Summer fill-ins

Currently reading: The Hunger Games (well just finished all three and must say they are the best books I have ever read- can't wait for the first movie in March!)

Currently listening to: Matt Kearny's album - check up on it

Currently digging: Pintrest recipies

here are a couple I have already tried and love:

Spinach and Feta Quesadillas

Mozzarella, Tomato, and Avacado salad

Looking forward to:

Fox's new show, NEW GIRL

ahh, what to blog about when you have neglected to blog all summer...

Perhaps an overview of the past few months, the painless and concise version of course.

A return home from Australia came with minor doses of reverse culture shock and a communicable diseases.

I felt strange being able to drive a car wherever I wanted and driving on the other side of the road at that; Somewhere decided what a waste bottled water was; Started making my bed (thanks mama Marina); Realized how fortunate I am to have a dryer; and started missing some amazing people in the land of Oz (and 20 beauties from the states).

I began working at Allisonville Meadows in July. There, I was helping create and lead activities for dementia residents in the nursing home. After a couple of weeks, the Mono hit. Eight needle stabs and two yellow eyes later, I was diagnosed with Jaundice and had to stay home for several weeks. This was not a pleasant experience, but I was so very thankful to have a wonderful Great Aunt Sue and mother dearest to take care of me.

I spent the weeknights in Westfield with Aunt Sue and weekends in Marion. In the course of the summer all three of us in Aunt Sue's house were in some sort of indisposition. I got the mono, Blue (the dog) nearly lost his life in a high speed rabbit chase across the highway, and Aunt Sue seemed to develop some sort of leprosy. Thankfully, we all survived and only Blue still saunters in a state of disarray with metal rods in his hips and a slight drunken walk. I must say I went out of Aunt Sue's house with a bang....literally. After barely missing my car in the driveway all summer, Aunt Sue finally plowed into it last night. We had a good laugh and sat in lawn chairs while waiting for the police to arrive at 11 PM for an accident report. I won't be parking in the driveway anymore when I visit...

Today was my last day at Allisonville and I must say it was tough leaving those oldies that I have grown so fond of. Working with dementia patients can get quite stressful and often disheartening, but I found myself among some of the sweetest people who make God's love radiate in the darkness of a discouraging illness. Being able to help them remember the good times of their lives makes living mine at this age feel like an immense blessing that I know I do not deserve.

And it is indeed a blessing....I am headed to Anna Maria Island with some of my favorite women this weekend and tonight a little end of the summer celebration with friends at The Jazz Kitchen in Indy.

I hope to be back writing more regularly!

Thanks for reading friends,

Hannah

ps: after a 10 year battle, I stopped biting my nails.... incase you wanted to know

Al

My dearest friend Allison Dowell is to be married to Jordan Shepherd come this weekend and I must say I value both of their friendships so very much. I have been preparing to give a toast to them and have had plenty of time to reminisce about all the good times together and I look forward to many more. According to facebook, Alli and I have 111 photos together, I think that probably says something about our friendship.

I love you Al, and I am so so happy for you and Jord. You have such a beautiful heart and I count myself a very blessed person to have you in my life.

some clips from dance this semester

the first clip is from hip hop class which was a total joke- since no one had hip hop background (all americans)

The rest of the clips are from my technique classes with Aussies who are in the dance courses. We made this video for our American class to see what we did all semester. Apologies for the crappy video quality.

farewell Oz

Four months ago I flew to a country I knew nothing about and was somewhere close to being very alone.
Two days ago I flew home with 25 American friends who I practically call my family.

I cannot put into words all of the things I learned while being in Australia this year, but I can tell you it changed my life for good. Every mountain and valley brought me to a better understanding of myself and who I want tobecome. I had so many amazing adventures and met so many incredible people from all over the world. Australia is full of beautiful souls with beautiful stories, I am so blessed to have shared in a small portion of that this semester.
Instead of writing out a long entry of what I learned (you are more than welcome to ask!), I am going to sum it up by telling you just a few of the amazing things God allowed me to do this semester:

-Was in a live audience for 2 national TV shows (XFacotor, Australias Got Talent) and received 5 seconds of fame on national television (also was 10 feet away from Scary Spice!)

