My brother is a genius.

This just kinda made my day.

It's one of those days where what you really need is just a good laugh.



(thanks to Keilah for posting it on fb :)

The title is relevant to the post, I promise.

Okay, maybe not.

So, I'm sitting here, trying to think up of a witty way to start this post so that you'll read it.

Huh?

Oh come on, everyone knows that you'll only read blog posts with interesting titles and/or first 2.3 sentences.

Unless you're one of those madly devoted followers who clings to every word a person says like it was sent from heaven above.

But I don't think I have any followers like that.

(on that note, do we cling to God's words like they were sent from heaven above? cause you know, they kinda are.)

Anyhow. I've got this weird writing style stuck in my head because, guess what? I just read a blog with a similar writing style, and it got stuck in my head.

Yeah, I'm one of those people who feeds off of others creativity. Get over it, you know I have your attention now. (come on, you gotta admit it was pretty witty. I couldn't do it more than once though, darn this creativity thing.) (hence why the post is witty, and the title is dumb)

;)

But now that I've wasted a perfectly good 45 seconds of your life, I'll tell you why I'm blogging at 11pm at night.

I want to share with you Jon Acuff's blog. He's got two, actually.

I came across this post this evening, and wow...let me tell you that man can write some powerful stuff. (Go read it. Now. You can read the rest of this later. )

(aw, aren't you devoted! you're still reading!)

I've never heard of him before, aside from a hazy memory of picking up his book in the bookshop of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (wilst in Boston) and being mildly amused.

I haven't scoured his website or been a long time reader, but in only reading a few posts on his blog, it's evident that he loves the Lord.

The cool part is? He's human, just like you and me.

I feel like it's so rare to find blog authors who are bluntly honest. People put up so many masks in hopes that it will attract attention. (of course, they'd never say that, because you know...that'd be....honest.)

But lately, I just need to know that I'm not the only one. And even if he's famous, he's a sinner saved by grace...just like me.

Rest assured, this is not the last you'll hear of this blog on my blog. It's like hearing a good sermon, one that God wrote for you....so refreshing.

The thing is, I really really want you to go read his blog. No, I'm not advertising, the stuff on there is amazing.


Jesus Christ is the formula killer. He won’t behave according to our formulas. He won’t fit into our incredibly tiny expectations. He refuses to be controlled by our logic. {Jon Acuff}

Check it out, then tell me what you think.

Actually, no. If you checked out the blog, and you liked it, comment. Hopefully that won't scare you away from checking out the blog for fear of being guilted into commenting....rather it will enticingly woo you to type into the comment box....okay I'll stop now.

Oh, oh, oh!

[Sorry this is so incredibly late. I'm catching up, really. I wrote a majority of this right after Idaho but have just gotten around to posting it. Regionals post is coming soon.]

I had the most FABULOUS time at the Idaho tournament over March 18-20. The week preceding was filled with seehowmuchofyourspeechyoucancramintooneday! along with script submission forms, last minute duo changes, and more double stick tape and magnets than a sane person should be handling at one time.

After frantically scurrying around, trying to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything of significant importance, (mind you, this was the first time Raymond and I had gone anywhere without mom or dad. It took awhile to get out the door. =P) we all got in the car and drove to the M's house, since they were taking us. After mom and dad had left (and I had checked the car 3 times to make sure nothing of significance was left in there), we proceeded to spend the next 2 hours chasing angry chickens and running around their house, making sure we hadn't forgotten anything of significant importance.

And off we went!

Us Poor Washingtonians. So excited about a little bit of snow.

I love this picture.

We had way too much fun on this car trip.

Sarah, who I called "my monkey" for most of the trip, making her "Giant" face for her speech


I have officially adopted her as another of my little sisters.



Self Explanatory.

Sorry for the bad video quality....this was before I switched to using Raymond's camera. This was right about when we reached Spokane.

We were frantically trying to get Raymond's camera set up so we could film us actually crossing the boarder.

