Hello, Halo

Not too terribly much to blog about. School is good, and I’m considering a double major more and more as the days go. Work is good. I got a raise last month and I’m pretty close to getting a promotion. Living is good. Brandon and Carrie are all gross and in love, and Bailey didn’t feel good the other day. She expressed that by shitting in my bedroom. But, she’s a dog, so I can’t really fault her. Apparently Travis had pnemonia last week, but he was sweet enough to stay at Libby’s and infect her instead of me. So aside from the headaches and the bug that Dannie, Tk and I seem to pass back and forth, things are pretty good.

Living arrangements for next year are getting figured out.. slowly but surely. Dannie and I drove around and looked at a few places yesterday. I believe we (Tk, Dannie and I) are going on a tour of two places on friday. Hopefully that goes well. Truly, I just want to find somewhere I’m going to be comfortable for the next few years. I’m tired of moving and I just want to be settled. I like it here, really, I do. But I feel like I’m living in a hotel. I haven’t even unpacked. And at this point, why should I? Just so I can pack up again in June? I HATE packing. But I hate feeling like I’m living out of boxes… or in this case, bags. Last time I moved I used garbage bags. So, while I’m adjusting to Ames, I know I’m not as comfortable as I could be. There are certain furniture-things that I need (and want) to feel more at home. I want to feel like I can decorate.. put pictures up, set knick-knacks out.. you know, those kinds of things.

Last night I was talking with Dannie and I came to a horrible realization.. for the second time. When I moved out of my dad’s house in August, I moved out. He changed my bedroom into a guest bedroom. It’s no longer my home. When I go back to Davenport for breaks and weekends, I’m a guest. That is such a strange feeling. And I’m sure that if I went to my dad and told him I wanted to move home again for awhile, it would be different. But right now I feel like I’m in this weird limbo. It’s kind of weird. I feel like I’m a still a kid in so many ways, but I’m not. I’m trying to be financially responsible. I’m trying to stay on top of my school work. I’m trying to take care of myself. By no means am I saying that I’m 100% self-sufficient. If you knew me last year, or even in the past 6 months, you know that I’m very emotional. I try not to talk about my feelings very often.. I don’t really like to feel vulnerable. Duh. Who does? But I would carry around all these feelings until they pretty much exploded out of me, causing me to feel vulnerable, out of control and physically ill. My stomach is so attatched to my emotions. But now, I’m trying not to hide. If I’m feeling depressed or pissed off or upset, I try to just address it and move it. Sure, I feel vulnerable for a bit, but it passes and I feel better. Taking care of myself emotionally has helped me to take care of myself physically, too. When you’re depressed you don’t want to move. You don’t want to eat properly. You don’t want to intereact with people. I’ve started cooking for myself (granted, it’s not the most healthy food, but it’s better than frozen pizza and oreos), I take walks, I make friends… some friends I never expected to make (but I’m so glad I did!).

So, it’s been a weird year for me. Growing up bit by bit, knowing that I can go back to my dad’s house if I need to, but I shouldn’t look at it as my home anymore. Knowing that my parents are always there to support me, but that I’m able to handle some things on my own.

I really have attempted to write, I just don’t feel like there’s much worth talking about. So here’s a list of what’s running through my head at the moment.

1) The Star Wars cartoon commercial that just came on has a charactar that looks like a Sims Edward Cullen.
2) I wish I liked school :P
3) I’m going to see my Grandpa tomorrow and I cannot wait!!!
4) I’m going to make a new wishlist because my BIRTHDAY IS COMING UP!!!
5) Yes, I’ll be 21. No, I will never get over loving my birthday.
6) Speaking of birthdays, Donny is totally taking me to see Flight of the Conchords. Because he is the best.
7) I need to do laundry
8) I need to do homework
9) I had a really cool dream last night that involved Peter Sagal, my mom, and Six Flags. It was AWESOME.
10) I was extremely sick on Monday.

Now, I shall elaborate.

Except on the Edward Cullen reference. I don’t want to talk about it.

