Hair Care - and I'm tired.

Have you ever been so tired your eyes won't stay open? That's how I feel at this second as I'm sitting here typing on my blog... oogh. :D

The reason I am so tired is because my little brain has been so stimulated and I've had SO much socialization in the past few days!

I had a wonderful, lovely graduation party on Sunday (And I am planning on writing more about that in another post)

Monday I literally rested all day because I was so exhausted from cleaning the house all week for the party...

Today, Tuesday, I had a dear new friend, Allison, over and we did some really fun stuff with our hair.... I can't believe it, I've finally met somebody who has long hair like mine and likes to take care of it like I do! I wish Ally had a blog, y'all would love her. :)

We spritzed (and then dunked) our hair in a delectable chamomile & lemon juice concoction and then basked in the sun and let our hair soak up some brilliant highlights (my hair is about 2 shades lighter now - so pretty!!)
Then we gooped our hair with a deep moisturizing treatment with honey and conditioner. It smelled SOOO good. Plus now my hair is really soft. :)

I had fun but now I'm tired ~ just wanted to let you know I will be posting about the grad party soon. :)

Hugs!

For The Amusement of My Readers...

I have been tagged by Sarah H! Thank you Sarah! :)

What is your favorite day of summer?
Probably July 4th, just because it's always so much fun!

What’s your favorite outdoor summer activity?
Gotta be swimming, or possibly ping-pong... our ping-pong table is outside under our car-port.

What’s your favorite indoor summer activity?
Blogging, what else? Haha! Well, I also love reading a good book, crocheting, making jewelry, and lots of other things.

Pool or beach?
Hmmm.... depends on the beach or the exact pool... usually a pool, although I have a great fondness for building sandcastles. :)

Have you ever camped during the summer?
Actually, I don't know if I ever have camped during what you could call the 'summer', we usually camp in the fall or early spring, because that's when my dad (a landscape designer) has a slower work schedule.

Popsicle or ice cream? What flavor?
This is a no-brainer. Ice cream all the way! Vanilla with homemade strawberry or peach jam lavishly spooned on top. :) Or I like the Breyer's Sara Lee strawberry cheesecake.

Do you help with your church's VBS?
We are attending a wonderful homechurch that does not do a VBS.

Do you get bored during the summer?
I am almost never bored. So no. :D Not to say I'm easily entertained - I just happen to be a busy person!

Is summer your favorite season?
Sorry, no. Fall and Spring are tied for my favorite season.

Hope you enjoyed the tag! I will tag... Oh, just whoever wants to do this one. :)

I know that's being a slacker but we're busy cleaning the house in prep. for my grad party today so this is just a quick tag! :)

How to Change the Font of Your Blog Post Titles, Sidebar Titles, & dates

Today I changed my fonts around a bit. It was a neat learning experience for me and I eventually did it, with the help of this *great tutorial* from KevinandAmanda.com.

I used the font 'CAC Pinafore' which can be downloaded from dafont.com (To find it, type the font name into the searchbox) and to read how to download it go right >here<. A few of the fonts on that website are rather unsavoury, so just use discretion. :)

The Answer...

Good guesses, everyone! Sorry that I took so long answering! I had a bit of trouble getting a picture of the surprise to show you. ;) No, I did not get a haircut. I think Livvy came the closest with her guess that I changed my room... the answer is,

We re-arranged our living room!

We added a rug that had been upstairs, which made the floor softer. :) That clue threw off some of your guesses a bit. I love how it looks now! :D The new design of our living room is much more spacious and open and will work great for my grad party (I'm very excited about that!) :)

I did not cut my hair...

It's the same length! :)

Surprising change...

I do not have pictures yet of the surprise I want to show you all. But as soon as I do - you will be able to see it! :) First I have to see if I can find a 'before' picture, and then take some 'after' pictures. :) The whole thing was my mom's idea, and now it looks great!

See if you can guess what I'm hinting about! I would love to hear your guesses. I'll give you three hints -

• It involves something that now is softer.
• The surprise is a change that has occured.
• And, we did it partly with my upcoming graduation party in mind! :D

So there, let's see if that makes you curious. :)

Announcing The High School Graduation of...

We celebrate the blessing of our homeschooling journey by announcing the High School graduation of our daughter,

Julia.
We thank God for the privilege it is to invest in her life and education.
Robert & Gloria

I would like to take this opportunity to say how extremely grateful I am to my loving parents, Bob and Gloria, for caring so tenderly for me all my life, giving me the best possible education by schooling me in our home, and being such excellent role models for me to look up to and strive to reflect. I love them more than words can express, and I firmly believe that God has been very, very good to me in providing me with such wonderful parents.

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My homeschooling has been such a pleasure to me. I have learned valuable life lessons and I have been protected from so much of the heartache, struggles, and pain that I would have been subjected to if I hadn't been homeschooled. I have developed an awesome relationship with my two younger brothers and my parents are my two best mentors, guardians, and friends.

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Mama, you are such an inspiration to me. The way you have persevered and kept on homeschooling us in the midst of many trials and constant pain from your Rheumatoid Arthritis is truly awe-inspiring. I am so glad that we have hope for the first time in 12 years for your recovery! You are the true picture of a Proverbs 31 woman, and I am hereby rising up and calling you blessed. I love you.

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Daddy - thank you so much for being the best father, protector, leader of our home, and wise patriarch that I could have ever had. You are the shining example by which I will measure all the potential suitors that will come across my path in the years to come. I am so blessed by the fact that until the time comes for me to start my own family, I will be under your loving protection and care. I love you.

