Close-up Bits of Pure Amazingness

I don't often post pictures of my photography... but every now and then I love taking my camera outside and searching for interesting little details to capture with my lens.

I took all of these photos on one stroll earlier this month, in different spots on our property.

A lone camellia blossom, teeny-tiny colorful weeds, golden maple leaves, puffy dried thistledown...

Crisp, feathery evergreen sprigs, delicate daisies, and bare wildflower stalks...

Take a minute today to stop and study the detail of the world around you. Tiny textures and little bits of beauty, fragments of wonder, are everywhere. You just have to look for them.

What beautiful thing did you notice today?

An Apricot-Vanilla Day

Today was one of those days you just sit back and smile about.

The morning was spent peacefully... I made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast and we did all our usual household chores. Mama helped Daddy process a few chickens.

I worked on my story and smoothed over some plot holes while listening to vibrant Owl City music. 

This afternoon, Steven and I played one of the most demanding games of Ultimate Frisbee I've ever witnessed, and had loads of fun. The best part - I walked away from the field feeling fresh, instead of bone-weary. My long walks up and down our gravel driveway are paying off, big time. :D

I drove us home after the game and we returned to find that while we were away, Mama and Daddy and Mark - who felt too ill to play Ultimate, poor soul - had prepared a delicious dinner of ground-venison tacos that were just. too. good.

I munched down my soft-shell taco and stepped into the shower, choosing one of my favorite scented shower gels. Apricot Vanilla.

I smiled to myself and thought - It's an Apricot-Vanilla kind of day.

Tangy, fun, with a hint of softness and home.

Then we watched Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which didn't really go with the mood, but it was wildly entertaining. ;) (I can't decide if I liked it or not. I did like Jack Sparrow, he was hilarious.)

What is your favorite kind of day?

Peachy-Minty Afghan

I posted on my wordpress blog about this afghan I crocheted recently, but for my blogger followers, here are some photos of it. :) I'm hoping it sells... I have it marked for $200 because so much time and effort went into it (not to mention beautiful soft yarn, which wasn't cheap). :D

What do you think of the color combination? Peach, mint, lime green, gray, ivory, and sandy-beige are the colors I used... I think it would be a beautiful baby blanket for either a girl or a boy. :)

Laundry Room Makeover

 

Okay... so it really wasn't a 'makeover', more like an overhaul, but 'makeover' is more fun to say.

 

I worked two whole mornings on this tiny room off our kitchen that serves as both laundry room and pantry, and I moved over a bunch of items from where we'd had them in Steven's closet - his bedroom is off the dining room - and cleared out junk and re-organized.

I think perhaps my favorite part of the whole makeover was hanging up a vintage laundry sack that my mother bought in London on her trip there in college, when she went touring with her chorus group. The sack looks great on the wall and partially hides the ugly electricity breaker box. :D (How did I hang it? Thumbtacks.) ;)

LOL - our pantry is a mix between healthy food... noodles, rice, beans, spices and wheat... and stuff like Jell-O and Swiss Miss hot chocolate and marshmallows. The boys love their sweets. :D

 

 I know it doesn't look all that amazing from the photos... but a lot of effort went into straightening and stacking and shifting of stuff. I double-stacked our empty mason jars and jam on some beadboard daddy cut up for me, doubling our space. We've been wanting to do that ever since we moved into this house and hadn't gotten around to it! Now we even have an empty shelf above the doorway.


Knowing the laundry room is clean and orderly makes the whole kitchen feel better! :D

We use our kitchen and pantry a lot, so it's really nice to have it clean and neat.

Just recently we made some apple pies, and they were "Mmm-mmm good". :D

 



We canned a double batch of grape jelly on Wednesday, because we had finally run out of the last jar from the batch we canned back in June! :D



 

Our chickens are still furiously laying eggs - we had so many piling up that we tried selling them, but couldn't seem to find any steady customers. Then, my clever mama figured out that we could freeze them. Who'd 'a thunk? ;) Now we have over 80 eggs frozen, to later thaw and use for baking or scrambling when the hens slow down this winter.

We've also been freezing lots of produce from our garden... beans and peppers, mostly. It's a wonderful feeling to grow your own food.

I hope you enjoyed that little peek into our homestead!

