Stars & Stripes.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Source

I hope all of my American family and friends are having a fabulous holiday, celebrating what it means to be from the USA.  What an amazing honor!  As you may or may not already know, I am excitedly spending the entire summer this year in my boyfriend's home town, beautiful Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada, (just thirty minutes from downtown Vancouver)!  With this privilege comes many wonderful perks: spending loads of time with his incredible family, breathtaking scenery, a fabulous job, the most stunning living set-up, much cooler summer weather, lots of time with my sweet boyfriend, enjoying unique touristy places on the weekends..... the list goes on and on.  I couldn't possibly feel more blessed.

That being said, I was granted a totally new (& completely great) experience today - living in Canada on the 4th of July.

I proudly fashioned my frayed blue jean shorts, a white "Proud to be an American" top, a red tank underneath, and my sparkly white TOMS.  I spotted a yummy, American Flag fruit platter on Pinterest last week and knew that recreating it for my Canadian loved ones was an absolute must.  Reid and I filled the dish with organic, locally-grown berries and perfectly ripe bananas, making it a big hit amongst our friends.  We love how bright and patriotic it turned out.  What do you think?

I have fallen in love with creating new holiday traditions, and reminiscing over the old, cherished ones. Thank you, Canada, for a very special and low-key 4th of July.  Today's sweet simplicity has taken my attention off of worldly festivities and allowed me to focus entirely on the Lord and His precious gift of freedom.  I am headed outdoors now to celebrate the rest of this gorgeous, sunny day.  Happy 4th!  Enjoy the fireworks tonight, my friends!!