Me

Summer

2008-07-25T07:18:00.003-04:00

Well, so far I've had a pretty busy summer. We started by going to Ireland for 10 days and then we came back to Hungary to help out with the Summer camp here. My main job during the camp it to take pictures, but I was also an English teacher for 2 week.

Here are some of the pictures from camp :)

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

And this....

Brother & Sister - taking a break from school :)

2008-04-18T06:04:00.004-04:00

Fun

2008-04-18T05:05:00.006-04:00

Sunday School & Cotton Candy

2008-04-14T03:35:00.019-04:00

For the past few Sundays, I've gone into Budapest with some of the BI students to help teach Sunday school at a church there. For the first 3 weeks I was helping out with the 2 & 3 year olds, but last week I went and helped Amanda and Andrea with the 4 & 5's. They were so sweet.

Our story had to do with fish/fishing, so we made them fishing poles and some fish.

They loved them!

Amanda and I also made this fish for them to hold when they were answering questions.

It was so cute to watch them make the fish "swim" from person to person.

- All of their fishing poles -

_________________________

Cotton Candy :)

After Sunday school Stephen, Salo, Jared, Amanda and I decided to get subs and go for a picnic.

After we ate, we got some cotton candy... It was so much fun.

Deciding which flavors we wanted

Stephen and Salo waiting for our Pineapple cotton candy.

Our crazy huge cotton candy :)

2008-04-04T17:28:00.001-04:00

To see more picture from our camp fire, go here.

Something Different. Something New.

2008-04-04T11:50:00.008-04:00

Tonight we're having some friends over to have a camp fire in our back yard. We'll have hotdogs, french fries and a few other snacks.

My mom sent Danny down to the store this afternoon to see if he could find any good bread for the hot dogs - Hot dog buns are nonexistent in Hungary. He, sadly, came home empty handed.

Here's where I come in... about every other week or so I make bread or rolls (always using your recipe Alli, it's still my favorite!) And my mom figured that I could use that to make hot dog buns if I made them a bit long-ish and not so round like a normal bun. So I did, and they came out almost perfect. I say almost only because they don't look exactly like normal hot dog buns, but they're close enough and they taste good. So hey, as far as I'm concerned, they're fine.

I never thought that I'd ever be making hot dog buns, of all things! It's just something that, in the States, you would normally never ever think twice about. You just go to the store and buy some. But to me, this was way more fun.

Too many options

2008-03-29T15:53:00.012-04:00

Okay, here's what's up... On Thursday I finally found fabric for the inside of the two bags I made. Now all I have to do is finish the outside of the second one, and then sew the fabric onto the inside of both of them. My only problem is that I can't decide which design I want on front of the second bag. So, if you would be so kind as to lend me your brain for a few minutes, I would love your help!

See what I mean? I have too many options.

But anyway... moving on...

So there's this one...

Or this one..

Or this one.

Please, leave a comment and let me know what you think.

I Need You (Show Me)

2008-03-26T17:14:00.006-04:00

This is something that I wrote a few months ago...

Open my eyes, help me to see
through these tears that fall, so carelessly 
I know You're there, so please 
won't You show me that You're listening?

If I won't be humble, 
then show me humility.
Break my pride,
come inside of me. 
If I won't come willingly, 
then show me You're willing. 
Gently whispering;
You're waiting, patiently

Open my eyes, please, help me to see
through these tears that fall, so carelessly 
I know You're there 
so please, won't You show me?                             
Just show me that You're listening

If I run and hide, 
then show me that You see me. 
Crumbling these walls,
I made to protect me. 
If I fall, when I'm feeling so strong,
show me that You'll hold me. 
Safely in your arms, 
is where I'll be

Open my eyes, help me to see
through all of these tears that are falling, so carelessly 
and I know You're there, so please 
won't you show me You're listening? 

I've tried to be so perfect, to do it all on my own.
So show me that You can humble me
That I cannot do this alone. 
Show me that I need You here beside me. 
Lord, show me that you're listening. 

Won't you open my eyes, and help me to see?
You, through all these tears that are falling, so willingly 
I know You're there Lord, waiting so patiently 
for the one who does not deserve to be sought out by your wonderful mercy.
won't you show me? Lord, come and show me....

Does this look like school to you?

2008-03-13T05:37:00.013-04:00

Yeah, I didn't think so either... but it sure is cute.

He's been bouncing this little yellow ball almost all morning trying to see how many times he can do it in a row. I really don't get it, but he seems to enjoy it.

He finally got it up to 104 times, gave some kind of joyous scream and then announced that he was tired.

Yup. Definitely cute.

Okay, enough. Back to school! Right now!

It's finished... finally

2008-03-07T07:57:00.034-05:00

At the beginning of January I was given several skeins of blue yarn. I figured that I had enough to make a blanket, so that became my new project for the next few week. Almost half way through I decided that I wanted to change something, so I pulled everything out, and start over, that was fun. Around that same time my mom came home from the store one day and surprised me with many many more skeins of this same yarn. I love my mom :)

So now, it is finally finished.
The yarn is a blend of wool and acrylic, and it's nice and warm. We all love it. Everyone wanted it to go in their room, so for now I just put it downstairs on the couch. Actually, I'm curled up in it right now as I type.

This is all that's left of my wonderful stash of this blue stuff. Before I made the blanket the yarn filled up that whole space. And I still have all that left! - It kinda reminds me of a yarn store every time I look at it.

My mom wants another blanket... so I guess that'll be my next project. Blue Blanket #2.

Anyway, I'm just glad the first one is done. So I wanted to share that with you.

------------------------------------------

I still haven't been able to find the right fabric for the two bags I was making. So they're still sitting, up in my room, on my couch, waiting to be finished...

