Merry Christmas!

Aaah Christmas Eve. This day is one of my favorite days of the year. I think I even prefer it over Christmas day. I love Christmastime, even though it seems that as I get older it is easier to get caught up in other things. Last week I was babysitting an adorable 2 year old. As I was getting him dressed for the day I asked him what was happening next week (this is a Christian family, keep in mind). His face lit up and he threw his hands in the air and exclaimed "it's Jesus's Birthday!". What a sweet reminder that was to me that the real joy for the season is Christ. Caught in the eyes of a precious little one was the true meaning of Christmas.

Who Are These People?

So there they are, my celeberity look alikes. I haven't heard of most of them. Shows how culturally inept I am. Oh well it was kind of fun to do.

Pictoral Posting

Roommates at our Mocktail party!

Family at Thanksgiving plus Keith's friend Ian

Amy & LB at Game night

Shem & a banana at Game night

we love the game of Life!

they gave away Appalachian cokes at Homecoming!

my friend Jerry went to Ireland over thanksgiving. I told him to take a picture with a sheep. Being the jokey that he is he took a picture of a sheep and said that it was me.

some of the girls at Metamorphosis...our church's youth retreat

enjoying some beautiful weather at meta!

Natalie, Me and LB at Providence's College Fall Retreat

My life in living blogness

Let's see:
- I am home. I got home Wednesday evening.
- Getting home was no easy feat. As I drove home on highway 421, in the middle of nowhere, my car decided to make a horrible squeaky, shrilling, loud, ratchety noise. I was 2 miles away from the closest exit. I prayed my entire way to that exit and was greeted by NOTHING. No gas station, no fast food, no businesses, just some houses and a bunch of grass. I pulled over on a little strip of grass across from a house and got out to have a look. No visible damage, the tire was fine. So here I am in the middle of the Boonedocks, blonde and quite unsure what is wrong with my car. I finally got a hold of my dad who was in Pennsylvania on business. He told me to check my temperature gauge when it was running - the temp was normal, not overheating. So I was told to drive cautiously home. I drove 60mph the entire way. Any slowing, stopping, turning, speeding up or sudden moves made horrible noises. And there was a weird ratchety noise the entire drive home so there was no music, just horrible ratchety noise. The car went to the shop first thing on Thursday and it is now better. It was a pulley on the belt. A pulley on the belt? What the heck? I really need to learn car language.
- I have been quite lazy since being home. Lots of sleep, reading, and spending time with the parents. And going to the gym when it's open.
-I am doing some babysitting this week - I get to see my favorite 2 year old ever! Yay!

Well it has been a while since I have posted. It's been busy busy busy for me.
My dorm has a problem. Someone likes to light bulletin boards on fire in the middle of the night. It started last year during the spring semester. We had a total of 3 fires last year. Then this year, it has started again. Each time it is late, we're talking 10pm or later, and we all have to evacuate the building. Then the fire department has to come. It takes forever.
The second time it happened this semester it was 2am the night before I had a major Chemistry test! Not fun at all! Our alarm is so loud and noisy and scares me when I am asleep. Ashley and joke that all we say when it goes off is "shoes and coat, shoes and coat". These are the only items we worry about getting before we leave.
Well Saturday night one of Ashley's friends came over and we all watched some TV together before Emily left at about 10:30. Ashley and I were just sitting around being lazy when we heard it - the dreaded fire alarm. It's sad that when we hear it we respond with such urgency because we know that it is most likely a real fire, not just a drill. So we grabbed our shoes and coats (i had some trouble locating my shoes) and then ran outside. Sure enough we smelled smoke on the second floor.
Luckily our building has two parts - the academic wing and the residential wing (sounds fancy huh? it is a castle!). The two are not attached to eachother so when we have a fire (or on the rare chance that it's actually just a drill) we can go sit in the Great Hall, a large room in the academic wing. That keeps us from freezing in the cold Boone Weather.
So on Saturday night went over to the Great Hall and literally sat there for 3 hours! The firemen had to come and they had to inspect every single room. For some reason they think that whoever is doing this is lighting the bulletin board on fire and then hiding in a room. Apparently they also wrote a bunch of citations for illegal things in people's room. Ashley and I realized that our coffepot was still sitting out and started to worry. We asked one of the RAs what people were getting citations for and she says "well dont worry as long as your beer and wine bottles are hidden away under something you'll be fine" and we told her that no, that's not what we were worried about, we have a coffeepot out and some extension cords. She laughed and said that we were "cute".
To make a long store short, we sat in there FOREVER and finally got to go back in at about 2am. I was exhausted. They told us all that we have to take everything off our doors - no more cute letters and pictures! Our dorm looks so completely bare now. And today I just saw some maintenance people taking all of the bulletin boards down. This is very very sad.
This is a picture of the bulletin board that was torched on Saturday night. Not cool people, not cool.

