hannah elizabeth ours

(my favorite pic I got of Hans the whole time) 

Hannah, or as I call her, Hans, is one of the best friends anybody could ever ask for. I think I realized that even more how much of a good friend she was when I got to spend a week with her last month. It was the the best week ever. 

I think one of the things I like most about Hans is that she's always there for me, and she'll except me as I am. I don't think there's any stupid thing I would do that she wouldn't forgive me for. I don't have to worry about what she'll think about me. We can talk about anything, from random embarrassing moments to our deepest struggles. It's kinda funny, really. 

Her fam is terrific too. They adopted me straight into their family, calling me all sorts of nicknames (the Ours family, they have the most hilarious names for each other). During the week I was there they were moving, so I got to help. Hey, I've moved over ten times in my life so it wasn't that big of a deal. Besides packing and cleaning everyday, we had ice cream every night, dance parties 24/7, late night talks (ok, some nights we just crashed), long car rides listening to music, photoshoots (not quite as many as we wanted to do though), and early morning Bible studies. It was a blast and went by too quickly, which just means we'll have to do it again sometime. 

Hans and I "met" online almost three years ago when I was sick in Egypt and she was a new kid who had just moved to Georgia. We found each other's blogs, started emailing and hit right off. We've talked on the phone, chatted, and webcammed countless times. 

It's funny, how when we first started our friendship all we would talk about was Narnia. Seriously, that's how we became friends. Now the most thing we have in common is Jesus. We normally are going through the same struggles at the same time, and Hannah has been so encouraging just to have her there with me through it all.

Don't think we're all that serious though. We have way too many inside jokes, but it's just whatever really. And ooohhh my goodness! Sometimes we joke too much we have to tell each other to stop and be a little more serious.

All in all, though it sounds cheesy, I'm so thankful for Hans and the way God's allowed us to get to know each other. I'm even thankful that I got sick in Egypt, without that, I probably wouldn't have had the time to get online and even meet Hannah in the first place! 

go check out Hannah's blog if ya wish. Here's a video of some of our adventure. Some parts you could skip where the sound cut out, youtube decided to mess things up but oh well. 

me = worst blogger ever

Better posting now than never, right? I finally found some time everyday this week and wrote a post, then I almost had it ready yesterday and saved it...only to find out today that it wasn't saved at all. life stinks sometimes.

There's been so much going on lately I can barely keep up with it. I can't believe I leave the states for Africa in a little more than a month. I'm scared to go by myself, scared to be going for half a year, but all excited at the same time. And I have to remind myself that I'm really not going by myself, Someone bigger is with me always.

so here's what I've been up to lately.


1. BABYSITTING 

I finish all my normal all day or morning jobs this week. It's all really bittersweet. The kiddos I've gotten to watch and play with over the past year are like my own kids or siblings, and it's hard realizing that this is the last time I'll get to babysit them. At the same time I felt like I've been babysitting so much it's become more of a job, and I never ever want to make spending time with a child seem like work and want to rush through it just so I can get paid and it'll be over with. That's how it's almost become for me though and I feel awful saying it. And I want to spend these last days with my siblings and truly take every second in.

2. PAPERWORK

I guess I never thought much about it. I mean, I knew I'd have to get the tickets, but once I bought those, I thought everything was about ready to go. I forgot about visa, doctor applications, insurance, passports and other random things. I still haven't finished everything. I need to get more passport photos (guys those little bitty pictures are wayyy too much money these days. heck I charge less for an actual senior photoshoot). I'm sure there's other stuff I just forgot.

3. NO GLUTEN OR DAIRY

I went to the doctor on Monday and he said that I have really low cholesterol, plus some other random things going on. Not that good to have before going overseas, I guess. I'm supposed to eat more fats (like nuts) and I'm not allowed to have wheat or dairy. Kinda stinks...there went my plans of eating a bunch of junk before I head overseas and the only thing they have is rice and beans, ha.

I can't even remember what else is going on. If I'm not babysitting, I'm going somewhere (yesterday I spend half the day at the eye doctor). I guess it isn't a bad busy, and I don't have much to complain about, but I'm just happy things are supposed to slow down some. Today I get to go to my grandparents and just spend some quality time with them for about a week. I get to go to a concert with friends tonight. Life may be busy sometimes, but God is still good and wherever He's got me, I still have the opportunity to do good.

vlog

Things may have got a little crazy, but as promised, here's the vlog we promised. Sorry it took us so long. Hannah's family is in the process of moving, and we've been super busy packing and cleaning. In our free time we don't exactly want to sit around and film a video and work on uploading it. Also, sorry some of your questions didn't get answered, we made this video two days ago and had some confusing problems with youtube.

I go home this Saturday, so I promise I'll be writing more about this week soon - but for now, time to spend time with Hannah!

surprise surprise!

After two and a half years of knowing each other online, I finally met Hannah! This week I'm at her house and we're having a blast. More news coming soon, we're going to do a vlog, but we need to questions to answer. So ask away!