Let’s get to know each other—I’m Hannah Elise, welcome to my blog! As you can probably already tell, I love media and storytelling. love photography, videography, and sometimes I even dabble in motion graphics, but those are really just mediums I use to tell all sorts of stories.

I’m also a firm believer that we are all more than our occupation, so I wanted to start this blog—to share more personal stories, lessons learned, and other awesome snippets of this life that God has blessed me with. I also would love to share some fun outdoor adventures, and how God’s been moving in my life lately.

I’m so glad you’re here and am thankful you took some time to read my story. My goal for this blog is to begin to build an online community that can share and learn together—and I want to hear from you! So before we dive in, I’m going to share 10 things about myself you might not know, and would love to hear from you while you’re here!

1.    I’m 24 years old and I live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I know what you’re thinking, but no, this state is not a giant cornfield. My husband and I have lived in several different states, Michigan, Colorado, but landed here after a job opportunity opened up.

2.    Speaking of which, my husband’s name is Dean, and he is the most fun-loving, patient man I’ve ever met. We met when we were 17, back in a high school video production class. Cute, right? We dated through college before getting married May 31, 2019.

3.    Dean and I have a little home in the city of Sioux Falls and have begun building our life and community here. We attend a local church called The Ransom, and absolutely love the fantastic community of Christ followers we’ve found. Folks who can laugh together, grow together, and play lots of board games together. I absolutely adore our community.

4.    Another thing I adore? The outdoors. Yes, regardless of the season, there’s always something to do and I love it all. Camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, you name it. Every year I challenge myself to learn a new outdoor skill, and this year’s challenge had me out on the shooting range. If you have a favorite activity or camping location, I’d love to hear it! Dean and I are always on the lookout for new adventures, and I love to learn from new things from folks who are kind enough to teach.

5.    I have a bachelor’s degree in Broadcasting and Cinematic Arts from Central Michigan University (#FireUpChips), and bleed maroon and gold. I currently work in marketing for a non-profit health care organization and am so grateful I get to tells stories through video and use my experience in health care—something I never thought I’d do.

6.    Ah, yes. My experience in health care? No, definitely not as a provider. Y’all, I’m not smart enough for that. I meant my experience as a patient! I was born with a rare heart defect called Ebstein’s Anomaly with Pulmonary Atresia. And no, definitely not that Epstein. Ebstein. Completely different name. But I do know what it’s like to see several specialists, have testing done regularly, and survive 6 open-heart surgeries. Personally, I prefer being open about it because, well, it’s part of my story. It’s how I found my faith in Jesus, but that’s a story for another day.

7.    Crafting is my jam. When outdoor adventures aren’t an option, I started looking for hobbies and things that didn’t involve staring at screens, since I seem to do so much of that for work. I found cross-stitching and macrame and absolutely fell in love! It takes time, but it’s methodical and makes a lot of sense to my pixel-oriented brain. You can see more crafty items in my store!

8.    I love animals and have goals to care for many of them. Unfortunately, Dean and I don’t have any pets…yet. Don’t worry though, I’m working on it. He made me promise we wouldn’t rush into pet ownership. Which is probably a great idea because, honestly, if it was up to me, we’d be basically living in an animal shelter with 27 dogs.

9.    Before we got married, Dean and I were in a long-distance relationship for 6 years. We lived in separate states the whole time, and I wouldn’t trade a single minute of it. Long-distance was the best thing to ever happen to us, believe it or not. My take? Getting to grow up with your best friend is the best thing EVER.

10.  I absolutely love trying new things. Despite the awkwardness, endless questions, and nerves, I love it. Mostly because I love the thrill of learning. That is, in part, why I started this blog. I’m not a writer by any means. In fact, I’m much more comfortable telling stories visually. But I learned from other talented folks that whether it’s a blog, photography, or backpacking, you have to jump in eventually and just create.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I’d love to hear more about you. If you have a story about diving into a new passion or just want to share your experience trying something new, tell me about it in the comment section below!