Pirate Loot {and other goodies}

Yesterday my Mom and I went shopping in 'civilization'... we went, we saw, and we conquered! :) And we came back with a whole load full of treasures in the hold... eh, make that the back of the van. :D

First we went to a friends' house to recover my sneakers. I'd left them behind when we played Ultimate Frisbee last week. (oops!)

Then we went to Smith & Davis ... where, I am thrilled to say, some of my jewelry is for sale now. We checked on the display to see how they'd laid everything out and looked to see what had sold. It looked pretty nice in there. :)



 I ended up selling them two of my stands to display the earrings on. But Daddy can make me another wooden one and I can order another copper rack from Fire Mountain to replace the one I sold. :) The section of the glass case to the right of the stands there is full of exclusively my jewelry...

pretty cool! :)

So, after we'd seen that, we got down to business and shopped 'till we near 'bout dropped. Whew!

Here's the glitteriest of my loot:

I took advantage of the 50% off sale at Hobby Lobby on their beads and stocked up a little bit... and I also found some beads at Jo-Ann fabrics that I'd been looking for, teal acrylic faceted clear ones. Very cute. :)

 At Ross, I found the prettiest skirt I've seen in a loooong time. It's absolutely adorable and twirly at the hem - and it makes me look so slim! (always a good thing) ;) I actually got two of them, one in black & ivory and one in brown & white. (The brown one is pictured below)

Photo credit goes to my sweet Mom for this shot. :) Modeled by Yours Truly. 

 And I was in Hobby Lobby walking down the aisle when I did a double-take. Does this chandelier on the canvas look familiar, by any chance?

It should. It's the same one that's on my blog header! :O! And it was 50% off. :) So... I got it! Now to find the perfect place to hang it... ;)

Mom and I decided in favor of assembling a delicious fresh lunch from the selection at the Publix deli... and guess what we had for dessert?

Sugar cookies with sprinkles. Boy, does the taste of those bring back memories or what? I grew up getting my 'free cookie' at Publix every time we went to the grocery store when I was little - and I usually got a sprinkle cookie.  *nostalgic sigh*

Mama has wanted to get some nice photo albums for a long time so we can actually do something with the thousands of printed photos of when us kids were younger, and she found some at Ross that are perfect!

Lastly, a photograph of an interesting perspective... my laptop sitting on my jewelry worktable with the glittering beads reflected in the glassy black screen of sleep mode. I just thought it was neat. :D

Oh, and if you haven't seen it yet, pop over to Meditations of His Love (a devotional blog I write for with some other young ladies) And check out it's brand-new makeover!

Blessings,

I had a Brownie for Breakfast today...

I had a brownie for breakfast today.

And why I did it, I just couldn’t say,

But I played very hard on a field yesterday

It was Ultimate Frisbee on a rainy Friday.

We had so much fun in the mud and the grass,

I almost didn’t mind that my team came in last

We tried our hardest, but all to no avail,

And alas, when we lost, I held back a wail.

Afterwards, we cleaned up, and then we went back

To the house and the kitchen for a yummy snack

But the room was so crowded with Frisbee fans

That I hardly could get to my brownie pan.

I managed to grab one, but it was so small,

I felt that I’d not had a brownie at all.

In two bites, or less, it was gone from my sight

And then we drove home through the darkening night.

I rode home with Daddy; Mom was in the van,

Zipping along in our ‘Dodge Caravan’

Containing our brownies, so I had no chance

To fulfill my longing for chocolate romance

And when we got home, I felt like a dud,

I jumped in the shower and scrubbed off the mud

Then flopped into bed, and though I wasn’t mad,

I was remembering muscles I’d forgotten I had

But I fell asleep, slept all through the night

Then awoke just to see in the bright morning light

That I’d slept in so late that it wasn’t so early

I’d slumbered in bed until nearly 10:30!

At once I got up and went into the kitchen

And then once I got there – what did I see?

