New Blog! Growing in Grace

I got married, and I thought it was time to start a new blog. I won't be writing much on here anymore, so farewell and I'll see you on my other one! You can find it by clicking Here.

Apartment Life: The Essential 15

It has been over a month now that I have been responsible for my own meals, doing my own laundry, and cleaning my own floors. Why didn't I move out sooner??

Here is a list of things for you people who are first- time mover- outers like me. (yes, I just wrote that shameful sentence with my new college diploma conferring an English degree on me shaking its head in the corner)

1. trash bags
2. silverware
3. knives, spatulas, utensils
4. sheets
5. soap- laundry, dishwasher, hand, etc.
6. towels
7. tupperware
8. ziploc bags
9. microwave
10. cleaning supplies
11. toilet paper :)
12. pots and pans, glasses, plates, bowls
13. chairs (folding, anything)
14. little lamp(s)
15. vacuum

While there are many more things, these are the basic items you may want to consider investing in before moving out.

Now, here's a list of my favorite apartment things:

1. new kitchen appliances, like my coffee maker and Kitchen Aid mixer (aka miracle worker), electric tea kettle, and toaster (mmmm, toast)
2. potted plants-- I'm growing corn on my patio, along with lettuce, flowers, and strawberries.
3. awesome iPod sound system- because I don't watch that much tv
4. candy dish with lots of chocolate to refill it (also popular with friends, brother, and fiance)
5. picture on my fridge made by one of my Sunday school kids, love it
6. huge whiteboard collecting dust in the office (but fun to leave notes on)
7. owls, because I have an owl- themed bathroom (don't you dare judge me! You haven't even seen my owl board on Pinterest!)

What are your favorite things at home?

21 Days to Go!

 

Here is just a small preview of our apartment; it has built- in bookshelves in the front room, which of course I need. The sad thing is, those are only part of my collection. I have tons more in my room still! 

And you noticed the roses on the table, you say? Why yes, Scot did surprise me at work with them this week. Such a sweetie, I know, but I saw him first ok? 

Chocolate, is that chocolate in a candy dish? No, you're not at grandma's house. You're at an addict's house. I sure hope my grandma doesn't mind me using her crystal punch bowl to fuel our addiction. ;) 

 

Oh, the lamps look weird? That's because they are one of a kind, yes. The coasters have ribbon because they are favors from one of my bridal showers... and the pictures in the frames are my pretend family. I'll get around to adding my real family sometime, hopefully.

Well, I'm sorry but that is all for now! Well, and this random picture from the fridge. I'm on the right, and my maid of honor is on the left. We have entirely too much fun together. This was at the Phoenix Bridal Show a few months ago.

Apartment Life: Week 1

Hello everyone,

It has been a week since moving out, and it has been a glorious week! I am still not unpacked, but I'm getting there. I love that I have a place of my own and can do whatever I want with it. It has been delightful setting up my own kitchen, organizing my closet, and making the place feel more homey.

I don't mind being on the second floor, either. There aren't too many steps, and I somehow feel safer knowing that it is most likely that the lower apartments will get robbed before I do. :) The neighbors aren't so friendly though. There is a Hispanic family taking up the apartment across from me and next to me, and they go back and forth all the time. The kids make a game of putting piles of rocks on the stairs, and it seems like they are always watching a kid movie of some kind (I can hear it from outside, but not inside which is good).

Work is going well, I was offered a contract for next year and a position in their summer program. Yay! I'm going to stay where I am for now, because I am learning a lot being a teacher. I love that the kids come in every day with a great attitude; they are teaching me that every day is beautiful and that is wonderful. I love them. There's this one in particular who is infatuated with me, and he was gently saying my name in his sleep at nap time the other day. It was very sweet. I met his mom for our Mother's Day luncheon, and she laughed and said with a smile, "So you're Hannah! He talks about you, we hear about you quite a bit at home." Awwww! He's my little buddy.

Wedding planning is still going well, I picked out flowers and took my dress in for alterations! I can't wait to get it back again, because then it will fit absolutely perfectly. The alterations lady just had to take some boning out of the top so it would lay flat against my chest, and put a bustle on it. I chose the French one, because it sounded more exotic and I had no idea what a bustle even was... so she showed me. I still went with the French one. :)

Today for breakfast, I made vanilla blueberry apple pancakes, and they were so delicious!! I was celebrating today because I was supposed to go fly a plane. Well, I called the wrong flight school (the one I needed was literally right next door), so now I will be going early Monday morning instead. I can't wait!! I get ground school first, and then an hour long trip in a plane where I control it 80% of the time. That will be my first hour counted towards getting my private pilot's license! How exciting is that? Exciting enough for special pancakes. Oh well, looks like I will have to make them again. 

I hope you all are having as great of a week as I am. I will post pictures as soon as I get internet, I don't have it set up yet.

~Hannah

Wedding Planning and Moving Out

Wedding bells will ring soon, and I am moving OUT this weekend! Scot and I found an apartment, and with all of the incredible shower gifts I have enough stuff to set up my own little place now. My brother Dan will live with me until the wedding, so I'm not all alone. It is a 2 bed 2 bath apartment, and we even have a little dining room. Yay! I am moving this weekend, so everybody make yourself suddenly busy early Saturday morning or I will ask you to help! Just kidding. We don't have too much stuff. It's just me, I have too much stuff.

