Tuesday 16 December 2008

100th post

I have two choices:

1. Take my hair down because I believe that it being up at the moment is giving me a headache

2. Sit at the computer, eat lollies, and hope that the headache will go away because, hello! my hair is finally out of my face!

I'll leave you to decide what choice I made :P



In other news, this is my 100th post!!!! Yay! Let's have a party!

That's actually quite sad considering I've had this blog for over a year.

Hmmm.... anyone getting the feeling that I need to post more?




Last Saturday I went to Kapunda with Rach to hand out juice, balloons, and stickers at a street party. Rach works for Flow FM which is a radio station. Flow FM were emceeing the event and were handing out free stuff, and so Rach asked me if I wanted to come and help.

I had so much fun! We walked up and down the main street about a hundred times, which was probably a good thing because we ate three doughnuts each, and had a steak sandwich for lunch. It was great to be able to hand out free stuff, and see little kids smiling. We were smiling all day :)

At one point, Lisa's (she and her husband Wayne own the radio station) shoe broke, and so we went with her to see where we could find a pair of shoes that she could buy. First we went to the chemist, but all they had were some ugly masseuse (?) shoes. However, one of the women working there said that the op-shop at the AOG church were having a sale, and so we headed on down there. When we got down there, they had some good shoes that both Lisa and Rach loved. What was most exciting though, was that all their women's clothing was $1 each!!!! I got a gorgeous red dress, and a pair of 3/4 bright yellow pants, and Rach got a few things as well. The great thing about the red dress was that it would normally cost at least $30, but I got it for $1 :)


Another highlight of the day was that I got to hold a snake!! Twice!

I got a little creeped out when it started to turn its head my way, and again when a kid brushed it up against my arm when I wasn't expecting it, but it was so cool!

Some kids finally got Rach to hold one as well, and we got heaps of photos of both of us holding the snakes, and also other kids holding the snakes.


We got heaps of photos from the day, but I have to get them off of Rach first.

It was a great day, and I'm so glad I went :D



Friday 28 November 2008

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is held on the fourth Thursday of November in America.
We don't celebrate Thanksgiving Day in Australia, but I thought that I would post about some of the things that I'm thankful for:

My parents
My brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, and sister-in-law
My nieces and nephews
A house that we can finally say is ours
My own room
Friends that accept me the way I am
Friends and family that put up with quite a lot from me
Wise parents whose advice I can trust
The fact that even though I may have to make a hard decision, my friends and family will back me up in it
The colour yellow
Spots and polka dots
My church
My church family
Friends whose advice I can seek
People that love me
My future husband
Babies
Children
That Kymberley got off safely this morning
That I got to TAFE early instead of late

And the list goes on and on and on and on......

Tuesday 25 November 2008

I need......

SLEEP!

And unfortunately, I don't see it in the near future....

You didn't know I could see into the future, did you????

Wednesday 19 November 2008

My Birthday!

Okay, I'm a little late in posting, but yesterday was my birthday!
I turned 17 :)

It started out with getting woken up at 5:40 by Mr. Fisher sending me an SMS saying happy birthday. After sending him one back saying he was crazy, he apologized saying that he didn't think I'd have my phone on.
I went back to sleep and slept really well after that until 6:45 when I had to get up to get ready for TAFE. Mum came in at about 7:10 and said breakfast was ready! She'd made me bacon and eggs for breakfast :D Normally I'm the one making them for someone else's birthday brekkie. I got my presents then.
I went to TAFE, and then I went out for lunch with Aunty Di, Mum, and Lisa. It was really, really yummy.
After lunch I had to go back to TAFE for the rest of the afternoon (by the way, I think it should be against the law to go to TAFE, school, or work on your birthday) and then Mum picked me up at 4. We went out to the Fisher's so that Rach and I could catch up, and then headed on out to Auburn. We went out to Auburn to have tea with Dad, Jo, Jimmy, Dave, and Josiah (my dad, brother, and the guys that are working with them). It was so much fun! It was great seeing Dad and all of them on my birthday. The hotel that we went to for tea was in an old house, and they'd set us up in a separate room.
It was so great.
It was a really good birthday!

Friday 14 November 2008

Oh man!

