Music of the week month summer {brave}

So, everyone sings about touching the sky.

Like. Everyone. Go ahead. Google "touch the sky" and "lyrics." If you make it through the second page there are at least 6 different artists with that as their song title.

Despite the cliche, banal (I just learned that word today. SAT studying for the win! not.) use of the title, this post is my shameless promotion of my undying love for the BRAVE soundtrack and its opening song.

As of yet, (the movie came out in June) I have not yet tired of listening to this music. At all.

Just...listen to this song...and let your spirit dance a little with joy.



"Touch the Sky" is probably in close running with "Learn Me Right."



We will run and scream
You will dance with me
We'll fulfill our dreams and we'll be free

Yes, it's gorgeous. And there are bagpipes.

Go outside. Blast this song out your windows. Spin in the sunshine. Climb a pine tree. Delight in the sheer beauty that surrounds you.

PS - if you haven't seen the movie Brave, you need to. There is no question. It is better than Dawn Treader (the movie) and that says something important.

Speech & Debate: my 3 year summary.

This year has concluded my final year of speech & debate. While I wasn't able to go to nationals this year, my brother, as you've probably heard, took FIRST place at Nationals. :)

You'd think that as a speaker/debater, I'd be able to come up with the words for this post -- but this post has been in-draft for weeks while I tried to think of how I wanted to put things.

Out of all the things I've learned in debate, one of the biggest things I've taken away is that it's okay to be speechless.

Yes.

Good speakers are good listeners, just like good writers are good readers, and good artists are good observers.

But even more than that, becoming a good speaker is not knowing how you want to communicate, but what you want to communicate. And more often than not, it takes a couple speechless, red-in-the-face moments in front of a crowd of people for me to realize what my message really is, and why I'm doing this in the first place. We have to be vulnerable before we can be strong.

It's the grueling pain of experience that makes your message powerful and passionate.

You see...you really have almost no control over your own coherency during a speech & debate tournament. At least, I don't. I don't know about other people. But sometimes I have great rounds and sometimes I have terrible rounds and while it sometimes may or may not have a relation to the amount of caffeine I've ingested, there really is no way to have complete control over the outcome.

Sometimes, I draw a totally ridiculous topic in impromptu, sit there dumbly for my entire prep time, and then get up and give a brilliant speech. Sometimes I draw a great quote but stumble over every other word. Sometimes I've got an ingeniously crafted response to my opponent's argument, and I still lose. Other times I win even though I made clear contradictions in my cases.

I've come to realize that you can't decide what the outcome is going to be. You can't choose how things will turn out and no matter how good you are, it doesn't mean you'll always do well.

Sure, there's a lot of style, talent, and personal love for it that goes into public speaking, but those are not the things that make you a good communicator.

What makes you a good speaker is your passion for your message that you are sharing.

Communicating is not about getting other people to do things, or trying to make them understand you, and it's certainly not about winning a medal. It is not about proving to others you are more right than someone else,

Communicating is about sharing what you love with those around you. It's about taking that passion that you have and allowing it to run wildly into the lives of others so that they can experience the same delight that you have.

Communicating is about letting your message be your energy, when you have none. About letting what you have to say be the thing that drives you even when you think you can't keep going. And you don't need things to be just so in order to share it, either.

I had a persuasive round this year that was absolutely horrible. I forgot a line said something dumb like "oops I'm sorry, I lost my place...>AWKWARD PAUSE< and stumbled over my words. It was semi-finals.

But what I've learned is that God doesn't need me to be up to my standards of perfection in order to share His message.

In fact he even says, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weaknesses.

I'm not really sure how God's perfect strength could be "made perfect" through the weakness of a fallen, despicable human being -- but what I think this verse means is that this great, beautiful, mighty God can somehow work wonders through our shameful, awful weaknesses.

It's that moment you have...in a speech round, as you are reciting the speech you've practiced over and over again when suddenly, nothing in that moment is more important than your judge understanding and taking to heart what you have to say.

Through speech & debate I have learned the importance of hard work, the value of a small amount of time, and the precious closeness of some of my dearest friends. I have laughed, cried, sweated, and yes, literally bled. I have over 15 trophies and medals, at least a foot's height of judge's ballots, and am skilled in the art of packing for a 3-day tournament in under 2 hours.

