They won!

I can't believe that I haven't yet said anything about the fact that Saint Louis won the World Series! I was in New York the night I found out that they had won. And, yes, I am thrilled that they did it in my lifetime. Yay for 'my boys':-)

Now for the random pictures and thoughts!

Here's a better pic of my sister's horse, Selah.



She's really quite a pretty girl. Oh, Naomi, I'm pretty sure she's draft/arab, but, I'll let Nessa correct me if I'm wrong.

I do have some funny, random shots that I took with my siblings, but I have to deal with the serious red eye in them.

This picture is me with Matthew and Nyssa Smith. Matthew was one of my first piano students, and I was one of Nyssa's first ballet teachers. They live about 6 miles from my house in Illinois. It's so amazing to see just how much kids grow in a year.



Work and life keep me busy. My brother Jeremy and I are acting opposite each other in the Christmas play at our church. We are the innkeeper and his wife. I get to be annoying! It's quite fun.
Speaking of my brother; he and Jessica heard the heartbeat of their new little one for the first time. How cool is that? We had music practice last night, (Jeremy and Jessica are singing with me this week), and the two of them were seriously floating!

K, gotta run. Hope this finds each of you well.

Till next time.

Pics and stuff

I am back from my trip to Illinois. I am very happy to say that my little brother, Jeff, is feeling much better. Today the stiches will be removed, and after talking to him last night, I feel that he will find the whole experience some new adventure.
Here he is, along w/ Nessa, and myself, the day after his accident.




My trip home was a surprise for most of my family, and I am so glad I was able to pull it off. My dad and Janessa were such a big help. Mom's reaction was great, but I think the best reaction was that of my brother, Joseph. He was studying for his mid-terms, and didn't hear me come in. I ran back to his bedroom, threw open the door, and yelled, "JOSEPH!" Poor kid! He jumped, looked at me, and then started saying, "congratulations"! His reaction was so random, that I am convinced that I really shocked him.


While home, I was also able to meet Janessa's new horse, Selah. She's beautiful! I was so excited to see the joy on Janessa's face. She has wanted a horse for as long as I can remember, and to see that dream come true was truly amazing.

I'll hope to get some better pics of Selah soon. She wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get many good shots:) Here I am trying to keep her nose to the camera for a few seconds.



There's an update for all of you:)

Please say a prayer...

for my little brother, Jeff. I am at home this weekend, (managed to surprise most of my family.) My baby bro, Jeff, is in the hospital right now. He slipped on a ladder, on his way to a hay loft, and fell onto a sharp object. He has a VERY bad cut under his armpit. It goes well into the muscle, and bone was showing. It was bad enough that the doctor is perfoming surgery right now.

I will keep you all updated, and I do want to tell more about my quick trip home.

Thanks for praying.

oy vey!

It's true, I have been away for awhile. And yes, a lot has been happening in my life.

In August I finally moved into my new place....

Hold it...let me back up to the end of June. I started my job at HSLDA with lights and action, (see previous post about my first day on the job.) I also hit the ground running. Besides getting back into a somewhat familiar job,I was gone 5 weekends in 1.5 months. I traveled for work to: Kentucky, Baltimore, California, and Ohio, and I managed a quick trip home for another wedding reception for Jeremy and Jessica. In August, I began to catch my breath, but that was short lived as the calls here at work began to come in at an average of 60 to 70 per day. Some days I topped off at 80. Besides the calls, I was also busy with many other aspects of my job.

For the month of July I was house-hunting, and in August, I moved into my beautiful place with my 3 awesome roommmates.

Katie's a legal assistant here at HSLDA. She keeps busy with her job, law-school and baking amazing fresh bread. She hails from Minnestota. Both of us love to cook, and just last night we both cooked and chatted the night away.

Abigail also works here at HSLDA in my department. She sent shockwaves through our home when an eager young lad began the quest for her heart, not 2 weeks after she came back to the area. (She had gone home for a long visit.) We knew it was serious the night he came over and thew stones at her window to get her attention!

Alyssa is a school teacher east of Purcellville. She hails from Indiana--another good midwestern girl. She delights in telling us stories of life as a teacher, and we have a blast hearing them.

