I'm baaaaaaack!

Well, my year long blogging hiatus is officially OVER!  This can only mean one thing: KARL'S COMING HOME!  My time of mourning is complete.  Just kidding.  But seriously.  

Allow me to get back to our regularly scheduled program:
five important events on the books- Maddie's baby shower, Emma's initiation into Pi Phi, my rendezvous with Karl in Alaska, and the first 7 months of my beloved nephews life.

Seeing as I have to leave for work in an hour, shall I begin with the shortest of the five events?  Emma was initiated into Pi Phi last weekend in what was the proudest little sister moment ever.  OK not really but it was up there.

OK I miss this part...

Emma and her twin

Emma's Fam, including one of my Pi Phi sisters actual little sister :)

My super cute mom :)

We had such a fun weekend of shopping, eating Fayetteville food (better than other food) and celebrating Emma's 'real Pi Phi' status!  Cannot wait to be back in Fayetteville THIS weekend with the WHOLE family!!!

PPL,
Hannah K.C. Burton

Happy 25th Birthday, Karl!

Happy 25th Birthday to my AWESOME husband!!

I am obsessed with birthdays and for this I blame my mom.  She makes a huge deal out of birthdays and has always made us feel so special and like the queen of the world on our big day, every single year.  Annnd now all the children in heaven are scrambling to have their name written under mine & Karl's as our future children, you're welcome, little ones.

Anyways, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KARL!  I hope celebrating on the 28th in Korea yesterday, the 28th today in the States, and when you come home makes up for celebrating your birthday in Korea.  I love you so much and am infinitely proud of you and the husband you are to me.  You are such a special person and I cannot imagine going through my days with anyone else.  I am {literally} dreaming of your homecoming, living with you again, watching TV with you, grocery shopping with you... I could go on and on.  We get to do all of that in like a month!!  God is so good!    So, my last birthday gift to you is that- you seeing me in about a month.  You're welcome and happy birthday, I love you.

Hey there, Arizona

Karl & I are headed to Arizona!  We got the news about a week ago and after some time to process, research, grieve and get excited, I'm here to tell you that you can come visit us in Glendale this November!  And then next November you can come visit us here in Arlington.  Because we will be back.  In one year.  For sure.  Absolutely for sure.  God willing.


I really am getting very excited.  There is SO much to do in Glendale, unlike Sumter, and even Arlington for that matter.  I can't wait to explore all of the outdoor activities in Arizona and the west coast- I have never been to that area of the country and I can't wait for the adventure!!


lame aspects of moving that need serious prayer:
my job.  I am so sad to have to leave my job.  I am 100% obsessed with it and it literally makes me sick to my stomach to think of leaving it, even if it is just for a year.  I love serving at the pregnancy center and working in general.  I am already gearing up to find things to do for a year in Arizona so I have no clue what that will be- the pregnancy center there?  Maybe BSF and some other weekly activities instead of working?  Hmm...  


making friends/finding a church/not being social recluses.  It is SO HARD to put ourselves out there when we know that we are in a temporary place.  But I/Karl will be miserable if we don't try to make friends and get plugged in.  This is definitely going to be a struggle.


my babies.  also known as Lucy & Oliver.  Lucy isn't even out of the womb yet and I am obsessed with her like I am Ollie.  I am literally sitting at my computer crying at the thought of not hovering over her first year of life like I am Ollie's.  I seriously need Jesus for this. 


notice that my attitude is not one of the things that needs prayer.  I am doing good, excited, PUMPED TO LIVE WITH MY HUSBAND!!!  And ready to see what God has in store!  Also ready to stop sweating the small stuff, like moving away for a year.  


SO Karl is in Alaska working for a few weeks and then he's back to Korea 'till November 1.  I'm not totally sure of the exact timeline of our move.  My prayer is that our November arrival in Arizona won't impact Karl's ability to take leave for the holidays.  I just can't wait until we are in the same time zone, in the same house.  And I can erase all these clocks off my phone.  Praise God that day is coming!


"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8 38&39


Hannah K.C Burton

Dear Hannah, Happy Birthday!

     For the longest time hannah has asked me over and over again to guest post on her blog. I can't be with her today, so I am going to write a little something for her on her birthday. Being in the military you would think I would be accustomed to missing out on birthdays, holidays and such, but let me tell you it's still as hard as the day I left for basic training.

     But let's not think about that right now and let me tell you how proud I am of my wife and all that she has accomplished as a 23 year young woman. At 23 she has been married to a crazy man for almost 2 years now, supported me in every way possible, dealt (or should I say currently dealing with) a very long separation from me, worked very hard at her new job, helped her family prepare a new home, and still had enough energy to give me time and show me that she loves me. 

      I can't wait to see what she will accomplish at 24 and I thank God that I am married to her. I can't wait until we are back together soon I will be able watch her grow into the most amazing woman, wife, and follower of Christ. 

Hannah, I pray you have an amazing day and a great birthday! I am so proud of you and wish so badly I could be with you today. I pray the rest of this separation goes by quickly and we can be together again, like we should be. I love you hanny and miss like crazy. 

