Currently Listening Back to Bedlam By James Blunt see related

The long awaited update from yours truly.

Hello all, it's been more than a few days but i'm finally updating. I've been keeping very busy lately which has definitely made me even more settled here . At this point I can't believe i've only lived here since June...and it's hard for me to think back to the times when I struggled so much with the thought of leaving my hometown in ohio. Of course i miss you ALL soo much, if anyone ever gets the chance to visit me...please do! My aunt and uncle are here this weekend from michigan and it's so nice to have family with us even if it is for a short time. Nathan and emily are in charlotte now and move into staff housing in a few weeks so hopefully we'll get to go visit them sometime soon.

Work is going well, the people here are amazing and i'm constantly given new projects. We are trying to redo the website so that is a challenge for me, but they give me alot of artistic freedom which is great. Yesterday i got a new 17inch flat screen for my computer and it is awesome (i had two 17 inch screens but one was huge and old and the screen was really dark so they got me a new one to replace it so now i have two flat panel screens).

Like i've said in previous posts, i have been chaperoning youth retreats which was a big challenge for me at first but now i'm getting to know the kids so it's alot easier. This weekend we are having a huge retreat called "disciple now" where about 125 kids from the youth group come from friday-sunday and we split into grade groups and each group goes to a different host home and two college/twentysomethings lead lessons. The first night there is a big fellowship dinner with all the kids and leaders, and then saturday afternoon we are having a fish fry out at the beach with beach games for everybody. I'm a leader, so i'm really excited. Also, the other trips i've chaperoned i've been one of the the few people my age to go so it was hard to have a really good time, but this weekend about 20 people my age are leading and some of them are from my bible study group so i know it will be awesome.

I've been doing alot with my bible study group of friends, they are really a great group. In the last few weeks we've gone out to dinner, seen movies, went shopping, bowling, went to a hockey game, played hide and seek in the sanctuary, gotten icecream, and had multiple girls' nights. A couple of us have also started going to a worship service called 7:22 once a week at another church - the worship is amazing. It's nice to be involved with other stuff than just our little group at church.

So that pretty much wraps up what i've been up to lately. hope eveyone is doing great and enjoying the cold weather....  - hannah

Currently Watching Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Widescreen Edition) see related

Due to my family being in Fort Myers/Punta Gorda for the weekend, i held my first twenty-somethings dinner party last night and it was very successful. I made Cincinnati chili (several people were very confused at the idea of combining spaghetti and chili) cornbread muffins, and buckeyes(people brought other munchies too). About 12 people ended up coming which i was really excited about cus i wasn't sure any more than 5 would show up. It was really nice out (cloudy, but 70) so I opened up the sliding doors and we all ate out by the pool. Then we got the fire going and all sat around and talked all night. The guys felt like telling vomit stories which was really disgusting, but military vomit stories are pretty funny. Then we played our own version of "two truths and a lie" which was fun cus we learned really weird facts about people - DJ was once a victim of a prank on the Jamie Kennedy Experiment; Anne once sat in a baby pool filled with pork and beans and plays the bagpipes. It was hilarious. Especially when DJ was crying from laughing after he tried to imitate anne playing the bagpipes. Everybody stayed really late and sarah spent the night so i got to sleep in and we just went to bible study (aka what normal people would call "sunday school"). It was a good time. Next week we are having a christmas party which involves eating at a BBQ restaurant and then having a bonfire at one of the guys houses. In what way does that sound like a christmas party to you? These southerners crack me up sometimes.

This afternoon i made chocolate chip cookies...i don't really know why. I ended up freezing all but a couple...and tonight i'm going to watch mr. and mrs. smith...which i've been waiting forever to see so i'm excited. It's sorta lonely here today with just the pets...i miss my sunday night bible study! and on another subject, i miss snow! Although i LOVE the weather we had this weekend, i am sad that findlay has snow and i can't see it. Although I don't miss driving in it. It is hard enough dealing with insane drivers and tons of traffic. If snow was added to the mix the city would be a disaster. Okay, enough of my random ramblings. It's brad pitt time!

I have a few minutes before our thanksgiving family activity of "watching Survivor" so i'll update you all on my life. The youth retreat to Laguna Beach in Panama City Beach two weekends ago was really cool. The leaders were awesome, the band (michael john clement) was amazing, and the kids (for the most part) were well behaved and seemed to have a good time. I was worried that I wouldn't have a good time since I didn't know ANYONE but other than the fact that i had alot of free time by myself (i felt somewhat lonely during those moments) I did get to know alot of kids and the chaperones. It turned out to be a pretty awesome weekend. The worship services were amazing, the food was good, and the weather was beautiful. Our room (me and six 6th grade girls...AHHH!!!) was pretty nice, but the best part was all the rooms faced the ocean and had balconies. I kept having to tell a couple of the girls to be quiet the first night until they finally went to sleep at 2 (I almost died), so the second night i slept out on the balcony. I slept really well and awoke to the sunrise and waves crashing. All the girls thought i was crazy because it was "so cold" out there. When i first decided to chaperone the retreat I wasn't sure I would enjoy myself but I really felt God was trying to push me out of my comfort zone--i'm very glad I went and would definitely do it again.

Work has been going good, but this week was crazy cus i had to do five days of work in three days. Monday was fine -- that night me and my sissys went to see harry potter, sooo good!! and scary...for a kids movie...and sad!!, tuesday was busy (worked through lunch), and wednesday was ridiculous. I took leah to help me for the day (she enjoys volunteering to help me alot since i am at the church and it's fun) which i am SOO glad i did because she helped me soo much. I would have never gotten everything done by myself. We ended up getting there at 7:45 since there was no traffic I guess due to thanksgiving (traffic is usually horrible) and then leah got us lunch and i worked through. Garrett came and helped for awhile too which was alot of help. People kept calling all day asking if i could do stuff for them because they needed it before the weekend so I ended up having to work til 5:15. I usually get off at 4:30. Nothing like a 9 1/2 hour day the day before thanksgiving. Especially since most of the staff took the whole day or at least half of the day off. Needless to say, I am very glad to be on thanksgiving break. Today we went to the beach for awhile (sorry all you ohioans....but it was 75 and sunny here!) took naps, and ate a big dinner. Tomorrow is black friday and i will probably be heading out in the morning (not early!) to do some shopping. Yes, i am insane. Hope you all are having a great thanksgiving weekend!