16 Favorite Songs

16 songs from this year that were my favorite, and made up the soundtrack of this year of my life.

1. Shots- LMFAO... makes me think of my birthday party, Jessica's birthday party, Kid Nation :)

2. Closest I Get- Katie Herzig... makes me think of how sad I was when my favorite Grey's Anatomy character, Lexie, died. (hahaha I'm just being honest) And how I listened to this song everyday on the way to school for SO LONG. It also reminds me of when I first got my license and spring! Gosh, the ending of this song is just pure emotion and I LOVE IT.

3. Rasputin- Boney M... makes me think of AP World (praise God I'm done with that!) and summer days of playing Just Dance 2

4. Whole Wide World- Mindy Gledhill... makes me also think of spring and driving to school when I first got my license! And running with Mackenzie on our crazy path, and driving to summer tennis.  This was my motivator song!

5. Happy Pills- Norah Jones... makes me think of my first concert and my summer text tone! I forgot how much I love this song!

6. Bella's Final: Price Tag/Don't You/Give Me Everything- Pitch Perfect... oh gosh, Pitch Perfect was basically the most life defining movie of my 16th birthday (not to sound dramatic;)) seriously though, this movie was so good and I cannot express how much I LOVE this song!! Best song of the movie!

7. Titanium- David Guetta ft. Sia... makes me think of Pitch Perfect and the beginning of Ricochet! Gosh I love our band:) also makes me think of driving back to Sierra's house after dinner at Crave for her birthday and all of us SCREAMING this song. Good times, good times

8. These Days- Chantal Kreviazuk... this one's for you Mackenzie! Makes me think of listening to this on repeat in math, being absolutely sentimental about how fast high school is going!

9. Unwritten- Natasha Bedingfield... also makes me think of Mack and math. And our love for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. And how we are such saps.

10. I Knew You Were Trouble- Taylor Swift... makes me think of driving to the Vista football game, blaring this and loving being 16. And Riley. This song will always make me think of Riley.

11. Red- Taylor Swift... makes me think of having a competition with O to see who knew the most T-Swift song lyrics and this was my winning song!

12. Anchor- Mindy Gledhill... makes me think of how I fell in love with blogging. I remember watching a video of the Nielson's with this song in the background. nienie was totally who made me want to be a blogger, and this song is just what brings me back to center. My equilibrium song.

13. ABC Cafe/Red and Black- Les Mis... makes me think of how stoked I was for Les Mis to come out and AP Euro. Hahaha oh Suria ;)

14. Rock Me- One Direction... makes me think of how much I tried to like 1D for the sake of my friends. And I mean, I REALLY tried. They just aren't me, what can I say? But this song is the one that I can tolerate the most;) or this one!!!

15. One Day More- Les Mis... makes me think of getting through winter finals! and how darn excited I was to finish school, and to see this brilliant movie!

16. and for my all time favorite... Crazy Love- Mindy Gledhill... makes me think of THIS BEING MY FAVORITE SONG EVER. I don't know why but it's my favorite, I just love Mindy. (obviously)

xo
Hannah

Heaven IS Here

If you've been following this blog long enough, you know I love Stephanie Nielson. On April 3rd, she published a book. I had only been reading her blog for a little over a week and was really interested in learning more about her story. My guilty pleasure every night after I finished my homework was reading old posts, forcing myself to stop after hours and realizing that it was almost 1 or 2 in the morning. Finally, on April 30th, I sped through my homework and went over to Target to get her book. I got home, made a cup of tea, put on my PJs, and settled in for some pleasure reading. :) Since that late April evening, I've reread the book three times, and a fourth time in the past few days, it's that good!

{via}

 Book & Author: Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson
★★★★★

Stephanie Nielson was living the fairy tale life- an adoring husband, four cherished young children, and a blissful home in Mesa, Arizona. She lived a charmed life. Her book describes her courting with Christian aka Mr. Nielson, a true love story. To Nie, life is as good as it gets. The early days of marriage, the birth of their children, moving around the country and the beginnings of a blog are all part of her enchanting life until 3:40pm, August 16, 2008. Mr. Nielson takes her and their close family friend to his family ranch in Bluewater, AZ for a day of fun. On their way home, the plane malfunctions and crashes, burning all three passengers. Stephanie is burned on over 80% of her body, Christian- 40%, and their friend-50%, who soon dies. After nearly three months in a coma, Nie wakes up in a body she doesn't know and to a life she never wished for. The trauma is deep as she learns to accept existing in a world that does not accept her. She writes of her healing and the beginning of not a new life, but life as it is. Stephanie reminds us of what love, family, and life is really about in a time of crisis and how each may cope. Her faith keeps her grounded, as she prays to Heavenly Father and is touched by the spirit of angels. Heaven is Here is a beautiful read, reminding us how bountiful our blessings are and that everyday, we can work harder, love more, and enjoy each moment with peace and joy, as Heaven is here. 

