Precious

A few posts ago I mentioned my Pa was fighting pancreatic cancer. On Christmas Day Jesus received the best birthday gift I can think of- my Pa. I am so so so sad and just plain grieved by the loss of this absolutely indescribable man. The day before Pa met Jesus, most of his family (myself included) surrounded his bed at his home and sang his favorite hymn to him as he slept. He sat up, began to cry, and then praised Jesus for the life he has had. That was the last time Pa was awake and aware and what a sweet time it was. The past week has been full of memories that will be etched in my mind for the rest of my life. Pa's last words to me were, "you're precious." I'll share more soon. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers, especially for Gammy as she begins a chapter of life that quite frankly, nobody really wants to be in.
On another yet way too similar note, one of my very best friends, Maggie Riggan, lost her brother and sister-in-law this past week. I have grown to know and love this family over my 4 years at the U of A and as a Pi Phi; Maggie was one of my bridesmaids and her family a sweet, sweet help in my wedding. I could write countless posts on this family's love of The Lord, hospitality toward all, pure sweetness, overflowing generosity, and fun spirit. I am devastated over The Riggan's loss. I am humbled and honored to feel the weight of their burden, although I know it must be much lighter than theirs feels. I can't imagine the pain of this seemingly out of order death. I am frustrated by how out of control I feel and how little I can do, especially because I am in Arlington and not Little Rock, where Maggie and so many of my friends are. I pray I feel their burden for years to come, for full hearts for The Riggan's, for restful minds, peaceful souls, and unshakeable hope and faith. please please join me in praying for this sweet family as they endure the valley. I know one thing for sure: Anthony, Nicole, and Pa are all worshipping Jesus together right now and that is about as comforting as it gets.

With a heavy heart,
Hannah K.C.Burton

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Christmas with my husband

Ha, still weird to say 'husband.'  OK so Karl & I are leaving for Texas early the 23rd so we knew we would have to have our Christmas celebration for two prior to leaving.  I wanted it to really feel like Christmas so I thought waiting until Tuesday or Wednesday would be good and I would totally pretend it was actually Christmas!  Well, apparently Karl had a different idea... he has been working on something in the garage for me for a few weeks now and the second he finished it on Sunday, he began to beg INCESSANTLY for us to do Christmas RIGHT THEN.  Karl isn't much for waiting or patience (I've learned).  I should also add a side note that he claims to hate the surprise of gifts.  I've probably mentioned this before but Karl has pretty much spoiled the surprise of every single gift he has ever given me.  I literally have known every birthday & Christmas gift I was receiving from him at least a few weeks before he gave it to me.  I knew about the following: a TV for my 20th birthday, an SLR camera for my 21st, a lens for my 22nd birthday, diamond earrings our first Valentines, Uggs for Christmas my junior year, and I had a strong idea about my gifts for this Christmas.  Well, I sort of hate that because I LOVE to be surprised with gifts!  I'm horrible at faking surprise and definitely prefer to receive gifts more traditionally (uh, not knowing what it is).  Karl, on the other hand, wants to know EVERYTHING before he gets it.  I totally do not understand this.  He has been trying to tell me what my Christmas gifts are for weeks and has asked me (literally every single day) what he is getting from me, my parents, & his parents.  I always refuse to tell him.  I guess his family are all similar to him with gifts because on several occasions, he has simply asked them what he is getting and they casually tell him.  WHAT?!?  That is totally no fun in my opinion but to each his own :)  Anyways, back to the point of this post: SO, Karl would totally not leave doing Christmas on Sunday alone so I finally agreed.  We each went to one of the spare bedrooms and filled each others stockings and finished wrapping.  Man, it's hard to play Santa. I have a new appreciation for my parents.  Both Karl & I wanted to put others stockings in the living room but without the other seeing it so we covered them with blankets but then that didn't look like Santa left them.  Yeah, what a predicament.  Anyways, to make it feel like Christmas I decided that I would setup my video camera and we would both get in bed and pretend we were just waking up on Christmas morning.  OK this is getting boring.  Climax: I got a BEAUTIFUL hand made (by Karl) 7 foot tall wooden mirror with the most gorgeous detailing! ANNND I got an iPhone4!  WOO HOO!  Bye Blackberry Storm- you've been miserable!  So, Karl & I saw this mirror at Pottery Barn and I really wanted it.  Obviously it was $500 and I wasn't going to be purchasing it... Karl's replica looks perfectly similar but so much better!

This is probably the most priceless gift I've ever been given (Uh, besides salvation, duh.).  It is so so much prettier in person!

AND Karl got a smoker & a beer making kit... I have negative feelings towards the beer making kit (it's pricey and I'm like 99% sure the beer will taste horrible and make our house smell=potential wasted gift).  The beer making kit was like Karl's #1 present wish.  It was a great first Christmas!  Karl & I were at WalMart the other day and just walking thru all the bikes, toys, and play kitchens made me think about how fun it will be when Christmas rolls around and I have kids to buy for!  Karl can't wait for that.  I, on the other hand, can.  OK, I feel like this has been the most boring post ever and full of mundane details but I just want to remember exactly how our first Christmas was!