Boone is cold. Really cold. It is supposed to be in the 30's today with a wind chill in the 20's. Burr. But it's the Furman game! Black Saturday - a tradition where you are supposed to wear all black to the game to support App. Problem is, it's too cold for anything you actually wear to be seen underneath many layers and coats. So it doesn't matter what shirt I wear. Though I still am wearing my grey and Appalachian pink ASU shirt. Gotta represent somehow.
Life has been good but hectic. Here's a typical day in the life.

Monday/Wedesday
7:30 am - Wake up and hit snooze many times. Finally get up and get dressed.
8:00 am - Chemistry :( but much better than physics
9:00 am - How Children Move - worst class ever, all about teaching pe in elementary school even though I will not be a pe specialist
BREAK- back to the room, breakfast, or Crusade meeting in the Student Union
11:30-1:30 - Work at the ASU Child Development Center with my favorite little four year olds - I love my job so much, I think it's probably the best job ever to have as a student. The kids are adorable and so precious and the teacher that I work with and the director are so amazingly sweet. My teacher is so cute, she told me that when it starts to snow heavily in the winter that I had better call her and she'll come pick me up - even though I live less than 1/4 mile away.
BREAK - back to the room to check e-mail, do a little homework
2:30-5 Riding over to Blowing Rock School for 5th Dimension. This is my practicum/lab for my introductory teaching class. Each college student has a elementary school mentee. We play board games, computer games, make crafts and play outside. It's fun but loooong
BREAK - back to the room to do homework
Mondays - my bible study with friends at some apartments - don't get back till about 9:30/10:00
Wednesdays - the bible study that Ashley and I lead in our room with freshmen girls.

As you can see those days are busy busy busy. So are tuesday/thursdays. Also on thursday I have chemistry lab. Since physics was a half semester class we just started chem about two weeks ago. Our first lab was last thursday. Our instructor was talking to us about the lab room we are using and how there is a balance room connecting two labs that we will share with a higher-level chemistry class. She told us to not use their side of the balance room as they were going to be using highly dangerous some sort of acid chemical. We asked what we were going to be using and the answer was SALT. Hahaha. Lauren looked at me and told me that she now knows what it's like to be a special needs student. We are the slow class. But hey I am perfectly okay with that.

Last night I went to an awesome halloween party. It was at Lauren, Taylor and Katie's apartment. There was a lot of people there and we had a blast eating yummy food, dancing to the monster mash song haha, playing twister, and checking out everyone's cool costumes. I went as a bubblegum machine. It was hilarious.
Taylor was Miss America, Katie was a flapper, there's me, and Lauren was a cowgirl.

After the party I went to some other friend's apartment to join their party - I know I'm such a party hopper haha. They were watching The Omen, a scary movie about satan being a five year old child. Now anyone who knows me knows that I don't do scary. It wasn't horrifying but there were a couple scenes in which I was screaming. I had to drive back to my room down a dark, scary, windy backroad so I called LaBranda and talked to her the whole way. Thankfully Ashley was awake when I got back so we chatted and she distracted me from the previous scariness.

Oh fall break was last weekend and it was amazing. I was home from Wed-Fri and then I went on the Providence College Fall Retreat. It was so much fun and awesome. I met some amazingly cool people and got to see some old friends like Natalie, LaBranda and Shem.

Well I'm off to tailgate with some friends and go to the game. Uncle Phil and Aunt Carolyn are coming up with their church from Greenville so I get to see them as well. Yay!

Fall Break starts TOMORROW!!!
okay so I have my educational practicum tll 5...but then I will be going HOME!
can you tell that I am EXCITED?!!!

Fall Pictures

Fall Retreat - Me with Hannah & Becky, two Staffers

At the homecoming lipsync with some of the Bible Study Girls

Amanda, Rachel, Mandi, Me at Fall Retreat - We call this our Family Portrait

the fearless navigator

the ride to Fall Retreat in Ashley's Minivan- sweet

Rachel teaching me how to knit

Taylor and I rocking the recorder in music class.

the girls on Taylor's Birthday

Amanda is my teaching fellows mentee and in our Bible Study....she's so sweet!

0ut to eat for Taylor's Birthday

we like to party

marble slab creamery cake

me and la

pretending to be an elephant for a skit in music

before CRU

football fanfare

before CRU and after Lauren cut my hair

yay for 308-310 girls!

