What I learned..Summer 2011

This summer i learned/relearned a lot of interesting things. Here are just a few. Thanks to everyone who made this summer overall the best one of my life. (Seriously. I'm not just saying that.)

1. I love sushi. (As of four months ago I'd only had it twice in my life, but this summer I started having withdrawals after not having it for a week...)

2. I'm not a very good blogger. :)

3. "Little Kids are not interested in Waffles, they want the BAGEL TOPPERS."

4. No matter how many times you try...it is impossible to remember to apply deodorant at 4:40 in the morning. (don't worry....I quickly learned this and bought a small size and kept it in my purse.)

5. Peanut butter shakes (as made by the Leavitt family) are deeelicious!

6. I am an awkward hugger. (See previous post.)

7. Creamy Tomatilla Ranch tastes good....on practically everything.

8. Not ALLLL facial hair is unfortunate ;)

9. My right forearm is more heat-sensitive than my left.

10. I hate everything about coffee.  Look. Smell. Feel. Concept. (Even though I've never tasted it....I am quite confident I would hate that too.)

11.  I'm really good at making summer goals, but not so great at accomplishing them.

12. Some people highly under appreciate french toast sticks.

13. Camping 4 hours away is probably never a good idea :) but if adventure is what you're seeking, you will find it.

14. Getting a letter from Elder Stephen Olson is like Christmas every few weeks :)

15.  "Anything can happen if you let it." ha.

Mim, Dorphin, MeMe

Miriam had a formal school dance the other night so she asked if she could wear my junior year prom dress. Obviously i told her she could (i don't really think i could have said no, haha). I also agreed to do her hair and make up for the evening. It was a little stressful getting home from work and trying to get her out the door on time (meanwhile mom and dad were running around trying to make the place look like a Hobo Paradise for Daniel's hobo themed birthday party--not that that required much work :) (haha just kidding.))

But even with the time crunch, i thought it all worked out great! I think her hair turned out pretty cute (if i do say so myself) and her make up too!

 Tonight i had fun messing around with an old picture of me at junior prom and a picture i took of Miriam before the dance. My mom's eyes are getting pretty blury (with her being 50 and all now) and she didn't even realize that it was a picture of me and miriam! (she thought it was just the same picture twice or something..? i don't know--her eyes must be PREETTY bad. haha)



i got a little sloppy with the editing..sorry about that. Haha. But at least you still get the general idea.

Now the question remains....does she REALLY look older than me?!?!??!??!??!


PS the title of this post is all nicknames that i have affectionately given to Miriam over the years:) (Meme being the most recent...)

Addendum

I went to Miriam's school concert last week. Her friends thought i was her YOUNGER sister. (She is 14.)

Why do I still look like a 15 year old?

I got a job!! I started about two weeks ago at Costa Vida. And if you've never been...the food is DEEEELICIOUS. (It is extremely similar to Cafe Rio if you've ever eaten there, but i think Costa Vida's menu is more extensive..although i'm not totally positive on that.)

Being the "new kid" at work is always a memorable experience, and let's just say...this time it has been particularly memorable. :) Most of the employees have been working there for years (a few of them have been there since the store opened about four years ago) and none of them are excited about training a new person that will only be there until the end of August. It's a great situation for me though because...well, i have a job :) and because the manager is a member of the church and is willing to not schedule me on Sundays!

Anyway, a few days after i started, one of the girls i work with asked me how old i was. When i responded that i was 19 turning 20 in a few months, i thought she was going to have a heart attack. I then asked her how old she thought i was and she said "16 or 17." (I later inferred that she also assumed i was a high school drop out. wonderful.) The other ladies at work then confessed that they, too, thought i was still in high school. One made an interesting comment though--she said i looked young (like 17) but when i spoke i sounded older. That at least relieved me some.  (It could have been a lot worse! She could have said that i looked old and then when i spoke she thought i was still in high school! haha)

So what's the trick?! How do i make myself look like i'm actually in college?! Wearing tons of make up is plausible option...however i refuse. Does that mean i'm going to be stuck looking like a high-schooler forever? (I guess someday i'll think that's cool right?!) Don't get me wrong, i don't want to look like a mom or anything, but at least passing as a high school graduate would be appreciated!

