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.

One man's trash is another man's treasure!

A friend of my grandmother was getting rid of this chair. As gorgeous as it was I still chose to go ahead and re cover it. I used leftover fabric my Grandma bought me. I also used left over padding from my other grandmother's quilting days. So I call this The Grandma Chair!

This little guy came by to say hello while I was painting

Beautiful Feet

I would imagine after reading the title to this blog, and then seeing the image I am refering to, you probably think I need my eyes checked. Actually I have 20/20 vision!

Isaiah 52:7 says "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!"

The manly looking feet in the picture are my brother Seth's feet. He is currently in Africa bringing the goodnews to people who may have never heard if he hadn't chose to go. So yes, as crazy as it may be according to Isaiah 52:7 his feet are in fact BEAUTIFUL!

My makeup collection :)

My makeup collection :) by fashionably-pink featuring a bow brooch

Flower brooch
£2.40 - debenhams.com

Breagha bow brooch
£11 - hannahzakari.co.uk

Margit Brandt hair clip accessory
€12 - welikefashion.com

Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Original Foundation SPF 15 Medium One...
$25 - nordstrom.com

Bare Escentuals - Full Flawless Application Face Brush 1 pc
$38 - yesstyle.com

Buxom Lash Mascara Blackest Black
$19 - sephora.com

Bare Escentuals - i.d. Buxom Big and Healthy Lip Polish Destiny
$25 - yesstyle.com

Too Faced Shadow Insurance 0.35 oz
$18 - sephora.com

stila cosmetics - long wear liquid lip color
stilacosmetics.com

Bare Escentuals Max Coverage Concealer Brush
$25 - asos.com

These are all my favorites in my makeup bag! The items shown above are my go to everyday products that make me the woman I am :)

Nail Art

Megan and I decided to be adventuresome with our nails this evening...



We saw this video tutorial to for Marble Nail Art It looked crazy... so naturally we had to try! It was rather difficult to get started but a couple nails into it and I got the hang of it (The first picture is of my fail) Megan gave up after two nails... But I pressed through!!!

Now so you don't think I am jumping off the deep in... I realize these look like something Bon Qui Qui would wear. But I used muted colors and didn't use 10 inch long acrylics. So it ended up looking more eclectic than ghetto :)

Happy Bastille Day!

Hello... er.. I mean Bonjour!

So yesterday was Bastille day (Independence day for France)

I spent the evening with my beautiful friend @MostlyMegan, Her mother @CandisesCrew, and my mother! We ate at Café des Amis which is a French restaurant in Parkville. The food was so savory, the service was wonderful (and gorgeous). The owner and some of the employee's are from France so they speak to one another in French (So fun)! It is a two thumbs up!

Not Guilty?

I don't know about your circle of the world but everywhere I go Casey Anthony's trial seems to come up one way or another. The moment I heard she was not guilty I was upset. Everyone else I know who had been following the case was genuinely sick about the outcome. Today I heard one of my favorite songs its called Not Guilty By: Mandisa (Click to listen) No I don't mean to only blog about Mandisa's music but apparently I have brainstorms while jamming out. In the song one of my favorite lines says "Love paid the price for mercy, my verdict not guilty." This song always gives me goosebumps! My point is we have all gotten off the hook and God has shown us mercy. We deserve Hell but He choose to love us instead. Not that I change my views on the trail. But I feel a little closer to the seat of the murderer than the judge.
Just some thoughts
Night my dolls
Hannah

Beautiful & Belted

I am currently obsessed with my belt collection! Belting means more than a large woman at the opera singing a fabulously long and high note... it also is more than the object of punishment for children. Belts are used for necessity but I prefer to wear them for no purpose at all other than they're cute :) Some of my favorites have been the most inexpensive! Click the image below to shop at one of my favorite stores

Prince charming... you there?

Hello my Dolls! Do some of you ever have those days you swear you will be an old maid forever? You just know you are going to become a crazy cat lady (not that anything is wrong with crazy cat ladies... I happen to know and love many!) I definitely have those moments from time to time. I see my friends who are married, engaged, or having children already and I think God must have forgotten I want all those things. Not that I think by any means I could handle that responsibility right now, but just to point out those worrying thoughts do enter my head from time to time. Now I have never "dated" a guy or even had my first kiss. So it is very easy for me to begin to listen to the lies of Satan and hear "I'm not good enough, No one will ever find you attractive, or You are being way to high maintenance" While I know these things are just the great Deceiver trying to distract me from the goal, I can get caught up in his lies.
Tonight I was running listening to my Mandisa playlist when I had one of those spiritual lightbulb moments. (Which are wonderful, God keep those coming!) I was listening to: He Will Come By Mandisa (Click to listen) In the chorus the lyrics say, "But He loves you like His only son" and I it made me start thinking about my earthly Father's love for me. I know the man who raised me, David Mason can't wait for me to find the Prince Charming that God has prepared. But my dad has 4 other children to worry about. When I think of only children I often think about how much time and love is devoted just to them! Sometimes they can even be spoiled... to think that, THAT is the kind of love my Heavenly Father has for me is an absolute beautiful thought! Yes of course He wants me to be joyful and have everything I need, and He can't wait for that day when He can spiritually "walk me down the aisle." I just have to wait because His gifts and timing are always perfect! So before you start thinking of yourself as the wallflower for eternity... dance with God, and when its time He will let your prince step in!

