Against The Flow - and What's On Julia's Desktop!

I have been awarded by Marissa and Madison! Thank you SO much, girls! :)

"This award goes to all of the people who are living a life for God and
going against the flow of what the world might tell them to do."

This award really meant a lot to me, because I so desire to be living for the Lord and going about my life the way he wants me to, not the way the world dictates us to.

Some bloggers I consider as fellow "Against The Flow" people are (in no certain order)

Jasmine

Ella

Breezy

Emily Rose

Rachel & Jessica

Mckenzie

Mia at Aspiring Homemaker

Laney

Amanda

Jocelyn

And most especially my dear mother, Gloria, who has raised me to care about what God thinks more than what the world around me thinks. Not an easy task, for sure!

These bloggers are thus awarded. :)

Unfortunately, while writing this post, I ran out of time! So if you are seeing this and your name is up there and you haven't gotten a comment from me, rest assured, I will comment as soon as possible letting you know! :D

And, for the next part of the post... Behold, the picture currently on our computer desktop!
I love this! I made it today on Scrapblog.com and thought it was just TOO CUTE! :D I love pink, I love flowers, I love flourishes, and I love to laugh. :) So this is perfect. :D It will definitely be on there for a while. :D (usually I change the computer desktop picture nearly every week!)

♥Love & Hugs!

Currently I feel: Grateful and Content.

Fun In The Sun

Today we went to a home-church group that we've been attending for a good while now, and I am so enjoying it!

After the service and a picnic lunch, my two brothers and I went and played "Mush Ball" (Softball except with very large ball) and then a rousing, energetic game of Ultimate Frisbee. We had such a great time! I really enjoyed being on the same team as my brothers. Unfortunately I left my camera at home so I don't have any pictures. If I did, you could see my blossoming sunburn. On the way home Steven - my youngest brother - asked me "Julia, why do you get so pink?" (lol - I wish I knew!) The boys don't burn as much as I do. :)

I also have a funny quote from the day... my dad caught a gigantic, enormous large-mouth bass (I wish I had a picture!!!!) at the lake near the host family's house, and it got held in the air for a while when it was shown to a large group of people down at the dock. Well, when it was gently swished in the water a bit and then let go, it suddenly flicked its tail and swam away.

An amazed youngster, who hadn't ever seen a fish released before, piped up and said "So what do they do, like ... die and come back to life???" (hee-hee!) I thought that was cute. :)

♥Love♥ and lots of ♥Hugs!♥

Right now I feel Amused by the Fish Quote, and slightly Tired from the events of the day! ;)

Fresh As A Daisy

Ta-Da!!

My lovely, sweet mom decided she wanted a new look on her blog for spring, so we put our heads together and she picked out a background and I designed a header to go with it. :) It was so much fun and the end result was, I think... wonderful! :D What do you think?

Please consider stopping by her blog and leaving her a comment if you like the new look. :)

Currently I am busily Working on a new "Water Lily" granny square (Yep, I'm definitely in a mad crocheting spree!) and feeling very Cheerful!

"Water Lily" Granny Square...

As you might be able to guess from my last post and this one, I have recently been crocheting - A lot. :) I tried a new pattern yesterday called the "Water Lily", and it has a (GASP!!) Three-Dimensional flower in the middle!

Observe:

I was SO excited when I finished this beautiful square... it was my first try learning anything from a 'pattern'. All my previous knowledge of crochet has come from first-person teaching. So I was so happy to discover that I could actually make something from a pattern, by myself! :)

Here's a better view of the flower in the center...

Since the pattern was called "Water Lily", I made the 'background' of the square out of a light vareigated blue, which gave it a nice ripply 'water' effect. :D

I am still waiting for my crochet pattern book to arrive in the mail ... I am really hoping that they're actually going to send it to me, not just take the money and leave it at that! :P

Anyway, I'm having such a delightful time crocheting these new granny square patterns. :)

Love & Hugs!

I'm feeling... very Creative! :D

'Willow' Granny Squares

My lovely friend Taylor- whose family met mine at the Botkin family/Christians at the Crossroads conference- pictured below with me (doesn't she look amazing in black and white?)......showed me how to crochet a new pattern of granny square called "Willow". I LOVE the pattern, it's fun to crochet and it looks gorgeous when you get it done!

Here are all the Willow squares I've made so far, displayed on top of the hope chest at the foot of my bed...

