The One Hundredth Post....

I'm eighteen. Huh. I don't have much to say on that vein... except that time's flying by, and leaving me older. That could be good and bad. I don't know. I do know that I have learned much and grown much in the past year, so I guess that's good.

The days have been both flying by and dragging like cold winter. There have been good things that have happened, and bad things. There is much I don't know, and much I am impatient for, I suppose if I look back on how I was a year past, I could safely say that I have grown. I keep busy each day, either with housework or scrapbooking or cooking or reading... among other things. I have been ill this past week, and I have felt much pain, but it is past now, so that is good. I had forgotten what pain was like. There have been different activities and little stories that we've been a part of.... picnics to tell of, friendships to rejoice in, fairs to describe... Little things, but enjoyable and what makes up my life. I shan't go into them. They shall but remain as special memories in my heart and in the hearts of my friends.

These are some of the little activities... I shall let the pictures tell the stories. Perhaps you will find as much joy in the pictures as I do. The smiles... the smiles. I love their smiles.

And rainbows.... Rainbows always find me in the simplest of places. I haven't seen many in my life. Of rainbows, that is. I suppose perhaps I haven't looked hard enough. But I love them... the color is enough to overwhelm me. I love color. I cannot imagine living without it. It is unspeakably awesome. I imagine how horrible it would be to be imprisoned for my faith, in prisons where there are only drab colors - if they can even be called colors - of grey and black and dirty white. And I imagine how amazing it would be to emerge from that prison and see all the colors... the blueness of the sky, the perfect white of the clouds, the lush green of grass, the beautiful colors that clothing can be in, EVERYTHING! It would be enough to cause me to cry.

Can you see the spiderweb?

And still more rainbows. It's funny how the bright things in life appear, and give this calm assurance of God.

I had a not so slight disappointment. Six beautiful jars of canned plum tomatoes spoiled. I made mistakes... and learned. Next time I'll do better. (That's what birthdays are all about, right? Giving another clean slate for the year ahead. Like new mornings. There hasn't been anything done wrong yet in a new day, or a new year.)

These next pictures are of my siblings and I, having a tomato war with the leftover, half spoiled and overripe tomatoes.