I have also been keeping busy with church activities, Bible studies, Hebrew classes, and all of the things in life that constantly provide us with a reason the sigh and say, "I'm so busy".

I am enjoying my work here. I've made awesome new friends, and gotten back in touch with friends I "left" when I moved to Fairfax. I do still go and watch "my" kids. They have all grown and changed so much, even in these few short months.

September finds my job slowing from the crazy pace of August. It's also bringing cooler days--fall is here!

So, there you have it. I do hope to update this more often, now that I am stettled, but I make you no promises.


So, my adoring public, ie, Jeanette--there's a quick update!

hey all...

I hope that this finds each of you well. I have now switched jobs, and I hit the ground running! Between work conferences, going home, and a quick weekend away between jobs I've been gone for 5 weekends. I'm so excited to have this Saturday off that I can't decide what to do with myself. I have about 5 options, and I can only choose one;)

I'm really enjoying my work here at HSLDA. It does keep me hopping, but that's not always bad.

I know that this was a quick update. I at least wanted you to know that I'm still alive and kicking.

I'll be around;)

I spy a famous person

Yes, it's true, I think I saw a famous person at the airport on Sunday.

As I was boarding my flight from Columbus to D.C. I saw a girl and her mother and the girl looked very familiar. I kept thinking I'd seen her before. When we were walking onto the plane her mother called her Emily. That's when it hit me...Emily Hughes-- little sister to Sarah, the Olympic gold medalist. For those of you who don't follow figure skating, Emily also went to the Olympics.

I still wasn't sure that it was her, but her mom looked familiar to me, too. I kinda watched them out of the corner of my eye, and managed to promptly lose track of them at the baggage claim.
As I was standing with my older sister outside of the airport, I saw them again. This time the mom had a sign that said "Hughes" and Emily was sporting a Nike gym bag. A car pulled up and whisked them off somewhere.
So, she looked like Emily Hughes and that was her name, so I think I'm safe to say it was her.

Just had to share! Have a great day.

a first for everything...

Yes, it's true, there is a first for everything, but I didn't think my first speeding ticket would be in town, on my first day at a new job, as I worked on my mental check-list. Alas, so it was. The very unfamiliar blue lights in my rearview mirror brought me back to reality in a hurry;) Thank the Lord that he was a nice officer. I've always had this fear, that if ever I was pulled over, I'd get some grumpy officer. He was so kind, but, wahhh, he didn't let me off. Oh well...it will teach me not to try to figure out my life and its chaos while driving through town. It was funny--when he came to my window, he leaned over and said.."do you have your license?" The way he said sure sounded like he thought I wouldn't have one. I can't still look 15, can I?
His words of wisdom for me as he walked away were..."Do me a favor, and pay more attention, k?" Check:)

This morning, on my way to day 2 at HSLDA, I was comforted to observe not one, not two, but three cars pulled over for speeding on about a five-mile strech of interstate. See, I'm not the only one.

Anyhow, life goes on. I'm finished with my nanny job. It's really hard to believe. The time went by slowly at times, and then at the end seemed to fly by.
HSLDA is busy as usual. It's amazing how much of the job I remember. It does make the transition easier.

I have to keep this short for now. But I wanted to stop by and at least say, "hi"

Pictures of me and "my" kids:)

See what I mean? They look a lot like me;)

do you hear me complaining?

Yes, so you know how it is when you make an "agreement with God" about something, and then He tests you right away just to be sure you meant it? That was me today:) I have recently been listening to some teaching by Nancy Leigh DeMoss about complaining. I have been so convicted that I told God that I would strive to not complain, 'cause I was becoming really good at it. I told God that I would say 5 positive things about whatever/whoever I was complaining about when negative words tumbled out of my mouth, as they often, naturally do. So, today I was once again asked to help with spring cleaning. Today's task was scubbing marks off of the walls. Natually, in my sinful, human state, I began to grumble inwardly about this task, hehe. All of the sudden, out of nowhere, a voice sweetly reminded me of my promise to work on my complaining. Wahhh, so I had to think of five positive things. So, here's kinda how my thought proccess, ie. conversation with God went:

1. I'm thankful that I have arms to do this task, (but God, my arms are so tired,) sigh.....sorry...I am thankful.

2. I'm thankful for cleaning supplies that make this task easier.

3. I'm thankful for a mom that taught me that value of elbow grease.

4. ummmmm....can't think of anything. Okay, yeah, I did say 5......ummmm I'm thankful for hair bands to pull my hair out of my face.

