Alaska

So this is a long overdue post but one that I didn't want to go unposted!  Last year when Karl was in Korea he had a temporary duty assignment in Alaska that fell over Labor Day Weekend.  We made a last minute decision for me to go up and spend the long weekend with him and it was the BEST DECISION EVERRRR!

My time with Karl was so fulfilling and needed for us after such long periods of time apart.  Beyond that, Alaska was and is one of the most beautiful places Karl & I have ever seen.  The air is so fresh and crisp and the view was different in each town we went to but equally beautiful no matter where we were!  I cannot express how much I loved that weekend!  It felt like such a long trip, even though it was just 4 days.  We saw so much but both of us would love to go back!

We rode the train all day to a super cute town called Talkeetna (which is apparently where most people start their climb of Denali) and stayed there that night in a little apartment over a bakery and cafe.  It was adorable.  Next time, we want to take the train one stop farther to Wasilla and go whale watching!  The whole train experience felt like we were in a movie or a dream or something out of this world.  The mountains, greenery, the snow, the cabins in the middle of nowhere.  There was a car with a glass-dome roof that we sat in on-and-off for the whole train ride that gave us a 360 degree view, the train had great food and hot drinks... I could go on and on.  I would never have thought that a long spontaneous weekend in Alaska would end up being one of my favorite vacations ever!  God is good and so fun!!

Then we went on a hike.  We were in Denali National Park and we chose a "strenuous" trail.  I was feeling really confident.  I don't work out.  Ever.  I have the endurance of a large, mouth-breathing lap dog.  But I figured, like, there were A TON of old people and kids at the park so surely they mark the trails based off the physical capabilities of the weakest human.  The trail was 2 miles, each way.  I haven't walked a mile since my freshman year of high school.  WHY DID MY HUSBAND AGREE TO THIS??  I will boil the whole thing down to 3 points:
1) I literally thought I was going to die on that mountain.  Die of cold.  Die of exhaustion.  Die because I did smell bears.
2) My legs did stop working.  They stopped over and over and over again.
3) While he didn't say anything even remotely close to this, I knew 100% for a fact in my mind that if I didn't make it to the top of the mountain my husband would be crushed.  His soul would die.  Right then and there.  He was counting on me for the absolute greatest moment of his life.  What is wrong with me??
But we made it!  It was literally the coldest I have EVER been at the top.  And going down was possibly worse than going up.  And I felt SO ACCOMPLISHED when we made it!  But not accomplished enough to ever do it again.  ever.  That mountain owned me.  Here is picture proof, in chronological order...

 ...and there is my mule of a husband who didn't break a sweat and Richard Simmonsed me up that mountain.

Then the weekend was over. I remember how hard it was to leave him.  It always is.  But if I remember right, we only had to endure about 6 more weeks before he was home for good!  Since then, I have only been separated from him once- for Lucy's birth.  When we say goodbye it feels like we are saying bye for months and months.  It is the worst feeling.  My mind cannot comprehend a short-term separation.  I say to myself over and over, "it's just a weekend," or "it's just one week," but literally in my mind it's months!!  It's like a weird form of PTSD or something.  IDK.  A weird after-effect of 6 years of goodbyes.  I cannot wait until November, when we feel safe that we don't have to say goodbye anymore.  Goodbye is so lame. Alaska is so cool.

Hannah K.C. Burton

weekend away and fun things ahead

Two weekends ago Karl & I got a last minute opportunity to spend the weekend away in Sedona, Arizona.  We had already decided that we definitely wanted to spend a weekend there before we move away so we were super excited to go!  We went on an all expense paid Air Force marriage retreat and I am so glad we did!  Sedona is absolutely breathtaking!!  It is a pretty small town with these huge red rocks surrounding the whole town.  It is the coolest thing!  Driving in was beautiful but all of a sudden those red rocks just appear and it really does take your breath away!  The resort we stayed at was awesome, all the food we ate was delicious, and Karl & I had so much fun exploring the town.  The retreat was nice... it wasn't Christ centered and catered to couples in all stages and states of marriage as well as religions or lack thereof but the time we spent in the different sessions was really limited... so basically it was just a good weekend away :)

This snow is what we woke up to Saturday morning.  We expected nice cool weather but not quite this!  While it did cloud the views for the rest of the weekend, it was a welcomed change from the Phoenix heat!  I LOVE the cold!

Loved having quiet time in front of a fire and with Karl!  He has been on a weird shift at work for several weeks and it's made time with him sparse.  

In PRESENT DAY news: shoutout to two of mine and Karl's besties for the resties, Jacki & Abe and brand new Baby Keagan!!  It sounds run-of-the-mill, but Jacki has been battling pre-term labor for almost 4 months.  Keagan's pefect birth and health is nothing short of God's faithfulness, provision, love, and grace wrapped up in a gender-neutral hospital blanket :)  I am so excited for them!! Karl & I are itching to meet him!

