~Hannah reporting in...

I miss blogging. I blogged for years here at blindbartimaeus.blogspot.com about my travels and adventures as a carefree soul with the "will o' the wisp," as folks said about my grandpa and began to say about me when it seemed I was destined to follow in his wandering ways.

Blind Bartimaeus and I have had great times together, but about a year ago, my posts started to sputter like an old VW about to run out of gas. Last March 2013, they just stopped. I haven't looked at this blog since then as life took a decidedly steady turn.

My boyfriend got a job as a photojournalist at the local newspaper. I took a job shortly thereafter at the same paper as a government reporter.

We got engaged!!!!!

We are planning a wedding and a life together. Here.

Here.

When I started thinking about blogging again, I came here to blindbartimaeus.blogspot.com, and it just didn't seem right to try to revive it as something other than a travel blog. Even when I wasn't actually traveling, Blind Bartimaeus has always had the flavor and energy of traveling solo wherever my feet took me.

(Blind Bartimaeus refers to a blind man in scripture, in Mark chapter 10, who was healed by Jesus. When Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he wanted after he kept calling out, louder and louder, for Jesus to help him, Bartimaeus simply said, "I want to see!" I always thought that was such a simple, yet all-encompassing, plea, and so I made it my prayer as I traveled and wandered that I would see as Jesus would have me to see.)

Plus, honestly, Blind Bartimaeus is a mouthful. It always took me about ten minutes to write out my blog address for someone who was interested in reading it, and then we spent another five minutes sounding out the letters and correcting the mispronunciations. I imagine a lot of folks got lost trying to find my online wanderings at Blind Bartimaeus.

And so, with a hint of nostalgic sadness, I have decided to start a brand new blog and let Blind Bartimaeus be what it was meant to be: a travel blog written by a younger me. Maybe I'll send our kids there someday when they want to know what I was like at their age and await their awe-struck squeals of, "Mom! You were crazy!!!!"

Mom?

Sheesh. One step at a time now.

I have a wedding to plan and a life to look forward to with a man I love so much I can hardly breathe when I think about it sometimes.

I love my life. I am grateful for every moment, good, bad and in-between. I am grateful to God for all the travels and look forward to more wanderings with my husband-to-be.

But for now, I am here. And if you want to join me, you can find me at: hannahreporting.blogspot.com. Hope to see you there! 

~Hannah reporting in...

Justin and I on top of the mountain where we got engaged. September 22, 2013.