-danced with world renowned choreographers four days a week for 4 months

-dove in the Great Barrier Reef with some of the most beautiful creatures known to mankind

- Shared lives and stories with natives from Slovenia, Egypt, Italy, Ireland, India, Norway, and Australia

- Walked the Harbor Bridge and watched the Sydney Opera House dance with colors

- Watched a State of Origins game in the Anglican Archbishop's Castle

-Slept under the stars in the outback

- got to lead and hang out with Australian teens for a week (and watched some turn their lives to Christ :)

- had the privilege of living and learning with a Maori tribe in New Zealand

- Bungy Jumped off the Auckland Habour Bridge in NZ

Petted a kangaroo, ate Vegemite, lived with Greeks, mastered public transport, threw a boomerang, played a digeredoo, sand surfed, parasailed, went to Luna Park, chilled at awesome beaches, danced the night away, met Australian senator, put up with dirt coffee, learned to appreciate a dryer, gained 10 pounds, ate too much Nutella

she wore slippers for a year

Next week will mark my last week of classes here at Wesley Institute.

How did we get here already?

Just yesterday it seemed I was pulling off links on a paper chain to mark the start of this trip, and now I am anticipating its last days. Well, at some moments I am.

I am beginning to see time slowing down in front of me, as if I need to capture some last moments and memories for the sake of recollection in my homecoming. I thank God he is making (most of) these moments precious ones- I would like to share one with you.

During my time in Australia I have been volunteering at Saint Mary’s Parish at their nursing home. I lead my last exercise class there yesterday; I will miss teaching and telling stories and pretending to row a boat across the pacific…

After exercise yesterday, I was in charge of getting some information for records purposes from a resident by the name of Karla. Karla, like many of the residents from other countries, speaks very broken English. At first she didn’t seem comfortable telling me her family history, and when I asked her what her life was like in Slovenia she said, “the past is a horrible thing that I wish not to talk about”.

Eventually when we got on the subject of her only child, Steven, Karla began to let little bits of her story seep through her information giving. Karla escaped from Slovenia with her husband in 1951. She came here to Australia knowing no English, and she was given a job at a hotel where she was told to just remember two words: “coffee” and “tea”. Times were very difficult in her transition to a foreign land, she tells me there was no where to buy shoes and she resorted to wearing slippers for a year. She would often feel so overwhelmed by the disconnectedness that she would just break down in sobs while in public. “But the people here, they wanted to help me learn, and they were so patient,” she said.

You see although she felt completely alone in a country where she could not speak the language or afford to live really at all, she came from a place where warfare ran rampant. Slovenia borders Italy on the west, Croatia on the south, Hungary on the northeast, and Austria on the north. During WWII, Slovenaia was occupied and annexed by ALL of the bordering countries. Karla did not wish to speak of the hard times, but at one moment she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “We would run….we would have to … in order to hide in the forest to stay away from danger. Days would go by of hundreds of corpses just scattered on the streets.” More than 63,000 Slovenes we taken to Nazi concentration camps because German rule got the northern and eastern parts of Slovenia where Karla lived.

14,000 people were killed immediately at the end of the war.

Karla still faces many wars internally. She told me how much it pains her not to see her grandchildren, and pains her more that they don’t visit simply because they don’t care to. She told me how her son has taken advantage of her and she has only raised him on love and generosity- and now that he husband has died, she feels she is fighting alone. I asked her if she prayed for her son. “What does prayer do anymore? Nothing changes.” My heart broke for her. I told her about the importance of faith and I told her that God’s love is unending and he longs for us to talk to him. Even though she seemed to have lost her faith in God a long time ago, Karla broke down when I told her I am going to make it a priority to pray for her. I knew that she knew God was ultimately in loving control of her life. I reached for her hand and we just sat for a few silent moments crying together.

I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to listen to Karla yesterday, and although I may have brought up some painful things, I think it was a time of growth and encouragement for both of us.

I hate that loneliness has to penetrate lives, but I love that we are not alone in our loneliness and pain. Don’t lose the fight, the one who loves you most will sustain you.

