Happy Halloween!

Hey, guys! I haven't written in a while because well...not much has gone on lately!

Yesterday I went to a Trunk or Treat at my church. I decided about 15 minutes before we left I was going to dress up. So I dressed up as a Vanderbilt fan. It was the best I could come up with! haha. :P

Went to church this morning...and yeah that's about it!

But I wanted to make a special shout-out to one of my BEST FRIENDS who's recovering from surgery! I want to let her know she's the best friend I've probably ever had and that she is the sweetest girl I know! And you're really pretty. And you make me laugh.

I just wanted to say that.

Taylor Swift!

So I got up early this morning so I could listen to Taylor Swift's new album before school. I actually woke up before my alarm, I was so excited. That's kinda embarrassing, but I did. I just really like Taylor Swift.

I was AWESTRUCK. She is such an unbelievable songwriter. She knocked my socks off!!!!

I'm actually listening to it now. I think she has gotten so much better since she first came on the scene. She became a bit more polished with her singing (she was a little rough in the beginning if you know what I mean, haha), and her songwriting got even better. My favorites are "Speak Now," "Dear John," "Never Grow Up," "Enchanted," and "Long Live." I think my very favorite though might actually be "Never Grow Up." I cried the first two times I listened. I could relate to the song in an odd kind of way...The first verse talked about a baby, and I absolutely adore little kids and babysitting. The second verse talked about a 14-year-old, and I'm 14.

That probably bored you if you're not a huge fan of Taylor Swift, so sorry! I just really like/admire her! haha. She's not exactly my idol (Jesus is in that position), but definitely a role model. I would love to have the kind of mad skills she has when it comes to songwriting.

Olive Garden, old ladies, and gentlemen.

Just got back home from piano lessons and lunch. We ate at Olive Garden...the most amazing Italian place EVERRR. The salad is just right. The pasta's yummy. I can hurt myself on the breadsticks. So that was good...saw these cute little old ladies at a table close to us. I love to watch them be so ladylike. How they so delicately drink their lemon water, and talk to each other so politely. I just like old ladies. haha.
Then we went to Starbucks for a second. Something kinda unusual happened. Two different couples went to their cars in about the course of about ten minutes. BOTH times the guy opened the car door for the girl! And I was like YES that is AWESOME!
I never really understood these "independent" women who don't like doors opened for them and such. That's just weird...guys don't think we're weak; it's just a show of respect! So guys, keep being gentleman...trust me, it still works. :)

My favorite sport is baseball.

Hello, people! Thought I'd let you know I was still alive! I know I wrote for three nights in a row, and then quit writing for a couple days (nothing has really happened to write about).
Currently, I am sitting here with my grandparents watching the MLB playoffs. I. Love. Baseball. (And I love it when my Maw-Maw brings me early Halloween candy.) Baseball is kind of the sport I grew up with. My dad forced me to play little league when I was about seven, and I was the only girl on the team. I was really bad, but, luckily, we had the best team in our age group. Next year, I played too, being the only other girl on the team. Year after that, I played softball, and I absolutely loved it! I don't play now, but I'm seriously considering playing next year. (My brothers play each year still.)
I wasn't planning on talking about this, but I thought I'd talk about that first baseball team I was on for two years. I had the best little league coach ever. I'll always remember him; he was awesome! He taught me all the important things about baseball. ALWAYS run through first base, even when they've already caught your pop fly. NEVER swing the bat with just one hand. NEVER be seen standing like a ballerina (one leg behind the other) in the out field. I watched  my coach when he won every game, and when he hardly won any games (my brothers played for him also). And well....Coach is just one of those people you remember for some reason. You are the reason I fell in love with baseball, Coach. So if you're reading, thank you so much! I know you're still influencing your teams now like you influenced me then.
But anyway...still watching the playoffs here. Go Giants!!! I'm normally a Braves fan...but Buster Posey played for FSU! And well....he is kinda cute too. ;)

Best Saturday ever.

