Weeks Go By...

Two weeks ago, three weeks seemed like an eternity. I knew we were moving, but it still seemed so far away. Now, we're down to five days til' move-out/in, and how many boxes do I have packed?

Two.

Well, technically one box full of dishes and one suitcase full of books. And you know what? Even five days feels like it's going to take forever to get here. So, I have forever to pack... right? Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't want to do it, it's just that I'm afraid I'll get all packed and then just be sitting on a pile of stuff waiting to go! I'm SO excited to move. Can you tell? Our first little place has been cozy, and well, OURS. But I'm excited for a little more space to spread out and actually have room to unpack everything! Our current 500-something square foot apartment just kind of ended up feeling like a dorm room. We're almost doubling our space in the new apartment, sacrificing a bit of room in the kitchen and bathroom for wide open spaces in the living room and two bedrooms. I have all sorts of ideas for our new living room, bedroom, and what will become the nursery! Pinterest has been my faithful friend while coming up with ideas for the new place.

                                             I love these types of shelves for the nursery/office.

We have a couple little bookshelves I want to do this to! 

The background on this one is wallpaper. 

We may need to do something like this to make some space in our little bathroom... Wine rack turned towel holder. Either that or shelves with baskets!

We'll see how much of this I actually do, but it's fun to dream! :) 

Wedding Video!

My wonderful friend Justin of Justin W Lowe Productions and his lovely other half produced a video of our wedding that has had me swooning over it for days. It was such a wonderful day for Kip and I, and it's a blessing to have an incredible piece of art like this to remember it by! Enjoy! :)


{Hannah+Kip} /// Wedding from Justin W Lowe on Vimeo.



Love,
Hannah

Little Aprons

Thursday, the girls and I had to hang around my apartment and wait for a special delivery (more on that later)... So to pass the time we made homemade play-dough! I remember being at my sister's house when I was younger and making home-made play-dough to give to my nieces and nephews as Christmas gifts. We put it in little baby food jars and wrapped it in ribbon. I don't know if they ever played with it, but I sure had fun making it! I hope these two little girls had as much fun as I did when I was little.

So, I wrapped them up in a couple of my aprons (they looked so cute) and we went to work! The recipe was so easy, I can remember it off the top of my head now.

1 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Salt
2 tsp. Cream of Tartar
1 Tbs. Oil
1 Cup Water
Optional - to make colorful playdough, use food dye!

Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan, and stir over low heat. Add the food coloring while the concoction is still semi-liquid-y, so that the color mixes in easier. We made a pink batch for Rowie and a blue batch for Ryan. They had so much fun taking turns adding the ingredients (with my help) and especially adding the color to the mixture!

This was a life-saver, when we really needed to take a break from the hot Texas sun and stay inside. It's been so fun to watch the little girls' brains working, coming up with new uses and ways to shape and mold the play-dough. It kept us entertained pretty much all day!

In other news, I got to Skype with my Mama and wonderful friend, Carol all the way from Romania! I miss my Mom so much, it made me so happy to see her face, even if it was through a computer screen. I'll get to see Carol's next week when she comes home, and I can't wait! :)

Three in The Nest.

My hands grip the sides of the bathroom counter. My eyes lock on the face in the mirror. "Mama?"

May 4th, 2012. My handsome husband and I are celebrating his 22nd birthday with friends, eating dinner and seeing The Avengers premier. Kip's Mama and siblings came into town to surprise him and join us for the festivities. It was a blast, Kip was surprised, and The Avengers was awesome. Mission accomplished. On the way home from all the excitement, it was a pretty sleepy ride for both of us. Words came out of my mouth before they made it to my brain. "Kip, what would you do if we found out we were pregnant?" It was just a question, and I was curious. He told me how happy he would be, and that a child (even this early in marriage) would be a blessing. I echoed his thoughts, and the subject of conversation changed. By the time we got home, I had such a crazy headache I passed out without telling Kip one last "Happy Birthday."

The next morning I woke up when Kip was already gone to work. Something in me clicked; something felt different. I got out of bed and went straight for the pregnancy test I'd had in the cabinet for a while (out of paranoia). I did was what was required of me, set the test on the bathroom counter, and went about my business, brushing my teeth and doing my normal morning routine. I put one contact in my eye, blinked, and looked at the test. I could see the first line clearly, and there appeared to be a faint... second... naahhh. I put in my other contact and focused for a few seconds. There, on that little funny-looking stick, were two pink lines. Positive. Pregnant. Baby in belly. I didn't scream, or jump up and down, or cry... I just stood there and looked at it. I gripped the counter and looked at myself in the mirror and thought, "Mama. Me?!" 

I drove straight out to Sanger, where Kip was working at the time, and he could tell something was going on. I sat down next to him, and pulled out the pregnancy test I had brought in a plastic baggie. (Is that creepy?! Kip makes fun of me for that. I mean, it was in a completely secure little bag. No pee on anything except what ought to be peed on. I think that's totally okay.) His hazel-green eyes lit up, and the most beautiful, genuine smile crossed his face. He had anticipated his reaction correctly: he was (and still is) happy and this is a blessing. 

We absolutely can't wait for a new addition to our family. Right now our little baby is 10 weeks old, about the size of a prune or a kumquat. Such lovely comparisons. I'm dying to know the gender, and Kip is convinced it's a boy, of course. ;) We'll find out in a couple more months. Until then, we've got moving plans, and both the Hubs and I started working at new jobs this week. We're also house-sitting for two weeks starting this weekend. Busy, busy! But so much fun. :) 

That's all for now! 

:) 

Hanny

One Month of Married Life.

