Learning Never Ceases

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! :)

 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.

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

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

.... 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'm Thankful for... my Family

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. :)

Gettin' Ready

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

"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?

A Country Girl at Heart

Lately, I've blogged mostly about the more cosmopolitan side of me.
(Cosmopolitan: adj, 1. Well traveled, cultured, sophisticated, urbane, etc...) The part of my personality that enjoys black & white photography, ultra-cute technology, poems, chic interior decor, and shopping trips.

But there's a whole other side of me too. I'm not all girly-girl, photographer extraordinare, and stylish interior designer.

I live in the country on 13 acres of woods tumbling down a rocky hill, in a log home. We raise chickens for their eggs and are considering raising up a batch for meat. We hang our laundry on the line. We've harvested basket after basket of three kinds of lettuce, tons of tomatoes, oodles of onions, and bunches of beans from our garden already, along with a nice amount of green peppers, a pumpkin, and a few squashes.
We can't even see our neighbors through the woods when the leaves are on the trees (about three seasons out of four).
The loudest things we hear are the cicadas buzzing in the woods at night and our roosters crowing in the morning. No road noise or traffic to speak of.

Here are the little darlings... some of our Buff Orphington hens and our 'extra' rooster, Constantine. (Named by my history-loving brother Mark after the great emperor himself) We think he's a Partridge Cochin... he has feathers on his feet. :D

We have another rooster that's a Buff Orphington who isn't in this shot. We called him "Oddly", because we only ordered hens, and oddly enough, he's a rooster. :D

The buffs are known for being 'broody'. They're grumpy wanna-be-mommies and they sit on the nests waiting to peck any hand that tries to steal the precious eggs below them... but we've found that if you grab them from behind you can lift them off with not much trouble. So I wrangle chickens with the best of them. ;)

My brothers Mark and Steven have the main care of the chickens, and go to work landscaping with Dad, while I do the bulk of the housecleaning and helping out with the dishes & laundry and all the cooking. They do the outdoor, I do the indoor. It's a nice division of labor. :)

Our garden is Daddy's paradise.

 He has done an amazing job this year raising up beautiful plants that give off bountiful produce. The tomatoes, especially, have been incredibly fruitful, and the green beans were (and continue to be) great! :) What's coming on now is a jungle of lush squash plants spreading out their broad-leafed vines in a wild ramble across the garden paths. Daddy loves plants, and there is ample evidence of his green thumb in our garden. :)

 Today, we plan on going up to play Ultimate Frisbee with a big group of our friends that play every Friday during the warmer months. It'll be a lot of fun. Frisbee is one of the games that gets me all pumped up and excited ... and oh, dear, very competitive. :D I was super-athletic when I was younger (not as much now) and still enjoy a close game of Ultimate Frisbee. I'll see if I can get one of my parents to take pictures of the game today so I can give you all a glimpse of how much fun it is! :)


And lately, my brothers and I have been highly enjoying this guy:

 Perry Mason! He's a defense attorney in L.A. in the late 50's - early 60's. There are complete videos of almost the whole first season of Perry Mason on IMDB.com (internet movie database) that you can watch for free online with only a few interruptions from commercials. We've been loving it. Perry Mason always manages to pull out a victory over his arch-nemesis, prosecuting attorney Hamilton Burger, and his sidekick Lieutenant Tragg.

My favorite character in the show is Della Street, Perry Mason's secretary. My youngest brother and I think she and Perry Mason should have gotten married, they make such a cute couple! :D But apparently they were just good friends in the series.

Well, I hope you all have a great weekend! I'm off to bake a tasty treat to bring as an after-game snack to Ultimate Frisbee.

Some Black and White Photography

Last month I finally got around to filling up a cute photo collage frame I found at Ross. The frame was black with a white mat and there was room for four photographs in it, and there was a scripture verse traced on the glass in black script - it said

The Lord Rejoices... In All He Has Made.

My bright idea was to take four photographs, one of my parents, one of me, and two of my two brothers, in black and white, to fill the frame. My camera, an Olympus PEN E-PL1, has a pretty awesome 'grainy black-&-white' art mode and the pictures came out nicely. I thought you might like to see the photos (... ok, I admit, I wanted to show them to you regardless of whether you want to see them or not) So here they are:

Me, Julia, a self-portrait in the mirror

My Parents.

