Welcoming in 2012

Hello all,
Y&R here.  Welcome to 2012....well at least for all of us here on this blog. :)  Trying to keep up with this busy life and this blog can be challenging at times.  But here is Hana with the updates :)
Hey y'all, Hana here.  What a busy last few months.  Life has taken a whirlwind since Jan. 1st of 2012.  Lots of students to teach, which I feel very blessed about.  A husband to look after, since we all know he needs a little help j/k ;), and an ornery dog to put back in her place.  I have had the opportunity to play gigs at a couple different places already this year, which has been great.  One place is already begging us to pick dates for April, May, and even June.  That is so exciting!  February came in a rush, and it was already time for my bestie Audrey to come into town, Valentine's day, and a big reflective period on my behalf.

So first off, I got a little bit of home Nashville in my life a couple weekends ago.  Audrey came to town!!!  This is the first time she has been here since July.  Crazy I KNOW!  We had a lot of good times, had lots of great talks, and mostly enjoyed doing things together.  It's hard to leave your friends behind....especially now that we all have our own lives.  I miss all you guys, Audrey, Terra, Megan, Nicki, Lauren, Lindsey, Jessie, Jess, Jeff,  Justin, Amy, and so many many more.

Valentine's Day, was great!  For Wes, I made him a scavenger hunt of some of his favorite things.  And when I got home from work waiting for me were beautiful roses, a card, and inside the card was a certificate for a couple's massage. :)  Super exciting!  And since I had to work on Valentine's Day, we went and had a nice dinner at Bass Pro....I LOVE the aquarium in the restaurant...so we got to sit next to it and look at the fishes. :)  We also walked around and saw the ducks too!!!  Sounds a little cheesy; however, it was perfect to me :)

So big reflective period, all about figuring out what God's plan is for my life.  At church on Sunday, the lady speaking had a lot of great things to say.  The big message was "Listen".  Which she said was very hard for her to do.  The lady, being a micro-biologist, is more of a visual learner.  More so than anything she has formulas to solve her problems.  Well in the great scheme of God's plan....he wants us to "Listen" to that still, small voice, and most of the time there is no "Formula" to follow to get to the solution.  I am also a visual learner.  It's hard for me to understand "Listen" if I can't see what I am listening to.  I am a great listener for friends, or family; however, I can see them when they are talking to me.  So here I am, praying that I will understand where God's plan is taking me, and Granny reads me this article about "Un-answered Prayers".  And in the article the woman was plainly saying that sometimes God's answer to your prayer is IN the un-answered part of life.  She said that there has been so many times where she has prayed for some sort of answer and never received one, and she looks back now and realized that if she would have gotten the answer to her prayer, she might have been put in harms way, or she wouldn't have gone as far with the "quick" answer.  So with a lot of praying and learning, I am just taking life one day at a time, because that is all I need.  God will provide and take care of me.  And I know now, that my "Listening" might not always have answers, sometimes the answer is in the Silence.  

So until next time, Silence is not a scary thing, embrace it; however, if you don't like it...you can always turn the radio on :)

Tis the Season!

Happy Holidays Y'all!  Hope everyone is having a great start to the holiday season.  I know we are :)  Wes and I, and especially Lady are having a great time setting up Christmas decorations and getting into the holiday spirit.  We got the lights out on the house...which is very exciting for us.  Wes did a great job as usual :)  We also set up the Christmas tree (which is bigger than the last year's tree) and all the house decorations including the banister, fireplace, kitchen, and the bathrooms.  Whew that took a good amount of time.  Moving furniture to put up the tree, making sure we had all the boxes down with all the ornaments and decorations, and let us not forget making the home feel cozy and Christmas-like.  Putting candles up, and making sure that the home is filled with good smelling cooking.  Yes that is right...I said cooking :)  Well now it is all finally up, and what a relief it is.  It is nice to just come home and ENJOY the decorations instead of worrying that it wasn't all put up.  So I hope that you all enjoy your holiday season as much as we are so far.  Here is a few pics.

Lady hanging out by the fire!

Our beautiful Christmas Tree!

I couldn't resist buying these at the store to put on Lady...cute and funny at the same time :)  I absolutely LOVE it!!!

Stocking were hung by the chimney with care :)

Hello all

Hello everyone and welcome back to the readings of the Young and the Restless, aka me.  Well as you well know it's November...sorry that it's taken me awhile to write again.  I swear time just flies by and I don't know where it went.  But I guess that is better than just waiting for the time to go by.

So let's get down to it...I've been working really hard these past few months.  God has truly blessed me with an amazing place to work, wonderful co-workers, and a full schedule of students.  It's great to know that all of my hard work and dedication to my craft is helping others.  I love where I work!  Songwriting is going great.  I am constantly writing, and sending my songs off to different people to listen to and critique, and sometimes those critiques are helpful in so many ways.  So here's hoping that they find themselves in the right hands.  All of my gigs are going well also.  I'm getting several opportunities to play around town, which is wonderful...especially when I love to perform.

