Birthday Fun!!!!!!

I really can't believe it's already OVER! Oh well....mom and I had a great time yesterday! Dad and I left for breakfast in the morning, went up to the Parkway to the Bluff's Restaurant, had a great time, went to the overlook, got some wonderful pictures, and then headed back home. As soon as we walked in the door, I changed clothes, freshened up, and then left with mom to go down to Winston-Salem. We got to the Mall at around 11:00, and stayed there browsing until about 1:00. SWEET! I got a couple of hoodies and some lounge pants that are REALLY comfy! We then went down the road to a Chinese buffet, and...now I can say I've tried sushi. One word: GROSS! And this didn't even have the fish in it! It was rice, cream-cheese, and cucumber. Hey, but at least I TRIED it! They also had kimchi there, (main Korean dish...what it was doing in a Chinese restaurant, I'll never know...) I decided to try it again, as I had tried it in Ohio and hated it, but, nontheless, I wanted to try it again and see if I could develop a taste for it. Well, I managed to down it, but I still do NOT like that stuff. And it was HIGHLY Americanized compared to the real thing we had in Ohio! (Not half as spicy, in other words.)
After that, we went BACK to the Mall and looked around some more. We just sorta walked through store after store, not really buying anything but just, well...looking. :) One of the last stores we went to was a little Chinese store tucked in the Mall that hadn't been open long. They had tons of Samurai Swords, which completely fascinated me! I got to hold one and pull it out of the sheath, studying the beautiful blade. Ah...I wanted it. It had Chinese writing on it, so I asked the little Chinese lady there what it said. She read it in Chinese, but had a very hard time speaking English; though she was very, very sweet. They also had nunchukas, climbing claws, and some absolutely gorgeous dresses! They had little golden dragon statues, and I was tempted to buy one because of the Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats, but...I didn't. :) I DID buy a BIG black ring, that looks really neat! There was a big glass case in the middle of the room that caught my eye as well; it had tons of knives in it! All sorts of them! Switch blades, flip blades, small throwing stars, double blades, and my favorite of all...balisong knives, or otherwise known as butterfly knives. Ooooh man they were SO neat! I got to hold one of them, and flipped it a bit, though very carefully, because I really don't know how. It was very, very nice.
After that, mom kept telling me that she had a surprise, and I'm going, "What is it? Tell me!!!!!!" Dying of curiosity, of course. Finally, we left the Mall, and mom took me to Cold Stone Creamery. I've never been there, and it was REALLY good! (Too good...)
We finally went home and wrapped up the day with watching Nicholas Nickleby.
All in all, it was GREAT! We had a wonderful time, and I'm glad I got to spend the day out. Lot's of fun! And thank you to all of the friends who've wished me a happy birthday and made it special! Love you all!!!!!!!!!!

Lord, thank you for 16 years!

                              UNCAAAAASSSSS!!!!!!!! (the poor guy's still falling!)

 Saw this really cool Chevy Avalanche at the Chinese restaurant! 

Sushi!

A really nice wine-glass that I liked. (That's the hoodie a bought!)

 Balisong knife^

My ring!

-Han

Officially Sixteen!

WOOHOO! Can you believe it!? ...I can't! I know some people out there are like, "Why are you so excited????"
Weeeelll.......I don't know, actually...I just AM! Since I'm writing this post the day before my birthday, and it's set to go out in the morning at 6:00 AM, I'll post LATER about the events of the day!
I'm really looking forward to going to the Mall! Dad's taking me in a little while to breakfast, and then I'm coming back and mom and I are leaving. Tonight, I get to pick what we're watching, and it'll be Nicholas Nickleby! *grins* Yes, I know some of you HATE that movie........but, oh well. =D
For those of you who have already wished me a happy birthday, THANK YOU!

Love ya all!
In Christ,
-Hannah

Sixteen in Two Days!

Yay! My Birthday is in two days! Mom and I are going to the Mall all day, so that'll be fun! I already got an early birthday present, which was a case of "Shania" perfume. No, I have no idea who the singer it was named after is, and no, I don't support her. Mom just got it for me. =D (It smells really nice!)
I'm looking forward to spending a day with my mom, and Dad's taking me to breakfast like he always does.

Also, a note on praying:
Is it important to pray?
Absolutely. We communicate to Christ when we pray. It's so important! It strengthens our trust in Him. Time and again I've prayed, and my prayers have been answered. When God doesn't answer our prayers, it's not that he doesn't "listen". Goodgrief...he KNOWS what we're going to pray about even before we pray it! He's not answering our prayers for His own reasons, and they are NOT to be questioned. Our God is an ALL KNOWING God, and He'll answer your prayers if and when He wants to. He knows what's best for us. ALL things work together for good to those who love Him.
If you haven't prayed today...DO IT. Stop and TALK TO GOD. Maybe there's someone you really like who you know isn't saved and you need to pray for them. Maybe a friend or relative is sick, and you need to pray for them. Maybe you're having a really bad day. Maybe you want to scream and pull your hair out because everything is going wrong. STOP. AND. PRAY.
JUST DO IT!

Persecuted Christians

Please, please go to my blog. There has been an update on Son Jong Nam, a North Korean Christian arrested in 2007.
...he is now Safely Home.

Please read. www.itsrealithappens.blogspot.com

Peach-Canning Day!

We just got a whole FIVE boxes of peaches, and have been buried in them since 10:00 this morning! (It's now 6:54...we just finished a little while ago!)
Here's some pictures I took from today:

More Frogs!