Today was the best Saturday I've had in a long time.
It started with me and a close friend of mine singing the national anthem at a local conservative political rally early this morning. It was held at the cutest little local Bed & Breakfast in my town. It was fun, and it was interesting to talk with the candidates.
This afternoon, I watched an FSU game with my dad. For those of you who don't know, all of my family are huge Seminole fans! Both of my parents went to college there. They beat Boston College, but barely. Christian Ponder (our quarterback) was in la la land the whole time, I think.
Tonight was REALLY awesome! My church had a hay ride. It was the best hay ride I've ever been on. It lasted over an hour, and we went way into the boonies. It was chilly and just perfect for a fall hay ride. It felt so cool went we went into town later on in the ride and rode by all the people. The police beeped at us, and the people at the gas station downtown waved. A  teenage boy driving an ENORMOUS pick-up truck, yelled something funny at us. I felt really warm inside somehow...being part of a little country community can be so enjoyable. Life goes a little slower and everybody really does know everybody else. Instead of going to the mall or movies, all the kids get out with their trucks and hang out at Sonic or at the drive-in movie theater or just hang out in a random parking lot (no joke!). It feels like a movie sometimes. It's awesome. I didn't really miss living in a town of over 100,000 today.
Afterwards, we went back to church to eat some soup/chili and fellowship. All the kids had fun outside sneaking up on each other and scaring people. I and one of my new friends I've made here (you know who you are if you're reading this ;) talked about girl stuff and had fun just hanging out together.
I just love living in a small town in Tennessee.

About my day.

Today, I got up early at 6:00 and started on school with my little brothers. (I'm homeschooled.) Then I left at around 8:20 to go to piano lessons. I haven't been with my new teacher long, but I love her. She is the fourth piano teacher I've had since I was in 3rd grade. This is a good thing, because it's given me different experiences with different styles of teaching. I've had realllly loose teachers, and pretty strict teachers. Fun teachers and more serious teachers. My teacher now happens to be one of the fun ones. She cracks me up, and I don't even think she's aware of it when she's being funny. But she is still a good teacher that keeps me on track with my pieces and theory and such, while staying fun.

Came home from lessons in the afternoon and finished school. Had a little free time. Ate supper with the family. After dinner, Momma wanted us to listen to a funny country song she had heard on the radio. I suggested that we look it up on YouTube and watch the video for it too.

I was kind of disappointed.

The song was funny, and it was about hillbillies. But the video really didn't have a whole lot to do with the song. About half the time, the camera was zoomed in on women's bare midriffs and low-riding short shorts. As we were watching this video (My mom said that she must have been dumb to think it would be clean), I thought "And we wonder why teenage girls and women these days are insecure?"

We hear it everywhere, about young girls and women having confidence in themselves. That's great, but are people really backing it up? All they seem to want to do is shove in our faces unrealistic images of what they think a woman should look like, I guess. Everything is wrong with this.

Girls feel insecure. They get the impression that it's all about your outward appearance, not who you are inside. They may think that this is what they need to do to get a guy, and it might work. But it will be the totally wrong guy, one with wrong motives.

And then there's the fact this it's just...sin! Jesus said to gaurd our hearts and to not set our eyes on unclean things. Are we watching something good and wholesome when we take in things like this? I don't really think so.

So this is for all those girls who feel kind of insecure sometimes. I feel like that too some days, but , you know, God made us in His image. He thinks we're beautiful no matter what. And if you think you need to dress like that to get a guy, think again. What kind of a guy do I want to attract? A guy that just wants to take advantage of me, or a good, Christian boy who will love me for who I am inside?

So girls remember...we have every reason to think we are beautiful. 'Cause ,you know, God did design us. :)

A Little About Me.

I guess I should start off with telling you a little about me. My name is Hannah, and I am 14. I live in a little country town in Tennessee; I moved here just seven months ago. You are probably wondering why I would move to a little town that is 45 minutes from the nearest Starbucks. Well, my parents have always felt like they have been called to Christian ministry. Last year, my dad got an email. It was from a man asking him if he would be interested in pastoring their church. My dad had never pastored a church. We had never heard of the place it was at.  And personally, I kind of liked where I lived. 

But you know, God doesn't really always choose for us things we think we'll "like."  And we moved a few short months later into the church's pastorium (a house the church provides for their pastor if needed). The past seven months I have been here have been the hardest in my life, but, in a way, they have also been the best. The biggest thing I have learned from coming here is it is NOT all about ME. At all. It is about serving others and about carrying out whatever God has planned for me. No matter the personal sacrifices. 

I am not going to lie, there have been times when I begged Daddy to move us back...and I am so glad he didn't. I would have missed entirely what God was trying to teach me. 

I still have days when I really miss my old town and my old friends, but I have faith in God. He knows what He is doing. I really do not know what I am doing, honestly. I am just doing whatever He wants me to, because I have learned I am happiest that way. Sometimes I smile thinking about what all God has in store for me. I have learned to quit guessing too, because it will never be what I expect it to. 

I am still figuring out how I am going to handle this whole blog thing, but expect more pretty soon. I have a lot more to tell you guys. :)