Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July, Friends!

Hope your holiday is awesome! In between all of your fun, food, and fireworks, be sure to give thanks! Today is America's birthday, the day we were all freed. Aren't you so grateful for all the people that fought {and are still fighting} to give you a safe, wonderful, and happy life here in America?

We really are so blessed, and we don't even know it!

I'll be hanging out with my family today, watching fireworks, maybe making some s'mores and watching in awe at this beautiful place God has allow me to live in! {Thank you, God, for America!}


There is nothing I love more than fireworks. Nothing. I'm amazed by them every time I see them. I crave them. The color, the light, the noise, it's all just one big beautiful reminder. I could watch for hours on end and never get tired.

Here are some gorgeous photos (from Pinterest, not my camera!). Take a look, and embrace the now!

And because I couldn't resist...

Come on! How cool is that?

How did you celebrate this special holiday?

Two Holidays In One!

Today, I'm wishing my Dad, Grandpa, Uncles, Friends, any and every dad out there a very happy Father's Day! I love my Dad, and I'm so blessed to have him! We had a wonderful day, and my dad even got to go so a movie he wanted to see (Green Lantern) with my mom and sister, while I happily stayed home baking a cheesecake. :) He had fun, and then we spent the rest of our day at my grandparents house because in addition to being Father's Day, guess what else it was?

My Grandma's 62nd Birthday!

My grandma was actually born on a Father's Day, as well. She is so fun to be around, I love her, and I'm wishing her many more happy happy birthdays after this!

Today was a really great day for me. I just realize how blessed I am to have such wonderful family and friends! I love you guys!

Summer officially begins on Tuesday. Tomorrow is the last day of Spring! I'm a little sad, because I have to go back to school SO soon (August 10th!), but I'm just embracing every moment and living it to the fullest!

I so excited, because on Wednesday, my uncle, aunt, and 20 month old baby cousin, Hunter, are coming in for a week from Virginia! I've only ever seen my cousin twice (his first Christmas and his first birthday last October), and I didn't want anything to do with him. I was anti baby, seemingly anti everything for so long. I'm done with that! I'm a new me. I'm a changed person. I now realize that babies are precious gifts, and I can't wait to embrace every second of time I get to spend with Hunter.

I hope you all had wonderful days as well. Praying for you today!

One Step At A Time {Plus Inspiration By Song!}

I am a contemporary Christian music lover. 


That's basically all I listen to!Well, that and Sara Barielles, Michael Buble, Jason Mraz, Ingrid Michaelson, you know. It's so uplifting! I love Christian rock, Worship and praise songs, anything of that nature. 


That's me, though. My parents, my sister? I don't think they've ever listened to a Chris Tomlin song in their life!  My mom loves 80's rock, my dad loves Elvis, 50's, 60's, 70's rock, and more recently he's had an obsession with country music (bleh. HATE country.) My sister is a teenager so she loves all the popular music, like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Kesha, etc. (a.k.a all the artists I can't stand to listen to, because almost all the lyrics and videos are just so inappropriate!)


I've learned to just deal with listening to the music my family likes, because none of them are interested in Christian music in any way. Today, I was with my dad and my sister and I heard a song start. This song was not anything I'd ever heard my sister listening to. As I took in the lyrics, I realized it was a Christian song! A very contemporary Christian rock song. And I loved it! During the commercial break, I found out that we were actually listening to a Christian station. The next song was even more amazing! 


After those to songs, our car ride was over. I was so pleasantly surprised. I don't think they even realized we were listening to Christian music, but I did and it made my day. All of my family is Catholic, but basically that's just a title. If someone asks what religion they are, they can say, "Catholic", but my parents or my sister don't even go to church. I'm the reason for that. I pushed away God and religion so much as a child that I pushed it out of our lives for good. I would cry when my parents wanted my to go to church, and one year for about a month, church became punishment. My parents wanted me to change my attitude so they made us start going to church for a month, at which point I convinced them to stop. When, I was 13, everything changed for me. I accepted Christ into my life, and it's been that way ever since. I know that I'm the one who drove my family from God, and I've always regretted that! You can't force someone to believe in God, so I haven't. I've gone on becoming a "Strong Christian" while my family has just stayed put.

I've always prayed that they would eventually embrace this aspect of their lives again. So maybe the Christian music we listened to today was just a coincidence. Probable even. But with our God, ANYTHING is possible. So maybe this was more than just coincidence. I like to think of it as a step in the right direction, toward my family becoming a strong, close-knitted, Christian family who prays together, worships our glorious God together, and even goes to church together! Here's to new beginnings. :)


One of my favorite verses ever: 


Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! {2 Corinthians 5:7}

For our inspiration by song this week, I'm sure you can guess what our 2 songs are. Yes, listen to the 2 songs that I heard on our car radio today, and that just might be the first few steps of a wonderful journey. 

Be blessed on this beautiful day, sweet friend!