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1/23/12

twenty : eleven

2011.
so many amazing things that happened in that year.
wonderful memories.
new friends.
exciting happenings!
but also a year of much change in my life:
I finished highschool.
my brother moved away.
several friends moved away.
some of my friends left for college.
re-adjusment to a new "normal" life this year.

there's so much more I could write in this post, and pictures I could share (and all the times where if I had thought to bring my camera/had taken a picture it would totally be in this post!)....
but I'm just going to hit some of my high points of the past year,
and lots of pics with friends and family.
ohhhh, how I love and feel totally spoiled by all the people I know!

the day I turned 18 last year.
 I never tire of photoshoots with the brothers.
 at the beginning of April was my senior recital.
wow that was amazing/stressful/memorable/nerve-racking/wonderful all in one.
I asked my amazing friend Ana (Ana Petra Photography) to take pictures...
and I was blown away by the images she got.
I thought when I walked out on the stage that I would be scared and it would feel daunting playing in front of so many people up on stage.
but I wasn't.
I walked out and saw familiar faces.
family.
friends.
so many people there to support me.
and so many of those people sitting in the audience I would never have met if we hadn't moved down here 6 yrs. ago.
and though I was nervous, I really enjoyed it, and am so glad I did a recital.
some fav piano pieces I played were a first movement of a Haydn Sonata, Chopin Nocturne, Toccata by Khachaturian, Black Keys by Chopin (oh that song is fun!) Unshakeable Faith by Marilyn Ham, and other classical/sacred pieces/duets with my family and friends.
 damask pom from here.
 
 napkin flowers tutorial here.
 playing french horn = scary
 playing a horn duet = not so bad. ;)
 Burg nailed his part.
I was so proud.
playing with Erich and Gunther.
 Erich performing a song he wrote.
he played guitar/sang, and I played the piano part he wrote as well.
 a fav Ana took.
love the tilt with the streamers at the bottom.
I got to do a 2 piano/4 people/8 hand Scott Joplin Rag Rhapsody.
oh that was so, so fun!

 "fiddle-faddle" with my current teacher~Mrs. Greiner
 "You are my hiding place" with my former teacher (before we moved here)~Mrs. Alcock.
I owe so so much to those dear ladies, and all they invested in my life musically.
they are not only my teachers but dear friends.
 Mrs. Greiner had bought flowers and almost all my students were there and brought them up to me at the end.
 miss Makena. :)
aren't they gorgeous?!
 flowers from Mrs. Alcock:
flowers from mom and dad.

 Chelsy & Allison did my hair:
those girls are totally incredible.
I highly recommend them if you ever need your hair done for a special occasion!
click here to see more hairstyles they have done.

I had so much support from so many people (family, extended family, friends, piano students, etc) at my recital, which meant the world to me.
a few of my students..
and friends.
 thank you Ana and others for taking all these pictures!
{btw, Ana is also in the process of launching a new blog with her photography business and you can check that out here!}
this is 'my recital is over now' face. :P 
and the day after my recital was a hail storm. :P
talk about exciting.
thats golf-ball size hail, people!
also in April I got to go to one of my best childhood friend's recital~Katie.
that girl is in ah-maaaz-ing musician...
love this one.
her Mom watching her.

mom finished this quilt for Erich before he left in April. (sob!)
Erich moving away was tragedy #1 of the year.

"how lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
a.a. milne : winnie the pooh
craft we made for Mother's day with my BL group back in May.
"no man is a failure who has friends."
:: its a wonderful life ::
my camera and I had such good times in 2011. :P
photo credit: none other than Burg.
 in May was my graduation!
cheers!
{where's waldo where's hannah?}
fam pic attempt.
I'm so, so  thankful for all my parents have invested in me throught homeschooling.
yay for getting to wear matching skirts that you find el-cheapo at goodwill and for Ana finding the shirts at wal-mart el-cheapo too!
also in May was my open house!
here's the front of my invite that I designed:
{yess..I do have 2 middle names} :)
I had mentally planned out the design on the front, and when I had my senior pics taken I told Chelsy I wanted a pic of me playing piano looking back so I could put it back-to-back with the pic of me when I was little.
and she took exactly what I wanted.

