Julia's Journal

Hope is the thing with feathers...

2012-01-20T10:48:00.000-05:00

Hope.
Is it an elusive thing, there one moment, gone the next?

Or does it remain, steady, constant, a slowly enduring flame in the embers of our hearts?

Read the rest of the post here:
As We Hope In Thee.

Funny Jane Austen Buttons

2012-01-17T22:02:00.001-05:00

I made these up for Miss Dashwood's contest over at Yet Another Period Drama Blog. :)

I'll smile if you leave a comment with which JA movie each quote I used comes from! (except for picture #2) :D *Hint* - it's not the same movie as each picture.

And PLEASE do not take these without asking! Thanks. :D (except, of course, for Miss Dashwood)

Which was your favorite?

Little Letters...

2012-01-16T07:21:00.003-05:00

Dear Laptop... I am so grateful for you. You are my portal to the outside world, my canvas, my outlet for creative expression... my friend. ;) Also my addiction and time-vacuum. But we won't go there. :D Time certainly flies when you're having fun...

Dear Lounge Chair... I immensely enjoyed our date together on Sunday afternoon when the weather was fine and I was able to soak up some sun. I'm so glad I brought you back from my trip to Florida. I think we're going to have many good times together as the weather grows warmer... ;)

Dear Jewelry Pliers... hang in there with me. The craft shows will come and then they will be done, and then you may return to your happy place in the tin pot with the other tools on my worktable, and the days of overuse will end!

Dear Gym... I am looking forward to seeing you today. And Wednesday. And Friday. I need you, for my energy is shrinking and my .... uh.... I'm not 'shrinked' in areas that need it....

I loved this picture so much that I snatched it from Young Homemakers. ;)

Dear Bath & Body Works... what would I ever do without your body cream, (so wonderful for super-dry winter skin) fragrance mist (a tasty uplifting of the senses, with 0 calories) and shower gel? (bubbles! I love 'em!)

Dear Perry Mason DVD... How in the world did he figure out that case?!? I had no idea that guy that looked like the murderer was actually an F.B.I agent.... Thank you for being a great stress release...

Dear Fuzzy Socks... Bless you.

Dear Crochet Hook & Yarn... I promise, I have not forgotten you! And my cousin liked her afghan, you did your job well. :D I will return to you when my 3-part Quest with a capital Q (otherwise known as Homeschool Conventions) ... is over.

Dear Hair... I'm thinking it's time for a trim. I know you just got down to Mid-Thigh, I'm happy for you, you look great... but it's for your own good. Those split ends won't be ignored for long. And could ya lighten up a little? One of my online blogging friends mistook you for "Dark" and we both know you're a natural blonde. :D

Dear Inspiration... Please, don't go away.

Dear Dirty Dishes... Where in the world did you all come from? You'd think there were fifteen people living in this house, not five...

Dear Adobe Photoshop CS5... I WILL CONQUER YOU. Be warned.

Dear Novel... You darling thing! Wait until we finish editing! It was the most thrilling moment of my life when I wrote your "The End" five minutes before this year began. :D

Dear Baby Chicks... Welcome to the world, you five new, precious babies. I can hardly believe we hatched you with only the aid of a broody hen, and in the middle of freezing January temperatures, too. It's a good life, I know you'll enjoy it. Wait until you find your first grasshopper - yum-yum! :D

Dear Driver's License... I can't wait until you arrive in the mail. I'm making do with your counterpart printed on a folded piece of paper, but it won't seem "final" until I hold the real plastic card in my hand.

Dear Wal-Mart... Yeah! You saw us! Me and my (younger) big bro's paid you a visit all on our lonesomes, without hide nor hair of a parent figure. I drove through your parking lot without even a scratch, nor chance of getting one. I am so proud of me. Were you?

Dear Daffodils... Spring hasn't sprung yet. Don't die! You came up early but if you can just hold in the blooms for a few more days, I think we might get some warmth and you can blossom unhindered. Be patient.

Because Spring is coming...

I saw this fun idea over at "A Butcher, A Baker, A Candlestick Maker" and thought it was too cute to pass up! :D Hope you enjoyed it.

Driver's License Test Results:

2012-01-10T17:29:00.000-05:00

The news you've been waiting for... the result of Julia's Driver's License Test! Well... it was a rainy, drizzly, cold, grey day and Daddy and I went down to the DMV and the person took my picture before I was ready (thankfully it didn't look too awful) and then the instructor and I went out to take the test, leaving Daddy waiting inside.

Oh all right! Long story short - I PASSED.

Thank. You. God.

Incidentally, have you ever tried parallel parking an 18-foot F-150 truck in an 18-foot parking space? Me neither. :D I didn't quite pass that part. Which sort of bummed me out - I practiced so much on that parallel parking (using a 21-foot space and caution cones) and I had it down cold, and then to go knock over three (out of maybe 12?) cones on the test... sigh.

My score was 80, and I only needed 75 to pass. Double *whew*!!! :D

I sort of feel like this little fella:

"One... small... step... for... Mankind, ... one... huge... leap... towards... Julia's... future."

Here I go! :D

My Floridian Adventure

2012-01-07T19:25:00.000-05:00

Hey Readers!

I had a great trip down to FL with my dad. We listened to music on the way down, cruising along in the truck. I edited my book all the way down and all the way back, with my little laptop sitting in my lap. (I reached page 190!)

Here is my trip, in photos:

An orchid bloom on the living room coffee table in my grandma's house. The cot where I slept was right next to this pretty blossom.

A hibiscus flower in the front yard.

Sunny palm trees...

Happy little milkweeds...

The afghan.

I crocheted this afghan for my cousin Katie for her wedding present. I gave it to her early so that she could snuggle up with it this winter and get some use out of it... the wedding is in March and she won't need a warm blanket very much by then, in Florida.

It features 3-D flowers, a ruffled border, and a color scheme of lavender, warm grape, chocolate brown, peanut-butter brown, creamy ivory, and a light khaki.

Katie and her afghan... She liked it. (YES!) Whew! :)

My shades. There's a funny story behind these cool sunglasses.
I forgot to pack any.
And on the trip down, I squinted the entire day, resulting in a wrinkle between my eyes! Aaaagh! I am way too young for wrinkles.
So the next morning of the trip we took a little jaunt to Wal-Mart and I picked these up. They worked really well on the way back from Florida, and I am happy to say that the wrinkle in my face is no more. At least until I turn 90 or so. ;)

I decided to model them for you. ;)

And I am thrilled to say that my grandma finally has a computer. We helped her pick it out. It's a smart little HP laptop, to be precise. I even called to set up her internet and talked with a live Verizon representative. (That was rather nerve-wracking. The representative was a sweet lady but I have a mild phobia of calling complete strangers on the phone...) :)

Today Daddy and I went down to an empty school parking lot and practiced parallel parking. Again and again and again... etc. I think I finally have the hang of it! Before we headed home I parallel-parked five times in a row in a fashion that would have passed the test. I just hope I can do it for the driver's license test!

The test is Tuesday, the 10th, if you wouldn't mind praying for my success. (Please do!) :D

Have a lovely week!

Tally-Ho! I'm Off...

2012-01-03T18:53:00.000-05:00

I'm off to Florida to visit my Grandma. Daddy and I are taking the truck down to her city, stopping on the way to go out to dinner with my Uncle Russ and his family. I'm also going to be giving my cousin Katie her wedding present a bit early. :) (Pictures will be coming soon...)

Sadly, the weather will not be conducive to swimming at the beach or basking in the sun. It's going to be a little chilly, just like it has been here in north-ish Georgia. Perhaps this will allow more time for me to take pictures! :D

Uh, speaking of chilly, it was 27 degrees when I woke up this morning. A little COLD. I grew up in Florida, after all, and when it dips below freezing, I begin to feel like a cold-blooded creature that desperately needs some warmth flooding into it's veins!

Anyway - Daddy and I leave tomorrow morning at no later than 8:00 AM, leaving Mama and the boyz to hold down the fort. (hey, that'd be a good band name, Mama & the BoyZ.) ;) Don't worry, we went grocery shopping today and picked up a couple new movies and some special snacks (Oreos, anyone?) to keep them happy while we're gone. :D

I will be internet-less for three days. So if you're expecting an email from me (as several of my friends are at the moment) I'm sorry, it might not happen until Saturday! :(

See you when I get back! Oh, and there will be a post popping up from me on Meditations of His Love on Friday morning that I'd love for you to read! Check back then to see it. :)

2011- It's been good.

2011-12-31T16:56:00.000-05:00

I almost let the last day of the year slip by without a blog post to mark it. But then I noticed some of my sweet friends doing posts and thought it would be a beautiful experience to write my own on the last day of 2011. :D

First, a neat picture I snatched that perfectly captures the changing tides of these years...

This year, I.....

Became a better blogger! My total of posts for this year (including the articles I wrote for MOHL) is 102! Counting this post. :D Last year I only wrote 34 posts for Julia's Journal, mostly due to my old XP computer that didn't work very quickly.
Got a new very cute laptop that helped greatly in becoming a better blogger, email-er, and writer.

Nearly finished my novel, Lissie, set in Jane Austen's Regency world and with a similar but completely different plot line than Miss Austen's works. (I almost finished it this year, but I'm not quite at The End yet... but I'm only about 5 pages away, which is pretty close!) I'm very excited about it and have lots of ideas for the sequel swimming around in my mind.

Went to two beautiful weddings, my cousin Kristen's on January 1st, and my friend Lauren's on December 3rd.
Learned of two delightful engagements, my cousin Katie and my friend Allison H.
Crocheted an ENORMOUS - thing. For Katie's wedding present. :) I will share pictures of it after I give it to her... don't want to spoil the surprise. :D

Became even closer to my infinitely sweet friends in the group of MOHL writers! They are the sisters I never had. The weekly IM chats we've started doing refresh my soul and make me laugh so hard that tears run down my cheeks. There's nothing like Godly sisterhood.

Improved my homemaking skills!
Enjoyed fresh produce from our garden all year long!
Hid under my bed while my parents butchered our first batch of meat chickens. ;)

Went to the GHEA convention, and ran a booth in the exhibit hall for my jewelry and ebooks, which was such an amazing, thrilling, tiring, enriching experience. Met so many nice people that I don't even remember them all - sigh.
Began regularly homechurching again with a great group of friends 30 minutes away from us.
Found more fun blogs to follow and read! A list might be forthcoming.

Discovered Perry Mason! ;)
Started reading the "At Home in Mitford" series aloud to my family in the evenings, and reading the Bible and discussing it for a short time every morning at the breakfast table. I have so enjoyed this and I feel like my family is more closely-knit than ever... such a warm and cozy feel! It's truly wonderful.

Turned 20 years old in the lovely, fresh month of April. :)
Gave my bedroom a stunning makeover to celebrate my birthday. Thanks for doing such a stellar job on my curtains and pillows, Mama!

Watched a million (or so) movies with my brothers. :D Love you guys. I am so glad I have brothers who enjoy an intelligent movie (like a Jane Austen) as much as a just-for-fun one (Like Cars 2)
Helped abovementioned brothers sort their vast collection of lego bricks by color.
Went to see Courageous in the theater! (It was awesome.)
Improved my frisbee skills with a lot of practice and sweat and dirt, spending quality time with my brothers and our friends up in P.T. city.
Read a bunch of books, finding a few new favorite authors and a few authors I didn't care for. Dee Henderson was one of the authors whose books I liked tremendously, especially the Uncommon Heroes series about Navy SEALs.

Drew a little closer to God, for which I am unutterably grateful and thankful.
Began rising earlier in the mornings, and discovered I get much more done in the day when I do.
Went through 2 months of Daddy not having any work, and learned to trust that the Lord's provision will always be there for the things we really need.
Kept scribbling in my current little real-life journal, continuing the record of my life thus far that I started at age 11.

..... And did many other things that I don't have room to share. (Well, technically I do, but super-long blog posts get a little old...)

Winter is here, but so far it's been mild. I am looking forward to the coming of Spring, and yet knowing there are some hard days ahead sprinkled among the easy ones. January's frosts and February's cold winds are coming, but so are March's blossoms and April's soft breezes.

Next Year, I'll....

Take my driver's license test on January 10th. And finally be able to go places and run errands on my own. A sobering, yet exhilarating thought.
Go to three homeschool conventions to sell my jewelry! I'll be in Spartanburg, South Carolina for the Teach Them Diligently convention, Atlanta, GA for the GHEA convention, and North Carolina for the NCHE convention. If you're going to be at any of those, I'd love to meet you!
(hopefully) start going to a ladies' gym with my mom. We're still waiting to decide on that, weighing the pros and cons.
Play some more Ultimate Frisbee.
Visit my Grandma in Florida
Get to meet my sweet friend Rachelle in person! Still working on the hopeful details of that, but I am praying 'extra hard' for it to work out.
Participate in the His Word in Our Hearts challenge that Meditations of His Love is doing this year, all year!
Read more,
Work more,
Laugh more,
Love more,
Live more.

I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be another beautiful year.

Happy New Year!

FUN Literary Tag

2011-12-22T12:21:00.001-05:00

I found this tag over at Austenitis and immediately knew I had to try it!

I'm so glad I did, it was SUCH fun!

You should try it too.

Really.

First name 12 literary characters and then answer the questions.

Okay, so here are mine...

1. Mr. Darcy (Pride & Prejudice)

2. Polly Milton (Main character in An Old-fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott)

3. Doctor Dolittle (the Doctor Dolittle series by Hugh Lofting)

4. Robin Hood (The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood)

5. Rose Campbell (Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott)

6. Black Beauty (haha, it doesn't say the characters have to be human)

7. Willy Wonka (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
8. Emma Woodhouse (Emma)

9. Reginald Bridgewater (One of MY literary characters in my novel... Lissie)

10. Diana Barry (Anne of Green Gables)

11. Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes books)

12. Cynthia Coppersmith (from the At Home in Mitford series by Jan Karon)

There, that looks like a fun group of people! I tried to pick a really random assortment to see what unusual adventures would ensue. :D But like Charity suggested, you could do 12 characters from a Jane Austen novel, or several of her novels, or all Anne of Green Gables characters! It would make the results totally different.

Questions...

1. Who would make a better college professor, 6 or 11?
Black Beauty or Sherlock Holmes? Uhhh... well, Black Beauty is a horse. So anybody would make a better college professor than him... but wow, Sherlock Holmes would make an awesome college professer! I want his class! "Deduction and Observation" ;)

2. 12 sends 8 out on a mission. What is it? Does it succeed?
Cynthia Coppersmith sends Emma Woodhouse.... to.... try and make a match for her with Father Tim, but Emma only ends up muddling the poor priest's mind and frightening him away. But thankfully we all know what happens in the end. (That is, if you've read the At Home in Mitford series)

3. What is, or what would be, 9’s favorite book?
Reginald Bridgewater! My character! Hmm... well, despite his impulsive, outgoing temperament, Reginald is actually quite intelligent and well-educated, so he reads well even if he would rather be riding his horse over the beautiful grounds of Swanwick Hall. I think his favorite book would have been one of Miss Austen's novels, since they were published during his lifetime... probably Northanger Abbey.

4. Would it make more sense for 2 to swear fealty to 6 or the other way around?
Again, poor Black Beauty can't speak the King's English. But then again, I have a hard time imagining the sweet, sensible Polly Milton swearing fealty to a horse. I think Black Beauty would have sworn fealty to Polly, especially if she was his dear owner.
5. Number 5 is looking for a roommate. Should s/he room with 9 or 10?
Rose Campbell would definitely room with Diana Barry over Reginald Bridgewater. Actually, I think Rose and Diana could have been fast friends.

6. 2, 7, and 12 are going out to dinner. Where are they going, and what do they discuss?
Polly, Willy Wonka, and Cynthia Coppersmith? Hmmm... They don't have much in common! I think they would go to the Wonka factories and dine on chocolate soup... and they would probably discuss candy, as it would be everywhere and I can imagine Willy Wonka dominating the conversation... ;)

7. 3 challenges 10 to a duel. Who wins?
The amiable Doctor Dolittle would never challenge Diana Barry to a duel! He was too much of a gentleman! But he would have won, because Diana would never have picked up a sword... she'd have fainted first.
8. If 1 stole 8’s most precious possession, how would s/he get it back?
Hahahaha! I cannot imagine Mr. Darcy stealing anything from Emma Woodhouse. But since her most prized possesion would be Mr. Knightley... Emma would probably pay a ransom to get him back, since she was very wealthy.

