Beauty is EVERYWHERE and in EVERYTHING, it is up to us to truly SEE and FEEL it. Beauty comes from within. Pretty is external. Pretty fades while beauty continues to grow. Happiness = Beauty When we are happy we are beautiful. When we feel beautiful we are happy! We feel it, we experience it and we show it. :)

I'm a Newfoundlander and I'm happy. I love to smile and make others smile. I'm 32 (but I still think I'm 22). I have the worlds greatest parents, family and friends, my inner circle is amazing! I grew up an only child next to and on the ocean. Married now, living with my husband Ryan and our awesome dog Eddy (#TheEddyPuppy on Instagram) - I am still steps from the Atlantic Ocean. My province, Newfoundland is as far east as you can go in Canada! I love it!!! I believe in being positive! Surround yourself with positive beings and things, it helps make the world beautiful!! I love inspirational messages, pictures and quotes, I could read them all day. I love this one: "Life is not a dress rehearsal" I think sometimes we think that we have all the time in the world. We don't. Life is short. All too often we get scary reminders of just how short it can be. We are put on this earth for a purpose, TO LIVE! So I am... I haven't always been so outwardly positive. But I have always been armed with a smile. I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease at a young age. It has been a struggle. A 'suffer in silence' type of disease. Throughout my teens and even into my early 20's, I wasn't exactly open about it. It was embarrassing to discuss. I had a terrible relationship with food and my body, I rarely ate because it hurt or could upset my stomach. I would often say I had eaten when I hadn't.. just to avoid eating. Only to binge eat once I was home and that would cause me to get sick. It was a continuous cycle. Stress was a huge trigger. University life was rough. I was hospitalized many times over the years. I'd get lucky, and actually go a couple years with out any hospital trips. I finally started to accept my Crohn's and started to get responsible about it. In 2006, I met a boy :) whom I went on to marry! Our first actual date I actually ate in front of him! I fell in love with him and food! We got married August 2009. Got comfortable aka "Pleasantly plump" in married life. My Crohn's Specialist advised me to lose some weight, the added weight was not good for my Disease. So, in April 2012 my husband and I got serious about our health! Joined a health and fitness Challenge and together we lost over 100 lbs!!! Completely changing our lives!! I gained much more of a positive body image towards myself. I've always been curvy, since a young age. Baby Got Back. I was now starting to accept it! I was totally cool with my curves! And now I was healthy! And extremely great things were happening!! I was chosen out of North America with 3 of my close girlfriends as "Team Challenge Finalists" and stood on stage in Los Angeles at the National Success Training Conference in March 2013!! It was amazing! Such a confidence booster. Life changing. Everything was going great! Then Spring 2013 *cue ominous music* - I started having more "not so well days", my Crohn's was acting up. But I was handling it - medications here and there, restricted diet, etc. Muscled my way through the summer. October 2013, first time in 6 years that I had to go to the hospital. Since then, I've spent the past 6-7 months in and out of hospital. Had two major surgeries. In December I was rushed in for emergency surgery. My husband actually had to convince me to sign the consent form for surgery! Through the screams and pain all I could think about was my bikini belly and the scar I would have. Seems silly now, as I came close to death. Complications from surgery had me drifting in and out of a coma. Since then I've been recovering from surgery and spent from December 2013 to March 2014 with an Ileostomy. Then another major surgery early March to reverse the Ileostomy. I'm Humpty Dumpty, and at 4 weeks post-op (2nd) I'm finally picking up the pieces of my broken-ness. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Heck I'm a Mack truck now. A Mack truck who is very lucky to be alive. Going through this has really tested my strength. Some day's I feel like a freaking Warrior, and other days I don't - at all. I DO feel like I've been given a second chance. I don't like to admit it, but I was kind of obsessed with my image. Whether it was how much I weighed, if my jeans made my butt look big, or how my hair looked. That's changed. Now, I know I'm lucky and SO grateful to be alive. I'm slowly accepting these scars, they are just marks. Battle wounds from a battle that I fought and am WINNING! Badges of honor. They don't define me but they sure help me tell a story. A long one, eh? ;) I love to inspire and BE inspired. I have such an awesome support team. I am lifted daily by my wonderful family, my amazing friends. Social media can be such a positive place - Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube provide me with stories of courage and lots of humor to give me a giggle when I need it. EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL and has a story. We all have our battles. I think it is important for people to share their stories, be outlets of courage! It is not easy to put it all out there, but it really helps with the healing process to get it out. Whether it inspires, gives hope, and or encouragement to one person or 100, it does make a difference. I came across this contest via Moose Knuckles Instagram site. I thought "Why not!?!" it would be fun to enter. I feel SUPER empowered just writing this "About Me" part! It is my first time putting the past few months to words. So basically, I've verbally vomited this entire portion. I apologize. You guys are amazing! This is such an opportunity! It would be amazing to be a part of it! So yea, that's me. There's a lot of words in this lil' head of mine. Thank you for listening. Have a beautiful day. xo Christine