I finally started going to a real college this year, and I still don’t like. Granted, it’s better than Scott, but I’m still having a hard time. It’s so stupid, because I love reading and I love learning and I love knowing things, but I do not love being told what to do! So, ifsomeone were to say “Hannah, I think you’ll really enjoy this article about the Zapara in Puyo” or “Hannah, wouldn’t you love to learn about the cancer epidemic in Tasmanian Devils?” I would totally do it! As it is, I’m being told “READ THIS ARTICLE” “READ THIS CHAPTER” and I simply don’t want to. Because I have to. Lame.

I fell a little behind this week. I must’ve been really sick on Monday, because I had a headache the entire time I was awake… but to be fair I was really only awake a total of 4 or 5 hours. I slept for 15 hours Sunday night/Monday morning and then napped throughout the day. It was a bad headache, too. One of those ones that makes you nauseus and hurts more when there’s any sort of light. Gross. So I missed class Monday. But I’m catching up today.. I thought I worked but apparently I don’t.

My birthday is coming up in 73 days. I couldn’t decide how to party it up, so I’ve decided to have several parties, because I’m totally rad. One in Ames, two in Davenport and one in Iowa City. Granted, one of those Davenport parties will be with my family. I’m going to ask my parents to come up on my birthday too… it’s on a Monday (I think) so they should probably take me out to eat. And this way they get to see where I live, which I know they both want. Donny is taking me to see Flight of The Concords in April too, because I’m his favorite. :D

My room is a sty and I’m behind on laundry. I don’t know how this happened considering I have a washer and dryer in my apartment.

Mmk. That’s all.

lovelove!

I slept for a total of 17 hours today and I’m probably going to go to bed for the night here in a little bit.

Buuuut, with one of the hours I was awake for today, I budgeted a little bit, and I think I can afford to buy myself a macbook. :] Now, I just have to figure out which macbook to get and the best way to transfer iTunes. :D

Classes started up and are in full swing. I thought I was going to be extremely behing in Anthropology 306, due to the fact that I joined a week and a half after classes started. I talked to the TA today though, and she was really cool about helping me make up the points I missed (which, realistically, was only like.. 8). Archaeological Anthropology is pretty cool, too. Matt Hill is pretty cool and his TA is a lot of fun. English however. OH MY GOD. It sucks so hard. Look, I’m an English major. I know how to write a paper. I promise. I’m so tired of reading these essays. No joke, we’ve read three essays and done summaries on them. One of which was called “How to mark a book”. I know how to mark a book. I know how to write an essay. I know how to successfully pass english. After looking at the syllabus, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s going to be looooong and shitty semester.

Oh well.

I think I’ve decided to double major (oh God!) in English and Anthropology. I’m pretty sure I would have to do fieldwork abroad though, in order to accomplish a major. Which would be really interesting, except that I get homesick so easily. I mean, for the first month I was here I was miserable. Maybe it would be different though, if I knew I’d be coming back soon.. But I’m also pretty sure there are options shorter than an entire semester. The TA for 306 told us about her work in Puyo with the Zapara, and oh my god it would be so amazing.The problem here, is that I don’t speak Spanish.

But wouldn’t that be incredible to work with the indiginous people? The answer is hell yes it would.

I’m sure that there are a million other studies I could do though, I’m just over excited about this one because I just heard about it.

Last night was incredible. But, I have to say, I’m a little bummed out. Kyle Riabko and Steffi D are totally dating. Hmm..

Yes we did!

EDIT: I don’t need a tailor to take my pants off. Just in. My bad.

So, obviously nobody thought my New Year’s post was funny, which is really too bad, because I, myself, was delighted.

I have to say, that last week was pretty much fantastic. Aside from the -40 degrees that it was outside, that is. Mostly I stayed indoors. Except to walk aimlessly around campus trying to find Curtiss Hall and the Food Science Building and trying to jump my car, but to no avail. Guess what I did.. I know you’ll be surprised.. I hung out with Tk and Dannie. Yup. I knew it. You’ve been blown away.

Last night the girls and I went to see Bride Wars, which was pretty much hilarious. The only thing that could’ve made it funnier (physically, anyway) would be Tea Leoni. She’s physically the funniest woman alive, I think. After the movie, we went to the boys’ place to irritate Jake, but he wouldn’t have it.

OH! Then I totally pwned Danielle. They have a HUGE bar in their living room, so I hid underneathe the shelf. Tk called her over and I grabbed her feet. I thought I was going to get kicked in the head, but it was pretty rad, anyway.

