Von guten Mächten (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

1. Von guten Mächten treu und still umgeben,
behütet und getröstet wunderbar,
so will ich diese Tage mit euch leben,
und mit euch gehen in ein neues Jahr.

Refrain:

Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen,
erwarten wir getrost, was kommen mag.
Gott ist mit uns am Abend und am Morgen
und ganz gewiss an jedem neuen Tag.

2. Noch will das Alte unsere Herzen quälen,
noch drückt uns böser Tage schwere Last.
Ach, Herr, gib unsern aufgescheuchten Seelen
das Heil, für das du uns bereitet hast.

3. Und reichst du uns den schweren Kelch, den bittern
des Leids, gefüllt bis an den höchsten Rand,
so nehmen wir ihn dankbar ohne Zittern,
aus deiner guten und geliebten Hand.

4. Doch willst du uns noch einmal Freude schenken
an dieser Welt und ihrer Sonne Glanz,
dann wolln wir des Vergangenen gedenken,
und dann gehört dir unser Leben ganz.

5. Lass warm und still die Kerzen heute flammen,
die du in unsere Dunkelheit gebracht.
Führ, wenn es sein kann, wieder uns zusammen.
Wir wissen es, dein Licht scheint in der Nacht.

6. Wenn sich die Stille nun tief um uns breitet,
so lass uns hören jenen vollen Klang
der Welt, die unsichtbar sich um uns weitet,
all deiner Kinder hohen Lobgesang.

Text: Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1944) 1945/1951

i love the mountains, 

i love the rolling hills...

This Friday I had the opportunity to go up and share some time with the young women at camp Mia Shalom. 

It was such an unforgettable experience. 

I'll admit--- In the past, I have never been the biggest fan of yw girls camp. 

The bugs...no cell phones...no showers... typically not my cup of tea.

However, for whatever reason, my eyes were really opened to the real importance of girls camp this year. 

As I pulled into camp Shalom  for the first time in YEARS, I felt so much joy and gratitude. 

It is a place where many of my most important memories live,

 including the place where I learned for the first time what my testimony was.. 

I realized that girls, including myself don't go to girls camp because they love the bugs,

or smelling like an awful fire, or getting grimmy (okay, well maybe some of them do).

The main reason we go is to be spiritually fed. To become closer to our Savior and to feel His love.

This theme for camp this year was...

It was amazing to see how much the young women had changed in the course of a week. 

When I met up, hugged, and greeted them, I could tell that their countenances had changed. 

They were all glowing with the love and light of Christ. 

It seriously touched my heart. Once again, the youth are amazing. 

We spent the day singing, hiking, laughing, talking, making friendship bracelets, studying.

Favorite part of the day?

Testimony meeting. 

I'll tell you what, I was so extremely touched and humbled to be able to hear the testimonies of the girls.

I guess sometimes as a leader, I have felt like I may not always "getting through" to the girls.

More than anything, I want the girls to know how precious they are in the sight of their Heaveny Father.

It was amazing to just sit there and listen the girls pour out their hearts. 

I was so touched when one of the young women stood to bear her testimony. 

She stood and testified in the light of the fire that she knew that her Heavenly Father loved her.

Unconditionally.

Regardless whether or not she was smart.

Regardless if she wore makeup.

Regardless if she lived in a big house.

As each girl stood to bear their testimonies, the spirit was tangible

. It is an experience and moment that I will never forget.

Their testimonies and examples strengthened me personally as a women.

I love the young women.

I love learning from them.

I love knowing and feeling proud that they are our future.

I love girls camp and the experiences it brings.

Can't wait to go back next year. 

Have I Done Any Good

in The World Today?

__________________

So as of late Brett and I have been serving as ordinance workers in the Timpanogos temple.

 I love it. That’s all.

Okay, maybe that’s not all I wanted to say…

Although it’s challenging at times to wake up at 3:30am in order to get to our shift on time

 (we work the 5:00am-11:00am) shift, it is SO worth it.

One of my many favorite things about working in the temple? 

Definitely the beginning of the shift.

Before starting our rotations one of the temple presidency members always

take a moment to share a thought with us.

These priesthood holders are so wise and such spiritual giants.

They always enlighten my understanding of the gospel and temple ordinances.

