Mo' Money Mo' Problems.

I'm starting to realize this whole new world doesn't come at a wholesale price.

I'm so excited for the future right now. I have 15 days left Down Unda and I'm so anxiously awaiting home. The weather here is awful. I don't want to lay on the beach while it feels like I'm taking a shower as the rain attacks my face. What else is there to do when you're broke, jobless, and it's raining in Australia?

Think about how much debt school will bring you.

Well, thanks ladies. :).
You're a little early, but that's okay!

Oh, maybe that's just me? So as absolutely excited I am to attend the school of my dreams in 154 days[who's counting?] I can't help but think about finances. Choosing a $30,000 a year school I couldn't possibly think that it would come easy. Loans, scholarships, grants, kind donations from my loved ones...(that means you). As I've talked to my advisor he ensures me we will get this all figured out. He will help me the best he can. I have almost all the information he needs from me. Soon enough I will be choosing classes, looking at dorms, and before I know it I will be in a beautiful little town just outside the city lights of Seattle, Washington.

As stressed as I think I am, another part of me knows that I will be taken care of. If there is anything this new whirlwind adventure has taught me, it's that with faith, anything is possible. Sure things didn't work out here.Sure I gave up everything I had. Sure I was so distraught with the thought of having to come home because there was simply no other options. Sure I couldn't even imagine what my friend's faces and reactions would look like. I felt like a failure. But then I remembered I had the best therapist the world has ever known. Jesus. Amen.HOLLA....lujah. :). I've also started a little vlog on youtube if any of my readers are interested in joining in/subscribing/ giving some feedback. I think it could be a really good thing for a lot of people who might love Jesus but the idea of "church" just is not for them as well as anyone interested ;).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcvFvyaBZh4
(youtube URL for my channel)

I'll wait out the next 15 days. Come home.Get some jobs under my belt. Make mo' money. Apply my butt off for loans and scholarships and receive your lovely donations made out to the Hannah Going To College fund. I'm not worried. The rest of my life is just out of reach. 

154,153,152...

A Whole New Beginning

Turns out my whole new world was returning to my old one.


If you follow this blog or are my friend on Facebook you probably think I'm crazy at this point. I wouldn't blame you. "So let me get this straight...you left everything on a leap of faith only to quit your job, be broke, and come back after barely a month?" Yup.

Australia isn't where I belong, at least not right now. In the short amount of time I've been here I've experienced so much. I don't mean I experienced the outback, Sydney Harbor, or kangaroos. What I mean is that I've gone through so many emotions and confusion and frustration than I could ever imagine. This was "just a test". I watched a podcast last night with my friends here about worry and learning to be calm through the storm because it is only "just a test". This isn't the end of the world, God doesn't have something against me, this is a test of my faith. In this crazy time would I choose to worry and let my circumstance overcome me or would I let my faith overcome my circumstance.




Faith prevails over all else. God always has my back no matter what. I suppose you were wondering what comes next. Well you see this morning I had two options, as a matter of fact I had many options, none of them being coming home. I didn't want to come home, not yet. I wasn't starting Northwest University until next FALL, why would I come home to nothing when I could go somewhere else and still have my adventure before I set off to school next year? It just made no sense to me. Then God came through again. I got in touch with my advisor at NU and he informed me that I would be able to attend in the Spring of 2012 if everything went well.

My world
This changed everything. I now had 3 1/2 months before my dream came true instead of a whole year. It's my time to come home. Will I be back to Australia? Absolutely. I know that this is what I'm meant to do. I have the support of my best friend when I return as she has opened up her home to me until I can figure something else out. I have complete happiness and no regrets as I leave to journey once again to the other side of the world. I will be home September 12,2011. PERFECT. Three days before my birthday, which I'll get to spend with my favorite people in the world. 

Our dreams are completely overrated. God's plan is underestimated. 

Life doesn't wait for you, so stop waiting for it.

A whole new world can be seen by simply closing your eyes.