I wanted to apologize for being such a little bitch about Ames in the fall. It’s really not that bad. At all. Other than the EXTREME difference in weather (who was expecting that?) it’s actually pretty fun. Ok, Ames itself kind of sucks, but I kind of like it here. I really, really like Des Moines, and when the right people are around Ames isn’t so bad. Hey! We make our own fun! And, as soon as the 150 feet of snow melts, ISU has a really pretty campus.

I decided to drop my math class. When I originally signed up for it, I thought I was taking Math 201, which translated to something like pre-algebra. THEN, when I got to class, I realized it was actually Math 350, which translates to something about advanced proofs. Wtf? Proofs?
If x<y and y<z and z<x then x=z. Prove it.
Why? You just told me. It’s cool. No need to explain. No, really..

So I decided to drop it and pick up another class for my minor. At this point, however, I really might just double major. The credit differences are like.. a semester.

Now, all I need to is decide what I’m taking over the summer (probably math and human sexuality? I’m not really sure, yet). Living arrangements next year are in the works and possibly a different work situation. There’s another Walgreens opening in Ames.. hopefully a 24 hour one.. Then all I will have to do is convince everyone at my Walgreens to follow me to Ames..

What’s in store for this week?
No school tomorrow. Need to find a tailor so I can get my pants taken off [here is where that edit is. take my pants in!].
Political Science and my new Anthropology class on Tuesday. Then noottthhhiiinnnnggg.
Wednesday. Oh yeah. You know what Wednesday is. Spring Awakening. And business time.
Thursday I will be going on a date with Kyle Riabko.
Friday I will be packing.
Saturday I will give my two weeks notice. Kyle will still have a few shows to finish up, then he’ll come back to IA, get me, and we’ll run away together to New York.

So all in all, a pretty good week.

Hello all. I’ve decided to ditch the extended-thought-year-in-review idea. Here we go:

January
I was supposed to go to Columbia. Didn’t end up going. Bummer. Went to Scott. Asked for Bluebeard’s number. Got hit on by a married guy who bought scorpion-flavored drinks. Hung out with Shawna and played with some hamsters. Now, I present you all with a lovely picture of me pretending to be Ryan Cabrera.

February

I posted a lot of tiny blogs that were extremely vague. So, I have no idea what they meant, therefore, I cannot reflect on them. Sorry. Also, I decided I want to get published. Not necessarily that I want to get published, but that I will get published. Oh, and the ten things that I wanted to achieve: 1. Live in the big city. 2. Have my own column in a newspaper. 3. Be in a zombie movie. 4. Be in a People Plus video for Walgreens. 5. Marry Zach Braff. 6. Get published 7. Learn piano. 8. Weigh 120 pounds, be black, and have an afro. I could be 135 pounds and Hispanic with gorgeous curls, too… 9. Walk perfectly in heels. 10. Be on America’s Next Top Model.
With that being said, here is a picture of Samuel L. Jackson. He goes to Scott Community College

March

I wont tickets to Walking with The Dinosaurs, but then 97X gave them to someone else. Because they’re dumb. Spring Break. Fell in love with my International Studies professor. Oh, and because I was in love with my professor, I did exceedingly well on my IS midterm. OH, PS! Spring had a LOOOOTTTT of drama. I can’t even count how many fights I was involved in or witnessed. Jesus. Also, Some weird guy said some weird stuff to me at work. Specific, huh? Here’s a picture. Not of the guy at work. It’s some other guy.

April

I turned 20. Lots of birthdays. I had my party at Jungle Bungle, which was pretty cool. A lot of people came, and I received a rifle. And a pound of licorice. And a lot of Whitey’s. pretty cool. OHHH! And HANSON with STEPHEN KELLOGG AND THE SIXERS featuring KYLE RIABKO. The month Tk and I fell in love with boots and Kyle. Duh.

Who likes Sarah’s halo?

May

I grew a beard. That’s about it.

June
Tk and I  went to ADVENTURE LAND with NATE and SIX FLAGS without NATE! Oh, and I finally acquired a vacation day at work.