Okay, so maybe I was a *little* excited about getting to Idaho....
(Here you get to hear my "Idaho poem" which was composed specially for the tournament)

We arrived at the church,
survived script submissions and registration,
and then stopped at a Mexican restaurant for dinner with the M family, Mrs. M's brother's family, and Mrs. M's parents. Raymond and I were particularly amused by the "deep fried ice cream" on the dessert menu, which we all got to try in honor of Rebecca's birthday.

Rebecca, Sarah, and I all shared a room....and boy did we have good times.
This was actually our second night. The first night into the first day of the tournament was WAY to hectic to worry about taking pictures. =P

Sisters. =)

"Close your eyes and look like you're asleep!"

"AAAHHHH!!!!"

Bright and early the next morning, after frantic showers, inhaling our breakfast, last minute hair fixes, blazers, tie-malfunctions, and other such things as come with speech competitions, we all hurried out into a crisp, cool Idaho morning (translated as: FREEZING!) to drive to the church.

Just to illustrate how cold it was....




We found some of the most amusing things on the way...

Expensive energy drinks, no?

One LONG tournament day later...the mental-craze of the tournament is finally setting in as we marveled over this chicken like thing right outside the tournament...for which the video is unavailable. But know speech tournaments do weird things to your brain. (haven't I said this already?)

On the way home, we took the "Cliff Road", as Rebecca calls it, by Coeur d'Alene lake.

GORGEOUS.

For once I was satisfied with the results of my attempts-at-photography...

Sarah liked the hairpiece I used on day two, and she asked me to put it in her hair when we got home.

Little model <3

Next day...... Semis/Finals breaks. ...... AAAAAHHHHHH!!! This is where Hannah gets overly hyper and excited.Our duo (me and Raymond) broke to semis, but not to finals. My Dramatic Interp. broke to finals, as did my Illustrated Oratory.

Semis and finals have always been my favorite rounds (even though they are the most nerve racking)....I get the adrenaline rush and the energy high and run around frantically trying to find rooms, trying not to be nervous, watching some of the really good speeches, and enjoying myself immensely.

This is the kind of thing you do before you go into a round. Pace back and forth looking at patterns on the walls. =P
(actually, he wasn't waiting for a round. But he did find some kind of odd pattern)

Waiting for the awards ceremony with my friend Gabby...

Our duo placed 12th, my dramatic placed 6th, and my illustrated placed 3rd.

And little Miss Sarah competed in the Junior Tournament they held with "Jack and the Beanstalk" for her dramatic. She was the youngest competitor in the entire tournament and placed 3rd. I have never seen her so happy. :)

(she's the shortest one with the lovely green dress)
All in all, it was a lovely tournament and I had a fabulous time.

Even in Seattle

Guess what?

Umbrellas really DO go inside out with strong wind like they do in movies. I speak from experience.

Just thought you should know that.

Adventures at Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's has always amused me....oh, the things they come up with. I'm sure I haven't seen the best of them, seeing as we don't shop there very often. But mom came home today with Brownies with this name:



Alright, so perhaps not everyone finds them as amusing as I do. But I also must tell you the story of one of my experiences at Trader Joe's.

I'm sure they're quite used to the strangest people coming in there, being one of the stranger stores themselves (But oh, how I love those stores) So we probably weren't the worse case they've seen.....but nevertheless it was quite amusing and very fun.

So, I'm in the car with some friends of our family, who we will call Mr. & Mrs. H. - they're like my second grandparents and I absolutely love them. They were taking me to a flute performance. So we are dressed up. Note that it was a Jewish Hanukkah event I was playing at....and Mr. H was wearing a yamaka, one of those Jewish hats.

May I also remind you that I am part Asian.

So, we pass a Trader Joe's.

Mrs. H: Oh! We should go to Trader Joe's and get Hannah a tissue box!!!!

*I give a questioning look to Mrs. H, who is leaning eagerly towards the front seat to Mr. H, who is driving.*

Mr. H: Oh! Yeah, we need to get her one!

*I smile and nod....*

(this is all on the spur of the moment)

Mrs. H: (rather excitedly) See, there are these tissue boxes, and they are the funniest thing, because instead of normal designs on them, they have writing!