5. ummmm.......................................water, yes water...thanks for water, ie. indoor plumbing

I really do have to laugh at myself sometimes 'cause I can be such a baby;) But, I really do think that even God gets a kick out of me sometimes.

The kids finished up their swim lessons today. It was fun to take them, but once again I had to set everyone straight about the fact that I was the nanny, not the mom. The kid's teacher laughed in my face when I told him, but then realized that I wasn't kidding. I'm going to put some pictures of them on here soon, so you can see just how much we all look alike.

I learned this weekend that I'm a terrible frisbee player, but I really didn't think that I was that great before, hehe. I missed not one, but TWO scores. My team managed to win without me, so good job y'all. Someday I'll master ultimate.

That's all for now folks. Have a great week, and be careful what you ask God to convict you of; He does hear you, *wink*

Happy Easter!

I hope your day was fantastic. I had a great Easter. My sister and I had a friend over and we ate and chatted all afternoon. She is a nanny, so we had a blast sharing our experiences:)

Jesus, and all He did and does for me every second of every day, continues to amaze me. I am such a flawed piece of human flesh, but through Him, I am being tranformed more and more into His image. I don't deserve the sacrifice, but I am so grateful for it.

Below is a pic of Jeremy and Jessica's first dance, so please enjoy. The newlyweds are doing very well. They loved their time in Hawaii, and seem to be settling into married life very well.

later.

The wedding was beautiful

My brother's wedding was fantastic. Almost 2 weeks later, I still feel like I'm catching up.
The bride was beautiful, (sorry no pics yet), and everything went so well.
The time since the wedding has gone by quickly. My work is keeping me hopping, and this last weekend I did get a chance to go and see the cherry blossoms in D.C. They were beautiful!! It was so fun to just go and enjoy the beauty.

So, I will hope to come back soon and give a more lengthy update.

tired of looking at the dwarf?

Me too. Sorry...once again my busy life has left you out of the loop. I am running here and there, and the time seems to be flying. This time next week, I will be preparing to walk down the aisle at Jeremy and Jessica's wedding. I remember thinking in August, when they were engaged, that March 25th seemed such a long time to wait. But, here we are already. Amazing.
Nannying is going quite well. It's hard work, but it does have its rewards.

Life is really the same old, same old. Nothing that new. I think it's just been extra busy of late.

I went to D.C. last night with Jeanette. That was interesting. It was St Patrick's Day, and I swear we were probably two of maybe ten sober people on the train when we left the city. It was really amazing to observe all of the drunks that were out "celebrating" St Patrick. Aspects of their behavior was funny--the singing was great! But, in a real sense, I was sad for them. Their talk was so disgusting, and their behavior was pathetic. They didn't have an ounce of dignity. What's really sad is the fact that many of them think that their lives are normal. They don't even know what they are missing. When someone has lived like that their whole life, how can they be convinced of anything else? Only by the grace of God do any of us know the truth. I was just overwhelmed by the sheer volume of empty people around me in such need of new life in Christ.

Anyhow, there you have it. Prayer is needed in this place; the hope of Christ is needed so badly. Thankfully, I serve a big God who loves to change lives!

Have a fantastic weekend.

hehe, that's funny:)

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

of trees, bumps and bruises

Yes, a word to all wise freeze tag players: Beware low hanging tree branches! Yup, as I was playing freeze tag with the kids earlier this week, I mangaged to clip a low lying branch with the top of my head, and did it ever hurt. I had headaches for two days following, a bump on the top of my head, and a messed up neck.
But, anyhow-life does go on. I now have something akin to the flu--it's getting better today, but I'm still not feeling great. Needless to say, it's been a long week.
I have been so blessed this week to be able to look up and see stars here in the city! The strangest things bless me, and that's one of them. Just being able to see the stars on a clear winter night lifts my spirits so much.
My Hebrew class is going well. I feel so much like a fish out of water--a conservative Christian with a bunch of liberal Jews, but I know there's a purpose in my being there.

Another short and sweet update.

Later.

S.A.D.

