Hannah Morrison

Ski Trip to Angel Fire, NM

Happy Thursday, friends!! I am so excited to share all the ins and outs of our trip to Angel Fire last week, from where we stayed, what we ate, what we wore, and how you can book an amazing home in the mountains, too!

Paul and I both have been skiing and snowboarding before, so we were pumped to get back on the slopes. However, it’d been a heck of a long time since we had last done it… so we were hopeful to say the least that this would go well. I am pleased to say we both did really well, though we both each had a pretty good wipeout each. But hey, one wipeout each? We will take it! Angel Fire obviously has the usual Ski School, though, if you need to take a morning class before hitting the slopes. I would not suggest going a first time without Ski School.

We drove to Angel Fire, which about a 9.5 hour drive from North Texas. Growing up, people always went on Spring Break trips to Angel Fire from the San Antonio area, so though I had never been I knew it’s a great spot! The drive sorta scared me… but it actually was the EASIEST drive ever. It flew by, to be honest. There was zero traffic and it really was so easy.

Paul booked us a home for our 5 year anniversary trip with Resort Properties of Angel Fire. They provided us an incredible home right on the ski slope, and it was just stunning. I shared in my stories a tour of our home within minutes of getting inside of it because I couldn’t handle how beautiful it was. Resort Properties has dozens of homes to pick from to stay in for your vacation to Angel Fire. Imagine like an Air Bnb for all things Angel Fire- that’s what they do! They have everything from condos at the base at very reasonable prices to entire homes like what we booked. Our home, Blue Aspen #1, sat on the green slope Heading Home, which worked out perfectly because it was our slope we stayed on the entire time we were there. (It was the easiest way down the mountain… lol.) We would literally do a few times down and then pull off to our place for lunch. It was perfect!

For our food, we set up with HelloFresh a delivery to our home for all our dinners. I am SO GLAD we did this. It was like having restaurant-worthy food each night without the price tag, and we had fun nights in each evening by the fire. Our home was so high up the mountain that driving down for dinner each night would have been tough with the snow storm that came while we were there AND the -27 degree temps… CRAZY RIGHT?! Also, with our food allergies and wanting to stick to a budget on our trip, we didn’t know what we would actually be able to eat in the village. However, I will say that I was blown away by the little bitty grocery store they have in the village! I had very low expectations… but they had an amazing gluten free selection and carried a bunch of the brands I buy at my nice grocery stores at home. Also, the prices weren’t as insane as most resort stores are. We bought all of our lunch stuff here when we first arrived to the village.

(You can follow the link to HelloFresh above with a personal discount that will give you 6 meals on me!)

For our ski gear, Saint Bernard sponsored the majority of Paul’s and my stuff. I seriously LOVED my coat and can’t wait to wear it again. It was so well-priced ($189 vs. $250+ for anything else!) and it. is. so. cute. Paul already had a down North Face coat, but got his pants, beanie, and snowboard boots from the shop! I have linked below everything we wore!

We can’t wait to go back. I no joke cried twice watching dads teaching their sons how to ski haha. I can’t wait to come back with Knoxy one day! I will say one con of our entire trip was that I had pretty gnarly altitude sickness the entire trip. I didn’t prepare well, because to avoid stopping a million times on the drive there… I didn’t drink hardly anything. Mistake #1. Second, upon arriving, I didn’t replenish as I should have (despite the warnings from our amazing hosts that I should drink tons of water to avoid getting sick.) I also think I caught some kind of a bug because I then had the stomach flu for three days upon arriving back home, so I think I had a very unfortunate combination of problems while there. However, even still with altitude sickness, I had such a blast. I can’t wait to go back and redeem the trip a little bit by being better hydrated. But, seriously, I can’t suggest Angel Fire enough. It’s small and quaint and FAR BETTER PRICED than anything in Colorado. And did I mention it is beautiful?

Happy booking, friends! I hope you book and have an amazing spring break or summer trip!

Managing Expectations: Valentine’s Day

Okay okay, so I think I have made it pretty clear… I friggn’ love Valentine’s Day. I love pink and red, I love chocolate, I love flowers, I love love, I love cute romantic music (like, here, on my Valentine’s Day playlist!), I love celebrating love, I love showing love to my closest friends, I love decorating for Valentine’s Day…

I mean, for real. I love it all.

