Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Boone!!!
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!
Monday, August 14, 2006
Friday, August 11, 2006
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
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Vision Check
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.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
The Pink Spoons: Coming to a stage near you soon!
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!
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Quotes
“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
Cinderella is proof that a pair of shoes can change your life.
- Laura McFall
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Sunday, July 09, 2006
summer pictures

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!
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Summertime!
*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!
*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!
Thursday, May 04, 2006
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!
Sunday, April 30, 2006
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.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
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.


Sunday, April 16, 2006
Saturday, April 08, 2006
I'm stil alive I promise
The year is almost over. I'm just trying to finish up classes as best as I can. The weather is also beginning to warm up which is so nice. Yesterday it was in the 70s so my friend Ashley (and future roommate) and I went up to the Parkway to hike. It was so gorgeous! We hiked up this trail that is pretty much rocks the whole way up and it was fun. :) Once we got to the top you could see sooooo far out. The mountains are so beautiful! We sat up there for a while just talking and enjoying the beautiful weather. I definetely want to do that again sometime soon.
This morning I arose very early to go help at Open House with Teaching Fellows. I stood by the teaching fellows booth and answered questions that prospective students and their parents had. I felt all special being a wise little teaching fellow, talking about all that we do. It was actually kind of fun. Except for the early morning thing. :(
Then a couple of girls who are going to be teaching fellows next year came back to the dorm with us to get a little tour. Since my room is clean I showed it to them and we walked them around the dorm. It was funny to be on the other side of all of this. I remember being the nervous little about to be freshman. Glad those days are over with. :)
Well it's cloudy and I'm going back to my nap. :)