I’ve always loved this song, and it is pretty relevant to this story… thank you Sarah Groves and good music for relating to us when we need it most :)

"What Do I Know?" (click title to listen)

Great Barrier Reef

I should be working on one of three papers I have due in the next week, but for my mother's sanity (love her heart) I am updating my blog :)

This weekend I traveled to the Great Barrier reef with 9 other Americans from my program. Our flight was due out at 6 am and public transport does not run in the wee hours of the morning, so we got the bright idea to sleep in the airport. Well, when we got there at 11 pm, we were promptly kicked out because apparently airports close at night in Australia. To Maccas (Aussie name for McDonalds) we went! ...and spent 5 hours waiting there

Once we arrived in Cairns (3 hour flight), Becca Aubrey and I went to find our hotel. Big shout out to Penny and Gary Towler for the hotel, it was a fabulous sleep our first night :)

On Saturday we all boarded our boat for the reef. There were roughly 100 on our boat for the day. We made stops at two different reefs. I signed up for an introductory scuba dive where you go down linking arms with 4 other people and an instructor. The three other people in my group weren't feeling so comfortable with going down, so I got my own little private tour with the guide and I absolutely loved it. I got to swim around on my own and touch clams and coral, and I even found Nemo :) I did lots of snorkeling too- thanks to my roomie's awesome camera, I got lots of pictures of the reef.

We flew home Sunday morning so that we could get back for classes on Monday. I wish I could be back in Cairns, it is a great place and a phenomenal little holiday spent with friends :)

So it is about 55 degrees here and I feel like I am dying of cold. Sadly Sydney has spoiled me into thinking it can be warm all the time. I am wishing I brought warmer clothes right about now. Becca and I do our best to keep warm (and well fed) by eating lots of Nutella and leaving our layers of dance attire on until the morning.

The adventures are still going strong here in the Land Down Under- I do miss home for all new reasons each day. Today it is mostly for mom's cooking and a warm house to come home to. Some days I am ready and other days I think it will be pretty tough to leave this place... I have six weeks left to enjoy it!

Study Camp or vacation with the family?

A handful of high school students chose camp, where they spend eight hours a day in a gymnasium…studying. Students in Australia must take a test at the end of their 12th year in high school, similar to the United Sate’s SAT or ACT. The test is called the High School Certificate, which is comprised of roughly 10 tests, one in each subject that the student has taken. Depending on the student’s score (out of 100), the student can test into pursuing a certain degree at university.This week I had the privilege of leading a group of 100 twelfth graders at what is known as a Study Camp, led by Crusader Union Camps of Australia. The camp lasts one week and the camp guarantees parents that their student will have a total of eight hours of study each of those days. What I find even stranger than 100 students choosing to come to a camp to study, is having 80% of them coming to a Christian affiliated camp as Atheists. Yes, the gospel is preached each day and the students knew they were required to attend when they signed up for this endeavor.

While helping lead this camp, which was part of a Wesley class by the way, I was stretched in my faith in ways I never thought I was capable of. I sat in discussion groups where seventeen year-olds were not afraid to tell me they thought Christianity was a hoax. I stayed up until late hours of the night explaining why I believe what I believe to girls who have all they ever wanted in life. As I had these eye-opening debates and talks, I realized this is so rare in the states. I cannot think of a single time where I lead a retreat or mission trip where I was patronized for my faith, and here I am being questioned by someone four years younger than me. It breaks my heart to see such apathetic hearts, but I rejoice in the Lord for giving me the opportunity to share my faith with such a group as this… a very intelligent and talented group at that.

On top of all of this, I gained friendships with leaders that I wish could last forever. These people are awesome. In between all of the studying and activities, I even got to drive a car! Videos to come when I have better internet.

these are some lovely campers that stayed in my cabin

this is Kat, she was a leader at camp- she has a great singing voice, a sweetheart of a guy, and she was a blast to hang out with :)

Australian Food

So here is my best interpretation of Australian food thus far and my experience in purchasing food in the expensive city of Sydney.

Because Australia is so diverse, their food follows suit. Also, because the food is so expensive, I attempt to eat out as little as possible. However, there are some days that Becca and I feel the need to "forget" to pack our lunch and grab food near campus. Most days I pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (sometimes we are lucky enough to find lunch meat in the fridge). If we don't eat Marina's dinner the night before, we take it with us to school the next day. Next, I will show you our most memorable packed lunch. This was the result of not eating leftovers for several days in a row:



Marina is a hoot, she doesn't care how old the stuffed pepper or instant mashed potatoes are, if they are left over, they are officially our dinner. We don't get the fresh cooked dinner if we still have leftovers with our name on them (literal sticky notes with our names on them). Dinners have the potential to be great some nights, but not always :)

When we don't eat at home, we go to either the Thai restaurant close to school or Lashings, a great burger joint. In Australia, $10 is quite typical for a lunch. I don't think I have paid any cheaper than that since I have been here....except for at McDonalds. Oh goodness, I thought I would never eat a meal there again, but there is just something glorious about paying $5 for a meal, no matter how unhealthy is is for me (definitely did not have this mindset a month ago). There is one item at McDonalds that is cheaper in Australia than it is in the states and that is their ice cream cones- only 50 cents here!