I'm an Awkward Hugger

Over the last few years i've been made to sit through criticisms of multiple people about my lack of good-hugging abilities. I've always thought that while what they said probably had some truth to it, it was extremely dramatized and my hugs really weren't nearly as bad as they made it seem.

In an attempt to prove all of these people wrong i've started paying attention more closely to the hugs i give. Much to my dismay, i discovered they were totally right! Which is why I am now publicly acknowledging the problem.

This realization really hit me hard just a few days ago at a singles ward FHE activity where someone i had never met before introduced himself and then gave me a hug (as he had done to the girls that were standing next to me that he already knew). It was in those few moments that i realized i was in the middle of quite possibly the most awkward hug that had ever been given- and it was all MY fault! I don't even know what exactly about the hug made it so unbearably awkward, but just take my word that it was quite painful.

Now for the big question: Why am i such an awkward hugger?!? I don't know! Genetics? It would appear that awkward hugs run in the family. Claiming that it's simply something genetic that i'll never be able to fix would get me off the hook pretty easy :) Maybe i'll go with that answer... haha. I suppose it's probably something i'll have to work on...although i've never really been much of a hugger so i'd really rather not.... Ha. (Which is quite possibly the root of the problem.)

Besides, what's the big deal about hugging anyway?! What ever happened to the good ole' handshake?! I've been told i give exceptional handshakes. ;)

Radio Rant

So, as i have been playing "mom" the last few days for Daniel and Miriam (since mom accompanied Dad on his business trip to San Jose) and have had ample time in the car listening to the radio, i have a little rant i have to get off my chest.

It's been a while since i've really listened to the radio since the only time i do is when i'm in the car, and since i haven't had a car for the last year that hasn't been very often. As soon as i started listening, i was reminded how they play the SAME songs over and over and over and over and over again. They can take a perfectly good song and RUIN it because it is simply played too many times that i never want to hear it again!

. . . but i'm getting off track. While i could probably go on for a while about that--i am going to talk about something else in this post. And that is . . . song lyrics.

How often do people listen to songs without actually hearing the words? I myself will even find myself singing words that i never really took the time to think about what they are saying.

The most recent experience with this was brought to my attention by the song "Love the Way You Lie." This is an Eminem song featuring Rihanna. First of all. . . since when is Eminem still coming out with songs?! I haven't heard of him in FOREVER and now he's all over the radio (probably because he has like 2 or 3 new songs that just get played a million times a day so it seems like he's ALWAYS on the radio).

So. The thing that really disturbed me about this song, is when i was humming along with it the other day and and i starting thinking about what the song was saying. Just in case you don't know the song i'm talking about--or you too didn't really pay attention to the lyrics--let me help you out.

I wasn't really paying attention to the words until i heard:

"I know I'm a liar if she ever tries to ------ leave again
I'ma tie her to the bed and set this house on fire"

That caught my attention and so i started listening. Right after that line (sung by Eminem) the chorus comes on and Rihannah sings:

"Just gonna stand there and watch me burn

Well that's all right because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
Well that's all right because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie."

Umm... EXCUSE me?!?! I couldn't even listen to the rest of the song! I was so disgusted. What kind of message is this teaching to teens?!!? 'It's okay if your boyfriend hurts you as long as you love him'?!??! The even more pathetic thing is that this AWFUL song is one of the most popular songs on the radio right now. People call in and request it all the time. It seriously sickens me. Every time it comes on i change the radio station because it seriously makes me ashamed that people enjoy listening to such horrible messages.

Anyway, that was my rant for today :) I'll try to think of something happier for next time. haha.

(Oh. and even though a lot of people apparently (for reasons i can't explain) like this song, at least some people agree with me. If you're not familiar with Glozell---you need to be. She's hilarious--and quite down to earth.)

Ding Ding: I win!

