Past Couple of Days …

Hi Everyone!

So I’ve been home for almost a week now and I can’t tell you how much I love being home! It’s so wonderful. I do miss Baton Rouge though. I miss my girls so much. They were so much a part of my daily routine .. and at times like this when the house and quiet and there’s not much to do, I can’t call them and be like … let’s go to the library/eat/coffee together! Haha. But anyways … I love being home, there’s nothing like it.

Like I said before, Jake and I registered for a history “mini-session” class at HCC to take over the break. I’ve been the past two days and it’s not so bad. It’s from 12:30-3, so it takes a good chunk out of my day, but I’m hoping for an A which can boost my GPA a bit! :)

Also, Mom got picked to be on a jury downtown in a criminal court! She was one of the six picked out of the 120! Yay her! I’m so happy for her … what a great person to have there. I really don’t like the jury though because they take her away from me from 7:30-6:30 everyday! I’ve now had my afternoon coffee twice by myself! … But it’s ok, I know she’s experiencing something pretty cool, so good for her!

READ THIS: Ok, if you live in the Houston/Katy area .. on ABC tonight at 8pm My Grandmother, Mom, and I are going to be in a 30 minute TV show advertising Gallery Furniture’s “Home for the Holidays” … my grandmother’s was a recipient last Christmas and they wanted to use us to talk about our story on how she received it. I’m so excited and I hope you watch it!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE Christmas time? It just make me so so happy. It brightens my day. It’s pretty cute when I drive along the streets around and see cars with reindeer noses and antlers, HAHA, I love it! :)

Kevin has his algebra final tomorrow, so we’ve been studying together a lot to try and get him a good grade on it! I haven’t been here for the whole semester and he’s struggled a little bit. When he first “made it” into algebra, we talked about how we could do it together … and then we realized, oh wait, Hannah will be 5 hours away. So it’s nice to be here to help him study for his final. Best of luck to him!

Anyways .. I guess that’s it. I’m about to finish up my coffee and then go out for a quick run before Mom and Dad get home.

I love you all and hope you’re having a wonderful start to this holiday season! Until next time …

All my love,

Hannah

P.S. OMGSH! There is a Dolce & Gabbana commercial going around right now and you have to watch it. Matthew McConaughey is in it!

It’s Been a While!

According to my records, it has been three months since I’ve written! Oh my gosh! I don’t even know where to begin, so so much has happened these past few months! They have been such wonderful months for me and I have continued to learn so much about me, about life, about money managing, about grocery shopping, etc. Such a reality!

When I stopped blogging I wrote a lot about the Tiger Band. To this date, I am still a part of it. Those of you have been keeping up, my Tigers maintained a winning record and made it to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando! So guess what?! From December 27 – January 2 I will be in Orlando exploring Disneyworld with my best girlfriends and marching in the Capital One Parade down the streets of Orlando and then of course going to the Bowl Game itself. It’s January 1st at 1pm, make sure and watch it! For those of you that have known me for a while you know that I marched in the Holiday Bowl last year, so bowl #2, here I come!

We thought we were going to march in the Disney parade, but they didn’t have enough room for “more performing organizations” … so sad, but it’s okay! That just means we get to spend more time there!

Let’s see .. what else is new? Oh! I am successfully finished with my first semester at LSU! I absolutely love LSU .. it is very much so the place for me. I have met some wonderful people that are willing and ready to help me achieve my goals. It’s so wonderful going to a school that I have such confidence in. I ended my semester with a 3.1 GPA .. not what I wanted, but still not too bad. Next semester is going to be hard though .. I am taking Accounting, Biology II, Statistics, Music Appreciation, and Economics with four hours a week of band rehearsal. It’s going to be a busy one! Aaaahh!

