My Extraordinary, Ordinary Life

Ever since I saw the preview for "About Time" back in September when I saw "The Spectacular Now", I have known that it was a movie I would love. First of all, it has Rachel McAdams in it. It's impossible to go wrong with Rachel. Two, it was made by the same people as "Love Actually" and "Notting Hill", two of my favorite movies ever. I anxiously waited for it come out in November. However, it was one of those underpromoted movies that was only there for a few weeks with very limited show times. I have no idea how it did not generate more publicity because it was one of the most well-crafted movies I've seen in a while. Today, I decided I absolutely had to see it and searched around for it finding it on a *cough illegal website cough*.

And for the rest of the day, it has been replaying in my mind. It was a romance, but not overly puke-in-your-mouth romantic. I actually think a boy might be able to sit and enjoy it. It was real. Raw, honest, and inspiring. Sure, we can't actually travel back in time, but that's the point. The message is to live each day to the fullest. Yes, it seems cliche, but the movie does a great way of presenting this idea in an original way. Each of our lives are rich and opulent- you just have to see it that way.

Make time for what you love and who you love the most. And of course, make use of your time and see "About Time".

xo
Hannah

PS: I also really loved this movie because of the love, marriage, children aspect which is all I dream of in life so there's that too ;)

Boys

Boys. What a silly concept. A silly concept that my friends and I struggle to understand. But I guess you could say we're finally trying to, I mean we are almost 18. It has been quite the experience.

On Friday night, I had a sleepover with my best friends 5eva. We haven't had a sleepover since homecoming, so this was long overdue. They came over and we were all giddy to be together, the five of us, outside of school! We may all have some of the same off periods, but nothing compares to how great it is to be together and free of everything!

The night began running an errand. More on that later because it deserves a post of it's own. Afterwards, we got Icees and came back to hang out in the basement. Some talking and eating followed, but then Jess wanted to play Last Word, a game that she failed at big time when we were tailgating. However, we had only got the game board out before we changed our minds and our crazy evening began.

The winter formal, aka Sadies, is only three weeks away and a certain one of us has been hanging out with a boy and a invite to the dance was necessary. We all began to brainstorm ideas on how she could ask him, and then Marianne had to intervene. ugh. She said it wouldn't be fair to make one of us ask a boy and told us we couldn't come home until we all had dates. I think she didn't think we could do it, so really we were determined to prove her wrong!

A look at Sadies past...

freshman year- holy crap that's a lot of people. And people with baby faces

Sophomore year our date was Larry the Cable Guy

Junior year- we're always a party

 Our first mission was to go to McDonald's. Riley was going to ask Evan by telling him there was an emergency at the park and that he should come. Upon his arrival, she would give him a packet of Emergen-C and say this is the emergency, then give him McDonald's (his favorite, blech!) with Sadies? written on the bag. That plan did not quite go as planned! After we go the McDonald's and were waiting at the park, he said his parents wouldn't let him go. In the end, we went to his house, Riley basically texted him "come out I'm asking you to Sadies" and then he was able to break out of his house and say yes!

SO CUTE

After our first success, we headed to the grocery store to pick up supplies for the next askings. After lots of different ideas, Mackenzie decided to ask Brenden in a very creative way. Since I went to homecoming with Brenden, we bought a can of sloppy joe mix. We had him meet us at Sonic, but he got there early so that wasn't the best but we made the best of it! He got out and here's exactly what Mack said (hahahhahahaha!!!!) "I know you took my best friend to homecoming, but can I be your sloppy seconds and go to Sadies with you?" Is that not the funniest, most creative thing ever? Brenden totally has that sense of humor and said yes! 2 down!

action shot by riley

hilarious!

and here's the best part- our group text with brenden!

And then it was my turn. I decided to ask Jimmy, and it happened to be Friday so we had a great plan. We would tie it in with "Flashback Friday" and reference when we went to homecoming together freshman year. We made a pit stop at Mackenzie's and did some quick crafting and got the picture ready. Jimmy is Mackenzie's neighbor and the fastest, most eager person in the world so when we called him and asked him to come outside, we were not expecting him to come out faster than we could get ready! Jess was going to flash her headlights through the sign (haha flashback right?) but we didn't have proper time to set up so we just rolled with the punches.

another great action shot

my wing women

look everyone i got myself a date!

Jessica unfortunately will be interviewing for a full ride scholarship at SIU the weekend of the dance, where she'll be going to school in the fall, so she can't come :( And Sierra is asking a boy soon! We made it home around 12 and in three hours, had secured three dates. I guess you could say we're impressive;)

xo
Hannah

Throwback Thursday {Budapest}

I was looking through my Europe pictures, as I do frequently, reminiscing of the perfection I experienced this summer. Every bone in my body aches to go back to Europe and my desire to travel all around the world has only been kickstarted. I look through my pictures, read my travel journal, and watch my Europe video (and Mack's!) at least three times a week. (I watch the video even more) When I think back to Europe, I remember each day, so so specifically. It was the greatest experience of my life that I am so grateful to have had. So since today's Thursday, it only seemed appropriate to do a little Europe throwback.
Let's throwback to exactly 7 months ago, the day we arrived in my favorite city in the whole wide world... Budapest. (Hey Riley, what country's capital is Budapest? ;))

What I remember about June 16...

