Secret to Smooth Skin

I was selected to review the Aveeno Positively Radiant Intensive Night Cream by Influenster.

I'm not usually one to use night creams.  

Heck I don't even take my makeup before bed usually.

But, just to see if it could make a difference I tried it.

And holy moly what a difference it makes!

My skin was super soft and glowing.  I didn't have to worry about wearing a ton of makeup because my face already looked great.

I'm a huge fan, and I'll never skip the night cream again.

xo,

Hanna

Bout of Books Readathon

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I'm Gong Back To School!

Beginning July 1, 2013 I will officially be a Grad Student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte!

 

I'll be getting my Masters in Accounting and starting with a month-long class on Taxation of Estates, Gifts, and Trusts.  I am more than excited to start this journey and it has been a long time coming.

 

I knew the day I started my undergraduate journey I would be getting my Masters eventually.  I had it all planned out too.  I would finish my Bachelors a year early (which I did) and go straight into my Masters the next fall (which didn't happen).  I applied at UNC Charlotte and at NC State to do my Masters full-time in Fall 2012.  And, I got denied at both.  I was absolutely devastated.  That was when I applied to work at Disney.  And then I got sick and didn't go to Disney and started working at Holy Angels.  We all know the story.

 

Well a few months ago, I decided I could apply again and try to do it part-time.  I applied at UNC-Charlotte again, Gardner-Webb, and Auburn University's online program.  I was 100% positive I wouldn't get in at Charlotte, and probably wouldn't get in at Auburn, so Gardner-Webb was my fall back and really the only one I was expecting an acceptance to. 

 

Gardner-Webb called on the 17th saying I got in to their MAcc program, and had already registered me for summer classes.  Auburn emailed the same night and said I was in there if I took two undergraduate classes and made A's in them.  I quickly took that one off the list, because I was already in at GWU without the conditional A's.  The 18th, I got an e-mail saying I was in at Charlotte too.  That's when I knew I had a tough decision to make. 

 

In the end, I knew Charlotte was the school for me.  I had loved their program when I went to a preview day last year, and I think it will give me more opportunities for employment upon graduation.  I knew I had to follow my original dream and go to UNCC or I would regret it for years down the road.

 

I still haven't told GWU I'm not coming there.  I just tried to call, but the girl wasn't in her office.

 

xo,

Hanna



My First Blogger Reading Challenge

I have joined my first Blogger Reading Challenge.  And, I am more than excited about it.  Since Grad school is starting in July (more on that later), I will be reading as much as I can in May and June.  

This month I have joined the May 2013 Page Count Contest hosted by Reading Angels.

Sunday Social 4/28

I haven't done one of these in awhile, but since it is so much easier now that I have an actual computer, I thought I'd get back to it.

Todays questions are about things we did in our childhood.

Did you sleepwalk as a child?

I did, but very rarely.  I talked a lot more in my sleep and still do.

Did you ever try to run away or sneak out of your house?

One time I got mad, and my mom said, "Well if you want to leave, there's the door."  So, I left.  And went around the block and came right back.  And was grounded for weeks.  And, she had sent my brother out to follow me.

Did you have any imaginary friends?

I didn't have any imaginary friends.  I don't know why, I just never remembered having one.  I do talk out loud to myself though.

Did you ever go toilet papering?

To this day, I have never been toilet papering.  It wasn't the thing to do in my town.

Did you ever sneak tv shows you weren’t allowed to watch?

There were only a few we weren't allowed to watch.  CatDog and The Simpsons were the two that I remember not being allowed to watch.  And, me and Ross would only watch the song for CatDog.  We didn't really care about the show itself.  It was super creepy if you ask me.

Review: Girls in White Dresses

Wickedly hilarious and utterly recognizable, Girls in White Dresses tells the story of three women grappling with heartbreak and career change, family pressure and new love—all while suffering through an endless round of weddings and bridal showers.

Isabella, Mary, and Lauren feel like everyone they know is getting married. On Sunday after Sunday, at bridal shower after bridal shower, they coo over toasters, collect ribbons and wrapping paper, eat minuscule sandwiches and doll-sized cakes. They wear pastel dresses and drink champagne by the case, but amid the celebration these women have their own lives to contend with: Isabella is working at a mailing-list company, dizzy with the mixed signals of a boss who claims she’s on a diet but has Isabella file all morning if she forgets to bring her a chocolate muffin. Mary thinks she might cry with happiness when she finally meets a nice guy who loves his mother, only to realize he’ll never love Mary quite as much. And Lauren, a waitress at a Midtown bar, swears up and down she won’t fall for the sleazy bartender—a promise that his dirty blond curls and perfect vodka sodas make hard to keep. 