This is a fast little blog about how much we tend to take for granted. This adventure has taught me many things in a short amount of time. As I'm laying in the sun, experiencing the first truly beautiful Australian sun, listening to Hillsong and just being, I'm reminded that I have so much. Rather than focusing on all the things I have been yearning so much to experience while here, just sitting back and letting it all come to me I'm getting my spirit back. I've been so discouraged and regretful about coming here for way too long.

When I dream at night I dream of my friends at home and how their lives are starting over just as mine has. Maybe they aren't going halfway around the world to experience it, but God works anywhere. To those starting college, I'm so excited for you! It's definitely a different experience than anything you've seen before. It's the big leagues now. For those at Northwest, please get things ready and going for my arrival next year. I'm so ready.

It's easy to be stuck in the past and try to create what's to come, but to truly live for what is now and what's happening can be the biggest obstacle. Sometimes we just need to close our eyes and let life happen.

There's No Place Like Home.

I thought this whole new world meant leaving my old one.

I'm not so sure anymore if the intent I had coming here was ever the intent at all. In my mind I believed coming here would be exciting, eye opening, thrilling, set in stone, getting me away from everything I ever knew and opening my eyes to a whole new world, however, I think that is the complete opposite.

I've been thinking a lot today and I think my reason for coming here was not to get away from all that I had. Yes, it's been an extremely interesting few weeks. Whether that's good or bad. It just is. I've started to realize that maybe the reason I was called to be here was to see how people on the same Earth could be so different and more importantly to accept what I previously had. I think I took my surroundings for granted.

my home.my friends.my world.

I'm still in the process of figuring everything out. I don't have any money to get home. Things going through my mind if I stay here: what am I going to do? I know God has His plan and if it is for me to stay then I'll stay, if I need to come home. I'll come home. In terms of getting another job, it's a lot more difficult than I thought. The only real opportunity for me here would be nannying again. Is 6 months of something I know isn't going to pay well instead of coming home, getting two jobs, working my very hardest to start Northwest by Fall worth it?

One thing I would ask of all those in my life, just one thing...would be: support me. You do not have to agree with me. You can think I'm ruining a once in a lifetime adventure. You can think whatever you'd like. Please though, please support my decision. All I have been feeling from a lot of my friends is such negativity. If you don't understand what is going on, please ask me. You still not might understand fully why things are the way they are, but like I said, just be there for me and don't make me feel like I'm not trying hard enough and like a failure. One friend started on Facebook a "FREE Hannah" campaign. It's incredibly sweet and I appreciate it more than anything. I wont give up here. I'll keep trying to understand if being here is even my intended purpose. I pray so much that God shows me where I'm supposed to be. I'm beginning to think that

A whole new world was something I created

rather than focusing on the

Creator.

In Transit.

A whole new world is around the corner from confusion and just behind frustration.

In my stagnant stage of this journey at first was extremely unsettling to me. I have always had the mentality of needing to be entertained always and have things happen when I wanted them to happen. I keep forgetting I believe in a God who has His own timing and direction. 

I've been here two weeks and I'm missing people more than ever. I knew and I know that I can do this for six months without feeling "homesick", however, I thought that meant having more contact with back home. Just the thought of having the people I love thinking of me gives me comfort. I crave their communication in whatever way that may be. Phone calls, text messages, heytells, Facebook, anything. Between all that's been going on since I've been here, all I want to do is talk to home and feel the comfort of normalcy. I'm constantly checking my phone and my Facebook in hopes of hearing a familiar voice or seeing a familiar name. 

Besides all of the complaining I could do about this place, maybe I'm not looking close enough into why God has opened this window for me. It's hard to be truly thankful and grateful for what we have. We are never completely satisfied in what we do. This is where I have noticed God coming into the picture. While I'm here trying to create my own destiny, I'm missing out experiencing the true paradise of this unknown world. Everything I've complained about while here have all been man made, man created, man destroyed establishments. The one place I've gone continuously and have truly seen beauty and a glimpse of the reason I'm here is at the ocean shores. Laying at the foot of a vast and mysterious ocean I'm not troubled or stressed. 