So, I was wondering.

2008-02-26T15:45:00.005-05:00

Which is correct, "I am a terrible procrastinator" or "I am a wonderful procrastinator"?

If you think about it they both really do mean the same thing. But which one truly is grammatically correct? Are neither of them correct? Or is it simply just personal preference? And if so which is more common? - I guess you hardly ever hear the second one being used, so that answers that question. But still, why would anyone say "I am a terrible procrastinator"? It just doesn't make any sense. And what kind of word is procrastinate anyway? Who came up with that? I know this is just one example, and a very poor one at that, but it is my belief that the English language it completely insane.

So anyway, I think now is a good time to announce that I do procrastinate... from time to time... when I feel the need to... or if it seems like a good thing to do...

That's all.

Addictive?

2008-02-20T03:48:00.008-05:00

Yes, VERY!

So, how could this one little blue candy effect you if you were to pop it into your mouth? Well, it would automatically make you crave more. That's all you need, just one. And you're hooked.

I've heard people compare them to Peanut M&M's, however, I strongly disagree. I truly despise Peanut M&M's (weird I know), but I LOVE these. They don't really have a name. But the brand name is Big Ben, so we just call them Big Bens. And they're great. You really can't eat just one, or 2, or 15. If you eat one you're bound to end up eating a handful. The sad thing is though, they don't have them in the States... I don't know what I'm gonna do when we leave Hungary. :P

- I've never eaten a whole bag, not all at once anyway. The most I've eaten at one time was half a bag, well, actually I've done that more than once... Becky and I like eating them while we're watching movies. So yeah, needless to say, I've eaten a lot of them.

2008-02-19T04:03:00.002-05:00

Psalm 119:33-40 ~

Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees;
then I will keep them to the end.

Give me understanding, and I will keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.

Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.

Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.

Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.

Fulfill your promise to your servant,
so that you may be feared.

Take away the disgrace I dread,
for your laws are good.

How I long for your precepts!
Preserve my life in your righteousness.

Miss Erica Lynn... and me.

2008-02-13T13:14:00.012-05:00

Hi everyone!
I'm Erica.
I've known Hannah for about, lets see, like 3 years? i think.
I met her at our youth group's winter retreat
I totally was dying for an Oh Henry bar. And well, she was working in the snack barn and I totally bought one from her. And thats when I met her.

Lets see, some time after that she started coming to youth group with one of the many many many Jens from the ALC and I knew I knew her from somewhere but just couldnt remember where.
And then I remembered.
And I think I scared her just pointing at her and saying, you're the girl from the snack barn! .
But hey its all good.
She's the best in the world and everyone should know her
She's so pretty and helpful
She's been there for me all the time, always telling me what I need to hear. even though she knows its not what I want to hear.
She does it because she loves me
And I love her too.
I miss her more than life itself
we have so many jokes together (massimo!)
hehe!
love you Hannah!
cant wait to see youuu!!

Guess who? Yeah, it's me [Hannah]. I Bet you thought you'd gotten rid of me for a little while. No, sorry, I'm still here.
And now it's my turn!

Okay so since Erica already told you about how we met and stuff, I'll skip over all that.

- Oh, and no... you didn't scare me with all of your pointing and saying "you're the girl from the snack barn." I was actually glad that someone knew me and that you wanted to hang out with me. -

Erica truly has been one of the most wonderful friends I've ever had.
She's sweet, and funny, and beautiful. She has such an awesome personality, and when you're around her, you can't help but be happy and have fun. She's always been there for me, even when she could've easily been upset with me and left me in the dust, she was right there with me helping me get back up. She's always there if I just need someone to talk to, and she encourages me in my walk with God. (Erica, remember... our new mini youth group? :P)

We had so much fun together while I lived in the Bahamas, so many jokes were told, lessons learned, memories made, etc.
And we've continued to stay close and have fun even though I'm in Hungary.
We e-mail each other everyday (yesterday we e-mail each other about 88 times... we were trying for 100 but didn't quite make it), we still act as if we're gonna see each other every week, and we still pray for and encourage one another.
And... she even takes pictures every week at youth group and then sends them to me!
That has helped so much with missing home, it's almost like I get to go to youth group again. And now I even look forward to waking up on Saturday mornings because I know that I have youth group pics waiting for me in my inbox. :)
Isn't she greatest? I love her SO much!
I hope all of you get to meet her someday, and then you'll see just why I love her so much!
I could go on and on for hours about things she and I have done, or even just telling you about her.
But since we've already put so much into this one post I'll stop for now... and maybe, if she wants to, I'll have her come back sometime and we'll find something else to write about that'll occupy another little chunk of your time. ;)

Rainy Day

2008-02-08T06:41:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a lovely rainy day. - I love it when it rains. It's my favorite type of weather (and yeah, I think thunderstorms are awesome.)

So, it's cold outside, the wind is blowing, and it's raining. Perfect weather for taking pictures right? Well, I thought so...

And I really enjoyed it. On my way home from Hungarian class I walked down a few of the back roads, that I've never been on before. It was a nice walk, it took a little longer than my normal walk home, but it was nice.

Hungarian Class

2008-02-07T14:38:00.000-05:00

Lately in Hungarian we've been learning about suffixes.
- We've covered the suffixes that you add to make a word plural. In Hungarian you pluralize adjectives, if they come after the noun.

- We've learned how to conjugate verbs. There are at least 11 different ways to do this. And then there are what we call the "Ick Verbs" or irregular verbs that do not follow the regular rules of conjugation and have their own set of rules.

- Next we learned the suffix that you add to show that a word is the direct object in the sentence. This, for the most part, is actually pretty simple.