I cannot praise this book enough! I laughed, I cried, I felt God with me. Nie is an incredible women, and through her book, shares love, tragedy, and triumph. Get the book, you'll want to read it more than once.  As one person put it, Nie's book is the story of how her life changed, but it might change yours too.


xo
Hannah
 

High Five for Friday!

Friday, we meet again!

1. I'm rereading a favorite book (review will be up in the next few days). Love the genuine love in it, it gives me goosebumps with every page. I LOVE this part!

"That's the boy I'm going to marry, I thought. In a total daze, but without a doubt, I knew it." AHH!

2. It's about time they start selling this! 

Coconut + Greek yogurt = Hannah's favorite foods all in one!

3. Blue skies, smiling at me...

4. Free Starbucks Refreshers today with Mack, Riley, and Jess!

5. I found this picture on my PhotoBooth of Sierra, Mackenzie, and I the day we finished winter finals. I don't know why, but I absolutely adore it.

xo

Hannah

Happy Birthday Nie!

Happy Birthday to my favorite blogger ever,

Nienie!

Celebrate with a "VaNIElla" cupcake! :)

xo

Hannah

nieniedialogues.com

Simply Inspired

{This post is a bit of deeper continuation of yesterday's :)}

I cannot rave enough about Stephanie Nielson. I just love her, her blog, her family, her book, her nickname;) 

 {Before & After}
{via}

Today, if you were to ask me who my inspiration is (besides my mother and Dr. Nina Starr Braunwald aka the first woman cardiac surgeon), I'll gladly say Stephanie Nielson (aka nie or nienie). She was in a horrible accident and was scarred for life, inside and outside. Prior, she lived a fairy tale life, married young and with children soon after, with her close family near, and a positive attitude and outlook of life written on a blog that thousands loved to read. One simple Sunday afternoon, that changed forever. In a small private plane with her husband and family friend, they had enjoyed a leisurely day at Mr. Nielson's family ranch, the plane malfunctioned and crashed. The friend was killed, Mr. Nielson burned on 30% of his body, and nie, over 80%. She was in a coma for months and woke up in a body that was foreign, scarred, and not the body she knew. Her children would not look at her. She had to move states without ever saying a real goodbye. She suffered trauma...

but continues to live life, because it's what we do. We're learning constantly how to fight off death, but how often do we have to learn to keep on living? That is what nienie makes me stop and think about, it's a push to keep going when life seems wretched and unfair, and to appreciate the life I have and the joy comes from it... for each day we wake up is a joyous gift. So I thank you nie, from the bottom of my heart.

xo

Hannah

i NIEed to blog

I remember the days before I blogged. The first blog I remember seeing was my mom's childhood best friend's daughter's blog. She just blogged about day to day life (like me!) and I always enjoyed reading about her family, friends, school, and other activities and thinking how we were so similar! Then, in December I started actively reading The Small Things Blog everyday, learning all sorts of hair and beauty tricks. I continued to find more and more blogs I loved and then, when I was in Steamboat over spring break, I came across the blog that was my true inspiration. My mom, aunt, siblings, cousins, and I stopped in a Walmart to grab candy to eat when we watched a movie and while at the checkout stand, I grabbed a magazine to flip through, like usual. I came across an article on Stephanie Nielson (aka nie or nienie) and her family and was fascinated about her story. I saw in italics at the end of the article her url for her blog and memorized it to search once we got back to the condo. 

When we got back and I googled the blog, I sat on the couch for almost four hours, reading as many posts as I could before my mom made me go to bed. Each one was raw and honest- sometimes funny, sometimes cute, sometimes heartbreaking. I loved her wit and that she lived each day with such gratitude for life. I kept reading once I got home. I adjusted my morning routine to add time to read her blog every morning. At the beginning of May, I told Mackenzie about the url and soon, we would talk about the posts and about nienie. 

After reading post after post, I thought, 'I want to do this. Just write my thoughts, my stories, this is for me.' For a while, I told Mackenzie and Kylee how I just wanted to start blogging. It was one of those things I knew I wanted to do, I just needed to do it. 


And then one Tuesday afternoon, it happened. Because of Nie, Simply Me was born.  And I love it more and more each day. :)

Sums me up:)

xo
Hannah

ps- wanna know what blogs I read and love that you will too? here you go!
nieniedialogues.com
thesmallthingsblog.com
frommygreydesk.com
glittershewrote.com
amy-newnostalgia.blogspot.com
blog.hannamac.com
71toes.com 
and I'm sure I forgot some;)