I've officially been nicknamed by my bro as "The Frog Catcher".
Night before last, I had gone outside to look for a couple of the cats, and while I was standing bare-footed in the land scape mulch, something moved at my feet. I looked down. It was pretty dark, so I couldn't quite tell; I was pretty sure it was a frog, but I didn't want to grab for it lest it were something that could...bite. Anyway, it was a frog, so I grabbed it.
"Hey froggy!" I peered at him through the twilight. As I turned to take a step back to the house, something ELSE moved at my feet.
"ANOTHER FROG!"
I grabbed that one up, too, and took them to the porch to show Nathan and Mom and Bekah. After that I let them go.
THEN, last night, I was outside again right after dark looking for the cat. (Well...more looking for frogs than cats:) I was giving up when I didn't see any frogs, so I walked back to the porch, but was by the porch when something HUGE moved. A FROG!!!!! A BIG frog! I picked him up. He was HUGE! Here's the pictures of the funny little guy:

Video From the Farm

Here's a cute video of me leading Maximo around. :) He's so cute! This was a few weeks ago, so he's grown a lot since then. :) btw, all of Max's nicknames are:
Maximus
Maximilian
Maximo
Big Boy
Muscle Man
Max-A-Million < *loves that one*
Banzai (That's what I call him:) You know what's really funny about that one? I just, JUST looked up the meaning, and it said "Banzai: A Japanese cheer of enthusiasm or triumph". =D Suits him perfectly!
Anyway, I love Max to DEATH! He's SO cute!!!!!
Here's the video:

Feeling Old

Yes...I am. :)
In nine days, I'll be 16. Already. As of July 28th, I'll never be fifteen again. Sad, really, when you think about it. I feel older. Grown up, if you will. More responsibility, the future looming closer than ever. About four years to finish school in, having to race to do that. Sadly, I haven't learned all that I need to learn for home-making, so I'm really, this year, jumping on top of all that. I'm learning to sew, raise chickens, cook, etc. I can cook, yeah, but need to work on it. Who knows when I'll get married. Five years from now? Six? I'm hoping to get married early so I can have lots of children, but not until I know for sure that I'm prepared. And, it's ALL in God's hands! I hate to think about it, but I might never get married, which is a dreadfully scary thought, but, in the norm, almost all people do, so THAT'S what I'm preparing for. As a good friend once said, I'm a KAHIT...or Keeper At Home In Training. =D My life is flying past me. Who knows what will happen. Who can tell? I'm going to take Driver's Ed next year. Scary.
I know it's kinda crazy to think 16 is old, but when you think about it, I mean...there's only five years until you're TWENTY!!!!!! WOW! It was TEN years ago that we moved up here to NC. I was 6. Now I'll be sixteen. Wow. Just...wow. I feel older, more grown up, more responsibility. I'm guessing that's a good thing. I...well...feel more mature? I guess? I DON'T KNOW! All I know is that I MUST use the rest of my time wisely. Girls and guys, you who are going sixteen and up, PAY ATTENTION! You're growing up! If you DO get married early, you don't have that much time left at boot-camp! (i.e. the home)! Think about it! Really, five or six years isn't THAT long. I'm still amazing at how TEN YEARS have gone by since the time we first moved up here! Blink, and it'll be over, the year will. It's now nearing the end of July...it seems Winter just started yesterday. The summer is, pretty much, in the next month...OVER. Think about it. AH! IT DRIVES ME CRAZY! And you girls and guys who are 14-15...think hard about it. You may have just turned 14 and are thinking "Oh, 16 is a long way off; I've got time." Or maybe you just turned 15 and you're going "Yeah, me too. 16 is NEXT year. No rush." Well...I have to tell you something. You're wrong. Sixteen ISN'T that far off. Then it'll be seventeen, eighteen, then before you can blink, twenty, twenty-one and so on. Think about it! Time flies! One of Enya's songs (she's a singer) is My, My Time Flies...very suitable to this situation. And when she recorded that, it was 2008. One line says
"Maybe we step out again, maybe tomorrow but then, maybe 2010".
Yes, in 2008 that seemed like a long time off...BUT...here we are. I remember when that CD first came out. I was thinking
"Wow...2010....THAT'S FAR AWAY!"
....here we are.
Just stop and think about it. It may seem a long ways off...but it's not. Here we are.
Stop and think.
When you're sixteen, you may come back and read this post, thinking, "wow...did I really think that was so, so far away?"
Think ahead. Prepare. I'm growing up...you're growing up...even if you are 14, 15. Hey, even if you're 10, 11, 12, 13! Those of you who are older than 16...this applies to you, too. Twenty isn't that far off. Neither is twenty-five, thirty, so on. Stop and think.
Live your lives for HIM.


In Christ,

-Hannah

FYI:

I stopped following a bunch of different blogs because there were just WAY too many! (Trust me...I was following a whole ton!)
Anyway, so if you see that I'm not following, it has nothing to do with you or your blog...just because I need to clean that mess up!

Thanks!
-Hannah

Psalm 143

A great Psalm to read before tomorrow:

Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications! In Your faithfulness answer me, and in Your righteousness.
Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight no one living is righteous.
For the enemy has persecuted my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me dwell in darkness, like those who have long been dead.
Therefor my spirit is overwhelmed within me; my heart withing me is distressed.
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands.
I spread out my hands to You; my soul longs for You like a thirsty land.
Answer me speedily, O Lord; my spirit fails! Do not hide Your face from me, lest I be like those who go down into the pit.
Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.
Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; in You I take shelter.
Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; Your spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
Revive m, O Lord, for Your name's sake! For Your righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.
In Your mercy cut off my enemies, and destroy all those who afflict my soul;
For I am your servant.