be the spark that lights the fire // self portrait series

experimenting with self-portraiture.

xo,
hannah

a post for all tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and other hot beverage drinkers

I’m a big tea drinker. Not herbal tea, just the classic Lipton with cream and sugar. That being said, one of the fun things about drinking tea + any other hot beverage is the mugs. I don’t know about you, but I seriously love cute mugs. Here are some of my favorites:

purchase here

purchase here

purchase here

source unknown

purchase here

What's your favorite hot beverage?

xo,

hannah

selfies vs. self portraits

The fact that "selfie" is now an official word scares me a little. Why? Because when I hear the word "selfie", the word that comes to mind immediately after is "duck-face." For the past few years, self portraits have been brought down to a place where they have a slightly negative connotation. Don't get me wrong, I've taken my fair share of selfies (minus the duck face), but to me, the difference between a selfie and a self portrait is monumental.
You don't see too many people taking self portraits these days, and I think one of the reasons is because they're ridiculously hard to take. I've tried and failed on several occasions to take self portraits, and I've learned a few basic things through trial and error that I thought I would share with you.

first real attempt at self-portraiture, taken February 3rd

Having self confidence and embracing yourself is key in taking self portraits, because you're your own critic. People tend to be a lot harsher on themselves than on other people. Embrace your imperfections and roll with it.

Taken February 17th

When taking self portraits, and just posing for portraits in general, it helps to eliminate the little voice in your head that says things like, "don't show your teeth that much," and "move that piece of hair." As I said before, just roll with it. Just relax and try different things between each click of the shutter. If you overthink, you'll look stiff and unnatural.

Taken February 20th

Initially when I saw the two photos above on my camera monitor, I didn't like either of them because the top one was off-centered and the bottom was blurry. However, I kept them, blew them up, and sure enough they are my two favorite self portraits to date. When shooting self portraits, please please please don't delete them straight off the camera. Wait until you upload them to your computer and look through them, then decide which ones to trash and keep.

Get creative with angles, with lighting, and with editing. I had so much fun editing this batch of photos with bokeh overlays and seeing how different one picture could look. It gives them a fun, artsy feel, and since I am rather an artsy person I love that.

I hope these little tips inspired you to take some self portraits! And if you do, let me know! Make a blog post with your self portrait experiments and leave me the link in a comment. Or post one on Instagram and tag me in it, @hannahlpgirl and hashtag it with #teamselfportrait. If you want to see some more incredible self portraits, head over to Janelle's blog, she's super talented and pretty much a master/expert/genius when it comes to modeling for herself.

Till next time guys!
xo,
hannah

I feel it in my bones

currently listening to: radioactive // imagine dragons

I feel it in my bones,

Enough to make my systems blow

Welcome to the new age, to the new age

Welcome to the new age, to the new age

xo,

hannah

snacking healthy

I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for anything salty. Put a bag of chips in front of me and you can expect the contents to be gone in 10 minutes. However, from a very young age I learned to love vegetables. Sure, they might not be as tasty as a handful (or two...or three) of Doritos, but I genuinely enjoy them.
And lately, I've been enjoying a few slices of cucumber in ice water. It jazzes up the taste of it if you aren't a fan of water's nothingness (I don't mind water, but cucumbers make it even more refreshing). A few benefits of cucumbers are...

001. They fight cancer

002. They are a remedy for sunburn

003. They are hydrating (cucumbers are 90% water!) and

004. They are energy boosters

What's your favorite healthy snack?
xo,
hannah

on being strong

I'm not quite sure how I want to start this post.

Lately I've been feeling pushed aside by my friends. Ignored, even neglected. People have changed and I've lost sight of what's really important and, in a sense, who I am. Teenagers these days act so different around different people that I really don't know who anyone is anymore. It's rubbing off on me in a negative way, and while my friends still make me laugh everyday, there are those times where they've made me feel...invisible.

I was feeling particularly sorry for myself on Thursday. Some stuff happened throughout the day that put a gray cloud inside my head. So I decided to go for a run to clear my head.
Now, when I say clear my head, I literally mean clear my head. When I run, absolutely nothing is going on inside my head. The only thing I'm aware of is my pounding feet and my heavy breathing.

