More Holiness Give Me

"More holiness give me, more strivings within. 

More patience in suffering, more sorrow for sin. 

More faith in my Savior, more sense of His care. 

More joy in His service, more purpose in prayer. 

More gratitude give me, more trust in the Lord. 

More zeal for His glory, more hope in His Word. 

More tears for His sorrows, more pain at His grief. 

More meekness in trial, more praise for relief. 

More purity give me, more strength to o'ercome, 

More freedom from earth-stains, more longings for home. 

More fit for the kingdom, more useful I'd be, 

More blessèd and holy, more, Savior, like Thee."

-Phillip Paul Bliss, 1873

I'm so grateful for the power in music and lyrics. Especially hymns. 

This hymn has brought me extra peace this morning. 

It's going to be a nice day.

You can listen to the history of this hymn here.

Mother Teresa

During the commencement speech at my graduation the speaker quoted the commencement Mother Teresa gave in 1982 at Harvard. Today I found the whole speech and it is wonderful. As in, it will make you want to be a better person kind of wonderful. Mother Teresa is an amazing woman. 

You can read the speech here.

(It's worth your time)

Good Girl Gracie

Gracie is Chris' dog.

When we were home we were able to fit in a lot of playing time.

She's a good dog. 

Casa De Fruta

Casa De Fruta is another one of those places you should visit in your lifetime. But beware, you will want to try everything there. I warned you.

Sunset Beach, CA

Talk about a good looking husband. 

On our last day we wanted to boogie board and relax on the beach.

We only lasted about 15 minutes in the water, 10 of those minutes I was only knee deep. I was being a baby. For the rest of our time we slept. It was glorious.

Phil's Fish Market & Eatery

 

Please, if you every visit the central coast of California, have a meal at Phil's Fish.
You will forever be happy if you do.
But really.

Santa Cruz KOA

Last week Chris' family and my family joined together for a camping trip.

We stayed at the Santa Cruz KOA for three days.

During the visit we napped on the beach, ate strawberries with every meal and played at the boardwalk. I'm grateful that our families are close enough to do vacations like this together and things not be weird. It's great. :)

That one time the tire started leaking air in Island Park

When my family came up to visit us in Idaho for graduation(last week) I wanted us to get out of the apartment and do some fun things. But, both of my parents had surgery earlier this month so I knew we couldn't do anything too strenuous. Chris and I brainstormed and decided the Henry Fork Loop would be a fitting activity. In a nutshell you see all the different landscapes of Idaho, and it's free! So we set out on this adventure. Chris and I did this drive in May and saw 5 billion elk so we were excited to show off a cool piece of the state we are living in to family. Turns out, there are no elk out on July 25. 

That's okay i kept telling everyone, this route also sends us through Island Park which is real pretty.

Once we were in Island Park we found a pretty spot to explore. I got out of the truck and heard a hissing sound. "Dad, does the tire usually make that sound?" Apparently not. Our tire was leaking, at a scary speed. While Dad and Chris investigated the leak I was able to take a very limited amount of photos(seen above). Luckily we were able to make it to a repair shop and the rest of the day went smoothly.

THE END

Cooking class

This morning was rough.

I had to give a demo in cooking class on how to make a cake with altitude adjustments.
Things were going okay until I had to cream together the sugar and butter with the hand mixer.
(Which is pretty much the first step)
The first speed on the mixer was more like turbo so butter and sugar flew in every direction.
The people in the front row had a similar reaction to the front row people at Sea World, minus the happiness.
Sugar dusted the floor and counters, butter chunks found a new home in students' textbooks.
Everyone laughed.(except for the front row)
The teacher calmed the class down and I was embarrassed.
How was I suppose to mix in the eggs and buttermilk with my possessed hand mixer?
I went for it. A boy in my class took cover.
Everyone laughed again, at this point I wasn't seeing the humor.
Somehow I was able to finish the cake without any other disasters and it ended up tasting really good.

During my demo I felt a little like a clumsy Lucy. 

This experience reminded me that I need to relax and not be so uptight about doing something right. 

Sometimes mistakes can be funny. Life goes on. 

It never gets old

This is one of those songs that I will always love.

The Fourth of July

Hi guys. Yesterday came and went pretty fast. That's how most days have been recently.

The day included pancakes with strawberries, The Sandlot, cleaning, packing, Kiwi Loco, pizza and fireworks. It was a nice day.

I love celebrating holidays with Chris.  

 ^this is our attempt at a cheesy sparkler heart photo.... that ended up looking like a broken heart... opps. 

I hope everyone enjoyed their day. :)