a weekend getaway

I spent the weekend away from home at my grandparents. A spur of the moment phone call led to being dropped off at their place at seven on Friday night. My aunt, Lolly (really, Laura, but everyone calls her Lolly) and I went out to get dinner, and came back with Leann Chinn. We watched the lakehouse and ate Chinese food while frequently pausing the movie just to chat. I slept on the couch and woke up beyond refreshed in the morning. It was quiet, sun glowed behind the curtains, and I could smell tea brewing. So good.





We went out to a bakery for breakfast and walked the streets before perusing a little bookstore. I got stuck in the cookbook section and found several new titles I'd like to add to my slowly-growing collection, but didn't have the couple hundred bucks to purchase them. The rest of the day was lazy till two, when Lolly and I went to a mall to try to find a birthday present for my sister. We may or may not have stopped at Godiva and Teavana.




After our failed shopping attempt, we buzzed by Whole Foods to buy some dinner, and came back with a salad loaded with veggies and some salmon sushi (which was amazing, by the way). I've only had sushi once before (and that was made fresh by some neighbors) so I was a little apprehensive that I wouldn't like it. I didn't -- I loved it. As soon as you can, get some sushi. Please. You'll thank me.





Dinner was delicious and as soon as we finished, we played a game with my grandparents. Snow fell, wind blew, and we bundled up to go see The Help. I know I'm terribly behind the times, as it came out awhile ago, but I'm so glad to have finally seen it. Poignant, funny, and sweet. I admit it, I cried a few times. Go see it (and bring some sushi with you).




Sunday morning rolled around bright and early and we drove back to my house, an hour or so late. It was such a fun weekend and I'm grateful to have been able to spend that time with my grandparents and aunt. I love them like crazy and don't usually get one-on-one time with them, which made the few days even more special.

life lately

We've been drinking lots of coffee, hot cocoa, and tea, and curling up in oversized sweaters. Minnesota is snowless (which is craziness, in and of itself) but not at all warm. It's so frigid outside that I'm ready for spring when I won't freeze the minute I leave home. The days have been shorter, slower, and quieter, but it's a nice sort of quiet. Life lately has been spent inside, with people I love, all who are consuming hot beverages like there'll be no tomorrow.

How's your January been so far?

Happy Friday! Hoping that your day is filled with joy! :)

Hannah
ps. I get asked questions a lot (which I love!) so I thought I'd start a formspring to answer them. have one? ask away!

chloe // portraits.

My beautiful sister turns fourteen at exactly 11:59 PM tonight. Just like her, to be right on the buzzer (can you say, almost tomorrow?) but still at the perfect time. We're celebrating with homemade vinegar chocolate cake topped with fresh whipcream and drizzled with poached cherries. It's been a favorite since she was two and I was three, when we sat at the table with cherry stains on our shirts and bandaids on our knees.



We were the closet two little girls, from when we played in princess dresses and climbed trees for fun. And we still are, despite the lack of faux silk and tulle ballgowns. I can't believe she's getting so...old. (kidding, coco!) Not to mention downright, completely stinkin' gorgeous. I'm sorry. I've got the best looking family everrr. Not that I'm biased or anything.



Love this girl. Happy Birthday, Chloe! I'm so glad we get to be best friends even when we're old and wrinkled. xo

a little about me.

In the last week or so, the Lord has been doing incredible things in my life. Changing my heart, fueling my fire, filling me with His spirit. I've been overwhelmed and full of joy -- so much joy that I'm torn between singing and crying sometimes. He's given me promises for this year, and I cannot tell you how crazy amazing it is to see Him work in my life. He who promised is faithful, and I'm clinging to that truth. I'm walking forward in faith, and it's exhilarating and terrifying and exciting all at the same time.

I wrote a little about what I'm learning on my tumblr the other day. Two of the biggest things the Lord is showing me are how much I need grace, and how much I don't get grace. I try to earn grace -- I stumble and fall and fail and try to work my way to a gift that was offered freely. He does not say that we are to earn it. It is not an act of works, but a free life-giving gift.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18

I've been meditating on this verse. The veil between us and the Father is gone, torn away, by the Son. As we walk with Jesus and continually look towards Him, we are being transformed into the same image. We are becoming more like Christ by living with Him! He is filling our hearts and lives as we open our lives to Him. And it's from one degree of glory to the next to the next. Layers and steps and walking alongside Christ on our path till home. We become like Him by being with Him. And He changes us. It's nothing we can do by ourselves. It's His spirit, working in us, doing what we could never do and enabling us to do what we could only dream of.

The more I read the Bible, the more I come away amazed at how it's brimming with truth. It's like being desperate for a drop of water and being given the ocean. I've been praying for a deepening faith, an ever-growing love for my Savior and His people, and for a joy that is contagious. And His spirit, working in me, is opening my eyes, revealing His truth, and giving me a passion for His name. He truly is changing my heart.

I'm full of joy. Ever get a feeling that something is going to rock? That's a term used pretty loosely, so just picture the best day ever and put sprinkles on top of it. Or better yet, top it off with a dollop of whipcream and some raspberries just picked from the garden. That's how I feel about this year. Last year was a defining and refining year. This year is one of blossoms. There's still hard things and bad days and valleys, but I know deeply that this year is going to be a crazy awesome one. Jesus is rocking my socks off and it's only nine days into the new year! I'm overwhelmed with all that He's done and is doing in my life. Overwhelmed and thankful.