Princess in training.
Hannah
Matthew 6:25

Sleepyhead

Hello Bloggers! Its been a while since I have blogged! I started college... and with college you lose... SLEEP! Lately I noticed how many photo's there are of me falling asleep with friends and family who decided to capture the funny moment. (lucky me) Well it made me think about how much our bodies need sleep, and how much I try to go without it! Did you know that teenagers need as much sleep as small children (about 10 hrs) while those over 65 need the least of all (about six hours). For the average adult aged 25-55, eight hours is considered optimal? I knew teenagers needed more, but I had no idea 65 and older only require 6 hours! Also did you know, a new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year? Reading fun facts about sleep I learned that the record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses.

How do you know if you are sleep deprived? Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you're sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you're still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.

Dressed for Success!

So as some of you may know, I recently went to a church camp! At this camp the common attire is T-shirt, Basketball shorts, and tennis shoes, and as most of you know... I don't dress like that. So I was wondering how to pack... I thought #1 dress like everyone else and feel weird, or #2 Dress like myself and get the stare down. So I thought I would ask my boss Jamie. She gave me GREAT advice! She told me "it takes the same amount of time to put on a skirt as it does to put on sweat pants." I believe we should dress to feel good about ourselves. Dressing comfy is good for now and then. But we should dress like Daughters of the King aka Princess'! So I encourage my followers to put a little extra effort in your outfit today! Stand Out! Look and feel Beautiful about yourself! How Beautiful and how delightful you are, My love, with all your charms! Song of Solomon 7:6

Happy Father's Day!

I am SO blessed to have such an amazing father in my life! He is everything I hope my future husband to be like. (Mom picked a good one) HAHA

So this year my poppa is on a mission trip so we had Father's Day dinner early. My little sister Essie wanted to make it for all of us! She made one of the most delicious meals I have ever had!!! SO YUMMO!!! We had Lemon seasoned salmon & shrimp, served over dirty rice and fresh mushrooms, a side of fresh asparagus, and home-made key lime pie!!! She set the table in our nice blue and white china w/gold chargers. But she was having a hard time making the pretty napkins. She had pulled up a website and was just frustrating herself. So I offered to help with that part. (which at first she told me no because SHE had to do everything ;) she gets a tad worried about these things) Anyways I started playing around and looking on this site when I found the PERFECT father's day napkins!!!

Click Here for Father's Day napkins

Click Here Father's day Napkins #2

Where have I been?!?!

Hello Followers!!!

I am sorry it has been so long since my last blog here are a few photo's of what I have been up to... :D
1. My brother got married last weekend!!!


2.I Graduated from High-school!!!


3. I took a trip to Arizona


4. I planned (with the help of @Mostly-Megan) our senior high-school prom

Home-Made Valentine Candy!!!

So a month ago when I thought of this, it seemed like a great idea! I thought I would make all my friends little candy bars, and individually wrap them! Making the Candy bars was fun~ wrapping all of them was a bit over the top ;) But totally worth it in the end!!!
~ I added up the price to make these, compared to the price of a store bought candy bar($1). It was 50 cents to make my home-made snickers!!! Even though I only saved 50 cents per bar, they tasted a lot better, and you know exactly what ingredients you are putting in your body ;) who really knows what they put in those things...

So here is my recipe for Snickers Bars (thanks for sharing it with me Kimmee!)

2 cups chocolate chips
1 ½ cup peanut butter(crunchy is the best)
½ cup butterscotch chips
1 cup sugar
1 cup marshmallow crème
1 cup peanuts
¼ cup butter or margarine
¼ cup milk
20 caramels (if you bought the pre-unwrapped caramel pebbles that Kraft is making now, I used the whole bag)
2 tablespoons hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bottom Layer: Melt 1 cup chocolate chips, ¼ cup peanut butter and ¼ cup butterscotch chips and spread in bottom of buttered 9x13 pan. Let cool.
Second Layer: Boil over about medium heat 1 cup sugar, ¼ cup butter, ¼ cup milk for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add ¼ peanut butter, 1 cup marshmallow crème and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour on bottom layer and sprinkle with peanuts.
Third Layer: Melt caramels with 2 tablespoons hot water. Drizzle over peanuts.
Top Layer: Melt 1 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup peanut butter, ¼ cup butterscotch chips and spread on top. Let cool and cut into squares.







Happy Valentines!!!
Hannah <3
P.S. We are having a Valentines *special* for the month of February it is completely free to follow my blog ;) haha act fast!!!