Married life is Wonderful!  It's the best thing in the world.  Wes and I have really grown on this journey and it's only been almost 4 months.  Which that is crazy to believe that we have been married for almost 4 months already.  To think what we will know in 10 years from now.  It's so crazy how time flies...Andrew and Shawna just celebrated their 7 year anniversary, and now have a baby on the way, mom and dad are at 30 years of marriage or very close, and both grandparents are celebrating 52 years of marriage this year.  Wow!  That is really an inspiration to Wes and I, that love reaches through time.  Thank you to everyone we know that has shown us what marriage and love is all about.  Picture from our wedding photo shoot...with all the instruments. 

Lady....well what can I say...she is a hand full but we love her. :)  As she rests by my leg, while I type, she is so calm and sweet.  She can still be a little ornery but hey...she's still a puppy.  She has become almost a champ when it comes to commands and being calm; however, she still has her moments where she freaks out.  She loves to play with the neighbor dog, Bentley.  So Lady's new thing is that if her and Bentley are outside on their leashes at the same time, she comes running to the door, bangs on it with her front paws, and just waits until Wes or I come to the door....because she wants off her leash to go play with Bentley.  As if to say, "Um excuse me, Mom/ Dad, I want to play with Bentley...can I play with Bentley, can I play, can I play please?????"  So that is rather amusing hahah!  Here is Lady with her thug hat on :)

Well until next time, enjoy the times with your loved ones....cherish every moment.

Whew...time to update!

Hello everyone...I figured it was time for a blog update.  So I told Hana to get on it...so here she is. :)

Hana here...hey everyone! Since July, let's see what has happened...well first off again the wedding was so wonderful!  Ummm...the honeymoon was AMAZING!  We went to Grand Cayman for about a week.  It was the most beautiful place that I have ever been in my life.  Water so crystal clear that you could see right to the bottom.  It almost looked like you were taking a bath in the ocean.  Wes and I had a blast.  We lounged on the beach a ton, took romantic walks on the beach at sunset, went on a sunset dinner cruise, swam with stingrays, snorkeled a ton, and enjoyed each others company while sipping on a beverage of our choice. :)

Work has been going well for both Wes and I.  Loving what we do, which is always nice to say.  It's really nice to work for a company that is excited for you and takes an interest in your ideas.  I love my job!

Let's see honeymoon(check), work(check), Lady....

Well Lady has been a character here lately.  Loving to be ornery and dig in the yard...but thankfully she hasn't dug up any of my plants though...which is good.  Cause I spent lots of quality time putting in new shrubs....hahahaha. :)  But really she is being a good dog...hasn't been doing anything too terribly bad...which is nice.  Here is a cute picture of her :) Her and her huge tongue hahaha :)

Fall is soon approaching and let me just say that I am super excited for it.  I love fall boots, long sleeved shirts, leggings with skirts, and most importantly hats and cute jackets :)  Well that's all the updates right now.  Until next time...Don't be afraid to take a leap of faith...you never know where it will lead. :)

It's official :)

Hello all...greetings from Y&R here. It's been a whirl wind of events happening around here. I'm gonna give this over to Hana to chat to yall about it.

Hana here...what's happening everyone? So first and MOST important...It's offcial Wes and I are married :) It was a fabulous day. The setting was a beautiful outdoor garden area in my Uncle Joel's back yard. The sun was starting to set and the glimmers of light were shinning through the trees...the grandparents and parents walk in, bridal party follows behind them, and Wes waits for me over the bridge. Dad and I open the door, start decending down the stairs, and then everyone stands and looks....here I am :) As I look over the bridge to my future I begin to get even more anxious than I already was. Excitment filled my heart and mind and I was ready to start the journey. Audrey and Corn sang/played "You're all I need to get by"...and I listened as I tried to hold back the tears....they were absolutly AMAZING!!! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect song that was sung. As the ceremony began...emotions started to rise...fighting back the tears of happiness....however I did break down during the vows....I couldn't help it. :) The ceremony went really well...Wes was very surprised that I wrote him a song that played while the unity SAND ceremony was going on. He loved it :) What can I say...that's what I do! After the ceremony we took personal pics...and let me just say that Monika did a FABULOUS job....her and Jason were amazing! Then we had delicious food and a "sand castle" Cake! Later on Wes and I danced...which was great cause he doesn't really like to dance a lot...but he did it for me :) We left after the dancing and stayed at a hotel for the night which was wonderful. All in all a Fantastic day and weekend.

Now back to real life...which hasn't been to bad adjusting back to. Lady is onery as ever...which I have heard that the 1 year dog days are like having a toddler running around the house...so if that is true Terra I feel your pain (only Lady doesn't talk or scream...but she does howl at random things hahaha). The living conditions have gotten better...I have finally gotten all the boxes out of our living room and put things in their correct places. YAY for me!!! :) I'm starting to feel more organized now :) Well nothing else is new...but I wanted to check in with yall. So until next time...Live each day to the fullest...you never know when it's gonna be your last. (especially today...Amy Winehouse died...)