I ran pretty steadily for a good mile and a half, but then my legs started to get heavy, and I came to that point in the run where you literally feel like death is upon you. So I walked for a bit. And a bit more. And I was thinking I was just going to walk the half-mile back home, but then my song came on. I don't know what it is about this certain song, it just motivates me more than any other tune can.
However, I was still walking. When I walk, I can think. And I was just thinking about the day, and wishing God would send me some sort of sign to help me out with this situation.

It was instantaneous. At that moment, I looked up (I had been looking at the ground) and there was a homemade sign stapled to a telephone pole. It had a giant orange smiley face on it, and above that it read: "Take what you need to be for the day!"
Underneath the smiley face the paper was sliced into individual strips, and each strip had a word on it. All but three were gone, but the one that stuck out to me the most was "Strong". So I took it. And I swear the next moment was like a movie.
I knew that little piece of paper was a sign from above, and suddenly, my legs no longer felt heavy, the cloud inside my head disappeared, and I started to run just as the chorus of the song came on. How perfect is that? The whole thing was so cheesy that I couldn't help cracking a smile as I ran up the hill.
But I felt so blessed, and I was really blown away at what had just happened. All I could do was thank God for watching over me.

"I sought the Lord and He heard me; and He delivered me from all my troubles."

>>>Psalm 33:5

xo,
hannah

discovering me v.1

I'm finding out several things about myself. Not big, life-changing things, but things that I've been aware of but never acknowledged. Here are my recent discoveries:

1. I have a love/hate relationship with the letter "r"
Let's just get this straight: I like the sound Rs make. Scratch that: I love the sound they make. Rs twirl off your tongue in such a way that they make words interesting. You can roll them, click them, breathe them, and strain them. But I can't stand the shape of them. Why? I have no idea. Rs are awkward to write, especially lowercase ones. They are a nuisance to the hand, and a pleasure to the tongue. Can you agree?

2. I am a fickle person and I need to take my time while making decisions.
I think I've always known this, but I've never expressed it to you guys. But it's true, I'm very fickle and I'm terrible at making decisions. If I have to choose between bacon or sausage, it'll take me a few minutes to decide. You ask me would I rather get the coral shorts or the turquoise ones? I'll get back to you in a day or so. And I did like that photo a week ago, but I think it's time for an updated one. And let's not even get started on blog designs. No really, let's not get started ;)

3. I do not take haircuts lightly.
I found this out recently, since I just got my haircut about a week and a half ago. I rarely let people touch my hair, and when I do I have high expectations. But no one knows my hair like I do, and unfortunately it shows. Volume is one thing, but pouf is an entirely another. I must admit, my hair is much more bouncy now that it's a bit shorts and cleaned up, but I do miss the length. But hair is hair, and it always grows back :)

Have you made any little discoveries about yourself lately?
xo,
hannah

"...something to hope for."

I was with my dad in the car the other day, and we were talking about some old story from my childhood. When we were finished laughing and remembering, he said, "You were such a happy kid, Hannah." I didn't take this as "Geez, you used to be so happy, what happened??" I took it as "Your childhood years were so full of joy and so many priceless, jubilant memories are the result of them." 

I really was happy. Looking back, I remember myself as a carefree, curly-haired kid full of laughter and creativity.

I still am happy. I'll admit it, I'm not satisfied, but I'm happy. I just feel like there is so much I could be doing with my life, so many different paths to choose from, and certain things are holding me back. It's unsettling, knowing I could be living my life to the fullest when, at the moment, I'm living it...ordinarily. I never thought I'd be afraid of such a thing as living an ordinary life, but I am. I never even thought about it until this year, when I'm discovering limits I didn't know existed.

So I have a lot on my mind, a few big decisions to make, and positive attitude to maintain through it all. I just have to hope and pray that everything falls into place. And so I'll leave you with a new favorite quote:

"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."  -Joseph Addison