Or, Single's Awareness Day as it is called. Jeanette was the host this year, and basically we ate chocolate, talked about life as busy singles, and watched a great movie. We had several girls that had planned to come, but at last minute were unable to make it. It turned out to just be me, Steph and Jeanette. We had a great time.
The most entertaining moment of the evening came when Steph and I decided to dance in Jeanette's living room. Understand that Jeanette's living room has a HUGE sliding door that is covered by sheer curtains. It was night, so someone outside could have seen our outlines as we danced. Steph and I started doing a dance that was a combination of several different styles. I have no idea what you would call it, but anyhow, it was funny-and had to look as dumb as it felt. After dancing for 30 seconds or so and stopping to control our giggles, we heard from outside, "honk honk honk honk honk...honk, honk. It was done in a very deliberate beat. We all about died laughing and began to wonder if the car was really honking at us. So, foolish, chocolate, coffee filled girls that we were, we decided to dance again, just to see. And sure enough, the car honked the same beat after we had finished.
We disolved into fits of laughter...it was so funny!!

It's COLD here tonight! 20 degrees or less. Yikes! Oh well, it is still winter.

Have a lovely, chilly night.

Trust the French?

I don't think so! Safeway, by name and experience does seem like a safe place to buy groceries. It's a nice, friendly grocery store...or so I thought.

Krista and I were out and about a few days ago buying groceries...a very normal activity for normal people;)

As I was waiting on the checker to scan my items, the conversation went something like this.

French dude: "Do you have Safeway card?"

Me: "nope"

French dude: "Do you speak French?"

Me: "very little."

French dude: "Do you play tennis?"

Me: "very little."

French dude (looking far to intently into my eyes): "Oh, I would love to play with you sometime. Do you know this place down the street, turn right and over a bit? Here, let me give you my number."

At this point I start to get uncomfortable. The people behind me were snickering and seemed a bit amazed at this lousy attempt to "pick up a girl".
He takes out some paper and jots down his number, and shoves it toward me. At this point I just want to leave--fast. I smiled, thanked him, and started to leave. In my flustered state I had forgotten to sign for the charge. So, he called me back. Now, he knew my name, and so started telling me by name to call him. I was really wanting to go now, but Krista had other ideas--she decided this was a great time to play leach, and so grabbed onto my leg and waited for me to drag her a bit. So, I'm trying to carry 4 heavy bags, drag Krista, who happened to be hanging onto my leg, and get AWAY from this french ding ding. We finally made it out, but not before he said again to call him and said some fancy, freaky, french farewell. ewwww...
So, moral of this story--don't trust the french in Safeway;)

Life continues on its busy pace. Mom and dad came to visit!
They have been here for several days longer than planned after the van suffered a transmission failure upon arrival. I took the day off Wednesday and spent it cooking with mom and chatting with dad. It was very fun.

My Hebrew class is lots of fun:) We learned the Hebrew word for husband last week. It means: Master. Needless to say, that did not go over well in a room full of secular, liberal Jews. Now, I want to do a word study on it...should be fascinating.

So, there you have the latest, odd experiences in my life. Talk to you soon;)

blush:)

Soooo, today's post is the embarrassing/klutz moments post. I've had several this past week, and felt so inclined to share.

Last Sunday started my week like all weeks should start. I'm a master at falling up stairs. I have fallen down them, (Take the time at my brother's house and the wipe out that had me limping for a day), but most of the time I fall up stairs. Go figure;) Our church is finally in our new building, but the stairs are a bit dangerous. They have a dangerous lip on them. Anyhow, as I was walking into church last week, in my classy, (totally dumb) heels, I caught my toe in on of the lips and started to tumble. I managed to ungracefully catch myself and grab the handrail for dear life. It's at this moment I look up and note a man from our church trying to hold in a snicker. His consolation: "I did that same thing, too". hehe, well if I'd been him I would have laughed too. I seriously think I could have won an America's most klutzy home video competition if they had one.