Jake and I are doing great … better than ever. This month will be our tenth months being together … sometimes it feels like two days and sometimes it feels like two years. He and I get to see each other quiet a bit when we’re not doing our own thing. It’s so awesome having him at school with me! He is a mass communications major, so him and I don’t have the same schedule … so we work around each other’s and make it work. He’s so awesome and I SO love having him with me all the time. :)

I’ve also gotten so close to my four very dear friends. They are so amazing and I can count on them for a girl’s hangout night or shopping spree at anytime! They are from all different areas including Shreveport, New Orleans, Mississippi, and the Woodlands … so during this break I’m going to miss them terribly, but we get to be with each other throughout the semesters, so it’s wonderful!

I also got to see my family a lot this semester. Aside from trying to be strong, I definitely had my days where I just missed being with them all the time. I have the absolute greatest family, each of them special to me in their own way. They came my way quite a few times, we also met half way at my grandmother’s house, and then I went home when I didn’t have football games and such. They mean so much more to me than I could have ever imagined … they’ve made me who I am and it’s so weird living “without” them with me. But I’m being a big girl, and I’m getting better and better (I think they are, too). Occasional phone calls and Facebook chats are the perfect medicine for fixing my missing them. They’re the best! :)

I could go on for days … you know I could .. but that’s an update for now. I hope you enjoyed it .. sorry about the length. I hope I’ll be able to keep this up a little bit. If not, I’m sorry! I love you all so much! Until next time …

All my love,

Hannah

 

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Home for a Few!!

Hi Readers!

Guess what?! I’m sitting in my kitchen of my wonderful home with my parents and we are just hanging out having a relaxing morning! Jake and I left Baton Rouge yesterday around 5 and made it here around 10:30 or so last night. Since we get Monday off for Labor Day, we took the opportunity to come home for a few days! :)

Jake and I :)

I kinda miss it here. It was so nice to wake up in my bedroom and sleep walk down the stairs and be greeted by mom and dad as I finally got to the kitchen. That’s been my routine for 5  years now, and it was nice to finally do it again, haha. But in the same light, it has also let me know that I really like where I am right now. I actually can’t wait to get back to Baton Rouge and begin another week as a student there.

Me and Jodi :)

I finally have some pictures of new friends that I’ve made. It was Kellie’s birthday on Friday, so we all went out Thursday night to celebrate and while I forgot to take a picture of Kellie and the other girls … I did manage to get a picture with Jodi and then one picture of Jodi and Mike. Jodi and Mike are the only couple I’ve met that remind me a lot of Jake and I. They love each other so much and it’s so awesome hanging out with them. We’ve been on several “double dates” and have hung out a lot with each other. Jake and I consider them some of our best friends over there. And then Jodi is one of my greatest friends in Baton Rouge. She is so amazing and so real. Her and I are a lot alike in certain areas, but we also have our differences … which is why I think we get along so great. We went shopping together Friday morning to Target and her and I got us some new clothes!

Jodi and Mike :)

There should be pictures of me and my other girls coming soon. We took the picture of all five of us on Courtney’s camera and she hasn’t posted it yet. I’ll definitely post it when it comes out though!

Other than being home and spending time with my family, not too much is going on this weekend. I’ve got a few homework assignments and quizzes do, so I’ll probably work on that this weekend.

I love you all so much and continue to appreciate life as it is each day it comes! Until next time …

All my love,

Hannah

Slowly gettin’ the swing of things!

Well, as I laid down tonight, I started thinking about all that’s been going on in my life the past couple of days and I suddenly felt the need to blog about it. I haven’t updated y’all in a very long time anyway … so here it goes …..

Since I last blogged, I have moved into an apartment. While the whole dorm thing was quite an experience, it just wasn’t working out for me. Remember when I said I was slowly learning lots of things about Hannah? … Well, this was another thing. I’ve learned that I just need my own space … and don’t function very well if I’m CONSTANTLY worrying about pleasing my roommate and stuff like that … so needless to say, I am very happy where I am now and I can probably stay here for the next four years and be just fine! I live with two other students, one a sorority chica and the other a second year law-student graduate. I don’t see them hardly at all, but they are clean and quiet … and that’s all that matters. The apartment are directly off campus, so it’s no an inconvenience for me at all! :)

