Every week I write a column called BE YOU for one of the local papers (The Times of Acadiana) – Each week someone different answers the questionnaire – the paper often has to edit them,  so here are all the answers, unedited (the whole truth) –

Hannah Ellaham-Raffel and Nathan Raffel

Hannah and Nathan are the owners of BiBi’s Patisserie on Pinhook, a place full of warm greetings and baked goods that also happen to be gluten and sugar-free (although you’d never know by the taste). The couple run their business they way they live their life – with passion and time for people. If you have been there, you know what I mean. If not, you should plan a visit very soon.

What was your first job?
Nathan: Winn Dixie
Hannah: Barista at Mello Joy

Describe a typical day in your life.
Hannah & Nathan: Our day revolves around our daughter and the bakery. Typically, we play with her until work time. Then, we work for the remainder of the day. After we get home we make sure that we have quality family time before going to sleep.

What advice would you give the younger you?
Hannah: Be Patient! Life is an ever unfolding adventure, allow it to reveal itself to you in good time rather than constantly hunting down every mystery it has to behold.
Nathan: Work tirelessly for what you want, nothing is handed to you.

What event in your life most shaped who you are now?
Hannah & Nathan: Meeting each other

What values do you live by?
That’s a loaded question! Probably our two most important values are love and being the change we want to see in the world.

What do you most appreciate?
FAMILY, unequivocally.

What is your favorite journey?
Parenthood.

Where is your favorite place to be alone?
Well… we would tell you, but we would have to kill you. We can tell you that it is one of Lafayette’s best kept secrets…a forest in the middle of town.

What living figure most inspires you?
Hannah: My mom
Nathan: My little girl

What was the best advice you were ever given?
Nathan: Chance favors the prepared mind
Hannah: Listen

What book would you tell everyone to read?
Hannah: Education and the Significance of Life by J. Krishnamurti
Nathan: The Odyssey-Homer or anything else Cabell Tutwiler says to read.

What is the best thing about where you live?
Nathan & Hannah: Food and Family

How do you “let the good times roll” ?
Hannah  & Nathan:
Good Wine
Great Food
and even better company

What did u want to be when you grew up?
Nathan: A professional lego builder
Hannah: President

What is your motto?
Hannah & Nathan: Be the change you wish to see in the world.

How would you like to be remembered?
Nathan: By the smell of delicious food and my consistently terrible jokes.
Hannah: As a person who loved fiercely and learned until the moment I stopped breathing.

What do you say to yourself when you doubt yourself?
Hannah: What’s the worst that can possibly happen. Then, I run and knock on a piece of wood.
Nathan: Always move forward

What three things are vital to BEing YOU?
Nathan & Hannah: Family, Food, and a healthy lifestyle.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Nathan: Watchamacalllit
Hannah: Did you (fill in the blank)?

What is your favorite word?
Nathan: Maringuin
Hannah: Sussie

What do you collect?
Nathan: Materials and Tools
Hannah: Books and Plants

What food could you live on for a month?
Nathan: Hummus and Veggie Chips
Hannah: I could never live on one food for an entire month…I would starve. 🙂

What would you change about yourself?
Nathan: I wouldn’t be allergic to poison ivy
Hannah: I would like to be more patient. It is a virtue that completely eludes me.

What literary, movie or cartoon character do you most identify with?
Nathan: Odysseus
Hannah: Jack Sparrow…ok, not entirely, but there are definitely similarities

Describe yourself in five words.
Nathan: Optimistic, friendly, father, husband, and curious
Hannah: Workaholic, reader, mother, daughter, and lover

What is your idea of happiness?
Hannah & Nathan: A cottage in the middle of a forest with mountains of books, garden fresh meals, and my family.

What is your favorite movie?
Hannah: The Three Musketeers
Nathan: Princess Mononoke

What music defines who you are?
Hannah & Nathan: Genres aside…really anything that speaks to us.

What do you most regret?
Nathan: The person that I was.
Hannah: Never having an active father.

What question do you wish I’d asked?
Hannah & Nathan: If a genie granted you three wishes what would they be?

What would the answer be?
Hannah: That people would feel the harm that they inflict on others, Politicians would be honest, and that schools would not “educate,” but allow children to learn.