Or then again, perhaps she would have just taken careful aim...

9. Suggest a story title in which 7 and 12 both attain what they want.
Wow. Willy and Cynthia again. I think Cynthia wants a happy life with Father Tim, but what does Willy Wonka want? An heir to his chocolate factory? A golden elevator, instead of a great glass one? *thinking...* THE GREAT GOLDEN ELEVATOR, inside of which Cynthia is proposed to by Father Tim. Wow.... can't get much odder than that, can you?

10. What kind of plot device would you have to use to get 1 and 4 to work together?
Mr. Darcy and Robin Hood? *Swoon*
Well, Mr. Darcy would need a time machine, or Robin Hood could find the fountain of youth and live until Jane Austen's era... and then they team up together riding the countryside on great black horses wearing sweeping capes, searching for Elizabeth Bennet and Maid Marian, who are imprisoned in a tower owned by the Sherriff of Nottingham... ;) Hey, sounds good to me!

11. If 7 visited you for the weekend, how would it go?
Willy Wonka? I suspect I would gain weight if he brought any of his delicious chocolate with him. And he's a little weird for me to spend that much time with!
12. If you could command 3 to perform any service or task for you, what would it be?
Doctor Dolittle - Well, I would dearly love to know how to speak the chicken language so I could communicate with ours. I would ask him to teach it to me. Although, come to think of it, they seem to already understand me.....

13. If 2 had to choose sides between 4 or 5, what side would s/he choose?
Polly Milton choosing between Robin Hood or Rose Campbell? Well... since she and Rose were both created by Louisa May Alcott, she would probably pick Rose.

14. What might 10 shout out while charging into battle?
Again, I really cannot imagine Diana Barry charging into battle! Unless Anne Shirley was leading the charge, in which case she might cry "Anne, let's stop imagining this now, you'll tear your dress!"

15. If you had to choose a song to best describe 8, what would it be?
Emma Woodhouse. Hum. This is hard. Perhaps "I'm not who I was" by Brandon Heath? Emma being no longer a busybody and matchmaker? It's a stretch at best.

16. 1, 6, and 12 are having a dim sum at a Chinese Restaurant. There is only one scallion pancake left , and they all reach for it at the same time. Who gets it?
Mr. Darcy, Black Beauty, and Cynthia Coppersmith? Goodness, I have no idea. I suppose Black Beauty, the other two would have had better table manners...

17. What would 5 most likely be arrested for?
Rose Campbell? The soul of innocence? Probably for being an unknowing accomplice to something her mischeivous cousins had done.

18. What is 6’s secret?
Black Beauty... Hmmm. I can't think what. That he actually prefers oats to barley mash?

19. If 11 and 9 were racing to a destination, who would get there first?
Sherlock Holmes and Reginald Bridgewater! "The Game's Afoot, my dear Reginald." I think Sherlock would probably win as he's so experienced at chasing down badguys, especially if they were racing through London. But Reginald is definitely a man of action, nonetheless.

20. If you had to walk home through a bad neighborhood late at night, who would you be more comfortable walking with, 7 or 8?
Willy Wonka or Emma Woodhouse? Both would be practically useless... I guess Willy, he might have some kind of secret candy weapon up his sleeve, like a gun that shoots exploding gumballs.

21. 1 and 9 reluctantly team up to save the world from the threat posed by 4's sinister secret organization. 11 volunteers to help them,but it is later discovered that s/he is actually a spy for 4. Meanwhile, 4 has kidnapped 12 in an attempt to force their surrender. Following the wise advice of 5, they seek out 3, who gives them what they need to complete their quest. What title would you give this fiction?

Mr. Darcy and Reginald Bridgewater (My stars, what a handsome pair) team up to save the world from Robin Hood (GUFFAW - actually, he did have a secret organization, the Merry Men).
Sherlock Holmes volunteers to help them, (His help would indeed have been invaluable, I can't see Robin Hood evading Holmes as easily as the Sherrif of Nottingham)
...but it is discovered that he is a spy for Robin. (Hmm, come to think of it, he had a sympathetic streak, did Sherlock. He might have seen Robin's side of the issue.)
Robin Hood kidnaps Cynthia Coppersmith (Oh dear! But just the thing to spur Father Tim to action, at last...) Following the wise advice of Rose Campbell (Who must have been acquainted with Doctor Dolittle... maybe he was friends with her seafaring Uncle Alec) They seek out Doctor Dolittle.... who gives them... um, a translated message from a deer living in the Greenwood forest, who tells them the whereabouts of a secret glen where Cynthia is hidden?
Sheer craziness, but so enjoyable to imagine. Now, for a title...

THE ZANY ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, as related by Doctor John. H. Watson.

My Secondary Jane Austen Character Quiz Results

2011-12-22T08:50:00.002-05:00

I get Elizabeth Bennet as my answer when I take a Jane Austen personality quiz, but when I took a quiz on which *secondary* character I was, I was rather surprised...

Julia's Result: Jane Bennet

on quiz: Which Jane Austen Secondary Heroine Are You?

You are Jane Bennet of Pride and Prejudice! Sweet, loving and compassionate almost to a fault, you have great difficulty in seeing anything but the best in people. You are quite five times as pretty as any of your sisters and most definitely your mother's favorite. You want to marry for love and not money, but somehow you manage to catch the eye of the richest bachelor in the neighborhood. How on earth did that happen? :)

Quiz Maker

Take this quiz & get your result

Which Jane Austen Secondary Heroine Are You? » online exam

Actually, I do look like her, in that picture anyway. :D Especially the flyaway wisps of golden hair around the face. I've looked up into the mirror to see those many times.

But I would have to say that I am not as sweet as Jane. My temperament is not so good and angelic, but neither am I quite that gullible. :D

It is quite true that I am five times as pretty as any of my sisters... for I do not have any!! Lol! I think it would be quite easy to say that I am prettier than my brothers... for they are handsome, not pretty.

But on the results, I was actually 43% Jane Bennet, 32% Jane Fairfax! :) Who'd have thunk? The remaining percentages were small increments of the other possible answers on the test, the least small being 12% Charlotte Lucas... because I can be calm like her sometimes if I put my mind to it. ;)

If you take the quiz, let me know who you get! :D

Also, there is a giveaway over at A Butcher, A Baker, A Candlestick Maker! It ends at midnight December 22. And she's having a feminine fashion week, you should check out her modest outfits! :)

Writing Day, All Day

2011-12-19T09:12:00.000-05:00

I'm thrilled to be writing all day today with my dear girlfriends from the MOHL blog! We've set aside today to just write! I am hoping to actually finish my novel today! We'll see how that goes. ;)

Oh, and I found these and just HAD to share. You know all of those "Keep Calm and Carry On" signs around blogworld? Check these out.

YES! :D I especially love the 'calm' colors in the above pic.

While this one might be more difficult to achieve, some of us might be able to swing it. Lol!

I've been on an Austen kick recently. If you're not an Austen fan, I should be posting other things soon. (But if you're not a fan of Jane Austen, all I can say to you is... what is your problem?!?!?) :D

Off to write! Happy Monday!

A Jane Austen Tag and Birthday Card

2011-12-17T20:24:00.000-05:00

Calling All Jane Austen Fans!!!

I am participating (albeit late) in Miss Dashwood's blog party over at Yet Another Period Drama Blog!

First we have, for your reading pleasure, my answers to the Jane Austen Tag questions.

1 - What was the first JA novel you ever read, and who introduced you to it?
Actually, my very first introduction to the wondrous world of JA was the shorter Keira Knightley version of P&P. Which, at the time, I thought was great! I loved the costumes and the story was amazing. Now, that movie is one of my least favorite adaptations. My childhood best friend Rebecca Y. and I watched it together, it was her movie.

The first book I read was.... naturally... Pride & Prejudice. :) My mom had a paperback copy that we'd owned for years, and I finally read it when I was (I think) 16. It might have been age 15. I'm not sure. :)

2 - Which is your least favorite JA novel, and why? (Everybody posts about their favorites... I want to know what's at the bottom of your list!)
Dear me! It's so hard to choose my least favorite, as I like them all. Hmm...

3 - Who do you think is the funniest character JA ever created?
Goodness, these are great questions. I think my top 3 choices would be Mrs. Jennings, (whose portrayal by Elizabeth Spriggs in the 1996 S&S was simply hysterical!) Mr. Bingley, (Crispin Bonham-Carter from the long BBC P&P was the best) and Henry Tilney from Northanger Abbey. Although Henry wasn't quite as 'funny' as he was witty and amusing. :D

4 - Which JA villain[ess] do you love to hate?

Oooh, there are many whom I really love to detest. I'll share three. :D 1. Mary Crawford would have to top my list. I really hate how she turns Edmund's head through 80% of the book. 2. Fanny Dashwood (ugggghhh!!) possibly the worst sister-in-law in literary history, and 3. Elizabeth Elliot, Anne's older sister, who wasn't a villainess, per se, but soooo annoying, pretentious, preening, and proud! She's perfectly awful in all the movie adaptations.

Of course the infamous W's, Willoughby and Wickham, are fun to despise too. :D (Ohh, and I cannot stand Mrs. Elton!!) Sorry. That was way more than one. ;)

5 - What's your favorite JA quote?

I have a t-shirt that reads "'There is no enjoyment like reading' - Jane Austen" and that is one of my very favorite quotes. :D I also (like Miss Dashwood) love the first lines of P&P.

6 - If you were to "start" someone on JA, which book would you recommend to them first and why?
Pride and Prejudice, for obvious reasons. :D It's really the most clear-cut, classic Jane Austen story. But they're all good! I would recommend Persuasion and Emma next, then Northanger Abbey, then Mansfield Park. :D

7 - What is your absolute favorite JA film adaptation and why?

The BBC (Jennifer Ehle, Colin Firth) version of Pride and Prejudice comes in first, because I find it the most faithful adaptation to the book - which is the first qualification a movie adaptation has to pass, for me, to be really good. :D
I also loved the Romola Garai/Jonny Lee Miller BBC version of Emma. Although Emma really wasn't my favorite heroine, (And Romola was just a bit too giggly and undignified to really be Emma) That adaptation really fleshed out the complex plot and backstories in a beautiful manner.

8 - If you could authorize a new film adaptation of one of JA's novels, which would it be and why?
While I would absolutely LOVE to see a new Pride and Prejudice with a Jennifer Ehle-esque Lizzy and better music than the BBC version (it reminds me too much of a foxhunt in places) I think I would choose Mansfield Park (Which nobody, of course, has 'gotten' even halfway decently, my favorite old BBC version has become outdated) because it deserves to have a good movie made of it! Also, I would re-film the Felicity Jones PBS Masterpiece Northanger Abbey and cut out some of the "Oh my WORD!" scenes that were so objectionable and not even insinuated in the book.

9 - Which JA character do you most identify with?

Do you know, I have absolutely no idea. I would say Elizabeth Bennet (for actually, I love to read, can be sarcastic... :( working on that... and am critical of humanity, in general, also I suspect I have a small degree of wit) except that everybody seems to think Elizabeth Bennet is the quintessential PERFECT woman. Which I certainly am not. I do get her for results when taking JA personality quizzes, though.

Otherwise, I have slight Marriane-ish tendencies, a little of Anne Elliot now that I've reached the ripe old age of 20, and a dash of Jane Fairfax.

10 - If you could have lunch with JA today, what question would you most like to ask her?
*gasp* I would love to luncheon with Miss Austen!! I would like to ask her about the novel I am writing, inspired by her stories, and ask her opinion of it. I wonder if she would approve, or think it a cheap imitation? Also, I would desperately like to ask about the Mysterious Seaside Romance, which I just learned of through Miss Dashwood's blog... but I fear she would think me impertinent.

11 - Is there any one thing that you think could have been improved upon in one (or all) of JA's books? What is it and why?

Hum. Well, they were all nearly perfect. I do agree with Miss Dashwood that the proposals could have been better. Also, I would have preferred just a tad more story after the weddings in nearly every book... especially Emma!

12 - If you could have lunch with one of JA's characters today, who would it be and why?
I think I would have to choose Elizabeth Bennet. I think we would be great friends. :) But it would be fascinating to meet Mr. Darcy or Mr. Knightley.

I loved doing this tag! Thank you for putting it together, Miss Dashwood!

And because Jane Austen's Birthday was yesterday, I am writing her a birthday card as part of the Birthday Card Contest at Yet Another Period Drama Blog. :D

The catch to this contest is that the card has to be 'in character' as one of Miss Austen's characters! (I personally think that is shockingly brilliant.) :D

I am writing in the character of Anne Elliot from Persuasion.

Dear Miss Austen,

I would like to wish you the happiest of birthdays. It was certainly a joyous occasion when you entered the world, and I hope the day brings you many delights.
Captain Wentworth and I have just returned home to England from a voyage to India, and we saw many curious things in that strange and foreign land. Traveling with my dear husband has brought me such joy. We now have one son, Frederick Jr, and I will soon be expecting another small blessing. I hope to have a girl this time, for it would be such a joy to have a daughter to love... although I am very fond of little Frederick. I am slightly concerned about taking him to visit the family at Uppercross, for his older cousins continue to be like young demons and I know they are a bad influence on him. I cannot begin to express my thankfulness to you, Miss Austen, for reuniting my dear Frederick (Sr.) and I, although Frederick jokes that you could have made the 8-year separation rather shorter to suit his taste. I also am exceedingly glad to have met my husband's friends and sailors under his command, who are all such friendly and honest people. And of course Sophie Croft, Frederick's sister, continues to be one of my dearest friends. I am delighted with her sweetness of character and the happy way in which she is content to live with her husband aboard ship - which was an excellent example for me to see before I married my dear Captain Wentworth. She will be our next child's godmother.
I must close, for my husband has asked me to come and walk with him upon the shore. (We are at Lyme, and I am very happy to be here once more, for despite the unhappy occurence of Louisa's fall - which had wonderful results! - the place holds many joys for me.) We plan to dine with the Harvilles and the Benwicks this evening at the Benwicks' new home, that I hear is a sweet cottage, which I am very much looking forward to seeing.
Ever your devoted,
~Anne

I hope you enjoyed reading this post! It was so much fun to write. :)

A Last Gift

2011-12-16T21:27:00.000-05:00

I named our chickens after Jane Austen characters. What that says about me, I'm not sure...

As follows, we were the proud owners of:

Emma

Harriet

Elinor

Margaret

Elizabeth Bennet

Jane Bennet, and...

Lady Catherine De Bourgh.

Among others that didn't "stick".

I know what you're thinking (at least, if you're familiar with Pride & Prejudice) a hen named after Lady Catherine de Bourgh? Yes, I had the nerve to name a proud, haughty hen with feathers on her feet after the great Lady Catherine herself. :D It fit, too. She would never let us pet her or pick her up like the other chickens and was very high-strung. ;)

Jane was my favorite.

This is Jane. (You can see the gray-and-white Lady Catherine right behind her)

Often shortened to "sweet Jane" or "Dear Jane", she was definitely the most adorable little friendly chicken I've ever seen. We liked her so much that when it came time to get our next lot of egg-layers, we bought Buff Orphingtons (Jane's breed).

You might have noticed that I am referring to these chickens in the past tense.

Today... we gave them away.

I was shocked to find out how attached to those birds I really was. I mean, one could understand becoming attached to one's dog, or cat, or family pet. But chickens? Well - those chickens were our pets. But they had grown old... and were down to three or so eggs a day from ten hens. In short, they were eating more than they were giving us. And for logical reasons, we had to either give them away, or they would be eating us out of house and home... and we would have to put them in our soup pot. Oh! Dear me, it would have been quite shocking! (...to quote J. A.)

For a good while, they had been living in a little home we built off of one of the main chicken coops, and affectionately christened "The Dawdi Haus". (after the Amish term for a small house that the parents move into when they pass the farm down to the firstborn child).

There is the Dawdi Haus, with Daddy, and Jane. (There was a completely fenced run stretching out the back, not visible from this photo).

When my brother Mark brought in the eggs this evening after the final egg-check, Mama asked him if any of them had been from the Dawdi Haus, trying to determine how many our other chickens had laid.

"One." Mark answered, his face growing half-mournful, half-comical. "A last gift."

Do you know what I did?
I cried!

I was washing dishes in the sink, and a few of my tears fell down into the soapy water. I pulled it together within a few minutes, never having made a sound, and I don't think my mom and Steven even realized I had been crying. After all, it was silly, really... the chickens went to a good home with a young couple who had some little kids who would love them and keep them for pets, with the bonus of the occasional egg just for fun. But I'm going to miss them.