• We drove and drove through Slovakia and I sat next to Maya. Slovakia is such a beautiful green country!
• We stopped in the side of the road to have this strange cheese, made from sheep's milk. It had an interesting flavor, but I liked it!
• We saw a castle that I believe belonged to a Romanian prince 
• We ate lunch at a little ski resort in Slovakia and had the richest, most delicious macaroni and cheese.
• It rained that day, but while we were on the bus. The weather was sort of overcast when we arrived in Budapest, but it was actually SO warm.
• We got dropped off at this park/city center in Budapest. It was super neat.
• WE WERE STARVING
• Our walking tour seemed to last an eternity because we were so hungry.
• I was quite impressed with how clean the city was and not jam packed with tourists.
• On our way to dinner, there was a group of women and girls singing outside an apartment building. A lady had just had a baby and was standing on her balcony with the baby as the ladies sang to her. It's some Hungarian tradition that I thought was neat.
• We finally got to go to dinner and it was great!
• Afterwards, there was a little park we 'played' at. The slide was the coolest part.
• We went back to the hotel, a trusty Ibis. I roomed with Maddison
• We got to go out and explore the city.
• We split into two groups- I went with a group to find the Gellért Baths and Spa on the Buda side. The baths of Budapest are of great renown so we wanted to see what they were like!
• Once we found the Baths, we learned all information about them and made a plan to go the next day!
• With some time left, we decided to hike Gellert Hill. Man was I regretting my decision of wearing sandals by the time we got to the top.
• We got to the top and at that moment, I fell in love with Budapest. The view from the top of the hill is something embedded in my brain forever.  A group of other tourists heard us speaking English and we began to talk to them. Two were from Boulder, CO! They were so kind and took our picture. 
• We realized we were running out of time and went down the hill as fast as possible. But as soon as we were crossing the bridge, we slowed down and took in the beauty that surrounded us. 
• Communication with the rest of the group got sort of jumbled so we ended up sitting in the subway station for a while. But Peter and Brenden kept us entertained with their singing.
• We finally were reunited with our group and we went back to the hotel to hang out and end the day.
• Brenden, Peter, Matt, Jimmy, and Carly came in me and Maddison's room. There, the night ended with Brenden, Matt, and Peter singing some song from The Hobbit and dancing with swim caps on their heads to Bohemain Rhapsody. 

Ugh take me back.

slovakia, green slovakia

the castle

sheep cheese- smoky, different, but overall, delish!

practically a painting

ugh the architecture <3

LOVE. ps- jack told maddison they were going to get married while I was taking this picture

surreal

sunsets slay me

dang attractive at the baths

we made it to the top of gellért hill!

be still my soul

crying because of how beautiful it is

me: not so hot // the background: amazing

my favorite place in the world

love these people.

vertigo inducing escalators at the subway station

my hawt roomie

yeah, high schoolers are weird I guess. but we're also a ton of fun.

 My heart is forever in Budapest.

xo
Hannah

#budapestisthebest

PS: if you want to see more of the best places on Earth, do enjoy these videos!

EnJOYing

via// LOVE this!

I am constantly inspired by Kelle Hampton, one of my favorite bloggers, and her honest insight on life and finding happiness in the lovely little things. I love when she posts her "Enjoying the Small Things" posts- they're simply little blurbs of what her life is currently looking like. They make me reflect on the recent things in my life and look back at them with a smile.

As I wrote in this blog post, I chose joy to be my word of the year. It just works out perfectly to do my own little version of Enjoying the Small Things like blurbs- EnJOYing. My favorite moments that have made me happy :)

a rare group picture.  i love love love my best friends.

our second home is sonic. 2 medium lemonberry slushes pls

shamless running selfie because why not?!

i appreciate mackenzie's honesty

yeah sometimes things get a little cray at sonic and i can't decide on one drink so i just have to get two.

gooo broncos! jk we could care less about football, we just went for the food and to watch karen get drunk

actually having time in the morning means getting to eat decent breakfasts

CONTINENTAL LEAGUE WADDUP. ugh i just love choir so much.

and the denver performing arts complex. so beautiful

total hipster in a coffee shop

pot... grass seeds.. same difference

easily the most beautiful picture ever

and the great lengths i went to take it :))

What are you enjoying?! 

xo
Hannah

Ice Skating

If there's one thing I forgot how much I love, it's ice skating. This semester, all 5 of us have 6th and 8th period off which is THE BEST! All Christmas break, Mack and I had been talking about how we really wanted to go ice skating. Today, it finally happened.