To spice things up a bit.. heres a short walk down memory lane

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2007
The highlight of Christmas that year was getting to talk to Karl on Christmas Day!  He was in training at the time and phone calls were so precious.  Also noted: not my skinniest year...

On Saturday night Karl & I went and looked at lights & had more Christmas fun!  I'll post on that tomorrow or sometime soon (I've learned to not say things like, "tomorrow" or "everyday," on here as I usually don't follow thru... whoops.)

Merry Christmas Week!

Hannah K.C. Burton

the great men

I suppose I'm feeling sentimental this morning, hence the content of this post, BUT in my cold-hearted defense I must say that I've been planning to write this for some time now.  In my humble opinion, I think I turned out alright as a young woman.  I never really did anything I wasn't supposed to and followed along in life as my parents taught me to (except one time, I went to Belize with my BFF Courtney Collins and I had about 1/4 of a margarita.  I was 15.  Yep... it's haunted me ever since.)  OK anyways, the point of this post is to jot down (and by "jot," I mean peck away at the keyboard) my thoughts on how I turned out so great (joking).  I try to love & serve The Lord each day, even though that always looks a little different.  I think that there are 5 men in my life that have told me, SHOWN me, guided me, and sometimes even had to push me down this path that I am SO, so grateful I've chosen.  Jesus, my dad, Karl, Shane, and my Pa.  I have such a sweet relationship with each of these people, a very different relationship to each one of them.  I have learned (the hard way) to see Jesus as my ultimate rock, the only answer to problems, the One who blesses and teaches and heals and moves.  The most loyal and loving of the 5.  One of the five most influential men in my life is certainly my grandpa, affectionately known by friends & family as Pa.  Unfortunately my other grandpa passed away when I was young so I have just had this one to learn from but I would say that he has overflowed my cup with knowledge and pearls of wisdom.  Pa has given me a slice of learning from every single one of the character traits I have already listed.  He is selfless, loving, serves every single person around him unyieldingly, and keeps The Lord as the center of everything in his life.   I have always had a great relationship with him and enjoyed time with him.  He is fun.  Not one of those grandpas who is boring but always telling fun stories and offering Sonic runs :) .  He is full of life and love.  He has afforded me, my sisters, and cousins life experiences and lessons that make up my most strong childhood memories.  He has impacted more lives through meaningful relationships than I could ever hope to.  He is bold and speaks his mind.  He is currently fighting the "C" word that I can hardly speak or type, yet he continues to teach me and share his love for me.  The most incredible thing about Pa is his very clear decision to share Christ with everyone he meets and anyone who will listen to him.  Pa says I should be an author, he is so proud of Karl's choice to serve the country, loves my career choice and was my biggest cheerleader through college, he is from Arkansas (which I obviously love), raised a big wonderful family, and is proud as a peach of each and every one of us.  He is peaceful and strong and humble and very funny.  A newspaper article showcasing one of his most faithful efforts came out today.  I can think of hundreds of things that Pa has done that deserve a front page spread.  I'm full of memories and joy thinking about all the wonderful things Pa has not just told me, but SHOWN me.  So important to do.  I'm also feeling abundantly blessed by the fact that there are 5 men in my life that have done this.  So blessed to have a wonderful example in my dad, my husband, my friend & mentor, my grandfather, and my savior.  Here's the thing, even if I didn't have these 4 men in my life I am CONFIDENT that The Lord would have taught me AND shown me every single one of the character traits I have acquired from them.  He is more than enough and could be/is every single one of these men to me- he has the desire and ability to be both yours and my unconditionally loving father, selfless husband, wise grandfather, faithful friend, and so much more.  I am very blessed that He put these people in my life, physically, to show me all those things first hand.

Well, that's enough depth for now, eh? Join me in praying for Pa's body & mind and praising The Lord for his saved spirit.
Hannah K.C. Burton

P.S.- I'm saving up my "most influential women" post for a rainy day.

FALALALA LIFETIME!

That's right, I'm dedicating my first (and definitely not last) Christmas post of the year to Lifetime.  No movie reviews here, just a girl grateful for the nightly Christmas movies on Lifetime.  I find them WAYYY more entertaining than any blockbuster Christmas movie.  Anyways, on to more important news: I've finally finished Christmas decorating!  For all you soon-to-be brides I have a pearl of wisdom to share with you: buy all your Christmas decorations THIS YEAR, after Christmas when everything is on sale!  I did that last year anticipating mine & Karl's first Christmas after that advice was shared with me by my cousin, Lincoln!  It was great!  I bought our tree, tree skirt, stockings, some decorations, and a few ornaments and saved a ton of money.  The weekend after Thanksgiving Karl & I ventured to the closest Crate & Barrel (4 hours away...) and bought the majority of our ornaments with our shop card.  THENNNN my grandmother, Gammy, and I cleaned out her Christmas cabinets and she let me fill a big box with decorations that I wanted and she shipped it here.  That was so fun!  All in all, I only had to spend about $20 out of pocket!  Woo Hoo!  More money for gifts!!  Well, now that you know the monotonous details of how I acquired my decorations, how about some pictures?  Well ok.