With a wry sense of humor, Jennifer Close brings us through those thrilling, bewildering, what-on-earth-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life years of early adulthood. These are the years when everyone else seems to have a plan, a great job, and an appropriate boyfriend, while Isabella has a blind date with a gay man, Mary has a crush on her boss, and Lauren has a goldfish named Willard. Through boozy family holidays and disastrous ski vacations, relationships lost to politics and relationships found in pet stores, Girls in White Dresses pulls us deep inside the circle of these friends, perfectly capturing the wild frustrations and soaring joys of modern life.

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My Review:

Honestly, I have no idea what happened in this book.  It was just a bunch of different stories about girls who had just graduated for college.  I never could remember who was who, and I know probably 2 of their names now after reading it.

I just didn't like it.  And, I had so much hope for this book. I wanted to love it more than anything, and I just couldn't.  I basically had to force myself just to finish it.

Because it wasn't terrible and I didn't just abandon it, I give it 2/5 stars.

New Macbook Pro

This is my first ever post from my new Macbook Pro.  I've only been home and on it for 43 minutes but so far I love it! 

Be prepared for more regular posts from me in the coming days.

xo,

Hanna

Spring Wish List

Since I just bought a new Mac, I am now officially broke so I spend my time making wishlists in my brain.  I decided to make it on here instead.

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Evidently I'm really into Pink and Polka Dots this summer.

xo,
Hanna

 



Fridayyy

I promise I'm still here.

Here are my current reasons for not posting every day:

- work is swamped. I don't even have time to read a blog during the day, much less post on my own.

- my computer is a piece of crap. It got a virus during my second year at state and hasn't ever been the same since. If you don't have it plugged up, it can and will turn off any second it pleases. I have a Mac coming on Friday, hence the title of this post.

- it's just really hard to write meaningful posts on an iPad. 

- I've also been in the middle of grad school stuff. I've been accepted into the school I wanted and registered for my first summer class this morning. Yippee!!!

These might not be good reasons to some people, but they're good enough for me for right now. I'll be back though. On Friday. From my new Mac. 

Xo,

Hanna

When Life Smacks You in the Face...

So, it seems like everytime things are looking up for me, something comes along to bring it down a notch.  And, I'm really getting pretty darn tired of it. 

 

Remember how I was going to Raleigh come hell or highwater last weekend?  Even though I got smacked with a nasty cold 2 days before I was supposed to leave?  Well, me and my tissue box packed it up and we were ready to leave as soon as work ended Friday afternoon.

 

Guess what happened?  That smack in the face thing.

 

My mom called.  While I was at work.  And, while she was at work, so I knew it had to be important.  Friday morning.  I answered, and she says "I just got off the phone with your grandmaw and Mike died."  Now, I only know 2 people named Mike that my Mawmaw would ever care about dying.  And, both of them were still in their 60's, so my response was, "ummm... who?"  And she said, "Mike, Kathy's husband."  Again, I was so shocked my response was, "my uncle?"  She was like "YES!" So, I decided that I really needed to stay here and be with my family, so I told all of my friends I wasn't coming at 9:30am the morning I was supposed to leave.  So, from there on it was a mix of calls from my family asking me if I was at work, or if I could go get the kids from my aunt.  And, in the middle of all of this my Pawpaw was sick with the stomach virus (AGAIN!, this is like the 4th time this year!). 

 

Well, later on in the day my mom told me that she thought it would be fine if I went on to Raleigh, and came back Saturday instead of Sunday.  So, I thought about it, and I really was ready to go.  Like I was mentally ready to do it, and so I decided I was doing it.  I made it to Raleigh at 7:30 that night.  Honestly it was the best drive to Raleigh I've ever had.  Praise God!

 

I ate my sushi, hung out with my friends, went to Moe's, and went to the baseball game! It was perfect.  Then I decided I would spend Saturday night in Winston with my family friends and come home Sunday before the 2 o'clock funeral.

 

I did that, and called my mom when I was leaving Winston at 10:15, where she proceeded to tell me I was supposed to be at the funeral home, in Gastonia, at 10:30.  Uhhh... what?! So, I freaked out and FLEW home! Made it in record time too! I had my mom bring me a dress and my violin with her so all I had to do was change and rehearse with the organist.

 

So, after a whole day of being in the family receiving line in my 3rd funeral since December, I was exhausted. 

 

Monday - Thursday of this week I've just been dead tired and superrr busy.  And today, I woke up with the worst headache EVER.  I think I was asleep at my desk from 8-12am this morning.  I have no idea how I got the spreadsheet my boss wanted finished.  I must be a good sleep-worker.