I am not a fool, though, and I know Valentine’s Day is hard for some. I have been there. I know what it’s like to hate Valentine’s Day. Maybe it’s your first one since a hard break-up. The first since somebody close to you passed away. Another year that you turned down a date because it didn’t “feel right.” Another year you’re dating somebody just for the heck of it, because on paper it looks good, but you just can’t find the real feelings for them regardless of all the reasons you’ve come up with that you SHOULD be madly in love with them. (That one is so freaking real for my story. And, take it from me, that was more painful than it was fun.) The first year you don’t have a date. Whatever it may be, I know it can feel like a spotlight is on your life every year when February 14th comes around, reminding you your life perhaps doesn’t look like you wanted it to or thought it would.

I had year after year of Valentine’s Days where I had dreamed up this spectacular, surprise Valentine sweeping me off my feet, bringing flowers to school for me, leaving me a surprise on the hood of my car only to come out of nowhere serenading me to my favorite love song… It’s fine, I am not a hopeless romantic at all… And year after year I was disappointed, because my expectations didn’t match the reality of my day. Either things fell flat or the person I wanted to show me affection totally didn’t return it. But had I come into the day with gratitude for the love I had in my life, which was an immense amount, I wouldn’t have found myself feeling lonely or less-than by the end of another February 14th solely because something spectacularly romantic didn’t happen to me that I had dreamed up in my head. You feel me?

But, here’s the funniest part of it all. Y’all, I have had the hopeless romantic, movie scene things happen to me and they all, despite meeting every fantasy daydream of mine, didn’t satisfy. I am not kidding you, a boy once wrote a song for me and played it on a piano at school after math class for me. I didn’t even realize in the moment what was happening- I for real thought it was a friend sharing a song with me that he had written… but not for me. And what should have ended with a huge smooch in my movie scene moment actually left me feeling “bleh” and a little guilty that I didn’t feel fireworks for this incredibly kind guy and his romantic gesture. Another year, a guy made a mum for homecoming for me with his mom, and I ignored his phone calls because I was scared he was in fact making me a mum and I didn’t want to deal with telling him I wasn’t into him like that… I woke up to a beautiful massive mum on my porch that morning that I later found out he left at 4 AM for me. Ugh, I was the worst. I wish I could go back to 16 year old Hannah and handle a whole bunch of things differently. But, alas, we can’t do that. But, no joke, I think about these things from time to time and want to vomit at myself a little. O_o Another year on Valentine’s Day, a boy bought me candy and a stuffed animal, and he wrote me a letter about why he thought I was great. And, once again, I was appreciative… but nothing. No sparks. Again, I left just feeling guilty.

Now flip it, while dating my now husband, our first Valentine’s Day was a joke. It ended in tears and a huge fight. Then, the next day I showed up to roses on my desk at work… but they weren’t from Paul. And, our fight escalated exponentially… as you can imagine. Y’all, you can’t make these things up. And once again, Valentine’s Day wasn’t this grand event and I felt disappointed. And again, that was with my NOW HUSBAND. Even the guy I was going to end up with left me feeling disappointed on Valentine’s Day when we were just 3 months into dating when it’s supposed to be magical and overly romantic… right?

So my point?? No matter what comes your way, Valentine’s Day could be disappointing or, perhaps, surprising to say the least. Or, it can really be the best day ever. But what changes that outcome? Your attitude and perspective. Not the perfect date or perfect boyfriend or romantic gesture from your spouse. I want to challenge you as this holiday approaches. No matter what your “relationship status” may be, I hope you set some expectations, but that they are expectations for yourself- not ones you put on others. Expect to enter into the day with gratitude and to bless the mess out of everyone you love. Send texts to each friend and family member in your life to express how they love you well. Send words of encouragement, gift people in line at Starbucks with a free coffee, deliver flowers to a friend at work who has had a tough season. Whatever it is, you can manage your expectations and use your “hopeless romantic” desire in a way that loves others well. This applies to you whether you’re single, dating, engaged, or married.

