Finished Writing!!!

This is kind of late, but I just wanted to say . . . I JUST FINISHED WRITING MY BOOK!!!!  If everything goes smoothly, it will be (self) published in late winter or early spring.  Writing Radiend is one thing; editing, reediting, and illustrating is a totally different kind of animal.  I'll keep you updated as I go through the whole finishing process of this HUGE project.  

Love, and sweet dreams,

Hannah.  

Thankful

This Thanksgiving, as I sat in my bed at the end of the day, I thought about all of the things that I had to be thankful for this year.  I mean, of course there are the basic things that I am very thankful for like life, a home and food, but this year I have made a goal to really try to make more of, think more of, and do more with the wonderful seasons that God has graciously given to me.
Yes, i'm thankful for life, but deeper than that,  i'm thankful for the fullness of this life!  I have been placed in a home where my family loves me and loves one another with all of their hearts.
I'm thankful for a home that acts like a real home.  I'm thankful for the coziness of the fire and the Christmas lights hanging on the mantle.  For Tyner (our dog) coming up to snuggle beside me while Mom has devotions with us, and yes, even for the unfinished basement with all of it's bare, exposed ceilings.
I am extremely no, cantankerously thankful for the food that God has blessed us with! (I think that I used cantankerously in the wrong context, but it sounded big enough :)
I am thankful for the homemade pizza nights of Fridays, for the girl's international cooking night on Thursdays, and even for that brussel sprout/bacon/whatever else is in that dangerous side dish that Mom is thinking about making soon.

Lord, i'm so thankful for everything that you have blessed me with this year!  Thank you for Ben's asking me if Thanksgiving was a holiday that celebrated turkeys being killed (no joke!).
Thank you for mom and dad's desire to extend hospitality and giving this Christmas season.
Thank you for keeping me motivated as I finish the last few chapters of my book (the one I'm writing)
Thank you for the cozy rain and the relaxed school day today.
And thank you for helping us to finally find the right church!
Dear Jesus, thank you for this awesome life that you have given me!

Love,
Hannah

Psssst. . . . We had an absolutely WILD Thanksgiving weekend with Dad's side of the fam.  An overload of pictures to come soon!
Oh, and by the way!  I hope you like the new Christmas face lift i'm to give the 'ol' blog.  :)

Decorating for Christmas already!

NOTE:  This post was written BEFORE Thanksgiving!

Yes, that's right, we have gone completely nuttish!  My family is decorating for Christmas already!  5 or 6 Christmas stations are playing on the radio and honestly, I think it is still WAY too early for all of this!  In my house, I am known as scrooge because I have firmly stated that all festive music must be terminated until after Thanksgiving.  Oh well, they have a point in that we are going out of town for the holidays and it will be nice to come back to a decorated house.
Potpourri is burning and the Christmas lights are blinking. . . I think we have a weak light in the link.  Mom is telling us how she always cries when she hears Bing Crosby singing 'White Christmas'.  Caelen is looking forward to her leftover Mexican food from the amazing Las Salsas in Morganton while the rest of us drool over it and ask for a bite.  We are listening to Big Daddy Weave on Pandora sing 'Christ is Come'.

Anyways, you get the picture of our afternoon.  We are trying to get into the Christmas spirit.  Don't worry.  I won't stay a scrooge the whole time, just until after Thanksgiving :)

LOVE,
Hannah

Oh!  By the way!  The absolute best way to make good potpourri is to fill a pot with water, dump a whole bunch of cinnamon into it and some orange peels and . . . Voilà!  Just heat it up on low and let it simmer for hours to make your house smell like Christmas.  Just add more water when it gets low and reuse the potpourri for days.  Enjoy!!!

Fritos

Fritos = AWESOMENESSSSS!!!!!

last thing I'm going to say

{Picture from google}

<3

It's (not that) Complicated . . .

Caelen just received the Botkin girl's new book called;  in the mail this morning.  She has been looking forward to reading it for . . . let me see . . . a while, and she very kindly said that I could borrow it as well.  It is a great book on how godly young ladies should treat young men in our day and age . . . an awesome tool for all of us girls if you ask me :) You know, I haven't read any reviews or a synopsis of it yet, but here is a quick overview of it by Dr. Voddie Baucham Jr. :


How do young men and young women interact with one another when marriage is not in view? Can young men and young women be ‘friends’? And how does a young woman guard her heart, preserve her purity, and walk in integrity without treating young men with disdain? In It’s (Not That) Complicated, Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin address these and other questions with wisdom, grace, transparency, and biblical acuity.

— Dr. Voddie Baucham Jr.

Also, here are some of the pictures from their website; http://visionarydaughters.com 

That didn't make it to the front cover.  I thought they were pretty good :)

haha

{All pictures borrowed from: http://visionarydaughters.com/2011/11 }

Weren't those great???  

Also while I'm on it, (I know, I'm kind of rattling on now :P ) we were talking with our friends the other day about how brothers and sisters DON'T EVER show affection out in public any more (and probably don't ever anyways).  Nowadays, if a stranger sees a brother and sister holding hands or hugging each other, or showing "affection" of any kind, they automatically think, "Oh!  That young couple must be dating!  How cute!" 

It is heartbreaking how much our society has changed the views on families and siblings today to where the only time a boy holds a girl's hand is if they are dating.  Have you noticed that people will usually look at you like you just came from outer space if you actually enjoy spending time with your siblings instead of or as much as your friends?  

WOW!!!!  

Well, got2go!  Caelen has asked me to practice a duet on the piano with her. . .  Piano is my BANE, but I guess practice makes perfect (obviously though, the guy who made that saying up was extremely mistaken in my case :P )

{Picture from google}

I really wish I could say that Caelen and I looked like this when we played (all smiley and happy), but It actually looks more like this;

-Caelen: "n. .no, wrong note.  That's a flat!"

-Hannah: "Ok, lets start over."

-Caelen: "Not again!  Why don't you let me play the right hand?"

-Hannah: "I can do it, just let me try again."

-Caelen: "*sigh* . . . alright, on the count of 3; one, two, NO! NO! NO!  Not yet!"

-Hannah: "uggggggg!"

*four hours later after much blood, sweat and tears . . .

-Caelen: "Way to go, you finally got the first part down!  *claps*"

-Hannah: "ugggggggg, why don't I play violin for the right hand part?"

-Caelen: "um,  . . . good idea."

:P

Morning!

Hey, good morning!  WOW it felt soooo good to "sleep" in an hour late with the time change in all. . . at least it feels an hour later.  Mom has gone on some early errands this morning, leaving Caelen and me in complete control of the boys . . .(*bwahahahaha*)  . . . well . . .I guess not.  It's about time to start Ben's school so got to go.
Enjoy your Tuesday!!!
~Random morning fact: (It is really hard to type with cheese toast grease on your fingers)