HOW IS IT ALREADY THE LAST WEEK IN APRIL?!

HOW IS THE SEMESTER OVER AND STEPHEN ALREADY GRADUATED?!

HOW IS LYDIA ALMOST SIX MONTHS OLD??

...These are the types of questions that have been swirling around in my mind the last couple days. Time, man. It's a crazy thing.

I'm not exactly sure why I've been so terrible at blogging this month. I'd been doing pretty well with my resolution to do Merry Happy lists each Monday, but then it was like EVERY post I did was a Merry Happy post and it started to feel awfully repetitive. I wanted to switch things up with some new content and I've been mentally drafting posts in my head for weeks, but life has just been flying by so quickly I started feeling really behind and overwhelmed so I've kind of avoided blogging! Ha. The good news is I have officially discovered how much less time it takes to do an Instagram post so I've really amped up my game over there (feel free to follow along @freckledhan).

April has been busy, but it's funny because now that I look back at it I can't remember what I was so busy with! Haha. Photoshoots, Lydia getting over her first ear infection, baby showers, a rained-out BBQ, a really fun BYU grad night (at which we managed to lose BOTH of Lydia's pacifiers), Cafe Rio (did you expect any less? haha), a drippy faucet that turned into an extremely leaky faucet, and of course graduation! (I'll do a separate post about that one, promise.)

The start of next week we officially begin our "homeless" stint of the summer, but are excited because that just means quality time bugging family, right? ;) Although I can't promise anything, I'm optimistic May is going to be an excellent month for blogging :)

_ _ _ 

han.

^^I love this picture because it clearly shows how distinct Lydia's eyes are and how different the color is from mine! haha

I learned about the app 'Periscope' about a month ago. Periscope allows people to video-record themselves talking about something and their followers can comment on the video in real time for all of the followers to read. (Sorry -it's hard to explain, but hopefully that made sense haha.) I've been watching other people's "scopes" since shortly after I learned about the app, but it wasn't until a week or so ago that I actually considered broadcasting something myself. The idea terrified me beyond all belief - which weirdly just made me want to do it even more! haha. Usually I want to stay away from things that scare me, but for some reason this was also really exciting! Thankfully Stephen was beyond supportive of the idea so last night at our weekly Cafe Rio date (haha...not joking..) he helped me brainstorm about what I could talk about. 

Most of the people I follow on Periscope are "famous" to some degree. A lot of them have very popular fashion, food or lifestyle blogs, or instagram accounts with thousands of followers. I also follow a lot of Utah Photographers who periscope about photography tips and funny stories. Although I have a blog and have recently gotten into photography, I do not feel like I am an expert in either of these areas yet so I'm not in a place give advice about that stuff, but one thing I do know a lot about is myself, haha, so I took about 10 minutes to introduce myself :) I was so scared at the beginning! I felt like I had no clue what I was doing. But after a few minutes I kind of got into the groove and even though I looked up to the right wayyy too many times (as I learned from watching the replay, haha) it was actually really FUN.

On the broadcast I shared 5 things:

1.) How I got into photography/videography 

2.) A little about teaching 6th grade 

3.) Lydia & being a mom

4.) First impressions of Stephen + a reallly quick rundown of our relationship

5.) How I feel about leaving Provo (and some of the thoughts I shared in this post)

Overall I really enjoyed the experience and I'm flattered that a few people have told me that I inspired them to scope! I'm by no means an expert, but if you're working up the nerve to do your first scope here are just a few quick tips! 

1.) Decide what you're going to talk about beforehand and have a list to keep you on track, keep it short + to the point

2.) Don't expect anyone to watch it live or to even get many replays. My goal for the first time was just to do it. It was really fun that my friend Lucia hopped on, but I was 100% expecting to be talking to myself the whole time (which is partially why I panicked when people I didn't know showed up! Thankfully they left a minute or so into it). 