Whoa! I can't believe it, but I almost forgot to blog about something really cool that happened to me yesterday!

I got my P's! I passed my driving test!!!!

Apparently I didn't break any laws (which means I didn't creep over the speed limit. YAY!!!), and even though my parallel parking was a little shoddy, I still passed :)
We got back after the test and John (the guy who gave me my test) turned to me and said "You passed", and I replied "Are you serious?!"
I was so stoked! I'd been praying so hard.

Funny story: Mum and I went to exchange my certificate of passing (passification??? lol) for a sheet of paper that I get to keep til my driver's license comes in the post, and after I had my photo taken for my driver's license photo the guy who was taking my photo turned to me and said "Have a great day next Tuesday". I said thanks and walked out with Mum. As we got out of the Department of Motor Vehicle Registration (mental blank. Is that the right title?) I turned to Mum and I said, "What's next Tuesday?". She looked at me like I was absolutely crazy and said "Um, your birthday?!". We lost it. It was so funny!
In my defense of my absolutely over-the-top blonde comment, it WAS a random stranger saying it. You don't really expect a random stranger to be wishing you a great day on your birthday.
Even though it made me look really blonde, it made me laugh.

Tuesday 11 November 2008

I knew it! I have the plague!

On Tuesdays and Fridays I go to TAFE. This means that I take the bus four times a week.
I sit next to the window with my backpack on my lap so that people are able to sit next to me.
However, it's actually quite hard to get people to sit next to me (not that I try). Quite often, like today, I'll get to Tea Tree Plaza and no one has sat next to me the whole 1/2 hour trip. I've only ever had ONE guy sit next to me, and people my age tend to avoid me like the plague (hence the title).
I really don't mind, but I just think it's funny to sit there watching the bus fill up while people around me either move past me to sit somewhere else or stand while there's a free spot next to me!

Ahh well, their loss

Monday 10 November 2008

Go check it out!

Tomorrow I'm touring a book called 'Plain Perfect' by Beth Wiseman. It's about the Amish, and in light of that, on my book blog I've linked to a few websites about the Amish, what they believe, their wedding customs, and some of the quilts they make.

So, go check it out :)

Sunday 9 November 2008

Haha!!!

We went to Macca's tonight after church. It was lots of fun!
Jimmy stole a little converse shoe keyring off of Steph's main keyring, and gave it to me to hold onto. Well, when Steph noticed that it was missing, all hell broke loose! She was yelling (all in good fun) and going on and on.... She suspected me at first, but I told her that "I didn't take it! I promise I did not take it this time! I swear that I did not take it!" She believed me. Then she wanted to know where I'd put it. I kept saying "I didn't take it!". Emma (traitor!!!!!!!!) told her that I had it, and while she was busy betraying me, I went out to the playground with Jack. Steph came out and was trying to figure out where it was. She gave up after a little bit, and Jack and I sat and chatted for awhile. Later on, Jason, Jo, and Moses came out to the playground. Jason warned me that Steph was incoming, and I started freaking out :P
Jack held Steph off, and then showed me how to get to the back of the playground (where you're not s'posed to go). We got away from her that time, but she came out later and pretended to frisk me. By this time Jason had taken it out of my bag, so when she asked me (again!) where it was, I could honestly say that "I don't know. I did know. It was in my bag originally, but Jason took it and I have no idea where it is!" Jason had put it in his pocket, and ended up giving it to her a short time afterwards, but it was so much fun!

Oh, and keep in mind that I was doing all this climbing over the playground in a knee-length skirt! I was very proud of myself :)

Friday 7 November 2008

TAFE and a pledge

I'm at TAFE today (yes, I'm supposed to be working), and I'm doing Computing. That means that I'm learning how to use Xcel. Xcel isn't too bad, but I think I preferred Word because I could type fast and get through heaps quickly. With Xcel however, it's constant clicking around, and you can't really get into a rhythm like you can with Word.

I've been really naughty today. So far, I've eaten a dim sim, raspberry licorice, and sour cream & onion chips. It tasted really nice though.
As of right now, I've decided that I need to start eating more healthily, exercising more, and watching how much money I'm spending. So, in order to help me with that, I'm not going to buy anything while I'm at TAFE, I'm going to go for a walk at least 4 times a week, and I'm not going to buy anything unnecessary (eg. clothes, food etc). This starts today. Yes, I realize I've already bought things today, but I mean that it's starting from now.

