Sneak Peak

Friends and lovelies. 

Heaven month (not hell, even though it was just crazy busy) is almost over. And I finally have checked everything off my list and have time for this little piece of my heart again. 

But so much has happened! Where do I begin?

The incredible poetry reading, the wedding, Christmas, reception, graduation party, U-haul rental adventures!?

So, these next few weeks will be devoted to catching you all up. 

Because seriously, more blog posts are fun. 

incredible photographer found here

Update on Life: Sisters Now Included

I came home from Bahrain with not just one sister but two. Beni (my official sister-in-law) and Sharina (my unofficial sister-in-law, Beni's sister).

Really just my sisters is easier to say, so it's what we're going with. 

I couldn't be happier. 

And so, I leave you with these pictures of a night with friends and snails. 

Me- Hey Ellen and Steph look here
(moving moving)
Me - Look over here!
(moving moving)
Ellen - What here
Steph - I don't want to!
Ellen - Huh!
Me - I give up

The Snails are back together....for good!

Today is the day...

...thus begins my December.

How I'll Be Spending the Next Week...

Currently Listening To:

Songs for Christmas - Sufjan Stevens

Chandeliers of Hope

Oh dear. 

It's getting closer and closer to December, which means it's getting closer and closer to the time when I will have no time. 

But I don't care. It's all beautiful, life changing things that are taking place this Christmas. I wouldn't change any of it for the world.

Sisters to be had, brothers to get married, poems to be read, receptions to be celebrated, plane rides to take, graduation open-houses to party at. 

And so I leave you with this song, to keep you company in the coming weeks of absence (most likely).

Christmas Lights - Coldplay

(my new favorite Christmas song)

Week 23

1) Walking

(seriously, took a 3.7 mile walk today...did wonders for my mood. I'm getting up early tomorrow to keep up the good mood increase)

2) The Muppets 

(even if the boy snail just can't wait to see it with me. No hard feelings babe)

3) Mine were: dramatic, charming, passionate, and outgoing 

(fairly accurate right)

4) A clean apartment 

(also does wonders for a good mood)

5) Getting a certain bridesmaid's dress in the mail all the way from Bahrain 

(can you say wedding of the year? I'm gunna have the cutest sister-in-law ever! No pictures yet though, don't want to ruin the sure-to-be-drop-dead-gorgeous wedding pictures)

Disastrous or Amazing?

When you make a new friend, and you decide to hang out together for the first time, just you and that person, it can either be disastrous or amazing. It very rarely falls in the middle.

Maybe you get coffee, or you randomly decide to study together.

Or maybe you get on pinterest, find a glass cutting tutorial, and decide to craft and watch Law and Order all day. 

You know...normal stuff.

Memory 20

When I was little, when the wind turned cold and gloves started being dug out from the top shelf of the front closet, the Christmas Music got turned on and our house turned into a cozy, rustic version of "Good Housekeeping"

Reading in front of the fire. Baking cookies. Putting up the tree while drinking hot chocolate. Starbucks with my mom while Christmas shopping. 

This is the time of year I get the most homesick and I've been trying to find a way to make my life resemble Christmas at home. 

When I listen to Dean or Frank or even Bing I'm transported back home, putting up the tree, dancing around the kitchen, or even just reading by the fire. 

What reminds you of Christmas when you were little? 

One of Those Days

You know a SNL skit is truly funny when you can't help but smile while you're sitting outside in the bitter wind waiting for your amazing friend to come pick you up from the grocery store and take you to your roommate cause you locked your keys in your car.

How was your day?

Yeah, Me Either

 

I know you're supposed to dream of your own wedding day. And hope for you own perfect dress and perfect boy to stand next too (well check on the boy at least).

But do you ever go to one of those weddings, that you come away from and you say...

...I hope I look that beautiful

...I hope I look that happy

...I hope my day is as magical as that

Yeah, me either.

Week 22

1) New Girl

(seriously, I would be best friends with her)

2) Chicken Alfredo Pizza

(recipe provided via phone by the boy snail)

3) A She & Him Christmas 

(so really just Zooey Deschanel this week)

4) My favorite Spice Chi in my favorite mom-provided mug

(except I already drank the chi so you could see the cute little giraffe inside)

(also please ignore my sad excuse for self french braided hair)

5) The Hunger Games Official Trailer 

(Don't tell anyone, but I cried. I'm a sucker for human's rights stories)

Brinner

When life gets you down and you're sick and everything is due the same week and, lets face it, you don't even have energy to go out of your sweats...

...get some friends, make some breakfast, watch Harry Potter, and laugh together through your biscuits and gravy.

Seriously, it'll make you feel better. 

Memory 19

First let me say dear readers, I had every intention of posting this yesterday.

However my internet had different ideas and decided to take a vacation for the day. But he's back and feeling better than ever. Everyone deserves a vacation now and then yes?

I'm especially excited about this week's flash-back cause it's been a minor obsession all week. 

Now I know what you're thinking..."Hannah Elizabeth! You silly goose! I crochet all the time! That's not a real flash-back! You need to get your flash-backs straightened out! And you need to dry your hair before you start taking pictures for your blog!"

And you would be right. I know many people still crochet and it's not that nostalgic for most, rather it's reality. But I learned to crochet from my grandma. I remember sitting in her kitchen in our respective chairs at the dinning room table with Wheel of Fortune on and her patiently showing me the basic stitch. 

I've recently taken it up again and it's been ever so refreshing. I've seriously moved on from just scarfs. Grandma should be proud. 

What was something your grandma or grandpa taught you?

Reasons I love "Meet Me in St. Louis"

here

Judy Garland's magical voice

One of the funniest proposals in cinematic history 

Old Hollywood magic

"Ester - I"m goig to let John Truett kiss me tonight

Rose - Esther Smith!