I figured out what that is from, the "I have thoughts" thing. It's from Julie and Julia! Here's the trailer if you want a refresher so you can know i'm not making it up :)

(For the record. I wasn't really a huge fan of this movie. But this line was stuck in my head. (It's right around :55 if you just want to see the part that i'm talking about.)

:)

3 Reasons Why I Don't Blog.

I really wish i blogged more. I think it would be fun if i got more into it, but for some reason i can never get myself to just sit in front of the computer and type. Well, okay that's not true- i spend way too much time on Facebook typing away about nothing of importance, so i really ought to start typing on this nifty thing too.

The problem is, whenever i think about blogging, i always come up with an excuse as to why i shouldn't/can't. Maybe if i list all of those reasons i'll show myself how ridiculous i'm being and i just need to suck it up and write.

Excuse Number 1: I don't have time.

Hahaha. This is honestly a laughable excuse because the simple honest truth is is have LOADS of time. As a matter of fact i a have SO much time on my hands and i have absolutely nothing to do with it. Well, i've been watching movies, reading and finding other things to help the days pass by, but i would say blogging is just as productive (if not more) than many of the other things i am doing. (At least while i'm still home for the summer and have nothing else pressing my time.)

Excuse Number 2:I don't have anything to blog about.

What are blogs meant for anyway? Journals? Thoughts? I have thoughts. (Is that from a movie? "I have thoughts." It sounds so familiar but i can't figure out what it's from.) Why not blog about my thoughts? At least i will entertain myself perhaps :)

Excuse Number 3: People won't want to read what I have to say.

So what? Who am i blogging for anyway? For other people? Or for myself?! Who knows if anyone else will even read this?! I'm sure someday i'll have a jolly 'ole time reading through past blog entries and laughing about how ridiculous i am for having conversations with myself and then posting them on the internet.

Well there you have it folks: reasons why i don't blog.

The other day i came across the blog of one of my friends (she had a link to it on Facebook). I read a few of the posts and it inspired me. It inspired me to be a better blogger :) Although i'm sure her blogs will always be more entertaining and probably deeper than mine, i figure i might as well give it a shot. Who knows? I may become an excellent blogger yet.

I'm setting a goal to blog at least 4 times this week. I'm posting it on here so i will be more likely to follow through with my goal :) [much like when i announce "Last chip!" or "last cookie".] I'll be trying to think of interesting things people will want to read about.

That is all,

-Hannah :)

Kristine the Heffa

I skyped with my friend Kristine tonight. i miss her:)

Manny the Hippo

I've taken up a new pastime.

Drawing Hippos.

It all started a few weeks ago during english class. For some reason I was really in the mood to draw that day so I asked my friend Shyler who sits behind me what I should draw. She told me to draw a picture of her holding a hippo.

I failed.

I tried to instead draw a picture of her with a hippo on her shirt, but the hippo ended up resembling something closer to a lousy attempt at a frog. It made me reminisce about the days that I actually took art lessons. (Which . . . how can I think about art class without remembering The Hedgehog!? hahaha) I guess I shouldn't admit that I actually took art lessons once upon a time seeing as my drawing turned out less than stellar. =]

Although it's not much, it took me most of the class period to draw. (Of course since I was also paying very close attention to my English teacher lecture on the difference between MLA and APA writing formats. :D)

Here's the first attempt. Sorry about all the smudges. . . I'm a lefty!

Since my hippo turned out to be so pathetic, I decided that it was something I should work on. That night, I had some free time (actually i just needed a break from homework!) so i googled some hippo drawings and set to work!

Here's my first REAL attempt. Definitely much better than the one above, but i still had some definite work to do.

Over the last few weeks during allll of my excessive amounts of free time (haha) I doodled hippos on a good majority of my class work or whatever papers are sitting around. I've specialized on a certain hippo that I have now named Manny. Isn't he adorable?! :)

This is what my hand looked like after I completed the first one. Isn't being left-handed, just wonderful?!

I'm not really sure why drawing hippos brings me so much pleasure. But it think it's fun! (Not to mention it helps me relieve stress =) Haha)

Simple as that :)