Anyways, this past week, the Temple President spoke to us

about the joy that comes from service. It really touched my heart.

As he spoke to us he asked us, “What is the prayer that never goes unanswered?”.

 When he first asked this, I was pretty confused.

 I knew that there was NO prayer that ever goes unheard,

 but I wasn’t sure which prayers NEVER went unanswered.

President Reynolds proceeded to explain that the prayers that never

 go unanswered are the ones where we are asking who is in need of our help.

Boy, isn't that true?

 In my life as I have prayed to know who to serve, I have ALWAYS received a response.

 Why is this significant?

When I am serving others, I feel pure joy.

Regardless of what is going on in my life, regardless of my situation,

regardless of how I am feeling,

when I drop what I am doing to serve others around me, I feel so happy.

This is probably one of the other greatest reasons I love serving in the temple.

 As President Reynolds spoke to us, it made me think of

one of my favorite quotes by Camilla Kimball.

 “Never suppress a generous thought.”.

I love those small “do good” promptings.

 Listening to President Reynolds reminded me of the importance of serving

others and acting on the promptings to serve.

I decided I really wanted to re-commit myself to praying more for opportunities

 to serve and acting upon those small and quiet promptings.

I recreated this simple quote to print out and put in my scriptures to remind me of my goal.

What a sweet and simple reminder.

I just want to get my Subway on!

The other day I was reading a post by Sextant of Navigating the Finite about why you should never choose the shortest checkout line at the grocery store. You really need to go and read it cause it's hilarious!!! Go on, go read it, I'll wait...

See, told you it was hilarious right? What makes it even more hilarious is that this kind of stuff has happened to us all. I know it's happened to me, and usually when you I am in a super big rush. Which bring me to one of my pet peeves (oh...there are many).  So what is one of mine? It's people that are not working, that choose to go out to lunch during the lunch hours between noon and 2pm. Ok, I know...this is America, we can have lunch whenever we want. But c'mon people!!! Some of us only have one hour for lunch and you, for whatever reason, have the whole day!

For instance...last week on Thursday, I went to a Subway Sandwich Shop for lunch. The line is out the door, I waited about ten minutes to get close to the front of the line. There is one women ahead of me and ahead of her is a young man about 18 and dressed casually, with him is a young girl about 16 or 17 wearing super baggy boys basketball shorts and a little girl about 4 years old. Obviously they have been waiting just as long as I have and have had tons of time of peruse the menu, but they get to the front of the line and when they are asked "May I help you" they get into a huge discussion of what kind of bread they want, as that's the first decision you have to make at Subway. I mean, c'mon...are you aliens? Is this your first time on planet Earth? Is this your first visit to a Subway Sandwich Shop? Do we need Jared to stand behind you to explain the menu?

Then...they have to make the decision of what kind of bread their friend that they are taking a sandwich to wants. Then do they want it heated or not? Anyway, you get the point. These two are obviously unemployed or students, or they could be employed but obviously not working that day considering their casual dress and the baby girl. I'm sure they've been to Subway 100 times and already know the menu and even if this is their first time there, they've had at least 10 minutes to study the menu while waiting on line.

Me on the other hand...I'm tired, hot and still have 4 more hours of work to go before I can go home. I'm in a hurry, only have 1 hour for lunch and I'm hungry! I have already wasted 10 minutes in line and 10 minutes waiting for them to decide what they want to eat. There should be a line for working professionals to go through, like the merchant line at the bank! That way those who only have one hour for lunch don't have to deal with the riff-raff that is just out for a casual lunch..don't you think?

The Red Bird of Paradise

Yesterday I did a post about a man that was so enchanted by my Arizona Plant that he stole a bloom from it. We've always just called it the Arizona Plant, but it actually has a name. My cousin Norrie who lives in Arizona City...and c'mon, if you are going to live in Arizona isn't Arizona City the best place to live?

So Norrie told me they have tons of those there and they are known as the Bird of Paradise. I always thought this was a Bird of Paradise...

Bird of Paradise

Turns out that the Arizona Plant I have is called "Red" Bird of Paradise or more formerly Caesalpinia pulcherrima.