I go to the Hillsong church again tomorrow morning for the Sunday service and I am beyond excited. Something about Hillsong has always resonated with me. They to this day are the only band that I could listen to all day every day and never get tired of hearing it. Every word they sin, I get chills. i FEEL God when I hear them, it's absolutely stunning and a feeling I could never explain. The mixture of their incredible voices and their unbelievable love for God make them so appealing. 

Speaking of Hillsong. In this time of transition and figuring out where I'm going on this journey I have one place on my mind: Sydney. I'm looking into nanny agencies down there to hopefully find a better fit and actually prosper financially.

Her and I definitely need actual pictures of just us
together. Don't mind the crazy person in the back.
We don't know him.

 Back to why this has anything to do with Hillsong. One of my very dearest friends, Devyn 'DEVO' Johnsen is attending the Hillsong College there. I am so excited and am really hoping thats where God wants me to be! Let me go off on a little DEVO tangent real quick hurrr now. Miss Devyn Elise has become one of my greatest friends. I still to this second can't even believe we are friends. 1 year ago I felt the exact opposite way of how I do right now. I told her this, but I really think we are a prime example of the miracles God creates for us to see every day. I'm so blessed beyond belief to have her and people like her in my life. I can't wait until she is here with me :).

Next. So I've been thinking tattoos once again….;). In my head I keep fighting with myself. I keep thinking about other people. What will they think? They probably think I have too much. They probably will think I'm weird. They they they. I personally think there is nothing wrong with tattoos. I think that getting them JUST to get them could be a little overboard. However, they are a form of expression. They are kind of like Facebook. You put things all over your wall. If you don't want anyone to see them, then don't put them up for everyone to see. You can learn a lot about people by what they look like. Whether that be how much makeup they wear/dont wear, style of clothing, and tattoos. I've been trying to decide what I wanted for quite awhile now. I've had ideas but this one kept creepin' in the back of my head. I think the reason I kept it back there was because I felt like more words on my body would make me look like a novel. If it is done the correct way, I know that I won't worry so much about it. Another thought in my mind was: both of my other tattoos are clearly symbolic and unique in their own ways and this one would not be as in depth as the others. Once again, the more it resonates in my mind the more I know it's what I want to do.

Oh…you actually want to hear the idea? My bad. So I want a cross (how cliche, I know), with the word Overcome under it or around it or however I see it fit. Why 'overcome'? God overcoming the cross for me.Overcoming hurdles in my life with God by my side. The things I will overcome through Christ and Christ alone. Overcoming my fear in this current journey. Overcoming what the world wants for me. I could go on all day. I've been thinking my wrist is where I want to put it, but I'm so nervous to put it on my arm. I don't even understand why. Is it because it's too noticeable and out there? That brings two things to my brain. If I was ashamed to let people see it, why should I get it if I keep it tucked away scared of what the world thinks and I have a tattoo on my chest for the whole world to see unless I'm wearing a turtleneck and I'm scared about my wrist? That's just silly. Anyways. Those are my thoughts. 

Week two down under and still sitting in transit is getting less unsettling to me. I'm starting to understand that there really is something here that was specifically planned for me, by Him, and I just need to trust Him more now than ever before.

Start listening to what He has to say.

Strong Enough.

A whole new world can be connected when you let God take the reigns.




So as most people know, or at least anyone who follows this blog, I'm in Australia! Yeah, sounds exciting, I know. I've been here just over a week and I'm not so sure. God works in mysterious ways that we will never be able to wrap our heads around.


My journey began when I felt I was being called to Australia, for whatever reason that might have been. I took a huge leap of faith. I gave all my earthly posessions and worries to the One who turns water into wine. I knew that whatever purpose I had in going there would all be part of His master plan. So, I arrived and was so excited! I was on the other side of the world. I still haven't been able to grasp the thought of that. Moving on. I arrived and was greeted by the family with open arms! I was ready to take on this new journey and learn so much about myself and the world around me. 


AND...here is where some people might or already have had their speculation about.