A shiny pan of brownies just waiting for snitchin’

Sitting there, calling and winking at me

I lifted the foil, and oh – there they were

Beckoning, and promising much tasty pleasure

So what’s my excuse? Well, what can I say?

But that I had to have

A brownie,

For breakfast,

Today.

What I'm doing this Summer

Summer can sometimes tend to be a lazy, laid-back time of the year. And there's certainly nothing wrong with taking a rest now and then. But it's definitely a good thing to keep aiming for something and have some idea of things you want to accomplish in the near future.

So what am I doing this summer?

#1 is pretty much in full swing. I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to blog again! I am so thankful for my new laptop with really fast internet. *sigh of utter bliss* God is so good.

#2 - I have until March to get this afghan done so I'm taking my time and enjoying the process. I think I have about 6 blocks done out of 35... but it'll be so beautiful. It's going to be a wedding present for my cousin and her fiance.

#3 - Yep. I'm writing a book. It's inspired by the works of Jane Austen. I've mentioned it before. I'm surprised how vulnerable my feelings are towards this endeavor... I want people to like it, but am aware that not everybody will. I do, and my family does, so that's good enough for me. :) I have about 280 pages written out of 300+. The end is in sight, so I'm hoping I can finish it before this autumn.

#4 - My poor camera needs to be sent in for repairs, so I'm going to clear off my old camera card and try to use my dinky little Kodak something-or-other for 'emergencies'. :D But one of my goals is to take a lot of pictures this summer, particularly of my family. My brothers are growing and changing and maturing so rapidly that I don't want us to forget what they used to be like at 15 and 17... and I always love looking back at pictures I've taken of past events and reliving the precious memories. You can't have too many pictures! :)

5 & 6 - Pretty simple, after all. I can choose to enjoy my life and everything going on around me, or I can be dissatisfied and discontent, overlooking the many blessings God has given me and my family. I choose to be happy, and enjoy life. :) And I also choose to be a blessing to the people around me.


Sorry today's post was such a shortie. But guess what? I wrote an article over at Meditations of His Love that I think you might like to read. Click here to read it.

And here's a hint of what it's about:

Curious yet? You should read the post. Really. :)

Oh, and I got the cute notebook image from ShabbyBlogs.com under their 'post freebies' section and added my own text.

Annnnd, if you have not gotten my brand-new blog button yet...

 ...it's right over there on the sidebar! :)

My New Bedroom Makeover

For the first time in my life, my bedroom is cuter than my blog. :) We did a makeover for my 20th birthday, and I sprung for some spectacular fabric from Fabric.com that really created the whole feel. That was the biggest purchase I made for the makeover.

Unfortunately I don't have 'before' pictures to show you because I didn't take any. My room was just kind of an odd mix of odds and ends and different colors... although a feeble attempt had been made to focus on hot pink, and purple. I hadn't done a makeover since I moved into my room nearly 6 years ago.

At that time I had a 'full'-size canopy bed with embroidered pink curtains hanging from it. And that was very cute, but after a few years I got tired of it, and grew up, and tried to change the look without really doing much.

I'm not a 14-year-old anymore, but a 20-year-old young woman, and I wanted my bedroom to reflect that while still keeping it fun and fresh... not to mention functional. ;)


Ok, ok enough interior-designer dialogue. Here are the pictures! :D

The Bedroom. *swoon* Yes, I love it. Before I say anything else, HUUUUGE kudos to my extremely talented mother who helped me measure out and purchase fabric and then sewed my new damask curtains and bedspread! Mom, you are awesome. You helped me put to life the dream I envisioned for my room. Love you. :)

I really wish these pictures did the curtains justice. They are much more dramatic in real life and are a huge fashion statement in the room on the two big windows. (Oh, and please excuse the lighting in these photos. The human eye sees the light as cozy and warm/bright, and the camera sees it as yellow or glaring white.) Not like I'm expecting camera creators to outdo the Lord's fabulous creation of the human eye anytime soon. :D

