Sweet Tea at the Bells: The Changes We Are Embracing

“We are not here to perform perfection. We are here to practice transformation.”

Now that the garden gate is open, let’s pour a little sweet tea.

Here at the Bells, we are learning to let breath guide us, gratitude ground us, and change refine us.

Our Journey Has Been More Than Weight Loss

This journey has not been small. In fact, quite large once upon a time.

It has been body.

It has been mind.

It has been spirit.

It has been medical.

It has been emotional.

It has been practical.

It has been sacred.

It has been messy, miraculous, rainy, radiant, and real.

Through our bariatric wellness journeys, Jason and I have released hundreds of pounds together. We have also released symptoms, survival patterns, old identities, old limits, old fears, and versions of ourselves we once needed in order to survive.

We honor those former versions.

We thank them.

And we also celebrate who we are becoming now.

Transformation Is About What We Gain

Because transformation is not only about what you lose.

It is about what you gain.

Breath.

Mobility.

Clarity.

Choice.

Confidence.

Community.

A deeper relationship with your body.

A new way of showing up for your life.

Bariatric surgery was one tool in our transformation, but it was never the whole story. The real work has been learning how to live, choose, heal, move, nourish, rest, regulate, and grow in bodies that have changed dramatically.

Why Embrace Change Exists

That is why we are here.

Embrace Change is our love offering, our lived-wisdom garden, and our peer-support space for those navigating bariatric life, body transformation, wellness, identity shifts, and the ongoing practice of choosing yourself again and again.

We are not here to replace professional care.

We deeply honor the medical providers, therapists, dietitians, surgeons, specialists, mentors, friends, family, and community members who have helped us along the way. We continue to receive professional support so that we can remain well, mindful, ethical, and grounded as we support others.

We believe community care and professional care can walk together.

We believe lived experience matters.

We believe peer support can be powerful when it is rooted in honesty, humility, compassion, and responsibility.

And we believe celebration belongs in healing.

A Heart Full of Gratitude

So today, we raise a glass of sweet tea and say thank you.

Thank you to everyone who helped us get here.

Thank you to the people who loved us through the hard chapters.

Thank you to the professionals who supported our health and healing.

Thank you to the friends and family who witnessed the becoming.

Thank you to the rainy days that taught us resilience.

Thank you to the sunny days that reminded us to bloom.

And thank you to ourselves.

For continuing.

For transforming.

For choosing life.

For choosing healing.

For choosing change.

The Story Is Still Unfolding

This is not the end of the story.

As they say, it is a never-ending story.

We are still unfolding.

Still becoming.

Still practicing.

Still learning.

Still embracing change daily.

Some days we march forward with clarity.

Some days we move slowly and let the rain water the roots.

Either way, we tend to find our way.

As Embrace Change grows, we are also open to aligned sponsorships, collaborations, partnerships, and professional relationships with people, brands, practitioners, and organizations who share a heart for wellness, transformation, ethical support, community care, creativity, and conscious growth.

We are beginning in our local gardens at the House of Harmony, but we trust that wisdom can travel.

It can blow with the wind.

Flow with the water.

Rise with the fire.

Root into the earth.

And evolve in the hearts of those ready to receive it.

Our first sacred community ceremony will be held on June 21, 2026, as we honor the summer solstice, the sun, the growth in the gardens, the sacred waters, the fire of transformation, the breath of wind and air, the turning of the seasons, and the wisdom of the directions.

We move forward with reverence.

We move forward with business consciousness.

We move forward with professional integrity.

We move forward with a heart that honors sovereignty, ancestry, story, land, bloodlines, chosen family, lived experience, and the many directions from which healing can come.

I may march to the beat of my own drum — and yes, I intend to.

But I do so with humility, awareness, gratitude, and respect for the many lineages, teachers, stories, and communities that have shaped this path.

Embrace Change is not about pretending we have arrived.

It is about honoring that we are still becoming.

And now, we are ready to share more of the story.

The bariatric journey.

The wellness journey.

The body changes.

The mindset shifts.

The grief.

The gratitude.

The receipts.

The real-life lessons.

The “what we wish we had known.”

The “how we keep going.”

The “come sit with us, you are not alone.”

So pull up a chair.

Bring your sweet tea, your protein water, your journal, your questions, your laughter, your tenderness, and your truth.

The garden gate is open.

The story is still unfolding.

And here at Embrace Change, we are just getting started.

With gratitude and cheers,

Andrea & Jason Bell

Embrace Change

House of Harmony

“We are not here to perform perfection. We are here to practice transformation.”

Hundreds of pounds released. Countless lessons received.