Back to the Blog

I have missed blogging a great deal. It is an outlet, that as my friend Joanne would say is cheaper than therapy. One thing that sort of brought my blogging to a screeching halt was when I made it private. I am a pretty open person. I hate the feeling of being false or concealing my feelings. Sometimes the things I think and write are not theologically sound. Sometimes my words don't come out right. Sometimes what I write here on my blog is in process. I am going to stop making apologies for it. God is with me even in the dark places where other people don't always want to go. If you are troubled or concerned by anything you read here, you are free to use that little X in the upper right hand corner, and visit here no more. It won't hurt my feelings. As for me, I will continue to blog my little heart out as I see fit.
Since I am no longer in "Texas" I will probably be relocating my blog to a "JulsnWV" address or something on those lines. Stay tuned.

Happy Birthday To Me

I am thinking I don't have the flu - but a really bad cold. I actually feel better this morning than last night - but still icky. Before going to bed last night, I was on my Google homepage, and saw a picture pop up of myself as a wee one! It was a preview to the most excellent birthday blog tribute that I have ever received by my soulmate, Idgyernielouiseethel. It would be the delight of my life to one day stand in front of the Eiffel Tower and make those faces with her! Geesh - we are a mess together.
The birthday morning started when I came out my bedroom door to a world full of curled ribbon streamers. birthday cards, lit candles, a ready coffee pot and all kinds of other things my offspring know make me exceedingly delighted. They really are the most awesome kids.
Then rounds of phone calls started, and emails. It is truly great to be loved.
I have some birthday thoughts - things that are on my mind, and things that are important to articulate if for no one else but myself today, but I am not sure my congested head can make sense of any of it, so I will try back later. For the record, I am 38. I don't mind - I'm healthier and happier now with my life than ever before, and although I may trade that for just a moment to revisit my youthful body and the energy of my younger years, I would not for a second trade away what I know deep within myself to be true and real and the grounding I have found in the love of the Lord, that has only come with these passing years.
Happy Birthday to me!

Hairy Subject

I have been letting my hair grow for a while now. Basically what that means is I have a lot of hair and I don't really know what to do with it much of the time. About week ago I decided that I wasn't 16 (major revelation) and that I did not have the right kind of face to wear my hair without bangs. So, I snipped them, and have been ever so happy that I did. I also realized that I hate my hair permed. In the east Texas humidity what it means is that I have long strands of fuzz going down my back. Thanks to some terrific hair products, I can blow dry and smooth my hair out and I almost have the hair I like - although admittedly much of the time at home it is in one of those clips the size of the jaws of life or a ponytail. I am not sure that the long hair would be do-able in Texas with the heat we have here. We already had the AC on in the car yesterday and you can smell the ocean! For better or worse here is a picture -my kids hate it cause I'm not smiling, but I was trying to take it of myself - ergo the remote!
I just want to say that I took these pictures yesterday morning, so I am not snagging Kate's hair posting idea! ha ha Her haircut is so awesome!

Me on NG

Kullen showed me this awesome site called MagMyPic
- and he helped me choose a picture for my magazine cover.

This was pretty fun! Except lordy lordy - I just realized that my blogging audience had to see a picture of me TWICE in one day. Sorry about that folks, your vision should return to normal shortly!!

I Miss Me

I have not been myself, especially here in the blogosphere. Whenever I have a moment to quickly blog, I look at this little white box, and the blankness of it does not speak to me as it normally does. I got nuthin'. I have rapidly shooting random thoughts of things to blog about, such as...... how in Texas there is no "-ing" blend. If you want to say STRING - what comes out is strang. If you want to say FINGER - what comes out is fanger. And I wonder, if I tie a strang on my fanger will it help me remember all those nifty ideas of things to blog about? I wonder how people in the deep south learn phonics, reading or spelling. These ideas quickly shoot through my head never developing into an actual post. I am hoping to get to bed earlier than I have been (midnight) and get a good night's sleep. Perhaps the morning will bring me endless topics to blog about. Nitey nite!

