We all think we are fat

7/23/07
I love this family so much. We all wake up and have breakfast together, talking and laughing. There is so much happiness here, and everyone is real and true. We went to the beach today which was not by the ocean, but by a pristine lake. The beach was punctuated with people when we arrived, and this seemed to be a community hangout for the people of Boden. Everyone was saying hello to each other and getting ice cream from the cart. The girls and I packed a lunch earlier in the day and bicycled down to this beach where we layed in the sun together, watching people.
The topic about female image has been very interesting since I arrived. It seems that all of us girls are a little self-conscious of our body image. Yet when I look at them, all I see is beauty, and I think that’s what otherssee as well.
We then went to a field together to pick strawberries. The sun was setting and we were all busy crouched over the bushy plants. When you find a strawberry, its like finding a secret jewel coveted by the plants. Because it is Julia’s birthday tomorrow, the rest of us girls stayed up baking cakes. No one had heard of Ganache (A thin chocolate icing for a cake just made of dark chocolate and cream) before, so Yvonne made a chocolate cake, and I decorated it with my famous chocolate ganache and chocolate leaves.
Later in the evening Johanna and I stayed up to wrap presents and make cards for Julia’s birthday which will be the following day.
Johanna made me laugh so hard, I took a crumpled ball of paper and set it on the table saying “here, I bought a gift for you” and she looked up in my eyes and gave a surprised look, then she lovingly grabbed the crumpled paper and threw it behind her like she was getting rid of it without me noticing.
We went to sleep again around 1:00am, and I felt like I had just lived for three days.