As a wife, I will not expect my husband to be anything he’s not on Valentine’s Day. If he isn’t a hopeless romantic all other 364 days of the year, he’s not going to be on Valentine’s Day. He will show me he loves me in ways that he wants to (and, he always does now… and he’s really good at it!). And, regardless of what love may be shown or romantic things may or may not be done for me on February 14th, I know without a doubt that I get to use the day to meet my own expectations of loving others. Does this make sense?

And here is my final encouragement to you, wherever you’re at and whatever life stage you find yourself in: You have a God who loves you so deeply. And, shocker, He loves you way better and more faithfully than even the best husbands or boyfriends. I mean it. I am not just saying “Hallmark-Worthy” things to make you feel a little better about a holiday. I am telling you, God loved you first and it’s because of that GREATEST love we have even a glimpse at His love through the gift of relationships. Our friendships and romantic relationships are literally just a tiny glimpse at the vast love our God has for us.

“So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” Romans 8: 31-39 (The MSG)

No matter what comes your way, you have a God who loves you immensely. Exactly as you are, broken and -perhaps- a little jaded. He loves you.

Happy Valentine’s Day, sweet friends. Know you’re loved today (and every day).

xoxo,

Han

Finding “Me Time”

Alright, so a couple weeks ago I decided it was TIME. Time to make every appointment I have said I would make for the last two months and actually go to them. DUN-DUN-DUN (insert dramatic music here.) I called it “Self-Care Week,” and it. was. so. good. I cannot tell y’all enough, just like it’s so important to find time with your spouse (sans kids!!!!), how vital it is to find some “you time.”

I don’t care if you’re a mom, a wife, single, no kids, a roommate, living at home… whatever! You need YOU TIME. This is a daily need and then also, on a bigger scale, at least a monthly thing. Have a large chunk of time set aside to be alone, y’all.

I keep referencing this in things I write lately, because it’s just such an important realization: Jesus got away from crowds to be alone. And, I guarantee you it was to re-coop and become a better-equipped self for all the CRAZIES out there. 😉 Okay, Jesus definitely wouldn’t say it that way… But, human Hannah definitely does. I need to get away and re-coop, without Knox or Paul, to be a better mom and wife. Then, of course, as a couple we have to get away without Knox on a regular basis.

When I don’t, I lose it. I am short-tempered, angry, feisty, and don’t want to be touched. That’s not fun for anybody to be around, and I hate when I get to that point.

Most weeks, “me time” looks like a stroll at the grocery store with a coffee in hand alone. Or, it can look like getting my hair or nails done. Or, it could simply be getting to go back to my room with a glass of wine to read while Paul plays with Knox.

Alright, so I say all that to set up my extravagant “self-care” week. My “me time” doesn’t look this fantastic, but I wish it did. 😉