After a delicious lunch at Cafe Rio (my favorite!!), we went to a nearby ice rink for an entertaining afternoon. We had some great laughs and were tired by the time the two hours of public skate were over. I can't wait to go again, ice skating is my new sweet love.

We took some great video today, and if you want a laugh or two, watch our amazing abilities! The video captures it all much better than words ever will. I have one more small video to complete for the day, but that won't take too long and should be up in the next week. Until then, enjoy!



xo
Hannah

{J O Y} 2014

Last year, I came up with my word of the year. A word to think about all year long, a word that was always tucked away in my brain.
SAVOR

I sure did savor the heck out of 2013. It was the year of...

ACTs

Family time in Hawaii

My last first day of high school

EUROPE

College applications,

and college acceptances

Prom

XC 

Cat dissections

Cadaver labs

Exuberant Christmas spirit

My best yet GPA

Great holiday parties

Spring break sledding

Wisdom teeth

Girls Camp

Very late nights with best friends

The beginning of video making

       ...and much, much more

Each year brings us that new slate that we have learned to value and look at as a fresh start. I have never felt so anxious for a new year than 2014. This is my year of change. More change than I feel ready to handle is coming my way, but through it all I don't want to change who I really am. A girl who loves...

Clothes. Lots and lots of them.

Lemonberry slushes

Christmas

Europe

Music

Reading

Old bookstores

Babies

Statement jewelry

Ice skating

Running (downhill specifically;)

Matching pajamas

Button downs

Ryan Gosling

Boots, whether they be riding or rain

Blogs

Italian food

Grey days

Antatomy

Netflix

...and a whole lot of other things.

I want to stay me, and get through the changes with a smile on my face. I want to see the joy in it all.

So my word for 2 0 1 4 is...

I know it's going to be a fun year. I would say it's going to be a hard year because of all the unknowns that come with change, but there is also joy in the surprises of the unknown.  The best is yet to come.

xo
Hannah

2014

Happy New Year!!! I cannot believe it's 2014. This year is going to be a big one for me, probably the biggest yet. I graduate high school (whhhhaaaattttt) and will be going to college in the fall. When did I get old enough for all of this?! There's so much to do, so many decisions to be made, but it's all so exciting and through it all, I want to love it and find the joy in it. With all the amazing memories that 2013 brought, I cannot wait to see what 2014 brings.

This year, I rang in the New Year with Mackenzie and three babies. Yep, it was a party! Back in October, my third grade teacher, one of my most favorite people in the world, asked me to babysit her sweet little daughter on NYE as she would be getting married! To make matters more exciting, she would get me (and a friend!) a room at the hotel in Downtown Denver where the wedding was at so we could spend the night with her baby and avoid the drunk drivers. Oh yeah, and her 2 month old nephew would need to be babysat too! If there's one thing Mackenzie and I love, it's babies! So this could not be more perfect for us. Plus we got to go to the wedding, an added bonus!

During the day though, Mackenzie, Jessica, and I explored Downtown Denver. We had lunch at Chili's and went shopping, while taking in the city air. It was a ton of fun!

Mack and I then went to the hotel to get ready and begin our babysitting. Riley and Sierra were going to be going to the wedding so we got to see them too which was pretty awesome. We got the little girl, McKenna, ready and then went down to the ceremony. It was beautiful:) Afterwards, we picked up the second baby, Caden, and Mackenzie and I began our night of teen motherhood. Earlier, someone actually thought McKenna was one of ours so there's that.  I wish I had a picture of us all dressed up, pushing these big old strollers! It was too funny. Once we got to the room, we put on our PJs and got the babies ready for bed. That itself was quite the adventure. We spent a lot of time sitting in the bathroom with Caden while the McKenna was going to sleep in the room. After we got him asleep (haha in his stroller, in the dark bathroom), we went to eat the Chinese food we ordered for dinner. We had to eat the food with baby spoons because the restaurant forgot to give us forks. #momlife Sierra's little sister came and slept in our room once she fell asleep at the wedding. So Mackenz and I sat in our pitch black room, watching "New Year's Eve" until midnight. We drank water out of champagne glasses and watched the fireworks that were right out our window! We were exhausted though. By 1:30am, Caden and Avery had been picked up and we could finally go to bed. Oh but only until 6am, when McKenna woke up. Luckily she went back to sleep at 7am until 9am. I would have died if she stayed awake! After she was picked up at 10:45, Mack and I (who are now rich because of the job) went and grabbed some breakfast at Corner Bakery. It's pretty funny how dead downtown is New Year's Day. I came home and watched movies all day and slept;) It was a great New Year's!

Here's a little video of our New Year's!

ugh so cute

fact: babies will chew on ANYTHING

do you see the chub on this kid?!

oh sweet baby love. this is what heaven looks like friends.

#turnt #teenmoms

 I can't wait to share my word for 2014 and some resolutions!!

xo
Hannah