I'll write more soon...Rachel



Monica's Journal, December 31, 1998
Hello! I wanted to write and say it's been quite a year for me as a Big Beautiful Woman, as an Ambassador for Size Acceptance, as a student and teacher, and as a person and friend. This Fall and Winter have been an amazing time of growth for me. After taking in Italy and a bit of England, I came home for another semester of music training and teaching. I've been working on some curriculum ideas for the kid's projects I was so interested in, and they are added to my webpage (put link to http://home.earthlink.net/~monicabbw/pix/bbw.html). I've been in contact with many groups all hoping to educate the kids out there about size acceptance.

I've been feeling this incredible feeling since November, when I attended a convention that wasn't about size acceptance, in fact, it was a Science Fiction convention! But I felt absolutely accepted there. I put a button on my black backpack style purse that says "Woman of Substance." I felt comfortable there, because so many other people had buttons on. I got compliments on it, my clothes, my enthusiasm and my beauty. I was at the mall a few days after Christmas, and in the crowds bustling around me, I thought about that button on my back. I thought of removing it for a moment and then I decided not to. It's not that I don't think people won't notice that I'm a substantially sized woman, but I do want them to notice that I'm a confident, well dressed, beautiful, happy Woman of Substance.

If you are reading this in 1999 or beyond, I hope you'll take a minute to think about what it would take for you to support the Size Acceptance Movement in your life personally or globally. Think about joining ISAA.



Monica's Journal, January 24, 1999
Happy New Year! I had a great Christmas, starting off with a week in beautiful Palm Springs, then the usual family and friends gatherings. For New Years I spent some time with special friends and attended a NAAFA Chapter party...maybe someday soon, I can say I've been going to some hot ISAA parties! I took a trip to the East Coast and most of it was really fun. The weather was cold, but mostly clear which was a blessing.

I enjoyed seeing Charleston and Savannah, the former being more impressive. We went on some tours and saw many of the old houses in the area. I felt like I hit the jackpot when I walked into the gift shop at Drayton Hall. I found tin whistles and fifes for sale. I've wanted to learn to play the tin whistle for a while, since I'm interested in Scottish music, and it's similar to the recorder, which I learned to play in Kuwait when I taught music there. I also found some wonderful new books including some reprints of the Flower Fairies books from the 1920's, and a music book celebrating African-American children's songs and games. I got together with an old friend and attended a Gospel concert in Greensboro, North Carolina (N.C.). They really take their Gospel seriously in N.C. It was a three hour show with many performers and the light show was pretty good too. I saw Trinity, CeCe Wynans and Kirk Franklin with God's Property. I've been singing quite a bit of gospel by the last group with the choir I'm in at school. I topped off the trip with a date with a great guy I'd met at an International No-Diet Day event here in San Diego last year. He drove from Atlanta to Charlotte in his white corvette, and we went out to a great restaurant and then to a jazz club!

I'm back into school mode once again, I've maintained a 4.0 during the last 3 semesters, so I'll see if I can keep that up, it will be challenging though, since now I have music theory among the 17 units I'm taking. One class is strictly for fun though, it's a touring drama group that is called "Words Alive" and we'll be performing at local elementary schools in order to promote literacy. Most of the stories are written by the kids at the schools we are performing at.