For those of you that want an update on the band aspect … the last you heard I made the Tiger Band! YAY! The next day after that post I found out that I made PreGame. That’s a pretty big deal in my world and it was a horrible selection process … probably the hardest I have ever gone through! ….and I was so relieved when I finally made that, too. It’s within the Tiger Band … just another step up. If you go to YouTube and type in “LSU Tiger Band PreGame”, you’ll see what I mean. Then …. today I was one of the ones selected to march in the half time show for our home opener against Vanderbilt. YAY! I just found out my Mom and Jake’s Mom are coming to see that game, so it’ll be so cool to be in every aspect of Tiger Band while my Momma is here! :)

My classes are going really really well. I’ve never been so excited to wake up and go to school before. While it sucks that each of my classes are ATLEAST 150 people, it is still so fun in each of them. I am trying more and more to meet people in my classes, but with so many, I sit by a whole new group each time, and it’s quite difficult to go through the “getting to know you process” each time. You know?

Life in general is going so amazing. I really feel like I’m meant to be here. LSU in itself is such an amazing university with so so much to offer. And the campus is absolutely beautiful. I love everything about it! I’m doing really well right now. I’ve made some girlfriends that I absolutely love. You’ll be hearing more about them as the semester progresses, haha. They are all in band with me and we (at least) have lunch and/or dinner each day together. It’s so wonderful. And, Jake and I are doing great. I so totally still love him and he’s loving it just as much as I am. :)

So .. there’s the update. Of course, I could go on and on about so many different things that I’ve been through, but I’ll save those for when I’m not so tired. Just know that I’m doing absolutely wonderful and am more blessed than ever! Until next time …

All my love,

Hannah

GEAUX TIGERS!!

Pictures!

Here are some pictures of the Tiger Band … my post about it is below. Love you all! Geaux Tigers! :)

Above is a picture of the PreGame show!

This is the parade route that the band always takes to get to Tiger Stadium.

The TigerBand in the stands!

The LSU part of the PreGame show!

TigerBand 2009!

I did it! I made the Tiger Marching Band! I can’t believe. I found out this morning around 8:15 and needless to say I’ve been in a great mood ever since! I mentioned last night just how challenging and mentally & physically exhausting this week has been for me, and to see those results after a week’s work was just so incredible and made it all worth it.

I am so thankful and blessed to be given this opportunity and cannot wait to see what this football season brings for me. I think I’m where I’m meant to be. 

Just thought I would share with y’all! GEAUX TIGERS!

All my love,

Hannah

 

Everything’s Going to be Okay! :)

Wow, I can’t believe Thursday night is finally here. I have been going literally non-stop since Sunday at 1pm .. and I finally have time to myself to just sit in my room and blog. It’s so nice.

Sunday-Thursday has been filled with the most intense marching rehearsals I’ve ever had and the most musical and educational music rehearsals I’ve ever attended. The people here know what they’re doing and it’s so amazing. I am amazed by the dedication of each band member. I am amazed by the respect each person on campus respects the band program. I am amazed by the intensity of my student leaders. I am amazed by the knowledge of the directors. And in general I am most amazed by the program that I have been affiliated with this week. The reputation and resume the TigerBand alone holds is intimidating in itself. And I know it’s because of the work of these directors (who can be a bit scary) and the work of all of the leaders in the band. In high school I thought I was a good leader, then I see the ones who have been chosen to lead this band, and I’m in such shock. They are so dedicated and respected by each person here!

This week has also taught me so much about Hannah and who Hannah really is. Maybe even too much to handle. A lot of it is that personal stuff that you don’t tell many people about and slowly find out as you get older and then some of it is the little picky stuff like about my room or about my shower. While I still feel like I am at camp and will return home on Sunday night, I am slowly grasping that that is not the case. I am starting to get e-mails from my professors and seeing posters around school wishing students luck for the beginning of school … school … I’m at school?! Haha.

