His Glory Appears

There is a song that we sing at our church, called His Glory Appears, by Hillsong.  It is one of my absolute favorite songs; it is both beautiful musically and has awesome theology.  
When I was at the beach the other day, there was a gorgeous sunset and I happened to have my camera with me, so I took a few pictures.  Looking at the photos reminds me of this song.  I am always struck by how magnificent our God is when I see the beauty of His creation.

His Glory Appears

You gave me hope

You made me whole

At the cross

You took my place

You showed me Grace

At the cross where You died for me

And His glory appears

Like the light from the sun

Age to age He stands

Oh look to the skies

Hear the angel's cry

Singing "Holy is the Lord"

Crock Pot Curried Chicken

I love my Crock Pot.  The idea of throwing a meal together before I leave for work and coming to home to a ready-made dinner is so very appealing.  I'm always on the hunt for good Crock Pot recipes, and I stumbled across this one on Real Simple's website.  If you haven't ever checked out the recipe section for this website, you should! They have some wonderful meal ideas, and they're all, well... real simple.


Here's what you'll need:


1 6oz. can tomato paste
4 cloves of garlic, chopped (or about 2 tsp. minced garlic)
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (I used powdered instead)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 cup water
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 10)
salt and pepper
1 and 1/2 cups basmati rice
1/2 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
2 scallions, thinly sliced


In your Crock Pot, whisk together the tomato paste, garlic, curry powder, ginger, cumin, and 3/4 cup of water. Add the onion and stir to combine. Place the chicken on top and season with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Cover and cook until the chicken is tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours.
Twenty minutes before serving, cook the rice according to the package directions.
Just before serving, add the yogurt and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the chicken and stir to combine. Serve with the rice and sprinkle with the scallions.

There you have it! Come home to a yummy dinner waiting for you.


As always, let me know if you try this recipe, and what you thought. Happy cooking!

Murphy Family {Portraits}

I am blessed in many ways.  One of which is having not one, but two, awesome families!  
A month after Andrew and I got engaged, we flew out to Texas to spend Christmas with his family, and to give me a chance to meet the soon-to-be in-laws.  Andrew had flown out a few days before I did, and I remember meeting him at the airport... and feeling quite nervous!  We went from the airport to a burger place called P. Terry's (which, if you're ever in Austin you must go to, it's so good!) and we met Andrew's brother Mike and his wife Stacie, and their three kids.  I felt so comfortable with them right from the start. After lunch, we drove to Fredericksburg, where the rest of the family lives.  The moment I walked in the door, I was greeted with warm hugs and smiles.  I automatically felt like I was home.  It's crazy to think that that was over two years ago!  I feel like I've been a Murphy for way longer than that... and I just LOVE getting to hang out with that side of the family.  We have a blast when we're all together... there's a lot of joking around and laughing; and there's quiet times where we sit around and have good conversations.  
This year, I thought it would be fun to get some family pictures done, so we headed out to Lady Bird Johnson's ranch.  It was freezing that day, with a lot of wind... so we got the pictures done quickly!  Thank you all for putting up with the cold; I think the pictures are well worth it!

Mike and Stacie, and their adorable daughters:

Beth Anne, James, and their three kids:

The lovely Maggie:

Brian and Louise, my parents-in-law:

My nieces and nephew... how cute are they??? I love them all to pieces.  

Oh, and these pictures crack me up, because what you don't see, is Stacie behind me, jumping around and being silly to make all the kids laugh... it was hilarious!

Oh hey, that's us! Me and my awesome sauce husband :D

See what I mean about the joking around? This is what it's like at the Murphy house... all the time! Love it.

Thanks for letting me take pictures of y'all... I love you guys, and miss you lots.

Max and Merrilee Murphy {Wedding}

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Being a hopeless romantic at heart, I love hearing how people meet and fall in love.  When I was up in Bozeman, Montana for Max and Merrilee's wedding, I arrived in time to be a part of the rehearsal dinner, where the couple told the story of how they met.  Both Max and Merrilee were involved in Campus Crusade at Montana State, and though they knew of each other, they had never met.  It wasn't until Max was enrolled in an Animal Physiology class that was driving him mad with boredom, thus prompting him to come up with something to do, that he decided to ask Merrilee's roommate to show him how to knit, so he could make a hat (now, Max isn't the sort who you'd picture knitting, so this part of the story was met with a lot of laughter). When Max showed up at Merrilee's door, it wasn't the roommate who was home, but Merrilee.  Instead of learning to knit, Max and Merrilee talked for hours... and that's how it all began!
These two were a TON of fun to photograph.  They were so laid-back in front of the camera, and were constantly making each other laugh.  I love it when couples feel free to just be themselves and to goof around, it makes for such great pictures! They also had such a loving group of people surrounding them on their big day.  I was really able to see how much Max and Merrilee love others, and devote themselves to investing in people's lives.  One of the things about their wedding that demonstrated this the most, was that they wanted a clear presentation of the Gospel during their ceremony (which they asked one of the groomsmen to give) and they followed it up with a foot washing.  It was beautiful.
Another aspect of this wedding that was fun for me was that I met another photographer, Jenny Canjar, who was my second shooter for the day.  I had such a blast talking with her, she felt like such a kindred spirit! I loved working with her... so I wanted to make sure some of her photos were posted on the blog!  Here are some of her favorite shots of the day:

Hey that's me!

Thanks so much for all your help that day Jenny, you were wonderful!


And now for some of my favorites from the day... I had a really hard time narrowing them down =)

Merrilee spent the morning laughing with her bridesmaids, and writing thank you notes while she got her hair done.

Max was so excited to see Merrilee!

Showing off the ring to mom.

Merrilee, you are stunning! 

We braved the cold for the couple's pictures.  I have to give major props to Merrilee... while I was bundled in a coat, scarf, and gloves, Merrilee did most of the pictures without a jacket! I kept asking "you doing ok Merrilee?" to which she always replied, "I'm good!" I think her happiness and excitement to be getting married to Max kept her warm.

The groom and groomsmen pictures were so funny, the guys couldn't keep a straight face!

Announcing Mr. and Mrs. Murphy!

In addition to the official wedding cake, both Max and Merrilee each had their own cake as well.  I thought that was such a cute idea.

Congratulations Merrilee and Max!