Boone Blackouts & Sickly Scholars

I am sick. I have a lovely viral sore throat thing. I woke up many times during the night last night in pain, desperately desiring calming cough drops. But I didn't have any. This morning I had my physics final...that's right...PHYSICS IS OVER!! I don't really remember what I thought about the test. I don't really care either. It's over. That's all that matters to me. After Physics I had to do what is called Peer Teaching for my How Children Move class. I basically had to teach a 8 minute lesson to my class, pretending that my peers were kindergarteners. Needless to say I was nervous. The fact that I was feeling ill and didn't have a voice wasn't of much help. So I did that and did suprisingly well. Yet again, rushing relief. I love it when things like that are over with. What I don't love is wanting to celebrate but you can't because you are sick.
So I go and get my car to detour to Walmart to get some cough drops and tissues with lotion. While my mother would never buy this expensive kind, I agree with Puffs that "a nose in need deserves Puffs indeed". If my nose is going to be runny and I'm going to have to blow it every 5 seconds, I want the lotion tissue. On my way to Walmart I stop at Blockbuster to return a movie and then get another one for a class project. Then as I am driving, I see that the main stoplight (you know you live in a small town when there is a main light) is out. I think to myself "aah it's probably just one light that's out and there's a police officer directing traffic". No no no. Boone lost power. Boone had a blackout. For some unexplained reason all of the stoplights, businesses, restauraunts and stores all lost power. So of course Walmart was black. I called Lauren and Taylor to see if their apartment (which is over Walmart) had power - they didn't. So I drove up there to hang out with them for a little bit since getting cough drops wasn't an option.
Once I arrived we were all talking about the interesting blackout and what the heck was going on. My throat is killing me at this point so I went into the kitchen to get a glass of water and a popsicle (very soothing.) We sat in their living room for a while before we saw some lights go on near Walmart and such. Still dying without cough drops I decided to venture out in search of some soothing suckers. As I walked to my car I saw one of the Landlords for their apartment complex. I asked him what was up with the power and he said "well the power was out for about 10 minutes". Hmm, interesting. I get in my car, drive to Walmart and then Taylor calls me. The power had been back in their apartment for about 20 minutes while I was there. They just didn't have a light on before. So we had no clue. We sat there in the dark, whining about it when really and truly there was power. And then I realized that when I got a glass of water that the clock was flashing on the stove. THE POWER HAD BEEN ON! Needless to say we laughed pretty hard about that. And I managed to get cough drops before work.

It's been a while so I feel like updating. Here is my sometimes news worthy life:

- Recorder. Well we split into advanced and beginner groups the other day. I wasn't feeling very confident in my recorder playing abilities so I stayed with the beginners. The fingering stuff is getting harder. Today it was all Taylor and I could do to keep from laughing as we put down the wrong fingers and made a sound that obviously did not match the rest of the class. Oh well, I can't be spectacular at everything.

-This past weekend was Homecoming! It was so much fun! Friday night was LipSync where all the clubs and greeks on campus prepare a song that they dance and lipsync to. There was also a big bonfire and fireworks. I went with some of the girls from my bible study and we had a blast. Saturday was really the big day of festivities. Crusade had a float for the parade and I was on it! It was so much! It was a float that looked like part of the football stadium with a lot of tissue paper. We got to throw candy at little kids and just wave. Afterwards we saw Chancellor and Mrs. Peacock, said Hi to them and touched the National Championship trophy.

-This upcoming weekend is a very special person's birthday: LaBranda! I'm going to Charlotte on Saturday to celebrate with her and her parents. Should be a fun time. :)

Well I'm off to practice my peer teaching lesson for How Children Move. I have to pretend that my classmates are first graders and teach a lesson. I'm kind of nervous. More later. :)

Cream Soda

I just got back from having dinner with my lovely roommate at the cafeteria. Afterwards I went into the Market (0ur on campus grocery store) to get a couple things. And what did I see? JONES CREAM SODA!! No joke, folks. I was just thinking about this particular beverage today. I developed a small obsession with them over the summer. LaBranda had one and I tried it and fell in love with it. The smell alone is amazing. Some of my favorite days during the summer included a Jones Cream Soda and being at church. Ahh the good old days.
Well I'm off to reminisce and prepare for Bible Study!

Recorders

Recorders: You either hate them or love them. Today I dealt with two very different types of recorders.

I have this interview and paper due tomorrow. Being the procrastinator that I am I didn't do my interview until tonight. I had to do it over the phone. So last week I went to the ITC place and checked out the phone tap recorder. I even had to get special permission from my professor to use it because if not it is a FCC violation. So then today I go to use this lovely machine and I could not figure it out to save my life. Too many cords and plugs and options. Two different people from my class tried to help me figure it out without success. I mean the thing looks like it was made in the 80's. I finally gave up, drove to Walmart, bought a regular tape recorder and then came back. When I did my interview I put my cell phone on speaker phone and put it near the recorder. It worked just fine. Funny how all this technology is supposed to be helpful but in the end it's the simple machine that does it. I am going to take the phone tap machine back to ITC tomorrow and I am going to complain. They need to give people instructions to go along with these things. When I checked it out I asked, ok so how the heck do I do this? The smart, technology savvy ITC guys looked at me like I was a complete blonde (which I am) and then tried to explain it. I somewhat got it but was I really going to remember that later? Of course not. So I will complain. They need to write out blonde proof instructions. Julie, the confused. Changing the world one ITC department at a time.