Esther Well, if we're going to get married, I may as well start it. 

Rose - Nice girls don't let men kiss them until after they're engaged. Men don't want the bloom rubbed off. 

 Esther - Personally, I think I have too much bloom. Maybe that's the trouble with me."

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

(it lets me get my Christmas fix without watching a strictly Christmas movie)

What's your favorite old movie? 

what I've learned from...my mother

In order to really talk, there needs to be tea and a comfy chair.

Christmas shopping should be done early and thoughtfully. Wrap the present beautifully so they know you care. Each piece should be wrapped in a separate box so they have more to open. 

A home cooked meal can cure any bad day. 

People never get too old for small presents for no reason, whether it be candy or new canvas. 

Fresh flowers should be in the house whenever possible, especially if they are cut from your own garden.

Cook with home grown herbs. 

Always have cheerful but restful music on in the house. 

Love people even when it hurts. You never know what they've been through.

Always make sure, when in a fight with someone, to look at yourself first before you accuse them. 

Take time to dance around the kitchen with the kids while cooking.

this blog post idea stolen from here

Life Today

"It is easier when you are old like me, Micasan,' he said.

'What is?' I asked

'Waiting,' he said. 'One day a ship will come, Micasan. Maybe soon, maybe not so soon. But it will come. Life must not be spent always hoping, always waiting. Life is for living."

-Michael Morpurgo 

Snail Love - Part 2 (Week 21)

This week is special. 

I know I talk about the boy snail a lot during five things I heart...but it's just cause I heart him so much, so you'll have to deal with me.

Most of you remember part 1... 

...but today is a special day...so I decided to bring back our two favorite snails for part 2! I hope you don't mind not knowing about anything else I hearted this week...cause this boy just overtook everything else.

Enjoy!

Happy birthday Baby. Love you!

Memory 18

My grandma died this past year and slowly as my mom has been going through her house she's found things that grandma left for me. An old newspaper article from the play I was in, our state quarter collection, a picture I gave her for Mother's Day.

There was another box in my room this weekend when I came home, containing one of my most precious memories from when I was little. 

My grandma had this silk vintage nightgown I used to wear when I was little. I would be a princess or a ballerina or a fairy...whatever my mood for the day....and let the beautiful blue fabric swirl around me while admiring the lace in my grandma's full length mirror. 

It's the most precious thing she could have left me. 

P.S. - Fun fact, the veil I'm wearing in the "Flashback Fridays" picture when I'm little is my mom's wedding veil. It was my second favorite dress up item. 

What was your favorite dress up item when you were little?

Nostalgia

I'm almost to the end of my undergraduate career, and for someone as nostalgic as me, I practically ooze sentimentality at a time like this. 

I've been scraping together old papers and pictures for graduation parties and filing away. One project I've taken on is compiling a slide show for my party. I looked through hundreds of old photos from the last 4 1/2 years (I took the super senior route).

But one thing stuck out above all others while looking through these pictures...

...my hair!

It has been every color, style, and bad decision in the book (as well as a few good decisions, I really did love that pixie hair cut).

Just goes to show you, even us gooey-ooey nostalgic types can take a few minutes to laugh about the past too. 

here

Happy November

"Because that’s what life is about.  It’s about the time when you lay in the grass next to those you love. It’s about the color of the sky. It’s about a roaring fire on a winters evening. You’ve got to realize that everybody bleeds, and that everybody hurts. Everybody laughs, and everybody smiles. That’s what it’s all about. That’s all it is. There is no set meaning of life, there is nothing that can be defined, or written. It’s a matter of sculpting your very own definition."

- unknown.

stolen shamelessly from here 

Week 20

Autumn Addition! It's like a special addition but better!

1) Carving pumpkins...especially pumpkins with a certain resemblance to other things I love

2) Missouri State Campus with red, yellow, and orange everywhere

3) Happy Hobbit Music 

(Celtic music always reminds me of fall cause my family and I go to Irish festivals during the fall)

4) Pumpkin patches with friends

5) Long walks in the park with other friends 

(and of course playing on random giant wheelchairs)

Enjoy Autumn!

Beth

So I have this friend...

...and she has this thing called a birthday today. Did you think I would let this day pass my dear Beth?

And so, in honer of this day...one of my lists! 

Things I love about Beth:

- your big huge heart for kids (especially the kids of Balance, I will giggle about Sydney anytime)

- your determination in your major, you inspire me with your professional but fun attitude

- you love of music that I love

- GLEEK!

- your ever changing wardrobe 

- the fact that we can talk for hours about Meyers Briggs and Disney Princesses

- the fact that you always lend a listening ear

- your second half (yes, I include Travis as a part of you) and watching you both together and how you love each other so uniquely and wonderfully

- the love that you shower on everyone around you

You are such a sweet person to have in my life (possibly the sweetest). I'm so happy you're in it, hopefully for a very long time to come. 

Memory 17

It's nice to be getting back into the routine of blogging. Just thought I'd let you know. 

So, I had this friend...Matt. And we walk to class together every Tuesday and Thursday. And lately we've taken to doing something that I find quite refreshing.

Leaf jumping. 

We had these huge trees in my backyard when I was little and I would make gigantic piles with friends. As you can see, I kept leaf jumping well into high school and now college. It's my second favorite fall activity (10 points if you can guess my first).

Matt...I will always get to the crunchy ones before you. 

What's your favorite fall activity? Childlike or otherwise. 

Chilly

I had to put on a scarf and fingerless gloves today...

There is something about this having-to-hold-a-coffee-cup-between-your-hands-to-keep-warm kinda weather that puts me in a perfectly content mood. 

Fall is here, Christmas (and a new sister) is around the corner, and freedom from pop quizzes and mood defying grades is in sight. 

borrowed from here