Without being too mushy gushy, for those of you that have known me for a while, you know that I get these meltdown episodes for about an hour or so, where I just cry and am an emotional wreck. I usually get those about once every couple months. Well, I’ve had about three of those this week. This camp has brought the best and the worst out of me. I cannot begin to explain how thankful I am for the people I have in my life. Most importantly my Momma, my Daddy, my brother, Kevin, my Grandmom, and my boyfriend, Jacob. They’ve sat and just listened to me cry and bitch and moan and still love me. When I say I’ve learned a lot about Hannah this week, I wasn’t kidding!

I have to talk about my Mom for a second. I’ve tried not to talk to her too much because I’ve heard that talking to your family on the phone only makes you miss them more. But the few times I have called her, they’ve made my day. She gives me such strength and reassurance that I’m going to be okay. She knows me better than anybody else in this world does and she knows exactly my problems and solutions without me even knowing. I can’t tell you how thankful and blessed I am to HER daughter. It is my hope that other daughters out there have the relationship with their moms as I do with mine. Love you, Mom!

And I have to talk about Jacob for a second. I can’t tell y’all how much he’s helped me this week. Since my schedule has been non-stop 8am-9pm, and his schedule is less than that, he’s helped me with stuff like grocery shopping, laundry, and taking stuff places for me. He told me he wanted me to have time to rest so I can do good the next day .. is that not the greatest ever? How did I get so lucky? I’m so blessed and thankful to have him here on campus with me. He’s the real deal. Love you, Jacob.

Tomorrow morning I find out if I’ve made the TigerBand or not. The TIGERBAND! Oh my gosh. I can’t believe I just finished a week of preseason camp with the TigerBand. We have had so many reporters and photographers around us at our rehearsals from magazines and we’ve had TV stations stop by as well to check on the status of the TigerBand and such. Apparently if you look in the SEC Football Magazine for this upcoming season/predictions .. instead of the football team being on the front LSU page, it’s the TigerBand! Cool, huh? Anyway, whether I make the band, I know I’ve tried my absolute hardest and have exhausted myself to the max. My feet are swollen, my legs are sore, I have more pimples on my face, and my hair needs to be loved and have more time spent on it. What more can they ask for? I guess it’s all up to them now.

I guess that’s all for now. It was so nice to sit down and blog for a bit. I could keep typing and typing about my week’s experiences, but you’d lose interest fast, haha. All in a nutshell, this has been the best/worst week of my life! :)

All my love,

Hannah

I’m moved in! :)

Well .. I did it. I got through moving into my dorm and more importantly … I got through saying goodbye. While we drug it out as long as we could ... we finally did. The fact that it wasn’t a real goodbye made it not so bad .. but still, there were definitely tears.

Leaving Katy this morning was quite a challenge. Mom was in the car with me for that beginning portion and we just sobbed our way out of there … then Kevin rode with me for the next few hours and talked my head off .. and then Dad rode with me and I got to hear some of his college stories that I have never heard before! So it was a great trip here and I enjoyed every minute of it!

We moved all of my stuff in .. well actually the boys did while Mom and I set up the room. There is a list of things that I forgot and also some items that needed to go back home. So Mom agreed to get the stuff together and send it with Jake when he comes up here. (Which will be tomorrow!!) Thanks Mom and Jake! :]

I took some stereotypical dorm room pictures .. for those of you that want to see it. It came out really cute (and is very small). I FINALLY met my roommate Katherine and she is so awesome. It’s going to be a really fun semester in the dorm aspect of things. We are going to take a trip to Target together tonight and pick up a few things for our room then hopefully out to dinner.

The campus here is just beautiful. I love it more each time I come here. I’ve been to the band hall already (and met one of the clarinets!) to clarify a few things for tomorrow .. I report for band duty at 1pm and then go until 10pm. Then stopped by the front desk of my dorm to get my internet working properly.

So far so good my friends. I can feel myself “blooming” already. The people I’ve met and that I’ve run into all have been so supportive and easy to talk to. It’s so nice .. and I’ve only been here for a few hours, haha.

