absence makes the heart grow fonder.

i'm gonna miss this.
six-ish weeks should go by fast, right?

[1.5 days til departure]

city don't sleep

via

i am beyond excited to head to this marvelous city saturday. 

though my dream is to be on the west coast, going somewhere new is thrilling. i used to tell myself (and others) that i never wanted to go east, thinking it was a place for the pretentious and unimpressed by the common portrayal of "mean" people that fills its streets. but i'm ready. beyond ready to be in a place where people don't bother to question your heritage because it's filled with so many different people already. [i don't know how many times i've been asked where i'm from. or what nationality i am.] a place where you can see different fashions, faces, foods, everywhere you look. a place where there is always something to do and somewhere to go. i'm ready. just 5 days now and that's where i'll be.

any new yorkers want to give me some advice? what are some things that i can't/shouldn't pass up while i'm there? :)

hannah

father's day

happy father's day to the best dad this girl could ever have.

always being the dad that i could brag about (marines AND coast guard? hellloooo! duh, i'm gonna brag. plus he speaks chinese. let's see your dad top that.) and the kind of dad that i want my future babies to have. i live a blessed life. 

thanks dad.

hannah

(isn't my mom stylin' with those glasses and that rainbow visor?)

my newest family member

help me welcome my newest family member!

my baby canon rebel t3.

i've yet to find her a more fitting name as the adoption papers were filed just a few hours ago.

jake and i found baby through craigslist.
we assume her former family could no longer afford to keep her seeing as how we picked her up from a pawn shop on loan and lowered the original price down by $150.
a steal to get her and two lenses for the price that we did.

she currently wreaks of cheap cologne and cigarettes... but i'm hoping to whip her back into shape.

maybe with a little love she'll smell like champagne and chocolate instead?

---

baby and i (and meredith, too) will be hitting up new york in just 10 short days.

{post about that to come.}

in the mean time, she and i will be snuggling up learning about all things dslr together.

any tips are welcome!

hannah (and baby)

prairie hill 2012

i kept picture taking to a minimum this year. my point and shoot camera wasn't keeping up! above are the few images that came through. some of these kids i've known for the past 3-4 years. they are so precious. the things they say, the outfits they wear, and how they interact with each other is just...precious.

i learned a lot of new little sing-songs/rhymes this time around that i thought were kind of cute. like...

"Up goes the alligator on the elevator carrying his suitcase and mittens too. Down goes the alligator on the elevator he forgot his toothbrush and toothpaste too."

i don't remember learning anything like that when i was little! i would have been extra excited about it though. learning new things as a student happens all the time. likewise, learning new things as a teacher happens just as much. teaching is a field where you always are learning. learning what works for you as a teacher and what works for each individual student that you have. i have learned so much over the past year. it's not as easy as it may seem and i struggle with some aspects. i'm hoping to hit up a seminar or conference to really feel equipped when teaching. i often second guess myself and there's no room for that. you've gotta know your stuff. which, in itself, is kind of intimidating i think!

hannah

warrior dash

1. random guy after running

2. some of the crazy outfits seen that day

3. jake and travis after running

4. i made it back just in time to take a picture

5. handsome guy that i date

what a whirlwind of a weekend! it seems as if most of it was sucked up by this thing called warrior dash. apparently 20,000 people signed up to run a 5k obstacle course. including jake and a few of his friends. had i known that i was going to get just as dirty standing and waiting and walking, i would have signed up to run!

oh, remember how i thought i was going to be able to take fun pictures of jake falling and making weird faces? i failed...miserably. before he and his friends ran the course they told me that the best times were around 50 minutes. me with my wonderful time management skills thought to myself, "they are definitely not finishing in 50 minutes. maybe in 90 minutes." so i trekked back to the car thinking i had loads of time. stopped by the gas station to fill the car up with gas. picked up some electrolyte filled beverages for the exhausted competitors. parked the car closer to the entrance. and on my way back i get a phone call saying that jake is waiting for me. way to go me. i missed everything. at least i was able to capture a few pictures, right? just not as great of pictures as i thought i was going to capture. i am proud of them for finishing the course in 50-some minutes. obviously was not expecting that. pretty impressed, guys. :)

next challenge? mud factor.

hannah

shenanigans

pictures from last weekend, when we had nothing better to do. 

or we did and we just didn't do them.

1 & 2 - spelling our names during slow shutter.

3 - view from the roof. you can see our phallic capital and twinkling stars.

4 - figuring out how to get down....

you're in luck.

BONUS PICTURE: jake hurting himself jumping off the roof. priceless.

(is it bad that i laugh at this? i think it's just his facial expression...)

good thing travis didn't take a picture of me trying to get down. pretty sure that would have been even more amusing as it involved me freaking out about standing on jake's shoulders.

confession: i'm afraid of heights. 

probably because i'm always pretty close to the ground being only 5'1".

anyway.

hoping to post some pictures from prairie hill next week.

jake and his friends are competing in the warrior dash tomorrow. it should be entertaining.

maybe i'll get to capture pictures like the one above? 

hope you all have a great weekend!

hannah

run po-ny run po-ny

this is what my week is going to be filled with.

holy cuteness.

can't stress how much i love prairie hill week. 

i posted about it a year ago here but after taking on students of my own...

i really appreciate this week.

a week for kids to just have fun learning the violin.

after all, that's what suzuki had in mind when he created his method.
not to mention that that is what music is all about.

it helps that there are ponies, chickens, cats, and sheep.

and a pretty impressive garden.

recap post at the end of the week?

hannah

mission accomplished

folks, i did it! in just two short days i finished painting the little baby dresser! i spent saturday evening and all day yesterday painting this sucker. saturday night wasn't too bad since i drafted jake to help

but sunday was HOT and i did the work entirely by myself. i'm definitely not the best at painting things. probably because i have add (not really) and lose interest after 10 minutes. i pushed through it for this project though. minus a few rough spots... it turned out just like i imagined! imperfection just adds character, right? (just say yes.)

more pictures after the jump!

that's what's up!

this guy and i are going on a date tonight. 

(maybe even a double date.)

date in celebration of the first 3-week summer session being over.

you go babe! get that diploma. 

only five more weeks to go! 

i love him.

some music by edward sharpe to describe the feeling:

have a good weekend, all!

hannah