 I love them so much... I'll always have a special memory of shooting this photo on the porch of our log home - they were both so happy and in such a good mood when I took this shot after a rainstorm that had left the air smelling clean and fresh. Daddy and Mama have dedicated their lives to raising me and my two brothers to be godly and righteous believers, and I will be forever grateful to them. :)

Mark

 Mark is such a kidder. This is the 14th or 15th shot I took of this guy... (the others were either funny faces or blurry) ... and it's so him. He has the nicest smile when he chooses to use it - and of course the cut-off jeans are a part of his usual outfit. One of my favorite things about Mark is his sense of humor, which is absolutely hilarious, but he's also super-smart. And if you ask him any question concerning an ancient civilization, he'll have the answer.

Steven

Another very special photo - this is a glimpse of the gentle sweetness that makes up my youngest brother's character. He's like a big teddy bear at 6'2" (Almost as tall as Mark's 6'3")and built like a linebacker... and only 15 years old! He's got a deep voice to match, and he's so talented at thinking up new designs for the duct tape weapons business (Warfare by Duct Tape). He's great at working with his hands and can juggle and play the harmonica at the same time. ;)


Those are all the pictures in the frame hanging in my bedroom right now.

And now, a preview of my stunning bedroom makeover...

That's all you get for now, until I ... um ... get the (color) pictures downloaded. :D

Also - I gave my blog a makeover! I went with a black & white theme accented with bright aqua. What do you think? I love it except for the slightest suspicion that it's a bit 'stark'. Oh well. ;)

Blessings,

Yes, We are Moving

The time has come for us to leave our rurally located, rustic, charming log home, and venture north one hour to the area in which my dad works. We will be living closer to two larger cities, both of which are beautiful, and have lovely stores, and there will me many more opportunities for my two brothers and I... I to sell my jewelry in the shops, and my brothers to maybe start a business of their own. Mama is also planning on starting a Music Studio and teaching voice lessons, and I will be brushing up my piano skills and teaching beginner piano lessons. :)

I am feeling lots of emotions about the move, the top ones being excitement, interest, a small regret that we must leave our gorgeous God-given house, expectancy, and a feeling of uncertainty. We don't have a house picked out yet... or at least 'officially' picked out yet... we have seen quite a few lovely homes in the area that would be best for my dad to drive to work from, and there is one in particular that has a creek in the yard with a quaint little bridge over it that my brothers and I are especially fond of... so we shall see what comes of that. :D

Once we move, I am sure Daddy will enjoy not having to commute 2 hours (1 there, 1 back) every day except Saturday... we also attend a sweet homechurch group that mostly meets up in Peachtree City, and when we move we will be able to get together with some of the families and do activities together on weekdays, not just when we're up there for church on Sunday.

We have been pondering this move for about a year, so I've had some time to get used to the idea, and I am very excited to see what chapter I'm about to journey through in this new season of life and what my Lord has in store for my family and I... I have a feeling he has something special and wonderful waiting for us.

So far, we have had two unofficial 'showings' of our house that had us working like busy beavers to make sure everything was in "apple-pie order"... and since we are planning on listing it on the market later this week, I am sure we will be kept on our toes working to keep everything nice and tidy in case somebody surprises us with a sudden request to see the house. :) We have a wonderful realtor though, and I am confident that she will do her best for us. She helped us buy this home four years ago and bent over backwards to do everything she could for us! I have absolute confidence that she will do just as good a job this time as she did then. :)

My family and I would appreciate your prayers for us in this time of change. Thank you! :)

Hugs,

(New signature! :D)

Feeling Better... and Pictures!

Firstly, thank you so much to everyone who prayed for me! I am feeling so much better! The pain in my neck is 99.9% gone... I will be resting a lot today so hopefully the remaining 0.1% will get better. Thanks, dear friends!! I really appreciate it.

Now for some pictures for all of you who have been sooo patient! :D

After I last posted those pictures of our trip, we went hiking...

Us at the trail head

(L to R) Daddy, Steven, and Mark on a BIG rock...