So I went out this afternoon and took a few pictures of my Arizona Plant aka Red Bird of Paradise so you could see it close up.

My sister says that mine isn't blooming as well as hers because mine gets quite a bit of water when the grass gets watered, while her's is in a place at her home that hardly gets any water at all. These plants are pretty drought resistant which is probably why there are so many of them in Arizona.

Check out the colors......BEAUTIFUL right? I did a post in August of 2009 with lots of pictures on my sisters Arizona Plant. You can see them HERE. But here's a closeup picture of hers.

Stolen Flowers

See these flowers? A stranger gave them to me today. No...actually, a stranger stole them for me today. Aren't they pretty?



























See...here's what happened. Today after work, I was at home in my bedroom. My bedroom has a sliding glass door that faces a quiet street to the side of my house. I happened to see a small pickup truck go by. Mexican music was blasting out of this truck...very loud Mexican music. So I moved closer to the window, being nosey to see why the truck wasn't moving.

I see this man step out and walk over to my Arizona Plant, a plant that was planted by my mom and dad in the corner of the front yard. It only blooms when it's super hot as hell!

You can see the plant in this picture. (This is the view from my bedroom, don't you love it?) See the beautiful orange flowers? Well I guess this man just couldn't resist and I saw him walk over; after leaving his truck running in the middle of the street, and he took out his pocket knife and cut off one of the flowers. At that moment he looked up and saw me looking at him out of my bedroom window.

He looked at me kind of sheepishly and did a thumbs up. I took that to mean, "is it ok that I am stealing one of your beautiful Arizona flowers?"

Being totally generous of flowers that just bloom by the Grace of God, since I had nothing to do with it, I gave him the "thumbs up" right back so he would know, "Sure dude, it's all good...go ahead and steal one of my pretty little flowers!"

He then turned around and drove off and I went into the kitchen to tell my mom what had just happened.

About twenty minutes later, as I was looking out the kitchen window...I know, I know...I'm like one of those lookie-loo neighbors that never minds my own business!

But ok, I was looking out the kitchen window and I see the same little pickup truck pull up and park  in the street along side my house and I realize it is the same truck. So I tell my mom, "Uh oh...that guy that stole the Arizona Plant Flower is back!" The guy gets out of the truck and I see that he is holding some white flowers in his hand.

I immediately thought, "Stalker alert!"

So he starts walking towards the front of my house and I head back into my bedroom where he is waiting outside the sliding glass door. Now I know why no one wanted this bedroom cause it's way too accessible to the street!

I open the screen door and he hands me the flowers and he says, "I felt bad that I stole your flower and so I stole these further on down the road to pay you back." Can you believe that? I take the flowers and tell him that I understand his stealing the Arizona Plant Flower because it's so beautiful and so unusual and they don't normally grow in California. He agreed and then said, "Well, the real reason I stole it is because yesterday I buried my wife and I'm heading to the cemetery and I saw your flowers and knew she would have loved them, so I had to take one".

Is your heart breaking yet? Mine did...

I told him how sorry I was and told him that I was sure his wife would love it and that he didn't have to repay me. He said he just felt bad because I was so nice to let him take one flower and he wanted to do something nice for me and now he was going to have to go steal flowers from somewhere else to repay the person he stole my flowers from!

I bid him good bye and put my pretty flowers in the pitcher you see in the picture above and sat there thinking about the whole thing and then said to my mom who had followed me outside, "Mom, if you had just buried your wife yesterday, would you be driving on the way to the cemetery with joyful Mexican music blaring in your car?"

Hmmmm, would you? I was brought up with the tradition that when someone dies you have a suitable period of mourning or "luto" as we say in spanish. You don't watch TV or listen to music or go to dances or parties. But I know that now a days, we don't mourn but we celebrate life...so who knows.

What say you? Does this seem odd or normal to you? Either way I had something interesting to blog about and I got to show you all my Arizona Plant and also I can brag that the beautiful pitcher and bowl that the flowers are in was made by my mom in a ceramics class she took eons ago. Isn't it pretty? I love it!

Okay I am totally kicking myself for not any pictures this weekend.

Regardless, I want to capture the memories.

