Holy Endorphins

Ha! Right? "What's up with the title Hannah?"

Well, I believe I dubbed this post appropriately.

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to bless life-long friends by going to their home and cleaning. They aren't able to do some stuff physically and then combined with a busy schedule, it's hard to keep up. We love them to DEATH so it's our joy to be able to serve them in this way.

As I was cleaning I just kept in mind how much I loved them and why they are so special to me... and how very much this blesses them. I am a giver. My Gift is giving. If serving is a way in which I am able to give something to someone then you'll see me at the front of the line. But while I was cleaning and thinking of them some words of Jesus came to mind, John 15: 13 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." That kept resinating in my head. For some reason, up until this point I thought that Jesus meant it litterally--- that I should be in the greatest love possible if I physically had the chance to give my life and die for my friend(s). Well I wasn't quite sure how that was going to happen, but to be honest I really would do it. So I was somewhat bummed that I couldn't gaurantee that experience. SO> today it struck me differently. Giving of my life could also mean giving of my time. Time is exactly what life is... it's a never-pausing clock. A song I hear on the radio says it this way "Life is an hourglass glued to the table." Therefore, it's a precious thing to give a portion of that time, that slotted amount of life you will never get back, to someone in serving.

When you run or do some strenuous activity, you're generally worked up, sweating, tired but feeling good!! As I'm sure you all remember from your middle or high school biology class that the "feeling good" part after the workout comes from endorphins. The positive effect gives you a clear, upbeat mind and more energy.

On the ride home I was reminded out-of-the-blue of ''Greater love has no one than this, that he lays down his life for his friends." Well after an all day serving venture of cleaning for these beloved people, I left feeling a bit tired, but SO good. I had a light spirit and there was a bounce to my step! This did not come from pride, mind you... I think I can safely say that. But I felt Christ's words coming to life in my heart!

The Lord blessed me with ability to taste a small portion of that love, that joy He talks about in John 15:13.

I experienced Holy Endorphins. :-)

Belated Birthday Befuddlement!!

Ok. So I went into my beloved Vera Bradley

bag yesterday to get this sack of Sugar Free Life Savers that I had found in my bag a few weeks before. I noticed this bag of Life Savers in there like I said a while ago, but didn't really pick it up or give it a second thought... to be honest, my bag is pretty much everyone in my family's bag! If they dont want to hold something, I find it in there. :-P So I thought mom had purchased or got this bag of Life Savers somewhere and just tossed it in there. I forgot to mention it to her or anyone. So subconsciously I knew it was there---

But before art class yesterday I said to myself "Hey, let me go get those Life Savers and share them with the class while we paint!"

I picked it up and saw a mint fall out, but didn't pay any attention. I noticed in feeling the bag that there was something big and hard in it! That intrigued me so I ripped the bag from the top and then all the mints fell thru the bottom leaving it empty--- but not completely. :) I saw the corner of a black plastic thing! I pulled it out to see it was a $25 iTunes gift card that said "Happy Birthday" on it!!!!!!!

I. WAS. SHOCKED. When I thought about the falling mints I looked and saw that someone had slightly opened the bottom to shove the gift card in the bag...

I was in a tizzy allll yesterday and still today even! It's going to bug me... I am not good with surprises. I really am not! I'll try everything possible to find something out if I know for a fact that some one's keeping something from me! lol. Isn't that horrible? lol. It's a downfall of mine. But still, I'm not easily surprised... SO I seriously need to know who did this. If it's you, come clean right now. lol. I want to pay gratitude where gratitude is due-- I feel like I have unfinished business. I want to tell this person 'thank you' very sincerely because I appreciate it so very much.

Russian Nesting Dolls

Today I was apart of a an art class... but not just any art class, mind you. I was able, along with other students, try my hand for the first time at painting Russian Nesting Dolls! Of course you ALLLLLLL know what these are.. even if you are unsure of the name. Here's a picture, but they are not mine:

They are so cute, and I've always admired them as something very culturally unique-- truly beautiful pieces. WELL-- I was elated to find out from my friend that this is what we were to do today!

No, I'm not showing you mine. I'm sorry, but it's not completely finished. I want it varnished and everything--- the whole nine yards.

Here are some pictures from today:

Alex working on her doll-

Schuyler concentrated on his-


Me hunched greatly over mine...

Marina (our fabulous teacher) on the left with Polina, a sweet gal from Russia painting her large doll-

Today was SO much fun. We were on Four Tree Island under a pavilion-- it was a stunning day. Absolutely beautiful. We could have done away with a bit of the wind, but it's an island on the ocean, what can you expect? I brought a sweatshirt ;)

So my final masterpiece will present itself on here shortly.

...to be continued.

This Makes No Sense

I loathe running...

...well at least I thought I did!

I can maybe understand now when someone says they are on a "running high" or "active high". Johnny and I have been doing some xcountry style running thru the woods and I actually *cough* may... um... be liking it?? Shh! I didn't say that!

It's not that long of a trail and I feel bad for Johnny because we are going somewhat slow-- for his usual pace anyways---

Just my luck though to start liking something and then winter is going to set in. O well. Maybe by the time of the first snow, I will be devoted enough to get my body out of bed in the morning and run on the perfectly good treadmill we have downstairs. :-P

"Why Does the Moon Turn Orange Sometimes when it Rises?"

When I say that it reminds me of the movie "The Kid." Ever seen that? If not, it's a must. It's Bruce Willis at his BEST. I believe it's rated 'G' and by Disney. It's very near the top on my favorite flick list.