So, inspired by Sarah Danaher, here's me. Right here, right now. I'm an analytical artist, extroverted introvert, creamer-in-my-coffee kinda girl, who's a fan of stories, singing at the piano, and lazy hazy summer evenings at Woodland. I like to laugh long, have heart-to-heart talks with friends, and my favorite kind of days are ones with my family. I'm learning what it means to be truly in love with Jesus. I'm learning how to love like He does. I'm learning and growing and blossoming and being and doing.

Even more than that, I am so grateful. For all that He's doing. It's not me, it's all Him. All the glory and praise to Him, always and forever and ever. He is so good and so much more than my words could ever say.

I AM… just Hannah.
I WANT… to change the world, love like Jesus does, and be the woman I was created to be.
I HAVE… a beyond amazing, loving, and completely supportive family.
I KEEP… notes, scraps of paper, journals, ticket stubs, and other whatnot. Also, four billion photos.
I WISH I COULD… travel more.
I HATE… headaches, cold feet, and being late.
I FEAR… needles. I can't stand blood tests.
I HEAR… everything. Music, words, silence -- I can even hear people blink.
I DON'T THINK… that I'll ever be able to cook like my mom.
I REGRET… not spending enough time with my family and wasting time.
I LOVE… Jesus, my family, photography, stories, and a really good cup of coffee with cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
I AM NOT… crafty, always serious, or
I DANCE… ballet in my living room.
I SING… loud, long, and everywhere.
I NEVER… go without breakfast. I like food and I most certainly like it in the morning before starting my day.
I RARELY… sleep in. The latest I've ever slept in is 9:40. No lie.
I CRY WHEN… I'm on the pontoon at Woodland on the last day.
I AM NOT ALWAYS… Neat, tidy, or quiet. In fact, I'm often pretty vocal.
I HATE THAT… celiac disease exists and that people believe the world's definition of beauty.
I'M CONFUSED ABOUT… why it's still green in Minnesota right now. (seriously!)
I NEED… Jesus.
I SHOULD… eat healthier, go to bed earlier, and respond to emails sooner.

That's just me. Who are you? And what has God been doing in your life? Tell me all about it below or shoot me an email. I'd love to hear about it and chat with you! :)

snowfall.

grace wore snow like a crown
ice her jewels
lit up like rubies by the golden twilight
brighter than any queen's gold.

snow fell
winter flowers swirling from the sky
dropping their petals quieter than rain
on a warm spring morning.

she danced and her feet
made winter flakes fly
white shards that glimmered in the
evening light.

my little sister,
whose eyes shine blue like the sky,
laughed as the cold snow whispered
winter.

fernweh.

It all began with an email.

That's how everything almost always starts. With something small and seemingly inconsequential. It's the culmination of little things into something bigger. Like how one snowflake leads to another and soon the world is covered in white. In our case, it was an idea. An idea that six people across the globe had been dreaming about and finally decided to do something about it.

For almost three months, we scrambled. Inspiration flooded my inbox in the form of email upon email, and I daresay I never went a day without a new one. We were just six girls, all with the same convictions, determined to take an idea from conception to completion. We worked hard. Hours spent poring over articles, design, photographing for the final product, drafting, branding, building, and doing. We released the site yesterday. And I'm beyond excited to show it to you.

Fernweh is an online magazine dedicated to celebrating the simple life. A collection of thoughts, photos, tips, tutorials, and poetry, Fernweh hopes to serve as inspiration for a life made lovely. Read our manifesto for more about the name and more about our magazine. There are so many talented people working on this, and I feel blessed to be a part of it. I'm ridiculously excited about this project and cannot wait to see where this takes us.

Libby, Katie, Carlotta, Abbey, Kendall -- I'm beyond glad that we're a team. I love you all so much and am so excited for this year. I have a feeling 2012 is going to be epic, in every sense of the word.

Go take a look at Fernweh, follow along, and let us know what you think!

So grateful. Happy Monday! xo

hello 2012. so excited to see you.

A new year. I sat writing on my bed last night at midnight and found a huge significance in writing 2012 instead of 2011. The culmination of the past year washed over me in the last few seconds of 2011 and I found myself clinging to the fragments of the last three hundred and sixty five days. Thousands of memories from the past year cluttered my mind, and like the proverbial housewoman who sweeps out the old year, I felt like my thoughts were swept clean as 2012 rolled around soundlessly.

Last year my word was rooted. I clung to that word in times where I felt like sand on the shore, swept up by waves upon wave. I reminded myself of rooted, and what it meant, and the verse I chose with it, and repeated them to myself. Looking back, it was the perfect word for 2011. It helped to keep me grounded.

2011 was a defining year for me. My heart was changed, my purpose and passions made clear, and slowly but surely, I began to discover who I am. My identity in Christ, my loves, my likes, my dreams, hopes, and gifts. In the last few months of 2011, I truly found my voice. I'm rooted deep in Jesus and firm in who I am and who I'm created to be, yet like a tree, my roots go deep but I still have abundant room to grow. To stretch my branches and bud, blossom, and flower, and to reach up to the sky, kissing the blue with my eyes.

I'm so excited for 2012. While 2011 rocked me to the core, 2012 is a year full of promises. Of growing and blooming. 2011 was a year of budding, and 2012 one of blossom. I've been searching and trying to find my word for this year, but have had to surrender. I've got a few ideas, but not the right one yet. My heart is ready and I'm reaching and growing under His rain.

This year, I pray that I'll learn to love like Jesus does; that I'll grow deeper in my walk and more in love with Christ; that my heart would be ready; that I would be diligent, steadfast, and hard-working; and that I would surrender all, trust wholeheartedly, and bloom and flourish where I'm planted, continually fixing my eyes on Jesus, running the only race that matters.

2012? Bring it on. Grateful, blessed, and so ready.