I love you all. Each of you have made such an amazing impact on my life .. which has lead me to this point! Thank you so much for everything.

Until next time!

All my love,

Hannah

The End && The Beginning

Hi Everyone!

Well, today’s my last day in Katy. Isn’t that weird? Now that it’s actually here, it’s so real and came way too fast. I can honestly say that I have no idea what to do with myself. The term “there aren’t enough hours in a day” never meant so much to me, haha.

I think I’ve been doing pretty well with the whole packing process and getting ready for tomorrow. I can’t tell you what a help Mom’s been in all this … she’s help me keep my ducks in a row so to speak. There’s boxes at the end of my stair case with all of my stuff in it and clothes all over my room for me to pack. Omg! This is so weird. '

 

Yesterday was when it all hit me. I met Jevita, one of my dearest friends, for starbucks in the morning and just sat and talked/listened to her for about an hour and very quickly realized just how much I love her and love being around her. Her and I have been friends since 7th grade. She was actually the first person that approached me and talked to me when I first moved to Katy in 7th grade. We were study hall buddies back then and have remained friends through 8th grade and the 4 years of JET Band and high school itself. She is going off to Minnesota to go to school and be closer to her family. Telling her bye was so hard. And I know it’s not “bye” in a goodbye type way … but it’s a “bye” as in, she won’t be part of my daily life anymore … you know? Love you, Jevita! :)

And then I went and go my nails done with Audrey. She is a girl that I just met through Jacob’s friend and I absolutely love her! We talked about how we wish we’d have met earlier this summer so we could have hung out so much more. Telling her bye was a bummer to because she is so chill to be around and we get a long so well. She’s a really good “girl talk” person. She’ll be going back to Sam Houston for her second year of school. Love you, Audrey!

After going to the dentist with Kevin and seeing G.I. Joe with Jacob and Tanner, I came home and had a meltdown for a few hours. No matter what I did or what Mom said … I just started crying. Sometimes I would laugh when I cried, but I just cried. I haven’t done that type of meltdown in a while.

One of the reasons why I love my Mom so much is because we’re so connected by some “mother daughter” connection. It’s so amazing. I was upstairs in my room, laying down in bed (yes, crying for no reason but just to cry) and she walks up with a cup of coffee in hand and told me that she had just been crying too, by herself. It made me feel a lot better that I wasn’t the only one melting down at the moment. Mom sat by my bed for a while and just talked to me while I listened … I couldn’t really talk all that great. She, as many people have told me, reminded me that this was just one of the processes everyone has to go through in order to get through life. Moving out is just what you do and it’s what I have to get through as part of the growing up process. I swear no matter where I am or what I’m doing … Mom always seems to know exactly what to say .. she’s so good at that. Love you, Mom! :)

Then my Jacob came over right in the middle of the tear fest … so I felt so stupid because I was so afraid that he wouldn’t understand why the hell I was crying … mainly because I didn’t have a concrete reason either. But he played it off so well, haha. He was there for two hours or so for me while I just sat there and balled and laughed all at the same time. He took me to starbucks (yes, that was the second time .. and no, I didn’t remember my $2 receipt) to get out of the house for a second and we just sat and talked and he was his goofy self for me. It kinda reminded me why I love him like I do. Love you, Jacob! :)

Then it was about 8:45 and Jacob and I both had plans with our friends last night. So him and I went home, said bye to my parents and then Jacob and I split our different ways. I went to Shelbs’ house to hang with Shelbs and Amanda. Gosh I’ve missed them this summer. With the schedule I’ve kept, I haven’t seen them as much as I’ve wanted to so it was so nice to just hang out with them and eat lots of pizza. Telling them bye was so hard, too. We’ve had some incredible memories together. We’ve all been in band together since 7th grade and have made so many amazing memories together. Amanda I just recently got a lot closer this senior year and Shelbs and I have known each other .. we’ve been through it all together. These girls remind me that I love who I am and remind me that the “chill” and “relaxed” personality I have and the need to not always being impressing someone is ok to have. They are the girls that I am the most myself around and I cannot tell you how blessed and fortunate I’ve been to have them in my lives these past six years. I love you girls, more than you know! :)