I have pink painted wooden floors, and a bound piece of tan carpet over top. I also keep the thick, fluffy, plush piece of carpet (that I use as part of the setup when I have a jewelry booth somewhere) in the middle of the room so my feet can enjoy it whenever I walk into my bedroom. :)

The biggest thing in the room is my queen-size bed. We are actually planning to make matching pink and brown decorative pillows with tassels and trim and diferent coordinating prints of pink and brown fabric. I will post more pictures when those are done! :)

The stuff along the wall by the door. I repainted the wooden shelf underneath the mirror from yellow to white, and the black and white collage frame and the 3-piece frame above it are new. You can see a basket on the low table with my current yarn project in it... a purple afghan for a cousin who is getting married in March. :)

This is the view directly across from the door, with my jewelry worktable by the window. The overhead light is off in this picture so the room is 'cozier' but still bright with sunlight streaming through the windows.

The biggest change I made to any piece of furniture in my room was this dresser. My wonderful Daddy repainted it white instead of the yellow and blue it had suffered under for years. Trivia fact: this dresser used to belong to my grandparents on my mother's side - it was part of a bedroom suite that they received as a wedding present. It looks cute and chic (if a bit antique...) now, with a new coat of paint and new pink and brown knobs.

 Here is a close-up of one of the knobs. I got them at Hobby Lobby along with two new lamps, all 50% off! (I do love a bargain.) They were some of the few new things I purchased for the room makeover, along with some new wall decor.

A cute assortment of things adorns this shelf under the mirror... some perfume, lotion, and pretty knicknacks that I got at yard sales. :) Also a couple artificial roses. Not 'too' fake-looking... and they never wilt... :)

Are there any Bath and Body Works fans on the blog? Can I see a show of hands? Me too! :D The Berry Vanilla scent... oh my. So lovely and feminine... I tried the travel size fragrance mist and fell in love with it. Yum.

I really like the new collage picture frame and 3-part frame I found... the collage I filled with black and white pictures which I posted about earlier, and in the 3-part I tucked some photos in the ribbon section, pinned a few cute pieces of paper and a black and white photo on the bulletin board section, and in the middle I put some stamped pieces of paper with scripture on them and a sketch I did of some flowers.

I actually drew the sketch from a skirt I had with the flowers on it... I looked at the flowers and then drew on the paper. But I still think I can't draw that well. (although, maybe I could if I tried hard enough. My dad draws for a living, after all. I should have inherited some artistic genes from that combo!) All I can do now is copy things - much like Rose from Louisa May Alcott's "Eight Cousins". :) But I have other gifts God has blessed me with that I prefer to use over drawing.

A rack of Chandelier earrings is on the right.

The painted surface of the table by the door. (No, I didn't paint it) The clock/radio/cd player I've had since I was 11 years old... the adorable pink-polka-dotted mug I got for a dollar at a thrift store! *score!*

This corner cabinet went through a dramatic change too - I repapered the back of the shelves with pink, white, brown, and tan (with ordinary paper and scotch tape) ;) And I taped polka-dotted ribbon and leftover beaded trim along the edges of the shelves. I also added new flourishy paper shapes that I printed off of the computer.

(You can see one of the top shelves - brown - in this shot)

Close-up of a blown glass hummingbird I got while on vacation in the smoky mountains in Tennessee. I love blown glass, and hummingbirds. :) (note teacups and saucers on either side, and china cats in the background)

Another close-up. I have about five of these little ceramic high heeled shoes that I found a couple years ago at a garage sale... they were kinda pricey for garage sale knicknacks (a dollar apiece...) but I thought they were so adorable. :) The fan in the background was brought back from China by some friends that went there to pick up their adopted baby.

I absolutely love teacups and teapots... even though I'm not much of a tea drinker. I like fruit juice (apple, cran-grape, raspberry lemonade) a lot, but don't really care for other drinks like soda or coffee or tea. ;)

Oh. That LAMP! Mmmmm. *happy sigh* I think the pink and brown lamp with a ribbon and rosette is my favorite object that I bought for the makeover. To update the dresser surface, I relegated an old jewelry box to my closet and replaced it with that cute box covered with roses.