*I smile, nod, and think to myself that I am sure I have seen tissue boxes with writing on them somewhere before, but didn't know why they were so special.*

We park, pile out of the car, and enter the store. We don't want to be late for the flute performance, so we're jogging a bit.

In our black skirts and white shirts. And yamakas.

We run around for a bit, and then find the tissue boxes....which turn out to be much more amusing than I had expected. And very fitting that this family would enjoy them. =]

(click to enlarge)







Aren't they awesome? I love how the pictures are so old fashioned. It's quite a creative idea.

So, I am amused, and they proceed to buy one for me. Then they decide they want to buy about 7 more for some more of their friends.

So I'm running around in my performance clothes with Mr. H with his yamaka, Mrs. H, who is about 2 inches shorter than me, and about 5 or 6 tissue boxes piled in my arms.

Then Mr. H decides he wants to get my family some jam.

Mr. H: You must try some of this jam, we have about 3 jars at home, and it is delicious.

*We wander for a few minutes*

Me: (through the armload of tissue boxes) Mr. H, it's alright, you don't have to worry about the jam...

*No reply from Mr. H, who is searching the shelves.....*

Me: Mrs. H, would you like me to get a basket? (we now have tissue boxes, nuts, and one or two other things)

Mrs. H: Oh, sure, that'd be great....

*I hurry to a basket (tissue boxes and all) and am all the while thinking Oh, I love my life...and all the people in it.*

We can't seem to find the jam, so we run up to the store clerk, who couldn't quite figure out what we were talking about, (I mean...yamaka, tissue boxes, and all...) to ask for the jam. So, he sent us to the refrigerated department, where we found other kinds of fruit spreads, but no jam.

(mind you, this is a special kind of jam we're looking for)

After asking around a few more times, we locate the jam.

Checkout:

Mrs. H: (after piling the 6 or so boxes onto the counter along with the jam and a few other things) Don't you just love those tissues boxes?

Checkout boy: Yeah, aren't they great?

Mrs. H: We don't need the tissues....we just buy them for the box!

*Checkout boy smiles, obviously amused*

We run out to the car, get in, (yamaka, jam, tissue boxes, and all) and make it to my flute performance early.

I love my life. And my "grandparents". And being weird in grocery stores. =]

Boredom + Lego Men + Marble Balls = Epicness

So, we had some friends over the other day...and my friend and I, in interest of preserving our sanity from the clutches of boredom and our younger siblings' time-wasting, pointless computer games, decided to be destructive and bomb 40 innocent lego men.......throw into the picture that your brother is a pro at video editing, and this is what you get.

Speech Stories #1

Last night was the registration/social/pre-tourney event.

Imagine lots of speech-debate kids running around with beans, cake, and dragging each other across a circle while talking, eating, and getting nervous for a qualifying tournament the next day.

Imagine a friend and I, walking out in the dark, bitter, windy night to find our mothers....

And all of a sudden the bush next to you begins to shake violently and from it comes the most horrible wailing sound.

(okay, I'm being a bit over dramatic here, but you'll have to forgive me, I've been at a tournament all day)

Anyway. You know me. I'm jumpy, blonde-ish, and rather gullible. But the first thought that came to my mind was "these are speech people. there is nothing odd about shaking, wailing bushes!" and I went about my way. (in case you are wondering, there was a kid back there. It was hilarious.)

More speech stories to come. If you think of it, please keep everyone in your prayers! Another long day ahead of us!

AAAAHHHH!!!!!

Remember this post? Guess what??? BREAD comes in purple too!!!!

I was at the Chinese mall the other day, doing some shopping with my mom. And we passed the bakery. And as we were looking at cakes for my dad, this glint of purple caught my eye. So of course I had to run over to see what it was.

and LO and BEHOLD, it was purple bread!! Made my day. So I showed it to mom, who explained what made it purple (yams, I think. There's also this yummy stuff called taro in it) and proceeded to get it for me. (*squee!*)

I brought it home, gave it a parade around the house to show my family my find, took a few pictures for the purposes of sharing this new delight with my blog readers, and tasted it!

