blahg.

today i helped all the loup-family women (actually... i think it's glynn family women) get ready for amber and john's engagement shower tomorrow. i dipped and decorated petit fours (mrs. annie is probably as patient with me as her dear son)... i think they turned out alright. afterwards, we went out to the crawfish ponds with Aunt Pat and Aunt Sharon to look for some wild flowers. i was really excited and definitely wanted to tag along in the golf cart because going back there and seeing all the beautiful trees and water and birds and wildlife is quickly becoming one of my very favorite things to do.

as you read earlier this week, i missed seeing the roseate spoonbills the other day. charlie said they never come this time of year, so i would probably miss them. but on our ride collecting thistles and other swamp plants, we approached and slough with 4 feeding spoonbills! and they must mate and stick together because they were very obviously two pairs of birds. when we got too close for comfort, they flew way up in the air and circled around until we left. i was... ecstatic. it was like the happiest thing that had ever happened to me (Dramatic, i know. i told my mom this story and she said it's in my blood to love birds, but she's just thankful that i can finally appreciate nature! i may or may not have slept the whole time we went to the grand canyon when i was in high school...?)

but anyway... in my not-so-distant past i went through a dark time. i couldn't think of ANYTHING that made me happy. a good friend recommended that i do something that made me happy every day... and i couldn't come up with anything. even things that used to make me happy. i felt... purpose-less... discontent... and just... unhappy. at the beginning of the year i felt like God said things would change this year... and i feel like it's true. dark times don't stay dark forever. hard times are relieved by lighter times full of joy. (i even think my hormones are more balanced thanks to my insulin-resistance diet!) I feel... happy and content and thankful. thank you, God!