Home with the Hahns: May 2012

Hello All!

I can't believe how long it's been!!! If I was to catch y'all up on everything that's gone on since my last post 10 months ago, it would be a very longggggg post, so instead I thought I'd summarize it all up in a few bullet points:

We had our 2nd wedding reception in August (celebrated with family and friends up north)
We had our first married Thanksgiving which consisted of us staying home and having a friend over from church- I made a full homemade thanksgiving meal consisting of appetizers, a crock pot roast, mashed potatoes, 3 pies, and so much more! - for 3 people :)
Andrew and I had our 1st married Christmas with my parents and brother in Massachusetts and it was the BEST Christmas ever! We had an amazing time as a new family of 5, made lots of memories, and had tons of laughs
In January, Andrew and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary! Looking back, we had a great 1st year which was relatively smooth and full of wonderful newlywed "firsts"! In typical married people fashion, due to miss-communications we had a rough day trying to celebrate 1 year, so we had a "do-over" the next day! The great thing is that we'll be married for the rest of our lives, so we're continually making memories, some good and some not so good, and learning a lot from them!
Also in January, we went to Las Vegas with my cousin and his girlfriend and as I thought, I am NOT a Vegas person. The food was amazing and there's a lot of beautiful architecture, but casinos and all that comes with it are not my cup of tea. On the positive side, we had some great laughs and saw some neat things!
Since January, Andrew has started a business here which has a lot of promise, but to be honest has been really hard for me. Even now it's a constant struggle to not be bitter about so many things that come with starting a business. It keeps me praying daily and realizing how heavily we need and depend on God. We have also had a lot of moments since then where we have seen God's supernatural provision for us, so now we continue to pray for blessing on his business and God's guidance in our life.
I spend this semester student teaching twice a week, working three times a week, and in classes once a week which totaled about a 50 hours "work week", so I was VERY relieved when teaching ended and then classes ended, which leads me to my exciting news...
I'M DONE WITH MY UNDERGRADUATE CAREER!! I was planning on graduating in December but I decided to graduate without my teaching certification, since my goal is to be a speech therapist, so it saved me money and time, and allowed me to graduate earlier. So now I will be walking in August and cannot wait!

I know that's a lot, but I think it's pretty summarized up! Now on to recently update y'all...

About two weeks ago, our family lost a VERY important person...my grandfather, who I called "Dandy". Andrew and I were on our way to a gun show (yeah we're Texans) outside of Houston when we got the call that my grandmother found my grandfather in the yard and he was gone...it immediately took my breathe away and all I could say was "no" over and over again. I still to this day don't feel like he can be gone. He was in great health and this was all so sudden. I was privileged to see his body in the hospital and kiss his head while it was still slightly warm, which is something I will cherish forever. Those next few days were some of the hardest ever...I spent that first night sleeping next to my grandmother, which was wonderful and painful at the same time. I think we maybe slept for an hour...we cried, reminisced, and cried more...because it took the rest of our family a day or two to get to Houston, my sweet uncle and I took over making lists, making calls, helping with arrangements, etc. I truly believed all of this was my way of grieving...it allowed me to stay busy, but still face the reality of what had happened...I know I'm young to be a part of things like funeral plans and writing obituaries, but I know my Dandy would have been so proud of me and grateful that my grandmother didn't have to do all of that. I ended up being there for a week straight before going home for just one night.

My parents are now back home and most relatives are back to their normal routines, and the rest of us are trying to figure out how to go on without him here. I have been privileged to stay with my grandmother on and off this last week which I have LOVED. It's hard without him there, but it means so much to me to be there with her. My grandparents truly are my WORLD and if you asked me two weeks ago, I would have told you I believed they were immortal. I was blessed to be so close to them and know them not only as grandparents, but people. Dandy was an AMAZING person. He lived a righteous and pure life that yearned after the things of God. He was a godly husband, father, and grandfather and thought of everyone else before himself. There's so much more I could say, but to sum it up, he was a righteous, wonderful, loving, artistic man and they don't come like him anymore! These last two weeks I have seen God in so many memories we have made. Dandy touched so many lives, and so many came to know Jesus because of him. I can only hope one day people will say something like that about me, which gives me A LOT to aim for! If y'all want to see pictures of him and know more about him, you can see his obituary at here!

Okay, that was a long post, so I'll conclude by adding some pictures that relate to this past year. O and on a side note, last week I interviewed for my first after college "big girl" job and got it! God is so good!

Hope y'all enjoy these!