Wednesday, April 24, 2013

the beautiful ellie be.

More to come soon.
Enjoying Maryland with the best of friends.







Monday, April 22, 2013

I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God’s thought, and then made by God is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking.
C.S. Lewis

...

I bought plum blossoms
more for the name
than for the color;
I buy lipstick that way, too.
In other words,
if it sounds like a poem,
I’ll take it.
— Dorothea Grossman, “Untitled”

monday morning vlog + recent grams!

So! This Monday morning is a little crazy because...well, you can just watch the vlog. The lighting is less than wonderful because I was a pro vlogger and made it late at night. Uffda (I feel like that's just a Minnesotan thing). I talked about what's coming up + answered a few FAQ questions, so hopefully something I said made sense / helped a little. And if not, just ask and I'll try to clarify. I'm ready to start spazzing with excitement while simultaneously mimicking the Energizer Bunny to get everything done, which is why this post is a bit scattered. :)

Just wanted to say "Hey!" from Hannah Nicole on Vimeo.


Have a lovely Monday! Off to pack and basically see how many shirts I can stuff into my suitcase. But before I go, some recent (or semi recent) grams. xoxo h


Sunday, April 21, 2013

dandelions.


you stand in the middle of the kitchen
because your mother said it was easier,
said it was lighter without the weight of
a braid thick as the bread your
grandma used to knead back and forth
on her wooden table. your grandpa
made that table when your mother
still ran around in long
hair tangled with weeds she still
believed were flowers. there
were five chairs then, she tells you they
were crooked.
misshapen like the scar on your arm
from falling off the willow the
seventh summer you lived. the branches
pulled the sky to the earth,
dirt cracked your wrist, but
you were lucky. you were lucky,
your daddy said
to only have the breath stolen from
your lungs for a moment. that
moment of grasping for
air never left you, still, and
you
stand in the middle of the kitchen
crying as, in one snip, the past your
waist strands of your hair swish.
near your bare feet and she's wrong
it's not
lighter.
you finger the sudden cut and peek
in the chipped mirror, you look older.
and now
it's too late to pretend you won't
ever grow up, too
late to still call dandelions
flowers.

Friday, April 19, 2013

This is the day Sam and Kelly became Mr. and Mrs. Tumberg. // Wedding

"Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one’s life with pomp and blare...
perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose...
perhaps love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship,
as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.”
- L. M. Montgomery




You could say this journey started in their Church group, where they got to know each other as friends (and where Sam started praying about Kelly). You could say this journey started in India, where they both saw each others hearts for the Lord (and where Kelly started thinking about Sam). You could say this journey started on their first meeting, on their first conversation, or on their first date. But their story started way before Sam and Kelly met, before Kelly rode her first bike or Sam threw a ball for the first time, before highschool or childhood or first moments. This journey started before they were born, when they were fully known by God, when they were created with unique and beautiful hearts. And this day, the day when Sam and Kelly became Mr. and Mrs. Tumberg, was one full of thanksgiving that two were becoming one, and that they would continue to tell their stories...together.

"The first thing I noticed was your servant's heart...and how beautiful you were."

Kelly is gracious. She is generous with her time. She's not the kind of woman to fuss about details or to worry about the little things. She is full of joy and considerate and caring. She loves Sam -- fiercely and fully and wholly. Sam is strong, but gentle, serious, but also silly. He loves his lady very much and he is not only her protector but her best friend. He is gentlemanly. I smiled at what they wrote about each other. They both love the other's servant heart. They both spoke about how much the other will be a wonderful mom or dad someday. The two of them wrote down the same qualities that they loved in each other -- tenderness, kindness, joy, love for Jesus, a love for family, enjoyment of simple things -- for the other. Both of them fit together. They seek the Lord, together. The serve others, together. They laugh and pray and love, together. They love doing life. Together.

"In first conversations, I noticed his kindness and gentleness right away. You could see this great passion for the Lord."

My favorite thing about weddings will forever be the small moments, the in-between details, the everyday pieces of beauty that fit just right. And their day was full of them. The way he held her hand. How her grandfather wanted to play piano as she walked down the aisle. The flower girl taking her job incredibly seriously, dropping the petals just so. The private vows and prayers they read each other in an empty sanctuary. Copious cups of Caribou drank in the morning or hurrying into the Church before anyone saw Kelly. Laughing in the back room. Praying before the ceremony with your bridesmaids and best friends. Dancing at the end. And Sam, looking at his bride, for the first time.

All of it. Beautiful.

This is the story of that day.