(if you're confused at this point, and are about ready to forget about the Hungarian language for the rest of your life, keep reading, it gets better...)

- Then last week we learned that there are suffixes that that you add to a word to add a preposition to that word. Here's an example. In English we might say, Into the store. In Hungarian it would look like this, A boltba. The word bolt means store, and you add the suffix ba to show that you are going into the the store.

Hungarians really seem to love adding suffixes as often as possible. You can start out with a simple 4 letter word and by the time you've added all the suffixes it's a 17 letter word.

It all makes sense when you're talking in Hungarian, but when you're thinking and talking in Hungarian/English and trying to sort things out it gets confusing sometimes.

This week, we learned how to tell time.
It's actually very entertaining when you think about it, and that's exactly what you have to do, think about it.
In English if you wanted to know what time it was I would say "It's 12:14"
In Hungarian... we would say "It's one minute until 45 minutes until 1 o'clock" (I'm not even going to try and type that out in actual Hungarian)
And then there's the simple way of saying it " tizenket ora tizennegy perc." Which literally means "11:14" (even though it's 12:14, we still say that it's 11.)
The way our teacher explained it was that even though it's 12 we've passed 12 and are now in the 11th hour.

It's all VERY confusing at first, but once you start wrapping your head around it, and it starts to click then it can be really fun.
Still very confusing at times, but I'm learning... slowly, and it is fun.
And the more we learn, the more we're able to laugh at our mistakes.

(anybody wanna guess what any of this means?)

Last week our teacher was having us translate Hungarian sentences into English, and then English into Hungarian. We were each supposed to take a sentence and then translate it.
It ended up that one of us would start translating, then get stuck, and the rest of us would help out. By the end of the lesson we were pretty much just going through the sentences and each of us was translating one word. So we made a joke that now we can finally go and talk to a Hungarian as long as we're all together so that we can help each other out.-- And yes, even when we're all being totally serious, it does sometimes take all 6 of us to translate one sentence.

I'm still laughing at the fact that I randomly decided to pull out my camera in the middle of class and start snapping away, and my teacher didn't mind. So I turned Hungarian class into a mini photo-shoot. :)

What did I do this moring?

2008-02-01T08:17:00.000-05:00

Well, let's see. I woke up, took a shower, and ate a quick breakfast. Then I started making whoopie pies (I also made some bacon and brown-sugar wrapped hotdog bites) for our party tonight.

I decided that I was going to make the whoopie pies bite sized - I know, I know, you can't really tell from the pictures that they're little. But they are! I promise. - And I really like them this way. I love the way the "Mini Whoopie Pies" look.

This is the second time I've made them this month, I made them 2 weeks ago and everyone loved them. So, I made them again.

Over all I made 139 of them, I don't think I've ever made quite this many before, but I am used to making lots of 'em. Whenever I make them I usually end up making them for a large crowd.
Lunch came and went, and I was still pulling baking sheets out of the oven, I was so glad when I finally got to sit down and start frosting them.

I had been frosting them for about an hour, when I ran out of frosting. I had about half of them finished though, so I figured that I'd just wait till tomorrow to make another batch of frosting and then I'd finish filling them.
Anyway, it was fun. And all the people who are coming love them, so I'm glad that I could make them for them.

And this would be?

2008-01-30T06:33:00.002-05:00

This would be the rice sock I made for myself a few weeks ago.

Usually you sew a bag , fill it with rice, and then all you have to do is pop it in the microwave for a few minutes, and it stays warm for up to an hour.

I decided to crochet a little pocket for mine. I know, I just had to find some way to be different didn't I? :)

Before Christmas break we went to the Christmas Market in Budapest and I picked up some very nice wool yarn for an equally nice price. The first thing I did with it was start to make a bag, I almost have it finished... actually it would be finished... but I hit a little bump when I realized that I don't have any fabric (that matches the yarn) to line the inside of the bag with. So, I decided that while I wait for the next trip to someplace where I can buy fabric, I'd make myself a new rice sock. And this was the result. It is a bit smaller than a normal one, but I still like it.

They are very easy to make, and they stay warm for a pretty good amount of time.

If you want to know how to make one for yourself you can find the instructions here or here.

After I finished this, I started making another bag. So now I really need to find myself some fabric. Anybody want to take a trip into Budapest with me?

Hannah who?

2008-01-29T05:40:00.000-05:00

So the other day I was reading the post on Christina's blog about nicknames, and it got me thinking...

What nicknames do I really have?

Everyone has always called me Hannah Banana ever since before I can remember.
And then there's a small handful of people who call me Hannah Strawberry (I love it) :)
Then people started doing the - Hannah [insert-name-of-any-random-fruit-here] - thing. But thankfully that didn't really stick.

And really I think that's pretty much it.*
There isn't a whole lot you can do with the name Hannah, and no one has really been been able to find a nickname that really stuck, or that everyone uses.
So, plain old Hannah it is. And I think plain old Hannah is what it will always be.

So, how bout you? Do any of you have funky nicknames that I don't know about?

*I guess there is one more. My wonderful twin calls me Blue Eyes sometimes... I bet y'all can't guess why. ;)

Look who it is...

2008-01-25T04:29:00.000-05:00

It's me, I'm back!

So much has happened since the last time I wrote something on here. I can't believe I let 2 months go by without posting anything (*scolds herself*.) But I am working on that, I've made a goal to post at least twice a month, if not more, and to write long[er] posts. Which shouldn't be too hard since a lot of my, um, "recent" posts have only been a paragraph or two.