Chasing Jupiter - A Book Review

First, a little about the book and authoress...

“This young author displays the insight of a writing talent well beyond her years.”
—USA Today

Following the success of her debut novel,Interrupted, 17-year-old Rachel Coker returns less than one year later with a coming-of-age tale set in late 1960s rural Georgia that revolves around a quirky (some might say dysfunctional) family. Sure to leave a lasting impression on readers young and old, Coker yet again crafts an intuitive story that displays maturity beyond her years.

In CHASING JUPITER (Zondervan; January 2013; $15.99), Coker brings to life the story of Scarlett Blaine, a 16-year-old growing up in a small southern town. As the middle child, Scarlett lives in the shadow of her older sister, Juli, dubbed a “hippie,” and her younger brother, Cliff, who is autistic.

 

Determined to be the perfect daughter, Scarlett recognizes the family’s stress and takes on household duties, looks after Cliff, and even keeps an eye on their peanut butter-obsessed grandfather, Grandpop Barley, who is showing signs of dementia.

Her routine changes when she and Cliff watch Neil Armstrong take his historic first steps on the moon during this summer of 1969. Young Cliff announces that he’d like to be an astronaut too. Specifically, he’d like to be the first person to fly to Jupiter.

 

To make her brother happy, Scarlett vows to spend the summer baking and selling peach pies to raise money for Cliff’s rocket, no matter how outrageous the idea seems. With the unexpected help of the local peach farmer’s son, Frank, whom Scarlett wishes was more than just her friend, the three begin plans to launch a rocket to Jupiter by summer’s end.

 

But what starts off as a bright, hopeful summer quickly spirals downward when a series of tragic events strike the Blaine family, forcing Scarlett to deal with painful realities about her world.

With her signature wistful style and elegant prose, Coker captures the cultural essence of the decade, weaving romance, southern charm, and historical events into an enthralling story that will touch the hearts of readers.

 

“[The year] 1969 was a very confusing time in America, spiritually speaking, and this story reflects a lot of the different movements going on,” Coker writes on her website.

 

Filled with humor and heartbreak, CHASING JUPITER is a must-read for fans of young adult, historical, and romantic fiction. Coker delivers yet another realistic portrait of a young American girl growing up in a decade filled with radical changes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rachel Coker resides in Lanexa, Virginia with her parents, who’ve homeschooled her since she was a child, and two sisters. She is the author of 2012’s Interrupted: A Life Beyond Words. Coker has a passion for great books and has been surrounded by them all her life. Her gift for writing became apparent at the age of eleven, at which time her parents, who owned a Christian bookstore, signed her up for a year of lessons with a professional writing coach. www.rachelcoker.wordpress.com

What I thought:

I enjoyed Chasing Jupiter much more than Rachel's first book, Interrupted. The characters were all so interesting and the story moved right along at a trot, keeping me interested the whole time. I ended up reading the book in one sitting, which I hadn't planned on. ;)

Scarlett's relationship with her family members showed she had a caring heart, which I loved, and the way she treated her younger autistic brother Cliff with such compassion and empathy was very touching.

I really liked Frank, the boy who befriends Scarlett and Cliff and helps them build their peach-pie stand. His animal menagerie kept in the old bomb shelter was fun to read about - almost hints of Doctor Dolittle there - :D. And I liked reading about the way he and Scarlett eventually came to understand each other... nothing flaming-romance at all, just a gentle friendship.

The Christian message tastefully woven through this story was wonderful. Without giving anything away, I can tell you that Rachel showed her characters going through real struggles and convincingly realizing their need for the peace that only God's presence in your life can give.

I was slightly disappointed in the book's setting - I'm told it was set in rural Georgia in 1969, and I was excited about reading that because I live in rural Georgia and wanted to get a 'glimpse' of how it was back then... but I didn't get much. You can't really tell it's Georgia, besides the fact that there was a peach orchard nearby Scarlett's house. The historical detail and setting could have been flushed out a good deal more. But I really think the author's writing has gotten even better since her last story, and I am looking forward to what she'll do next. :D

Overall, Rachel Coker has written a second pleasant, interesting book that I enjoyed quite a bit and would recommend to any of my blog readers!