The other type of recorder I absolutely love. My roommate cringes at the mention of it but I love it! It's the musical recorder. I have to learn how to play it for my Creative Musicianship class. This is a class for elementary majors and it is so much fun. We learn all of these great songs, act out stories with sound effects and play the recorder. I played the recorder in 4th grader. And now I get to play it again. Last week was when we really started playing. We learned a couple songs and our homework is to practice for one minute a day. That is the best homework I have gotten in a while. And there is going to be a beginnner recorder group and an advanced recorder group. My goal is to be in the advanced group. I'm not joking. Ashley says that she can't concentrate when I practice. It must be because it's such a beautiful sound, right?

Birthdays

Today is a very special day for some very awesome people. Today is my Grandddpa's birthday and today is also Taylor's birthday. In honor of the special day, I wrote Taylor a poem:

Ode To Taylor

On The Occasion Of Her 19^th Birthday: September 12, 2006

Oh Taylor

It is your birthday

It is not your firthday

Let us think back to the days of old,

Before a great bear was hung,

Before you broke the mold,

Before the sound of the recorder rung.

You were Taylor,

The girl with the curly hair,

Who lived through the bathroom.

I came to find that you are rare,

And that you made my life bloom.

Now my life will never be the same,

You are beautiful, lovely, and so sweet.

I would never classify you as lame,

How happy I am that you I did meet.

I love the way you get so excited about everything,

and how you don’t care what people think.

I love that you love to be silly and sing,

and even when you tell me that there are boogers in the sink.

Every day with you is so special and fun,

never boring, dull, or mundane.

From farts to calling shotgun,

you always keep me sane.

If I had a lot of money,

I would buy you lots of peanut chocolate chip muffins, I Love Lucy, and many designer bags.

But since I am poor I will just have to be funny,

and say that I love you like a beggar loves rags.

Don’t ever stop with your Taylorisms,

they make me smile and they are so you.

What the heck rhymes with isms?

oh well I guess that will have to do.

So it is your birthday,

Today is YOUR day!

Let’s have a ball, let’s shock them all.

Put on your dancing shoes,

Any obligations you should lose.

Cause it’s time to celebrate!

I love Amazon!

I have decided that I am in love with Amazon. After paying $1 less than the new price for a USED book at the bookstore I gave up and decided that it was time to try Amazon out. I LOVE IT! I think I've ordered about 3 books recently and they have all come rather quickly. Today I just got a book that my Monday night bible study is using: Developing a Servants Heart by Charles Stanley. It was only $3.74. I went out on a limb, wondering if a book that cheap could be good but hey it was. It came first class priority mail, sealed with plastic, cardboard, AND tissue paper. I love it!

I went to Charlotte this past weekend to see my lovely LaBranda. We had lots of fun just being lazy. And we got some good shopping in. I loved going to the mall - oh modern conveniences.
I also got to enjoy reading a book - something that I don't have a lot of time for up here.

Max has a family now. He was adopted last Friday by a sweet family with a little boy and a big back yard. We are very happy for him. But we still miss him!

I have lots and lots of school stuff to do. Oh classes. Except I do really love music. Tomorrow we start playing the recorder. Which is really fun - I already know how to play Mary Had A Little Lamb. I'm beasting Taylor at it. Haha. Well I'm off to do work!

Adopt Max!

I have a new love in my life. His name is Max and he's an adorable lab mix 3month old puppy. Taylor, Lauren, Katie (and me) saved him from death on Saturday. They were having a pet adoption at Lowes on Saturday and one of Taylor's professors was running it. They started talking and the lady said that they needed people to "foster parent" the dogs for a week or so and then bring them back and hopefully find them a good home. So of course we couldn't resist the cute little puppies! Now Max temporarily lives with the girls at their apartment. He is so adorable! He loves to run around and chew on his bone and he's a big cuddler. He fell asleep in my lap the other day while I was doing homework and stretched his paws out all over my papers. Anyways Max needs a good home. He needs a yard to run around in, owners that love him, and people that can afford him. If you know of anyone who wants a dog, please let me know! Help Save Max!

schoool

So Boone. Oh how I love it. Here are some updates on what's been going on in the past week:

- Moving in the Teaching Fellows freshmen was exhausting but fun. They are a good bunch and I'm excited to get to know them all better.

- Ashley and I went on the Crusade Bible Study Leaders retreat and we loved it! It was at Cherokee Cove, this really gorgeous retreat center about 45 minutes from Boone nestled in the middle of an amazing view of mountains! We had fun hanging out with the other leaders and the Staff and we learned A LOT more information about leading a Bible Study. We have agreed to lead one for the girls in our dorm. Be praying that God would show us who to reach out to and invite and that girls would come and want to get involved and grow. The food at this retreat was also amazing - it was really gourmet and not your average camp food. Unfortunately we had already eaten pizza with the freshie tfs before we left so when we got there and they had dinner we had no room for the delicous roast, green beans, shrimp, bread and much more that was set before us. I did however manage to have room for the Bananas Foster. Yum Yum!

