This post was sponsored by Seven Peaks Resort and BillieJo Clothing. All Opinions are my Own
Earlier this summer, I had the awesome opportunity to partner with SevenPeaks Resort and enjoy a fun day at their Provo, Utah water park with several of my blogging friends. You may have caught all of our adventures on my Insta-stories (we took over the SevenPeaks Instagram for the day and had a blast!)
I’m going to be straight up honest with you all – I had a really hard time wanting to take photos in a bathing suit because I was worried about how I would look in them. I wanted to be skinnier, I wanted my scar to be a little less noticeable, I wanted my chest to be more proportionate to my body. I was worried about what I was going to look like next to my friends who were probably going to look a lot cuter in their swimsuits. Sure, I’ve made great progress in loving my body and embracing it for what it is, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to commit to a swimsuit shoot at a waterpark.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was a constant worry and anxiety in my life. How often have I limited myself and prevented myself from having vibrant life experiences because I’m too worried or self-conscious about how I look to others? How often have I said no, not because I didn’t want to do something, but because I was too scared of how I was going to look? I realized that the answer to those questions was: often. Way too often.
So, I decided to push my anxieties aside and let myself have a day at the park with some of my favorite blogging friends. And do you know what happened? I had SO much fun! We floated the lazy river, we tubed down slides and we rode waves in the wave pool. Yes, once in a while, I did worry about how I looked in a bathing suit, but it was fleeting because we were too busy dragging our tubes to the next slide.
Seven Peaks Water Park
If you are traveling to Utah in the summer (or if you just moved here) I want to give share some information about Seven Peaks because it’s basically been our favorite place to go to this summer.
Seven Peaks Resort actually has two water parks in Utah – one in the Salt Lake Valley and one in the Utah Valley (Provo.) My house is almost in the exact middle of them, although the Salt Lake one is a little closer. However, they recently just renovated a lot of the Provo park and we wanted to spend our first day there to check out all the new and updated features.
The Pass of All Passes –
The best part about SevenPeaks is the ability to forgo a day pass into the park and to buy a pass of all passes instead. A pass of all passes is like a season pass, except 10X better. A Pass of All Passes not only gives you season access to BOTH water parks, but it also gives you access to the following places and events:
- Seven Peaks Fun Center Lehi
- Orem Owlz Baseball
- Towne Cinemas Movie Theater
- Utah Grizzlies HOckey
- Real Monarchs Soccer
- BYU Athletics
- U of U Athletics
- Rocky Mountain Raceways
- UVU Athletics
- Shell Outdoor Theater
- Peaks Ice Arena
Provo vs. Salt Lake
It’s a pretty tough choice when it comes down to which water park to go to. Since spending this day at the Provo Park, Dustin and I have gone to the Salt Lake park and back to the Provo one. Each park has its pros and cons. The Salt Lake Park, in our opinion, has better slides. I also like the layout of the park better, everything is easy to get to and navigate. However, this park is older and hasn’t been renovated like the Provo Park, and there aren’t any beach chairs or umbrellas. The Lazy River is a bit run down, which is a bummer because lazy rivers are my favorite part! You have to snag a patch of shade and lay on the ground when you aren’t swimming.
The Provo Park definitely has nicer facilities. They also have a ton of new beach chairs, umbrellas, and even have cabanas you can rent (which are giant umbrellas with picnic tables, chairs, etc.) The slides are fine but a bit spread out and you have to walk around a lot to get to the different lines, and if it’s a hot day, your feet will burn. The lazy river is nicer at the Provo park, but the water was WAY too warm when we went last.
You can’t go wrong with either park and if you get the Pass of all Passes, you can go to both parks as many times as you want without paying more than once!
Bathing Suits
I was worried about having my photos taken in a bathing suit altogether, but I did feel more confident than I thought I would since BillieJo Clothing sent me (and the rest of my friends) bathing suits to wear during our day together.
My favorite thing about the BillieJo bathing suits is that they have SO many patterns that mix so well together. I’ve really loved the pattern mixing trend. BillieJo also makes a lot of high-waisted bottoms, which is awesome for anyone who wants a little extra coverage. I opted for their marble tie-bottoms and their sweetheart crop-top suit. Since I have a larger chest, I wanted to make sure I had something that gave me extra support and held everything in place while going down slides. This top did a GREAT job doing that and I highly recommend it for all big-chested girls like me!
Meet my blogging buds: Karlie from Everyday Ellis | Natasha from Canary Jane | Keara from Modest Style | Abby from The Classy Giraffe
The Biggest Lesson I Learned-
I’m not going to lie and say that when we got these photos, I was all gung-ho about sharing them. Yes, I wish my belly was a little bit more toned, and yes, I wish that my left leg wasn’t SO obviously scarred. But, at the end of the day, these photos remind me that I had a great time at Seven Peaks with my friends and that I didn’t let my scars get in the way of living a vibrant life. I am constantly learning that living a full life with scars and insecurities is a lot easier said than done, but that it IS possible to do so. That doesn’t mean that I’m totally over my insecurities, because I still have them, but it does mean that my need for a vibrant life is BIGGER than my need to hide away because of my insecurities.
Summer is supposed to be a time of sunshine and water parks and beaches. Even though summer is ending in a few weeks, I challenge you to get out there in your bathing suit (even if you are insecure) and have a great time soaking up the last rays of sunshine. Focus on living a vibrant life and I promise that you will have an incredible day!
Talk to me below about your insecurities – have you ever convinced yourself not to do something because you were afraid of how you would look?