So, as I sign off and say bye I just want to say that some wise woman once told me .. that no matter where we are or what we’re are doing “we’re all going to be okay” and wherever our lives are we need to just “bloom where we are planted”. And for the past 6 years, I believe I’ve done that .. to the best of my ability at least … and now I’m going to move to Baton Rouge tomorrow, and I’m just going to keep bloomin’ … because really, there’s no other fun way to live. And while I’m blooming, I’m going to have the memories and the love of all the people here in Katy … and that alone is going to give me so much strength and encouragement to being my new life at LSU.

I love ALL of you in my life so much.

All my love,

Hannah

College Prep is in Motion! :)

Hey Everyone! :) I’m so excited to update y’all on different things here and there that have happened since I’ve last blogged. Nothing too big and life changing, but many of the things are steps needed to take to get to college and the moving out process. Move out day for me is August 15th and it’s quickly approaching!

My Dorm Room! I have ordered my dorm room set … that’s the comforter and sham pictured above. I did not get those sheets ... I chose black sheets and pillow shams, as well as one king sized yellow sham. I am really excited … it’s one that came in the XL Twin size that we needed and was on sale! So I got all of my bedding, including the padded thing that’s going underneath for under $140! Mom and I did good (mostly mom)! I also got two black combination sets of a washcloth, hand towel, and bath towel from Wal-Mart. And then I also used one of my Target gift cards and got a few zebra towels to go with ... just to add a little variety to the mixture. I also got one of my old band mom’s to embroider my name on each of my towels in hot pink. It’s going to look so good!

Mono is Gone-o :] For those of you that don’t know, I had a pretty bad case of mono this past month and I’m happy to say I’m much better! I am able to last a whole day without being so exhausted and can lay down on my left side without feeling my spleen. Yay! And yes, I know, I still need to take it easy ... and I do … but it’s so nice to feel better!! With my 16 hour band days coming up soon, I need lots of strength to get me through … so I need to make sure and rest while I can, while still making sure I have the endurance to do what I need to do. LSU Music When I show up to band camp on the 16th I am required to have the LSU school songs memorized. I have been practicing and learning them one by one. The songs are about 7-10 lines long, so it’s not too bad. So far I am 3 for 6! I copied the school song CD from one of my friends, so I put it on repeat and just play along with my computer … it’s so convenient, haha, Kevin hates it though. I am going to have to be hard-core band nerd for 16 hours a day for five days straight in order to make the Tiger Band. The itinerary for the band camp looks pretty hardcore, not going to lie. But I think I have enough determination to make this band, that it should be bearable. If you’d like to start praying along with me, I’d greatly appreciate it! Haha :)

We own a boat …

Yes, Dad broke down and finally bought a boat. Mom swears he’s been talking about it for 10 years or so and wasn’t doing anything about it. He had been talking more and more serious about over the last couple months and we all told him that we wouldn’t believe it until there was a boat in our garage .. and what do you know. The boat is really cute. It’s very simple, but so fun. We just took it to Conroe this past weekend and spent a family day on it. While I did not enjoy the rough ride and the constant bouncing, there’s nothing like watching Mom and Kevin live in the moment and tube their hearts out. It was so awesome to watch them do that. I couldn’t because of my mono-situation, but next time we go out, I’m definitely giving it a try!

Anyways …

Those are the highlights of the past week or so. Nothing to drastic. :) Jacob's gone for the week. He's off to California for his annual fishing trip with his dad, uncle, and other peeps. He seemed really excited about when he left, so I'm happy for him! Him and I just went to a wedding together. One of my friends from high school got married! So we got to get all dressed up fancy and attend. It was so fun to be able to be there and have him there with me. We are so good and I couldn't be happier. He's especially been there a lot for me this past week as I've been in freak-out-about-college mode.