- I've spent lots of time at Lauren, Taylor and Katie's apartment. It is tre cute and very welcoming. We've played my fav game Balderdash twice and had some freshmen girls over one night. I've enjoyed getting to see my girls again!

-I had a little incident yesterday. Okay so it wasn't so little. I was on my way to pick up Lauren & Taylor before church and was driving up the very large hill to their apartment. I reached for my phone in my purse to call them and tell them that I was almost there and of course my car veered to the right cause I wasn't looking and I hit the cute little landscaped brick wall. I somehow (Godthing) made it to the top of the hill and into a parking spot where I then saw that my front right tire was completely blown out and torn up. hehehe. So the rest of the day after church was spent calling AAA and getting that taken care of. And then today after work I went and spent my precious money on a new tire - I would much rather have bought a purse, clothes or something else. Anything else but a tire. Oh well.

- I love my new job - more on that later. But it is so much fun and the kids are adorable!

- Tommorrow is the first day of classes so I need to go organize stuff and get ready for that Have a great evening!

Boone!!!

I'm here......I am really and truly in Boone, sitting in my room with the lovely Ashley. Our room is adorable. Really it is. And it's so comfy and welcoming with our couch and super neat entertainment center. Everyone else is going to be uber jealous. I got to see Lauren and Taylor today - we had dinner at McDonalds and then we went to Walmart. It was just like old times again, us being loud and talking and saying funny stuff. I love them! I missed them so much!
Ashley and I finished unpacking tonight and now we're just chilling and relaxing. Actually I'm quite tired and we have to get up early tomorrow so I think we're going to get some shut eye soon.
More to come.....when I have time......which could be never.
Freshmen move in tomorrow - yay!

Tonight is my last night at home. Tommorrow morning, bright and early at 7am I will be leaving Raleigh for a while. Not sure when I will be back home. I'm sad to leave Raleigh and a lot of people but I'm overall VERY EXCITED to go back to Boone. Even though I hate packing. Side Note: I have way too much stuff. My entire car (Nissan Altima) is packed down with stuff and then we are borrowing a truck from family friends for my futon, fridge, and even more boxes and stuff. I'm a pack rat. But this year when I packed I could at least picture where everything is going to go in the room. The beauty of not being a freshmen (cause I'm so far removed ha!). My roommate, Ashley, and I keep calling eachother every so often saying how many hours till we get to be roomies! We are going to have a spectacular year - I can feel it! Well I'm off to get some sleep before the early morning. More once I am there tomorrow!

Beachy Keen!

Just got back today from the BEACH!! Every year my family and two other families we have known for a long time get together and go to Holden Beach, a nice quiet beach about an hour north of Myrtle. We rent two houses, have plenty of beach time, eat great seafood, I read good books, watch movies, and have a blast! Sybil had been coming with my family for the past 2 years and we were even lucky to have LaBranda come for the first part of the week - it was so much fun to have my girls (missing amy!) all together before we all head back to school!

don't you love the bay watch run?

at our house.........Paradise Isle

chilling on the double rocker

no of course I wasn't looking away from the road.....hehe

The lovely Sybil in the car on the way down

Vision Check

Aaah today was my last day of babysitting. So relieving and satisfying - this family is a godly family that made me feel very appreciated and whose kids I loved! I spent the whole morning as a jungle gym because for some odd reason 2 year old Grady saw me as a climbing post. I was sitting on the couch and he would come and put all sorts of pillows on me and then climb and jump on me. I might have a couple of bruises but overall it was hilarious and I have to say, he's my favorite so I didn't mind too much.

Then it was on to more errand running. I have never been so sick of shopping before. Yes, I shopping lover, said it - I am sick of shopping. I feel like I have been in every single Ross that exists in Raleigh and every Target & Walmart. And don't even ask me about bathroom rugs and mats and finding them in corresponding colors and sizes. My room looks like a tornado hit as I try to bring some order to it with packing for the beach and then this thing called repacking for college. Aaaack - I hate packing!

This afternoon I had my yearly eye doctor appointment. I really didn't want to go because I had to reschedule it about 3 times and my eyes seem fine to me. Well I sucked up that bad attitude and went through it anyways. I did all the stupid little tests - side note: when I was younger I was deathly afraid of one of these machines. It's the one that gives a poof of air to your eye. Well many years ago my oh-so-nice big brother Keith told me that when the poof comes a needles comes and pokes your eye. So of course the ever trusting little Julie believed him and when it came time to go to the eye doctor and do that test, I became a ball of nerves. They had to get the receptionist to come in and HOLD ME DOWN while they did the test. No I'm not bitter, I've forgiven him of that. haha. Ok so then Dr. Moser gets to the "what's the smallest line you can read" and "better at one or two, two or three, etc". I mean really, how the heck am I supposed to know which one is better - half the time I think I just end up guessing and hope that my answer will stop the endless questions. Oh well, my vision is as sharp as ever, though my right eye is becoming a little bit nearsighted. Which is supposed to happen, because I used to wear glasses and contacts but about a year ago I stopped wearing them and they said my vision had improved and was perfect (it's from all those carrots I eat).

