3 years ago today...

Three years ago today, Tyler gave me the best Valentine's Day present EVER. He told me those three magic words--- I. Love. You.

For those of you who know us well, you may be thinking 'They have been together for WAY longer than three years, why did Tyler wait so long?'

Well friends, you are correct, we have been together SIX years. And you are also correct in the fact that Tyler did wait a long, long time.

In fact, when my friends realized Tyler and I had been dating for so long without saying the Big, Three, Scary words, they would ask me questions like-- 'Hannah, are you nervous he hasn't said it yet?' or 'Do you think he'll EVER say it?' or my personal favorite 'Oh my gosh, Hannah, he MUST have some serious commitment issues.' :)

Ok, so people never actually said those things to me... but I know they thought them! ha!

But Tyler and I had talked about it many-a-times, so I was very content with waiting. You see, Tyler had made up his mind before we started dating that in whatever relationship he was in, he was not going throw around the I Love You's and use them loosely. He didn't want it to mean something special. Tyler wanted his I Love You to mean everything.

With this in mind, I knew that if I waited patiently (me? patient? hard to believe I know) and if we allowed God to show us whether He wanted our relationship to be the real-deal, going-to-the-chapel type thing, Tyler would eventually tell me "I Love You." And I knew that when he told me that, it meant everything to him. And me.

So leading up to that Valentine's Day, Tyler had mentioned how much he had been thinking about what he wanted to do for me and how difficult it was for him to make a decision. But no where in my mind was I prepared for what was coming.

That night he gave me a heart-shaped book, cut out of red construction paper and filled with cut-out pictures and drawings. To be perfectly honest, Tyler doesn't have the best artistic ability, so it did have a 4th-grade-art-class-ish look to it... but I think that's what makes me love it even more! ;)

The front cover said "I love..." and the inside was filled with all the things he loved about me. Some sweet things and other just funny things that I do. But the whole thing was WELL thought out and written. As I'm flipping through the pages (and loving every minute of it) I still had no clue... really Hannah? Really? Yes, really.

Anyway, I turn to the last page and it said, with great big letter "YOU!"

I looked at Tyler and he took my hand and looked at me with tears in his eyes and said "Hannah, I LOVE you."

::Tears:: ::Gasp:: ::Uncontrollable shaking::

This is what I felt! ha! And for the first time, I said to Tyler I loved him too. I had seriously been waiting to say those three words for a LONG time... I may or may not have even practiced to myself a few times??? :)

I know you may be thinking 'I mean come on, after three years we already knew we loved each other, right' Well, yes. But we didn't want to commit in that way while we were still so young and starting off college. I think without actually saying I Love You, we ACTED on those words, instead of relying on just SAYING them. Does that make sense?

We didn't want the fact that we could SAY those words to be a reason that we stayed together, if we realized that it wasn't God's will for us to be together. I think it just allowed us to truly fall in love, without the pressure of saying those words before we were really ready. Ok, I think I'm even confusing myself a little. ha!

The thing that I think is so special is the fact that to this day, when Tyler and I say "I Love You" we truly think about the words we say and how much we mean them. We don't throw that phrase around loosely.

So, to my sweet Valentine, I LOVE You!!!!!

Dragging my feet to 23....

I knew it was my birthday when my Mom called singing the annual birthday song-- it goes a little something like this...

"Happy Birthday to you, You belong in the zoo
With the tigers and the lions, And the Monkeys like You!"

Thanks Mom! ;)

Well, another is here and I'm not sure I'm not totally thrilled about it.... in fact, I'm kind of freaked out! For the first birthday ever....I. Feel. OLD. Eeeesh!

It seemed every birthday growing up, I was sooo excited to say I was one year older. 'Yes, I'm officially a teenager! Yes, I can drive! Yes, I'm a legal adult!'

But now??? 'Yes, I'm in my MID-TWENTIES?!?!?' Eeesh... it just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? :)

On a happier note, I am soooo happy that this is my first birthday to celebrate with my husband! Not that we have any exciting plans, but it is nice to have him here and not 1,000 miles away in Ohio! :)

Also, I'm super excited to spend this weekend with my families in NWA! I will get to spend precious time with everyone and even a dinner with both families! I'm hoping for one of these bad boys for dessert!!! :) Shelby Lynn's please??? Yessssss.....