Over Christmas break my family and I went to Romania with some friends of ours. We came home the first week of January and still had some "free time" before we all had to start school again. Danny and I started school a week after we got home, which I didn't mind because then I had something to take up some more time in my day and I didn't feel like I was laying around the house all day, but I don't think Danny really wanted to go back to doing school. He likes having all that free time.

It was nice to have mom and dad home with us for a little while, but with them at home it didn't really seem like we were doing school, and we would sometimes get distracted by them being there because we're not used to it anymore. Soon though they had to go back to school too.

Their first week back to school was, for me, their best week yet. Their guest teacher was Pastor Ed Hart, he and his wife Faith are very good friends of our family, and he is a wonderful teacher. So, Danny and I went up there every morning with them and sat in on his classes. I loved it, it was fun to be up at the school with everyone for a little while and I love listening to P. Ed.

We went through Philippians while he was here, and I got 16 pages of notes from all of his teachings. I'm not going to share all 16 pages of notes and what I thought about them, but I do want to share some of the things that I really enjoyed.

- In Philippians 1:3-4, Paul says "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy."

P. Ed talked about how, every time we think of people, do we always thank God for them and pray for them with joy? And what about the people who we don't really get along with? We should be praying for one another, and thanking God for one another. He talked about how, if we pray for someone, even if it's someone who bugs us, we will start to love them. He encouraged us all to pray Phil. 1:9-11 for each-other.

I think one of my favorite things that he talked about was praying scripture. I guess I always knew that you could do it, but never really gave much thought to it before. He said that when we pray scripture, we're really just praying God's words back to him. He had us all take 2 minutes to pray Psalm 23, I don't think any of us really got past the first verse or two. It's amazing what you can pray with just a few verses, and praying scripture also helps you stay focused ;)

In verses 27 and 28 of chapter 1 it talks about living lives worthy of the gospel, and not being frightened by those who oppose you. P. Ed talked about how living a life worthy of the gospel was simply living according to the truth that we profess to believe. And how, if we are truly living a Christ-like life the world will hate us. Then he said that we all know that we should hate the things that God hates right? So why then are so many christians involved in the things that God hates?

Ephesian 5:11 says; "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, rather expose them."

I think the world has set this standard of "normal", and christians are accepting it and we're even letting it seep into our lives. We start becoming dull to certain sins, and even out right ignore them because they become "normal." We don't want to stand out and be different because it's uncomfortable. But we're supposed to expose the darkness to the light, not blend in with it, only showing our light when it's convenient for us. God never said that being a christian would be easy, even Jesus was persecuted - and he was God. I really doubt that people thought of Jesus as normal. He even came into the world, to the people he loved, knowing that they were going to kill him. He knew that he was not going to be accepted by everyone, he knew that they would try to trip him up whenever they could, and he knew that in the end they were going to hang him on the cross. And yet he still came. If the God of the universe was willing to humble himself for our sake, then shouldn't we be willing to sacrifice our selfish desire of normalcy for Him?

All the little things that we compromise in order for us to feel a little less different so that the world doesn't hate us as much.

We should be willing to lay them all down, in a heartbeat, we should be willing to lay down everything that our flesh wants. And be willing to be fearless for the One who saved us. If the world hates you, so what? We're not trying to please them or be like them. Our main goal should be to live like Christ, to live a life worthy of the gospel.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" - Jim Elliot.

It's been a bit "frosty" lately...

2007-11-30T15:43:00.001-05:00

For the past two days it's been kinda foggy, and there has been a layer of frost all over everything. It's all gone now, but it was really neat while it lasted.

- more pictures here -

US

2007-10-27T04:58:00.000-04:00

Introducing...

2007-10-26T04:34:00.000-04:00

- Miss Rebecca Lynn James! - (also sometimes known as Becky, Becca, or Rebecca-Becca-Becky-Boo)

Hey all!

Well, today you are in for a treat. Not only do you get to listen to me (he he, and I know you all just love listening to me talk :P) but also you get to listen to and learn all about, my most wonderful friend, Becky

Okay, let's see, Becky is (in a nut shell)...

One of the sweetest people I have ever met. And I think I would definitely go crazy missing my friends if I didn't have her here to talk to and keep me sane. She's a *little bit* (only a little bit) shy, but once she gets to know you, well... she's not afraid to be her cute, funny, slightly crazy, beautiful, totally-fun-to-hang-out-with self.

She's lots of fun to talk to, so if you don't know her, then you definitely should get to know her!

Okay, I {meaning Becky}just stole the computer 'cause Hannah is being way too nice...

So yeah, Hannah is awesome too...she will definitely be one of my brides maids someday hehe :)
Um...so about me...humm-de-dumm... singing and playing piano are two of my most favorite things to do...other than hanging with my people(Hannah, her brother and Jared, Chas, and Rachel)

So, yeah, sorry all you "sporty" people, I don't...DO NOT play any sports at all(or climb over gates...OR climb trees)

[Hannah again] she doesn't play any sports, and we mean ANY sports. But we still love her anyway though, and we're working on the gate and tree phobia thing ;)

{Becky} So yeah, you all might be wondering how the heck I got here, so I'm gonna tell you if you like it or not...hehe

So, yeah we (my family and I) moved here around New Years in '93, two weeks before I turned 1 year old, so yeah, i have lived here all my life...and I absolutely adore it here. My dad is the director of the Bible school and the assistant director of the whole sha-bang.

[Hey, me again] Becky's mind just went blank, so I thought I'd take the time to say HI! and Goodbye, I think that's all I have to say about this subject for now. So, till next time. See ya.

{Becky's back} I know what you're thinking, and yes, she really can be like that sometimes :)

Yeah, so I hope I get to meet you all someday, I know you must be awesome. Hannah talks about you all quite a bit, I know she loves you all and misses you, but don't worry she is in good hands...I think ;)

So, till next time...