Sometimes there comes a time in our lives when we have to "let go" of things... and I don't like letting go. I like holding on. But if I always hold my precious 'things' close in a tight-fisted little grasp... then it won't be possible for me to receive, open-handed, the new gifts that the One who loves me most wants to give me.

So... I've let go, and my hands are open. :)

Learning Never Ceases

2011-12-14T16:10:00.000-05:00

Hello world!

Boy, sometimes it's scary thinking that anybody in the world who finds my blog can read what little me has to say. Then other times I laugh and say "Hello world, isn't it a beautiful day?" ;)

I spent a ton of money this week on beads. You see, after my last jewelry show I was cleaned out, and my little (okay, HUGE) stash of beads needed to be replenished with both some basics, and some fresh items to jazz up my existing inventory.

I was feeling euphoric when I walked out of Jo-Ann fabrics with a sack full of plunder a few days ago (they had a 40% off sale on their beads, woohoo!) But the order to Fire Mountain (the online place I get my basics like headpins, beading wire, and crimp tubes... you know, the stuff that holds my bits of glorious sparkle together...) left me feeling ukky. I cringed when I looked at the total. (gold and silver has gone waaaay up. Forget about through the roof, we're banging into the moon at this point) And then I sent up a devout prayer that I would sell enough jewelry to cover my expenses... and maybe, perhaps, possibly, make a teensy bit of profit. :D

I'm still praying.

As for other news...

I found this free wordart the other day and saved it for inspiration. :D

My mom and dad talked to us recently about 'the finishing process' and how their job now is to give us the final polish for us to be ready to be adults. ;) Mom compared us to a green tomato... how we're fully grown but not ripened all the way yet. :D It was very inspiring and I thought her object prop was brilliant. :D My mommy is so wise.

One of the gifts and skills Mama wants to pass on to me is learning to play the piano by chords, so that I could play for a worship service if I ever had the opportunity. I already play by ear but haven't learned my chords yet. Should be fun! :)

Image via weheartit(dot)com

She also wants to help me develop my voice. Mama is fully equipped to be a voice teacher, packing a double major in music and education. So now those teaching skills are going to be turned full blast my way. :) I'm looking forward to it. I love to sing, and I'm excited about polishing my voice.

image via weheartit(dot)com

Another thing I want to 'polish' is... my writing.

*melt* *swoon* *picks self up off floor* Wow. What a perfect place to write. I love that picture.

Or here! How 'bout that view? My goodness. :) Hmm. All of these writing-place pictures seem to have flowers in them. *ponders that for a few minutes*

Although I am extremely grateful to have my aqua laptop on which to write, that aqua typewriter is just adorable. :D (Hmm. More flowers. Methinks I need a bouquet on my desk.) (last 3 images via weheartit(dot)com...)

I hope to be back soon with a recipe for my very favoritest it's-so-good-I-could-just-sink-through-the-floor soup, made with a delectable creamy broth and ham and potatoes. Also celery. And we're having it for dinner! *dances*

Until then, I hope you have a lovely week!

I Went to a Wedding

2011-12-08T16:38:00.001-05:00

.... and this is What I Wore... ;)

I don't get a chance to 'dress up' very often these days, so I made sure to get pictures while I was looking all fancy-shmancy. :D

And the hair! Oh my! I wanted to wear it up, but was bored with all the buns I'd been doing recently, so I tried modifying a hairstyle that I first saw on Elizabeth Botkin. :D Anna Sophia actually told me how she did it. (You know, I may not agree with them on some of their doctrine and beliefs... but you have to admit, those girls always look so classy!) :D

I call it... "The Asymmetric Wad (which is half-falling-apart)".

When I had at last finished pinning the loose, silky mass to the back of my head, I surveyed the effect in the mirror, gave an "oh well" shrug of my shoulders, and proceeded to have my mother spray about a quart of hairspray on it to hopefully stick it together. :D

I was shocked, stunned, and blown away by how many compliments I got! :D I think I ended up explaining to fourteen separate people how I did my hair. Lol!

This post is interrupted to tell you how much I love, love, LOVE this outfit. :D

The blazer, which I adore and have worn to the past five or so formal occasions I've attended, I found at Ross. I think it was $20 and part of a set with a really short skirt, but the blazer was perfect.

The lacy top I'm wearing underneath it I found at Walmart a couple of years ago.

The dark gray wool skirt I found at Goodwill for $5 with the tags still on it, it's an Anne Taylor Loft and the original price tag said $85.00!!! Now that's the way I like to buy my clothes! I wish that kind of a deal smacked me in the face more often. ;)

The black not-that-high heels are from Walmart from a few years ago. They have cute little bows made from strips of leather at the corners.

And here's me with my handsome brothers! They looked seriously spiffy, and I just love how we all match... ;) See how I never feel that tall? They make me feel short. And I'm not. :D

Daddy and the boys... (This ^ photo has a funny story "behind" it. Mark leaped into place as I was photographing Steven and Daddy, and, liking the composition, I snapped the picture.) ;)

Such fine-looking menfolks I'm related to! I absolutely love those argyle vests we picked up from a Yard Sale, nearly brand new. :D I wish I could have gotten a picture of Mama, but I didn't have a chance before it was time to leave.

I also wish I had taken a few pictures at the wedding, which was lovely, but the bride had emailed me saying they were asking everyone to not take pictures so that their professional photographers wouldn't be bothered. Rest assured, it was beautiful. The colors were Apple Red, Black, and Silver-Gray... and the reception food was the best I'd ever had, and I've been to over 20 weddings at least. :D There was a chocolate fountain with things to dip in it like... strawberries, rice-krispy treats on a stick, bananas, oreos, marshmallows, and a host of other things that taste good dunked in chocolate. The rice-krispy treat was my absolute fave. :D

Anyhow, I'm hoping you enjoyed this little peek into my life as of late. :D

I am thankful for ... New Days

2011-11-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

The last day of the 30 Days of Thankfulness challenge is here!

I can hardly believe that tomorrow is December first. This year has literally flown past... It seems like just a little while ago that my cousin Kristen got married on January 1st... and now it's almost been a whole year. Whew!

Yesterday I missed posting. :( But I was thankful for something... warmth. It was a cold day and we started a fire in the wood stove in our fireplace. It was a wonderful feeling, the delicious warmth pouring out of that little iron box filled with glowing coals. I love warmth! I love warm hugs, warm cookies, warm smiles, warm sunshine, warm feelings of joy, and warm laughter at shared delights.

Today, I am thankful for ... fresh mornings, new days, and second chances. We serve a God whose mercies are new every morning. "Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it." - L. M. Montgomery.
Every time I wake up and behold another sunrise... the sun's golden rays breaking through the darkness and lighting up the world afresh... I know I have a new day before me. With new mercies in it. :)
Soon we'll be entering a whole new year... 2012. I wonder what it holds for me? One thing I do know is that whatever I go through, I'll have a friend who sticks closer than a brother... my Lord and Savior. He'll be walking beside me every step of the way. :)

And that's what I'm thankful for most of all.

I'm thankful for ...Memories

2011-11-28T19:44:00.000-05:00

Today I'm thankful for memories.

We set up a table in the living room and pulled out two huge bins of unsorted old family photos, printed years ago and left in the dark. They'd been in their bins, undisturbed, for a really long time. My mom decided a little while ago that it was time to finally do something with them, so we found some photo albums and bought them inexpensively... and now are getting out the old pictures to finally sort and put them into books for easy viewing. :)

And wow... the memories that are surfacing! Even ones I'd forgotten about. And some of the photos I had never seen. How precious they are. Maybe I'll post some photographs of the photos on here sometime... I refrained from taking a picture of all the pictures spread out on that worktable in the living room, for I confess - we've made a royal mess! :D

It's incredible seeing what I looked like at five months old. And five years old. So cute! (What happened? Ha-ha-ha...) My brothers were such chubby little grinning munchkins! I wish I had those years back so I could give them another hug while they were still so small and adorable. Not that they're not adorable now, but they're just BIG and adorable... which isn't the same, somehow! :D It makes me wish I had been a better big sister.

It's also amazing seeing the clothing styles back then, even for kids' clothes. Especially if you're looking at pictures over 15 years old. It's so strange to see how much it's changed since then. I imagine one day that my children will look back at the pictures of me when I was a little girl and think it looks funny too... after all, it will have been a generation ago.

Also - I have promised myself to buy three or so video cameras and keep them in various places around my house one day, so that I can capture ALL of the cute moments with my children in the future. :D And take lots of pictures!!! I plan to invest in tons of CDs and/or flash drives to store my millions of digital photos. :D The moments and memories are just so special. :D

That's what I'm thankful for today. The memories. And the future looks even brighter. :D

Speaking of future... my favorite season is almost gone! Here's a little fall wordart I found somewhere, as a farewell to Autumn... ;)

Can you believe there's a chance we might see SNOW in my yard tomorrow? That's what they say! And it feels like it outside too... there's a certain raw coldness in the air that feels like snow could happen. Shocking, really! ;) We'll see what happens. :D

Have a lovely week!

I'm thankful for Colors and Writing

2011-11-27T11:16:00.000-05:00

I missed yesterday! Boo-hoo-hoo! *sniff*

So... I'll make up for it by posting TWO things I'm thankful for today. :) That'll make it all better. ;)

I really am so glad my sweet friend Rachel started this challenge and prompted us all to join her! :) It has been a blessing to me! :D See the other posts at Young Homemakers!

I love writing.

I don't dedicate my whole blog to the topic of writing, nor do I really share about it much, but writing is a huge part of my life. I love my characters and plot twists and finding the perfect phrase or descriptive word. It's a very personal thing for me, and for a while I was actually terrified of the idea of publishing something I had written. It wouldn't be good enough... there would be so many flaws... what would people I know in real life think of my writing? Would they be searching my book for a character that looked just like them, and be offended because I had given the annoying character their same hair color? ;) (I know, ridiculous, right?)

I'm okay with the idea of publishing my book now, but I'm not planning on doing anything to actively market it until I write "The End" and do some careful typo-checking and tweaking of words. :)

But I'm so glad that I can write. I love writing and I am very thankful for it. :)

The other thing I am thankful for today is COLOR. I love colors! Colors move me and inspire me and excite me! I can be walking down the yarn aisle and spot a delightful skein of yarn in an amazing shade and have it bring a delighted smile to my face... whether I buy it or not! I love the colors in the leaves of Autumn and the roses of Summer. I love designing something with digital graphics with colors that become instant eye candy when placed together. I love throwing together shades of color that complement each other in a soft, cozy afghan. :) I am so thankful for the colors God created.

I'm thankful for... Fun!

2011-11-25T19:44:00.000-05:00

Day 25 is here! Yay! :)

Today, I am thankful for Family Fun Fridays... which my family and I do when we can. Occasionally we have our family day on Saturday. We try to do something enjoyable together as a family. Board games and movies are usually what we choose.

Tonight on our movie viewing menu is.... well, here's a little hint:

Today I am thankful for family fun! :D Ta-ta now, the movie is starting... :)

I'm thankful for Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T08:58:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love this holiday! It's the only one dedicated to giving thanks and glory and praise unto God, and it's American to boot. :)

Today I am thankful for the day of Thanksgiving! :)

http://younghomemakers.blogspot.com

Hope you have a happy one! :D

I am thankful for... My Name

2011-11-23T20:17:00.000-05:00

http://jewelsbyjulia-lauren.blogspot.com

Day 23! Thanksgiving is tomorrow! I'm so excited! :D

Today I am thankful for something my parents gave me when I was born.

Something no one can ever take away from me.

Something that God knew before I was formed into being.

My name!

Julia.

I LOVE my name. :) I think it's pretty. I couldn't imagine being named anything else... like "Emily Joy" which my parents considered quite seriously before settling on their choice.

I like it because... it's beautiful, slightly unique, slightly old-fashioned, yet not so uncommon that nobody knows how to spell it. I don't ofen run into other people with the same name. I've never wanted to shorten it to plain "Julie". There's an A on the end. And there always will be. :D

I am thankful for my name! What's yours? Leave me a note in the comment section... I'd love to see the names of the people who read this post. :D

I'm thankful for... that "It's Clean!" feeling....

2011-11-22T18:38:00.000-05:00

Today I cleaned the laundry/pantry/storage room. Woohoo! I also cleaned out the broom closet, earning a double pat on the back from my delighted mother. :D

We're cleaning the house this week partly in preparation for a Thanksgiving celebration, but partly because it just needed to be done. :D And the family we're having over wouldn't mind if our corners were dusty anyway. :D

There's just no way to describe that wonderful 'squeaky-clean' feeling! I have Dutch ancestry, and you know how those Dutch people are renowned for cleanliness. :D I guess cleaning runs in my blood. ;)

Today I am thankful for having things clean! :)

http://younghomemakers.blogspot.com

I'm thankful for... Surprises!

2011-11-21T19:38:00.001-05:00

Day 21 is here! :)

Today I am thankful for surprises. :D I never had a surprise birthday party, (sadly) but I've had my share of surprises. Today we got one in that - our Perry Mason DVD's arrived early in the mail! :) I'm not going to tell you how many hour-long episodes we watched today. You'll think we need to get a life. (oh, ok... we watched 4.)

I love it when God gives us unexpected blessings sometimes in the form of surprises. :) While I also like looking forward to something and anticipating it, sometimes it's refreshing to be surprised with something wonderful, just out of the blue. :)

Blessings!

I'm thankful for... Life.

2011-11-20T19:00:00.000-05:00

Day 20 of the 30 Days of Thankfulness is here! That means... we're 2/3rds done! :D See, I can do *some* math... ;) Lol.

The number 20 has some significance for me... it's how many years old I am. Sometimes that downright shocks me... has it really been two whole decades that I've been alive already? 20 years is a long time.

I have been enjoying the miraculous gift of life for twenty whole years. Some little children never get to take their first breath... they are aborted before birth. I was one who got to be born, and live, and breathe. And I have had a wonderful life so far. God has been so good to me. He has blessed me with the best parents and the most wonderful younger brothers ever.

Today, I am thankful for my life. :)

I am thankful for... Internet!

2011-11-19T20:49:00.000-05:00

Day 19! Wow! I've made it this far... I won't stop now. :)

Today I am thankful for... the Internet! :D

I totally stole this pic from Rachel. ;)

The internet is a powerful beastie. Either you harness it and bend it to your will, and amazing things are accomplished... or it sucks you in like a big black hole! :D I try not to let the former happen to me. It's easier now that I quit Facebook.

The internet has introduced me to some very special young ladies! Including the sweet, dear girls who also write for MOHL! :)

So, I am thankful today for the internet. :)

I'm thankful for ... Seasons

2011-11-18T22:22:00.000-05:00

Day 18 already! wow. :) Sorry I was late with my post today... it was a busy day! :D But I am happy to say that we now have a 22 pound tom turkey sitting in our fridge, waiting to be stuffed and roasted in the oven on Thanksgiving morn.

Today I'm thankful for seasons. I was driving home with Daddy today after doing errands and picking up a few things at the grocery store, and the light was shining through the colorful trees, making everything glow with a radiant light. Driving up to our log home in the yellow, red, and bronze woods was a beautiful sight.

The glimmering light and glowing colors of Autumn reminded me how much I love this season. But there are things I love about each one.

Spring... for me, the season of fresh rebirth and new warmth after the cold winter. I love the first fragrant blossoms and the sweet smell of the earth coming back to life, and all the fresh green leaves. I was born into the world during this lovely time of year, and I would never have chosen another birthdate. :)

Summer... long days of sun and fun and heat, best spent outside near the river or someone's pool, playing Ultimate Frisbee, or inside lying on my stomach on my bed with a great book and a fan blowing a cool breeze into my face. Carefree, going barefoot around the house... a relaxed time of year.

Autumn... beautiful temperatures, gorgeous scenery. The woods around my house are at their most breathtaking, Thanksgiving and friends and family are near at hand, and the first cup of hot chocolate is sheer bliss, with perfection being the few handfuls of mini marshmallows thrown in. :D The newfound crisp feel in the air is indescribably wonderful.

Winter... I seem to prefer all the other times of the year, not having a fondness for cold, numbing fingers, toes and nose... but winter has its own share of hidden delights and sudden, aweing joys. Like waking up and discovering a rare Georgia snowfall and dashing outside with my camera to capture the memory of it. Softly falling snow is one of the great miracles of life. :D And gathering around the fire wouldn't be half as cozy if it wasn't so freezing cold out there... right?

