::Entering the Twilight Zone::

I bet you thought this post was going to be about romantic vampires, didn't ya?  Didn't ya?!
Or perhaps about a haunted hotel with a plummeting elevator.

No?  Okay, maybe you didn't...anyway...

Tomorrow marks the 21st year since my entrance into this world as a totally depraved human being, desperately in need of salvation.

Wahooo!

My feelings about this event have been soooo mixed, I'm not even sure what to think.  o.O
I've swung all the way from excitement over my state-instituted, official adulthood (yay...), and a sinking feeling that my time is slipping, no, flat out running away from me.  This past year has gone especially fast.
Seems as though each new year tries to beat the previous one in the annual "365 Day Sprint"...me no likey.

Mostly though, I just feel plain ole ancient!  I know, I know...I'm a Spring chicken.
(Maybe you've noticed a gray streak in my hair...that's a total joke, by the way.  Perhaps I'm letting this "old" thing go to my head. ;)
It's at this time in my life, I'm starting to be able to look around me.  Observe young children I have babysat turn into TEENAGERS!!  That's just plain wrong.  Every time I see a little one growing up, I get this actual, literal, physical sensation of going through a worm-hole-time-warping-mechanism-type-thing.
Then I close my eyes, and sigh.

On the flip-side of the coin though...I'm really excited!  Like really, REALLY excited!
Not so much about the age as the Lord's goodness.  Seems like the longer I live, the more sin I notice in my life.  "That's nothing to get excited about," you might say.  True.  But, as time marches on, the Lord is also showing what a great Savior He is!
When I look at my sin in light of Christ's goodness and atoning power, I'm amazed!
"Yes, I'm a sinner.  Thank you God for the continuing growth that is revealing these bad qualities to me.  Thank you for mercy in revealing Your Truth!  I thank you that Your grace is greater than all these sins, though they be many!"
Are you getting excited yet?!
The longer I live, the more I come to realize the Lord's goodness and might!
Then I close my eyes, and sigh.  :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I smile a lot.  And I'm starting to really notice the effect around my eyes...and one corner of my mouth in particular.  Oddly enough, with all this "feeling old" business, the creasing doesn't bother me.
I love wrinkles you see, so long as they're happy ones. :)

Even with these special little creases forming, people still guess my average age to be 16 or 17.  Which is good, I guess.  :)
Just yesterday, my family and I performed at the church we grew up in as little girls.  And a lady wanted to use me as an example of the age she was during a certain time in her life.  (16)  Imagine her surprise when I told her Tuesday was going to be my 21st birthday!  We laughed and laughed!  Boy that was fun!



In other news...

My first card/gift arrived this afternoon.  Thank you SOOOOOOO much Mrs. Lynn!  I love it!!!
The picture has a wonderful personal note on the back.  No, you may not know what it says...them's special words betwixt two tall friends!  Hmm, I think I'll hang it on my door...  ;)

So here I sit.  Just as confused and excited as ever about being 21.  :)

At least it was relaxing!  Fun to put my thoughts down on...umm...screen...?  :)

It's right about 14 minutes till my natal day and I must away.  I've got this nice bag of chocolate (a gift) to keep me company while I stare at that calendar square.

Yay chocolate!  I hear the older you become, the slower your metabolism gets, and the more weight wonderful candies like this pack on...and the more the caffine over works your aging heart.
o.O

Oh well!  I'll enjoy this work-aholic metabolism while I've got it!!  :)

Cheers to getting older and growing in grace,
~Anna  :)

::Welcome Spring...and other randomness::

I smell Spring...quite literally.The orange blossoms are in full bloom down here. They smell especially amazing at night, the cool air holds and enhances the scent amazingly well!  :)

I've been busy.  Verrrrry busy!
Between the parties, church meetings, music performances, online classes, photography gigs, and LIFE...my posts have been non-existent recently.  Hoping to give a brief synopsis of life right now.

Well, I started reading Treasure Island today...arg.  First chapter, done!
I left Jim Hawkins in his house with an unconscious, tatood Billy Bones after a wild, bloody escapade with Black Dog the pirate.
O.O
I may have to return to that soon, the suspense is killing me.  
It's been a long time since I've read a book for pleasure, it's been mostly school recently (which is now done!).  Boy is it nice.