Hope you have a totally funky day!

Oh my...

2007-10-19T06:15:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that it's October already, and that we've been here for almost three months! Where has the time gone?

Also, it's been almost a month since my last post.... don't worry, I am still here, I promise. And I am going to try and post something within the next few days.

I love you all and miss you VERY much!

Happy Birthday!

2007-09-23T11:04:00.000-04:00

Today, September 23, is my little bro's birthday.
Let me see, how old is he now? Hmmm... oh yeah, he's twelve. And he won't let us forget it! Last night on our way home from the castle he "reminded" Becky and I (about 15 times) that he was going to be twelve tomorrow :)

Here are a few pictures and some, uhhh, quotes.

- "He's my own personal Google!" - referring to our dad.

- "oh, I know what he's gonna do. He's gonna burry her in the telescope when she dies!" - He said this after watching the scene in A Walk To Remember where he gives her the telescope.

- "Wait! Rewind it, I didn't see it! I'm gonna rewind it... Beckyyyy, where's the rewind button?" - He did this *almost* every time we watched a movie last week, he always missed something, and wanted to go back and watch it at least twice.

- "I can't ride in his car, I'm accident prone" ~"well it's not like you're going to be driving it"~ "Oh... true!" - a funny conversation between my brother and my dad.

- "Yes, mommaaayyyyy"* - Okay, maybe this isn't really that funny... I guess you just had to be there. But it makes us laugh :P

Well, what can I say? He definitely enjoys life!
If any of you have any funny quotes you want me to add, just leave me a comment and let me know.

*This one's for you my RebeccaBeccaBeckyBoo... he he

After the rain

2007-08-25T08:23:00.000-04:00

I decided to post these pictures because I figured there just might be some poor person out there who can't sleep at night because they're wondering what a dirt road in Hungary looks like after a rain storm suddenly comes up out of no where :)... Or not.

Here are some pictures I took one moring after a very hard rain, now our road is very... um... bumpy.

Our street.

2007-08-07T07:35:00.000-04:00

Looking down the left side of our street...

.... And looking up the right side. The tan house on the left side of the picture is Becky's house.

The house that is in front of our house.

Our House :)

A beautiful sunset out the back window in my room.

Well I hope you like the pictures.

Soon

2007-07-27T20:04:00.001-04:00

Well many things have happened in the past 2 months... and once we get to Hungary and things settle down a little bit, I will tell you about everything. But for now here is a quick "update".

Very soon:
In less than 4 days I will be in Hungary... and I will finally meet Becky, my new best friend to be... I have several best friends all over the world (how many people can say that? lol)

Kinda soon:
Next week at this time we will have been in our new house for several days... and we can finally empty our luggage that we've been carrying around for the past few months!

Less-than-a-month soon:
By August 28th we will have been in Hungary for almost a month, and we should be settled in nicely by then... and... August 28th also happens to be my birthday :P

Look it's Shelbi and T. :P

2007-07-06T22:49:00.001-04:00

Pride and Prejudice Music Video

2007-06-19T13:04:00.001-04:00

- if you push play and it starts to skip then push pause and let it load for a minute. -

Me; just thinking

2007-06-11T22:22:00.000-04:00

**Sigh**

~what's wrong?~

I miss home, I miss all of the people there and my family there.

~well aren't you excited to be going to Hungary?~

Yes! of course I am... but it's hard to leave a place where you grew up and so many people you love!

~I know... but you will get to see them all again~

Yeah, in two years... wow I can't believe I wont see them, or be home for at least two years.

~yeah, I think it'll go faster than you think. And don't you think that Hungary will become home?~

Heh... maybe. Well I don't know, I mean yeah I know it'll become "home" meaning that that is where we live and sure I'll find people there who I love and who love me too, but I don't think that it'll be the same.

~I know it wont be the same but we'll still have a good time, and who knows maybe it will become home even though it doesn't feel like it could.~

yeah I know we'll have fun... I'm not saying that I'm going to die, it's just hard to leave. Yeah maybe.

~I know how you feel, I miss it too! but for now we can't go home... so let's just try and be happy where we are Okay?~

Do you always have to be so happy all the time, really would it kill you to be even slightly sad sometime.

~I don't know, I'm the "Happy Hannah" part of you, so can I be sad?~

I dunno... I guess not, cause if you became sad then I might have some serious problems and be really depressed all the time, and I don't know if people would like that.

~yeah exactly, so lighten up!~

Thanks... I'll try :)

- To all the people in the Bahamas.... I miss you A LOT and I love you all so much! -

Me and Rowan at the Beach

2007-05-18T11:23:00.003-04:00

Every Thursday afternoon for the past year I've been going over to Allison Sands house.

I've folded laundry, peeled vegetables (almost every week. I love it.), played with Rowan so mommy could make dinner and of course sometimes we just hang out. Yesterday was one of my last Thursdays with them before we leave to go to Hungary so...

We went to the beach!

Rowan loved the water (and the sand!)... and mommy and I enjoyed it too.

Making funny faces :P

Chillin' out

This is our favorite! ~ such a handsome little face

Does that sand taste good??

I'm really going to miss spending Thursdays with two of my most favorite people, Alli and Rowan.

More Pictures

2007-05-18T11:12:00.000-04:00

Pictures from the past week

2007-05-18T10:57:00.000-04:00

Happy Mothers Day

2007-05-14T17:27:00.000-04:00

Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers I know

Love you Mom!

You're the best.

Listening

2007-04-18T15:14:00.000-04:00

Here is part of something I'm writing... I just don't know when I'm going to finish it.