What are your favorite things about each season?

I'm thankful for... Crochet

2011-11-17T22:23:00.000-05:00

http://younghomemakers.blogspot.com

I really am so enjoying this challenge! It's a wonderful stretch to have to come up with one significant thing every day to be thankful for. :D

Today I am thankful for crochet. :)

While my usual favorite thing to crochet is an intricate crochet block, later to be sewn together with other blocks to create a colorfully patterned blanket (afghan), I have loved making these slippers lately.

I am thankful that my dear mother taught me how to crochet when I was 8 years old. I have since been able to crochet for fun, for giving away, and also for earning money. :) It's been lovely!

Still Thankful,

I am thankful for... Protection

2011-11-16T14:09:00.000-05:00

We are experiencing some stormy weather here in my neck of the woods today. There are tornado warnings for our area and a few minutes ago I heard the tornado sirens wailing. This kind of made my stomach do a few little flips.

But you know what? It's moments like these that make me grateful that I have a big strong God on my side. :) He is there to shelter and protect his children like me. And I am SO thankful for that.

So, have a nice day. I'm going to get a few flashlights together in case we lose power, and gather up a pillow and blanket in case we have to go into my little half-bath in the middle of the house. But I can do this without any fear in my heart, because My Father is watching over me and hears my prayers. :)

I am thankful for ... Projects!

2011-11-15T20:42:00.000-05:00

Today, I am thankful for fun and wildly creative and lovely secret projects. And graphic design. And God's word. But that's all I can tell you. :D

*HINT*
...it has something to do with the beautiful devotional blog I write for. ;)

I am thankful for ... Encouragement! :)

2011-11-14T12:00:00.000-05:00

There are some days when I stare out the window at a dripping, dreary scene of melancholy woods and wonder ... "Does anybody really care?"

Once in a while I wonder if anybody enjoys this blog but me. But then something happens that reminds me...

I have friends! I have followers who care. I have people who have been blessed by what I typed with my ten little fingers and then clicked "publish" for with my mouse!

And that is such a huge encouragement. It gives me the energy and the inspiration to keep on blogging.

And today... I have been awarded! By my oh-so-sweet and oh-so-nice fellow friend, author, and blogger... Rachelle!

Ahhhh! This award is so sweet! What a compliment...

I just wuv this little bumblybee...

The Official Blog Award Rules:

the same for both awards.

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.

(Thank you, Rachelle! You have touched my heart today.)

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Give the award to 15 other bloggers.

(ugh. That's a lot. Plus Rachelle already awarded many of my sweet friends... but I'll do it!)

So, for 7 things about Julia:

1. I cannot go anywhere now without somebody commenting on my hair, which is so long it falls to the top of my thighs.

2. I am currently in love with the Breyers' Blasts Oreo Mint ice cream.

3. I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK! Oh my goodness! Where has this year gone? It seems like life gets faster as I get older. (I'm 20 going on 21, if you must know).

4. When I swapped out my winter clothes for my summer clothes, I organized them by color, and now my walk-incloset looks like a big rainbow. ;)

5. I love mechanical pencils.

6. I wear Bath and Body Works fragrance mist almost every day, whether I'm going somewhere or not. ;)

7. I prefer warm weather to below freezing weather. 75 degrees is my favorite temperature... and when it's only 29 outside, you will find me in about 7 layers of clothing huddled in front of the woodburning stove in several blankets with a mug of steaming hot chocolate. ;)

That was fun! Now, for the bloggers I am going to award.... (I hereby jointly award all the MOHL girls along with Rachelle, by the way!! She got to it first...) :D

1. Lindsay

2. Melody

3. Lauren

4. Allison

5. Jennifer from Dear Lillie (love this blog and shop, so creative!)

6. Bailey

7. Polka Dot

8. Madison

9. Charity from Austenitis

10. Sarah T

11. Vicki

12. Disney from Ruffles & Stuff (best craft-y ideas ever!)

13. Shannon

14. Bethany

15. Laney

So, today I am thankful for Encouragement!

Don't forget to check out the 30 Days of Thankfulness challenge

at Young Homemakers! :)

This post took me a ridiculously long time to put together! Whew! :D
Have a beautiful day!

I am thankful for... Music

2011-11-13T17:09:00.000-05:00

Music!

"Seated one day at the organ,

I was weary and ill at ease,

And my fingers wandered idly

Over the noisy keys

I do not know what I was playing,

Or what I was dreaming then,

But I struck one chord of music

Like the sound of a great Amen."

- Adelaide A. Procter

~*~

Music... among the gifts that God hath sent, one of the most magnificent! - Longfellow

~*~

The man that hath no music in himself,

Nor is moved with concord of sweet sounds,

Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils.

-Shakespeare

I had a lovely day today meeting with some friends for praise and worship and a message this morning. We had a yummy lunch and some sweet fellowship.

Mama played the piano and I acted in the part of lead singer to help some of our friends learn some new songs... my head cold is lingering, so I had to be silent for a while after singing to let my voice recover. But at least I didn't croak. :D

Nope, it wasn't perfect. But it was music, and it was joyful, and it was unto the Lord. It was wonderful. I love music! I love the act of singing praises unto God.

I also love fun, bouncy music that you can play while cleaning the house - to keep your spirits up while you eradicate dust and dirt.

And I love quiet, contemplative, instrumental music to play when I'm in a thoughtful or quiet mood.

I enjoy playing celtic-style music and hymns for energizing background ambience once in a while. (Did you know I have some Irish blood flowing through my veins? I'm mostly Dutch, but the love of an Irish jig did not wholly pass me by!) ;)

Music is so expressive. With it, one can speak out joy, sadness, praise, despair, and any degree of emotion in between... without using a single word.

Today, I am thankful for music!

Don't forget to check out the rest of the 30 Days of Thankfulness
at http://younghomemakers.blogspot.com!

What is your favorite kind of music?

I am Thankful for ... Creature Comforts

2011-11-12T11:12:00.000-05:00

Today I am thankful for something I take for granted every single day.

Creature Comforts!

Electricity.

Air Conditioning.

Indoor plumbing.

Hehe. The last one is the one that sparked this post for today. This morning, one of my brothers discovered that the wellhouse was leaking water. Daddy went and checked it out and realized one of the spigots (or something?) needs a plug (or something) and called the well guys to come and fix it. So... we filled up some jugs and then he turned off the water. Then he left for a job appointment. The well guys had said they would be right out.

11:11 AM, and they still aren't here. *sigh*

Thangs jest move a leetle slow-ah arayound he-ah. ;)

But usually, we have running water + indoor plumbing + electricity + air conditioning.

And I am thankful for it! :D

Visit Rachel's blog for more info on the 30 Days of Thankfulness! :D

Thanking Him,

I am thankful for... Love

2011-11-11T09:58:00.000-05:00

Today, I am thankful for ...Love!

(And I just LOVE this picture...)

I wrote a post for Meditations of His Love that I would love for you to read. :)

To find it, click here.

Not to sound redundant, but I really would love it if you would come back and tell me what you thought of the post by leaving me a comment! :D

Find more 30 Days of Thankfulness posts at http://younghomemakers.blogspot.com !

Have a Lovely day! ;)

I'm Thankful for... Books

2011-11-10T09:57:00.000-05:00

Today I am thankful for books!

I have always loved books. I learned to read when I was 3. And I am so thankful to be able to read, as well! :D I've been reading as much as I could ever since. :)

Seriously, the thought of owning a library like ^ that one makes me drool... :D (Figuratively, of course!)

I love poring over piles of books at the thrift store... searching for hidden treasures that someone has left for me to find and claim. ;) It's the best of treasure hunts. :D

A good book, and a cup of tea... (Or in my case, some delicious fruit juice of some kind...) :) What a wonderful way to relax from the cares of the day.

I am thankful for good books! :)

Still being blessed by the 30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge! :)

What books are you reading right now? I'm working through a book of short stories by Lori Wick - not too impressive, "Voices from the Titanic" by Jim Walker - exciting, even though it's my 4th or 5th time through the book... and about to re-read "The Centurion's Wife" and "The Hidden Flame" by Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn. We found them at the thrift store. *score*! :D

Have a lovely day!

I Am Thankful For ....Peace

2011-11-09T09:48:00.000-05:00

Today I am thankful for peace.

Peace is such a wonderful thing to have in your heart. Especially instead of the reverse... turmoil, stress, uneasiness.

Peace is so special when you have it despite your circumstances! When many things around you are whirling and tossing and tumbling, having peace in the midst of it all is just amazing. :)

I wrote this post a while ago on the devotional blog, Meditations of His Love, for which I write with several other wonderful, godly girls. It's about how we have a Prince of Peace. :) I would encourage you to check it out, and I would love to hear your thoughts on it. :)

Remember, you can find the other 30 Days of Thankfulness posts at Young Homemakers! :)

Blessings,

I am Thankful...

2011-11-08T11:36:00.000-05:00

http://younghomemakers.blogspot.com

Today I am thankful for .... Thankfulness itself!

Wouldn't it be a boring life if we were never thankful for anything? Kind of like rich people with so many things that all those things seem meaningless? I am thankful for the chance to be thankful. :)

Blessings,

I'm Thankful for Forgiveness

2011-11-07T09:40:00.000-05:00

Still going on with the challenge that is blessing me every day! :)

http://younghomemakers.blogspot.com

Today I'm thankful for Forgiveness.

Without forgiveness, the world would be a bleak place full of anger and revenge. Granted, parts of it are that way... but "There's a lot of love out there, you know, man?" - sorry, that's one of our favorite quotes from a fun movie we enjoy... :D *Inside joke alert* Ahem. Anyway -

Of course, the biggest, most important, breathtaking example of forgiveness is God. He forgave our sins and sent his only begotten son (Which means the only son that he begat, or came from him...) to die on the cross for our sins. And he did die. But then he rose again on the third day, completely alive and resurrected from the dead.

And while on the cross, he forgave. He took the penalty for us and died in our place. His sacrifice even wiped out sins that had not been committed yet! Our sins that we would sin over 2,000 years later.

But there's one thing we have to do to take part in that gift that he gave us by paying the price for our transgressions.

We have to accept his forgiveness.

We have to confess with our mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and that we believe in him, and ask for his forgiveness by repenting from our sins (Repent means to do a 180 and completely turn your life around, which he helps us to do) And he already gave before we asked. So it's there, waiting for us to accept. What a wonderful thing!

And once we accept the forgiveness that God is offering, we are saved from a terribly painful and horrible eternal existence.

Then, with the Lord's help, we can become more like Jesus. We can offer our own forgiveness to others who have wronged us. And we're not doing it for them. We do it for us. You can either forgive somebody for a sin they comitted against you, or you can sin yourself by carrying around a black, stinking load of bitterness and unforgiveness in your heart.

I choose to forgive! Even though it's tough. And I am so thankful for the possibility to forgive, because I have been forgiven. :)

I am thankful for forgiveness! Are you?

I'm Thankful for God's Provision

2011-11-06T09:51:00.000-05:00

Provision.

What does that mean?

It means something has been provided, which means:

There was a provider.

God is my provider, Jehovah Jirah.

There have been tough times this year for my family and I. Seasons when we were't sure where the next payment for the bills would be coming from. The economy has made life difficult for a lot of people recently.

In fact, this morning we ate leftover pancakes.

*Amused laughter* (Actually, they were really good, and we ate them just because we didn't want to throw them away) But at least we had something to generate leftovers. We have never gone hungry, even in the leanest times.

Over and over again, God has provided for me and my family. Whenever we found an amazing deal on boxed pasta or fresh fruit (Like the most AMAZING strawberries this spring for $1.50 a pound - we didn't mind picking them ourselves!) or had a surprising amount of produce pour out from our garden, we gave Him the credit for making it happen, and thanked Him.

(I didn't take this picture but it looks EXACTLY like our fresh loaves that we bake every few days)
We have always had bread to eat, and wheat to grind to make the bread.

We always have fresh, pure water to drink. Our mountain well has never gone dry. Many people around the world do not have this blessing of clean drinking water. I do. And I am thankful for it!

What are you thankful for today?

I'm Thankful for Flowers...

2011-11-05T10:17:00.001-04:00

Day 5 of the 30 Days of Thankfulness is here! :) I'm so enjoying this challenge and coming up with different things to be thankful for every day. It makes me feel pollyannaish and delightfully happy to have so many things for which to give thanks. :)

Today I am thankful for... flowers.

I know flowers are usually associated with springtime, but lately we've seen so many pretty little wildflowers blooming at the edge of our woods! I've been keeping our vases full of them and it's been such a delight having fresh flowers in the house.

I love the smell of roses...

Gerbera daisies are some of my favorite flowers! :)

We actually have some white jonquils like these ^ pop up in our yard every spring. We found them the first year we lived here as a lovely surprise one spring morning! :) They have the most *delicious* scent.

Azaleas always remind me of the Father-Daughter retreat my Daddy took me to... we had such a lovely time. We also have some azalea bushes in the circle of our driveway that bloom a bright fuchsia every year.

Purple pansies remind me of my mom. Her favorite color is purple, and they have such an elegant sweetness about them that makes me think of her. :) Love you mommy.

And I happen to know my sweet friend Rachel loves sunflowers! :D I do too. The epitome of "Cheerfulness", they are! :D

Have a lovely day!

I'm Thankful for... My Home

2011-11-04T11:33:00.000-04:00

I'm having so much fun participating in the 30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge hosted by one of my absolute best friends on the web, Miss Rachel! :)

I'm thankful for my home.

Home. It's a word that could bring many things to your mind. Whether you have a happy home or not, there are always going to be memories and recollections associated with it. Thankfully, I have a most happy home. It's almost too good to be true - but it is. :D

My home is not just a house. A house is not automatically a home. A home requires some effort. It has to be made by somebody. It's creating a space and environment and atmosphere that is full of love, teaching, patience, training, grace, joy, and peace.

It's a full-time job, making and keeping a home. There are the practical things like cooking and cleaning, but there's the other side too. The one that is maintained valiantly with prayer, love, forgiveness, and lots of effort. :)

This is one of the reasons why I want to be a homemaker someday. :) I want to help make a home for me and my husband and our children someday. Not just a pretty, clean, well-fed house. A home.

(Oh, and aren't these cottages just darling? I would love to live in one of these someday! For vacations, at least. :D I think my eventual bouncing family of nine children might need a larger dwelling...) :D

Thanks, Lord, for my home! :)

I'm Thankful for... my Family

2011-11-03T09:43:00.002-04:00

Annnnnd welcome to day 3 of the 30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge! :) Visit HERE to see the other posts for today. ;)

Don't know how I put this one off for so long, because one of the things I am MOST thankful for in my life is......... my wonderful family.

Dad, Mama, Mark, and Steven. (I was taking the picture) :D

I just love our family. We all mesh together like a perfect puzzle with all the pieces. All of us are so different, but our personalities and special gifts and traits all complement each other beautifully.

Daddy is creative, gentle, and wise.
Mama is smart, visionary, and so amazingly supportive of us all!
Mark is analytical, clever, and honest.
Steven is so tuned in to God, sweet, and strong.
I am creative like daddy, have ideas like Mama, and am working on being the best big sister that I can. :D

("Big" being a relative term, of course...) Mark and Steven tower over me now... and this picture is almost a year old. They've grown since then. :D Not only are they great brothers, they're a pretty awesome pair of bodyguards too.... :D

I love my family, and I thank God for each one of them. :)

I'm Thankful for Good Health

2011-11-02T08:49:00.001-04:00

This is my post for day 2 of the 30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge - hop over to Rachel's blog to see the other posts for today! :)

I have been spending the past few days flat on my back. Literally. On Monday morning, I was throwing the frisbee around with my brother Mark when he threw the frisbee into the woods and I had to trek down the hill to retrieve it. My neck was cold, so I flipped my coat hood over my head as I walked downhill, flipping my ponytail over my face in the process. This made me look like some kind of monster with four feet of hair hanging in front of my face, and as I brought the frisbee back up to the driveway I hunched over, hair swinging, and extended my arms like a monster and said "Rahhhrr." to Mark, making him laugh.

I straightened back up and flipped my hair back again after the joke was over and went back to throwing the frisbee. The next pass Mark made to me was over my head, and I reached up to catch the frisbee with both hands. When I brought my arms down again, something popped in my back at the base of my neck and pain shot down my spine. Owwww. I'd thrown out my neck.

I've had this happen to me a couple of times. Usually it's after I've spent a week or so hunched over an especially demanding project like beading or crochet. (In this case, crochet) without taking enough breaks to stretch.