There aren't many sweets at home, thus my new addiction to Nutella. There is also a delicious pastry shop we like to go to in Burwood called Bread Top. They have a huge assortment of the freshest baked breads, all loaded with sugar and calories. My favorites are the ham and cheese danish and the pineapple coconut pastry.

So I was pretty excited when told Australia has great coffee. The things is, drip coffee is nonexistent- and coffee shop coffee is unflavored, strangely named, and costs $4 for a small. I drink instant coffee in the morning, and am purchasing a french press very soon- for I do miss my classic coffee. Oh! couldn't forget to inform you that coffee creamer doesn't exist here either...such a bummer.

Well I am a wee bit late to updating here. Sincere apologies for my failure to update all three of you on my life in Australia.

I have been keeping extremely busy with classes all while trying to recollect funny and memorable experiences. Hopefully is blog of photos can fill you in with a better understanding of all that I am getting to live through in Sydney.

With dancing 9 hours a week, I find little time to do extra activities. I am really enjoying dance classes though and already feel I have learned so much. I thought ballet would be the most difficult class for me, but contemporary has presented a few challenges as well... mostly massive bruises on my hips, knees, and shoulders (photos to come).

I recently added a photography class as well, should be quite a challenge with my point and shoot camera- should have taken yours, dad!

My two cultural classes have been more interesting than I expected. We mostly visit museums on Friday outings, but we also have had some interesting readings and discussions in class. Australia seems very westernized on the outside, but it is full of narratives and varying ways of life that no one on the exterior even thinks about. Yesterday we had a panel of teachers at Wesley tell us about their country. It was really interesting to hear about the irony of a country being so insecure, yet so tough- all while maintaining the sarcastic demeanor they are so well known for.

While dancing here at Wesley,I met a great new friend, Jessica. We stayed at her house this weekend near Cronulla beach. It was nice to be in more of a place that felt like home- Jess has a great family and they were so generous to let us stay at their house and even invited us back :)

Aubrey, me, Jessica, Becca

Jess also won us free tickets to the Australia's Got Talent auditions in Sydney! We somehow managed second row seats and sat right beside the judges.

so close! This was the first act, a choir full of people from all over. They practice on their own, then basically wing it when they got to Sydney. They still blew away the judges.

This was such an awesome experience, not only because we got to see some fantastic Aussie talent but also because we were able to see how these shows are run behind the scenes. I am pretty sure I saw the winner of Australia's Got Talent for the year, he was a 14 year-old vocalist who completely belted out and nailed a Whitney Houston song. We also saw a male pole dancer, and as a result of uncontrolled laughter in the second row, received a solid 60 seconds of camera time.

On Sunday, Becca and I hit Bondi Beach- where we saw a surfing competition and received lobster-like sunburns on our backs... still feeling the pain. Then, I went to Hillsong church in the city on Sunday night. It's kind of strange how Hillsong turns into more of an experience while here because its music is talked so highly of in the states. Hillsong is also a pretty charismatic church, which was a fun mix-up ; ) We have to attend 5 different denominational churches in the next 4 weeks- on to visit our Catholic friends this coming weekend!

Bondi Beach (*should be about a 45 minute trip from home)

I am hoping to update here again soon, for I have a lovely post in mind.... all about the wonderful (and not so wonderful) food in Australia!

I would also like to give a special thanks to everyone back home for all of your prayers and support during this time of transition and change. You all are great, and your love is known and felt, even if I am thousands of miles away. I am truly experiencing a peace that surpasses an understanding that is in my comprehension- and I am so thankful to God for this strange feeling of solitude and contentment. I continue to pray and ask for prayer for Grandma Lois- here is what has been on my heart lately (and always quite frequently when someone is in the realms of pain and suffering):

"Do not look forward to what might happen tomorrow; the same everlasting. Father who cares for you today, will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it."
St. Francis de Sales

I love you all,
Hannah

Welcome to Australia

I have been in Australia for nearly a week now, and I am just now finding time to blog. Whoops!