In the short span of a week I have made to what most people might call a hasty decision. I'm transitioning out of the currently family I nanny for. The reasons for me doing this are in abundance, and not really anyones business :). Am I coming home? Not yet. I have been so blessed with an amazing family who is 100% behind my decision and are doing all they can to ensure that I'm happy, safe, and valued while I'm in Australia. Last night I went to the Hillsong Church in Brisbane and felt God SO much. I knew in that moment that it was where I was supposed to be with who I was supposed to be with.


You must
You must think I'm strong
To give me what I'm going through

Well, forgive me
Forgive me if I'm wrong
But this looks like more than I can doOn my own

I've learned to lean on God now more than ever. We CANT do things on our own. It's okay to ask for help.

The most negative criticism I've gotten throughout this whole ordeal would be, "Hannah this is irresponsible." Is it though? Is it viewed this way in the eyes of the world? Is it more important that I be responsible to the plans God has for me or what the world thinks? God always PWNS. 


These lyrics have been so engraved into my head the last month.


You are more, You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord, You are Lord
All creation will proclaim
You are here, You are here
In your presence I'm made whole
You are God, You are God
Of all else I'm letting go

Oh, I'm running to your arms
I'm running to arms
The riches of your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

My heart will sing
no other name
Jesus, Jesus


NOTHING compares to Your embrace, Light of the world.




forever reign.

Bird's Eye View.

Who knew perspective could transport you into a whole new world?

The day is finally here. This is the day I begin my journey of a lifetime. One day I will tell my kids and grandkids about the amazing adventure I embarked on when I was "young and free". 

I woke up this morning at 6:39 due to immense excitement. I tried filling my time with long overdue homework, Facebook, and just sitting. I thought maybe it would hit me this morning that I was in fact ACTUALLY leaving. I said more goodbyes and so happy to have the last couple hours of my time at home with some of my best friends.

We arrived at Spokane International Airport right on time, got me checked in, and through security. As I tumbled through the metal detector and re-collected my liquids and electronics, I looked back at my beautiful friends. I'm quite proud of myself actually for not crying, as that's all I know how to do lately. I finally boarded my tiny plane, destination:Seattle.

I finally arrived in Seattle. I had just successfully survived my second ever airplane ride (1st was when I was two years old). It wasn't everything I thought it would be, but I definitely got a rush of excitement as I saw our shadow elevate into the sky and out of all I've known for the last 7 years. As I looked out the window, everything looked SO small. I had never actually looked at something from bird's eye view.

I felt free. I felt like I was playing house and I controlled this little, make-believe world below me. As the clouds we're just at my fingertips and mountain tops just past my reach I knew this journey was becoming a reality. I just felt a little bit of turbulence in the plane and my heart jumped. Just following my scare, John Wall began to play on my ipod and all was well in the world. One more hour until I land in the place I called home for 11 years and haven't seen since moving to beautiful Idaho. Cali baby. Sure I can't leave the airport and experience all that I've missed, but the terminal will do just fine.

The view flying above LA made my face temporarily glued to my window. I couldn't believe how incredible it looked. I cant wait to go back someday! LAX is close to a war zone. I was there 3 hours before my flight and STILL almost missed my airplane Finally onboard and ready for FIJI! Apparently I missed the memo on how to lean my seat back. Needless to say, I was the only person on t he plane awake the whole time :). Finally in Fiji. Most beautiful place in the 

 WORLD…well thus far :). The man sitting next to me on the plane talked to me the entire four hour flight. He and his church are part of this organization against violence towards women. He reminded me that I have rights under women and that God doesn't see me as a gender, but as his prize.

What made me most excited about our talk was that I never  told him I was a Christian. He just knew somehow. I thought that was incredible. It made me happy :). FINALLY off the plane and TOUCHDOWN, hello australia :). I found my family and off we go! So far so good[that seems to be my motto on this adventure thus far]. We went to Seaworld and had a BLAST. The kids and I are bonding amazingly already and the parents are great! Official first day, first stop:church. There is an American singer coming to play in worship today! SO excited. Until next time. <3