Back Track...
 So for the past couple years (since I returned home from my mission),
 my family has wanted to take a big trip.
For whatever reasons (including two weddings) nothing has happened.
About a month ago I was sitting with my Dad on a Sunday afternoon.
We started reminiscing about our past family experiences.
We then started to realize how much our family dynamics were going to change within the next year...
Brett and me moving to AZ, Carley and Trent going to grad school, Caitlyn graduating...
changes were bound to happen.
We decided it was now or never. The planning began.
We proceeded to look at cruises over the Christmas break.

Throughout the planning process we kept Caitlyn and Cade out of the loop, wanting to make it a surprise. 
We booked flights and the cruise without giving the slightest clue.

This weekend we decided we were going to break the news at Brett's birthday party bash. 
It was decided that we were all going to go to Nickelcity to celebrate.
It was seriously such a blast. Full of laugh attacks and fun.
Anyways, when it came time to give Brett his birthday cake we covered the cake so no one could see. 
After singing to Brett my parents unveiled the cake to show a white frosted cake that read,
"Merry Christmas! CRUISE 2012".
SURPRISE!!!
(wish i had taken a picture of the cake. just about the ugliest thing you had ever seen).

Caitlyn and Cade's reactions were priceless.
They were so excited and SO grateful.
Caitlyn was the sweetest. I swear that girl never cries, but boy was she emotional.
 She was so overwhelmed and touched that she began to get teary eyed as she asked, "All of us get to go?"
Of course we all burst into tears, touched by her reaction and love. 

That's the Cosgrove love my friends.
No matter what we are doing, so long as we are all doing it together, we feel blessed and happy.
Boy am I grateful for a family that possesses that much love.
Can't wait to spend Christmas in the Caribbean with these people!

Flights booked....Check
Cruise Booked....Check
Memories with some of the people we love the most... Can't Wait.

I love Sundays. 

I love going to church. I love being with family.

 I love re-focusing myself and continuing to develop my testimony.

As usual, this Sunday was wonderful.

It got me really thinking about the impact of the gospel in my life.

My beliefs and my testimony truly shape who I am today.

They help me determine my choices and most importantly, they bring me joy.

I decided to take some time to recreate some of my favorite spiritual sayings and quotes.

Happy Sunday.

Okay so this is going to seem like a sappy post.... but I just can't help it!

I love this this man SO much. How lucky I am to have him in my life.

Today he turned 24 years old. 

I don't claim to be any expert on love--- I am still very young and am learning a lot.

So far, love seems to be a journey.

 I am learning that when you love someone(i am talking about pure and selfless love)...

 it changes you.

Brett, I wanted to take a second to let you know just how much you have meant to me in my life. 

 I can't tell you how much loving you has changed me. 

You are such an example to me and teach me things on a daily 

basis that make me want to be a better wife, friend, and person. 

lessons i have learned from loving you...

________________________________________

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything...

they make the best of everything.

Let's face it..It's really easy to focus on the negative--- 

I hate it, but sometimes when things don't go according to plan, I can start to feel overwhelmed. 

Brett, this is one of the greatest things I have come to love and learn from you.

You have taught me that there is positive in everything. 

No matter the circumstances, you can always see a light at the other side of the tunnel. 

You help me to find the joy in the journey when it seems the most unlikely.

You have helped me to see the sweet and simple moments in life.

You have taught me to cherish every moment and not let time slip away. 

I love this about you. 

I love that this has become a part of who I am. 

________________________________________

lose yourself and go to work.

I have always loved this missionary motto and I always thought I understood what it meant--- 

Boy did I have more to learn. 

Brett you have broadened my vision of what it means to serve selflessly and go to work for the Lord. 

1) You are so passionate about your callings. I am so grateful that you have a desire to serve

Heavenly Father and to build His kingdom. I have learned from you what it means to put the 

Lord FIRST. Not only are you focused on your current callings, but our FUTURE callings. I have always admired that you think about what we can do NOW to continue to serve the Lord in the future. I truly love this about you. You have taught me that "going to work" for the Lord is not a short-term endeavor, but a life long and daily journey.

2) You also have taught me that one of the best ways we can "go to work" for the Lord and show Him our love is by serving others. I have never once heard your complain or gripe about helping someone out. You know that you would instantly drop everything you were doing to help someone in need. Watching you selflessly serve others around you has taught me what true charity is all about. It's about sacrifice... it's about love. 

