O_o

Crikey! I feel like a horrible blogger. (Maybe because...I am? Oh the horror!) I hang my head in shame at the date of my last post. December has disappeared in a whirlwind, and here we are in January! WHERE DID 2010 GO???

So, moving on from the melodrama, here are some updates:

• I won NaNoWriMo. YAY!!! Did I mention I reached 50K two days early? Yeah. :D
• I auditioned for a part in the high school's production of Beauty and the Beast, and I got in the chorus! The chorus may not be a big thing for some people, but it is for me! Especially considering I've never been in a play before. Rehearsals start in a few days and I'm soooooo excited!
• Christmas was awesome! I got new books, the movie Letters to Juliet, a calligraphy set, and a lovely silk scarf among other things. The BEST thing though, was being able to spend time with my brother, sister-in-law and niece, and then go to Ohio to visit family. (Awwwww!)

Evidence:

Dad, me, Mom, Olivia, Tommy, and Sarah. And a lamp.
Same people as in the last picture, minus Mom and Dad and plus Jamie. :)

Uncle Everett (Dean), Father Dearest, Uncle John, and Uncle Stephen. And Aunt Susan in the bottom right corner.

Yay for family! Grandma and Grandpa in the back, Jonah, TJ, Matthew and me in the middle row, and Noah and Lina in the front. :)

My family rocks. Just sayin'.

9,020 words.

In case ya didn't know, I am an *Official Participant* of NaNoWriMo 2010. That big fancy word with a bunch of capital letters randomly in the middle stands for National Novel Writing Month. The challenge is to write an entire 50,000 word novel in the month of November. 30 days.

Sounds like fun, right?!

So I am now at Day 6 with a grand total of 9020 words. (Which is actually a wee bit behind. But don't tell.)

My novel is an allegorical fantasy detailing the life of a young girl with multiple names. The name thing actually isn't in the plot; I just can't find a name I like. But the other characters don't seem particularly fazed at the fact that one chapter she's Camellia and the next she's Dahlia and then two sentences later she's Brinhilda von Schwesterkrank. (not really the last one. Although that would up my word count considerably considering how often her name is mentioned...)

Anyhoo, so my story is set in a high fantasy setting. Which is cool, and I'm getting the feel of it. But after 1667 words, I start getting the urge for one of my characters to burst out,

"Crikey! There's an amazing magical pony with rainbow hooves! It will show us the way!"

Or something else random and totally not high fantasy. Something with goofy comic relief. Something like you'd see in The Princess Bride.

But, I shall succeed! I need to go write some more... :)

Joyness

So I realize I haven't posted in like, FOREVER, and I can't really offer a valid excuse, so I'll just say "sorry!" and continue.

SO, of things that have happened since July, there are a few that are cool enough to post about, so I shall list them here:

August: We went to DISNEYWORLD!!! Yeah, it was awesome. We went to the Night of Joy, which is a big Christian concert in the Magic Kingdom. We got to see Group 1 Crew, Sidewalk Prophets, Tenth Avenue North and Barlowgirl LIVE! The craziest thing though was hearing Christian radio being played in all the shops and streets. All in all, it was AMAZING.

September: We went to the wedding of Dave & Cindy, which was LOVELY. :) Then, September 16th through the 19th was the Releasing Conference at BOL.

That. Was. Incredible!

I can't even list all of the things that happened, it was just fantastic! The main things though, were

1. I gave JP a book sort of thing with 9 of my songs, and he said they were great! Well, his words were, "You've got MAD talent!" but that's pretty much the same thing. JP is amazing; I am so thankful for him!

2. I met two awesome sisters, Danielle and Hannah. We have a lot in common, and I have a feeling we're going to be really good friends! I've been really praying for some Jesus-loving friends, and I think they're it. (It was crazy because Danielle said pretty much that exact same thing to me!) And Shantia of course!

3. I went to a dance workshop which was great--I finally learned how to use flags! And so far I've only hit one person by accident. :P

God answered sooooo many of my prayers in those few days, I am in awe.

Anyway, moving on to October (Which is almost over! Where did it GO?): I got my wisdom teeth taken out, which was narsty to say the least. :P BUT, the major thing is that I'm on another song-writing joyful spree!!! I'm really happy, especially because an old friend texted me a few days ago, and she seemed SO much happier and closer to God then she used to be. And she wants to visit BOL! Hopefully we're going to meet up sometime this weekend.

