1. She is Brave

So many things in this world require us to be brave, especially in our quest to becoming the woman we want to be. Whenever courage is required of us, it's my thought that it is when we are pursuing something that is good and will ultimately benefit us. Whether it's trying something new or confronting something you want changed , if you need to be brave, it will make you a better person once you've conquered it.

I feel like the main goal of Girls Pearls and Powder is to help you be brave and set your sights higher. Today the world promotes quick fixes, cheap thrills, and tells us if something feels good, do it!- whatever you want, whenever you want. Everything has a fast track. Right now you can snap a picture, post it to Instagram, and get an instantaneous respond of "likes" and applaud for something menial and trivial. It's easier today than in any other time in history to be lazy, take the easy way, and get by. Which isn't brave at all. If you think about it, our grandparents had to work hard, be courageous, or not have enough food to eat. It makes me wonder about the character this 'instant' world is molding us into. If we go through life skimming along, letting what makes us feel good in the moment dictate our decisions, what sort of little old ladies will we be?

Life is always moving forward. Don't get comfortable with fitting in with the world around you, that isn't very interesting. The human spirit was not meant to float through life. I think we all have an ideal picture of the lady we hope to be one day, with things we wish we could try and things we wish we were better at. We say things like "in a different life time, I think I would have liked to have been a painter" or "I wish I knew how to handle these sort of situations better" or "I wonder if it's too late to become a yoga instructor?". Set your sights far into the distance and see yourself as a little ole' gray haired lady. What will you be like? What hard work will you have done? What accomplishments will you be most proud of? What will those around you have to say about you? What stories will you be able to tell?

A Proper Mountain Woman is a woman who is moving in an upward motion, becoming better and better. She works at conquering her mountains to become the person she wants to be. SHE IS BRAVE. She tries new things, works hard at developing her skills, and doesn't settle on life just happening to her.

If you have always wanted to be healthy and fit, BE BRAVE and find a way that works for you. It definitely takes courage to be the only one at work who doesn't snack on candy and go out to lunch every day. Some people at work change into work out clothes and go for a walk or a jog at lunch... for me, this would require bravery to start being that person. I sometimes feel silly going for a jog around my neighborhood, or going to the gym. I always wonder if I will be seen and judged for not being as fit as I ought to be. But ultimately, if I am brave and conquer my fear to go, it is for my own good. I used to be terrified about going to the gym and looking like a noob who doesn't know how to work the equipment, but now it doesn't bother me at all. Today I know how to use most of the equipment and how to not worry about what others might think of me. BE BRAVE, start being the healthy fit person you want to be. Don't feel silly starting a new exercise regiment or diet, especially if you have to be creative about fitting it into a busy schedule. I admire people who make exercising an important part of their day, they show up late to a social event or leave early to fit in their daily work out. I also admire people who eat healthy when they are surrounded by junkie food and party pressure to indulge. It would require me to be brave to start being THAT person, the person I want to be. But I know that as soon as I am brave enough to give it a try, I would start being known as a woman who ate healthy and worked out every day... and successful or not, that's the direction I want to be headed.

If you have always wanted to be a girl who wears cute hats and glasses, does her hair in fun up-do's, puts on red lipstick, and dresses fashionably... BE BRAVE and start. If you don't know how, ask someone, buy a beauty magazine, take the first step. I have always wanted to be a fun well-dressed woman, and often feel I don't have the right body for it, or I'm afraid that I will look like I'm trying too hard. But then I look at others that have my same body shape, or that are dressed in a way I would like to be... and I don't think anything of it! I don't think they are trying too hard, I think they just look fun! If you want to be known later in  life as the lady who always looked fresh and dressed well, be brave and start now. It's never too late to go from being the girl who wears the same thing every day, to the girl who dresses awesome. Be brave, wear that wig, get some eye lash extensions, wear some fun shoes, be the proper mountain woman you want to be.

If you have always wanted to be a hiker and explore the mountains, BE BRAVE and try it. When I was younger I wanted to be a hiker, I grew up right at the base of American Fork Canyon and wanted to start taking advantage of it. As a novice hiker I was afraid I would be considered a poser, I had a ton of irrational thoughts about it... I thought people would see me pulling up to a trail head and immediately know that I didn't belong in the hiking world. I didn't have the clothes for it, I wasn't in shape to do it, and I didn't know where many of the trails were, or where they led to. But I wanted to be a hiker, so I got brave and started. I looked up trails online, I drove around the base of the mountains looking for trail head parking lots, and I went for it. Pretty soon I had explored some awesome areas and had some favorite hikes I did every day. The day I realized I had become the hiking woman I had always wanted to be was when a coworker stopped by my desk, and said "hey, you're a hiker, where should I take my family hiking this weekend?".

If you want to be a chick who snowboards, take a lesson and learn! If you want to travel Europe, save your pennies and go! If you want to be a writer, a home decorator, a pine nut harvester, or a woman who bakes bread... be brave and go for it! That's what Proper Mountain Woman do.

A Proper Mountain Woman is a well-rounded and interesting woman with accomplishments, big and small, seen and not seen. These accomplishments make her life full. The first ingredient to becoming a woman like this is to BE BRAVE. If we are not climbing our mountains, the mountain symbolizing who we want to be, we will not be happy with where we end up... and I want to end up on top of mine, waving a flag!