I was driving around later, thinking about my afternoon at the eye doctor and how even though I didn't think I needed to be there, I needed my vision checked. I think that's how we as Christians tend to act. We think that everything in life is ok, but most times we need our vision checked - our spiritual vision. If we don't see things the way that God does, we need a check-up. For instance, the whole point of our middle school girls summer bible study is to see yourself the way God sees you - as a beautiful person inside and out. The problem is not that we are ugly people. The problem is that we look at ourselves through the world's eyes and the eyes of our friends, the media, the opposite sex, etc. To really have a changed life we have to change our outlook and the way we see - we have to see through God's eyes.

I also was thinking about how so many times God reveals things to me in the little moments that I would not see if I was thinking with my selfish, julie-centered mindsight. Or how many times I realize these things after something occured and saw that I missed out on something special. For instance, with all of my errand running today I probably saw about 5-6 cashiers and receptionists. I would ask them how they were doing, pay for my items, and leave. As I was leaving the eye doctor I chatted for a couple minutes with the receptionists about babysitting and Appalachian. As I left my heart had a light, easy feeling. It was then that I realized that reaching out to those around me isn't as hard as I make it. It can be as simple as small talk, a smile, a simple "have a nice day", or a helping hand such as holding the door open for a mom with a stroller. While I may miss many of these moments because I can only think about myself, I am thankful that sometimes God throws a day like today in my path to wake me up and show me how much He is at work (haha world changers theme) in the world and in my neck of the woods in particular.

The Pink Spoons: Coming to a stage near you soon!

So, the fun of working with middle school girls. At some point in this lovely summer a couple of the girls where talking with Sybil and I and we decided to form a band called The Pink Spoons. The Pinks Spoons because Sybil and I are part of a very secret underground spoons (the card game) league that started in 10th grade. And Pink because it's our favorite color.
Whenever we get bored at Bible Study or wherever we plan out songs and such for the band. Oh let's also note that I am not in the band, I am the manager. According to certain lead singers and also my best friend, I am tone deaf. But I'm okay with that. As long as I get 60% of the income. Haha.
Monday night was our very last summer bible study. We had a little suprise for the girls but first we did our study as usual. That is after we stopped talking about the Pink Spoons. Somehow the topic came up and boy did they run with it. We have a lead singer, a drummer, a guitar player, a manager, and a ton of Groupies (the sporks).

Some song titles:
Leave room (for Jesus)
Whatcha Name
Sketch
Happiness in a Can (the caffeine free diet coke song)

And they we started to come up with some lyrics for Whatcha Name. The music video involves a boy and girl walking down the halls of the 3rd floor at church. It's really stupid but hilarious.
We told them that we'll have auditions for more band members in a couple of weeks. They got all excited and into it and we had to stop and remind them that this is just a joke, that there will never be a real band, that this is just for fun. Darn. :(

But if we did have a band called the Pink Spoons:

- our t-shirts would be black with hot pink sparkly spoons on them that are like stick people (or should I call them stick spoons?)

- we could sell those little spoon rings, except they would be hot pink of course

Oh the life of dreaming. On another note, while at World Changers, Joel introduced us to some very fun music. The album is called Too Much Free Time and it's by Ross King & Chris Tomlin. Here are some samplings:

Foot in My Mouth
I was braggin' to a friend of mine
how I ran over this cat,
I said "His name was fluffy, cause I read the tag..."
"right after I squashed him flat"

She said "Fluffy? My cat's name is Fluffy! He was my best friend."
I said "No, I didn't say his name was Fluffy!"
"I said his name was... Twinkles"
here I go again...

(chorus)
I got my foot in my mouth,
guess I should watch what I say,
I got my foot in my mouth,
it's prob'ly better that way

There's more, but I can't find the lyrics. You'll have to hear this sometime. Very hilarious!

Quotes

So recently I have been reading Shadow of the Almighty, the Life and Testament of missionary Jim Elliot as documented and gathered by his wife Elizabeth Elliot. It's so inspiring. Here are some quotes from it and from a couple of other books that I've been perusing through:

“There is a within a hunger after God, given of God, filled by God. I can be happy when I am conscious that He is doing what He wills to do within. What makes me tremble is that I might allow something else to take the place my God should have….I tremble lest in any way I offend my Eternal Lover.”

- Jim Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty, pg 68

My soul is night, my heart is steel,

I cannot see, I cannot feel.

For Light, for Life, I must appeal

In simple faith to Jesus.