Now, on a completely SEPERATE note... I may have some really great news! I can't say yet what it is yet, because it's not official. But hopefully tomorrow I will be able to give some great news! (And NOOOOOO, I'm not preggo! haha, I knew someone would think that) :)

I watch for the commercials

Everyone knows today is the biggest day in American sports.... but for me? It's the pinnacle of American commercials! :)

That's right, friends. I don't care who plays, who wins, or who goes home crying. In fact, the only reason I do know who is in the Superbowl is because Kim Kardashian and Kendra from the Girls Next Door have their significant others playing on both teams. Sad and pathetic? Most definitely. But I have no shame.



Tyler cares even less than I do. He was more excited for the English soccer league games today (no surprise there). He's not planning on watching at all.

Me? I will be watching..... the commercials! As soon as that game comes back on, I'm switching it back to TLC. :)

I seriously L.O.V.E. the commercials though! They are always soooo funny! But my favorite commercial this year?? The commercial for Harry Potter World!



Yes yes yes! They will give a sneak peak preview to HP World in Universal Studios and I. Can't. Wait!!! :)

More Twin Pics!!!!

Ok, so I really had SOOOO much fun thinking of people's Celebrity Twins!!! Seriously, all day I could not help thinking of all my family and friends, trying to match them with someone. I'm afraid I used my best ones yesterday, but I think I still found some good ones....

Tyler and Tom Cruise... he has heard this since before we started dating. I'm afraid I don't see it too much, but in this pic I can really see it, right?


I have always thought my friend Sarah looks like Megan Fox.... which is like a HUGE compliment :).... but I"m not sure if she's ever heard this before.


I stole this from Amanda..... Chad and Woody Harrelson. I had NEVER thought of this one before, but I guess its pretty good. Although, growing up I always thought Chad looked just like Mark-Paul Gosselar (Zack) from Saved by the Bell....


Maybe its just in this pic, but I totally think Amy looks like Jennifer Connely, no?


Again, I stole this one from Amanda... I had never thought of this match, so I had to test it out. Actually I can really see the resemblance! Amanda and Molly from the Bachelor!


Ok Whitney, I tried....I REEEAAALLY tried. But dang, you don't look like anyone!!! HAHA! This was the best I could come up with! Alyson Hannigan (with dark hair only).... now this is definitely a stretch... :)


*** ALSO FRIENDS***

I have found something GREAT! MyHeritage.com You just sign up for free and they scan your face and tell you who you look like! haha Let me tell you, there are some pretty funny people that come up!

I spent a good hour testing it on all my friends and I kept getting some of the same people, so I'm no so sure how great it is... but hey it was fun to find who my matches were....

I think this was my best match overall.... I think its because we have long faces and smaller eyes, but I actually think this is a pretty close match... thoughts?

I guess its nice to know what I would look like if I ever decided to go blonde, right?!? Ha! Not very likely.....

My least favorite look-a-like??? JOSH GROBAN!!!! HAHAAH YES! Please note my 2 different look-a-like tests at the bottom of my blog... one of them listed JOSH FREAKIN GROBAN! Now THAT is funny!!!!! :)

Here is just another example of how funny this test can be.... Here is a screen shot of just one of the results...

Scott as Tony Danza, BABY HARRY as Grace JONES!!!!!! haahah, Dad as W Bush (not that bad, actually) and Chad as Owen Wilson.

Wow, talk about RANDOM!!!!

I am just having so much fun with this... last one I promise!


Ashley is Beyonce, Rachel as Brooke Burns, Me as Cate Blanchett, and April as Catherine Heigl.... now those are all good ones! (Although I'm not sure how accurate that are)

So everyone go to MyHeritage.com and try your own pictures! It can be pretty funny! Let me know who you guys look like! :)

Twins

For the past week, every one on FB has changed their profile picture to their "celebrity look-a-like." I think it's so fun to see people's celebrity twins! Most are very uncanny, but sometimes... well I'm not sure if every blonde is twins with Britney Spears. :) So this got me thinking..... who is my twin???