I am grateful that I have learned to serve more fully by loving you. 

________________________________________

a great man is always willing to be little.

I always thought humility was a weakness. I have learned from you it is a strength. 

No matter how successful you are, no matter how many accomplishments you have received 

(and there have been a NUMBER, let me tell you)--- you are so humble.

You have always been so grounded and have never seen a need to flaunt your successes.

You recognize your talents as blessings.

I think this speaks so loud of you and your character.

You make me want to be that much better of a person. 

________________________________________

provident living.

Although I may not always seem like it, I am so grateful for your "accountant mind".

You have helped me to learn what "provident living" is all about. 

Growing up I always had one thing on my mind---spending, spending, spending.

I love that you have been able to teach me that there are more important things in life.

You have opened my eyes to the significance of saving and 

determining the difference between "want" and "need", 

I love the teamwork we have learned from deciding we would never go into debt.

I love setting worthwhile financial goals together and working to achieve them. 

Honestly, as petty and simple as it may sound, it has made me a better person.

________________________________________

the difference between the possible and impossible is determination.

I love that you are always pushing yourself... and that you are always pushing me!

Brett, in everything you do you give your whole heart. 

I love that you have shown me anything is possible if you put your mind to it. 

I love that I have learned from you I should dare to dream--- that I am capable of anything.

I love your work ethic and determination for success.

It drives me to want to be a better person and work towards reaching my potential.

________________________________________

i am the daughter of a King.

By far this is THE MOST important thing I have learned from loving you.

You have shown me that I am special. That I am eternally loved.

Not only by you, but by a perfect Heavenly Father. 

There are so many reasons I know this...

I know this by the way you look at me.

I know this from the way you talk to me. 

I know this from the way you hold me when I cry.

I know this from the spirit that I feel when you share your testimony with me. 

I know this by the way you honor your priesthood. 

I know this from the way you tell me you love me. 

_______________________________________

I am truly the luckiest girl alive. 

As I mentioned before---love changes.

Your love has changed me. 

Words can't express how grateful I am for you in my life Brett.

You are my rock. My best pal. My everything.

Happy Birthday Brett. 

I love you. 

WE ARE ROBIN HOOD

________________________________

So lately Brett and I have loved, CORRECTION... 

become OBSESSED with everything Robin Hood. 

I mean seriously, what's not to love?

 A courageous young man who steals from the rich to give to the poor... 

great action sequences... young love... awesome "one liners"...

Nothing but pure entertainment in our books.

We have seriously flown through everything and 

anything that involves the character Robin of Locksley.

It all started with BBCs hit television show, Robin Hood. 

We were instantly hooked and watched all three seasons in a flash. 

We LOVED the characters, loved the humor, loved the cute stories--- 

Seriously we would recommend it to anyone looking for a good series (just sweet and clean). 

We each shared our own moments of tears and laughs during the series,

 and when it was over we felt SO sad. 

We needed to find something to else to fill our "Robin Hood" void.

_________________________________

Where did we turn?

You got it.... Kevin Costner. 

I had never seen this version of Robin hood, but Brett claims he was 

obsessed with it since he was a kid. We had to watch it on VHS which was an adventure...

never realized that I was thankful for HD until we took a step back to the 80's.

_________________________________

Same night after finishing the Kevin Costner Robin Hood, we got our hands on the

  newest version of Robin Hood with Russell Crowe.

What the.....????????

I am pretty sure we were both expecting something completely different. 

Definitely wasn't our favorite. It was a days later until we figured out what was going on in the move.

_________________________________

From there, we felt we needed a little comic relief. 

We turned to Robin Hood Men in Tights.

I have to admit we turned it off after 3 minutes. Couldn't handle it. Straight up uncomfortable.

_________________________________

Finally, we ended up watching the 

Disney classic rendition of Robin Hood. 

So adorable. We loved the songs, loved the cute character. 

_________________________________

I wasn't kidding when I said we went robin CRAZE! We have officially become Robin Hood gueroos. 

 If that's not enough, I started having this crazy desire to read the classic 

Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. 