Me on another big rock

In this picture Daddy is showing us where a spring started... the springs running down the trail made it extremely muddy! Most of the time we were walking on the side of the trail instead of in the middle, just to avoid all the mud!

However, despite the mud, it was a beautiful hike. :)

But the best part was climbing THIS...

9-story-high firetower.

And seeing the incredible view!

Note the amazingly gorgeous clouds above the shimmering lake....
It was SO windy up there... which didn't make the climb up and down any easier for the boys and Daddy. (I discovered that I have absolutely no fear of heights, especially on a nice sturdy firetower.)
It was truly amazing being up so high and seeing so far.
Okay, that's all for now... I will see if I can do a post about the Blue Mountain Lake Museum next time. :)

Pictures From New York

Hello Everyone! :)

I decided you might like to see what pictures I've taken so far on our trip, so I figured out how to use my Aunt's computer (lol!) :) and I've selected a few for your enjoyment. :)

We got up early on Saturday and got a great start - we were out the door at 7:00. (yeah, that means I had to wake up at 6:00 to get ready...)

Then we drove, and drove, and drove, and .... you get the picture. :D We went up through South Carolina, and then North Carolina, and then Virginia...

This was shot out of the window of the car, it's just a fleeting glimpse of some of the beautiful Virginian countryside.

This is a flower blooming cheerfully at a rest stop we stopped at... and I just had to capture a picture of it! :)

These are some crochet blocks I made on the way up here... I made one other one w' popcorn stiches but it's not in this picture... the pink/yellow/brown one is a 'Catherine Wheel', the aqua/tan/brown one is a 'Spinner', and the half-finished green/brown/tan one is a 'Gothic Square'.

We stopped at a BP in West Virginia to gas up and I spotted a cute little produce stand and just had to snap a pic. :) I loved the watermelon wagon!

We stopped at 8:15 pm, having gotten all the way to Hagerstown, MARYLAND! Whew! Not bad for one day's drive!

As I said before, we found a lovely Holiday Inn Express and were able to get a suite for only $13 more than a regular room would have cost us. Yay! It was beautiful, and sparkling clean. The ideal hotel room!

No air matress for me... This is the most comfortable pull-out I've ever slept on! It didn't even squeak! And the blanket was soooo soft. Ahhhhh.

Mark here is reclining on the bed he and Steven shared... I think he looks pretty comfortable. :)
I have this button on my purse (it belonged to my great-grandmother) ... and it was so perfect with the moment that I took a picture of it. "It's Good To Be Here!"

The next day we got up early, ate a delicious continental breakfast in the hotel, and headed out! Within a few minutes we had reached Pennsylvania, and we drove through lots of pretty scenery and a mountain ridge. There were so many gigantic cornfields!

And then, finally.... We reached New York!

We stopped at a very pretty Rest Stop/Welcome Center right inside the New York State border. We stopped to get gas a little farther in and went inside to get some ice cream... and we met a real "New Yoaker"! He welcomed "Youse Guys" to New York and was amazed to hear we were all the way from "Gee-or-gee-ah, the Peach State!" (That's how he pronounced it)

We stopped at a babbling brook just outside of Cooperstown... You know, where James Fenimore Cooper wrote "The Last of The Mohicans", and "Deerslayer". (I saw Lake Glimmerglass!!) right before we got to my Great-Aunt's house and took a few pictures...

Me and my two big, strong brothers...

The lovely brook....

A peach-tinted Daylily... (There were tons of these alongside the roads...)

Then we got to my Aunt's house (Yaaay!) And discovered....

We had a stowaway!

Survivorman had tagged along! :D He did that when we went camping in North Carolina too.

After a delicious dinner of beef and potatoes, Mark and Steven enjoyed relaxing on the floating dock ... some friendly ducks came over to see who the newcomers were.

We all got a great night's sleep after our long two days of driving! :) Daddy woke up to the sound of a loon calling, out on the lake.

Daddy took Steven out for a canoe ride this morning after breakfast... I was amazed at how well my camera behaved, letting me get such great long-distance pictures from my Aunt's porch!
The view....

Well, that's all for now! We plan on going hiking this afternoon and I will be sure to take along my camera. :)