There and Back Again

there is a time for the evening under starlight,

a time for the evening under lamplight

(the evening with the photograph album).

(t.s. eliot, the four quartets)

    It’s been almost two months since I’ve been here. Things look a little different (and not just because I redesigned the header). I’m a different person than I was two months ago, although I’m not quite sure what’s changed. I travelled all around the country auditioning for music schools, and then came home. And home is the same, but I am not.

    I have learned to love life more. I have learned to push myself harder than I ever would have thought possible, and I have learned when to rest. And most of all I have learned to place my trust in God no matter what. Some things might not turn out the way you thought they would, but His plan is better than mine.

    Even still, sometimes I miss gallivanting around the country. There was a sense of excitement to it. I’m going on an adventure. And sometimes I’m happy to be home, before I leave next year on another adventure.

    All that being said, all this traveling and this series of auditions is only a slight foretaste into what my life will be like starting next fall. Everything I am is going to go into violin. And that’s what I want. I’m not going to stop loving great books and having deep conversations - banish the thought! But things will be different. I don’t know quite how yet, because I’m still in the process of choosing a school (after getting back some exciting offers!) People who haven’t gone through this process won’t quite know how difficult it is - there are many more factors than one would think that go into choosing a school. (I may do a post on that at some point - it’s important, even if it isn’t very literary.) 

    I guess all this is to say that though I will be posting and writing, it won’t be as often. But I will never stop loving the things that prompted me to start this blog, and I hope to keep it as long as I can. In the interim, I’m starting to do some more writing again, and will hopefully post a lot more in the weeks to come. 

    I have only a few months left before I leave this part of my life behind forever and I am going to hold onto them tight until there is nothing left to hold. I am going to get the most out of them and cherish the memories. Of people, of laughter, of difficulties, of doing hard and good and beautiful things together. I’m going to miss it, this world. But I’m going to do something that I love, and I am going to do it well for the glory of God. And my childhood home and these friends I have made, they are not lost. I am only leaving for a time, like I have done before, and then I will come back.

    I will come back, and we will laugh together again.

In Which I Say Goodbye To 2025 (Featuring a life update and my book highlights)

It’s raining as I write this.

I will never not love the rain, I think. There’s something so calming and beautiful about it. I’d be happy if it rained every day.

This year has been… well. It’s certainly been. Joyous and sorrowful and full of laughter and tears and successes and disappointments. In other words, life. When I think about everything that’s happened, I see God in my life and I’m thankful. He’s good and everything will turn out right because of Him.

This season in my life is particularly difficult. I’m in the process of auditioning for major music schools across the country, and it takes a lot of dedication and no small amount of time. So if I disappear from the blogiverse for an extended period, it’s probably because I’m off somewhere practicing my tail off. 

Yet despite the difficulty, it’s still good. I get the chance to pursue a career in the thing I love doing most in the world. Hard things are worth doing. Perseverance.

But somehow I’ve also managed to read a good deal this year (thank the LORD!) In no particular order, I’ve compounded a list of my most memorable books of 2025. Enjoy!

1. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott*

3. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery*

4. Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery*

5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen*

6. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

7. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

8. That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis*

9. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien*

10. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

11. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett*

12. Echoes of a Silent Song by Amanda Wen

13. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis*

14. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis*

15. The Book Jumper by Metchthild Glaser

16. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë*

17. The Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot

18. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

19. What Comes of Attending the Commoners’ Ball by Elisabeth Aimee Brown

20. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

* = re-reads

Happy New Year!

Hannah

In Which I Indulge My More Rambly Tendencies

You ever get the feeling where you have so much to say but you’re not quite sure how to say it? I do. I try to keep a journal, but time, that cruel invention, runs away from me like Peter Pan’s shadow. Sure an’ don’t I know that’s everyone’s favourite excuse.

I was re-reading Emily of New Moon the other day - Anne Shirley’s less famous literary sister. Emily’s a writer, or at least she’s becoming one. Father Cassidy tells her to “keep on”. I remember that sometimes, when I’m not sure what else to do. “Keep on”. Keep going. Don’t you dare ever give up. You can become something, if you work hard enough. God knows how much I want that.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t.

I am a lover of beautiful things in a world that is often cruel. You see something ugly and you think oh, how terrible. You see something beautiful and your soul sings. Words move, music moves / only in time; but that which is only living can only die. Words after speech / reach into the silence. Only by the form, the pattern can words or music reach / the stillness, as a Chinese jar still / moves perpetually in its stillness.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Hannah

A Christmas Blog Tag

 Merry Christmas (again!) I’ve been tagged for the Christmas Blog Tag and this felt like a very fitting day to stop procrastinating that. (For obvious reasons.)

    Here are the rules:

1. Acknowledge who tagged you (Thank you, Lizzie!)
2. Answer the questions
3. Tag friends & notify them
4. Fill out this form to have your blog challenge post spotlighted on The Moonlight Wanderer’s December Newsletter! (Optional)
5. Have fun!

1. What are some traditions that you and your family have leading up to the holidays? And what’s something new that you want to try this month?

Let’s see… we get our tree around the end of Thanksgiving season, and continually procrastinate on putting up Christmas lights. On Christmas Eve, we go to our church service (my brother and I join the worship team with our violins), watch Miracle on 34th Street and wrap presents - it started as more procrastinating, but it’s become a fun tradition! As for something new… hm. We’re always do so busy that we’re kind of lacking in the decoration department, so it would be wonderful to do some more of that.

2. What’s your favourite Christmas recipe, food, or drink?

I’m a sucker for hot chocolate, apple cider, tea, and anything peppermint!

3. Every Christmas is different, and some years come with unexpected twists. But if you could have the perfect Christmas, what would the day look like for you?

Well, it doesn’t snow where I live, but if I had my way it would! We’d get up on the relatively early side, eat blueberry pancakes and exchange gifts, maybe take a trip to the mountains or something, and have a generally cozy time. And then we always have family over for dinner, which is really wonderful!

4. What are some of your favourite winter activities? (e.g. carolling, sledding, drinking hot cocoa)

Really all of the above! I love Christmas activities in general, and also reading cozily by the fireplace and exchanging gifts.

5. Do you decorate? How?

Like I said, I do wish we decorated more than we did, but we tend to favour candles and greenery and red ribbons and also some Norwegian traditions, because my family’s very European.

6. What is your favourite Christmas song or hymn? Why is it your favourite?

I don’t have a favourite, per se, but I do love The First Noel because it has an interesting and beautiful melody and also encapsulates the entire Christmas story.

7. What’s a gift or experience you’re really wishing for this Christmas? And what’s your favourite gift to give others?

We live about a two hour drive from the mountains and slightly longer than that from Sedona, and I do love taking road trips to see snow! As for what to give others… I don’t have a lot of time or money, and usually give people hand-painted gifts.

8. Describe some of your favourite Christmas memories. 

There are a lot, but some of my favourite include Christmas Eve services and time with family on Christmas morning.

9. What is your favourite Christmas-y book? Movie?

I love The Christmas Carol, The Gift of the Magi, and also It’s A Wonderful Life and really all old movies.

10. List ten words to that encapsulate the feel of Christmas for you.

cozy

family

Christ

candles

peppermint

apple cider

red

fire

snow

laughter

11. In your own words, what is the meaning of Christmas?

Christmas literally means Christ’s mass. It’s a time of gift-giving and remembrance and beauty and joy. It’s a time of spending time with family and eating good food. But most of all, it’s a time of worship and of glorifying God for the good He’s done for us.

And I’m not sure who’s been tagged and who’s not, so if you’d like to steal it, feel free!

Merry Christmas!