some post-open house pics. :)
hannah montana poster made by a friend, as a joke. :P
regency dress made by Brittany.
I can't tell you how totally amazing she is~that dress she made is absolutely gorgeous.
wish I could wear that more often.
it is so formal though that I've only worn it several times to events that were 'special/formal enough'.  ;)
 I used this tutorial for my ruffled streamers, and just added the loops of brown ribbon in. :) so much fun!
 table decorations were just a little glass cup~vintage envelope wrapped around with brown ribbon and key~and a red carnation or rose.
exactly what I loved and wanted.
{red and brown were the colors I had}
 I bought/made/wrote so many thank-you's after my graduation that I told Mom it was too bad I had already graduated or I should have gotten highschool credit for that. :)

|| you can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.
a.a. milne : winnie the pooh
I had so much fun heading to a new 'forest' with the piano pedagogy (learning how to teach piano) class I took at verity institute in Indiana!
 L to R: Autumn, Kimberly, Kelsey, Lydia, Emily, Mrs. Baldridge, Hannah,
Alyssa, Rachel, Angela, Me
me and my roomates Kimberly and Emily.
I had so, so much fun with all those girls!
me studying in our room.
attempting to memorize all those music terms word for word. :P
'binary : a form of two divisions or sections'
I think that was right......too long ago!
Emily and her 'anne-of-green-gables' hat.
me looking stressed out in the lounge. :)
wow, that room held so many laughs, study time, funny stories, and blue bell ice cream....
I'll never forget the one night where we all got so tired and were laughing/crying....
we had good times in there. :)

me playing something in class..
they took us out to eat at Olive Garden over the weekend!
I had so much fun making new friends at piano ped. and I learned soooo much regarding piano teaching.
photo credit goes to Kimberly and Lydia. 
In August I got to head back to Indy and attend this amazing 2 day musicollege by Majesty Music.
Shelly Hamilton is such an incredible pianist.
so, so cool to see her play!
{pictures from here}
I think there were 5 of us from piano ped. that came to this, so that was super fun to see those friends again, and also make new ones!
I stayed with my roomate Kimberly when I went to that.
{love that girl!}
to my happiness, I got to travel with the Bright Lights team a lot this past year.
 me, Dani, Ana
my small groups from 2011...
{btw, I was the one taking the picture often, so thats why I'm not in some of these!}
Strong in the Lord (SITL) Conf. : Oshkosh
Radiant Purity (RP) : Oshkosh
SITL : Omaha
RP : Omaha
SITL : Minneapolis
RP : Minneapolis
oh how I miss all those sweet girls!
I also got to see my lovely Ailyse friend.
working in the kitchen.
oh so much fun. :)
another "tragedy" of the year was my Elisabeth and Ana friends moving away.
I miss them so much.
 I got to spend our "off" day in Oshkosh during the Bright Lights trip with them, and we stopped by Lambeau field! go packers!
beware the Rein.
getting to see this sweet girl and part of her fam was super cool.
she was actually in my first BL small group I ever had over 2 1/2 yrs. ago,
and we've been writing letters ever since. :)
 thanks Emily for this pic. :)
me and burg, my legit second-shooter.
Jim. he is so excited about life, and man is that kid smart! his imagination and resourcefulness amazes me.
oh Rein....
easy-cheesy lemon bars.
this should almost be a crime that I'm posting this pic.
those bars are epic.
I learned so much in photography last year!
oh how I love it.
{Amanda Jordan Photography}
I have had so much fun launching my photography business {Hannah Elise Photography} in 2011!
homeschooling at its best:
basketball head or new sultan, you pick.
ballet flats = bliss
wow that was a lot of pictures.
and links.
and text.
and if you read this whole post you deserve a prize or something!
{and actually I'll let you in on a little secret: I do have a blog give-away coming up here so you can get excited for that!}
here's to an even more amazing 2012!
♥  h a n n a h : e l i s e  ♥
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10 comments:

  1. Fun post!! :) Thanks for sharing~it's a blessing to see posts from other sisters in Christ/homeschooled graduates. =)

    Blessings!!
    Elizabeth

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  2. Yes I did make it through the whole post:) and I enjoyed every moment of it!

    Looks like you had a very fun filled year!

    ♥Michelle

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  3. She finally post it! 2011 was a great year and I'm so happy that I got to spend 1/2 of it with you! :) It's crazy how much has changed for you in a year...but yet I'm excited to see God's plans unravel. I'm even more excited to see what this year will hold for you! So...I guess I'll have to wait another year to see the post about 2012! :)

    Love,
    Ana

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  4. You have been such an encouragement to my sister(which in turn encourages me)!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, you had a busy year! = )
    It was so awesome getting to meet you when you stayed with Kimberly!

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  6. read the whole thing... and enjoyed it!! Love all those pics! I'm SO thankful you came to the "forest" of piano pedagogy...you are an awesome new best friend :). I'll be here for the give-away :). lol
    love ya,
    ~Kels

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  7. Hannah, You have been such a blessing and encouragement to my dear Reaghan for the past 2 and a half years. Thank you for writing to her and being so faithful in your letter writing. It was great to see you this summer hope to have our paths cross again.
    Mrs. Jensen (Reaghan's Mom)

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  8. I always love looking at your blog...you are such a talented and beautiful young (well compared to me) lady! Thanks for sharing all your amazing photos and thoughts!
    have a great day
    Mrs. Zuber

    ReplyDelete

please leave a comment -- I would love to hear your thoughts on this post!! :)