Anyways... I've been on my back for the past 2 days, staring up at the ceiling, wishing I was anywhere but in a prostrate position.

This has brought a fresh gratefulness that I do not have to live every day of my life like this. I have the use of my body and limbs and I'm not bound to a wheelchair or hospital bed by a disease or paralysis. I'm sure my neck/back will loosen up soon and I'll be all back to normal - in fact, I'm already starting to improve. This blog post is evidence that I was able to sit up for about 25 minutes. :D

I am so thankful for good health. I take it so much for granted the rest of the time when I'm not ill or injured. I forget to be grateful that I'm pretty much in perfect working order. This little bout of sharp twinges in my neck and shoulder has reminded me that the rest of the time... I'm healthy. And I thank God for that. :)

Looking forward to the rest of the challenge!

I'm thankful for those who "show Jesus".

2011-11-01T07:20:00.033-04:00

Welcome to day 1 of my part in the 30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge hosted by Miss Rachel! :)

This one has a story behind it. Recently I bought a new music album. I wasn't planning on it, but as soon as I listened to the previews on iTunes, I knew I had to have it. :D

The album was "One Song at a Time" by Jamie Grace. And this post is about my favorite song from the album... "Show Jesus".

And yaaaaay, I found a video of the song and lyrics on YouTube! You really must watch it, it brings a smile to my face every time I listen to it! :)
And wow. Do I ever wish somebody would write a song like this inspired by me someday. I want it to be 'written all over' my face, the way I love Jesus.

I am so thankful for the people in my life who 'show Jesus' in everything they do. You can just "tell". They know him. It's in the way they look, what they say, and what they do. It is so special, and so rare.

The world is watching, my fellow Christians. What will we show them?

Announcing 30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge

2011-10-31T07:02:00.002-04:00

My very sweet friend Rachel, the girl who can always make me smile, the one who inspires me with her continuous attitude of gratitude, is hosting a challenge called "Thirty Days of Thankfulness"!

I thought it was a brilliant idea. So I'm joining! Every day in November I'm going to be posting about something that I'm thankful for.

If you'd like to join in the fun, (and I promise you, it's going to be fun!) head over to the challenge post to read more about it. :)

See you tomorrow on Day 1!

Leaf-ing ;)

2011-10-27T22:25:00.000-04:00

Hey Ya'll! I'm going on a weekend trip up to North Georgia and leaving tomorrow, and I'll be unplugged for the weekend. :D I'll miss everybody's posts... I'm going to have to catch up when I get back! :)

I'm hoping to find a few little treasures to take home in the quaint little tourist shops, and come home with shots of the fall colors that should be farther ahead up there than our woods down here. :)

In the meantime, here's what I've seen roundabouts lately...

(and if you steal my photos without asking, be warned, I will hunt. you. down. Grr. So don't do it.) ;) I did not have time to edit these or add a watermark, so don't anybody take them, please!

Love the oranges and yellows together with that hint of red... (this tree has since turned candy-apple sports car red.) Must take more pics soon!

The rope around the base of the tree in this pic is one end of the clothesline. :D Yes, sometimes we hang our laundry on the line just for the fun of it. :D

The sky has been so brightly blue lately! I think it's due to the clear Autumn atmosphere. :D

In the next few shots, I was playing with the view of the setting sun through the leaves, and trying for a hint of bokeh whenever possible. :D

Yum. Yum. Love the colors in the above shot... (and this is unedited!!)

Have a great weekend, everybody! I'll see you when we get back. :D

Of Giveaways, and Gray Slippers, and Great Ideas...

2011-10-23T11:17:00.001-04:00

Top o' the mornin' to ye! :)

Well, don't know about you, but it's gotten pretty chilly in my neck of the woods! Whew! Time to unpack my winter clothes... and put away some of my beloved t-shirts and capris and bermuda shorts! There's just something nostalgic about finding soft, cozy sweaters and becoming acquainted with the other half of your wardrobe all over again... :D

And I'm trying not to dread those mid-winter months when I just get so tired of wearing knee socks and long johns... sigh! ;) But spring always comes again. A cheery thought. :)

For now, though, it's still Autumn, and the many oak trees around my log home are dropping a bountiful harvest for squirrel and interior decorator alike! :D I picked up some acorns just for the fun of it, and was wondering what to actually 'do' with them, when I found this stellar idea:

See? See the jar at the bottom of the picture? It's filled with acorns and tiny pinecones! How CUTE! We have some old mason jars just like that! *bingo*. :D I just LOVE the amazing interior decor photos on this blog, it's so creative and artsy it almost makes me want to do handsprings...

And then for something I've been working on:

(this is not my main crochet project, just something I tried in between working on that) :) I found this slipper pattern and thought "Oh! I want to make those!" So I tried it... I made myself a little slipper in shades of gray, and even crocheted a little flower to go on top... I haven't taken any pictures of it yet, but I thought I'd tell you about it anyway. It looks just like these... (only cuter.) ;)

The pattern for these sweet slippers can be purchased on Etsy here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/62872279/crochet-slipper-pattern-oma-house?ref=em

That's where I bought it! :D

And it was only $5. I mean, come on, that's a pretty great deal! :D

And how cute is this branch decorated with little crocheted leaves! An adorable way to use up your leftover yarn bits! :D The free pattern for this project and several other charming ideas can be found here: http://easymakesmehappy.blogspot.com/2010/03/page-under-construction-crochet.html
I want to try making one of these in burnt oranges, crisp reds, and golden yellows... :D

And lastly, a giveaway for a cute Sense and Sensibility e-Pattern for a "Tea Gown" can be found HERE.

Very pretty, don't you think?

Have a lovely week!

Random Odds & Ends

2011-10-20T21:52:00.000-04:00

Hi Blog readers!

I felt like writing you a note tonight, and this is it! :D

First item of interest in my list of things to impart/confess/relate: TOMORROW is the day when we will be going to the End of Ultimate Frisbee Season Party! First, we meet at the T family's home for a dinner of delicious chicken from (where else?) Chick-Fil-A. Then we'll head over to the field and play frisbee like wild things (I've been exercising and getting in shape all week, so Bring It ON!) :D I'll let you know how the game goes. :)

Second item of interest:
My facebook account is no more. My family and I decided that FB wasn't something we wanted to be involved in, but we gave it our best shot and I'm glad we at least looked into the possibility. I enjoyed a brief glimpse into the lives of some friends I hadn't heard from since I was a little kid. I will definitely miss the closer contact I had with the lovely girls of like mind from the Meditations of His Love blog, but I still have several other ways to keep in touch with them. Some of the stuff I saw on Facebook was, to be candid, disturbing. It's like an alternate world, facebook... and people feel emboldened to post all sorts of foolish, ill-judged things that ordinarily they would not say in real life. Not to mention how much TIME I was wasting on there! :D So, for several reasons, I will not miss you, Facebook.

Third item of interest:
I have some super blog posts planned for you! One is about burned bread, (trust me, you'll love it) one will be stuffed with pictures I snapped of the pretty fall leaves changing their hues outside my home, and one will showcase photos of an intricate crochet project that has been occupying me for some time. :)

I've also got plans for some way awesome blog backgrounds for you, and will be releasing some in the very near future!

So, till then, I am, yours truly,

The Dangers of Mr. Darcy

2011-10-16T22:08:00.000-04:00

That must be one of my most intriguing blog post titles. :D I'm sure you're curious about what could possibly be dangerous about Mr. Darcy, the most popular hero of all the popular Jane Austen novels.

First things first! :)

Mr. Darcy, when we first meet him in the book... or in either of the two newest movie adaptations... is proud. With rather good reason... he comes from one of the oldest families in England and owns "half of Derbyshire". He's incredibly wealthy.

He's also handsome. And tall. With an inscrutable air of mystery about him.

And then he meets this girl... Elizabeth Bennett.

She's witty, and captivating, and beautiful. Three things that we all like to imagine ourselves to be.

Mr. Darcy's heart is softened. He falls head over well-shod heels in love with this girl, Lizzy, who comes from a rather ordinary background. Just observe the look of tender adoration in his eyes in the picture above!

They eventually marry, and live happily forever after.

So what's wrong with that? What could possibly be so terrible about a wholesome story like this?

Nothing. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this story. I actually enjoy it very much myself and own both a copy of the book and 2 different "Pride and Prejudice"movies.

Herein lies the danger, my sweet friends:

One word - Obsession.

I've done it too! Before you start to think that I'm pointing fingers, let me say I am as guilty of imagining how wonderful it would be like to marry a man like Mr. Darcy as the next girl. :D

What is wrong with this whole situation is.... when we young ladies begin to absorb ourselves in imaginary worlds of fantasizing about now-perfect heroes, we lose sight of reality. (Now-perfect being even better than perfect, because he has learned his lesson and now will never fail us again) And therefore, when reality smacks us in the face as we blindly run into it while in some daydream about tall, dark, and handsome (RICH) men, we quickly grow discontent.

Girls, real guys are not like Mr. Darcy.

Real guys are not rich. They do not live in perfect mansions with millions of dollars in the bank and servants at their beck and call to banish every miniscule need. Most guys are not wealthy. The style of life which you would be accustomed to would not include your own maids.

This means... you have to do the cooking. And cleaning. And laundry. And when blessed with the incredible joy of children, diaper-changing, feeding, bathing, and all the many tasks that come with raising another little human. It's hard! There's a lot of work to be done! We won't be ladies of leisure if we marry "real" guys.

Real guys are not always "Cuuuuute!" or "Dreamy" or whatever word you wish to describe male perfection. Some of them are, yeah. The models and actors in all the movies and magazines are. But they have a team of makeup artists. And photo-editors that airbrush out all the blemishes and pump up the muscles.

Real guys are just that... real. They have faults. They have flaws. But guess what? So do we! Do any of us girls look like Elizabeth Bennett 24-7, all the time? Maybe some of us look 'as good' as her, when we're all dressed up with our makeup on. But we're not perfect. We have flaws and problems.

Real guys might have a crooked nose. Or a mole on their face. Or they might not be what one could call "handsome" at all. But you know what? If you marry a godly, sweet guy who treats you well and happens to have crooked teeth instead of the stuck-up, unchristian jerk with bulging muscles, you'll end up happier in the long run.

So ladies, don't measure the guys in your life against Mr. Darcy. Don't get caught up in fantasizing and daydreaming about characters in your romance novels, and don't expect the real men to act like fictional products of imagination.

Okay! Sermonette over. Now let's go watch a period drama... :D

A Man that Chose God

2011-10-07T11:52:00.000-04:00

What do you do when there's a huge fork in the road? You can't keep going straight, it's impossible. You have to turn to the right or to the left. You have to make a choice.

I just wrote a blog post over at Meditations of His Love that I think you should go read. Please come back and tell me what you thought of it! :) I am always eager to hear your comments.

And DO NOT WORRY, my dear, sweet readers, just because I happened to get a facebook page does NOT mean I will stop blogging here. On the contrary! I will be blogging just as much as I ever have. So never fear, I'll still be here! :)

What are you all planning to do this weekend? I'd love to hear about it. We are hoping to have an Ultimate Frisbee game near our house, for a change, instead of driving an hour away this week. :)

Finally NOT Wordless... on Wednesday

2011-09-28T10:33:00.000-04:00

Yes, my poor, beloved, neglected blog readers! THIS is the dread reason I have not posted for a week and two days! I got a Facebook.

Wow, what an experience! I found so many long-lost acquaintances (including the girl I grew up living across the street from) that it fairly made my head spin! And there's always so much happening. People are way more current with their FB pages than their blogs.

I promise I will not desert you all for so long again. I still plan to blog as often as I can ... there's something so much classier and personal about a blog post than a one-liner Facebook status update.

Oh, and please don't bother looking for me on Facebook unless you know me in person. I'm not friending anybody I don't know in real life. Sorry. :(

A wonderful thing is that all the other MOHL authors were already on Facebook! So now we're all on Facebook together! We even have an inside joke.

^That's the inside joke. But I can't tell you any more about it... because then it would be an "outside" joke! Lol!

As for what else I've been up to besides Facebook... I've been cleaning the house! But that's boring. So I won't go into detail about how my fab housecleaning skills are improving.

I've gone to Ultimate Frisbee Friday and then played the game again the next day at Bible Study... wow. I have not been so stiff and sore for a really long time. Not doing that again any time soon. :D

I've also been.... designing! Blog headers! For friends and family. :) Take a look-see!

My mom's yummy new header. Ah! I love this one!!!!!

My sweet friend Allison's new header... so cute/vintage/country! It fits her lovely personality. :D

Our good friend "Frisbeeman"-s header! I was really happy with how this came out.

So. Life has been fun and full and rich for me the past week! And we've even had some rain fall on our parched ground... thanks be to God! I'm secretly hoping for gorgeous Autumn colors this fall, and the changing leaves are their prettiest when there's been plenty of previous rain.

Have a lovely week!

It Was a Great Success!

2011-09-19T22:27:00.001-04:00

A heartfelt "Thank You!" to all of you who actually and sincerely said a prayer for our Yard Sale! It was an immense success and we sold lots and lots of our junk (A-HEM,) I mean, extra and unwanted items. :D We had almost nothing left at the end of the sale... and lots of cash rustling and clinking in our pockets. :D Hurray! God is SoooooOOOOOO good.
Just so you have some small clue as to how much we actually got rid of, here are some pictures!

Yup. Too much stuff. :) We had mostly clothes but lots of other things as well. And I added two stands of my handmade earrings to the array of available things to buy. We had a huge rack of clothes hanging along one whole wall of the carport and by the end of the garage sale it was almost EMPTY! Whew!

We cut some pretty great bargains for people and met some very interesting folks. ;)
I think I've heard enough twangy southern accents to last me for a while! :D Lol!

Our poor gravel driveway got all torn up with people trying to drive the wrong way up the hill in light little trucks or back out the wrong way with huge suburbans... *cringe* But everybody was ok and nothing too terrible happened that can't be fixed with a little raking smooth again. :D

I was surprised that my Meow-Chi toys sold! :D Nobody knew what they were... I had to explain several times to clueless shoppers what the little robotic cats actually 'did'. They sing and dance and meow in cute robotic tones, people. How hard is that to understand? Haha!

In this picture you can see how tightly packed the clothes were on this rack (Later they looked a lot better because I color-coordinated them) ;) At the end of the sale we only had about 20 things hanging on it instead of the however many we started with! Yay! :)

We only had about 30 books or so but they all sold, even some old, dusty, piano music books!

All my Bath & Body Works perfume sold, thanks in part to the help of my sweet Mennonite friends. And most of the nail polish was bought. I was astonished! :)

Well, I hope you have a wonderful week! If you have nothing to do... you could go on over and see the newest batch of backgrounds at "I Love it!" Blog Designs. :D I love hearing which are your favorites!
Blessings,

Gettin' Ready

2011-09-15T22:32:00.001-04:00

Hey Ya'll!

This is a notice that all my blogging will be put on hold indefinitely (HAH, just kidding... not indefinitely) ;) ... until our YARD SALE is done on Saturday afternoon.

Hey, if you know our family in real life and are going to be in the area tomorrow (Friday the 16th) or Saturday (the 17th) come on over! We'd love to see you, and we'd love it even more if you leave with some of our stuff in hand. Lol!

Really though, we have TONS of AWESOME stuff. I'll post pictures of it all later so that you people who can't come won't miss out on the beauteous sight! :D I'm selling high-quality handmade earrings for only $1.00 a pair (a rare occurence!) And I'm also parting with many lovely treasures (including a really big wooden dollhouse...) that someone surely will be delighted to discover! :D

I'm afraid some of us who will *cough* remain unnamed *cough*-parents-*cough* have caught "Get-ridda-it" fever and have frenetically turned the house upside down, searching for any loose objects they can find to sell with a manaical gleam in their eye. I've tried to rescue a few things from this frenzied pilfering but with little success. Do you think we all have a little pack-rat inside us somewhere? I think I must. ;)

The reason I have not posted at all on here this week is because we've been running around like ... well, never mind what like... we've been extremely busy this week sorting out lots of things that we no longer want, that OTHER people will hopefully want and pay for with cold hard cash! (Every little bit helps, and the electric bill isn't getting any prettier any time soon!) :D lol! That's why I've been so scarce in bloggy-land.

Ok, I must run for now. The shower is now open and we have a BIG day tomorrow!