One month and two days ago, I married the best man I've ever met. And since that day, people have been asking me non-stop, "So, how's the married life?" I always try to come up with some sweet, genuine answer that doesn't scream, "I'm tired of people asking this question!" Kip just smiles and says, "Welp, the food's better."


I hate to admit it, but I kind of thought becoming a wife would make me into some Betty Crocker/Susie Homemaker/Ree Drummond hybrid. I knew deep down that it wouldn't, but hey! A girl can dream, right? :) What I REALLY became was a busier, slightly more frazzled, but completely happy version of me... one that STILL didn't know how to cook much more than baked fish and salad. Eek!

I've tried several times to cook meals from scratch for Kip and I. Some have turned out great (Pot roast, spaghetti, cinnamon waffles), and others have not come out so well (Martha Stewart's chicken salad, chicken & fried rice...). I recently posted a Facebook status about Kip's experience with my cooking skills...



A lot of married-much-longer-than-me wives found my plight quite humorous, but promised me it would get better. ;)

The hardest part of marriage so far hasn't just been the cooking, or the laundry, or trying to keep our cute little place somewhat picked up... it's been to remember to GIVE. Waiting tables filled with fussy, hungry people can be emotionally and physically exhausting sometimes. However, I've noticed that over the past few weeks, my most common prayer has become, "Lord, fill me with so much of yourself that it overflows for Kip, because I have nothing left in me!" The struggle is what keeps us on our knees and pressing close to the Lord, and for that reason, it's ALL worth it. He continues to fill my heart with joy and peace, and my body and mind with energy and clarity, and I'm so thankful.

I'm praying that during the coming, days, months, and years, that God will mold me to be a suitable helper for my sweet man in all areas of this new adventure called "Marriage!"

So, Wives of the world... any advice for the newlywed? I'm in desperate need of some easy, healthy recipes!

Brownie Bites (the dust)

Alright, I'm going to admit it right now: I want to be Ree Drummond. There, I said it. I want her life. It just sounds so fun. She shoots guns with her husband, homeschools her kids, takes pictures of her basset hounds, and somehow manages to have time to crank out ridiculous amounts of delicious recipes. Of course, the grass is always greener on the other side of the internet. If you don't know who Ree Drummond is, then you should. She's the woman behind the Pioneer Woman blog. You should leave here right now, and go read every post she's ever done. Not only will you learn some fantastic new recipes, you'll be in tears from laughing at her stories and quick wit. She's just wonderful!

Anyways. Since falling in love with PW, I've attempted several of her recipes. One evening, my dear roommate and I decided to be adventurous and make Brownie Bites. I purchased all the ingredients, and got to work. Shouldn't be too hard, right? Ha.. ha.. haha... riiiiight.

We started out alright.. chocolate was melted and ready to go..



While we waited for it to cool, suddenly a tall, handsome man came bursting through the door, swept me off my feet and offered to chop up the chocolate for the icing for me.



Okay, that's only mostly true. A tall, handsome man did offer to chop up the chocolate for me.. but he pretty much just came through the door like a normal human being and offered to help. He also knows that I probably shouldn’t be handling really large, really sharp knives.

By this time, the chocolate was mostly cooled, and I proceded to complete the rest of the steps of the brownie batter. I was getting ready to grease the pans, when Roomie jumps in and decides she wants that to be HER job. (She had already given up on my miniature chocolatey dreams and moved on to making some PW cinnamon rolls, which are very, very, very, very, very good.) I was hesitant, because the pan needed to be generously greased and floured so the bites would pop out easily once they came out of the oven. Then, the handsome guy that chopped the chocolate for me decided to step in and try his hand at the baking game as well. So, we each greased a pan how we thought they should be, constantly critiquing the other pans and arguing over whose would be better. We filled the mini-cups with brownie batter, and IN they went, with all our hopes and dreams along with them. (And Kayla went back to her cinnamon rolls.)



Anxiously, we waited for the oven to give birth to our new precious little brownie bites. Suspense hung in the air. The tension was thick. The drama was real.

15 minutes later, the moment of truth arrived. What was the verdict...?






FAIL. Not only did they stick to the pan, they were very dry and just overall... bad! After a brief period of mourning, we gave up and made a normal pan of brownies with the remaining batter.

So I salute you, Ree. Not everything is as easy as you make it look. However, my brownie baking days are far from over. I fully intend on trying this again one day, hopefully with a better outcome.






Oh, and in case you were wondering... Kayla's cinnamon rolls came out perfect. I'm not bitter at all. Really. Promise.

Home Again.

It's been several weeks since I returned back to the States from Romania. I have started my fourth semester at UNT (crazy!), and with it many new adventures have arisen! Over the last several weeks I have become more and more involved with I Am Second UNT, as well as CollegeLife at Denton Bible Church. I have been filled with so much joy and complete THANKFULNESS for all the new friends I've made, and how I've already seen God work through them. But more on that later. :)

I left Romania with an idea in my head of what I thought God was calling me to do here in the states. Since then, my plans have changed many times, and sometimes it's hard to know which "voice" is really God's. However, He is teaching me more on how to daily depend on Him, to die to myself and live to Him in the small things. His rod and staff comfort me!

All that to say, I sense that life is going in a new direction this year, and I hope to use this blog to track whatever happenings the coming days bring. I have quite a lofty list of goals to pursue, including cooking, sewing, Bible study, journaling, and of course blogging. ;) I hope to use these short-term goals as means of reaching my long-term and daily goal, which is to grow as a godly woman in Christ, and pursuing His glory above ALL else.

Bring on Fall 2011!