SUCH a great weekend!!  Now we are getting pumped up for all the visitors we are expecting!  First up: THE BAILEYS!!!!!!  And to excite everyone: here is the video I cannot stop watching.

{cookie is my mom and that growling is how Oliver complains/cries... it's normal}

Love,

Hannah K.C. Burton

I mean, it's like, what do you want me to say

For like the millionth time in my blogging career, I'm here rolling my eyes after a blogging hiatus.  Here is what happens: I feel bored and like I have nothing to blog about, then a million blog-worthy things happen and I feel blogwhelmed {blog overwhelmed, duh}.  So blogwhelmed that I'm like, "what's the point?!  I can't cover it all!"  Then I'm annoyed with myself for not blogging.  So I don't blog.

This sounds like the pattern of an eating disorder.

So I'm here.  Notice I didn't say I'm back.  I make no promises.  It's like a shady relative that pops in a and out of your life just when he needs something. And what I need is to document my life so I don't forget.

So here is what is going on in life, in no particular order but definitely in the form of snapshops and snippets:

Karl has learned to sew!  It's like the whole world is our oyster!!!  I see something I like and he's like, "I'LL MAKE IT!"  And I'm like, "YES!  LET'S GO TO JOANNS!!!"  Y'all, he is literally Jack of all trades, master of all.  We've been painting canvases for the walls, sewing pillows for the couch, hemming curtains, fixing the coffee table, gold foiling everything in sight (yes, my only contribution).  I'm thinking next weekend we're going to hole up until Karl teaches me how to sew.  idontknow, the last sewing teacher I had walked away from me sooooo, we'll see.

I have been missing Lucy and Oliver like crazy.  This sounds so ridiculous, I know, but it needs to be acknowledged that if I look at a picture of either of them for too long my arms start to twitch.  Karl thinks I'm insane.  But it's true.  Like I actually need to hold them if I think about them too much... moving on {but not without pictures}...

These two are my favorite things to take pictures of without a doubt!

We have been exploring and trying to find cool and fun things to do around here!  Especially before it starts reaching the mid 100's {April/May} LAME!  We are enjoying national parks and trails, TONS of shopping, trying local food, and planning for some fun trips and visitors!!

We are really loving our apartment {except for having upstairs neighbors kids with lead feet that make me want to die} and I am loving decorating with our next house in mind!  I get on realtor.com at least twice a week and look at houses for sale in DFW.  What?

There is an Ikea like 30 minutes away that I have enjoyed perusing while Karl is at work annnnd I go to Target about, oh, every day.

Karl & I decided we are going to take social media breaks on the weekends and so far we are loving it! It is a challenge.  I find myself reaching for my phone out of habit first thing Saturday morning {and then my husband lovingly reminds me}.  It is a needed break for us.  Anytime I am bored {which is all the time if Karl is at work} I am reaching for my phone for some social media and that is lame.

I am bored.  Really bored.  I could wah wah complain about this and tell you how I am MAJ wrestling with God on this but I'll keep it at this: I'm praying for friends here, and a church body, and a job, and literally anything shy of illegal to do during the day.  I have seen every episode of every TV show produced in the last 3 years, I know who all the up and coming musicians are, I have budgets made for the next 12 months.  I have an empty planner and I do not like it.

I am declaring with expectation that soon I will blog about all the fun stuff I'm doing with awesome people in cool places and everything that God has been teaching me in my solitude... right??

Hannah K.C. Burton

p.s.: I swear I tried my darndest to chock this full of pics.  They don't exist.  Will work on that.

Family Weekend

After a couple-day blogging dry spell while the stomach flu destroyed me, I'm back to post about happy things while taking a few breaks to tend to Karl who is currently being eaten alive by said flu.  Awesome.  Just trying to strengthen our immune systems before Lucy comes :)

Here is a picture heavy post for you :) ... University of Arkansas Family Weekend is a maj Cuppett Family tradition!  It obviously began my freshman year with all 5 of my family members making the trek in the 'burban up to Fayetteville, eventually adding Karl to the mix my Sophomore/Junior/Senior years.

This year is Emma's freshman year and we had all been looking forward to Family Weekend literally since she decided to go to UofA last spring!  We always all have such a blast!!!  This year instead of having 7 peeps there would be almost 12, you know,  the 'almost' being Lucy.  Obviously.  The real family weekend happened on a weekend with a major scheduling conflict, so we created our own and it happened to coincide with Karl coming home from Korea and Homecoming- win!

