It's not too exciting. I hardly did anything all day. But my amazing friend Leah (who, by the way, does fantastic custom invites and other designing, which you can check out here) had extra tickets to Utah's big 4th of July celebration- The Stadium of Fire. So my friend and I trekked down to Provo for the show.

Alex Boye hosted, and we were privileged to first hear a short concert by American Idol winner Scotty McCreery, and then....

The Beach Boys! 

Yup, they sang that song. :)

I'd have to say, though, that I was almost more entertained by a group of five college guys that were sitting near us, dressed up as the beach boys and dancing and singing to every song. Totally made my night!

And of course, there was a spectacular fireworks show at the end! Again, sorry about the crappy cell pics... I may or may not be getting a new phone tomorrow... And we were also way too far to actually see the performers in these pictures...

[I love how it actually looks like the stadium is on fire here.]

Happy Birthday, America!

In other news, I caved.

I got a Pinterest.

Yeah, I know, how did I miss that memo like a million years ago?

I knew it would suck my time, and I was right.

But I so do not regret it!

So you can follow me here, and I will follow you back!

And lastly, remember this inspiration post about refinishing a dresser?

Well, I FINALLY thrifted a dresser! 

I bought a sander today and picked up some paint swatches, so be watching for my progress! 

Pictures to come!

Oh, never mind. One more thing. 

I've also gotten to hang out with this guy this week:

best. nephew. ever.