Hopelessly Flawed

I don't usually have very many pictures of myself - being that I am always the one "behind" the camera. Once in a while it gets turned on me and when it does, it isn't usually pretty. (For example the "windstorm" picture with my friend Tina in the sidebar!) The picture here was taken this weekend at the youth's "progressive dinner". Anybody that knows me at all will recognize this as quite typical. (laughing at me is the pastor's daughter, Missy on the right who I am sure will be happy to find her picture here as well!)
And while I am confessing my faults, let me say that the other day, I had not one but TWO WHOLE BATCHES (that's 8 loaves) of bread flop. The first batch flopped because I forgot to add yeast. Flour + water + oil - yeast = bricks! The second batch was put in the oven before I left for church, and although I asked Travis to take it OUT of the oven in 30 minutes (when the timer went off), he claims he didn't hear me. I came home to 4 lovely charcoal briquettes!
How about you? Are you weird? Do you fail? Aren't you glad that Jesus loves us anyway? But don't you sometimes ask yourself why???

Answers to Party Game #1

I thought I would not leave the great crowd in lingering suspense!

1. TRUE - I have lived in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland - and now Texas!

2. FALSE - I never played in the school band. I always loved to sing. Although, as an adult I would like to learn to play piano and/or guitar.

3. TRUE - My friend Lizbeth and I were lost once with four of our children on the Appalachian Trail. We went hiking on a late February day - one of our children tired of walking, and while we tired of carrying her (uphill the whole way) we could not find our way out. We were rescued by a friend's husband who was an avid hiker well after dark. Moral to the story: always take your cell phone hiking. I was thankful to have just enough battery to make a call for help! (Although to this day Lizbeth SWEARS we were not lost - like it's perfectly normal when hiking to huddle under an emergency blanket, sheltered in a improvised lean-to, singing songs in the dark to calm our children and PRAYING somebody finds us! hee hee) Our pastor did at least award us both with compasses and whistles - as well as certificates for doing our part to enrich the prayer life of our congregation! Good times - good times!

Getting to Know You - Slide Show Edition

One thing that you like to do at a party is get to know some new people - or get more familiar with people you may already know. I have already posted 13 Scarecely Known Things About Me, and a Party Game to see how well some of you may already know me, but I thought visuals would be nice. I was going to make such a slide show for my birthday - but hey, I'll be one of those nerdy people who whip out the pictures during the Ultimate Blog Party!

Don't forget to let me know that you're hosting a party too! But don't forget - if you don't sign the Linky at the Ultimate Blog Party - other party-goers will not find you!

Party Game #1

My friend Karen is so clever - she figured out a way to host an awesome game for the Ultimate Blog Party on her blog! I just played this one at another party and thought it was an awesome way to get to know each other. I am going to tell you three things about me - two are true and one is made-up. You have to guess which one is fiction!

1. I've lived in every state on the East Coast from Florida to Maryland.

2. I played the clarinet in band during my high school years.

3. I once got lost on the Appalachian Trail.

T13 Edition #2 - Thirteen Wonderful Birthday Surprises

Yesterday was my birthday. My children did so many things to make it extra-special to me. Read on:

1. 6:30 am breakfast, complete with the Happy Birthday song, and a back rub!
   
2. Hugs around every corner – and an abundance of birthday wishes!
   
3. The kitchen made a secret shroud as the children laughed and played music, and commenced baking
   
4. A gooey chocolate-chocolate chipped birthday cake was presented just before dinner.
   
5. Hand-made embellishments made for the cake – a #37, a birthday cake and a small gift.
   
6. Chocolate covered blueberries and a pretty necklace from my younger daughter.
   
7. A hummingbird feeder from my son so that we can watch the birds together.
   
8. Decorated pamphlet presented for a "spa night"
   
9. A hot bubble bath, with candles all around, floating "flowers", homemade "Clementine" bath salts. 15 candles lit, and my favorite instrumental CD – the soundtrack to 'Little Women' playing – (There is no way to describe this that does it ANY justice! It was incredible. Not only did they run the tub and light the candles, but Kendra scrubbed the bathroom today and made it shine, then they cleared away every shampoo bottle and razor so that there would be nothing but bubbles, flowers and candles!)
   
10. Eucalyptus body wash and banana body butter, gifts from my older daughter.
    
11. A long massage – back, hands, feet, head
    
12. Facial complete with mud mask
    
13. Hot tea and precious company to watch my favorite movie, 'Little Women'!
    

This was the BEST birthday of my life! The pampering was enjoyable and precious – but the hearts of three children who love me so much, to give such a selfless gift of time, and energy was overwhelming. It is good to be so loved!