Now I have thought and thought about this and have just decided I don't have one... bummer. I have heard some random... I mean RANDOM... people, but it's never been the same person. I've heard Sarah Jessica Parker, Ashley Simpson (pre-nose job haha!), and Julia Roberts???? Now, I'm definitely not dogging on myself, but let's face it, I am nooooo Julia Roberts. :) Anyway, I guess I'm ok with the fact that I don't look like anyone... just means I'm that much more unique?? Ya, let's go with that. :)

But as I was thinking about twins, I've realized that I have soooo many Twins in my family and friends!!! Now I'm going to start with a few today, but I'm going to continue thinking and post some more later this week...

Here are my list of celebrity twins. And I have brag a little--- These are pretty stinking good! lol :)


Rachel, Tyler's sister, and Emma Watson


Mom, and Blythe Danner and Diane Keaton. I also think she has a little bit of Susan Sarandon and Sally Fields, but these are my top 2 pics, especially Blythe (mostly from "Will and Grace")


Jo Anne, Tyler's mom, and Jamie Lee Curtis, but only from "Christmas with the Kranks." The hair is was sold me :)


Now, I have heard this since "Titanic." I have also heard from friends that watching "Legally Blonde" was a little awkward (the scene where he hits on Elle) because they just saw my dad! haha! :)


I have said this twin since before Brooklyn was born! I knew while she was still in the womb that she would look just like Boo from "Monster's Inc" and I think she does!!!


Now later I'm going to post friend look-a-likes... so any suggestions would be welcomed! :)

Who do people say you look like???

Say a little prayer for me.... or a few thousand :)

So today I had an interview with Make a Wish. It was for a fundraising/events planning position, and quite honestly I thought it went really really well. I really felt like with all the questions she was asking me, it was easy to talk about why I would LOVE this job!

Now just to fill you guys in.... I WANT TO WORK IN NON-PROFIT! That has always been a long-term goal of mine. Now, I realize to some people this sounds crazy! There are definitely challenges with any job, and I feel like I'm aware of a lot of those challenges in a non-profit environment. However, I feel like the work I would be doing would have PURPOSE. Even after a bad day, I can go home knowing that I helped someone... you know???

And I mean, come. on. MAKE A WISH?!?!?! Shut up, that would awesome!


Soooo I guess it's pretty obvious that I really.... really.... REALLY want this job. I mean, any job would be wonderful right now, but this? This is special. This is a dream job! No, I won't get rich working there, but that's ok. It's more important for me to love what I do and know WHY I do it.


I won't hear anything for about 2 weeks, so just keep praying in the meantime-- I know I will!!! :)

After the Boxes are Unpacked

Last night I went to a bible study here in LR with a friend from HU. Fellowship is starting a new bible study for women who are new to the LR area and/or new to Fellowship. There were about 15 women there, anywhere from 22 to 60. Most were in their twenties, relocated due to their husband's jobs... that seems to be a trend, I have found.

The woman who is leading the study shared her story of moving over 15 times in 20 years of marriage!!! Now that is just crazy! She talked about the adjustments of having to find a new church, new friends, new dentist, etc...

We spent the night talking about how moving to a new place can really be an emotional process.... and to be honest, I never thought of it that way. After hearing other people's stories, I realized that I've had a little emotional void since moving and didn't even know it! I really think this class is God's way of fixing what I was unable to put my finger on as broken. (does that make sense? ha!) What I mean is, I knew something isn't right, but didn't know exactly what it was. Don't get me wrong, I really am glad to be in LR, but after being here since October and still haven't decided on a church home (hopefully in the next 2 weeks we will though! :)), not finding a job (still pretty hopeless), and still not making much progress in the Friends Department, I'm just a little on the restless side.

So I'm super excited to meet several young girls who are going through the same thing I am. We are going to read this book:



I think this will be a great read and am excited to dig in! Also, the class has 7-10 older women who go to Fellowship, so I'm excited to have their wisdom and experiences to go along with the book.

I don't say all this to be Debbie Downer or for sympathy... that's not it AT. ALL. I really am learning to love the area and having so much time with Tyler, but I'm ready to get plugged into something. Even if we decide on another church, I think this group will be such a blessing! I'll keep the updates coming!

In other news.... the Bible in a Year??? Umm..... I'm a little behind... Already!!!

I know I know I know... I need to jump back into it! In fact, that is my plan for this afternoon. I will get back on schedule. Eeesh, 3 weeks in and I'm already behind...