July
Dissapointing 4th of July. Some more fighting and drama. Got our shit ready to move. Had pizza with Chris, where he showed us his Hey-Are-You-Going-To-Walk-To-Your-Car-In-The-Dark-later face

August
Moved. I haaaaated Ames for like, the first two months. Adjusting ok, now, though. Went to Larz’ wedding. It was pretty much awesome.

September
Tk’s birthday. Oh, and Hanson in Minneapolis, again. This time with Everybody Else who I LIKED BEFORE HANSON DID. SUCK IT.

Tk and Isaac. They’re bff.

kind of scary, yes.

October
From what I can tell from my past blogs, october consisted of SK6ERS and me rebuilding the website.

November
Hanson again. Twice in three days. Once in Wichita with Jenna and April. And Thanskgiving. That was nice, too.

December
Christmas. It was totally awesome.

Movies
What Happens In Vegas
Walk Hard
One Missed Call
Prince Caspian
Twilight
Baby Mama
Four Christmases
7 Pounds
Role Models
The Dark Knight
Hancock
27 Dresses
Definitely Maybe
Shine a Light
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Sex and the City
The Strangers
The Happening
Step Brothers
Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2

Books
Too many to name, but I’ll list a few favorites
The Raw Shark Texts
12th Night
Twilight
Persepolis
Coraline
Music
Pink Spiders
Fratellis
Ben Folds
TREVOR JACKSON(!)
Everybody Else 1 1/2(!)
Katy Perry
Weezer
The Shins
I don’t know.. there were TONS

Classes
Anthropology
International Studies (with my favorite prof)
Literature
Philosophy
Adol. Psychology
Speech
Spanish
Env. Sciences

Rides
Raging Bull
Superman
Batman
The Timberworlf
The American Eagle
The Silly Silo
Some rollercoaster that was only kind of lame
Log Ride
Raging River
tilt-a-whirl… which I immiediatley regretted

Shows (music and theatrical)
Hanson (April)
Taming of the Shrew
Anything Goes
My Fair Lady
Bluebeard’s band the Feral Kids
Mindset Evolution
Hanson (September)
Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers (April)
Matt Wertz (November)
Bumpercrop
Hanson (November)
Hanson (November.. again!)
Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers (October)
Everybody Else (Septemher)
The Veronicas (September)
Everybody Else (November)
Everybody Else (November.. again!)
Matt Wertz (November)

Boys I Fell In Love With
Zach Braff
Stephen Kellogg
Carrick Moore Garety
Austin James Williams
Matt Wertz
My international studies prof
That guy at borders
That other guy at borders
Keith Olbermann
Andy Sandburg
Paul Rudd
And of course, my true and favorite love, Kyle Riabko

Roommates
Dad, although I’m not sure he counts
Jenn
Tk
Danielle
Reed
Brandon
Aaron
Travis
NOTE: Although there is a list of boys I fell in love with and books stating they are my favorite, I just want to clear up, that Kyle Riabko, Harry Potter and The Outsiders are still my favorites of all times.

Love,

Hannah

“I can’t tell you how excited I was when I heard you did get out of this town and are doing something useful.”

I got a text from an old friend yesterday. We chatted a bit, and this was said to me, among other things. Our conversation was short, but meant a lot to me. All I have to say is “Thanks”.

I’m working on a post-year blog-down. Expect something relatively soon.. but not too soon… I don’t always have internet readily available.
(Thanks to Boots, Kyle and Kit for the delightful phrasing. Ya douchebags.)

As many of you know, this year has been pretty rough for my family and I. A lot has happened, and while some of it has been really great, a lot of it has been extremely difficult. The past few days I’ve been sitting around feeling bad for myself and my family… This Christmas is turning out to be a lot harder than I had anticipated.

With everything that’s happened, it’s been hard to keep myself in high spirits, but I feel like I’ve done ok with it. Most of you know that TOMS Shoes is one of my favorite organizations. On November 21st, they released their goal of 30K in 30 Days. Obviously, this is something I wanted to be a part of, so I did what I could.. funds were low, but I was able to participate at lease a little. Today, via the TOMS Shoes Twitter I was informed of the status of the goal.

37,000 Pairs of Shoes. Thanks to TOMS and to everyone who has participated in any way. Once again, you’ve restored my hope and faith in people.

Happy Holidays, guys. And remember, Christmas isn’t the only season of giving.