Please Pray for a successful sale for us! Your prayers are very much appreciated. :)

Blessings,

P.S. What do you think of my absolutely gorgeous new blog makeover? I did it all myself and I'm thrilled top to bottom with how it came out!! :) Want a new background yourself? Click Here.

Being Green

2011-09-09T07:26:00.000-04:00

"It's not easy being green......" or so Kermit the frog says. But according to this little guy....

Being green is pretty easy and laid-back. :)

Daddy found him out in the garden sunning himself on a green bell pepper that coordinated ever so nicely with his reptillian skin. He told me about the little lizard and suggested I get out my camera and take his picture. So I followed Daddy out to the garden on the cool September morning and snapped a few shots of the charming little fellow, who looked oh-so-relaxed lying in the sun on a nice warm vegetable.

"Who is that crazy girl taking pictures of me as I sunbathe?"

"Ah, well, I suppose she's harmless, after all."

"...might as well get back to my *yawn* - nap."

Isn't he cute?

WINNERS of my jewelry giveaway!

2011-09-08T10:42:00.000-04:00

Congratulations are in order, for we have five lovely ladies who have each won a pair of earrings! Hurray! :)

I used Random.org to generate the winners fair and square and completely at random. :)

So, without further ado-

Pair #1, Brown Tigereye, has been won by..... Kristen, with comment #6!
Pair #2, Amethyst, crystals, and silver, has been won by..... Miss Lizzy, with comment #60!
Pair #3, Clear Lampwork and crystal, has been won by..... Stephanie, with comment #20!

Pair #4, Aqua 3-dangles, has been won by..... Madison, with comment #43!
Pair #5, Red glass beads and crystal, has been won by..... Katelyn S, with comment # 27!

*applause* Congratulations, girls!

You have until next month (October 1st, 2011) to comment on this post with your mailing address so I can ship you your pretty earrings! Comment moderation is enabled and I will not publish the comments with your addresses.
If you don't get back to me with your address by then I'll have to draw another winner, and we don't want that to happen, do we?? :D

I'm very thankful for all the interest stirred up by the giveaway for my new FREE blog backgrounds website! :) Thanks to all the people who entered! :)

Last Day to Enter my Earring Giveaway!

2011-09-07T12:22:00.000-04:00

I'll be randomly drawing FIVE winners tomorrow morning, September 8th, for these five lovely pairs of earrings. You could be one of them (a winner, not a pair of earrings... lol) if you enter today! :D

(need your memory refreshed? They look like this:)

Also of note is the little fact that...

I'm giving away a freebie this week!

Yup! It's free! A sweet little ebook on how to create a GORGEOUS pearl and ribbon necklace with two styles shown. It's actually a little piece of the full book "How To Create Noticeably Noteworthy Necklaces" that I wrote.

CLICK HERE to find it! It's on the front page of my website, JewelsbyJuliashop.com. Be sure to save it to your computer because it will only be there through Saturday the 10th.

Annnnnd.....
"SALE! Julia is offering 20% off all her ebooks until 9/10/11. Use the coupon code HSFREE11 to get the discount!"

So... if you've been hankering to purchase one of my books, now is definitely the time to do it! :)

Just thought I'd give ya'll a little heads-up! Oh... and I just posted a fresh batch of FREE blog backgrounds on my design blog. Chocolatey ones. ;)

So, I think that's enough free goodies for now to keep you busy! :D Come back tomorrow to find out who won the five pairs of earrings!

A segment from my (interesting?) life

2011-09-06T19:31:00.000-04:00

I mentioned a short while ago that I could hardly wait for the first 'crisp' feel in the air... a sign that Autumn has arrived. Well, it was here today, but I think it felt more 'sharp' than crisp! It was 50 degrees when I woke up this morning. And for someone used to the stifling upper 80's and 90's it was definitely a surprise! ;)

Apparently tropical storm (hurricane?) Lee was to blame for the nice wet front of rain that washed across the southeast yesterday and today. The only trouble with it was that yesterday we attended a Labor-day get-together at a friends' farm and we were outside or under carports or gazebos for most of the day. :D I felt damp all day long! :) Of course, that was partly due from perspiration... as we played Ultimate Frisbee and also threw the frisbee around in a circle for a good part of the day. I *love* frisbee. :D We had a great time even though we did get a little wet. ;)

Today I had the chance to get back to my laptop and do a little graphic design! :) I made some new blog backgrounds that I plan to release shortly (hint.... raspberry. And teal. Yeahhh.) and I whipped up a couple headers to go with backgrounds I'd already made.

Here's one of them - it matches two backgrounds, the ones called Brownie Points and Pink Brownie Points. :) (they're in this post)

Click Here to see more! :)

(I have 3 made so far, and WAY more are coming soon)

I also finally got to making a custom blog header for one of my sweet friends, Sarah, and it looks great with the background she picked from the Jane Austen series! :)

Also, I don't think I've told you about the FALL backgrounds I made! :D But I won't wax lyrical about them. You'll have to actually click here and go see them yourself. Now which one do I want to use??
O_O! Decisions, decisions.....

A sad note in my otherwise joyfully harmonic life... I learned this morning that one of my favorite DJ's on my favorite Christian radio station has passed away after a long battle with cancer. :( I cried. (I still get tears in my eyes when I think about it, actually...) She was such a sweet lady and her voice has cheered me up many a morning. I almost got to meet her once at a craft fair where I was running a booth for my jewelry and she was going to be there at a booth for the radio station, but when I was there I had to stay with my booth and wait on customers and never got to go over to the radio station's booth. Now I guess I'll have to wait until we meet again in heaven.

Just another reminder that this is not our home, and that we should never take any of our days here for granted. Or any of the people in our lives, for that matter, because none of us know the day or the hour when we might be called home.

Well, I hope you all have a beautiful week! I'm off for a family movie night.

Living Life and Loving it! (and Jane Austen blog backgrounds!)

2011-08-31T17:23:00.000-04:00

Whoops, that blog title was too long... ;) But I wanted to give you some idea what this post was about! :D

Firstly - I just posted some beautiful new FREE blog backgrounds yesterday on my design blog that are Jane Austen-themed! You really have to go check them out.

Here's a sneak peek of a few of them...

Georgiana

A Word, A Look

Oh, a Cottage! How Very Snug

As for other news... I think I'm all over my cold, hurrah! ;) Although I've still been designing blog backgrounds like mad. :D I have over 200 of them that still have to be released. *goggle-eyes* I'm really excited about the "Fall" ones I just made. Those will be appearing next Monday, and I have some really unusual ones scheduled for this Friday before that. :D

I promise I won't be turning this blog into a "Go look at my free backgrounds" platform! I'm just so excited about them right now and it's fun having something to actually show to you all. :)

Life has been good these past few days... today we made snickerdoodles (*YUMM*) of which I ate far too many, and we plan on going grocery shopping tomorrow, and we have some fun plans for Labor Day weekend! :)

Speaking of 'showing you' things....

Awn't dey dust duh cuuuuuutest widdle fwuff-baws you evva did see? ;)

These pictures were taken on their first day at our home... they arrived already one day old last Friday.

And we are keeping them all snug and secure in a little brooder box with plenty of food and water.

I hesitate to tell you their purpose.

They're going to be our 'meat chickens' and will be processed and put in the freezer when they're ten weeks old. :( I'm trying not to get too attached to them!

*evades the looks of utter horror and neatly ducks flying missiles, making good her escape*

New FREE blog backgrounds + Just Me and My Little Life

2011-08-29T10:52:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! Listen up! I just posted a new batch of FREE blog backgrounds to "I Love it!" Blog Designs! This week's theme is ..... pink!

Here are my three personal faves out of the series:

Cappucinno

Chandelier Chic

And...

She's Stunning

You'll make my day if you drop by and leave a comment letting me know if you like them. :D

As for me and my little life...

I've been sick! Yuck. I detest being ill. I had a head cold and sniffles and the beginnings of a sore throat... which I quickly doctored by gargling Listerine (uggggh, I hate the stuff!) ... so thankfully my throat escaped without much trouble. I'm afraid I used up almost a whole box of tissues blowing my nose, though!

The worst part about it was that it hit me just a couple of days before we were supposed to attend the graduation party of a very good friend of ours, and I was so worried that I would miss the Ultimate Frisbee game! Blessedly, I was able to play anyway... I just made myself walk instead of run! :) We had a wonderful time at the get-together and it was so inspiring to hear the speech given by the graduate's dad, about how proud he was of his son.

The best part about being sick was that I could still design blog backgrounds. My mind and creativity were unshackled, despite my body being under the weather! I made tons of blog backgrounds and have as many ready to go as are currently on the blog! :D

And today we started the week by going down the hill and picking the ripe muscadine grapes growing on our property. Unfortunately, there are a lot less than last year, we think due to the extreme drought. There are some, though, and I am determined to harvest as many as possible so we can make our delicious grape jelly! :)

Well, I hope you all have a lovely week... and don't forget, there's still time to enter my giveaway! (see the post below!)

Giveaway to Announce "I Love it!" Blog Designs

2011-08-24T11:35:00.001-04:00

It's been too long since I had a giveaway! :D And I have an especially exciting reason to have one now... because I've started a new website for FREE blog backgrounds, and I want to get the word out!
Announcing... "I Love it!" Blog Designs!

http://iloveitblogdesigns.blogspot.com

I'm so happy about this new endeavor. I've wanted to design my own blog backgrounds for a very long time now, and could never quite figure it out. Well, I determined the other day that I was finally going to conquer the obstacles in my path and DO it.

So I did! :D

Oh, yes, the giveaway. Right. Here's the information! :D

I am giving away not one, not two, but FIVE pairs of beautiful earrings, handmade by yours truly. :)

(Sorry, no, the photography props - i.e. the cute teacups - are not included) ;)

There will be FIVE winners in this giveaway, who win one pair of earrings each.

The earrings include:

Pair #1 - Brown Tigereye (a semi-precious stone) with silver
Pair #2 - Amethyst (a semi-precious stone) with Swarovski Crystals and silver
Pair #3 - Clear lampwork glass beads with frosty centers and Swarovski Crystals

Pair #4 - Aqua glass beads, 3-dangle style
Pair #5 - Red Czech Crystal-cut glass beads with Swarovski Crystals and silver

All the earrings are made with sterling-silver-plated surgical steel French hooks, great for sensitive ears and nickel-free. (Each pair could be changed to clip-ons upon request, but you have to specify it in your entries.)

Close-ups for your convenience...

(*happy sigh* I am SO glad to have my camera back) ;)

Allrighty! Now that I've got you drooling over the gorgeous jewelry, here are the rules on how to enter this giveaway:

(Note: You MUST leave a SEPARATE comment for EACH entry. Thank you!)

Mandatory:

You must be a follower of Julia's Journal to enter
You must start following "I Love it" Blog Designs to enter

(each of the above counts for an entry)

Optional:
(for one additional entry each...)

Add an "I Love it!" Blog Designs background to your blog
Visit "I Love it!" Blog Designs, come back to THIS POST, and comment about your favorite blog background
Add the "I Love it!" blog button to your blog's sidebar (see below)

And for

FIVE ADDITIONAL ENTRIES,

Post about the new "I Love it!" Blog Designs site on your blog.

(Remember to comment five times, once for each additional entry, if you do this, with a link to the blog post so I can come check it out.)

So if you did everything you could to enter, it adds up to a total of TEN entries. Pretty good chances! :D

This giveaway will run for two weeks and end on Wednesday, September 7th, 2011. Five winners will be randomly drawn and announced shortly afterwards. :)

Happy entering!

I wrote something I'd like you to read...

2011-08-19T18:29:00.000-04:00

Isaiah 58:11… And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought… …and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

I just posted my part of the current topic we're writing about on Meditations of His Love.... the title of the post is "Our Prince of Peace". I'd love it if you hopped on over and took a look at the post... and you get double brownie points if you come back here to Julia's Journal and leave me a comment telling me what you thought. :D

Tomorrow my family and I head up to Bible Study, where an intense game of Ultimate Frisbee, a cool, refreshing dip in a lovely swimming pool, a delicious and varied potluck meal, and a thought-provoking study of Nehemiah 5 are on the menu. What are you doing on your Saturday?

Have a beautiful weekend!

But tell me...

2011-08-17T09:00:00.001-04:00

I've been pondering something lately. It might seem like a simple thing, or something that can be quietly put to the side once in a while... but we just can't do that. Our very character is compromised when we don't have Truth coming from our lips.

{I designed this image with wordart from summertimedesigns, and if you take it without asking I will not appreciate it} ;)

"...Tell me I'm perfect... but tell me the truth." I love this.

It is so important to speak the truth instead of lies, error, and falsehoods...

...Or even flattery!

There's an expression used here in the South for when someone is just spewing empty words of praise without really meaning it. It's called "Sloppin' Sugar".

I despise it! I would rather someone told me right up front what they really think (as long as they did it in a Christ-like manner) than have somebody 'cozy up' to me and say things that sound nice, but are not true.

It is so sweet to know people who speak the truth. You always know what their true feelings are - they are honest, frank, and open. They are not without tact, and do not speak bluntly or unkindly, but they are not afraid to tell you their honest opinion. I want to be one of those people.

Jesus did not sugar-coat the truth with flattery, and I know he never told a lie.

From John 14:6 - Jesus speaking:
I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.Jesus was truth. But he spoke the truth with love. As we should also.

Ephesians 4:14 & 15: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

(15) But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.

We should never speak harshly or unkindly, and we need to be careful that our opinions and beliefs line up with the Word of God. And we can never force our convictions on other people - they will have to make the decision for themselves whether they believe something or not. But we need to be forthright and honest, and speak what we know to be the truth.

With a heart overflowing with gratitude for the loved ones in my life I can trust to speak the truth, and the book I can always turn to when I need to know the truth, I wish you a blessed rest of the week!

Friends are the Flowers in the Garden of Life

2011-08-15T08:45:00.001-04:00

Friendship Quotes

~*~

"There is an exquisite melody in every heart. If we listen closely, we can hear each other's song. A friend knows the song in your heart and responds with beautiful harmony."
"True friendship is sitting together in silence and feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had."

"A real friend will tell you when you have spinach stuck in your teeth."

"Make new friends and keep the old, one is silver, the other, gold"

"A real, true friend is a person who knows all about you, and still likes you anyway."

~*~

I have been so blessed to make several new friends in the past few months, and the best part of all is that they only live five minutes away from me! *gasp*! For this girl, that's an amazing thing, because most of my friends live at least an hour away (... and some live on the other side of the country...).

Last Saturday I had the immense pleasure of having three dear friends over for a day of blog makeover-ing, crochet, impromptu tea-party-ing, and just plain fun! :)

If you bloggers would kindly go and visit Written Down Big, you'll be able to see the blog makeover we did. I designed a header for my sweet friend Vicki to go with a background she found at ShabbyBlogs.com. (and a blog button is in the works, too!) :)

Oh all right, here's a sneak preview:

And here are my oh-so-fun, sweet friends that came over, (from left to right) Ruth Ann, Vicki, and Kelly.

These pictures were taken on a shopping trip that I never got around to posting about. We had a blast and found some super-awesome bargains.

Kelly and Me...

I was able to show my dear friend Kelly some of the basics of crochet when she came over with her sisters, which was so much fun! I'm looking forward to seeing her progress as she improves her skill... ;)

One of the highlights of the aforementioned trip was eating lunch at a little (TINY!) mexican place and getting absolutely enormous (HUGE) plates of food....

And of course getting hopelessly lost looking for the Goodwill on the other side of town, and traveling on gravel road through the middle of nowhere, blindly trusting the GPS device to somehow take us to where we wanted to go, and finding this little church with a sign that said:

We. Cracked. Up. :D

I am so exquisitely happy to have met these sweet friends, and I thank God for crossing our paths so that we could get to know each other. They happen to be Mennonite, and I'm not, but you know what? It doesn't matter the least little bit! We have so much in common once you look deeper into who we are as people. More in common than otherwise, actually! I'm so glad we can look past each others' few differences. And there's never a dull moment, either. :D

One last quote:

"A friend is one who strengthens you with prayers, blesses you with love and encourages you with hope."
I hope this post has reminded you of some friends in your own life that make you smile when you think of them. If not, don't be afraid to reach out and make new friends.

Have a wonderful week!

Of Toes, and Text, and Torpedoes...