My original square was the pink one, and I branched out and made one in blue and green as well! I can't decide which design I like better. They're both pretty. :)
Taylor found the Willow pattern in this really neat book, which I have ordered and hope to get sometime next week.

I love to crochet, and granny squares are my absolute favorite thing to crochet, but all I knew how to do was the plain old original granny square, so I am SO excited about all these new patterns to try out! :)

I am feeling ... Creative and Excited!! :D

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

Do you ever get 'lost' in all the things you have to do?

You should have seen my to-do-list today, it fills up an entire notebook page, and I had to categorize it to keep everything straight! My categories were "Housework", "Chores" (Which is different from 'housework') "Email", "Blog", (of course!) "Diet" and "Schoolwork". Sigh! I have so much to do.

But yet, I can keep a smile on my face, because the things under "Housework", are things that are helping my family and I am furthering my family's welfare by accomplishing them.

Oh yes, and "Chores" is good because without them the house would be a mess and there would be chaos and confusion everywhere.

"Schoolwork", when finished, can also bring a smile to my face because I know I have learned some new, important things and thereby am a smarter person. (LOL)

"Email" is wonderful, because it means I have some very dear friends to correspond with! It's a blessing that I have to write them all down so I can keep track of them all! Why am I complaining about that???

"Diet" is a great thing, because my body is profiting by it and I am feeling healthier and more fit because of the things underneath that section of my to-do list! Yay!

And then we come to my favorite section... "Blog"!! :D I love my blog(s)! They are a excellent means by which to meet other like-minded young ladies and also this blog, my "Journal", is my own little soapbox where I can share what I think to the world. My cooking blog is a sweet little place to have some fun sharing yummy recipes and handy tips. So what if I have to write a list of the things I plan to do so I can keep it all straight?

I should be rejoicing that I have all of these things to do, instead of feeling bogged down or weighed upon by all the different tasks I have yet to finish today! So, now that I have preached myself a little sermon, I am going to get up from this computer chair and go check off every item on my to-do list as I do it with a happy heart, realizing that I am a blessed girl to have those things to check off. :)

I found that amusing little 'post-it-note' on Miss Jocelyn's blog and she graciously said I could use it. :)



I am currently: Busy, and Working, But yet... I am Happy!! :)

The Post With All The Awards...

I have five awards that have stacked up on me! Oh my! :) I am honored, but this means a lot of work! :) Here goes...

Thanks Madison! Behold the Gold Star Blog Award...


I am awarding the Gold Star Blog award to Laney @ Got Freckles, Amber @ HorseyGirl, Zoe @ Horses R My Life, and Lauren Ann @ Beside Quiet Waters.

Thank You Madison! This one is beautiful! The "One Lovely Blog" award...

I am awarding the One Lovely Blog Award to Jenna @ My Strength and Song, Rachel & Jessica@ Young Homemakers, Mckenzie @ Pecan Pastures, Bethany @ Polished Cornerstone, Katherine @ Pure In Heart, Emily Rose @ Simply Vintagegirl, and Breezy @ A Bowl of Moss and Pebbles.

Thank you Rachel! "The Lovey Award"

I am awarding the Lovey Award to Joelle @ A Stroll Through Delirium, Mckenzie @ Pecan Pastures, Lydia @ A Ray of Optimism, and The Meiners @ The Meiners' Blog.

Thank you Rachel! I am deeply honored! "The Godly Blog Award"

I am awarding the Godly Blog Award to Jasmine @ Joyfully Home, Ella @ All Because of Grace, Kaysie @ Alabaster Box, Mia @ Aspiring Homemaker, Madison @ Madison's Musings, Amanda @ The Daily Planet, and Jocelyn @ A Pondering Heart.


Thank you Rachel! The "Excellence in Blogcasting" award...

I am awarding the Excellence in Blogcasting award to Breezy @ A bowl of Moss and Pebbles, Amanda @ The Daily Planet, Jocelyn @ A Pondering Heart, and Madison @ Madison's Musings.


I am very sorry about my lack of links, but if you look on my sidebar you will find the blogs and names named. (I couldn't do all the links! It would have taken forever!)

I also want to do something that Madison did on her blog, which I thought was so sweet. To my blogging friends, (You're my friend if I've left you a comment) if I neglected to award you with one of these awards and you think it's just so neat, consider yourself awarded by me. :)

Blessings!

~Miss Julia

I am feeling Very Rushed!!