Last Summer, we had a TON of trees taken down.  The lack of wind "shieldage" caused this young sapling to lose it's top a week ago.  Poor little fella.  :(

I've been wanting to plant lots of new fruit trees where the old diseased orange trees grew.  I'm thinking fig.  Hmm...yes, I like figs, fresh figs!  Capital idea, me!  *pats self on back*

Also, there's this lovely tree that blooms in the Autumn time here in FL.  The blossoms come out this gorgeous coral color, the trees are awash with them from about September till November.  I WANT!!  So, when I brought up this wonderful idea to my dad, I got...the look.  That lovable, hilarious sideways glance that says, "What an interesting idea, Anna...I'm about to poke fun at it."

So he dutifully proceeds to tell me what a pain this tree is when all those lovely blooms dye and pepper the ground.  Tells me about how much work it would be.
During this nice, fatherly lecture...my eyes begin to glaze over, my smile grows plasticized, and the only thought in my head is, "But it's PRETTY!!!  I want!" 
Then, as if to further convince me of my folly, he bestows a loving name on this amazing piece of nature.  He calls it a...
Pain in the ____ Tree
(I left that word out intentionally, because I am too reserved to blog the word "butt.")
So yes...father knows best, and I have yet to plant one.  OH!  Perhaps I'll plant one all secret-like, in the dead of night.  There's an idea...yeeeees. >:)



ANYway...I love how our yard is almost completely covered with these lovely wildflowers...ahem...weeds.
They make me so happy.  :)




Bet you didn't know that this is a Parsley bloom, did'ya??
We moved our chickens to a new location this Fall.  And what was left behind but some AMAZING soil?!
We decided to stick some Collards and Parsley plants in there to see what would happen.  Wouldn't you know it...those plants are monstrous!!  This bloom is super close to my height of 5 foot 10 inches.  HUGE!


This time of year, April, means music festivals, orange blossoms, and...guess what!...my birthday!
Yes, I'll be marking another year this month.  I'm torn between having an early mid-life crisis, or, being excited to finally enter "official" adulthood.  Hmmm...decisions, decisions. 

And now...let us break away from the bondage of plant photos to a new, broader horizon!!!!!

GOATEEEEEES!!


Ahhh, singed marshmallow residue.  A little reminder of the many wonderful bonfires we had this winter.  One lasted till 3am...that wasn't planned.  Good memories...  :)

So, hmm, yes...back to goats!

AWW Matilda!!  (No joke, she's named after my grandmother.)  I love this goat!  :)


"Noooo...NO!!  Don't eat us!  We want to live!!"  X_X
...Sorry...


I love how the Springtime oak leaves are bright green.  Our property is so spacious now that it's been cleared!

Okay, it's official...

I strongly DISlike construction!!!  These men have no respect for the sleeping population.  This morning, I was rudely awakened by the sound of banging, crashing, and thudding.  Not to mention my bedroom was shaking.  Hmph...I am sore displeased.
(By the way, I took this photo looking through a teeny hole in the lattice fencing around our pool.  I didn't want the ruffians to see me spying on them.  There's no privacy anywhere when they're here.)
Oh well, at least it'll all be over soon!  I hope.  :)

And because the weather was just that amazing yesterday, I did a mini-photoshoot with Emily amongst the weeds...ermh...wildflowers. ;)



Purple...everywhere!!




This makes me happy.  :)


Green fingerless gloves...approve!  :)




Ah, that was nice.  A break from the real-world to do some much needed blogging.  *contented sigh*
So between the beginning and end of this post, I took a break and did a senior photoshoot.  THAT was fun.  Time with old friends, running around historic downtown, taking pictures...nice.  :)  So I should be posting those on my photography blog within the next few weeks or so.
I made a new header for that blog with some of the photos from this post.  It was relaxing.

OH...and I just posted photos from my first maternity shoot!!!  Such exciting times.  :)

Alright...I'm off to church.  Happy Thursday everyone!
Soli Deo Gloria,
~Anna Grace