... You've always been here
listening to my quite whispers
the whispers of my heart
and no matter what I say
You're always willing to listen.

When I'm speechless
and can't find the right words
You always know exactly what I want to say...

I'll post the rest of it whenever I finish it.
let me know what you think.

Whoopie Pies

2007-03-28T09:56:00.000-04:00

Okay here is the Whoopie Pie recipe.

Whoopie Pies

Stir together:

1 c. boiling water

1 c. cocoa

1 t. vanilla

Mix and let cool

Cream:

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. shortening

Till fluffy

Add:

2 eggs

1 c. sour milk

3 1/2 c. flour

2 t. baking soda

2 t. baking powder

Beat well.

Add cocoa mix and mix well.

drop onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 7 min.

Cream Filling

Beat:

2 egg whites

1 1/2 c. shortening

3c. 10x sugar

4 T. Milk

1 t. Vanilla

Add cream filling to cakes.

Wednesday: Surfers Beach Day 2

2007-03-21T10:32:00.000-04:00

I had so much fun out in Eleuthera, It was very beautiful.

I loved this beach... I probably took about 50 picutres there.

It's truly amazing what God does!

Wednesday: Surfers Beach Day 2

2007-03-21T10:11:00.001-04:00

Cleopatra?

Fun in the sand

Tuesday: Surfers Beach Day 1

2007-03-17T10:27:00.001-04:00

Ummm what's up guys?

Sunday Night: Whoopie Pies!!!

2007-03-17T10:11:00.002-04:00

I slaved over a hot oven for 2 day just to make these Whoopie Pies

for them :P....but it was all worth it in the end. They loved them.

And I truly enjoyed making them.

The Girls were sooo happy that I made them again.

(I had made some for them a month ago)

The guys had them for the first time, and loved them.

-- I'll post the recipe for the Whoopie Pies in a few weeks

Sunday: Early Morning Hike

2007-03-12T20:25:00.001-04:00

Sunday: Church and The Beach

2007-03-12T20:03:00.001-04:00

Pictures from Eleuthera

Sunday: Church and the Beach

The Bay by the Church.

The Church from behind.

View of the front of the Church

Building our fire at the Beach!

Eleuthera and Spanish Wells

2007-02-20T09:54:00.001-05:00

Eleuthera, Bahamas

(and Spanish Wells)

In a few day's I'll be going to these Islands for the second time in my life, the first time was actually almost this time last year, some of us went on vacation. It was very relaxing and fun to just walk along the beach, drive around town and lay on the beach and talk all day. This time I'm going with Patmos, and I'm not going to be laying around on the beach all day...but I'm ok with that because I don't really like laying on the beach all day in the sun...we're going to be working hard most of the time. It's going to be a lot of fun working with the students and getting to know them all a bit better.

Facts about -Eleuthera-

1. It is only 50 miles away from Nassau
2. It is very long and thin, little more than a mile wide in places.

3. It is 110 miles long.

4. It has a population of about 8,000 residents.

5. The name "Eleuthera" is derived from the Greek word for "free" or "freedom."

6. The major industries are: Fishing, Farming ann Tourism

Facts about - Spanish Wells -

1. It has a population of about 1,527 residents.
2. It was formerly called St. Georges Cay (pronounced "KEY")

3. Historically, the island was used as a last stop for Spanish ships returning to Europe,thus the English name of the settlement: Spanish Wells

4. Many of the people in (and around) Spanish Wells share the surname Pinder.
5. Currently, (2006) Spanish Wells is a center for lobster fishing in the Bahamas.

7. It is 2.5 miles long and about a half mile wide.

Rain

2007-02-13T16:06:00.000-05:00

Today some of us went to the beach, or rather we tried to go to the beach.

When we got there it started raining so we had to come back home.

But I love the rain, especially a good thunderstorm. It does rain here but when it

does it's usually only a short shower.

Today's rain was wonderful, it's been raining

for about 2 hours so far and there was even a little bit of thunder!

I think the rain is really beautiful, I love the sound of the rain and the thunder.

Those are some of my favorite sounds. Sometimes when the wind going though

the palm trees it'll sound like rain, it can be very interesting because sometimes

it really sounds like it's raining .

Night Life

2007-01-25T11:37:00.000-05:00

Every night starting at about dusk is when the oh so beautiful "Bahamian Symphony"

starts up. It is made up of the following:

Potcakes - It'll start out as just one or two of them, but after a few minuets all the dogs in the neighborhood are barking. They'll go on an on almost all night long, it's what I fall asleep listing to and if I wake up in the middle of the night they're still going.

Churches - There is a church on every corner here, and 2 or 3 time a week they love to get together during the evening, turn up the sound and sing their hearts' out so everyone can hear them.

Cars - They drive up and down the street ridiculously fast. Often I'll be nearly asleep and someone will drive by and it wakes me up part way again, thankfully this only happens about 5 times a week.

Parties - Bahamians go all out when they have a party, they get a DJ, enough food to feed an army, huge speakers to go with the DJ, and they almost always go into all hours of the night.

And...........

My Brother - Who seems to talk a lot more after the sun goes down. He comes up with all sorts or ramdom questions that he must have the answer to before tomorrow, because he'll forget his question if I make him wait till the morning.

All these sounds even though they are a slight annoyance, I love, because they are the sounds of the place where God has me and my family right now, and I love this place.

More pictures

2007-01-24T10:40:00.000-05:00

Okay here are some of the other pictures I took that day.

I had a lot of fun and it was really relaxing.

View from the back porch lookign at the lake.

Notice everything's still green and it's december.

"Blue Bird" on the porch.