Unfortunately Jeremy had to leave early for work so we really missed him for half of the weekend but we tried to soak it up for the time he was there.  It was so crazy how different {yet equally fun} it was this year and will continue to be while Emma is a student.  Having babies and husbands up there was different than years prior- we went from 1 hotel suite to 4, 1 car to 3, packed a stroller, picked activities with nap time in mind... the weekend was an absolute blast despite the change!!  We went to the game, had every meal together, shopped and ate locally, went to a corn maze and saw tiny little piglets, and just had so much fun all together.  Having everyone together is really rare with Karl's deployment/Emma at school/me & Karl here now.  I am so thankful for this weekend and feel blessed by it!  Praise God for these sweet times!!

twinkies!!

buddies

boo, pic without jeremy :(

on our way to the Pi Phi house

look at those teeth!

Jeremy :(

LOVE  Emma & my parents enjoying Pi Phi things

Matt held this pumpkin like a guitar, ha

 Look at those three!  And those northwest Arkansas trees!!

Cookie and Ollie :)

I have such an awesome family!! I am so thankful for each and every one of them.

Hannah K.C. Burton

Thanksgiving

Karl and I were hoping to be in Texas over Thanksgiving, but God had other plans and they were good, duh.  I was kind of dopey about Thanksgiving all week because I really love Thanksgiving, and while my family doesn't have a big tradition, we always enjoy lots of good food and family time and I knew I would be missing that.  Oh, and also Karl & I would be waking up from night #9 in the sickest hotel ever come Thanksgiving morning.  That is another post.  Know this: I am such a hotel freak/snob.  I don't do cheap hotels, old hotels, hotels that don't have a properly working air conditioner or hotels that I feel like I need to wear shower shoes in... all of that was broken on our 10 night stint in military housing.  Grossssssss.  I'm still recovering.  

Anyways, Karl and I planned to have a Thanksgiving picnic, see a movie, explore the phoenix mountains (you know, without getting out of the car), and just lay low but have a special day, nonetheless.  I woke up on Thanksgiving regretting our plan.  I jumped online and found this restaurant nearby that had an open reservation and we decided to splurge on a nice meal.  So we saw a movie and had lunch, skyped my family, and then had dinner.

Dinner was SUCH a treat!  Not only did Karl treat us to fancy but it was just sweet time with him.  How many couples get to have Thanksgiving just the two of them!?!  Not only that, it really reminded me of the holidays that Pa insisted we all spend/dine at The Gaylord- eating fancy out on Holidays will always remind me of Pa and that is sweet stuff.  We will absolutely go back to the place we ate at- God totally blessed us with this awesome Thanksgiving treat because making a last minute reservation, boy, we could've ended up anywhere.  We sat on a patio with heat lamps and talked about all the ways God blesses us so abundantly.  Here is where we went!  Come visit us and we'll have a spa day there :)

The icing on the Thanksgiving cake was going to bed knowing that was our last night in the nastotel, you know, nasty hotel.

Very thankful,
Hannah K.C. Burton

Lucy Mae

WE HAVE INTERNET!!

This post couldn't come at a better time because just this morning I found out that if Lucy doesn't come on her own, she will be kicked outta there in 10 days!!  WOO HOO!  I am SO excited to be an aunt to another little one!!  This post is dedicated to Baby Lucy and how much I am looking forward to her!  Since I haven't blogged hardly at all the past year, I'm not sure that Lucy has gotten any Blogger attention yet, which is a shame, since she is 39 weeks.

Here is a picture of Oliver the day he was born.  Maddie was pregnant then.  We didn't know it yet.  Neither did she :)

Maddie has been so cute and pregnant and looks TINY still, even at 10 months!  She has had a healthy pregnancy and I am so thankful for that.  She is not a complainer and is not a lazy pregnant person, often doing too much, like still taking out the trash, carrying things around, blah blah blah.  Maddie's awesome.  Callie was an awesome pregnant person too, for the record.

We all knew Lucy was a Lucy from the second Maddie told us she was pregnant.  I was so convinced she was a girl that I only made pink decorations for Maddie's gender reveal and Matt & Maddie only decided on a girl name :)

Maddie was blessed by a shower from our Park Springs friends several weeks ago- it was so fun to get to celebrate her, Matt, & Lucy!  She was gifted the most beautiful clothing and awesome gear and the most wonderful friends and family were there to enjoy!

These awesome ladies hosted!  What a blessed mom Maddie is!

Matt & Maddie are going to be the best parents!  Although, I wouldn't want to disobey Maddie if I were her child, she is a stickler for a babysitter ;) looks can kill.

So look at all these precious pink things!!

 and this nursery!  Maddie did such a sweet job on it!  my lens wouldn't let me get wide enough but trust me, it's cute.

...and if you didn't think the nursery was cute, how about these pics of Matt recording Lucy lullabies?  Melt.

Next time you hear about Lucy it will include a picture of her in my arms.  And maybe I can talk Matt into letting me post one of his 'bies.  I could die.

Love,

Aunt Hanny