 

This weekend, I have a Women of the Church luncheon to go to, and a wedding.  Church and lunch at my Mawmaw's like every Sunday.  I also have a friend who wants to climb the mountain Sunday, but if I don't find more energy before then, that won't be happening.

I guess it won't matter how tired I was this second week of April 2013 in fifty years, but it sure feels terrible right now.

xo,
Hanna

I'm so over being sick...

I am soooo done with being sick. Since that awful weekend of July 13th, 2012 I have been sick more times than I can count. 

And this is coming from a girl who didn't have anything more than a headache for her whole 3 years of college. 

Since that weekend I went back to Raleigh, I've had food poisoning, which turned into endometriosis, 3 stomach viruses, 3 rounds of tonsillitis, and about 15 colds. And I'm so done. 

I have no idea why my immune system decided to disappear when I found out I had endometriosis, but its more than welcome to return at any time.  

The fact that I have also gotten sick on one trip to Raleigh (that was while I was still in school though, food poisoning), and two trips home has also cause some anxiety about driving long distances.  I usually get extremely nervous about a trip to Raleigh, but this one I'm not that nervous about yet. And, I have a dreadful cold that appeared yesterday. But, me and my drugstore are going. Regardless of how I feel. I will NOT let a headache or a cold stop me from enjoying my friends and the place I miss so much. 

It also helps that I have some family who will be at a dance competition in Winston Salem and have graciously offered to let me come hang out with them if I start feeling too bad and I won't have to ride home completely alone. 

Pray for my anxiety tomorrow as I'm driving through 5:00 traffic in Charlotte to get to me best friends and my favorite sushi restaurant. 

xo,

Hanna

Memories

Music City Sarah is doing a new series called Sweet Tea Social every Tuesday starting today.  The idea behind it is to get back to how things were when families would sit on the front porch with glasses of sweet tea and tell stories about their childhood.  I've got plenty of stories to tell, so I figured I'd do it along with her.

 

After I was born, my mom was starting to look at daycares so she could go back to work.  She never found one she just loved, and she was having a really hard time with it.  So, my Papa just said well bring her over here and I'll watch her.  So, that's what happened.  Every single day I went to Papa's house and stayed all day.  We did everything together.  He taught me how to walk, and he taught me how to pee in a bush standing up.  (I wasn't aware that girls didn't do that sort of thing till much later in life.)  When Ross came along, I was 3.  So, after he was born we both went over there all day.  When he was a baby, we didn't get in much trouble.  I would color all day.  And we would wait outside for the ice cream truck to come by so I could get a blue popsicle EVERY day.

 

After Ross got older, the trouble began.  It was around the time I went to school that Nana retired from the bank.  So, her and Papa both were at home with Ross all day while I went to school.  Papa would come get me from school, and that 's when the fun really started.  Me and Ross figured out that certain things would 1) make Nana really mad and 2) make Papa laugh hysterically cause Nana was mad. 

 

We spent a few years perfecting our skills, and in the middle of all of that Payton came along.  Well, when Payton was little you could talk him into doing anything, so he was the perfect little brother to me and Ross.  Nana and Papa had a cherry tree in their back yard.  Nana was convinced that birds were eating her cherries so she had Papa cover it with a tarp so the birds couldn't get to it.  That tarp didn't stop me and the boys though.  We'd get under the tarp and just sit there and eat cherries all day long.  Nana still thought it was birds.  She tore the tree down because she thought it was still the birds, and I don't think we've told her it was us yet. 

 

We would also sit in the bottom of her grandfather clock so that it wouldn't chime when it was supposed to.  She'd realize it didn't chime and come running to find out what was wrong.  And, she'd find one of us with our faces pressed up against the glass.

 

But, I think our best one was ALL Ross' idea.  Nana and Papa slept in separate bedrooms, because Papa had lung cancer and leukemia and would end up coughing all night and keep Nana up.  So, we spent most of our time in Papa's bedroom cause he didn't care if we messed it up as much as Nana did.  Ross came up with the idea that they should pour baby powder down the air vents.  He had Payton call Nana and then they all stood there looking at the air vent.  Nana was so confused.  Ross finally heard the heat kick on and said "Here it comes!"  Nana barely got "Here what comes?" out of her mouth before they were all covered in white baby powder after the cloud came up out of the vent.  I think that's the maddest I've ever seen Nana.  And Papa was just sitting in his chair laughing as hard as he could.  Those were the good old days, and I miss my Papa more than anyone else in this world.  But, I know he's having fun rocking babies in heaven.

 

xo,

Hanna