Close-up of the sweet pink rose candles and sconces above the dresser on either side of the lamp. I got both candles at a thrift store for 50 cents. (Again, these are SO much cuter in real life...) sigh.

My jewelry worktable. This is where every single pair of earrings, every necklace, and every bracelet that I sell was made. Daddy made the little stand-alone shelf on the back and stained it a dark chocolate brown. The tall white plastic drawers in the corner hold all my beads in separate compartmented boxes. It's an efficient, inviting workspace.
(and that's my walk-in closet in the back of the photo. It got a complete organize job too.)

 Lastly, I did a bit of organizing. The corner cabinet behind the door (below, left) got a complete re-organize, and all our videos are now sorted by live-action and animated movies. (Oh, and the hot pink gerbera daisies on the top shelf have been replaced with creamy ivory and soft pink artificial flowers that match better. I found those at the Dollar Tree.)

And (above, right) I removed the G.A. Henty books from my bookcase (never fear, they are now happily residing in my brother Mark's room) which freed up enough room to straighten out the whole thing and organize it. It is much improved! :) In earlier pictures, you can see the two stands of earrings on top of it.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this in-depth look at my bedroom! :) I'm so happy with it. Now, when I walk into my bedroom, I get the feeling that a sophisticated young woman lives in it, not a little girl. :D Which is exactly what I was hoping for. :)

Definitely the best birthday present yet. ;)

Aqua Laptop With Flowers = *happiness*

I was walking down the aisle and suddenly my eyes shifted to the left, catching sight of the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

It was lovely. It was a laptop. And it had little sprigs of white dandelions dancing on it. And it was my favorite color - Aqua.

It was mine.

It IS mine!

I bought a laptop two days ago at Wal-Mart and have since become very familiar with all it's wonderful characteristics and personalized it with my favorite internet sites and a few of my favorite programs. It was just what I needed. One of the reasons I've been so absent from the blogosphere was my old dinousaur of an XP. It barely worked ... half the time... for blogging. It was definitely a discouragement, to say the least. Now I'm loaded for bear with a Dual-Core AMD processor and Windows 7. Not to mention the Radeon Graphics card.

Personally, I think it has a personality. :D A feminine personality. It's only a 15-inch screen, so it's petite and cute with plenty of room for practicality.  She's my best friend! I call her Aqua. :D Lol. Well sort of. Not really. (Did I just name an inanimate object?!?!) She's beautiful.

Have I mentioned the accessories?

Uh-huh. You're not dreaming. It's really a matching mouse. *squeals*

Cute sleeve for easy and chic transportation. Yes! :)

It's even cute on the inside too. It's not just the outside that's bedecked with gorgeousness.

But the best thing about this computer is the brains. This thing is stunningly smart. And fast. And blogging suddenly became 100x easier. *cue Hallelujah chorus*

All the blog posts you read from me from now on will come straight from this preciously perfect machine. :)

For those of you who have managed to get through this whole blog post and are still reading (Bravo) there is another little sneak peek of my bedroom makeover in the background of that last picture. I have now downloaded the color pictures of the makover and once they are edited, they will make their debut on Julia's Journal.

So...

An update will follow shortly. (as in like, Wednesday). :)

Have an absolutely fantastic week!

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,

An Ordeal at the DMV (Department of Much Vexation)

So my second learner's permit expired. (No, that's not a typo. Second.) I am about to get my license once and for all, but before I do so I want to polish up my skills so I can impress the driving instructor when I take the test. :D (Any tips?) But I want to make sure I'm legal while practicing, so I decided I'd better renew my permit, just in case.

