Spring Break (so far)

(They finally got Jim's stone set last Monday night. It's amazingly beautiful)

Today is my first official day of spring break and it has been very eventful thus far.

This morning we went to the Cincinnati Museum Center and saw "Tornado Alley" in omnimax.  It was really cool and based off of the show "Storm Chasers", which I've always enjoyed watching.  When we bought our tickets yesterday online, I knew that the guy from the show, Sean Casey, and his Tornado Intercept Vehicle (the TIV) were going to be at the CMC, which excited me greatly.  If you don't remember, I'm a geek and have odd fandom moments...like when I met the weather-man.  When I finally got up to meet him and got to see the TIV all up-close and personal, I was kind of freaking out inside.  Then I got to take a picture with HIM in front of the TIV and I mean, he wasn't shy about posing with you at all.  So as he had his arm around me, and I him, I was thinking in my mind Oh. My.  God.  Sean Casey.  From "Storm Chasers".  Next to me.  Arm around me.  OhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGod.  And then it was over, but I got a poster signed by him and the TIV meteorologist.  Which is hanging on my wall. :)

When we were on our way there, though, there was a really bad accident where a guy was just driving along and a semi truck's wheel crossed over the median and crashed into his window, killing him.  Traffic was horrible, but you know, a lot of times we don't stop to think about what's causing the traffic.  The only thing that we think about is how long we've basically been sitting still, how late we're going to be to wherever we're going or how mad someone will be at us if we are late.  And I'll admit I'm guilty of this too.  And so when I heard what had happened while still sitting in traffic it really struck me.  You know, that could have been us.  Had we gotten on the highway about an hour earlier, it could have been us.  Going into a day, you have no idea what is going to happen.  And that's scary.  But you also never know what the people around you are going through.  The man killed was twenty-two.

As we continued our drive, I looked around at all the old houses and wondered about random things.  This might be creepy, but I think about the people who live there and the people who have lived there and what their story is.  Especially if we pass an old cemetery - I think a lot about the people who are buried there.  The graves you can hardly read anymore probably intrigue me the most.  It's kind of sad to think that these people probably had family come visit their grave often when they first died, now they probably get no visitors.  It's odd to think that after we're gone, life continues to go on, until eventually no one on this planet knows you existed. 

On a happier note, my cousins came over after I got home from the CMC.  I made macaroni art for my cousin Johnny's birthday and so he, his fiancee, and their son came over and stayed for a little over an hour.  Always love to see them.

Hope everybody's spring is off to a good start!

Hanna

Dear Kentucky

Dear Kentucky Wildcats' Basketball Team,

I no longer will root for you.  Ohio State should have won.  Goodbye.

Hanna.

DC

So for those of you who have been following this blog for a over a year, I have some long over-due news. 

If you recall, in October of 2009 I went to Washington DC as part of the 8th grade trip with my school.  Well, Sunday I finally dropped off my disposable cameras to be developed - it's about time, right?  I haven't seen any of these pictures, obviously, so I'm uber excited to see what they turn out to be.  I'm really hoping I got some cool pictures of Arlington and other patriotic places.  I tried to, but I'm just really hoping they turn out.  It seems like such a long time ago that I went to DC, hopefully the pictures will bring back a lot of memories, some that I most likely may have forgotten.

So I'm really excited and whenever I get them back I'll try to scan the coolest ones and post them here.  I should be picking them up on Saturday. 

SO EXCITED!

Hope you guys had a better Tuesday than I did.  Kid Rock got his adjectives reversed for Monday and Tuesday in this song:



If you guys haven't bought this albulm, you should.  It's much better than his other stuff, in my opinion. 

Much love,
Hanna

p.s. HAPPY SPRING!!  Spring's off to a pretty good start for me - how about you guys?

Family Time

Tonight we had a little get-together with my Dad's side of the family which I hardly ever get to see.  My dad's cousins were visiting from Texas and they don't get to come in town too often.  So as my family was coming over, I quickly realized that I couldn't remember how everybody fit together.  Most people I could identify as certain puzzle pieces of our family, but finding the other pieces they adjoined to and making those connections was a process, that I'm a little embarrassed to say, took roughly the whole entirety of the shin-dig.  (I think I totally just lost merit in the level of "cool-ness" by saying "shin-dig" Oh well.  I'm partly from the South.  It'll work.)

