In honor of tomorrow being my birthday (on which I run a 5k and then play for two weddings…) I’m taking today off. I’ll probably do some practicing in a bit as I have a ton of music I’m working on, but for now…I slept in (glorious! especially after waking up initially at 4 am to take a friend to the airport) and am currently still in my pajamas. Life of a musician: not so bad sometimes.

My mom shared some photos from my sister Carrie’s graduation weekend the other week. It’s hard to believe she is all grown up!

Me and Carrie

Me and my mom

My dad and Carrie

My mom and Carrie

What we failed to do was ask anyone around us to take a picture of all four of us! Oh well, you can juxtaposition all these photos together if you like. Oberlin is a beautiful campus and we lucked out and were there on what was probably the only beautiful weekend in Ohio! I recall spring in Ohio being the best time…after about 7 months of winter that nice day you got was just GLORIOUS. Then the heat and humidity set in, and while that wasn’t so bad compared to other places I’ve lived, the difference is that I never had an apartment with air conditioning in Ohio so you felt every bit of the humidity. Then (if memory serves correctly) it was winter again, with perhaps a small bit of fall, aka the rainy season where we were just thankful it wasn’t snow yet. Which it usually just was.

All that being said, yes, of course, I miss Ohio. I loved it there overall…I have moved enough times in my life that I don’t really feel attached to any one place, (this is something I’ve thought a bit about lately!)–

for instance:

Clemson, SC 5 years

Clinton, SC 11 years (2 different houses)

Cleveland, OH 11 years (5 different places)

Charlotte, NC 2 years

St Louis, MO 6 years (3 places)

It’s no wonder I don’t have that feeling of “home” anywhere at this point in my life. I mean, home is where my stuff and my cat is, but to me it’s crazy when I meet people who hang out and have known each other since they were kids! And no, I suppose I haven’t really lived anywhere terribly EXCITING (not like Carrie, who is going to NYC for grad school now) but each place I’ve lived gives me a unique perspective on life.

But I digress.

Oh, and since tomorrow is my birthday:

My brother Jesse holding me…he looks pretty uncomfortable here.

He’d gotten better by now—this is the proper way to hold a baby…choke hold! Note how tan we are—I was probably only in the sun for about an hour for this level of tan.

This seems to be my first birthday and the pie is out of reach! WHY WOULDN’T THEY GIVE ME MY PIE?

Just like today, sometimes I just got very tired

Having some tummy time (I hear that’s what all the moms today call it.) This one is labeled “new baby Hannah” so I’m guessing I was pretty little here.

This is my 4th birthday (I remember this!). I still love pizza for birthdays today 🙂

I just like this one. Leslie had the world’s largest baby cheeks, and I don’t seem to be having that hard of a time holding her…

I look pretty cozy there, don’t I! Hard to imagine I was ever that tiny 🙂 but what a great head of hair!

And here’s where it all began? My mom, Leslie, and I playing violin together. My mom has picked it up again in retirement as a hobby. I hope Leslie’s posture has improved since this photo, and you can tell I am totally rocking the world’s longest T-shirt there…I was PROBABLY wearing shorts underneath.