3.) If you're nervous - snapstory first! I know, I know! I've mentioned snapchat on here so many times lately that people are probably starting to get sick of it hahah, but I feel like doing Snapstories the past few weeks has helped me feel a lot more comfortable filming myself, so when I was on periscope it wasn't nearly as foreign as it would have been otherwise. Like, a few weeks ago I was super self-conscious about filming myself so I would never talk in my snaps and Stephen told me he thought it was weird that I wouldn't talk in them so I started talking in them while filming Lydia, and now I'm totally comfortable just chatting away at the camera like it's a old friend!

If you want to catch my scope, you can view it using this link for the next 19-ish hours! (all scopes auto-delete after 24 hours.) https://www.periscope.tv/freckledhan

DISCLAIMER: Periscope is a relatively new app and I've had to block a dozen or so users that had nudity in their profile pictures. It's REALLY gross. Also I've been watching other people's scopes when people will get on and start saying inappropriate things in the comments. There are plenty of really clean, entertaining broadcasts, but I just thought I should give that word of caution to anyone considering downloading the app. I personally have emailed the costumer service people about the problem and they said they are trying to get a hold on it, but to just please continue blocking inappropriate accounts. I think they've grown A LOT in the past couple months and just have more people using the app than they can monitor at this point. 

Let me know what you think! And if you have periscope, let me know so I can follow you!! 

_ _ _

han. 

Yesterday evening Stephen and I went on a walk. The temperature was a perfect 65 degrees and seeing all the blossoming trees at dusk was almost magical. I told Stephen that focusing on photography lately has really helped me appreciate the beauty around me. I don't think I've ever appreciated a spring more than this one because I'm always on the lookout for places to take beautiful photos and I'm constantly amazed at how many incredible places there are within a mile of where we live! Take this tree for example, it is exactly 15 steps away from our front door! 

(Naturally I had to take some pictures of Lydia because what could be better than an baby and a blossoming tree?!)

Both Stephen and I are already starting to feel rather nostalgic at the thought of leaving Provo. We talked about this as we wandered around the neighborhood last night. Provo is where we met, had our first kiss, where we've had our first (and only!) married apartment, and is the birthplace of our first baby! We love Provo! And yet, at the end of this month we will move away and Provo will no longer be our home, but rather a place we once lived filled with many fond memories. We're excited for the future and the adventures that await us, but also really really scared! I have friends here. A routine. Plenty of people to visit if I need to get out of the house! Not to mention LoLo's and Cafe Rio are a mere 10 minutes away! haha. When we move, none of that will be the case. And to be perfectly honest, that is really scary. But I'm getting off track here because the point of this post is not to go on and on about "oh woe is me," because we are incredibly blessed that Stephen has accepted an awesome job in Salt Lake that we are both really excited about, we are incredibly blessed to have an aunt and uncle who live north of salt lake who have kindly agreed to take us in for a few months while we find a place to live up there, and we are incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to "bloom where we are planted" (sry I just felt that I had to include that phrase b/c in a post about moving and blossoming trees, how could I not??) - the real point of this post is just to say: WE LOVE YOU PROVO & YOU'LL BE MISSED! 

Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I found out a few weeks ago that (our favorite grocery store) LoLo's is closing at the end of this month and to be perfectly honest that fact that is making the thought of leaving Provo slightly more manageable than before. hahahhaha 

_ _ _

han.

^^Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback on this photo! haha, I feel like I should own up to the fact that I did my hair after I got home from church because I knew I wanted to take a nice Easter photo and I also borrowed this dress from my cousin FOR the photo (because it matched Stephen's tie soooo well) and only wore it for about twenty minutes because I was legitimately worried about ripping it. hahahaha At least you [hopefully] can't really tell in the photo ;)

seeing trees with beautiful blossoms // church yesterday (esp. sacrament meeting) // attending my aunt's sealing & seeing her so happy // the carrot cake my mom made // my mom being in town // my sister & brother in law visiting from washington // kierst telling me she watches my snapstories with her roommate // my cousin's bridal shower // making up my own rules to rat-a-tat-cat and teaching them to my nephews (who then taught them to my very confused mom and sister hahaha) // Lydia's snorts & growls // hanging out with Ann & Rachel in Santaquin // visiting the school I taught at last year and introducing my coworkers to Lydia //  playing "honey if you love me you'll smile" with my 6 year old nephew who told me he plays it with his friends at recess //

Stephen: "I should have warned you this salad has kale hiding in it. It's disgusting." 