2011-08-13T13:38:00.000-04:00

... Just some random ramblings in a quiet moment or two of my Saturday. :D

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a lovely weekend. :)

Yesterday, my family and I took some friends up to play Ultimate Frisbee and we had a blast! My brother Mark and I ended up being on the team that won all three games of the tournament-style playing we did... I was happy. :D

The thrill of victory was only slightly dampened when I took off my sneaker and realized I'd cracked my big toenail on my right foot in half. *GAH!* I've never done this before! During the game my toe felt a little sore inside my shoe, and yeah, that was why. My foot slid forward inside my sneaker and crunched against the front of the shoe, cracking the toenail. Ugh.
And I'd just painted them with a really cute french manicure earlier in the day! (Which adds insult to my injury!) :P I decided to spare ya'll the sight and no pictures will be forthcoming. But feel free to commiserate with my woe. ;)

{insert picture of cool vintage typewriter to go with next part of post}

To be totally random, I've been thinking lately about the difference between the written word and spoken speech. Doesn't it strike you as odd when you talk to someone in person and they come across as rather well-informed, articulate, and well-spoken... and then you start emailing them or read their blog, all they say is "Lol, ya, i no, U 2, ttyl" ?? Or something of the sort?

I like to imagine that I'm articulate in text form as well as in person. :D

On the flip side - I've known a couple people who are terse and uncommunicative in person, but in online/text format, they sound intelligent and witty and all their words just flow together! It's odd.

As for the "Torpedos" part of my title, I've been reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne again, as it's been a few years since I read it the first time. The Nautilus sounds *so cool*. Wouldn't you just love a chance to actually explore it in real life? Or even travel in it? Regular submarines sound so boring compared to all the intricacies of this fictional underwater craft. I mean, the Nautilus is furnished with paintings on the walls and luxurious decor, except in Captain Nemo's cabin, which was apparently very Spartan in taste. Plus the walls on either side of the 'drawing room' slide open to reveal huge glass panes through which you can observe the incredible undersea view.
And did you know "Nemo" is Latin for "Nobody"? Fascinating.

The book is always better than the movie, and in this case it's especially so. I'd recommend reading it rather than watching the movie.

Until next time,

Choose an Identity

2011-08-10T08:00:00.023-04:00

Have you ever had one of those moments when something catches your eye... and you feel a little jolt as an unexpected thought enters your mind... and you realize it was God speaking?

That happened to me just the other day. I was leaving a comment somewhere and entering text into the comment box for the thousandth time, when something jumped out at me.

(See it? ^ Right there!)

...Choose An Identity.

Do you see those words up there in the blogger comment form picture? Choose an identity. Woah.

Immediately, I was reminded of this piece of scripture:

Choose you this day whom ye will serve.

Because, if you think about it - whoever you're serving is who you're identifying yourself with. When you completely align yourself with someone and decide to serve them, they become part of, if not all of, your identity.

If that sounds strange, it's not. We all serve somebody or something. Our selves, or our families, or our spouse, or our boss, or.......... God.

I knew that it the phrase I was thinking of, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve", was scripture, but like a lot of bits and pieces of scripture I have memorized... I didn't know where in the Bible it was. So I opened up my handy e-sword program on my laptop and searched for it in my electric King James Bible.

And found it.

It's from the book of Joshua. Chapter 24, verse 15. But the verse makes a lot more sense if you read the scripture around it and realize the context.

So here it is, unabridged - Joshua 24:14-18.

{Background: This is the last chapter of Joshua, a book chronicling the amazing story of the Hebrews' escape from the terrible slavery in Egypt, and all the things God had done for them in order to provide a way for them to leave. Joshua is speaking to the people. }
(14) Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

(15) And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
(16) And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
(17) For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:

(18) And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.

*chills running up and down my arms* Wow.

WHO do I serve? Myself? I need to be serving God. And I especially do NOT need to be serving Satan.

"Woah-ho-ho", you might sputter, "wait a minute! You seem like a nice Christian young lady. Serving Satan? I mean, come on, isn't that a little ... dramatic?"

No. It isn't.

Every time an unkind remark proceeds out of my mouth and causes a disagreement, an argument, or even World War III, every time I shirk my God-given duties as a daughter and a sister, every time I turn away from doing something I know is right, and every time I do something I know is wrong and the Bible says is a sin... I am serving the enemy.

I wholeheartedly desire to serve my Lord and God. Sometimes I don't put my full efforts into living for Him, and at best act halfheartedly. But He desires (and deserves) my whole heart. So I'm giving it to Him.

Join me. Let's band together and serve the Most High God with every fiber of our beings, and choose an identity in Him.

Rapunzel's Resource

2011-08-08T22:15:00.000-04:00

Calling all fellow hair enthusiasts!

Do you have long hair? (I certainly do!) Do you have trouble doing things with it? I mean, there's only so much you can do with long, straight, boring hair, right? Should you cut it off and donate it to a worthy wig-making cause to relieve the boredom? No.... (Although I have nothing against Locks of Love, etc.) However, I think what I'm about to share will fill you with a desire to grow your hair out as long as possible.

In-tro-ducing......... *drumroll please* .......

Rapunzel's Resource! (http://rapunzelsresource.wordpress.com)

This Blog is absolutely brimming with hairstyles and tutorials for beautiful things to do with your long hair. I was blown away when I found it - I've been needing this for practically my whole life.

The Style Index shows the incredibly vast array of styles for which the very talented Elizabeth offers tutorials and videos.

This is the "Double Bun", folded twist variation. So beautiful! I hope she'll forgive me for borrowing this picture to illustrate the post...

Here are links to my favorite styles: (the ones I want to 'work up' to!) ;)

Authentic 18th Century Style - Oh wow! This is an amazing work of art! Elizabeth wore this when acting the part of Patsy Washington, one of George Washington's daughters.

Curly Formal Updo - Now, where could I wear this? Somebody invite me to a ball, please! :D

Curl Recycle - (at the bottom of the page) I'd need to learn how to do pin curls first to try this, but I'd love to get my hair in ringlets like this style!

Elizabeth even has some clever styles that make it appear you have shorter hair, without cutting off an inch, for very cute effects! I want to try:

Faux Short 1940's Swing Style and the Faux Short Ponytail - love these!

And to enhance the texture, there are tutorials and a video on setting your hair into the most gorgeous curls and waves, with bandanas! (I actually did try this - last night - but I think my hair was too dry, the curls didn't set that well... I think I'm going to use gel next time, as Elizabeth says you can try).

Here are things I've tried so far:

French Twist for long hair - I tried this because it was the most recent post on the blog (and it had a video to go with it!) and I've always longed to be able to do this ultra-chic, elegant, sophisticated hairstyle.... but would never dream of sacrificing my long blonde tresses. I almost got it, but I think I need more practice before I've mastered this style. The idea is fabulous!!

Shell Bun - This was an easy technique and is used in some of the more complicated styles, but I'm excited to learn how to do it, nonetheless! :D

Rope Braid - Oh my goodness, it works! This lovely braid looks like a long strand of rope twists and I can hardly belive I did this... I was sure the whole twisty thing would fly apart as soon as I put a hairband on the end, but it stayed. :O! It was lovely!
{I was going to put a picture of some of my attempts here, but I haven't taken any.} :( My camera is coming back this Friday from repairs though! I confess, I can hardly wait. :) In the meantime, please excuse my lack of photos. ;)

A HUGE, enormous thank-you to my friend Allison for sharing this site with me!

So go visit Rapunzel's Resource, and then come back and tell me which style is your favorite! :)

Seven (days) Of Skirts, Day 7!

2011-08-06T20:25:00.002-04:00

And so, the Seven (days) Of Skirts project is completed, for me anyway, because today is my Day 7! (Yay, I did it!) :D This was a lot of fun and I'm so glad it encouraged you all to see my modest outfits. It encouraged me as well! :)

Day 7:

Skirt: Ross! (brand: JKLA California) I only bought this a little while ago so if you hurry to a Ross near you, you might be able to find one! :D

Peach Blouse: Thrifted - the brand name is the one at Target I can't read... Mossimo, I think?

Sleeveless white shirt: Land's End

Shoes: Reef flip-flops

Hair: Butterfly Barrette (Wal-Mart)

Today's outfit was photographed in the garden.

Aren't the pole beans a magnificent sight? It reminds me of Jack's Beanstalk! (And I think this is my favorite blouse. The peachy coral shade enhances my complexion like nothing else I own!) :D

I. Love. This. Skirt.

I wish you could see it move, it has THE most delightful swishy twirl at the bottom... the overlayer is very light and chiffon-like and moves like a breath of wind, while the dark brown lining keeps everything undercover that should be! ;) Plus I love the wild print. :D
And these are the flip-flops I've been slipping into all week long. I love how comfortable this pair is and how I can dress them up or down. My advice for flip-flops, by the way, is to buy a name-brand pair on sale. It will be less expensive than constantly replacing cheap ones in the long run. (I found this pair of Reef flip-flops 50% off so they were only $15 instead of $30.)
Closer view of the jewelry... This silver-and-clear jewelry set I made goes with simply everything I own! (Trivia: This necklace is in the book I wrote about how to make your own beaded necklaces... It's titled as the Basic necklace)

And here is a closer look at the bracelet I'm wearing. I'm charmed by these cute little crystal 'charms' dangling off the silver links...

My hair today was simply pulled back half-way with a silver barrette that's shaped like a butterfly.

Close-up of the earrings. This style helps to visually elongate your face, by the way. :)

On my way back down the hill to the house, I stopped to take a few pictures, myself.

We got just a little sprinkle of rain today (Although the earsplitting thunder and lightning seemed to promise a lot more than that!) We also had a power outage for about an hour. Anywho, that's why the pebbles are wet in the above photo ^ and look so nice and glimmery. ;)

And then on the gravel drive right in front of the carport I spotted this leaf! It looked like an early little hint of Autumn to me!! :D

But then it hit me that it was a tulip poplar leaf and they always shed theirs waaay early anyway, especially if it's been hot and dry (which is has). Bummer. Still, it made a pretty picture once it was edited a little! :D

I hope you've enjoyed the SOS project!
Have a lovely evening. :)

Seven (days) Of Skirts, Day 6

2011-08-05T19:47:00.000-04:00

I can't belive the SOS project is nearly done... only one outfit (after today) to go! :D It's certainly been a challenge to get pictures of my skirts every day and post them but it's also been lots of fun. Plus I'm getting lots of practice using my photo editing software. (I had to do something, as I'm not using my 'good' camera for these pictures as it's still being repaired.) But I'm learning to be ok even if things aren't completely perfect. :D

Today I rested a good deal as I wasn't feeling well last night and didn't get to sleep until after 2 a.m. Mark and Steven had fun hanging out with some friends of theirs who were able to drive themselves over now that one of them has his new drivers license. There was lots of lego creativity going on! ;)

I finished the book I mentioned yesterday and also the second one, which to my surprise was wildly different than the first and full of carriage chases and gunshots and action - somewhat unlike a Jane Austen story, if you ask me! :P But maybe the third in the series will be a little better and finish out the trilogy nicely... Mom put it on hold through the library system and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it!

Before I continue I want to thank each and every one of you who has left me comments on this post series! It blesses me so much to hear from you and puts such a joyful smile on my face when I read your encouraging words. :) Thank you from the bottom of my heart! :D

Day 3:

Skirt: JKLA California - I found it at Ross! :D
T-shirt: Thrifted (Brand on the tag says "Fu-Du"-?)
Shoes: It's O.K. - Where did I get these again??? - I'm thinking Payless. (?)
Hair: Simple Ponytail Braid
Jewelry: Jewels by Julia

A-yup. I'm thinking these are my favorite shoes to wear with a skirt. Chic little modest brown heels. And this is definitely one of my favorite skirts. And yes - I'm wearing stripes with a swirled floral pattern and I think it looks cute, so there - :P :D

I adore the little 'hoodie'-style pocket on the front of this t-shirt!

This is also one of my favorite jewelry sets... the brown goes with, if not everything, a whole lot. :D

There are faint stripes of aqua and peach in between the chocolate brown on this white shirt. (Which, by the way, is all one piece... the little 'inset' in the V is attached.) I do not care for the shirts you have to wear a cami under to stay modest, although this shirt looks a little similar to that style.

My sweet Daddy took these pictures for me. I love him so much!

(I'm sitting on one of the walls in our carport that are made with stonework. Our fireplace has stonework exactly like it... I love the look!) :D

Mama braided my hair for me. It's so long I have trouble braiding it myself (Plus I can't french braid - somebody post a tutorial for me!). :D

What about you - have you ever done something 'out of the box' fashion-wise (like wearing stripes with a floral embroidered fabric) ?

Seven (days) Of Skirts, Day 5

2011-08-04T21:22:00.000-04:00

I am very happy that everyone seems to be enjoying the SOS project! I have loved doing it and am definitely planning on hosting another one this Autumn so that more of my friends can join along! :)

Today was quiet and peaceful (not boring in the least) and I got caught up on the laundry and made lunch for myself and my brothers, as my parents went up to a business appointment together and spent some time at the library and ate a packed lunch. Us kids stayed home by ourselves and "held down the fort"! :) We were all together again for dinner for a delicious meal of barbequed roast beef with curly zesty fries! Nummy. :)

Day 5:

Skirt: Thrifted! No idea where it originally came from.
Shirt: Yard Sale, years ago.
Shoes: Faded Glory (Wal-Mart)
Hair: Headband

Meet Jane, everybody! She's my favorite little hen, and named both after my favorite authoress Jane Austen and for the sweet-tempered Jane Bennet. For this little chicken is the sweetest of all, and golden, to boot! We liked her so much that next time we ordered chickens we got Buff Orphingtons just like her. Now we have about 26 of them (counting Jane). :)

And here's a picture of just the outfit so you won't be distracted by the cute little chicken. Never work with children or animals, they steal all the limelight. *wink* ;)

This is my favorite denim skirt, by the way! You can't really see in the picture but it has the most beauuuutiful flare at the bottom. Oh! I love it. :D

Jane is such a patient little dear.

(This isn't the most flattering picture ever of me, but it was such a cute one of Jane that it had to go in the blog post!) I'm reading an EXCELLENT book, by the way! Mama found it today at the library. (not our local library, a different, more modern branch).

It's called "Before the Season Ends" (by Linore Rose Burkard) and it's set in Regency England and it's Inspirational Christian Romance! *swoon* ;)

I'm not even half through the book and I'm already singing it's praises - very rare for me!

(I do not recommend reading lots of romance books. But the occasional one is like the occasional candy bar for me. Especially if it's sweet and not too strong in the romance department... there has to be more to the story than just the romance, for me.)

So. Me. I didn't even wear a pair of the earrings I made today, just my plain ol' cubic zirconia earstuds that I always wear.

Can you see my (fading, because of much application of lotion) sunburn? How about the dark circles under my eyes from our tiring day yesterday? :D I don't have a perfect face... but I'm happy with it! :D I like the way the Lord made me and I am (at last) perfectly happy with the skin I'm in! :)

And now, I must beg leave to return to my book.

Have a lovely evening and tune in tomorrow (Friday) For day 6 of the SOS project!

I've never been so scared by a trash can in my entire life

2011-08-04T15:37:00.000-04:00

I should have been folding laundry, but I took a break in between two baskets to check my email. I was staring glumly at the "0 Unread Emails" statement when I heard a slight rustling sound, almost like a small insect moving about. I looked under my desk, from where the sound seemed to be proceeding from, but could see nothing out of the ordinary.

I clicked on my blog and amused myself by snooping on the Live Traffic Feed on the sidebar, seeing who was visiting (and not bothering to comment! Shame on ya'll!) and who had come from where (As an aside, will the person from Mankato, Minnesota who visits me every day introduce themselves? I would love to meet you!) ;)

WHEN SUDDENLY.....

I heard more rustling. And as ducked down from my position in the computer chair and looked underneath my desk, something MOVED in the little wastebasket and looked like it was crawling out of the can! As my heart ceased beating in my chest, the laptop cord fell out of the trashcan with a loud THUMP on the floor, startling me nearly out of my senses! I gasped in fright and shrieked at the same time. (If such an action is possible).

Yeah. I literally took a picture so you could see what I was talking about. ;)

(The laptop cord is connected to the laptop on top of the desk, and plugs into the wall. It happened to be resting on top of a plastic grocery bag that was smushed inside the trashcan)

I can hardly describe the totally crazy adrenaline rush and overpowering fright that washed over me even as I realized in that exact instant that there was nothing to be afraid of. (!!!!) What made everything worse was the fact that my brother Mark was reading his History in the soft armchair across the room and he instantly looked up to see what was the matter and witnessed the whole thing. I gasped "Oh my goodness!" and all at once I saw the humor in the situation and I started laughing so hard tears came to my eyes!