Piano in the basement.

Oranges on the Porch

2007-01-24T10:28:00.000-05:00

I'm Back! I've had a lot going on since i've been back and

it's all been really fun (more deatils later).

Well while we were on vacation we were very busy, we were

always going over to someone's house. On the Fri. after Christmas

we had some down time for a almost all day and I decided I would take some

pictures of some random stuff.

This is the back porch swing at my Grandparents house.

The swing again, with oranges on it.

I really love this one, I like the way the orage and blue look together.

Something God's been teaching me

2006-11-09T14:12:00.000-05:00

Psalms 139:7-10

7. Where can I go from you Spirit?
Where can I flee from you Presence?
8.If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9.If i rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10. even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

Over the past couple of days God has
been teaching me a lot from these
few verses.

I think most of you know that I want to
be a missionary after I finish school.
What some of you may not know is that
I don’t necessarily want to stay in one
country my whole life, but rather after a while
in one place if I feel like God is calling me to
move on to a new place, then I would go

This of course would require me to settle
into one place make it my home and the people
there would become my family. When and if
I feel that God is leading me to go on to a new
place I would have to leave this place and the
people that I have grown to love so dearly.

I’ve done this twice so far in my life with my family
The first one when I was 7 we moved to Florida.
The second one when I was 11, we moved to the Bahamas.
At first I hated moving from one place to the other especially
With the places being far apart. But God has really taught
me to be content with where ever he has me, and I think
this has sort of fueled me desire to be a missionary.
That and the fact that my Dad is very adventurous and
loves going to new places, and I’m very much like him
in that way.

So what God has been teaching me is this.
Even though when I leave one place and move
on to another it might be very hard for me emotionally
to leave this place I love, and all of my earthly friends
He is with me every single minute of the day, no matter
where I go. Sometimes He feels closer than other times,
but just knowing that he will always be right there with me
comforts me and gives me strength.

-A little soemthing about what I wrote yesterday-

Well if you read what I wrote yesterday about being
Blonde I guess you know that sometimes,
when I have nothing else to do I will occasionally
let my imagination run wild and come up with
strange conversations that I could have with myself :P
and what you would get is what I wrote yesterday.

Blonde?

2006-11-08T14:59:00.000-05:00

Hi,
I am a person who lives inside Hannah’s head.
She and I talk sometimes, but she never lets me
talk to anyone else.
So I’ve taken over her Mind and Body, since I’m
new to this and have never had a conversation with
anyone except Hannah, I’m going to start off with a
conversation she and I once had. I hope you enjoy it.

So, you think I’m blonde?*

Well…incase you don’t remember,
You have done some pretty blonde things before.

Oh come on, just because I accidentally
misspell a word once or twice, and call
someone by the wrong name doesn’t mean
I’m blonde!

Oh I know, but I’m talking about the other stuff.

Huh?

You know.

Um………

Ok well first, there was the time you and
your mom walked into a bathroom in a hotel
and she said “Oh it’s chilly! It’s chilly willie,
but Willie’s not free.” You didn’t get it and
repeatedly asked her what she meant. After
about the third or fourth time you asked she said
“Free Willie…the movie, you know chilly
willie, Willie’s not free. You’re so blonde.”

You’re forgetting that right after she said
that she couldn’t find the soap dispenser,
gave up looking for it and then looked up
and saw it right beside her. See I’m not
the only one!

Yeah, so I guess you get it from your mom.

Sure I guess you could say she’s blonde
Sometimes.

Well I’m not trying to prove that you mom is
Blonde, just you.

*Rolls eyes* well one “story” doesn’t prove
you’re right.

Well there was the time that you did
the laundry but didn’t put in any soap.

Hey! You know I couldn’t find any soap
so I assumed there wasn’t any.

Mmhm but later someone told you that there was soap.
And it turns out it was on the shelf that was right
in front of you the whole time!

You didn’t have to bring that up….

So do you believe me now?

Nope.

Ok well what about the several times last summer
That you mixed up two of your campers,
And they weren’t even the twins, they weren’t
Even retaliated.

No, but they sort of looked alike…

Sure they did. Well do you believe me now?

NO! And I’m tired of arguing about this.

Fine, talk to you tomorrow.

Maybe.

Well let me know what you think.
Oh and If you remember and “blonde moments”
Hannah has had please post a comment and let me know.

* Incase you haven’t ever noticed Hannah’s hair color is Blonde!

Clay

2006-10-31T17:32:00.000-05:00

A simple lump of clay
Sitting, reserved
For only the Artist
So that one day
He would start to shape it
Using it to create something beautiful.

He had promised it to me,
Whatever He was going to make.
I was excited;
He had always made beautiful things,
And now He was going to make something,
Something for me.

Soon He began to use this clay
Making it into…
Well no one really knew
Exactly what He was making
At first it looked flat and smooth
But then later it started to curve...
So I gave up trying to guess what it was.

I decided to ask Him what it would be.
He just looked at me, smiled, and said,
"My child, be patient, you will know in time.
Don't you trust me?"

It was hard for me to wait for Him to finish it;
I wanted so badly to know what it would become.
But I did trust the Artist
And knew He would let me know
What it was when He was ready to tell me.

Two days later I decided I would see how it was going.
I thought I would just peek in on Him
You know, see what it looked like now .

When I looked through the door,
All I found was an empty room
And in the middle, on a stand,
Sat a delicate cup and saucer.

I was so confused as I gazed at it.
As I had expected,
The He had shaped it
And had put it in the kiln,
But it was so plain.
He had not started to glaze it
Or paint it with an intricate design.