I suppose I've said enough... for now at least. Hopefully I'll post more often! But if not, know that my time spent not posting is not being wasted. :)

~Hannah

I'll put the kettle on...

I love English people. They just make me exceedingly happy. Actually, I am about 1/4 English myself, which I love. (I'm also German and Irish!)

I was reading the other day about how in an English household, if someone comes home and something bad or upsetting has happened, someone is bound to say, "I"ll put the kettle on," Because it's not a stereotype about the English drinking a lot of tea. They really do. It's something comforting to them, I suppose.

I was thinking about this when I happened to notice a text I had sent myself (Yeah, I do that, if I don't have pen and paper handy) while "cleaning out" my phone. It was a little metaphor I had written about... teacups! It's something very interesting to think about...

"A woman's heart is like a fine china teacup.

Some may consider it useless as it is so easily broken, but its intricacy and delicacy show its worth.

But is IS useless if it just stays on the cupboard shelf locked up for fear of it breaking. It must be used, but wisely and carefully given to someone with gentle hands.

It will never be in more careful and loving hands then the hands of the one who made it.

It is filled with sweetness and warmth, but it's horrible if what's inside gets cold.

And if you look underneath, you will see the seal of its maker.

However, with real china, if it is broken it loses its worth. But with a woman’s heart, God considers every chip and crack precious. And if you give the broken pieces to Him, in his care it will be mended, with no sign of brokenness."

A Poem

A lovely day, a lovely day,
a sky that takes my breath away,
the sun shines brightly in the sky,
i almost wish that it would stay,

but a setting sun, a setting sun,
a signal that the day is done,
will bring a new show to the sky,
a sparkling, shimmering, glittering one

a lovely night, a lovely night,
will greet us with a soft dim light,
with moon and stars in a midnight sky,
a sincerely majestic sight,

the stars do tell of their maker's hand,
then gradually dim to make way,
for the sun to rise again--
the start of another lovely day.

'Ask and ye shall receive...'

For the past couple of weeks God has been teaching me about love--His love. And every time I think I finally understand it, he shows me something else. He told me, “Often the teaching will end before the lesson is fully understood, but when I teach, I won’t stop until you fully understand.”


I kept thinking, “Yes, I need to get closer, deeper, I need to study more, I need to really understand your love. And God just kept telling me, “Just ask. All you have to do is ask.”


Now, I’m a writer, and I’ve been working on notes for an allegorical fantasy novel. I’ve been working on making a Jesus character, an I’ve been trying to think of a name. In the Chronicles of Narnia, the name Aslan means 'lion' in some language or other. I decided to do kind of the same thing with a different word. I was thinking and thinking, trying to figure out a word to describe Jesus, and it finally came to me: “God is love.”

So I go online to a language translator, and I type in 'love.' There are like 50 languages to choose from. I randomly pick Turkish, out of the 50 languages.

I click ’translate.’

And when I look to see what the Turkish word meaning 'love' is, I find that the word is spelled A-S-K. Ask.


To receive the love of Jesus you don’t have to work or study or make promises. Jesus gives his love freely, he died to give it to you, there’s nothing he wants more then to give it to you. You just have to ask.

Hey there! Feeling sad or unloved? What you need is a Jesus-Hug!

The new improved way to lift your spirit--a Jesus-Hug is an instant pick-me-up! *Wink* (Haha, lift your spirit, pick-me-up...)

Yes, there is a time to bow down and revere Him as the all-powerful Lord God and King of the Universe...but there's also a time to just to run up and give Him a big bear hug!!! (Rawr-ing is not necessary...)

What is a Jesus-Hug? Well, I was hoping you'd ask! *Wink, wink*

'Jesus-Hug' verb.
1. To experience a sudden ease and comfort, like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. 'I was feeling blah, but now I feel great--it was a total Jesus-Hug.'

2. A sudden feeling of assurance, like someone telling you, "Hey, it's all going to be okay. Trust me."

3. Random explosion of joy, usually as a result of an awesome spiritual experience. 'That praise and worship was incredible! I just got a Jesus-Hug!'

4. An "awwwwwww!" moment.


Have you hugged Jesus today?