I'm not waiting...

Hello Pretties,

    This blog post I've been pondering and pondering and I think it's time I blog it! 

I visited my old college this week, which of course had me reminiscing old memories... I started thinking about lessons learned and all the "wish I had known that then" moments! One of the major lessons I had to learn for myself is in the category of relationships. Especially with younger siblings I want to share what God has shown me these last few years. Lesson #1 You can't push timing... You realize God knows who your mate is right now! God's in control and He hasn't overlooked your situation. Sometimes I am tempted to think "God must have forgotten about me while He was up there playing match maker!" This however, is not the case! Lesson #2 Rejection can be God's protection. Rejection can be a very humbling experience. While it doesn't feel good... like at all! It is God's redirection for you. Dating someone else (just for kicks) would just be giving pieces of your heart to someone else's husband. Lesson #3 You can't earn someone's attention. Taking extra time fixing your makeup, hair, or even what you wear, all in hopes of finally getting him to notice. It's a lost effort. I realize now how deceived I have been at times, spending all those hours trying to prove to a guy (And honestly, myself as well) that I am worth it. Worth his time and attention. I must have thought that God was just waiting for me to walk in wearing that new outfit... and THEN He would act out His great plan! Haha how silly does that sound?! I am thankful for my Savior's patience... because it takes a lot to put up with my shenanigans! I mostly write this as an encouragement to all my single lady frands!

"Young women of Jerusalem, swear to me that you will not awaken love or arouse love before its proper time!" -Song of Solomon 8:4 I haven't wore my purity ring in a while... not because I have given it away, or that I don't value that commitment anymore. But more because of the words written on it. "I'll wait" mmm :/  What do those words say about my contentment for God's plan? I don't even know that marriage is His plan for me. (Not that I will be upset if He indeed blesses me with a husband one day)  "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11 God's plan is the ultimate... There is no plan B, better option, or goal outside of His plan! I want to rid my mind of this idea that singleness is a waiting spot until I have earned the privilege of marriage. "God just wants me to be single so I can focus on Him, and THEN He'll give me what I really want!" Right?! Wrong!  "I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that." -1 Corinthians 7:7 In this passage Paul is talking about marriage, and singleness. (If you haven't read the whole passage I encourage you to) When he says "as I am" he is talking about his relationship status. (Which was single) If you notice at the end he refers to your relationship status as a gift! It is a gift to be single! And let me tell ya, the Lord has made me extremely gifted! ;) So yes, I will continue my commitment to sexual purity, but I am no longer "waiting" for something better to come along... Because my God who is King of the world is in control, and with that I can take a big sigh of relief!

DIY Heandbands

Maddison and I are at it again!

We made headbands tonight, so fast and fab!

Okay so you can do this with multiple colors and types of ribbons... You simply tie the ribbons to a regular hair tie and braid/twist. For mine I used a fringy black yarn, metallic leather, and white rope with silver beading <3

Enjoy my fashionista's

Hannah Ruth 

Valentine's Day

      I saw the Dove commercial for valentine chocolates. The commercial starts off by saying "this year I have more than one valentine." I began to think about all the valentines I have in my life. While this is my 20th consecutive year without a "boyfriend" valentine. Still, I have no lack in love by any means.

- Family: The older I get the more important they are. Nothing makes my day brighter than getting to talk to my family on the phone, via text, or even a simple e-mail. Having a large family makes more love to spread around!


- Friends: I adore every single one! When I shop I end up finding more things for my girlfriends than I do myself. Problem? I don't think so! Just so long as they remember me when the notice that Vera Bradley is having a sale! It's a win, win situation!


- Employers/Coworkers: Not too many people get to leave work in a better mood than when they walk in.  Not that I go into work as Ms. Grumpy Gills, but they just lift my spirits. I have been blessed with many opportunities of employment and many, many good memories from them all.


- Classmates: I have no doubt all of HCC alumni would agree the best part about going to school in Highland is the people! So many faces and names and I consider myself fortunate that I know so many of them!