I didn’t realize how chaotic life would suddenly become once college approaches. There is definitely the “I’m going to miss you” factor in the house with me, mom, dad, and especially Kevin, which adds some never before seen tension. It’s something that each of us is going to go through individually. I know, me especially, it’s going to be weird not being the regular 4 that we’ve been used to forever. I’m going to be my own self … and then I’m leaving them here to be the next 3 musketeers. Hopefully we’ll all do fine with the change … that’s my prayer for right now.

That's it for now! I hope all of you are doing wonderful and things are going smooth. Anything new with any of you? I'm on facebook a lot and would love to get a message or two from you! Or an e-mail works too! I love getting updates from all of my closest families .. with the lives we each live on our own, it's so nice to stop and update your's with someone elses! :)

All my love,

Hannah

I'm New at This! & Puerto Rico :)

Hello All :)

I'm going to warn you now that I've never done this before .. and it is very likely that I will have a tendency to babble on because if you put me in front of a keyboard and let me go, I'll go, haha. I like having the ability to do that every once in a while ... I've always wanted to blog because of it. It seems like this can be somewhere where I can just talk randomly and those of you that want to read, will. You know?

I'd like to start off with talk about my Puerto Rico trip! I have been home almost a week now and I can't stop thinking about it. I went with Jacob, my amazing boyfriend (you'll hear a lot about him) and his family, the Endresens (you'll hear a lot about them, too). We had such an amazing time. If you look at my facebook, you can see all of the pictures from it. We stayed in San Juan, Puerto Rico which was like tourist heaven. Our hotel/resort grounds were perfect! It was a really awesome trip to get to know Jacob and his family even more. I've been around them for a while now, but it was nice to just get away and have bonding time .. just me and the fam! :) That family is so amazing. They treat me and make me feel like their own and it is so comforting. Jacob has a new little brother, Jackson, who is only 6 months old, and him and I got lots of bonding time. It was so awesome. And then I also got to know Jacob's dad better. Because of his work schedule, I haven't really gotten to know him as well as Jacob's mom. He really is such an awesome/patient guy who just loves his family. And then Jacob's mom, Ms. Jen, is so fun, too. Her and I have been compatible ever since we met, so it was nice to get to hang out with her. A lot of times her and I would take bathroom dates together to go change Jackson or something of that sort .. and as dorky as it sounds, I had so much fun on those date! Haha. But most importantly I got to know Jacob more. I wasn't sure what it'd be like being with him 24/7, not for any other reason other than we've never done it before .. and it's kind of a big deal for a couple do that because you get to see all aspects of each other for a week. And after successfully getting through a week without totally hating each other .. I can honestly say it was one of the greatest weeks ever. I was able to get to know him more and love him even more by just being with him all day every day .. I know that sounds super corny, but it's so true! On the Saturday night we were there, he actually gave me a beautiful promise ring and told me that he's promised to me no matter what. Yes, I got a little teary, but I couldn't have been any happier! :) (And I know it's not about the ring .. but it's a beautiful blue diamond flower set ring .. it's gorgeous!) And I gladly/quickly gave my promise to him as well. And then the next day got him a stud-ish ring of his own .. I really like it. I think we're going to last very long time. So to wind down, Puerto Rico was amazing. It was a great eye opener and let me know that I'm getting into something really amazing by dating Jacob. And Puerto Rico itself was absolutely beautiful. Those of you who want to go somewhere and don't know where, ask me! Going to San Juan, Puerto Rico and visiting Old San Juan and shopping in all the shops up and down the streets is so so fun. I got my bonus check the Friday before we left, so I was able to be a little loose with my money and get some really cute stuff! I even bought my mom a beautiful topaz pendant to hang form her gold chain .. she really loved it when she opened it! :) Ok, so until tomorrow, that's all for now. Hopefully if I have time tomorrow, I can blog some more. I promise all of my posts won't be all ga-ga over my boyfriend. Just the first one! :) And if any of you have blogs that I don't know about, tell me, so I can follow you, too! All my love, Hannah