_ _ _ 

han.

24

going on a walk with my friend Taelor and taking our babies to see the ducks // going to a BBQ at a friend's new house in Lehi // going to the senior send-off finance dinner with Stephen while Lys and Bon babysat Lydia // Bon showing me that 14 people watched my snap-story! I had no idea I could track that, but I felt pretty cool when she showed me ;) // watching a video on VidAngel to celebrate Leap Day // Lydia's 4 month check-up which was actually really sad (because SHOTS) but it was very nice that Stephen was there with me :) // Mim interviewing Stephen & Me for her marriage and family class

25

continuing my snapstory obsession and saving them at the end of each day to compile into a video someday (if you're into seeing wayyy too many videos of Lyds all day long, feel free to follow along: freckledhan) // going to the provo rec center with Madi&Lewis and taking Lydia swimming for the first time (she was pretty indifferent about the whole experience but I thought it was fun!) // ALISON'S GEM JAM &&dancing with THEALISON herself AND when she commented on my instagram photo of the event #starstruck // taking Lydia to the park and seeing how much she LOVED the swing // going to storytime at the library with Madi and Lewis // using free taco coupons at 180 taco // watching Stephen dance with Lydia at a wedding reception on Saturday

Booo. I failed at posting my list last week :( The silly thing is that I even had most of it written, I just forgot to post it and then it was Thursday and I decided to just combine with this week's. Hopefully I'll stay on top of it for next week!

In other news I woke up at like 4:00 am on Saturday morning and WASN'T TIRED, so I laid in bed for an hour brainstorming blog post ideas before falling back asleep. hhahaha. Totally normal, right?? ;)

_ _ _

han.

On Wednesday I went on a walk with Lydia. I've taken Lydia on walks before (though not many because the weather has been cold) but it was a beautiful afternoon and I needed to walk to a friend's house to return something so I decided to put Lydia in the stroller and walk over there. Lydia usually falls sleep in the stroller, but on this particular day she was totally alert and looking around. As we walked she busily looked in all directions with her mouth open just a little, occasionally letting out what I would call a "squawk of delight." Lydia is at such a fun age right now where little things that I don't even notice anymore are so fascinating to her. It's so fun to see the things that cause her to squeal with laughter (like ripping toilet paper or the sound of dropping a red plastic cup on the ground). Yes, kids are a lot of work, and sometimes at the end of the day I can't really think of anything I've "done," but I'm starting to figure out this mom life thing and I have to say, it's pretty great.

I snapped the pics above at the end of our walk on Wednesday, and they are my favorite pictures of her to date. (I hate to speak too soon, but it's looking like Lydia may have gotten her daddy's blue eyes after all, and I'm surely not complaining about that ;)) 

_ _ _

han. 

This year was the third Valentine's Day Stephen and I have celebrated together. I take that back, it was actually the second because hiking Angel's Landing on Valentine's Day last year was definitely NOT A CELEBRATION!!!!!!!! But I digress. ;)

We had a lovely dinner at Pizzaria 712 and then dessert at Rockwell Ice Cream Co. (I highly recommend both.) Since Lydia was born we have had quite a few friends offer to babysit for us, but I've always thought it was easier to take her with us wherever we go since she still sleeps a lot. For our Valentines Date we finally took some friends up on the offer and I am honestly surprised at what a difference it made! I've never felt like it was stressful to have her with us, but actually being able to give Stephen 100% of my attention and not worry about Lydia needing anything was quite refreshing! Two and a half hours flew by and we had the best time just talking and laughing (and eating delicious food, of course).

Even though I'm finally getting this post out almost month after Valentine's Day, something about "the month of love" made me reflect on our love story and I realized I've never really done a post about it. I enjoy reading other people's accounts of their "love stories" so I thought it would be fun to do one! ...Then I remembered that were was a reason I've never done it. ha. I've never been very good at not including everyyy SINGLE detail when I'm telling a story, and seeing as our "courtship" covers a span of about 4.5 years...thinking about writing all of it out is a little overwhelming! BUT, as I was thinking about it, I remembered a part of our story that I'd almost entirely forgotten about. A part that actually happened ON VALENTINES DAY, I might add.