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Mark and Steven,

I am so thankful that you are my brothers. It is so exciting to see the many ways you are growing up and maturing into godly young men. What would I have ever done if I had not had you two around? The house would have been so still and silent and lonely without you. You guys are the best brothers I could ever wish for. I love you.

Shabby Blogs - abounding loveliness!

I fell in love with this sweet website! They have amazing, lovely backgrounds, headers, post dividers, tag sets, buttons and blinkies for your blog! The best part, you ask? They're ALL FREE! I know! Incredible, right?

I'm currently using the Everything sidebar tag set on my sidebar... that's the pink pictures that say things like "about" "follow me" and "friends". Miss Elizabeth has asked me how I put them on my sidebar.They were not that easy to install, but this is how I did it.

• I went to shabbyblogs.com. and clicked on their 'Shabby Extras' section.
• I picked out a tag set and clicked 'download tags'.
• It took me to a free file-sharing website called mediafire. If you look carefully you can find where it says 'click here to download' inside a light-yellow box. click that.
• I then clicked 'open'
• Then instead of saving the files, I simply clicked on each file and saved the pictures of the tags to my computer.
• Once the pictures were in my computer, I put each of them into a picture gadget in my blogger layout page and dragged them to where I wanted them in my sidebar.

Hope that helps, Miss Elizabeth! :)

Let me know what you all think about the Shabby Blogs website! :)

Jasmine's Post on guarding hearts & emotions

My dear friend Jasmine Baucham has posted an excellent post on her blog about guarding our hearts and emotions. Do go check it out and come back and tell me what you think! :)

Daddy & Mommy - Married for 20 years...

Yep, today's the day! Mama & Daddy have been married for 20 whole years.



Together they've been walking a path. A straight and narrow way, but such a beautiful journey. My parents are a wonderful example of a loving, caring, patient, peaceful, happy marriage. It's the best one I've ever had the pleasure to see. Our home is joyful. Someday, when I meet my Prince Charming, my future husband, I want to have a marriage just like the one my parents have.

Mama wrote a loving tribute to Daddy over on her blog. You can stop by and wish her a Happy Anniversary there! :)

For those who are curious, today we spent the day at home, had delectable barbecued baby back ribs for dinner with steaming corn on the cob, drizzled with melted butter, and homemade hearty oatmeal bread on the side. It was delicious!
Daddy is going to take Mama out to dinner this Friday to the Seafood Buffet at the Callaway Gardens Plant Room Restaurant for an 'extra-special' meal.

And we are planning to finally put our family photos (Yes, the ones we took before converting to digital) into scrapbooks, so we can look over, remember, and enjoy the memories of the past 20 years.

Happy Anniversary, Daddy and Mama! :) I love you!

My 1st Blogoversary

Julia's Journal is officially 1 year old! :) Happy birthday to my little blog! :D

It's been a wild ride this past year - me growing up, sharing my world with all of you... it's been precious. I'm so glad I started this blog. I've met such lovely young women through blogging, and I've even had the privilege of meeting some of them in person.

Blogging has broadened my world, given me an outlet to share about all sorts of things, enlightened, encouraged, uplifted, and inspired me.

If you have enjoyed my blog in the least in this past year, (that includes today!) would you consider leaving me a comment on this special, one of a kind post? I'd love to hear from you.

Love & Hugs,

God and Blackberries

God.

All-knowing, All-Powerful, Omnipresent (big word - it means he's everywhere).

I took a walk down our long, rambling, rutted gravel driveway today. I heard the gravel crunch pleasantly under my mom's crocs that I was wearing, the 90-something degree heat seemed to pulsate in the air around me, the sun shone brilliantly through the woods surrounding our log home.

I saw wild blackberries ripening in our spontaneous, entirely self-governing blackberry patch. Some are tinted with just a hint of pink, some are still a pale green, some are red. None are black yet. But I know they will be. Soon the juicy, tangy sweetness of them will be converted into jam and spread with butter over homemade biscuits.

I cannot see the ripe berries yet. I only see un-ripe ones. But I know there will be ripe berries for me to enjoy later, if I just wait a little while.

I cannot see God. In the flesh, anyway. I see him in what he does, what he has promised he will do, and what I feel when I'm listening to him.

I will not get to enjoy those blackberries if I just sit comfortably in the house, in the air-conditioning, on my big soft bed, waiting for them to just fall into my mouth. Procuring those berries takes a little, well, maybe a lot of effort. I might be scratched by those wicked thorns, bitten by chiggers, (shudder) and burned by the sun while picking them.

I will not have a very fruitful life if I just coast along, not making any effort, acting totally lazy about improving myself and the world around me and refusing to grow up. Fact: Growing up is hard. There are thorns, there are bugs, and there are burns.

Yet ....

I know there is something greater waiting for me. Those ripe blackberries beckon. New stirrings and awakenings are rising up from the depths of my heart. God is real. This I know. Not just because the Bible tells me so - I see Him. He calls me by name. He comforts me when I've been hurt, and he is there when I cry out to him. God is with me as I walk through this life, and He will be waiting to welcome me into His heavenly kingdom someday.

If you haven't cried out to God, ever, there's no time like the present. If you grew up in church but ... something's stale in your relationship with our Heavenly Father- don't wait anymore. Refresh yourself. Spend some time with Him.

Get ready to pick those blackberries.

Love & Blessings,