Last night however we were at the beach and saw the moon rise into the sky for the evening.. it was red and then got lighter as it ascended higher in the dark night sky.

I remember roughly how that happens from watching "The Kid" (who says you cant learn stuff from watching a movie??) but wanted to brush up on my facts. ;)
So I looked it up!
Here's what I found!

The Orange Moon

Have you ever wondered why the moon is more orange or yellow in color when it first rises at night? This effect is caused by the atmosphere of the earth. The reason for the orange color is due to the scattering of light by the atmosphere. When the moon is near the horizon, the moonlight must pass through much more atmosphere than when the moon is directly overhead. By the time the moonlight reaches your eyes, the blue, green, and purple pieces of visible light have been scattered away by air molecules. That's why you only see yellow, orange, or red.
The moon can have an orange color at any time of the year. Sometimes the moon appears orange even when it's directly overhead. This occurs when there's a lot of dust, smoke, or pollution in the atmosphere. The size of those particles will determine the type of color you will see.


Look first at the white moon directly overhead. See the red part of the arrow pointing to the white moon? This red part of the arrow shows the part of the atmosphere we are looking through to see the moon. Now look at the orange moon just rising in the east. Look at the blue portion of the arrow pointing to the orange moon. See how much longer the blue line is than the red line. This shows that we are looking through about three times as much atmosphere at a rising or setting moon.

...Just in case you were wondering...

Saturday @ the Farmer's Market

Today was SO fun at the Farmer's Market! It's called Gateway Farmer's Market-- It's right here in York. I love it because there are so many local businesses/farms and you get a real sense of community.

This is what I bought:

This Apricot-Peach tea from Portsmouth Tea Co. which I am currently sipping ice cold now! It's aaammaaaaazzzzinnnngggggg. I wish you could smell the sweetness of the peach and the robust apricot.

I also got one of my recent must-have-stand bys:

Hubba Hubba Foods 'Chow Bambino'

I've recently run into many recipes that need Italian bread crumbs and I've got plain on the shelf. SO. My brilliant mind remembered our large stash of Hubba Hubba products! It's been fantastic. Dad love their rub for steaks called 'Java Jerk'. He loves it so much that the owners dubbed him 'Java Steve'. lol.

Stevie of course had to get his favorite, well known cinnamon rolls from Borealis Breads from here in Wells, Maine:

Does look good huh?



Mom got some b-e-a-u-tiful flowers from a farm here locally. They just BEAM. I've never seen a flower like this!!!


The picture doesn't do it justice.

Then the last thing we bought was a loaf of bread from When Pigs Fly Bread Co. here in York.
It was GOOD. It was cranberry, brown sugar, pistachio, orange bread. In the words of Rachel Ray "YUM-O". :)

This Saturday has been pretty great!

Depressed. But We Did See a Purple Mushroom

So after a couple months of having my friend's amazing camera, we went outside to take some graduation pictures (which is why we borrowed it). But today's pictures came out HORRIBLE. Actually there isn't a word low enough to describe these.... much less how I feel at the moment. Depressed is an understatement.
When we actually have time to take pictures, it's overcast--- while hiking thru the woods it started to rain! That means mosquitoes are gonna come out and out they did. My legs and arms and face and neck and and and! are covered with itchy bites. Plus Johnny HAD to go to this certain spot and didn't tell me how far it was. So hiking is pretty much what we did and that irritated me greatly. Why? Because I had spent 15 minutes using a flat iron on my hair and then sweating like that defeated it completely.



The only thing remotely close to good that came out of today's time was we saw a cool mushroom. I've never seen a purple mushroom before today!















*sigh*
Today's been horrible. Despite the fact of my earlier attempts of trying to make it great---with the listing 3 great things.
I'm looking forward to Verlin's visit tonight-- that's at least something I can count on.

Today's 3 Things

I get these little magazines from the National Guard called 'Hooah' about every two months... interesting name huh? Still not sure exactly how to pronounce it. lol.
I've been getting hammered with stuff from The Guard over the last year... oh the joys of growing up. ;)



This magazine has some enjoyable articles in it! I really do like it. Last night I read one that said something about making your summer great--- one portion was on finding three things in a day that make it special. Chances are you wont have those three things together in a day again, because most of the time, that 24 hours is pretty unique. For me anyways.
Well I thought that I would list 3 things... however my day pretty much just started, so I'm not sure what good I can get from it--- Maybe I'll count on stuff that I know is planned and then it gives me something to look forward to. I'm that kind of person... it helps my attitude greatly if I have something to look forward to. Is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing? I'm not sure.

So todays 3 great tidbits are:

1.) Waking up this morning

2.) Having time to read

3.) Having a friend over for dinner!

Doesnt sound too bad to me! I think I'll start doing this.. though maybe at the end of the day as a reflection.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

I like this picture.

The amazing thing with dad is that he stays the same age as each birthday rolls around! Man, I hope that happens to me when I want it to. :-P

He's celebrating his 29th birthday for his 23rd time. :)

I love ya dad!

So it begins

Are you ready to see into the mind of Hannah? Becareful, it could be a scary journey. ;)

This is somewhere where I will place and post things that are completely random-- things that pop into my mind. I will post things I find hilarious, roll-on-the-ground funny or just plain ol' goofy!

Buckle your seat belts, it's going to be interesting! lol.