Thirteen Things about YOUR NAME 1…. Start your list here! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The View From My Front Porch

I am sitting in my wicker rocker on my front porch. My mother-in-law gave it to me when we moved into our new house and I promptly painted it black to match my porch swing. The weather is just about perfect – light but not overly sunny. There is a gentle breeze with a mild temperature in the high 60s. I can hear birds singing, and the occasional passing car. My dog Jett has been laying here beside me chewing on a stick for the last half hour, and life is just about perfect for him. At the end of the street where the highway overpass is, I can hear an occasional truck. The house across the street is abandoned. The people put a mobile home on the back of their property and left the house which was in too much disrepair for the elderly people to keep up with. Every once in a while I hear a gull sounding bird, and smell beach air. I know it isn't my imagination because we don't live that far from the Gulf of Mexico. Sometimes I wonder how I got here – and other times I am deliriously happy. I think about the years we will live on and off of this porch. Maybe one of my daughters will be asked for their hand in marriage here. (I will probably sweep before then.) Family reunions, grandbabies learning to walk, small children climbing the rails. I can imagine Travis and I sitting on the swing in our golden years, saying nothing but knowing everything about the lives we've shared together. While sometimes this porch seems very empty, and I wish I could fill it rail to wall with all of my friends, today I am contented to have it to myself. I think my children are making something for my birthday. Sheets have been hung at both entrances to the kitchen and I have been given the "do not enter" speech, but through the storm door that leads to the front porch, I saw flames a moment ago. (YIKES – for real!) I have my feet up and a sweet, hot cup of coffee, and the leisure to blog my little heart out. Life is good here on my front porch!

Sweet Rude Awakening

My last thought before I drifted off to sleep last night was that I was going to sleep in. After all, it was my birthday, and I am blessed to work at home. Why not? But my conspiring children had a different plan. I think they intend to spoil me all day long. At 6:30 (gulp!) they thrust on the light in my darkened bedroom and entered singing "Happy Birthday" and carrying a plate full of breakfast. (A very LARGE plate of oatmeal, toast and scrambled eggs - enough for all four of us in fact!) I smiled and thanked them. I was still so sleepy, so I asked them to put it on my nightstand. Very quickly I realized that they were going to stand there and watch me sleep until I sat up and ate something! It was so sweet. I never did go back to sleep – but the three of them have taken over my bed and are in there snoozing now. I am so very blessed. How did three such awesome kids ever come from a wreck of a mom like me? God's grace. How beautiful.

Paranoid

People are whispering behind my back and stop talking when I enter the room. My kids took off in the mall today without me. Groceries I did not buy are appearing in the fridge and pantry. The phone is hung up quickly when I come around the corner. In the car this evening I asked my younger daughter what she was thinking about, and she said, "I can't tell you." Am I being paranoid? I don't know. Maybe it could be just because my birthday is tomorrow! I keep reminding my children that "I'm the birthday girl – almost!" Hee hee

Oh yeah – and when I tried to show them my awesome jujitsu moves, they just laughed at me. (does anybody even know what jujitsu is?)

T13 Edition #1 - Thirteen Scarcely Known Things About Me

1. I can say the entire Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish, even though I've always thought it was weird to pledge allegiance to the US flag in a foreign language!
   

   Juaramenta a la bandera de los Estados Unidos de America……. Don't make me prove it!
   

2. I talk on the phone sometimes while I use the bathroom. (Okay so maybe some of my good friends know this – but don't let on! Thanks for the discretion!)
   
3. I used to have an OCD issue with writing words on the back of my teeth with my tongue. It started when I was in high school. I had a whole routine about how I would do this – if the word had an even amount of letters I would split them up evenly on those two front teeth. If any words had an odd amount of letters, I would have to put the odd letter in the slight space in the middle of my front teeth – but it would have to be the letter in the EXACT center of the word. I promise – I seriously used to do this people, I couldn't make this stuff up.
   
4. Three of my closest friends have birthdays in January, and four of my other closest friends have birthdays in November.
   
5. I smoked from the time I was 14 until I was 26 – except when I was pregnant or breastfeeding. I am the worst kind of ex-smoker - it makes me sick to be around it - I can't stand the smell of smoke on clothing or furniture, OR in the air.
   
6. I have moved over 30 times in my life - and attended 16 schools growing up.
   
7. My left ear is pierced three times, and my right ear is pierced twice – and even though as a teenager I thought I would always wear tons of earrings, I never wear more than two.
   
8. When I sneeze, sometimes air comes out my right lower eyelid. (I asked my Pastor once if that ever happened to him, and he stepped back, looked at me like I was a freak and said, "No.")
   
9. I want to be a missionary when I grow up.
   
10. It is important to me that a book "feel" right before I buy it. I prefer paperbacks to hardbacks, and can reject a book strictly because I do not like it's cover. I absolutely loathe dust jackets.
    