Both of my bridal showers were beautiful; the first one was hosted by my Aunt Hallie and Maid of Honor Celeste, and it was tea party themed. There were adorable teacups with flowers in them, and the chocolate cake was to die for. The second one was hosted by Sally from my church, and it was a bunch of church ladies. It was red and white themed, and the tables had actual linen on them, and pretty placemats made from scrapbooking paper, and nicely arranged flowers, and cute coaster favors, and the food was delicious. I walked around in shock for a while at how nice it all was. I can't believe sometimes how blessed I am to have such talented, wonderful, and giving people in my life. I am so grateful for all of the love and support from everyone. My mom even got me a gift that my great- grandmother would have given me, how sweet is that?!

In other wedding news, am meeting with a florist next Monday to nail down some wedding colors, but here is what I love so far:

Minus the peacock feather, anyway. I don't want to be tarred and feathered at my wedding... call me crazy. I will be tanned and bejeweled though; my dress is amazing!! 

I have my wedding dress now, and it is just beautiful. I keep looking at it and it makes me happy. I would love to tell you all about it, but I can't because that would be giving away the fun of it. Sorry. I'll be sure and post pictures as soon as I can though! 

Puerto Penasco, A Mazda, and Other Tales

As my much- anticipated wedding approaches, life seems to get busier and busier. What's new about that, you ask, especially if you know what a busy bee I am am normally, regardless of what major life events may or may not be pending.

Recently, Scot and I have helped build a house and community center in Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point) Mexico. Despite the fact we were greeted with armed military personnel with black masks and machine guns on our way in. Here we are, Scot and I.

This is the community center, and we were pioneering some new building methods that involved giant styrofoam legos! Scot and I squealed a little bit when we saw them. The method worked well, too; the walls fit together like a glove and we got all of the walls up in only two days. That was impressive. The only downside was that we got covered in styrofoam too, and at one point I looked like I had been in a blizzard. The workers laughed at me. :)

Here, Scot is working on the roof for the house.

One of the things I love about him is that he is such a manly man when it comes to building things-- he is very handy to have around. Need a roof built? No problem. Tire changed, air conditioning flushed, door put on, rotors taken off, or whatever else you can think of... he's your man. Well actually, he's my man so sorry ladies. How lucky am I? 

Here we are at the beach, where we were able to spend an afternoon with our group beach combing. We found a dead crab, live hermit crabs, lots of other dead things and then more dead things... but it was still fun. 

We went in partnership with 1Mission, a group that involves the Mexican community in their house- building projects. I loved that we had our own cap site away from the barrios, complete with our own kitchen area, showers, and bathrooms. It was a memorable trip... ask me for some stories another time. 

The weekend after that, we flew up to Colorado and drove back with our new car... the car my soon- to- be- in- laws gave us for a wedding present! It is a very nice '06 Mazda 3 with under 100,000 miles on it, and Scot is letting me use it as my car right now. I HAVE A CAR!! I have had many adventures in it already, because it is a manual and I had to learn how to drive one. The 14 hour drive back (with stops) included adventures such as Las Vegas (NM), Laguna, and Hollywood. Who knew it would be so exciting! 

In other news, I have a new job at the Foundation for Blind Children. I work with blind and visually impaired 3, 4, and 5 year olds, and boy is it interesting! I have to be very creative with them, but they are great kids and a lot of fun. It is part time, and I am still looking for another part time job to fill in the rest of my time, as well as debating whether or not to try and start freelance writing. Hmm. I might want to wait until things calm down after the wedding to start that.

This weekend, we picked out formal wear for the gentleman in the wedding, bought Scot's wedding band, and booked our honeymoon! I know. That was a lot. We are staying at a nice resort in Sedona courtesy of a church family with a timeshare. What a blessing, we are incredibly thrilled to be able to get away for our honeymoon. 

I will have to keep this blog a little more updated now that I have more time, I know I haven't posted anything for quite a while. These are exciting times! We are so looking forward to this next chapter in our lives. 

Bachelor Essentials: Utensil Edition

This New Year's Eve, I made little pigs in a blanket for the party my fiance and his roommate hosted. I made them at their apartment, which required that I went hunting for utensils... and this is what I found:

• light saber chopsticks (did I mention I'm marrying a nerd?)
• a crusty slotted spoon from at least the 1970's
• a titanium, beautifully crafted SPORK (what more do you need in life?)
• forks with 4 prongs, not 3; (when cutting meat, you put the knife in the middle of the prongs, and if there are 3 then you don't know which side to put your knife through, so I was told)
• butter knives with serrated edges (they can spread but ALSO cut through bagels)

 Oh yeah. Their pizza cutter (what I was looking for in the first place) was shaped like a bicycle. :)

And there you have the bachelor pad essential utensils. Anyone know if I'm forgetting anything? It was highly amusing to go through their kitchen; I think the light saber chopsticks were my favorite.