In 20 years though, my guess is those trophies will be in a box somewhere. They won't last, but what will are the messages and truths I have learned.

There are many chapters of my life which I am not ready to close. Many which I have clung to desperately as if my identity depended on them, things I could not let go for fear that without it I might not know who I was.

But this time I okay with the ending, because I know that the experiences I have gained will go with me from years to come. I have taken something powerful from this.

It may have been my last year of speech, but my life as a communicator does not end there -- the end of this chapter is just the beginning of a new one. I'm off, I'm running, arms open to the experiences and adventures ahead.

Music of the week {Lindsey Stirling}

Oh man I love this girl's music.

Lindsey Stirling is, to put it quite lightly, an absolutely amazing violinist. I love the passion and joy that radiates from her face, and that she's taken an instrument everyone plays and is doing something new and amazing with it.

Let's start out with the most epic one....



Next, I think this one is definitely my favorite. "Transcend" is one of my favorite words, and I love love love the message behind this song. Watch the behind the scenes afterwards -- she has some really good things to say.



Lastly, this one makes me want to run off and live in New Zealand and learn to sail a boat and climb trees and dance in a field of wildflowers and spin and spin and soak up the fresh, glorious, beautiful air and love and play music and shout to the whole world how beautiful life is.



Check out more of her amazing videos HERE. Ahhhh! Makes me want to play violin.

Adventures in babysitting.

Here are some of the [somewhat paraphrased, due to memory shortages...which are a result of aforementioned babysitting adventures] cute things that happened last night wilst babysitting.

Ruby [age 3]: My daddy turns 17 tomorrow.
Me: Oh really now?
Ruby: Yeah.
Me: I don't think so...
Ruby: Oh maybe it's 13.

Ruby: I'm a mouse!
Me: What's your name, mouse?
Ruby: Cheese puff.

[Note: due to the fact that bacon is not a frequently consumed item in our house, I have never cooked it. The following is my attempt to do so.]
Me: Aaron, does this bacon look like the bacon you normally have?
Aaron: Um...no.
>tastes bacon<
Aaron: But it tastes good!
Me: Okay...
Aaron: I like it. Hannah-style bacon.
(I now smell like bacon...from the funny cross between microwaving and pan-frying the bacon...several times in succession to make sure it was done.)

Me: Okay who wants maple syrup on their french toast?
Jonah: No no no!! We have to put butter on and cut it first!
Me: oh. Alright. >obliges<
Ruby: Can you pour me a puddle to dip in?

>minutes later, I've forgotten and have poured syrup on my own toast without cutting it<
Ruby: You didn't cut it!
Me: uhh...oops! haha. Um...well I'll just cut it now.
>later, after seconds have been passed around<
Me: Okay Ruby, let me cut yours for you.
Ruby: No! maple syrup first.

Jonah: I'm a TROLL!
Me: Well I'm a t-rex and I'm going to eat you!
Jonah: No! a t-rex doesn't eat trolls.
Me: Well how about a dragon?
Jonah: No, they don't eat trolls either.
Me: What eats trolls?
Jonah: Nothing.

Ruby: Canaan doesn't like me.
Me: Who's Canaan?
Ruby: this friend he doesn't like to play with me.
Me: Ooh. Well, even if he doesn't like you, Jesus likes you. And he likes Canaan, too.
Ruby: Did Jesus die for Canaan too?
Me: He sure did. Because he loves Canaan, he loves Jonah, and Aaron, and mommy and daddy, and he loves Ruby!
Ruby: And he loves you, too, Hannah Dokupil.

I just have to say....

Okay, so everyone everywhere who lives within like a 50 mile radius of me has probably posted about the weather in some way.

BUT THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S GLORIOUS!!!!!

I don't care how many adults or grown-up children there are who hate the snow, I will shamelessly continue my love for it. I refuse to let my sheer delight for tiny white flakes die.

I will dance in the snow, even if it means my boots get soaked through....

I will make snow angels and sled and have snowball fights till I'm freezing...

I'm going to build a snowman, I'm going to run up and down hills and delight in it like a child.



Also add to that that there's NO SCHOOL TODAY?! Yes I am happy.

"Remember, no man is a failure who has friends."

Nothing to cheer your day up like a good 'ol reminder of what you've got.

It is a wonderful life.



I love this movie.