Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts

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

🍂 Drifting Leaves: Autumn Tag 🍂

 Autumn Grace at Shades of Art has tagged me for the Autumn Tag Challenge (how appropriate), and since autumn is in fact my favourite season, I'm quite thrilled :)

The Rules:
1. Download the cover photo and use it for your post2. Acknowledge the person who tagged you3. Tag others and comment on their blog to let them know!4. Slip into autumn vibes


And here are the questions!
1. If autumn isn't your favourite season, what is? And if autumn is your favourite season, why?
Well, it has already been noted that autumn is my favourite season - or rather, one of them. I suppose I love each season when it comes around, but I always get most excited about autumn. It's so cozy and delightful with tea and hot chocolate and blankets and scarves and fuzzy socks and reading by the fireplace and there's nothing else quite like it.
2. What is your favourite thing that you do each autumn?
I love cozy things. We decorate the house (sometimes, usually right before Thanksgiving which is far too late for my taste), I pull out the sweaters and scarves, and I can actually drink tea and hot chocolate without thinking about how it’s the wrong season.

3. What are a couple of your favourite autumn memories?
Something I love every year is getting to see more of my family around Thanksgiving time, and also baking and cooking a lot. It’s just so comforting and cozy to have warm apple pie and pumpkin muffins. Also, especially when it gets cold enough (summer likes to linger around where I live) lighting the fireplace and reading whilst wearing a cloak blanket is a delightful thing.
4. What book most reminds you of the autumn? Movie?
Hmm probably The Hobbit or Anne of Green Gables, both because they are autumn-y and are also best read while drinking tea near the fireplace.

5. What is your favourite drink for the season?
Tea, hot chocolate, pumpkin spice lattes
6. What is one new thing you want to do this autumn?
Despite all my violining and college audition-ing, I really want to have dedicated time to read and write for myself and also spend time with the LORD more consistently. And also drink as much cinnamon tea as I can get my hands on.
7. Do you decorate for the autumn? If so, how soon? If not, why?
Yes, my family does, but as I mentioned earlier, we take our sweet time doing it. By the end of the season, we’ve got pumpkins galore all around our entryway :D
8. What is your favourite way to celebrate Thanksgiving?
Making food. Lots of it. And consuming it in great quantities with family.

9. What colour makes you think most of autumn?
The colour of pumpkins. The colour of leaves slowly dripping to the ground. The colour of the sunset.
10. Type up a list of ten words or names that encapsulate the season of autumn for you.
- pumpkin spice- cinnamon- fuzzy sweaters- warm hugs- scarves- hardcover books- warm chili- hot chocolate- adventure- comfort
And I shall tag…
- The Hopeful Pen at With Joy for the Work- Ruth at A Bend in the Road- Eva at birds, sky, and stars- Iona at Story Blossoms- Olivia at Meanwhile, in Rivendell
And whoever else would like to fill it out!
Soli Deo Gloria,Hannah

    Read The Hobbit with me!

    there are things more beautiful than words can ever tell       I’m running a book club this year and our current book is the Hobbit - so I ...