"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman." -Anais Nin

Yesterday was International Women's Day and I loved reading quotes throughout the day that spoke to the strength that we as women have within us.  Each one was motivating, encouraged a strong community of women helping each other, and represented what I hope to be as a woman myself.  It got me thinking about what makes me feel like a woman and also about all of the other amazing women that I am surrounded by in my life.  I turned 31 last month, found out I was pregnant, and I tell you now more than ever I am proud to be a woman and excited for the evolution that will happen in me this year.

A couple of weeks ago I read a blog post by one of my favorite food and super honest blogs, Dash and Bella.  It is titled I Know a Mama Who.  The post was written by a group of women, all moms, and all being super honest about not feeling beautiful, feeling beautiful, sexual desires, feeling sad, feeling happy, and even trying to appear like you have it all together.  The list goes on.  It's one of the best things I've read in a long time.  It was raw, it was emotional, it was real life, and it screamed woman.

Because no matter how strong we are, we have moments of doubt, comparison, and times when we just want to hide from all there is to do in one day.  And that is okay. Don't let anyone tell you that it's not.  It is to be expected and doesn't take away anything from the amazing woman that you are or that I am.

If anything these moments are the ones that push us to be better, that bring out the best women we can be, and can bring together other women who are going through similar things.

In my life I am surrounded by women who are smart, work harder than I have the willpower to, are amazing moms, amazing wives, are dealing with tough cards being thrown at them left and right with grace, and inspire me everyday to be a better person and woman.  

As I enter into a new chapter of womanhood this year, and grow a tiny human inside of me, there are new priorities that I am feeling and new desires to be the kind of person that this tiny little olive will look up to and admire.  I also know that I will continue to self-doubt, mess up, and fail at multiple things in between, but one thing is for sure.  I know that as a woman, I also have the strength inside me to get back up, brush myself off and try again. 

In today's world more than ever, there is no mold for a woman.  It is the best time to be a woman.  You can be career focused, a mom, a woman who loves sex, a woman who is beautiful, smart, strong, and one who is a force to be reckoned with because you are a combination of all of those things I just mentioned.

And here is the best news, there is room for us all.  I just heard a quote last night that said "pay attention to those who don't clap when you win."  And I really got to thinking about that and how it is related to women because sometimes instead of lifting each other up, women can be catty and not cheer for each other for petty reasons.

Let's not be those women, I want to see us all succeed.  I want to see us all happy. And I want to kick some butt while we do it.  I am woman, you are woman, and we are in this together.