“’Every hour I need Thee.’ My love is faint, my warmth practically nil. Thoughts of His coming flicker and me tremble. Oh, that I were not so empty-handed. Joy and peace can only come in believing, and that is all I can say to Him tonight. Lord, I believe. I don’t love, I don’t feel, I don’t understand, I can only believe. Bring Thou faith to fruition, Great Harvest Lord. Produce in me, I pray.”

- Jim Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty, pg 70

Life requires countless “little” deaths – occasions when we are given the chance to say no to self and yes to God.

- Elisabeth Elliot, Passion & Purity, pg 72

“Even when I’m feeling most alone – on that moonlit night, in the middle of the candlelit supper, when the phone call and the letter don’t come – can I be ‘full of joy, here and now’? Yes. That is what the Bible says. That means it must be not only true, but possible, and possible for me.”

- Elisabeth Elliot, Passion & Purity pg 81

“I protest. Women expect too much of me. I can hear the howls of protest from the women. ‘Men want to play around. They lead us on, try to get what they can out of us, deceive us,’ and so on. True enough. Which is exactly why I beg women to wait. Wait on God. Keep your mouth shut. Don’t expect anything until the declaration is clear and forthright.”

- Elisabeth Elliot, Passion & Purity, pg 100

“All I want in life is a camera with endless black and white film, a paint set with hundreds of blank canvasses, a piano to write my own music, and a plane ticket. It sounds like a lot, but how much is it compared to everything most people have. I was never a princess. Growing up, I wanted many things but never received them. Desire is not selfish. I desire many things, but I don’t get them. Desiring is part of dreaming.”

- Rachel Joy Scott, from an undated journal entry

And of course I have to add this comical one from a good friend of mine at Appalachian:

Cinderella is proof that a pair of shoes can change your life.

- Laura McFall

I need a new title for my blog. Julie@ASU was too boring and hmm.... is just temporary. Any suggestions?

summer pictures

Impact: One of my girls Natalie and I

on the lake with Sarah & her dad

some of my precious Palm Tree Princesses!

don't you love her 70s hair?

suprise birthday get together at burger king for syb.......we had all these cute disney princess party stuff

Fireworks at the fairgrounds
So, LaBranda, Sybil and I went to the NC Arboretum & Gardens on Sat and yes took fun pictures together as we all wore jeans and white shirts......corny yes, but fun and incredibly hilarious, OH YES!

Anna's Briday Shower @ mi casa

Cute little gazebo picture

sybil can never stop laughing sometimes

Summertime!

Wow! I can't believe that it's already July! Aaah! It seems like I just got out of school yesterday - okay not really. But it has flown by! So many things have been happening:

*Had my teaching fellows discovery trip where I went all over North Carolina touring public schools with other NC Teaching Fellows. While this trip was exhausting (we stayed at 5 universities for a total of 6 nights) it was a great experience. I got to know a friend that I met through Lauren a lot better (we were bus buddies) and really enjoyed getting into some elementary schools. Some of the schools were excellent and inspiring and others needed some improvement. All of the schools welcomed us in so well with food (which we quickly gobbled up), presents (that had their county school system logo all over it of course), and hospitatlity. At one of my favorite schools we even had a 2nd grader as our tour guide - he was precious!
* Working at church is going great - I absolutely love it! I am there most of the time and especially was before Impact. Impact, our youth camp, went well. I had a group of 11 rising 7th grade girls and they are so much fun and a blessing. It amazed me how much they looked up to Sara (my co-counselor) and I. One of the girls wanted my advice on so many things - it really flattered me even though I sure don't have all of the answers. We saw our girls grow together as a group, make new friends, and really experience some great times of worship and take in some awesome teaching from Brian Frost & Leon Tucker. I really enjoyed having them as speakers - everything was so practical yet wise and very biblical. Needless to say it was a super week and I was completely exhausted when I got home.
*My babysitting jobs are going good - I work about 2-3 days a week from 9-1 for different families. Its kind of chaotic not having a "steady" job but it's been a good lesson in trusting Christ to provide. Right when I think that I'm about to go near broke and spend all of my money He brings another job or opportunity into my life. How amazing His provision is!
*My favorite part of the summer has been hanging out with friends. God has given me some amazingly loyal friends! 3 of my girlfriends and I are particularly close. Amy, LaBranda, and Sybil are girls that I hang out with a lot. We were all great friends in high school and then went our separate ways for school this past year. When we came back it was amazing how quickly we went back to being the best of friends. I love it so much!

Summertime!

