3 Semesters of College: ✓

It has been three months since I've last had a moment to catch up with this blog.

It has been almost three years from the time I was getting prepared for a college life.

It has now been three semesters since I started college.

Life is moving so fast!

At one point I got a little sick and took photos with an idea to post about my health...

...and how I managed to go through THREE entire boxes of tissue. Yikes, nose. 

This semester was busy and challenging for many reasons, but I am happy that it is over and a new semester is almost here! 

I am in the process of P A C K I N G! Home again, home again, jiggity jog! 

I will be home for almost Three weeks, and then return to finish up the 3 months left of my year! 

WOAH! 

Happy Christmas! x3

-Hannah Banana :)

All for Him

I've been SO busy with school work and life in general, that I've seriously lacked a blog post.
I'm having such a good year with all that I do and all that I am learning.

My friends Thao and Jess with me during a study "party" (most quiet party anyone could have ever witnessed).

This past weekend, I went on my first retreat EVER, and it was such an awesome, revealing experience. I've never been offered a chance to go on a retreat like this, so I was nervous to sign up.

After this weekend, I can tell you that a blog post is not the only thing lacking in my life. More and More I grow into a deeper love with every chance I get to praise and adore God. I learned so much from this weekend and this year all together; I have had so many wonderful experiences that give me so much! I don't even know how to say it all to truly express what I've felt and experienced. :)

It's All for Him!! 

I took many walks when I was gone during the weekend. The weather was SO NICE (80s every day... in October), and the views were just absolutely beautiful. Fall is my favorite season. 

Hands down. 

No competition. 

(sorry winter, I know that you're also very breath taking-literally COLD breath taking and beauty breath taking)

The perfect weather drew me to study outside.

I'm so thankful for everything that has happened and I've learned! God has brought me to so much, and I could not thank Him enough! 

Thank you for all things, big and small, even things yellow and fruity! 

Keep eating those yellow fruits. 

Love, 

Hannah Banana

Life is Delicious

Fall is my favorite season, and, finally, it seems to be here! I absolutely love going outside to see the colorful changes all around. It makes me miss being home just to drive through the tunnels of brown, auburn, banana yellow, butterscotch, barberry red, light green, burnt orange, and pink.

(...just kidding about the pink. Good job to all those attentive readers..)

This was taken last year during fall, accurately capturing the joy I was feeling and the beauty around me (so, no banana hidden. don't try to look..)

Such beauty- life is truly beautiful.

Also, another reason for the LOVE of the season: curling up in the warm, comfy pants with a mug of that warm, comfy drink. A beautiful luxury that I'm sure everyone else enjoys, too.
You know what sounds good right now?
I'll tell you:
1) a warm, gooey, soft, sweet cinnamon roll with a lot of brown sugar topped with a light, see through layer of icing.
2a) some kind of raspberry mocha/cappuccino/latte with a baby dollop of whipped cream and chocolate syrup. OH. Heaven on Earth.
2b) any warm liquid coffee delight with carmel. carmel is the key to my heart. and my taste buds.

Such tasty delight- life is truly delicious.

In the past, I have had success in creating my own coffee drinks/flavors with ingredients at home. In my college home, however, my options significantly change (yes mom and dad-I miss you and your ingredients).
So, instead of coffee with a little bit of 'Coffee Mate' sprinkled in, I ventured to add in some beauty and colorful taste in the form of whipped cream and chocolate syrup.

The taste was way better! I am proud to say that [in the past] I've made more delicious remedies, so this will serve as an adventure and an opportunity to really let the experiments begin. 

Life is Beautiful. 

Life is Delicious. 

A banana is a colorful bite away.
Love,
Hannah Banana

Rain, rain, you can stay.

If you didn't know this about me already, then let me be the one to tell you that I absolutely love rainy days.
Sunshine is beautiful, but there's something about the rain that brings tranquility and a sense of relaxation that I can never get enough of.

Rain, rain,
you can stay.
Come again
another day.

The only thing that get's me about rain is ruining shoes when I have to do some walking.
No one likes it when their shoes get rain stains! No day no way!