So glad I did! It was a quick and easy read--- SO adorable and full of whit. Probably one of my favorite books.

Again, such a sweet little book. 

I definitely want to get the picture book version someday to have in our collections.

The tales were so lighthearted and happy. You also get to learn about all about his 

"merry little band of outlaws" which I loved. The book was just so full of joy---

I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet and funny  little read!

It's All Peachy!

It's been so hard lately to find time to blog! I've moved into a new house and the packing and unpacking and putting stuff away and understanding the Feng Shui of the house so that I can place furniture and pictures and knick knacks takes up most of my time. Not to mention the full time job.

But today I felt like doing something therapeutic and fun. So I baked a pie...a peach pie. My dad planted a peach tree years ago and when I moved into the house everyone told me to "cut it down!". But I'm a sentimental sap and I just couldn't.

I mean just look at it! The beautiful peaches ripening in the sun. The glorious California sunshine streaming through the leaves (ok, well it's over 100 today, but the sun is still glorious, if not a tad irritating!). Could you bring yourself to cut it down?

My Dad's Peach Tree. These are White Peaches, sweet and delicious!

So my mom and I picked us a whole bowlful of these bad boys and I pulled out my dusty cookbook from years past when I was a stay at home mom and baked beautiful pies, and got to work!

Aren't these beautiful! So sweet, even when they are green.

Here I am in the thick of things putting together the pie crust and facebooking in the background. I'm such a great multi-tasker!

Love the blue bowl my daughter April gave me. It's a whole colorful set and made out of Melamine!

Pie crust is done. The secret to a flaky pie crust is to try to never touch it with your hands. Cut the shortening in with a pastry cutter. I don't know if you can see it in the picture above, but that's the do-hickey right behind the jar of Crisco Shortening that's covered with flour. Then just toss the flour gently with a fork while you add the water and then quickly gather it into a ball and chill in the fridge, like so...

I wrap this with Saran Wrap and stick in a clean bowl to chill.

Then you prepare your peaches. I actually did that before I did the crust, but it would have been better to do it while the crust chilled, but no harm done. I didn't actually take a picture of that, don't know why not, but I didn't.

After your peaches are mixed with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt you roll out your dough. This part went relatively well, I don't know why I thought it would be difficult.

Ok, do not do this. I put flour on my new granite counter tops and then realized I didn't know how I was going to pick up the crust once I had it rolled out. I usually roll out on Wax Paper. You do it the right way ok?

I roll it on Wax Paper to make it easier to lift into the pie pan.

Once my bottom crust is ready I gently lay it into the pie pan. This part can be tricky as if you are off a little (which I was) then it's really a son of a gun to move around and you can end up tearing it.

Even though I was a little off I was able to fix it when I put the top crust on.

Then you roll out the other half of the chilled pie crust and pour your sugary, cinnamony peach mixture into the first crust and then put the top crust on and crimp the edges as best you can. Don't worry about it being perfect. As you can see, mine wasn't perfect but when it baked it didn't make one bit of difference cause it's still beautiful!

Peach Pie and his Peachy Brothers. Isn't this a pretty picture? We picked way too many peaches!

Here's a close-up of the little guy before he goes into the over. I add my own little touch by mixing up some sugar and cinnamon and sprinkling the top, it's makes the crust crunchy, sugary and cinnamony.

Somehow I got one big glob of just cinnamon right in the middle!

Then you are ready to bake this baby! Here he is just ready to get that oven door shut in his face!

I hate cleaning the oven and cleaning the cookie sheet, so I place it on the cookie sheet covered with foil.

And here you go. Peach Pie in all it's Glory! And the crust was the flakiest I have ever made. It's like riding a bike, you never forget how. (And it does help to have it all written down!) This Peach Pie recipe belonged to my mother in law Marge.

Mmmmm, where's the ice cream?

That's how I spent a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon. Baking and sharing with friends and family on facebook and then blogging for posterity.

Oh...and I had a kitchen remake. I don't have the before pictures to share yet, but here's a sneak peak at my new kitchen. When I get a chance I'll show you all the before pictures...what a change

New back splash, new granite counter top, new painted cabinets, new cabinet hardware. I love it!

I think...no, I know that I am going to love cooking in this kitchen for years to come!