holy, hannah! it's october!

gee-golly-gollerson! where has the time gone!? it's already fall - i can barely believe it! i am getting beyond bonkers excited for this weekend, because i'm going to the city (not whitney port's, people. i'm talkin' minneapolis). for what you ask? well, i'd be delighted to tell you!

my sweet friend kenzie - you remember her, yes? i'm happy to report that she is travelling through these parts for her twenty-sixth birthday! so, my friends cassie & rayna & i will be waking up on the bright-and-earlies on saturday to celebrate with that cute little miss. we'll be going to the shouthouse, a fun little dueling pianos joint in downtown. if you have the chance - check it. you will not be disappointed. swearzies.

in honor of this impending trip, here are some delicious pictures from other twin cities' area funspots: red wing shoe store (home of the biggest leather boot in the world! helloooo!), punch pizza and, of course, anywhere that my sweet superbro andrew is! no, really - we call him "superbro"...he's that awesome.

and we're back

at the ripe old age of 25, i find it's easy to feel restless and unsure, hoping for an idea of where to go and what to do next. it wasn't the same at 18. when i started college at msum. then, i was exactly where i wanted to be, with everyone i wanted to be with, excited for the world in front of me. every single day was full of wonderment, and exploration of the future was my only responsibility.

that's the hard thing about growing up...it's everything you thought you were looking forward to, but it's not what you expected. it's full of responsibility (or what i will now refer to as "freedom's enemy").

it was a welcome break to be reunited with old friends this weekend. because, for me, reminiscence is seeing the past through rose-colored glasses. and being with my first friends from college was an instant switch back to that mentality, to place where i have one foot on my favorite memories and one foot on edge of everything that life has to offer.

that must be why i adore weddings so much. because the only thing in the air is the assurance that your future will be full of happiness, love and of possibility.

and ain't that the sweetest smell there is.

gettin' real with paul

This weekend I went to my friend and former roomie Mike's wedding (pictures to come!). And, as has happened a few times during my circuit of wild wedding weekends, I was asked to read the ol' standby: part of Paul's letter to the Corinthians. And I have to tell you guys, no matter how many times I read it, that little snippet always, always, always just gets to me. 

I can feel you giving me eye rolls and oh-that-agains right now. But, honestly, whether you think it's cheesy or overplayed or obnoxious and whether you revere the Bible or scoff at its existence, you have to admit that Paul's definition of love is legit. It's my favorite. Especially the beginning. Because that kind of love is no joke. And that it's not easy. Then on top of that, Paul's all "Hey lady, now don't forget! You're supposed to offer that kind of love fully...and constantly...and to everyone."

Yeesh! Sometimes I can't help but be like "Paul, seriously, is this a joke?
Who do you think you are? I barely even like this person and you're all up in
my business telling me I need to love them?"  

And Paul's all, "Um, yes." 

And there I am, back in my place. Right where he put me. 

Dang you, Paul. 

I'm not talking about this verse to be preachy. 

I'm talking about it because it makes me think. 

What does it make you think? 

1 corinthians 13:1-13

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. 

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 

It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, 

it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.