This happened to me last year, but I am glad to say that I have a new solution!

-Rain boots-

I never needed rain boots in Michigan, but here in Iowa, they've proven to be a very, very useful necessity. I have already used them twice and have saved my shoes and my peace of mind. 

Thank you, Aunt Mary, for the college gift of rain boots! 

ps-

today is the first football game of the season! ISU vs. UNI

GO, CYCLONES!! 

sending a smile :)

Hannah Banana

(the banana is hidden very well...look carefully)

I Love Lucy!

Well, who Doesn't love Lucy Ricardo?!

I'm not too sure who that person may be, but I am certain that I have two Lucy's in my life that I love!

Meet Lucy O' Connor, my beautiful friend and roommate! 

Lucy and I lived by each other last year and definitely hit it off as great friends. We're doing very well as roommates this year, too! We've both survived the first week of school and are currently pulling through week two. It's a lot of fun and I can't wait for the rest of the year-I love Lucy! 

Lucy is a French Education major, which is beautiful, since I am in Elementary French 101. Merci to her for all the help she's given to me (and will be giving to me later...I can guarantee it)! 

Aside from her language talents, she also bakes

D e L i C i O u S

cakes! I tasted one last year. 

yum. Yum. YUm. YUM.

Her cakes are baked and decorated by her-100% Lucy. For all you Iowans out there reading this, I put her card up here for a reason...

...you can also sample with your eyes at 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Love-Lucys-Cakes/150035965065986  !

Life is beautiful, college is busy, and I'm doing great! 

I've been eating WAY better (when it comes to the healthy persuasion) in college on my own. This seems backwards compared to the normal college statistics...hmm. It must be all the fruit I'm eating. 

keep eating those bananas :) 

-Hannah Banana

My Hands are Clean

I am here in Iowa and settled in nicely. School starts Monday, and I have one more day, Sunday, to enjoy summer. Everything seems to be going smoothly, except for one thing...

The ladies' bathroom has no soap! Here, the bathrooms get cleaned daily, except for the weekends. Lucky for me, I had been using my small bottle of hand sanitizer. After some time, though, it didn't feel like I was getting the clean I needed. I didn't even think to use the dish soap (that my Dad suggested I get) until a friend pointed out that I could use it as a replacement!
So for the rest of the weekend, I will be using a dish detergent for my plate to clean my hands. :) If this happens again, I will be using this as a routine backup!

Just a funny occurrence within my first day-this disturbance of the peace was not my doing this time-my hands are CLEAN!

Hannah Banana

Hannah's Bananas

I really hope that all of you reading about my daily adventures will enjoy reading them as much as I will enjoy writing about them!

Sunset in August on Pretty Lake

Starting with this post, I am pledging to only post pictures that have my trademark banana within the picture. I'm thinking that this will be a fun project amidst the places I go and the people I see! It'll be a "Where's Waldo?" experience, and it will add a little bit of flavor (almost literally) to each shot! 

Sending a smile, 

Hannah Banana 

A 'Summery' of Summer

I've had a wonderfully blessed summer with many challenges that have led me down the path that God has intended for me. Now that this summer is closing, I leave for Iowa on Friday morning to start my second year of undergrad at Iowa State!

This summer I went on a tour through Austria and Germany with the Wind Ensemble. We toured (in this order): Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Schloss Neuschwanstein castle (Germany), Innsbruck, Rothenburg, Augsburg, Frankfort. 

Afterwards, I deviated to visit family in the Netherlands. The entire trip was such a wonderful experience. I loved traveling on my own, as I could do the things that I wanted to do and explore the new world within the world. However, being with the family was truly the best part of my trip.

This is my Tante Ineke and I standing in her comfortable, humble home in the Netherlands. She's a fellow musician who made it to Juilliard. With a family member who made her dreams come true in the music persuasion, it reminds me of all that I know I can do, too.

The rest of the summer has been busy for me as I've been babysitting, enjoying friends, the summer air, and no school work! 

School starts this next Monday. Ohh man.

Wish me luck,
Hannah Banana