With realizing that I couldn't figure out quickly how people were related - and some people I didn't know their names (yikes!) - I also realized that I don't get to see certain family members often enough.  And I'm not just meaning this side of the family.  I have several cousins and great-aunts and uncles that live outside of Ohio that don't get here a whole lot.  I have cousins I haven't gotten to see for years and only communicate with either via facebook or text-messaging.  And while I still love talking to them in these ways, it doesn't make up for losing face-to-face time with them.

Family, in my opinion, is a number one priority.  I don't know where I'd be without my family - and, honestly, I don't want to know.  There are certain members of my family that I talk to every single day, and those people are really important to me.   And while I don't necessarily get along with everyone in my family, that doesn't keep me from realizing that my family is awesome.  While some people might be slightly embarrassing, they're my family.  I think everyone at some point has been embarrassed by their families, and as soon as someone starts to make fun of your family or diss them in anyway, you jump on them and defend those you love.  Because you love them.  I know if anybody tries to diss my family members that I'm close to and that I love, I let that person know that it is NOT okay to do this.  My family is just so important and I will never put anything in this life before them. 

To me, a family does not have to consist of blood-relatives, and with that you don't have to consider every blood-relative family.  I know there are some people who treat you like dirt and don't think before they say stuff to you.  And as far as I'm concerned, those people aren't family.  Majority of my family are not blood-related, but I still love them all the same.  My friends are like family to me, especially those who have been through thick and thin with me.  I know that doesn't sound very meaningful, me only being 14 (and 3 quarters, thank you), but I honestly mean that.  Without my friends and family, I probably wouldn't be here, writing this, today.

Have a great weekend,
Hanna

Progress Report

(Me writing in Jimmy's ACUs *combat uniform*)

I finished chapter one tonight.  I feel like I just punched myself in the gut, but as my fabulous cousin told me tonight, it was a big hurdle.  A hurdle I most likely just tripped over, but a hurdle none the less. 

Number of pages: 10
Number of words: 2,922

You Didn't See Me

This is an awesome video I found via my Biker Uncle.  Bikers are people, and they are not stereotypical.  They have friends and families.  Look out for them while you're driving.  Motorcycles aren't dangerous if you know what you're doing - and most Bikers do.  What's dangerous is when people don't pay attention and look out for motorcycles and cut them off. 

And please keep in mind, that some of these men and women you see on a bike might be members of the Patriot Guard Riders - the wonderful men and women who stand for the ones who stood for us (our troops and veterans).  Please keep your eyes open while driving, and don't automatically assume that just because they're a Biker that they're like the bad Bikers in Wild Hogs.  Because most bikers I know, aren't.

I kind of suck

I've been back at writing for a week, yesterday and I'm already beginning to see how long I've been out of the swing of things.  Not only is my writing not really flowing, it's just really hard for me to sit down and resolve to write.  It's not because I don't love it, because I know I do.  I don't know if it's just the subject matter that's seemingly keeping me away, or if I'm just not ready or what. 

I think a big part of it is school.  I don't remember ever being this tired after school last year - and I actually get up later this year than I did in junior high.  I don't know if I'm just not sleeping well or if I'm just mentally exhausted and haven't ever had a chance to catch up on that, but that doesn't seem very likely.  All I know is, by the time I sit down and it's at a time I'm able to write (I like writing in the later hours) I just can't.  If you've been following my blog for a while, you might remember that this is something that I struggled with quite often with Solace during the months of school.  Finding the time to write is hard.  Especially when you have to get up so early in the morning, which requires a bed time around ten o'clock. 

I'm hoping that the closer I get to the end of my freshman year, the more I am able to write.  I still can't quite get my head wrapped around the idea of this story - that it's not what I'm used to writing.  It's scary, but kind of exciting.  There's no guideline to follow this time, as where when I was writing Solace I was in the second draft and already had a pretty good understanding of who my characters were and what they needed and where the story was going to take them - or where they were going to take the story.  And while this novel is largely a true story and is largely clear in my head, that seems to make it harder.  I need to make it good and I need to make sure it makes certain people happy (which, could out to be harder than I thought when it comes to certain people - but I can't leave them out).  Not only this, but I have to make sure that I honor Jimmy and don't let him down, in a sense.  It's just...new...and as we all know, Hanna does not deal very well with change.  So here's to hoping I get that worked out as well. 

But let me just put this into perspective for you.  I've been back to writing for eight days.  And in those eight days, I've written more on that first night than in the total time I've been writing.

So, yeah, I kind of suck. (Too bad it's not in a cool vampire-ish way :-< )

Hope you all have a wonderful week and TUESDAY'S ALMOST OVER!!

~Hanna~