It is... (wait for it)

DELICIOUS! I absolutley loved it. It's sweet-ish, but not like cinnamon sweet or anything. I really could eat it almost all the time. It tastes good plain or toasted. It especially tastes good toasted just slightly brown with lots of butter.

Did you know that toasting purple bread makes it brown? You would hope that such a phenomenal occurrence would turn...blue or something when you toast it. :P But no, it turns brown. Which is to be expected, because it IS just bread, after all.

Still, it's unusual bread, and it's PURPLE, which is just fantabulous. And I get to use my purpleness tag. :P

Sadly, I was unable to get a fabulous, prize-winning, stunning photo...but here is a picture, nevertheless, and just look at that glorious purple...

Christmas things...

One of my favorite things about Christmas is church. I especially am beginning to love advent - the candle lighting, stories, and all. Our family has been reading "Jotham's Journey", which is an advent story, and I LOVE it. It's so well written and sometimes we purposely skip a day so we can read two the next day because we can't stand the cliffhangers! =P

Last week we sang "Zither Carol" at church. I LOVE this song. I think the congregation really enjoyed it too.

This week our handbell choir played background music. I absolutely LOVE handbell choir. It's so much fun!!

I love this picture. These are the biggest bells, which Raymond and Jared got to play. The smallest ones are about half the size of your hand. [whereas these are about what, twice the size of your head?? =P]

Our little flute trio! I absolutely love our flute group. It makes me happy. =)

Katy and I just learned 4-in-hand about 2 weeks ago. 4-in-hand is where you have two bells in each hand [as opposed to one] and it's really tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, you feel reeeally smart. :P We had a lot of fun playing and learning together as you can probably see....

Geneva Hall was decorated beautifully - all the trains everywhere and trees and decorations. I loved it.
The train tree

For at least this year, my favorite part about Christmas is definitely church. All the special music, decorations, candles, advent...I love it. =)

I'm bored. And *slightly* hyper.

So! I'm going to make a random post. Because I'm bored and feeling random. And childish and immature. And I will probably look back at this post and be all like, "wow, was I dumb", because I'm not really thinking properly about how my sentences are worded....[see? that didn't even sound right..]

Heeheehee...oh, the joys of being random and hyper. But, there is some cause for my joys, as you shall soon see in the sentences that follow....[boy that sounded lame...]

1) My big sister is coming home for Christmas! In 8 days!! And just in case you're thinking "what in the world?? Hannah doesn't have a big sister", it's true, I do. But she adopted me, and we're not biological sisters. But we're sisters. =)

2)We started a flute group at church. I'm loving it. Immensely. I haven't played with a group of people just for fun in a long time and it felt really good. Plus I got to sing for the first time with the choir, and that was loads of fun.

3) Christmas time is always happy....

4) Did I mention my big sister is coming home for Christmas?

5) It's sunny out. I'm quite happy. And as cold as it is, I really like it. And I think so long as it stays sunny, I shall be positive about the lack of snow. However, if it decides to rain and stay this cold, I might have reason to complain. But So Far, it's sunny, so I'm happy.

6) I had hot chocolate this morning. and it was warm. Oh, and there was a gigantic vanilla bean marshmallow that I had with it. It was lovely.

7) I forgot to tell you that my sister is coming home for Christmas! =P

Love,
Hannah

PS if you're wondering why this post is tagged "purpleness" it's because I really wanted to use the tag, and because this post is random, I saw it a useful place to use it. :P

PPS please tell me if I made a really embarrassing typo and didn't notice it. [I tend to not notice things when I'm hyper] And please comment, because I love comments. =P

Who would've thunk??

Cauliflower comes in PURPLE!! I was elated!!! [my new word] Mom made some for dinner last night. And while it wasn't the best thing I've ever tasted, I certainly liked it more normal white cauliflower.



PS - for those of you who didn't get my facebook message, I'm taking a week off facebook and gmail - but not my blog and email, so you can always contact me there. :)
PPS - isn't that purple cauliflower just too amazing for words?????? I love it. =P