The next two moments all happened in one day--yesterday.
I was playing "Bad Grandpa" with my charges. Bad Grandpa is game we invented which basically is me or a poor, unsuspecting babysitter chasing rowdy kids up and down stairs while accusing them, in a VERY bad accent of some kind, that they are bad grandchildren. Grandpa, (me) then catches and tickles them until they are rescued by another "grandchild". I have often asked how they came about calling me grandpa, and they have no explaination. Anyhow, I was trying to catch Justin who was running in circles around the table, and his little sister somehow ran into me and shoved me into the china cabinet--hard. I'm amazed that I don't have a purple jaw line this morning. It was a very ungraceful moment in my nanny career.

Lastly--Jeanette and I were dropping off my car last night, and while stopped at a light I started making faces at her in my rearview mirror. She was in her car behind me, and having had a bad day; naturally, I thought I should cheer her up. So, I started jamming to my music, laughing and being a general idiot. I thought she could see me, and was reacting, so I kept it up. It was then that I felt eyes on me. I looked to my right and what should I see, but a guy in the neighboring lane pointing, laughing and raising his eyebrows at me. I quickly grabbed my cell and called Jeanette up. She informed me that she had not seen me at all. I chose not to look back at the guy who seriously must have thought I was out of my mind, and drove, fast when the light changed.

So, there you have it. I'm such a unique creation, and so felt the need to share some of my strangeness with you. Have great day on this rather springlike January day. Let's just hope I don't have more things to share at the end of this day..

Later!

Julie

A night in DC

It's a lovely, lazy Saturday afternoon, and it's supposed to reach 65 degrees here today, yesss!
Last night Jeanette and I met in DC for a night out "on the town". We met at Ruby Tuesdays, (I'm on this liver detox diet right now and so needed a place with a salad bar.) Anyhow, it's in the heart of Chinatown DC, and it was packed with fans eating a bite before the game at the MCI center across the street.
As we waited I was able to observe the stark differences in people that God had the creativity to make.
We sat for 10 minutes, and no one came by our table. (Please note that every table around us had been attended to.) We decided that for time's sake we would get salad, but still no one came. At 15 minutes Jeanette asked another waiter if someone might be able to come by, so we could at least order drinks. He assured us that someone would be by. When 20 minutes had come and gone we decided to leave in order to make our movie in time.

I was cool just leaving and eating later. After all, in my reasoning, they were busy, and so we needed to just leave it be. Let it go!

Jeanette, on the other hand, wanted to make sure that they knew that we were leaving and why. I tried to talk her out of it, being the sometimes wimpish peacemaker that I can be, but she was not to be swayed. She ended up telling the manager about it before the night was over. Please note that, during this interchange, I was literally hoping that the door I was leaning against would swallow me up.
We finally left, and she being the astute one that she is, noted that I was uncomfortable. She explained her reasoning: "The manager needs to know that his staff is not doing their job. If I was a manager, I would want to know." Savy?

So many personalities are so different, but in truth with out each one working together, people like me would be walked on even more often than I am now, and people like Jeanette would rule the world, hehe;)

Oh, so another funny story before I tell you about the movie. We were walking to our theater, and somehow these two really tall guys got between Jeanette and I. She kept walking, and I literally could not get around them; they took up most of the hallway. I was behind them jumping up and down trying to watch Jeanette, and finally I took off at dead run to get around them at catch up to her. As I was running I yelped, "I can't get to you!!", as dramtically as I could. I didn't look back to see their faces, but I think I'm safe to say that they found my craziness rather amusing.

So, we went to see the movie, "End of the Spear". It's based on the story of Nate Saint and the other four men who took the gospel to a remote tribe in South America. They did lose there lives there, but that's where the story really began. It's a beautiful retelling that had me in tears at several points. The one "downside" is that the natives show a LOT of skin. Granted, these actors were more covered than the real natives were, but it's something to be aware of before going in:) It's an amazing story of forgiveness really. One of the final scenes took my breath away. A man chooses to forgive the native who took the life of his father some 40 years before. It makes you think, and I'll leave it at that;)
I encourage you to check it out.

I'll type at you soon.

back to the East

Hey. I'm back in Virginia, and life has settled into it's normal pace as it were. I had such a blast at home this past Christmas. It was tough to settle back into life as usual, but I think I'm all good.

K, I've been sitting here for 5 minutes looking at this screen, and I can think of nothing creative to say. sigh...so, rather than typing random thoughts, I will just leave it at that for now.

Talk to you soon.