Over the next two days
I would peek in on the room,
The room in which sat the cup and saucer;
And every day the room was empty
And the pair was as plain as it had always been;
Plain, unglazed and un painted.

On the third day
I went again to peek on the little cup and saucer,
And again I found it untouched and unpainted.
I knew that the Artist was still in the shop;
I saw Him everyday,
I talked with Him everyday,
But we never talked about the cup and saucer.

So later that day I went to Him,
I asked Him why he had not painted the pair.
He only looked at me, smiled, and said,
"My Child, you must be patient.
You know I love you and only want to give you my best.
You must learn to trust me. "

I told Him I would try.
I thought I could be patient;
For a little while longer anyway.

For some reason,
Later that day,
I decided to go and look into the room,
Just to see if He had started to work on it again.

What I found left me feeling upset;
The cup and saucer remained untouched.
I decided that maybe,
Maybe if I started to paint it,
Then maybe the He would start to work on it.

So I went and gathered the glazes and the brushes,
The ones I though would be correct
For such a beautiful delicate project.

I decided I would start with the saucer.
The moment I picked it up,
A part of it chipped.
I didn't know what to do;
I felt so ashamed.
I knew I should have let the Artist do it.

A few minutes later He came in,
My Artist, the one whom I loved so dearly,
The one who had made this delicate gift for me.
I sheepishly told Him the whole story.
When I had finished He said nothing.
But, seeing that I was truly sorry,
He picked up the saucer and fixed it.

He made it look as if I had never chipped it,
And He told me that I should have waited and trusted Him.
He told me that His hands were the only hands
That could touch the pair in this stage.

I'll never know how He did it,
But from that day on
I've tried very hard to be content with the things
He does tell me,
And be content waiting for my cup and saucer.

No,
He still hasn't finished it,
But I trust that His hands will take care of it
And turn it into a beautiful creation.

Summer

2006-10-31T16:05:00.000-05:00

This past summer, I was a counselor at the ALC Summer Day Camp, I helped prepare for and was a part of Jen and Mich’s wedding, and I went on vacation to Florida.

-Summer Camp-
Summer Day Camp lasted 6 weeks, starting July 6 and ending August 4.
Patrick, Jannicka, and I were the counselors of the Bootstrap Buccaneers.
A group of about 12-20 kids, ages 8-9.
This year the theme was High Seas Adventure, we learned about Pirates what they did in the Bahamas and why they chose Nassau as one of their main ports. We also learned all about how they ran their ships, chose their captain, and came up with their rules and punishments.
We went on several fieldtrips, two of the weeks we went to two of the forts one the island, another week we went to the Pirates Museum, and the last week we went on a boat ride around the harbour.

Every week we got about half of our kids back from the past week, and the other half were totally new ones. There are definitely advantages to having half new kids and the other half kids, you already know how your kids from the past weeks will act and how it deal with them, what they like and dislike, and so since you already know what half your group is like you only have to figure out the other half. But there are disadvantages to already knowing that half too, since they already know you they either do listen to you or...for some reason think in their little mind that since you know them they are allowed to do whatever they want...and this can become quite a challenge sometimes, especially if one or two of them gets the whole group to start talk during a class, decided to go of in their own little world and do their own thing, things like that were what made it hard sometimes.

Although there were a few hard days, over all summer camp was very fun, it was my second summer of helping out and I can’t wait to do it again next year!

-The Wedding-
The week after summer camp, August 6th-12th, was full of wedding preparation. This was so much fun, after six weeks of summer camp if was neat to spend the week immediately following camp getting ready for Jen and Mich’s wedding, it was a week spent relaxing and at the same time getting everything ready for the wedding. The main preparation days would have to have been Thursday, Friday, and any last minute things on Saturday.
On Thursday we started getting things together to decorate the church, and then in the evening we had the rehearsal.
Friday, we had a brunch at our house and then went to the church to decorate the sanctuary and auditorium, which took up the whole day, that evening we had the rehearsal/ALC/Family Dinner at the Lowe’s house.
And Saturday of course, the day of the wedding, Jen W., Jen A., Susan, Stephanie, my mom and I all went to the church at 6:30am to get ready. The ceremony was wonderful and we all had a good time.

Later that night several of us went to Paradise Island to chill Starbucks and Atlantis, and we saw Jen and Mich sometime that night in Starbucks getting dinner and coffee. So we made a “Just Married” sign and went a put it on the back of their car.

-Vacation-
On August 13th the day after the wedding my mom and ***ny left to go to the west coast of Florida to get supplies and see my Aunt and Uncle, their four girls; Joylynn(15), Joslynn(12), Jaclynn(9), and Jadlynn(7), and my Grandpa. My dad and I left for Florida on the 16th...the 16th is also my parents anniversary and the day after Joylynns birthday.

I spent my vacation playing with my cousins, shopping, making a birthday present for my aunt, swimming, reading, and watching TV and Movies.
Monday August 28th was Aunt Jodie and my birthday, my grandpa took Joylynn, ***ny and I out for our birthday breakfasts, and when we got home from that I started to feel sick, but I went with my parents and ***ny to a few stores to go shopping for supplies, by the end of that trip I really wasn’t feeling well and I didn’t have any lunch, so we stopped to rent a movie...at my request...and so the rest of my birthday afternoon I watched The Mummy Returns. That night my Aunt and her family came over for pizza and to hang out, I was feeling a little but better by then and ate one piece of pizza(I ate the rest the next day for breakfast) So that’s how I spent my birthday; partly sick and nothing like what I had planned, but it was good.
We left Florida on the 2nd of September, I was glad to be home after 2 and a half weeks of vacation. We started school the following Monday, I love school so I was ready to start school again and get life back to normal.