- Christ: This year God has been opening my eyes and heart to so many new things. I am extremely excited to start a new chapter in my life this Fall (Maybe a future blog post to explain) 


So wether you are in a relationship and unhappy, or single and feeling bummed today. Here are a list of activities I shall be engaging in to celebrate this LOVEly holiday ;)


- Buy myself my favorite candy
- Take a bubble bath... and just be (no busy thoughts of to do's and deadlines)
- Put on my favorite fuzzy "Jamie Secret Garden" Jam Jam's 
- Curl up in my home made reupholstered chair That Blog Here
- And read a new book I bought myself this weekend


Have a splendid day remembering all the love around you <3 

Sewing Swag

 
            I always get way too many t-shirts. And you can only wear so many before it's like... bleh. So my friend Maddison and I decided to get crafty tonight!  We turned our t-shirts into tank tops! We cut off the sleeves and necks of the shirts, and threaded through some excess t-shirt material and Viola! A new tank top! The "how to" picture are pretty self explanatory. This was Maddison's first sewing project! So I took some "baby's first steps" pictures! She is such a good sport! 

Love to all my dolls,

Hannah 

Congrats Maddison on such a great first time success! 

"Contentment"

Contentment has been my word for the last semester. I really struggle with wanting everything in my way and timing. I want to graduate and transfer, every girl to like me and want to be my friend, and I want a relationship now! Well, God doesn't seem to be agreeing with me. Who does He think He is? I wasn't satisfied with where I was. Even though school has had its rough moments and has been more stressful than I ever expected. I realized there were good things coming from it. I have grown closer with my childhood friends. But not about the usual "What dress should I wear to the party?" kind of friendship. We were growing as spiritual sisters. Keeping one another accountable even though we were miles apart. Pushing each other to mature with the way we handle God, friends, and even enemies. I have some beautiful women in my life, not only physical beauty but their hearts and attitudes cause me to strive to become more like Christ. My parents have also been a huge help in keeping my heart in check while away at school. I single handedly keep Sprint financially afloat with my countless calls and texts to my family. My father gave me some wise words that finally made things "click". He told me "Hannah if I ran up to that stranger over there and asked them to be my friend and continually chased them around begging for their friendship they would be scared and run away, and they should!" What he meant was friends sometimes come and go, instead of being upset when they go and don't come back, focus on the friends who you have, and who appreciate your friendship as well! Sometimes the simple things are the hardest for me to finally understand. Good thing I serve a patient God! When it comes to contentment with being single this is a little harder for me to grasp. Every time I log on facebook it seems a new relationship has blossomed. I began to wonder why God was not letting me take part in this step in life. I had such a false view of dating and marriage. I remember being in youth group we wrote down where we saw our lives in 5 years after graduation and then 10 years. I thought I would be married by 21 and having babies at 25.... Here I am at 20 and I have not so much as held hands with a guy, and praying to God just to make sure the Big Guy hadn't fallen asleep on the job! Some of you may know I have recently been called to do missions for a year through a program called Fusion. I am beginning to see how God is giving me opportunities and ministries that I wouldn't be able to fulfill to the best of my ability if I was (for lack of a better word) distracted with a relationship. I know when God finally blesses me with the Man I am supposed to be with it will be a sweet time of thanksgiving. But for now I find the scripture Ecclesiastes 3:1 very encouraging. "There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven." God has me in a different time slot than my 8th grade mind thought I would be in at this stage. But I am now finding that I am okay and even joyful in it!

Super fast and easy curls!

If I know I will have a busy morning or my hair has been feeling dry, I like to curl it without using heat. This has been a total LIFE SAVER! Here is my before and after photo's from today. I also have the video that I learned from, just click HERE

Step:
1. Wash your hair and let air dry just a bit.
2. Put athletic band around your forehead
3. Begin grabbing pieces of hair and twisting them around the headband.
4. Sleep on it
5. Pull headband out and Voilà!!!

Following Feather Fad's

Hello Dolls :)

Unless you have been living in a cave you have been seeing women with feathers in their hair recently. Its become a huge trend. While I know its just a fad, I had to join in! My sister Esther and I found at the goodwill a tacky old indian dream catcher. We imediately saw the potential in this fun find! We removed the the feathers to put in our hair. Just as any normal person would do with their unwanted dream catchers. I received extra hair crimps that my hair dresser had. We put them in and with needle nose pliers clamped them in.
Dream Catcher w/ 4 feathers= $0.99
Hair Crimps = $0.00
For a grand total of .50 cents per hair extention!
Depending on how many feather you get at the salon this is priced around $12.00
I have had mine in for almost 2 weeks now and I love them. I can wash, curl, and straighten them.