I can't wait to spend my first married Christmas with Karl!  As hard as we try to make this house our "home," we are both DYING for next Thursday to come so we can jump on a plane and go home, for real.  We're so excited for tons of Christmas celebrating with both sides of our family and thankful to be getting to go to Texas for all of it.  More Christmas posts to come, swear :)

Go watch a lifetime movie.
Hannah K.C. Burton

single lady.

Well, we're going on week 5 of Karl working at night.  That equals 5 weeks of falling asleep by myself aka LIVING IN TERROR.  I HATE Karl being on nights... I feel single!  My former roommates and my family are all VERY familiar with my fear of, well, nighttime, I guess.  I don't know what it is about the sun going down but it produces extremely irrational fears for me.  Nightly, I lie in bed 100% certain that Karl will come home in the wee morning hours to a murdered wife.  Isn't that horrible?  AND ridiculous?  Yes.  It is.
Walk down memory lane:
-never had a reason to sleep home alone during college BUT even before that, I've always just a paranoid person (thanks, Mom.).  Throughout junior high & high school I would check behind the shower curtain before I brushed my teeth and washed my face.  As if someone were in there.  Sometimes, I would even sacrifice and wash my face with my eyes wide open in fear, read: soap in the eyes.

-freshman year: I didn't have a roommate my freshman year (she stayed at her boyfriends every night except for two) and my dorm friends LOVED to scare me... like hide under my bed and jump out at me. Thanks, Patrick, Jill, & Gandy.
-sophomore year: I lived in the Pi Phi house with DOZENS of people and somehow still managed to live in fear.  I blame the older girls for passing on the ghost stories of a haunted house.  Read: now I'm scared of paranormal activity... SO SO SO RIDICULOUS
-junior year: Jill & I lived in a two bedroom apartment.  Terrifying.  Walking in a night, being home alone when Jill went home for the weekend.. I had like an industrial doorstop that I was hell bent on using 24/7.  Oh, and I had locks on ALL the windows.  Jill & I experienced our fair share of terror in there... like scary neighbors and unannounced late night visitors.
-senior year: I lived with Charis & Noel, both of which were well- aware of my fears... mostly because of my weekly text while they were both at Cru to, "Come home quick. I heard something."

Marriage was my big recipe for not having to be alone at night, scared.  Well, here I am, planning on falling asleep on the living room chaise because it's the only room where I feel aware of the whole house and what's going on.  Am I single again?  I have adrenaline rushes & hot flashes on a regular basis.  I feel like a crazy person.  Like, I'm a totally different person at night.  We live in a great neighborhood and I'm pretty sure crime doesn't exist in this tiny military town.  I'm slightly resentful of Karl's refusal to let us live on base... I know I wouldn't be scared then!  Well, I thought it was only appropriate to share "nighttime Hannah," with the blog world.  There you have it.

I know how to use Karl's handgun... and it's loaded... next to my bed.
Consider yourself warned,
Hannah K.C. Burton

Celebrinasties

I'm pretty intrigued by Hollywood/the lives of an elite list of celebrities.  On the flip side, I'm really repulsed by a few A-D listers too... for some reason, the ones on my "get outta here" list like really, really disgust me.  I think they contribute nothing to this world and I'm always super confused when they get any press or why anybody has them on their 'intrigued list.'  So, in an effort to persuade people to write off my 3 least favorite celebs like I have, I felt it necessary to list them.  This list is in no particular order as they are all tied for #1 most disliked.

-Kanye West.  Here's the thing, my life would be just as good if I had never heard "Gold Digger."  I'm a George Bush lover and a disliker of ignorance... therefore, Kanye West, GET OUTTA HERE!
-Melissa Etheridge.  Although I like, "Come to my Window," I do no like appreciate the public condoning of marijuana, so, GET OUTTA HERE.
-Kathy Griffin.  OK, so maybe I do have a top notch, #1, most disliked.  Her.  I will literally change the channel if she comes on TV, like looking at her puts me in a bad mood.  She gives gingers a bad rap and she is obnoxious to the 10th degree.  I have a serious disliking for ANY AND ALL stand up comedy so that in and of itself is reason enough to dislike her but on top of that she is loud, profane, and gross.  Kathy Griffin, GET OUTTA HERE.

Love,
Hannah K.C. Burton