The Incredible Shrinking Julia

I got the title of this post from my dad... this morning when I walked out of my room he said "Julia! You look really slim!" This was very encouraging for me, because for the past 23 days I have been cutting back with my diet... eating only 1 carb a day and very few sweets. For example, for breakfast I usually have an apple and scrambled eggs. (We eat scrambled eggs every morning at my house because our chickens lay very tasty ones, and we like them for breakfast) and for lunch, I have a salad with chicken or a hardboiled egg, tomatoes, cheese, pickles, sometimes carrot slices or peels, but no croutons. I happen to really like salads, so this isn't a bad thing for me. You have to be careful though, because some dressings like Ranch and Caesar are PACKED with calories. Dressings like oil & vinegar or Newman's Own Light Balsamic Vinaigrette are a better choice.

Here is a picture of one of my typical lunches...

Anyway, I said "Thanks!" and sat down next to my dad on the couch. He kept looking at me and said "Wow.... my incredible shrinking daughter!" This made me laugh. :) I've lost about 12.8 pounds, going from pushing 160 pounds to 147.2 pounds as of this morning. :) Yay! :)

A picture of me taken in my room today.
I would like to get down to where I only weigh 140 pounds. I think that would be a healthier weight for me... as I'm 5'9", rather on the tall side. :) I've been riding our exercise bike every day (except for when I was sick) burning close to 200 calories every day, which has helped me a lot.

I didn't find this 'diet plan' anywhere... I simply asked my mom what I could do to lose a few pounds and she reccommended eating fewer carbs and more vegetables. So far it's working quite well! :)

I believe that it is a biblical principle to take care of your body, and I'm not doing it in an overly obsessive way - I'm simply taking good care of what God gave me. :)

Love and Hugs,

Currently I'm feeling... Refreshed! :)

Snow! In March?

I was shocked yesterday at how much snow fell! It was lovely, but quite a surprise! In the 3 years I've lived in Georgia, I've never seen so much snow here!!

That's my house. :)

Sorry about the crazy pictures... they ended up being uploaded with "no" format...

It's ironic, really, because we just went up to Michigan in January, and now in March we get dumped with more snow than we've ever seen except for Michigan. :)

It was cold, and blowy, and snowy!! Wow! :)

Thank you for all the comments on the "I'm sick" post... my family is still dragging... we camped out in front of the fire today and watched the melting snow drip off the roof. :)

Blessings!

*Coughing*...*More Coughing*...

I feel so out of it! I have been sick for 6 days with a high fever most of the time, a sore throat, and a horrible racking cough the entire time. I feel well enough today to sit here and type a little so I thought I'd let you know what was going on. :P I'm trying not to cough on the keyboard, lest I spread my pernicious germs. Ick.

I signed into my blogger dashboard a few minutes ago and was astounded by all the posts on my reading list that happened while I wasn't watching! :) There must be 50 posts by various authors that all deserve to be read... how will I ever catch up?

Thank you to all the people who have tagged and awarded me recently... It may take me a while to do the posts required by the tags and awards, as I really still feel quite ill.

My family was also suffering... my mom is still very sick and lying on the couch at present, but my brothers and my dad are feeling slightly better. Please keep us in your prayers!

Blessings,

A Very Unique, Interesting Tag

I have been tagged by Rachel! Thanks Rachel, this one is so much fun! :D

Here are the rules:
Use the first letter of your name to answer ALL of the following questions. If the person before you has the same 1st letter pick a new one. OR use different answers. :) You CAN NOT use anything twice, and you CAN NOT use your own name for the boy/girl question. After you are done, tag 5 people.......

1. What is your name?: Julia
2. A 4 letter word: Jump
3. A boy's name: James
4. A girl's name: Joanna
5. An occupation: Jewelry Designer (I am one!)
6. A color: What? A color that starts with J? oh dear. Um.... Jonquil! :D A pale shade of yellow.
7. Something you wear: Jodphurs (Riding pants - and yes, I actually do wear them, or used to anyway...)
8. A Food: Jams & Jellies
9. Something found in the bathroom: Junk? :D
10. A place: Jamaica
11. A reason for being late: Jam of Traffic :D
12. Something you shout: Um... Jitzakadoozee! (Okay, yes, I fudged that one)
13. A movie title: Oooh, this is hard... (the) Jungle Book
14. Something you drink: Juice of all kinds :D I love juice!
15. An animal: Jaguar
16. A song title: Joy To The World - hymn
17. A verb: Jiggle

I Tag,
Mckenzie, Lydia, Breezy, Emily Rose, and Gloria (my mom). :) Also anyone reading this is welcome to participate! :)