I was provided a free copy of this book for review by Zondervan, and I was not required to write a positive review. These are my own thoughts on the book.

I'm Back! :D Julia's Journal is alive once more.

Hello, one and all!

I was delighted to find this new blog background on TheCutestBlogOnTheBlock.com and designed myself a header to go along! :) What do you think of the new look? It's not quite finished yet, I have many finishing touches to make...

There's a new About page to check out if you'd like. :)

I've grown tired of not being able to customize my Wordpress.com blog at all (besides a header and background image) and have made my peace with the new Blogger post-writing box. I've decided to write on this blog regularly for now, although I certainly enjoyed the Wordpress experiment and am grateful to have learned my way around there.

So, I thought I would share a few things that have been on my heart lately.

America has been in my prayers more than usual, due to the recent presidential election results. But I still have faith in my great big God and I trust in his perfect will, although we had several long conversations the day after November 6th. I'm so glad I don't have to worry about it all, because I could never handle it. HE can. And for that, I am beyond grateful.

Writing has taken up a good chunk of my free time lately, because I decided on October 31st to try NaNoWriMo for the first time (National Novel Writing Month) and am working on book 2 of my agents series! Here are a few excerpts for you...

________________________________________________

 

The pizza parlor swarmed with agents and policemen working together, collecting evidence and screening the people who had been inside when the ruckus ensued. They’d hustled Merkochaz into a bulletproof ambulance and the body of the dead guard had been taken away.

“Bryce, I’m surprised at you.” Benny’s coffee-colored face gave nothing away. Not even a twitch of his moustache betrayed whatever he might be thinking.

“Sir?”

“You did exactly the right thing, but I’m shocked that you had the guts.” Benny thumbed his nose. “Most newbies flinch at using their firepower during situations that aren’t going according to plan.”

Bryce blinked, eyes still stinging from the charcoal and ash specks. “I felt that it was what I had to do, Sir.”

“I have to say, I’m impressed. You ‘burned through the ashes’, so to speak, to see right to the heart of that scenario.” A smile creased Benny’s face. “Which brings me to your new code name.”

“My… new…” Code name?

“Ashburn.” Benny nodded. “Yep. That’s it. Ashburn.”

Bryce rolled the name around in his mind. Ashburn. He laughed. “I like it!” 

Benny grinned. “It’s yours. I’ll put it on file when I get back to IFP.” He slapped Bryce on the back and walked off to bark some orders at some of the agents collecting evidence in the kitchen.

Ashburn. It would be a reminder for the rest of his days of how he’d followed that inner voice. But he hadn’t done it perfectly. He’d gotten ashes thrown in his face because he had been caught off guard.

I will never let myself get caught off guard again.

________________________________________________

Penny pressed the tissue to her eyes, which were swollen from crying all night long. The morning sunlight streamed through her bedroom window, highlighting tiny dust motes that danced in the air like a mist of fireflies over a meadow.

The piercing grief had dropped on her like a boulder last night, knocking her flat on her back. It came out of nowhere after leaving her in peace for months. She wondered when it would finally end for good, but at the same time, dreaded that day. Would she ever come to forget him?

She brushed a lock of russet-auburn hair from her forehead. Maybe the weeping had been triggered by her best friend’s news. Cara’s engagement was a wonderful event, but for Penny had been shadowed with reminders of what could have been… for her.

________________________________________________

Anyway. :) I'm excited and I think this book might even be better than the first one, which still awaits editing. :D

I'd love to hear from you if you're reading this post, I'm curious to see if I still have any followers...

Blessings!

Just in case you're missing out...

I've been blogging at http://jewelsbyjulia.wordpress.com, and shared lots of exciting things that have been happening to me! If you're still not following my new blog... hop on over and check it out! :)

Dancing Videos!

Just popping back in here to let you know that I've been busy posting on my new blog!

I've got pictures from our vacation to Florida...

And I just posted some videos of the English Country Dance Ball I went to on Saturday!
So go have a look. :)

My New Little Corner of Blogworld

Hey Readers! :D

I got this crazy thought a couple days ago. "Wonder what wordpress is like?"

I had to try it.

