a picture is worth 1000 words... but if they're good enough, you can't even find one.

Everyone has those pictures. The ones that not only remind of us a time in our lives, but they really bring us back to that moment; what we were feeling, hearing, saying, our opinions on things, what we were looking forward to, and what we did the next day. I adore these kind of pictures.
Some of these pictures remind me of a time when everything looked up. A time when I understood what it meant to have best friends and to be a best friend. A time when I learned to laugh at myself and love every second of it. A time when I realized I had two more sisters.

Some of these pictures remind me of an extraordinary day, and although those days were incredible, the few that followed would prove to be the most challenging in our lives. They remind me that there are people in my life who I would miss incredibly if they were taken from me, and I need to make every second with these people worth it while I have them.

Some of these pictures remind me of crying. Crying out of love, out of happiness, out of fear for what the future might bring, and crying out of letting go of one more aspect of childhood. Crying because I knew that my church, my family, my friends, and God are everything to me.

Some of these pictures make me smile automatically for reasons that no one could ever figure out, except for maybe the girl in this picture. They make me smile because I remember that exact day in my life and nearly everything about it. Because I was so happy that day when so much in my life was up in the air. Because a new adventure is bound to bring new lessons far beyond the end of the adventure. Because four words and a smile that day affected me in a way that no one knows :) Because a picture of anything from this day would make me feel the same way. And because I love Brooke Stoelltzing.

Some of these pictures were taken during a time where I was so busy that the pictures I look at after the fact let me relive those moments I might have missed. Because I was going through the most exciting time in my life and the people I love saw that adn were happy too. And that made everything so much better.

Some of these pictures are more symbolic that literal. They represent a dream that I had with two of my best friends that had come true. They represent fun and happiness and friendship on so many different levels that I can't help but smile about it.

Some of these pictures take me back to a life that I loved to live. Something so new that I had never experienced, but I don't think I'l be able to get enough of it. Something that I was able to share with five amazing women who i'll love forever. Something that looks somewhat pitiful on the outside, but if I had a million dollars I wouldn't change one part of it.

Some of these pictures teach me a lesson every time I look at them. They bring up a whole aspect of my life that I adore and wouldn't trade for the world. They teach me something that I can't wait to teach other people when I have the chance.

As Brad Paisley says, "Who needs pictures with a memory like mine?" I couldn't agree more. But pictures sure do help.