Hey Hey!

Young and the Restless here.... Just thought that Hana needed another post during the week...don't you??? :) So here I am...your writer, here to tell the stories. So last time Hana got you caught up with her life and all the news that you may have missed. This time she has shared all the news with me...so I am here to relay it to you. Hana and Wes have had the opportunity to spend some good quality time together here in the past week. Which has been great! (or so she says)...:) Like she said in the past post...they have finished painting and now she is on to putting the house back in order. It takes awhile to get everything back in it's place...I do know from personal experience ;) hahaha Oh Hana just got here and would like to talk to you...

Greetings all...2 posts in less than a week...don't you feel lucky :) I do have to thank my creative writer...she keeps me on my toes ;) hahaha. So yes, like Ms. Y&R said...I am trying to get the house back in order since we have finally finished painting. Everything is pretty much back where it needs to go...only a few things left. It's nice to have it almost all put away and finished. The wedding is almost here...which I am absolutely ready for. I'm so excited to marry the sweetest, most wonderful man! Who is my very best friend in life :) Couldn't ask for more! We are anxiously waiting for the big day since everything is pretty much done for the wedding.

Lady is keeping us all on our toes..hahaha...I gave her a bath today which is slowly getting to be a better process. She does not really like baths very well; however, today she didn't mind so much. So maybe she is starting to like them now...who knows. I do know that she absolutely HATES having her nails trimmed. Wes and I have tried and tried to do them ourselves, and we have never made her bleed or anything...and she is terrified. So the past few times I've taken her to a place to get them done...talk about DRAMA QUEEN! The person does not even get anywhere near her and she is already howling like they are torturing her. It's really quite sad....I don't like listening to her do that(it makes me feel like a bad mom)---so I can't even imagine how I'll feel when I have a real kid. But that all comes in time...especially the kid part--whoa!

All in all, this past week has gone really well. We had a performance for my vocal kids on Saturday. Mom, Dad, and Wes came to support me. It was my first performance that I did alone, no other teachers, just me. Everything went pretty good...most of the kids were on their game, a few were terrified and nervous which affected their singing a little bit...but all in all...they did good.

Well that's enough for now...back to the creative writer on hand :) Thanks Hana....well until next time---Worry not about the things of tomorrow...live in the now.

Just thinking :)

So I'm sitting here and I realize that the stories from the Young and the Restless haven't really been updated in a while....so here I am...your writer. Previously on the Young and the Restless, we were recapping Hana's world. She has a very busy and complex life doesn't she?! :) But we find her now in the beautiful month of May- a little hot for my taste--but hey...I'm just the writer;). She has been settling in nicely after 1 full year here. Wow time sure flies when there is a lot of things that have been done. Let's recap the year....Hana can tell you a little more about it. Thanks Y&R.

Well I have moved, got an amazing job in my music field( which is so wonderful and I feel so blessed to have a career in my field), Wes and I got a puppy, we got engaged, and here I am one year later almost a married woman and never been happier. The wedding plans are pretty much all taken care of....which is so nice. All that remains is waiting for the actual day to be here...YAY!!!

Last weekend, I went and saw all my girls in Nashville. Bachelorette party!!!! HOLLA! We had a blast :) Audrey and Sarah threw me an absolutely amazing party! They really know how to have a good time ;) We had the party at Sarah's house...played lots of games(that made my face very red....and even one game that Wes answered questions to--and I had to guess the answers). We also went downtown, in which we participated in Karaoke, mechanical bull riding, crazy games that had us asking random people silly questions for points, and so many many more things. I cannot tell you how much fun I had!!!

Hummmm....Let's see... Wes is doing great. Working hard like normal, and making me happy as usual too :) We finally decided that we were going to paint our living room and such a couple weeks ago. And it is FINALLYYYYY DONE!!! Thank you Jesus :) We only had one thing left to do and that was the vaulted walls next to the stair case...and I am happy to say that we have that done too. A good friend of mine, Jason, came over and helped us finish it. He used to be a professional painter....So need less to say he did a fantastic job! :) Thanks Jason!

Lady is doing wonderful as well. She is 10 months old and still standing at 40lbs. A petite 40lbs :) Just when I think that she is starting to slow down and get out of her crazy puppy days...she decides to do something stupid like eat the foam stuff off the air conditioner pipe outside. I mean really...come on...then she feels sick and throws up. Isn't that lovely!??? I think NOT! Cause let's just say that Wes doesn't handle throw up very well...and who is left to clean it up...Me! Guess I know how real parenthood is going to be when that day come...hahaha. But she is a good dog though...she has her moments when I look down at her and she is calm, snuggling with me, and gazing at me with those cute puppy eyes...Those are the time I like :)

Work is great. I've started to gain some relationships with my coworkers which is nice. I like what I do. There has been some talk in my own head of going back to school to get a Master's degree. We will see if I have enough will power for that hahaha/ money hahaha :)

Well Hana sounds like everything is going your way. So until next time....this is your writer, the Young and the Restless, signing off....make sure you take time to smell the roses!