We finally got around to getting over to the DMV's office today while we were out running errands. I walked in and was assigned a number and assured that they'd call me in a minute and was given a form to fill out. So I walked over to the table and began to methodically fill out the form. It was quiet and peaceful, with only a few other people in the office besides the workers. The table gave me a little trouble - it was one of those bumpy-surfaced 'faux granite' plastic ones and when I wrote on the piece of paper the pen wobbled and made my letters crooked. *arrgh*

I was going down the list of blanks and checkboxes when suddenly my stomach did a flip-flop. "Social Security Number." The blank demanded. Uh-oh. I looked up at Mom and mouthed "Social Security Number?" 
See, I'd never gotten around to memorizing it. Ooops.
Neither had Mom. Ooops. 
No one was at home to call, and look it up in the file. Ooops.

Just then my number was called. "Now serving A015 at counter number 02." I walked timidly up to the lady and told her my predicament and asked if they had my Social Security number in my file.
No, they didn't. Ooops.
"Are you employed?" The helpful lady asked.
"No." (That was the short answer. I have my own jewelry business and do graphic design work for my dad and brothers... but none of us were at the office - our house - to find my number!)
"Oh." She answered, dismayed.
"Yeah..." I said, gazing down at the unfinished form.
"Well look hon," She replied, "Let's finish the rest of these questions so it'll all be done when you come back. We're open till 6:00."

She proceeded to ask me the rest of the questions in rapid-fire order (filling in the answers for me) and kept a remarkably straight face when inquiring if I'd ever had any type of mental disorder or disease. (Do I really look like that's possible? Good grief.) ;)

So we went home and got the Social Security number from our file and then drove back into town and parked outside the DMV.
When we got back inside we had to wait about five minutes for the lady to come assign me a new number to wait in line - and then it took about fifteen minutes for her to find my pre-filled form. She looked and looked through a file, couldn't find it anywhere, and then went and looked over on her desk - and voila! There it was. So I was given a piece of paper with my new number on it... and then we went into the waiting area.
There were about 20 people there. All ahead of me.
My mom and I waited about 45 minutes. I had ample time to examine the charts on the wall and discovered that the fee to renew a learner's permit was still $10.  
And then at last my number was called!

I walked up to the desk and handed the finally complete form to a different lady than the woman who had helped me before.
"Sign here please." The lady said, pointing me to an electronic pad with a 'pen' attached to it with a cord.
I quickly discovered they don't give you much room below the line on that screen, and my cursive capital "J" was missing part of its lower loop. Sigh.
And then I had to sign the paper form, and to my great inward disgust I forgot one of the letters in my last name and had to insert it between two of them, making an ugly scrawl in the middle of the name.

Then I got to have my picture taken. ;) Yeah. This is the best part!
I won't torture you with the blow-by-blow account - but I had to get my picture taken twice because I moved my head as she took the first one because the flash went off twice when I was expecting only once.
Meanwhile, a young, bored, male onlooker watched with amusement.

After I got the temporary license on a piece of paper, I discovered that my cheeks looked slightly pink (no doubt from blushing in embarrassment that I had botched the first photo) but at least my expression was pleasant and I had a happy look in my eyes.
This was the result of my secret plan. I decided before I went in there that I would think about something I really liked while I was getting my picture taken. So I thought about playing Ultimate Frisbee - and it worked! :D

So here are my two important tips for all who go to have their learner's permit or driver's license renewed...

• BE PREPARED (i.e. bring your Social Security Number, because they'll need it even though they don't keep it in their records)
• THINK PLEASANT THOUGHTS (you will end up with a tolerable photo instead of your worst nightmare and something you would drop dead before showing to a police officer or bank teller)

I hope you enjoyed this post - I have been soundly chastised from several friends for making myself so scarce the past few months, and so, I decided that I would write a blog post and get back into the swing of things with a funny account of a tiring day. More will follow with pictures of stuff I've been up to lately.

Oh, and I'm in the market for a new blog background. I'm out of the loop these days. Where did you get your blog background? Do you have any favorite places to get cute free backgrounds? Do let me know via the comments section!