Wow! I can't believe that it's already July! Aaah! It seems like I just got out of school yesterday - okay not really. But it has flown by! So many things have been happening:

*Had my teaching fellows discovery trip where I went all over North Carolina touring public schools with other NC Teaching Fellows. While this trip was exhausting (we stayed at 5 universities for a total of 6 nights) it was a great experience. I got to know a friend that I met through Lauren a lot better (we were bus buddies) and really enjoyed getting into some elementary schools. Some of the schools were excellent and inspiring and others needed some improvement. All of the schools welcomed us in so well with food (which we quickly gobbled up), presents (that had their county school system logo all over it of course), and hospitatlity. At one of my favorite schools we even had a 2nd grader as our tour guide - he was precious!
* Working at church is going great - I absolutely love it! I am there most of the time and especially was before Impact. Impact, our youth camp, went well. I had a group of 11 rising 7th grade girls and they are so much fun and a blessing. It amazed me how much they looked up to Sara (my co-counselor) and I. One of the girls wanted my advice on so many things - it really flattered me even though I sure don't have all of the answers. We saw our girls grow together as a group, make new friends, and really experience some great times of worship and take in some awesome teaching from Brian Frost & Leon Tucker. I really enjoyed having them as speakers - everything was so practical yet wise and very biblical. Needless to say it was a super week and I was completely exhausted when I got home.
*My babysitting jobs are going good - I work about 2-3 days a week from 9-1 for different families. Its kind of chaotic not having a "steady" job but it's been a good lesson in trusting Christ to provide. Right when I think that I'm about to go near broke and spend all of my money He brings another job or opportunity into my life. How amazing His provision is!
*My favorite part of the summer has been hanging out with friends. God has given me some amazingly loyal friends! 3 of my girlfriends and I are particularly close. Amy, LaBranda, and Sybil are girls that I hang out with a lot. We were all great friends in high school and then went our separate ways for school this past year. When we came back it was amazing how quickly we went back to being the best of friends. I love it so much!

I'm home!!! Got back yesterday afternoon, unloaded some stuff and then it was off to a meeting at church. I feel so special because I have a cute little desk at church that's all mine - I decorated it with pictures, cards and special verses. Already I have a lot going on with church as far as events and things to do. I am so excited about it all!
On Saturday I'm going back to boone for Keith's graduation and then I'm going to a Lake in Georgia with Lauren for the rest of the week. That should be very relaxing and fun.
Well I need to do some laundry and more unpacking . Bye all!

The end of my first year is quickly approaching. Just 3 more days and I'm done! I can hardly believe it. This year has been great and I don't want it to be over. :(
Summer Schedule:
- May 3: come home
- May 6: back to boone for brother's graduation
- May 8-12: Lake in Georgia with the wonderful roomie!
-May 12-13: back to raleigh with the roommate
-May 14-20: Teaching Fellows Discovery Trip
Finally home for good!
Summer: Middle School Intern at Providence Baptist Church, lots of babysitting
June 26-July 1: IMPACT (youth camp that I am a counselor for with church)
July 15-22: Holden Beach with the fam
Lots of other crazy stuff that I can't remember.

Well I realize it has been a while. I tried to put some pictures up the other day and hit submit but I guess it didn't like me cause they didn't show up. Oh well. Things are pretty much winding down from me. Tomorrow is my last day of classes. I have an English final tomorrow, my math exam on monday, and my child dev presentation next wednesday and then I will be home for good. This Thursday I am coming home in preparation for Joy Prom which I can't wait for. Joy Prom is my most absolute favorite day of the year. It's even better than Christmas or my birthday. I love it that much!!! I'm going to be at church most of Friday and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Then on Saturday I am helping LB and her family move to their new place closer to church! Yay yay! My other family is going to be closer to me! Now I can go over all the time and see them! Except for the stupid dogs - taco bell dogs are lame.
I really can't wait for the summer! I have some babysitting lined up and I'm excited to get to know the kids. And then I'm going to be at church doing middle school stuff! Yay! Yay! Yay! I love middle schoolers and I am pretty much in love with Student Ministries so I am incredbily excited about the summer.
Just tonight I was thinking about Impact and how much I love it. It's like my favorite week ever.
Oh so today was an extremely klutzy crazy day for me. I killed my ankle at the gym because I had this blister on the back and was wearing short socks with my tennis shoes. Well the blister got worse and then it bled all over my sock and the back of my shoe. Gross I know. Then later I was leaving to go to dinner with Lauren and we had been teasing eachother about leaving someone behind. She was locking the door so I walked down the hall and said "I'm leaving you" and stuck my hands out so that they were touching the walls and blocking the hallway. She came up and was being all kung fu at me and was just going to kick my butt but then I turned around and she accidentally kicked my hand. It hurt but I made it.
After dinner we were leaving and walked up the 3 little stairs and of course I tripped on them. It was pretty hilarious as I almost fell to the floor but did a run and catch myself. It was great. Kind of like last week when I was late to Sociology and I was running up the stairs in a skirt and my flip flops. Completely tripped and skinned my knee on the no slip grip stuff on the stairs. I had to go into the little office and Taylor asked the grad student for a band-aid. He went "aww does someone have a boo-boo"and I had to say that it was me. Good times good times.
Currently my lovely roommate is asleep. She was upset about something so I gave her Mr. Bear because he is the perfect comfort in just about any circumstance. He's soft, cuddly, huggable and doesn't talk back.