Random Video of the Week: Facebook Song

Midnight
So still, so dark
Blanketing earth with silent reverence
I rest in the solitude
Find strength in the calm
Words become unnecessary
Making room for thought
A sound breaks the silence
It is my breathing.

Random Video of the Week: Invisible Dogs

The Hardest Part

The hardest part
Is laid in gold
Surrounded by
Joy untold
A hedge of thorns
Guards the gem
Like every rose
Has its stem
Rainbows form
Only after rain
Love is laughter
Love is pain
Hurt and healing
Go hand in hand
Those who once fall
The stronger stand
Behind every cloud
Is a silver lining
Just like the fire
Does the refining
A friend's arrow
Cuts deep the heart
Loving them back
Is the hardest part.

Zoe: almost 10 months!

Michelle (my sister-in-law) started a blog recently, so we've been getting lots of Zoe pictures. Check them out: Arizona Rhineharts I get to see these pudgy little cheecks in a month and a half! :)

Lunch and Bus Rides

My birthday was pretty relaxed and fun. Mom, Anna, and I went out to lunch with Emily because she couldn't be there for dinner. It was SO delicious.

Then we had our family dinner that night.

Then this past Saturday my best friend Natalie took me to the mall as my present.

Since neither of use have our license we took the bus. :) I call this the converse square of love. <3 It was a good time.

She Turns 14

The baby of the family turned 14 last week.
Here Anna is putting good use to her presents. All at the same time. (I mean, who doesn't drink tea with chore gloves on while reading a book?) Getting some last rays of Summer.

All of the sisters except one.

The birthday Girl:

Random Video of the Week: Piano Stairs

Time Machine

I'm glad I wasn't born in 1973, because then I would look like this today: This is what I would look like if I was living in 1986. And though I think this hair is pretty rad, I'm not sure I could live with it every day.1958: no comment.
Instead, 17 years ago today, I was born. And I'm pretty okay with that.

"You see, boys forget what their country means by just reading The Land of the Free in history books. Then they get to be men they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that." -Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Happy Birthday...

...to my favorite little sister! She hath lived 14 years upon the earth.

Myrtle Beach Trip

The car ride was so long going down there, it took us 16 hours and 2 days! This was largely due to construction and pulling the pop-up. We camped overnight at a KOA and woke up to the lovely sound of rain. We packed up in record time (30 minutes) and ate at Shoney's, a breakfast buffet they only have down south. It was SO good.

Saturday we celebrated my Grandma's 85th birthday at a banquet at her church. 6 of her 10 kids were there to help her celebrate, and 6 of her 33 grandkids. And the kids:

We went to the beach after church on Sunday. It was the most perfect day! It took all my self-control from running into the ocean, clothes and all. I just ran in knee deep water and splashed myself. Good thing we had a towel in the car.

I loved this pier. It was so cool.

A cute couple under the pier.

233 Years

Two hundred and thirty-three years
Our country has been alive,
Whether it be depression, civil war
Or terrorist attacks, we somehow survive,
The United States has been blessed
With abundance and plenty
Million of people have come
To experience the land of opportunity,
But let us not forget the ones
Who gave their lives to freedom's cause,
Most now lay in unmarked graves
Dying without honor or applause,
Let us not forget the freedoms
They paid for with sincerity,
Their blood paved the way for us
To live in peace and prosperity,
And let us not forget our God
The one who got us to this place,
We aren't here because of our strength
But only by His sovereign grace.