11. One of the highlights of my life was meeting the missionary women that had been held captive in Afghanistan when they appeared at a Women of Faith conference. I met them when I got my Prisoners of Faith book signed that my friend Kate bought for me. One of the other biggest highlights of my life was watching her get all nervous about talking to them when it was our turn! She is one of the most confident people that I know – and this was an absolute role reversal for the two of us. I lurched out with a comment about a intestinal worm story – and Kate stuttered and stammered.
    
12. I take shorthand at about 90 wpm.
    
13. I sing in the shower – loudly and without reservation, and have passed this genetic trait on to my three children.
    

So now that you know a little bit more than you probably ever wanted to about me – how about you?

You know you have OCD when....

.....you can't concentrate while doing your quiet time in the morning because you notice dust around the edge of the living room rug, you can't write a blog entry because while pouring your coffee you noticed that the stove top desperately needs windex-ed, and when you're brushing your teeth you are so distracted by the Ty-d-bowl blue of the slight leak on the floor at the back of the toilet that you jam your toothbrush into your gums! This was my morning. I had to STOP EVERYTHING and do some house-cleaning. I don't think of myself as a "clean freak" -but I like things a certain way - and when they aren't it drives me nutty. While I am being so candid about my neurosis - let me tell you that my worst ever episode was one night when irritated by the bed covers that were twisting a strangle-hold around my legs, I ripped all of the covers off of my sleeping husband and remade the bed around him! Obviously there is an issue here - but since there is no chance I will be living in a white rubber room all by myself anytime soon - I and those that love me will just have to learn to live with it! Besides - I would be distracted by the blank walls and silence! There's no hope!

Oh yeah, and when I was windex-ing that stove - I noticed a button that says "speed bake". Any idea what the heck that thing is? Freaks me out. I mean, why don't they just put a button on there that says "Burn". I guess I'll have to figure out where I put the owner's manual and do some reading up.

Community Theater

One of the first families I ever met that homeschooled was very involved in the local community theater. I never imagined I would be very good at, or much interested in being on the stage in front of a lot of people. However, I love music. I have been on the worship team at my church for six and a half years now. At first I was extremely nervous. I would literally feel my eyelids twitch, and was sure everyone could see them, my knees would turn to jello, my voice would sometimes crack. Even though my flesh was resistant, I desired to use the voice the Lord gave me to have a ministry in this way - and in obedience, I continued faithfully, until suddenly one day, I realized I was over it.

Last fall, there were auditions for the Christmas play at our local community theater - the Old Opera House for a musical called "Scrooge" - it's basically the story of A Christmas Carol with music. Everytime a musical came around I had toyed with the idea of auditioning. My kids would say, "Yeah, mom, do it with us. Come on!" I would always talk myself out of it because of the time commitment. There were many, many late nights involved. But, when I took my girls to audition for Scrooge, I was sitting in the room while everyone filled out forms, and being in a rather adventurous mood, I decided to just take a shot and see what happens. A couple days later, I got a call-back, and so did BOTH of my girls. We were so excited. We also got Kullen a part as a small boy extra. We worked on that play from late September until performances which were in mid-December. It was a great time - I know a time we'll never forget. One of the reasons this is on my mind right now is that the Christmas play this year is "Miracle on 34th Street" - and even though it isn't a musical, I would like to work on a play again. The auditions are this weekend - and so since nothing is happening with the sale of our house, I might just give it a try.
Here are some pictures of us in the play:

My big scene in the marketplace with Mr. Scrooge - that's me in the red dress - my daughter, Kendra with the purple skirt (peeking out) and white shawl to the right (my left), and the fourth girl over to the right of her, there is a girl wearing black with an orange scarf and brown bonnet - that is my daughter, Kaitlyn. Mr. Scrooge is here collecting money from all the poor shopkeepers who haven't money to pay him and terrorizing the town!

During rehearsals - I have on the gray sweatshirt and black pants in the center of this picture - and my daughter Kendra is on the right.

Here's the opening scene - a "postcard" if you will - we were frozen in order to make the beginning action scene more dramatic. It was a cool effect. Kendra is on the platform on the left (stage right) and Kaitly in in the front on the right (stage left) and I am just above her on the right platform steps.

This was a wonderful experience - and if you are able - I would HIGHLY recommend participating in community theater in your town. We had such a great time - it was a time I'll never forget! My kids also learned a lot about theater and literature and sharpened a skill that homeschoolers are often weak on - making friends and loving like Jesus loved people that are very different from you.