  • I got my eyebrows shaped and tinted with my girl Carrie after MONTHS of saying, “I gotta make an appointment.” No joke, I think I went from May to January without seeing her. Big news: Carrie is branching off from Southern Chic Wax to start her own company and I am so excited for her!! Start following her new journey, here. You can start booking appointments TOMORROW, Feb. 1st!
  • I scheduled my next hair appointment and dentist appointment (praises!). Sounds silly, but it’s really important to me haha. As far as hair goes, my bestie Bethany is the most incredible colorist, and if you’re local she is coming back from maternity leave in the early spring!
  • I went to TruDerm, which I documented on my Instagram, for my first experience with microdermabrasion. I loved it! It was painless, like a deep cleaning for my pores basically. The spa itself was gorgeous, everybody was so nice, and -honestly- here’s what I was most impressed with. Having never been to a clinical spa before, I was expecting a bunch of women with noticeable fillers. Just being really honest. But much to my surprise, from the person behind the desk who greeted me to the woman who did my facial (and everybody in between that I passed)… nobody had “too much” botox. I know that could sound a little judge-y… and I don’t mean it to. But as somebody who values natural beauty but also believes botox is a-okay and you should do whatever floats your boat… I just was really pleased to see an entire clinical spa with beautiful women everywhere with amazing skin and, for those who had it, well-done botox! It was the first thing I told Paul when I came home. I would 3000000% trust TruDerm with fillers on myself or people I know after having seen every single person in their spa and not thinking once “Aw man, they did too much.” I know that seriously could be taken wrong, so please don’t turn it into something. But, TruDerm has my absolute, hands down utmost respect for their work!
  • After 3 years of saying I want to… I finally went to see my first counselor. I KNOW! When I told some people this they asked, “Oh no! Why?” Which it totally understandable! A lot of people go to a counselor in crisis, and I am team ‘See A Counselor’ ALL THE WAY. For me, though, I just know there’s things I need to work through emotionally and spiritually from experiences in my life that I haven’t really dealt with before, and I am excited to finally do so. Some of the best, most admirable leaders I know see a counselor once a month just for the heck of it, and I honor that. I figure if they do, I should too. Already, I feel freedom from getting to talk about things with all walls down and no fear of saying something “I shouldn’t.” Anyways, go see a counselor! I dare you- it just might be the best thing you’ve ever done!
  • I spent a ton of time cleaning out my closet- tossing things I love but didn’t wear this past year in its rightful season (that’s my rule for purging!). I sold a bunch over on @shopthecakescloset, and donated the rest. It felt good to make some money on the side to put into my business and to buy some new jeans I desperately needed.
  • I did no alcohol for 3 weeks and no cake or ice cream. SAY WHAT? It’s true. My church does a fast twice a year, and our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting is always how we begin the year. I decided no glass of red wine like I so love at the end of every day, and no cake or ice cream. I don’t know how we made it with no cake or ice cream… but we made it y’all! Paul and I chose to fill our evenings with intentional reading instead of TV most nights during this time as well, which was so refreshing. I am currently reading It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way, Lysa Terk’s new book… and well, let’s just say I was weeping 10 pages in. Every evening felt like space set aside for “me time” when I got in bed to read.
  • I painted my nails- yeah. I painted them. I have had paint-less nails for at least 9+ months…
  • Another huge deal for me is our gym! We chose our gym because with our membership comes up to 3 hours of childcare a day when we come to workout. So our gym membership is a little pricey… but I also credit it to half of my sanity, haha. Working out makes me a better self, and getting alone time does. And, my kid is getting to play with other boys and girls his age we wouldn’t otherwise know. It’s just all such a win! Worth every extra penny. For the new year, I decided to commit to myself going to at least three CLASSES a week in order to challenge myself physically and to meet people. It’s been so. much. better. for. me. I am just not the type of person who can push themselves in a solo workout. I will just scroll my phone while I lackadaisically use the elliptical for 45 minutes. But now, I feel sweaty and accomplished after a workout again, and I love it!

So, what do you do for “you time?” I am telling you, it’s a vital part of your schedule. And if you don’t set aside time for you… do it and you’ll see why it is. Love you guys!

xoxo,

Han

“Me Investments”

The Easiest Way to Sell Your Home!

This post is sponsored by Offerpad. Although paid for to help inform my readers about their services, every opinion is my own and I truly do believe this is an incredible business to work with. #ad

Okay, let me begin this post by saying Paul and I are NOT, I repeat, NOT in the market for a new home. We freaking love our home, which if you have been around here a while, you know is our first home that we bought two summers ago! You can read more about the journey that found us this cutie little home here, but -long story short- this home is an answered prayer.

With our home buying process, we got incredibly lucky. Things sort of fell into our lap with the home we bought, and we also were on a “leave when we want to” basis with our apartment, because I was pregnant and the guy below us smoked weed so much it literally made our entire apartment smell all hours of the day. For obvious reasons, we couldn’t stay. It was a terrible situation, but it all panned out perfectly to place us into our first home.

We recognize that buying our first home with our first offer in less than 24 hours of placing it, getting to leave our apartment whenever we wanted, and moving in just a couple weeks was unheard of. But, because of that, it seriously has made me think about how, when the time comes in the future to sell as our family grows, how complicated the buying/selling process really is! Like, what the heck are we supposed to do if the perfect home pops up on the market… but we haven’t sold our current home yet? And we certainly can’t afford two mortgages, because… that’s crazy. So what the heck would we do? There are so many factors to buying and selling a home that make me so nervous! It’s like all the stars need to miraculously align in order to make it actually work.

That is until I heard about Offerpad.

You guys, Offerpad seriously answers all of my biggest fears about the home selling process! When their company reached out to me about potentially sharing with you guys about what they do, I was so impressed by them that I truly felt like, “If this is answering all of my biggest fears about selling a home in the future… I know it will for others!” I really believe in the things I share about on my blog, and this is no exception. #adulting is REAL and selling a home is probably going to be a reality for majority of us at some point in our lives. This makes it easier.