{In my own defense, we get lots of scorpions and other critters in our log home in the woods, so it's not uncommon to see unusual bugs in unusual places now and then, so my high alert was completely understandable.}

I was so freaked out by the cord falling out of the trashcan that when I started to stand up my legs buckled underneath me and I sat down on the floor. Lol! I couldn't believe how scared I was. I think most of it had to do that I was leaning down in an awkward, undefensible position and the can was only a few inches from my nose when it happened.

I'm not sure why I decided to share this story with you - it was certainly hilarious but you sort of 'had to have been there', if you know what I mean. ;)

Anyway, I hope it tickled your funnybone in some way (laughter doeth good like a medicine!).

The SOS outfit for day 5 will be posted sometime this evening, so come on back for that! :)

Seven (days) Of Skirts, Day 4

2011-08-03T15:56:00.000-04:00

Day 4 is here! I can hardly believe I'm half-way through this project already! :) I have some exciting news... two friends have joined me in this challenge to wear skirts for seven days. My dear friend McKenzie is the first... here is what she said to me about the project: (shared with permission!) :D

Julia, I absolutely love your SOS project!! :) You looked so lovely and feminine in your outfits! I was very blessed by your purpose in doing the project. It is so encouraging to know that I have a kindred spirit striving to be modest but also beautifully feminine! I often feel alone in that area at times. Like you, I do wear pants, shorts, etc. but I also love wearing skirts. I have a lot of old friends and even family that "look down their nose" at me because they think I am just trying to "fit a mold" or that I am legalistic. I have always hated for people not to accept me and so I strove to try to please everyone. Of course it was ridiculous to think that I could please everyone and I did not succeed. The only thing I succeeded in was making myself completely miserable. I realized the only person I needed to please was my Savior. When I quit worrying about what others thought and concentrated on what HE thought, I found true joy and acceptance!
-McKenzie

You should hop on over to Pecan Pastures and see the cute outfits McKenzie is putting together. Her first one includes some of my jewelry, actually, which was neat to see! :D It thrills me to no end when people like my stuff. ;)

And... my dear mother is also joining the SOS project on her blog, Gloria in Excelsis Deo! She has written a dynamic post on modesty and being 'ok with the skin you're in'. Here's a little excerpt to tempt your literary tastebuds:

Our culture today is obsessed with skinny. Before the days of Twiggy and Barbie, women were considered normal if they had a little body fat. Strong, robust women worked hard for their families on farms and in the home. Paintings of past eras show women with volumptuous curves and feminine figures. Not to mention my ancestry. I am 100% Dutch. Dutch people are big boned, tall and robust. It is not healthy to be as skinny as your bone structure will allow.
I know a few people who are just naturally thin or small, but they are not as numerous as my friends who have a 'normal' figure, or are even what used to be called 'pleasingly plump'. Not everybody is built tall and thin, and that is okay! When we are discontent with our shape and size it's like we are telling God "You messed up when you made me. You should have made me thinner!" What?!?! That's no way to talk to our creator! He knew what he was doing when he created us.

Bear with me here and read this passage of scripture:

Psalm 139:13b - 16

...Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
We are beautiful to him, and I am sure it hearts his heart when we denounce and disparage the way he made us.
This is no excuse for misusing our bodies and overeating, of course, and we should not look to food to satisfy our emotional needs for comfort or just eat too much because we like the pleasure of eating tasty food. (Both of which I have been guilty in the past.) Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and as such should be taken care of... everything in moderation.

I would strongly encourage you to read my mom's post and tell her what you think! (Come back and tell me too, I'd love to hear your thoughts!)

Allrightythen, without further ado, here's today's outfit!

Day 4:

Skirt: 'Choices' - found it at Belk
Lime green top: Yard Sale! :D
Flip-Flops: ? - found at The Sock Shoppe
Hair: Side Ponytail
Jewelry: Jewels by Julia

We went down to the river today and as soon as I saw this tree I knew it had to be part of today's photo shoot! :D

This is another one of my absolute favorite skirts... the aqua and lime green and swirls are so fun and splashy! :)

My dear mom took these pictures for me. {That's the river going downstream behind me}

I took this self-portrait so you could see my side ponytail and chandelier earrings a little better. There was actually a delightful wisp of a breeze when we first got there. It died down after a while but could still be felt out on the water.

Speaking of water.... (and while we're on the topic of modest femininity & such)....

Here's my swimsuit!

Mama sewed it for me out of swimsuit fabric! I've worn it for a couple years now and we're getting ready to make a new one, but it still works for the present. I always get compliments when I wear it and the knowledge that I'm modest as well as comfortable in the suit is wonderful! :)

Today's post was a little late because we just got back from the river! We had a fun day out in the sun and in the water. We swam, waded, threw the frisbee around, and met some friends who had also come for a day at the river. It was a blast! (I think I even worked on my tan a little bit, too! :D) Lol. :)

Have a delightful day!

Seven (days) Of Skirts, Day 3

2011-08-02T11:45:00.001-04:00

I'm so excited about the great response I've gotten from friends about this project so far! It's been wonderful to hear how it's inspiring them and being an encouragement. I've heard from two people that told me they are participating as well, and I'll add an update at the bottom of this post when I find the ones they've done. :)

It's not too late to join the project yourself! I don't mind at all if you want to join in even if I'm on day 3. The more the merrier! :D Just remember if you use the SOS header to link back to me. :)

I would like to pause for a moment to ask for your prayers. My parents told us yesterday evening that they had received some sad news. A friend of ours, Mr. Bob Johnson, who is a missionary to Europe with his wife, has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and the doctors can't do anything. This means that if the Lord does not work a miracle in this man's life and heal him, he will be going home to heaven soon. Please pray that Mr. Johnson is healed so that his ministry will keep going strong.

Now I'll return to posting about the SOS project.

Day 3:

Skirt: Kim Rogers
T-Shirt: Thrifted, originally Ann Taylor Loft
Shoes: Marshall's
Hair: Flipped Ponytail
Necklace and Earring set: Jewels by Julia (I made them!)

This is one of my absolute FAVORITE skirts, but it's such an unusual shade of hot pink that I haven't been able to find anything to wear with it except white. Which is fine, of course. :D

My hair is in a Flipped Ponytail, which, if you don't know how to do, is very easy to learn.

You pull your hair back into a regular ponytail, then part the hair above it, going down through until you have a hollow space behind the hairband. Pull the whole ponytail back through the space and out the bottom. Voila! A flipped ponytail.

The photoshoot for today was taken on our back porch (which is technically the front porch, but our house is set on the hill in such a way that it seems more like the back).

There's something so homey about rocking chairs...

Here's a closeup of the jewelry I made.

I love the glass lampwork beads in this set, they have little glass swirls on them.

A better view of the hairstyle.

Hmm... what could Julia be thinking about?

*wink*

O_O!

Lol.

Sometimes the fact that so many people I know in real life read my blog is so intimidating that I'm afraid to be the real me, or post things that might make people think 'less' of me somehow. But I'm done with that! :D (I was inspired by this post my mom wrote) :)

Ahhh... once in a while, it's good to kick up your heels and relax.

There's a funny story behind these shoes. I bought them for the first Father-Daughter retreat my dad took me to, and I only brought these, a pair of sneakers, and one other pair of leather sandal-type shoes to wear. Well, I was wearing the sandals in the garden when we got to the retreat on the first day, and when I got back to the car I realized that the inside of the sandals were flaking apart from age and unwearable! So it was either the sneakers (which don't look so great with father-daughter retreat attire... :P) or these high heels for the whole weekend.

I sort of grew to hate them, especially when I developed blisters on my heels... ;) But they sure are cute, and when you're not forced to wear them for hours at a time they aren't bad. :D

In case you're wondering, no, I am not wearing the shoes that go with these outfits for the entire day. :D I usually switch to a pair of flip-flops or go barefoot around the house. :D

Have a lovely day!

Seven (days) Of Skirts, Day 2

2011-08-01T11:55:00.000-04:00

I'm really enjoying the SOS project so far! It's been quite fun thinking up different outfits for each day. I particularly like today's outfit... the pink and black is very chic. :) I decided to photograph today's outfit in my room to go with the color scheme. :D

Day 2:

Skirt: Christopher & Banks
Pink Polo Shirt: Liz Claiborne
Shoes: It's O.K. - Walmart (purchased back when they had good shoes)
Hair: black velvet bow barrette - hand-me-down
Jewelry: Jewels by Julia :)

Please excuse the lighting! :D My bedroom is oh-so-cozy but not so great for photoshoots. Especially with my old point-and-shoot camera. (still waiting for my Olympus E-PL1 to get back from the repair shop).

I just LOVE this black velvet bow hair barrette that I *cough* 'borrowed' from Mama (hey, she never wore it!) ;) And of course she's always welcome to borrow it back! :) I think it looks really cute clipped to the side like this:

And I noticed in the full-length shot you can't see much of my hair except for how long it is, so I snapped a quick self-portrait in the mirror across the room... (don't bother clicking it for a closer view, it's really blurry.) You get the general idea, though. :D

And here's a closer look at the bracelet I'm wearing that I made... (blurry again, ack! I want my good camera back so badly.) Patience is certainly a virtue...

I love pink and black together, they make a very cute color combination that reminds me of Paris, or perhaps those cute vintage Poodle Skirts! :D And when you throw pearls and black velvet bows into the mix... *sigh* Lovely. :)

As always, your comments are very much appreciated! How did you like today's outfit compared with yesterday's? Do you have a favorite hairbow that you love to wear?

'Til tomorrow, then!

Announcing Seven (days) Of Skirts

2011-07-31T12:10:00.003-04:00

SOS! Calling all girls, ladies, feminas, and women!

Our culture has almost seen the extinction of a very rare breed of person. Nearly nowhere to be seen, this type of human is very close to being wiped out completely. So difficult is a sighting that when one does catch a glimps of this unusual specimen of humanity, the stares and comments like "So, are you mormon or something?" or "You must be a homeschooler." from bystanders nearly drive it back into hiding.

This disappearing person is a woman.

A womanly woman. A feminine, chaste, discreet, modest woman! A godly woman who cares about obeying the commands of the word of God and the minds of her brothers in Christ more than the pressures of the world that try to influence her to dress seductively and immodestly, following after the trends in Hollywood's movies and New York's runways.

I've been inspired to do a little project I call SOS, or "Seven (days) Of Skirts". I know this is incredibly short notice... but occasionally I like to do things spontaneously. Impulsive, perhaps, but it adds spice to life! :)

You are welcome to join me in this project. Here's what I am doing:

I will wear a different skirt every day for seven days. I will prove to myself and whoever happens to read my posts each day that being modest CERTAINLY doesn't mean being frumpy and ugly and unattractive. And for fun, I'm also doing a different hairstyle with each outfit.

I happen to believe that you can also be modest in pants, capris, and knee-length shorts (like bermuda shorts) as long as they are not tight (Tight clothing is NOT modest. I get so sick and tired of seeing girls wear tight-tight-TIGHT clothing and still claim they are 'modest' because they aren't showing any cleavage or their belly button.) But that's a different topic. :D Anyway... I chose to do this project and wear only skirts with my outfits.

If you think about it - when you see a silhouette of a person wearing a skirt, you would think right away that the person is a female. If you see a silhouette of a person wearing pants, you have to study their shape to discern whether the figure is a man or a woman. Especially if they have short hair.

Feel free to join in this project even if your day 1 is my day 6 or 7. It doesn't matter when you join. The point is to do seven days of skirts, even if your days don't line up with the calendar week.

You are more than welcome to use the SOS header at the top of this post with your posts as long as you link back to my blog with this link (you can do hyper-link format)
(http://jewelsbyjulia-lauren.blogspot.com/search/label/Seven%20%28days%29%20Of%20Skirts).

And I'm thinking of doing a SOS in the Fall when I'll give you huge advance notice, so don't worry if you don't have the time to work up blog posts for this challenge.

So here goes Seven (days) Of Skirts! SOS!

Day 1:

Skirt: Handmade by my mom
Shirt: Hand-me-down, I think originally from Target
Hairstyle: A bun, done with an EZbun hairpiece (see ezbun.com)
Shoes: Wal-Mart

Jewelry: Jewels by Julia :)

Long skirts are so flattering. :)

EZbun hairpieces are a great idea, but they're very difficult for me to use as I have hair that falls below my hips in length... so when I use mine, it becomes a shabby-chic-'messy'-bun! :D But who says everything has to always be "perfect"?

Usually I do not care for profile shots of me... but I liked this one. :)

Isaiah 26: 3

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Have a wonderful week! (I know I will!) :D

The Atlanta Homeschool Expo 2011

2011-07-30T18:15:00.001-04:00

Today my whole family and I drove alllll the way up to the Cobb Galleria centre to "spy" on the Homeschool Expo. ;) We've been vendors at the GHEA convention for the past 3 years and wondered if it might be worth our while to try out the homeschool expo too. (we decided we'll probably try somewhere else... possibly the big FPEA convention in Florida).

Originally we were going to visit on Friday and then hit Friday Frisbee on our way back home, but we decided (fortunately, in my opinion) to do Frisbee and the convention on separate days. So we went today, Saturday.

We had great difficulty finding a parking space when we arrived just after noon, but we made it and then traversed a partially underground tunnel (cool!) to get to the convention center itself and the exhibit halls.

While Mama asked about using a wheelchair (her ankle has been bothering her with flare-ups recently with her RA - please keep her in your prayers) my brothers and I gawked shamelessly like country bumpkins at the shiny marble floors and huge, high, circular ceiling in the entryway of the convention center. It was most impressive and living in a small town like we do, we don't see much of the like very often. ;)

I have almost no pictures of our day except for the striking bouquet of artificial flowers in the foyer (see above)

And the stairs & escalators going up to the second floor (see below)

Because once we signed up at the registration booth I heard about this 'scavenger hunt' the convention was doing. My ears perked up when I heard about the prize.

An iPad.

Uh-huh. That's why I decided it might be worth a shot doing the little scavenger hunt thingy. I actually won my first iPod Shuffle (that, sadly, found a watery grave when I left it in the pocket of the hoodie I wore at the gym and it went through the washing machine) - in a contest a few years ago at my orthodontist's to see who could get the most words out of the letters in "I LOVE MY BRACES". My total was over 780 words. (Including things like "Cobra" and "Olive") :D Yeah, it took me 3 days.

So... I sort of had some luck winning Apple products in the past so I have a wild hope that I might win one this time.
But get this - I only had until 3:00 to turn in the scavenger hunt list! So I buzzed around the exhibit hall and, booth-by-booth, asked people if they were on the list. There were clues about each vendor you had to write down, but it was faster to just go down the rows and ask people. Some people were very helpful and just signed their initials and vendor name right away and some made me discover which clue went with their booth.
It would sound like this... I would walk up to a booth and ask "Are you on the scavenger hunt list?" And they would either say yes, or no. If yes, I continued "Great! Do you know which one you are?" Handing them my list of clues. Some people said yes and proceeded to add themselves to the list, and some people replied "Do YOU know which one we are?" And made me figure it out on my own.

What is it about people giving pretty girls a hard time? Especially the young guys running the college booths and various bored old men with odd senses of humor??? :P *sigh*

And then after I'd found about 43 of the people on the list (out of a possible 60 or so, I think?) one vendor helpfully told me that you only needed 30 to submit your list! And lo and behold, I checked the top of my sheet of paper where some stuff was listed in fine print... and it was so. *facepalm*

The end of the story is that I got the scavenger hunt submitted by 2:45 PM, nicely before 3:00! Yay. Now I just have to pray that my sheet gets randomly drawn as the winner. If I win, the iPad will become our family iPad and all will share it equally.

But guess what - I heard from the man running the registration booth that they only had about 15 people turn in scavenger hunt sheets. So the odds are pretty good!

~*~

I'm pretty exhausted from my busy weekend, and glad that we are planning on staying home tomorrow and doing some Bible study on our own (Daddy is teaching to us out of Hebrews, chapter by chapter). Frisbee really tuckered me out this week and although some of the stiffness got worked out in walking around the exhibit hall this morning ... I'm still achey and sore and just. plain. tired.

So this is what I hope the rest of my evening looks like:

Ah yes. Quiet. Relaxed. Peaceful. Perhaps finishing my Jane Austen novel by the light of a cozy lamp. That's what I'll be doing. :)

How was your weekend? What have you been up to? I'd love to hear about it in the comment section. :)

Have a blessed Sunday!