So far I have fallen in love with this country and its people. My host dad is Greek and my host mom is Australian- the two are very different and I am quite certain we have the most unique homestay family out of our group of 27. Our host mom, Marina, loves to make sure we are okay all of the time. Beeca (my roommate) and I have already started recording funny quotes/mannerisms of Marina. My favorite so far is her method for washing dishes, basically dunking them in water and removing rubish with your fingers, rinsing, and drying.

I just got done with my first day of classes. I have ballet and jazz technique in the a.m. and then hip hop at noon. The classes are a lot of fun, but the ballet is quite challenging with my lack of experience. The dress code for ballet is requiring a leotard buying run later this afternoon.

I have neglected my camera since I have been here...photos to come later!

The Land of OZ

Tomorrow I depart for the land of Oz. I am very excited for the arrival, and a little less excited about the flying. These pictures help me understand that it is much better on the other side

Ooroo mates!

Superimposing

Mom pulled out her wedding dress and it fit me like a glove. It felt way to strange, and things got even more strange when we got out the camera.....

After I tried on her dress and Maddy tried on her dress, we wanted to see who looked the most like her. Here is the result of finding the original and superimposing the rest:

Randoms

Last mini-project: light graffiti - a slight fail after the awesomeness I found online

Current location: Panera in Huntington, WV


Current prayer/line love: "I pray that God will show me and all of us the limits of our understanding." (said at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. by President Obama- full Relevant article here)

I am spending the weekend with my splendid friend Lauren Wright. Today we ventured to West Virginia for a Beauty Control meeting she had. I get to chill at Panera and the mall until she is done. Tonight she is taking me to a new restaurant. I'm pretty stoked. Today I will have been in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky- oh the excitement of living in the Tri-state area!

I've been catching up on news and other randoms while sitting here and I found the article on Obama's speech at the National Prayer Breakfast written by Cameron Strang. I really liked the line above and it struck me as something I need to be praying. For how often do I pray as if to understand the mystery that God is working in my life? Often. We are always trying to figure out God's will, understanding like this is an understatement in the realms of the heavenly. I think the beautiful mystery of Christ's work in our lives is not always meant for us to probe for perfect clarity, it is our job to live the parts we do know. We do know God revealed the mystery of the Gospel to us (Romans 11:25), and we are to live that part out in the fullest. But we don't always feel like we can trace his hand while living out that gospel... we can trust his heart.

I have a great blogpost to come so stay tuned for a pretty funny project I have been working on.

16 days till Australia!

DIY's and such

Currently reading:

Currently listening to:

Now that I am home for a while, the crafts have begun. I decided to show you all what I am up to and where I gathered my inspiration.

My first project started as Christmas presents for my family: typography portraits. After my pixel-ege rose a little too high, I turned the photos into name tags for my Christmas presents.

The images took roughly 30 minutes to make in Photoshop. You can follow this tutorial to try it on your own.

This second project I stumbled upon while looking at crafty blogs. I have been working on projects for decorating my new house at school and I came across a fabric garland tutorial (found on this fantabulous site). I decided to make lots of flowers and turn some into headbands. I was pretty pleased with the results and ended up giving some headbands as gifts for Christmas! Here is how I did it:

*click photo to enlarge

1. Chose several colors of fabric (I suggest sticking to a jersey knit or spandex material for headbands. However, I used a very light cotton for the flowers so they don't look drab.) You will also need scissors, pencil, thread, and a needle.

2. Trace 6 small circles onto the fabric (8 for a fuller flower).

3. Cut out 15 inch strips for headbands (doesn't have to be straight)

4. Take a single circle and fold once

5. Fold the circle a second time and thread pointed edge through needle. Repeat with all 6 circles until they are on thread. I would sew through all points a couple more times and then knot off.

6. Sew as many flowers as you'd like. Forewarning: this craft is quite tedious and fingers may start cramping after about 4. If you are making garland, strand flowers through your thread and you are done!

7. For the headband you can follow this tutorial (you will need a machine for sewing on elastic if you choose to go this far).

One of my favorite Christmas presents this year was Final Cut Express (thanks mom and dad :). I haven't started teaching myself the program yet, but I am definitely looking forward to better video production *crosses fingers* This was my last video created in iMovie with my good pals Alli and Kate during our finals week.

Alright, that is enough for now.

Toodles