You see, it was Valentine's Day weekend of 2010 when I first realized that I MIGHT POSSIBLY have feelings for Stephen KIND OF, MAYBE. I had known Stephen for about five months (we met the day after moving into the dorms in August) and had been friends-ish starting around November. It was President's Day weekend (and subsequently Valentine's weekend), and my friend Melanie and I decided to roadtrip up to Rexburg, ID to visit our friend, Alyssa, who was attending school up there. On the four hour drive from Provo to Rexburg, Melanie and I filled the time with what I thought was myriad of topics. Shortly after we arrived, however, Melanie told Alyssa, "Hannah is totally in love with this guy named Stephen, she basically talked about him for two hours on the way here." I was SHOCKED! What was she talking about?! Sure maybe I had mentioned Stephen's name once or twice in the car. MAYBE I had told a funny story or two about a conversation we'd had after english class. And possibly one pertaining to the ridiculous inner-tube waterpolo team we were on. PERHAPS I had alluded to the fact that he had the most beautiful blue eyes I'd ever seen. But FEELINGS for him?!! WAS SHE CRAZY? Yes. She must be crazy.

I opened my mouth to defend myself and tell her she was being completely ridiculous when I stopped for a second and realized that maybe I HAD talked about Stephen for a good chunk of the car ride. NOT BECAUSE I LIKED him, though, simply because WE WERE FRIENDS. But Melanie's comment made me pause, and I didn't correct her, because in that moment I realized that she might actually be on to something...and boy oh boy I'm glad she was. ;)

_ _ _
han.

PS Shout out to Thomas&CeeCee for watching Lydia while we went on our Valentine's Date. Thanks guys!

cashing in our free burrito coupons at chipotle // having Alyssa and Bon over for dinner // receiving my "happy package" from Emily  // watching fixer-upper with Madi and Campbell // going on a walk to the park with Mad & 4 kids under the age of 4 // the WARMTH (outside) // BBQing burgers with our friends The Sheffields and Churches - we're sure gonna miss them when everyone moves this summer! :(( // bouncing (ever so lightly) on the trampoline with Lydia and making her laugh really really hard // trying "thai rolled ice cream" at Roll With It Creamery <-- I had the strawberry shortcake with nutella and I highly recommend it! // finding the PERFECT light-wash jeans at old navy && them being on sale // coloring in Lydia's eyebrows // Stephen's football intramural game where Lydia was ZONKED out and Stephen caught three touchdown passes // tying the string of a helium balloon to Lydia's buttons so she could have something to look at (it kept her entertained for like 20 minutes!) // monthly family skype&scattergories // posting to my snapstory and then making stephen watch it because he's one of like 5 people that follow me on snapchat (haha) // putting flower-sunglasses on Lydia // my cousin Sarah and her fiancé bringing us a delicious crockpot dinner :) 

"Let's write mommy: M-O-M." -Kimbal, age 4

A thought on happy lists: I've mentioned before that I have a hard time knowing how to be REAL (aka not "fake") on social media while also not bringing negativity to a space that already has too much of it. I don't do these happy lists every week to brag about how wonderful my life is or to make people think my life is better than theirs. Trust me - I have my struggles both personally (this week I made the goal to brush my hair everyday and so far I'm 2 for 2 which is already a drastic improvement from last week! ha!) and as a mom (last Thursday I accidentally scratched Lydia in the forehead and made her bleed - now she has a scab!) but I record these lists because it's a great reminder for me to focus on the little things every day that make me laugh and make me happy. I have an amazing life and I love it - but I promise it's not perfect! My friend Emily (who inspired me to start recording these) explained why she started writing them in this post . She learned in a class that people who make a weekly list of things they are happy about/grateful for:

-  tend to be happier and more satisfied with their lives

- are more observant and aware of the small beautiful things in day to day life that are normally overlooked

Isn't that cool?! It's such a simple thing and it increases happiness! You should try writing one and see if it makes a difference in your life,
_ _ _
han.