They buy your home with CASH and absolutely are the answer to no double mortgage. You for real just input your address and information about your home, here,  and then I received an offer to my email for my home in less than 24 hours. If I accepted the offer, I would have the cash sent to me and I have the choice to move immediately or can even request up to 60 days to move out! Isn’t that amazing?!

Only Con: I have to be honest, our home is worth about $40k more than what they offered. However, this would truly be the answer for us if something happened and we had to move immediately. Or if we were simply upside right (meaning we owe less than we were offered) on payments and didn’t want to deal with the chaotic gamble of selling.

Click here to learn about Offerpad’s pricing details including how the price for your home is determined

Offerpad is MOST DEFINITELY For:

People who need to move all of a sudden.

People who want to avoid the uncertainty of waiting for an offer.

People who want to avoid the traditional hassles like last minute buyer cancellations.

People with kids or who work from home that cannot leave regularly in order to show their home to potential sellers.

People who have pets that can’t be in the house during a showing.

Offerpad is an entirely new concept I have never heard of, and it really made me feel a sense of peace knowing this existed for our future. It’s almost silly how easy it was… ha. I did the offer with Knox and Presley around, and could have clicked “accept” and my home would be sold. It’s pretty mind blowing!

I am all about anything easy and stress-free, and that’s exactly what Offerpad does for its clients! You should just give it a shot and see if they are interested in purchasing your home.  It’s so good knowing this platform is readily available for us to use at a moment’s notice.

xoxo,

Han

Items from Knox’s nursery and my slippers (the best slippers ever!):

My sweatshirt is from Landry Kate!

A Week of Meals

Alright, so today’s post was between my new robo vac (don’t worry I will still be reviewing it!) and a week of meals. I let YOU guys vote for what you wanted, and majority rules- You want a week of meals!

You may remember, I shared our entire Costco haul a while back and basically all of those items are what made up this week of meals. I have a few new faves at Costco that are part of this week, but overall it’s the same things! Now listen. Don’t be too impressed with me… I don’t meal plan all of my meals every week, though I have every intention to ha. Mondays I go to the grocery store, and get my same list pretty much every week. But, having that set grocery list that I know has a wide variety of options as well as a fully stocked spice cabinet makes it really easy to do just about anything I want when dinner time rolls around. I often will go to Pinterest for inspiration, and then run wild with it. I use recipes as a “guide” more than anything. 😉

A Week of Meals

Breakfast:

2 eggs every morning + half an avocado with chili powder OR 2×2 inch oat protein bar

Lunch Options:

  1. Left overs from night before
  2. Veggie Burger Patty (Costco) + half an avocado + spinach & balsamic vinaigrette
  3. 2 Veggie Cakes (Costco) + Kale Turkey Patty (Costco)

Dinner:

Monday, Chicken Soup: 2 cans black beans, 2 cans Rotel and Green Chilis, 1 can corn, 4 chicken breast, 2 tomato sauce, chicken broth, chopped peppers, 1 c. green chili tomatillo salsa (combine all ingredients into one pot and simmer until chicken is fully cooked- shred chicken and serve!)

Tuesday, Cauli Bowl: Adielle Pineapple and Bacon Sausage (cook and slice), riced cauliflower with 1 tbsp. ricotta cheese and 1 tbsp. butter, fresh garlic, roasted asparagus + peppers

Wednesday, Southwest Ragu: Chickpea Bananza Pasta + one can corn, one can Rotel, 2 bell peppers chopped, salt and pepper, ground turkey (basically like Chili on pasta)

Thursday, Simple Night: Baked chicken breast, green beans with brown sugar, veggie cakes

Friday, Baked Potato: Roasted sweet potato (poke holes on top, place in oven at 425 with oil), top with leftover southwest ragu

Saturday, Simple Night 2: Chicken and diced sweet potato (same pan- 425), brown sugar and bacon brussel sprouts (in pan- chop bacon and sautee, add in brussel sprouts and 1 tbsp. brown sugar when bacon is about half way done)

Sunday, Free for all or Go Out

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