                                                                   love, your husband 

False alarm

In relation to my last post, I woke up to this email this morning after a night of tossing and turning and not allowing myself to check my phone because I knew it would totally wake me up...


Ohhh the lords timing...
Hannah K.C. Burton

match day

No, Karl nor myself aren't entering/finishing med school, however, I feel like he is in the worst way.  Tonight he logs on to prioritize his preferences on where we will live once he is home from Korea.  There will be a list based on what bases currently have openings for his position and skill level and he will rank his preferences accordingly.  Then, between now & August or whenever Uncle Sam feels like it, Karl will get an email saying that he has orders ready at which point he can log on and see where our fate lies, literally, in what state- match day mismatch day.

I am a ball of nerves.  Why?  Because in the past month we learned that Ft. Worth has become an option for his job, they (whoever "they" is) have decided to have active duty personnel working the flight line at guard bases, enter Carswell JRB here in Ft. Worth.
Since I realized that I would marry a military man I have had lesson after lesson in letting go of control and giving it to God... and I'm starting to get the hang of it.  For the past 7 months I have seriously not cared where Karl & I are once he is home from Korea.  Like, OK Lord just take us where you want us!  I really don't care!  I am a feather to be blown in the breeze wherever, whenever.  Done & Done.  Oh, except starting last month when I realized all my worldly dreams can come true starting November 2012.  Keep my job,  continue being a regular part of Oliver & Baby Bowen's lives, buy a house, think about children of my own in possibly greater than or equal to 1-2 years icantbeliveisaidthat, not have to move twice in 2 years, Karl not have to take leave for us to see family on the weekend, the list goes on, y'all!
So clearly I ripped this right back out of God's hands, in which I had so delicately placed it, and have been tooling around with it in my own grimy paws for the past month.  Awesome.
To top it all off, Karl & I have not been able to communicate at all for the past week because he is in Japan working and it is a stagnant WiFi black hole.  I mean, aren't the Japanese known for their technology?  Come on.  So we just talked for 30 minutes while he ate ribs at Chilis.  And by "talked," I mean I typed on Skype while he verbally responded.  So he obviously looked like he really had it together to the nice folks trying to enjoy their meal around him hearing him randomly say things like, "well, it's just part of life."
...anywayz.  I feel like I am constantly being barraged by Satan trying to plant seeds of worry and doubt and fear about where we will or won't be in a few months and it is taking so much energy and focus to pray that away.  Woof.  I was reminded by a coworker (who was talking about something completely different) that God sees the big picture.  He isn't waiting to see where Karl gets orders to- He already knows.  I am SO SO thankful for that and needed to hear that right when I did last week.  So I can just rest, choose as wisely as possible alongside Karl as he prioritizes bases, and know that God works for the good and my good and hears my cries and knows my heart, no matter what... and by 'choose wisely' I mean make a list such as the one I've pictured below and send it to Karl to aid him in his decision making...

Thankful that He is the beginning & the end and I get to be sandwiched in the middle of that goodness.
Hannah K.C. Burton

will certainly update when Karl has orders!

happy days

reminded of these "unreleased" photos of Karl and I that we had done last year.  thanks, 'mate ;)  happy memories of Karl & I in our first home, in our first year of marriage last year- just us, in a tiny town in South Carolina.

Mrs. Burton

Oliver Ryan is here!

Oliver Ryan is here!!!  He was born at 6:48 pm, weighs 7.10 lbs and is 20 inches long!  He is absolutely perfect and I am such a proud mom aunt!!  We had a long day at the hospital and Callie was an absolute rockstar!  Callie labored for 12 hours and went over 24 without food.  And that is icing on the cake that is the past 2 weeks that I have literally and honestly spent questioning my desire for children.  We paced, panicked, prayed, waited, paced more, peeked thru windows, paced more, texted, fixed Callie's hair, couldn't sit, couldn't sit still, paced, and then rejoiced.  So, without further ado, let me introduce you to my precious, perfect, tiny little nephew guy!  Uncle Karl, I miss you more than ever and am aching for you to be here to meet our new nephew- he loves you, as do I, and this late-night-blog is certainly for you because I am SO EXCITED for you to see this little man!

HALLELUJAH!
Aunt Hannah K.C. Burton

I can't wait to see the pictures from the professional photographer that was there! YAY!

Live from L&D

I'm here at the hospital waiting on Baby Oliver to make his big arrival but I thought I would pass some time and calm some nerves by dropping in to post a real-time update!  We are having a good time up here and just holding our breaths for him to get here!  Callie is doing really well and is waiting patiently, her pain is well controlled with an epidural that she definitely earned!  Here are some pictures of our time so far...

We are really missing Uncle Karl, Mr. Bailey, The Thomas' & the rest of our family that aren't here to get to hang out with us and wait on Oliver's arrival!  I'll definitely post pictures when he gets here!!

Love,

Aunt Hannah K.C. Burton