So I worked on it a little bit yesterday... and came up with this!

http://jewelsbyjulia.wordpress.com

Do pop over and say hello, I'd love to hear from you. :) I think I'll be blogging more regularly over there now, although I don't plan to abandon Julia's Journal altogether. :)

Seashells, here I come

Ya'll. I get to go to the beach.

*Eeeeee!*

Really exciting. I'm looking forward to just chillin' in the sun (if such a thing is possible) with my new kindle touch in hand and flip-flops on my feet. :)

I hope to come back with a tan, seashells, and lots of pictures. Oh, and a sackful of memories. :) I won't be gone too long, in fact, I'll return before you know it. :D I'll have internet while I'm away, so I'll see blog comments. :D

For now, I pack!

Hey! would you like to see what my brothers and some of our friends and I filmed this week?
Enjoy.

Make sure you have the sound turned up so you can hear all the lines... not to mention experience the full effect of all that epicness. ;) Haha! My favorite part of the whole movie is the piece where the fiddle cuts in as if saying "You NEVER die!" :D What is your favorite part?

See you when I come home! :)

I can hardly take so much excitement...

Hi Readers!

This week has been a busy week! I'm stunned and amazed at a sudden, astounding blessing that God dropped into my lap on Tuesday. :)

I had been hoping to set up a display of some kind at this really cool new shop in town called "Rescue Me". It's full of repurposed, vintage and handmade items, and the whole place is so fun! Well, on Tuesday at 1:30 in the afternoon, one of the proprietresses called and told me they'd been working through their waiting list of people who wanted to sell things in their shop, and they'd reached my application... and they now had room for me, since they'd been moving things around this week!

*jaw hits the floor* YAY!!!!

That morning, Mama and Daddy had been shopping around and looking for possible furniture pieces I could use for a display in the shop. They'd spied a couple pieces in a local used furniture store, and when Mama showed me a picture of a buffet table she'd found, I loved it. So... we went back and I bought it for $115 (not bad at all for such a lovely little piece! I'll be able to use it in my kitchen someday!)

So...I cleaned it up and rubbed Orange-Glo polish into it and figured out how I wanted to display the jewelry in it. I knew I wanted a mirror and didn't have one, but lo and behold, the furniture place had a nice one with a gold frame for $8, which was Perfect with a capital P. :)

Mama helped me with the beautiful little details such as swirly fabric backdrops in the shelves, and I picked the best jewelry I had leftover from my homeschool conventions, and we plopped the whole shebang in the store and it was done by 7:00 that evening. :)

Oh yes... PICTURES!

Isn't it lovely? I'm prodigiously proud of it.

We even topped it off with a fun lamp that Mama glued lace onto, and two busts with pretty necklaces.

Here is what the display looks like from a little ways away... (I was elated with the position, it's smack dab in the middle of the shop and only a few feet from the cash register, which is behind that red-and-green stuff in the middle of the picture) Yay!

Here is most of the shop. It's full of amazingly interesting repurposed items! Check out that light fixture made from an old bedspring frame and studded with starry little lightbulbs!

Back to my display. I took several closeups. :)

The earring rack. It was tough choosing which ones to use... I still have about 400 pairs leftover from other shows... so I just threw in my favorites. ;) 

I laid out flat some of the necklaces. Before we left, both shop owners had commented on that sparrow necklace with the autumnal brown colors and the golden bird pendant. :)

I was able to squeeze three of my clear plastic necklace boards onto the middle shelf! Woohoo! I put some of the most eye-catching things in the center... some cameos and a silver sailing ship pendant. :)

There's the mirror. Shoppers can look up to see their reflection and hold jewelry up to themselves to see how it looks. See the cute 'jeweled' trim we taped to the top of the buffet? I love that!

Mama took a picture with her iPhone of me taking pictures. ;) (see how long my hair is?) The buffet is about six feet tall, three feet wide, and eighteen inches deep... couldn't have been a better size!

Haha. I looked up as I was about to take a close-up of the rings. My hair almost brushes the floor when I bend over. Time for a tiny trim! ;)

 AND, on Sunday, a dear sweet friend came to see me! Rachel Heffington is down in Georgia for a month, and was able to pop on over to my house for dinner! We had such a fun time! I hope she can come back again before she goes back to Virginia. :)

Just look at her sweet face! :) I had such fun getting to know her a little better!

Blessings,