As of, 3:04 pm, I, Julia Elisabeth Graham, will not buy anything at TAFE, I will go for a walk at least 4 times a week, and I will not buy anything unnecessary.

All of you are my witnesses :)

Thursday 6 November 2008

I stole Josh's watch

I'm so nice, aren't I?

I don't have much to write about today. I worked for Dad.

Mum and Dad went out for lunch, and I stayed home (the kids were at the Packer's for a homeschooling day), and seriously, I was so hyper. I was just smiling and giggling at myself. Then I was talking to myself and telling me that I was absolutely nutters :P
I have no idea why I was so happy or anything, but hey, it was fun!



I'm running out of good titles....

....Actually, I don't think I had any to start with :P Yesterday went really well. I had my hair trimmed yesterday morning, and I got to drive to the hair appointment and back. After my hair appointment I went down to CCS while Mum went to the shops, and I got to see most of my friends. I had my driving lesson at 2:15, and that went great! I'm feeling a lot more comfortable (most of the time), and apparently Alin is too :P

Last night I went to Recharge because Dad wasn't getting back until late, so there was no normal Bible study.
Recharge was really good because we watched a devotion by Tim Hawkins about Genuine Worship. He talked about how the rabbis used to have people around them that would proclaim the great things that they were about to do, and how we shouldn't be like that, but that we should instead be doing things for the glory of God. Not doing good works so that we get noticed, but so that God's kingdom is advanced. It was really challenging because I love getting noticed, but I don't want my reward to be people noticing me. I want God to reward me according to my heart's desires. Which means I need to allow God to change what my heart desires by spending more time with Him and in His Word.

Wednesday 5 November 2008

Sorry :)

Sorry that I forgot to post yesterday. Shocking, I know :P

My day yesterday was not bad, but it wasn't great either. It was very boring. TAFE on Tuesdays normally isn't that bad, but because we had a different lecturer in the afternoon than we normally do I couldn't get as much help.
Last night went well, though. Youth band practice was on, and we got through about 3 songs (singing them about 2 times each). We're getting pretty good, and I can't wait til the next youth service.

I don't have much else to say about yesterday. Hopefully I'll remember to post about today later on :)

Monday 3 November 2008

Finally!

I finally figured out how to make my sitemeter display how many visitors I've had! Okay, so I hadn't really spent that much time trying to figure it out, but still! Oh well, my life is complete now.

Okay, that's really sad if that's all it takes to make my life complete :)

Nah, I'm actually feeling kinda lonely at the moment. Not majorly lonely, just in a sort of "I wish I had a friend here that I could chat to and tell them how I'm dealing with stuff" way. Looking at that sentence I just realized two things: One, that is an extremely "me"-centred sentence! Two, I have God.
That's not meant to sound all "pie-in-the-sky", but I was just reading as I was typing, and I was thinking "Hang on, that's what God wants to be for me! He's here for me all the time, and He wants me to tell Him how I'm going."
I'm going to go hang out with God for awhile. Catch ya later!

Sunday 2 November 2008

Haircut, Friends, and Marriage

I need to get my hair cut. I'm starting to lose the bounce and definition that my layers had put into my hair. I think Mum's going to make an appointment for my haircut this week. I've really loved having my hair this short, and also having layers. The layers mean that I can just leave it down and go, and it still looks good. The shortness means that it's much quicker to wash and brush. Always a good thing in my books.

In other news, I went over Rosie's today because we haven't really talked in ages. We've seen each other now and then, but we haven't really had the chance to sit down and talk properly. We talked for about an hour and a half, but we covered so many topics: narriage, dating, courtship, kids, friends, school (for her), TAFE (for me), etc.
It's great having friends that I can sit down with and talk like there's no tomorrow. It's also great having friends to whom I'm accountable. Friends that remember what I've said about a certain subject and remind me about it. I want to be a friend like that.


And in still other news, I want to get married.

No, that's not as random as it seems :)
See, I've been reading a book called 'Get Married'. It talks about how it's God's plan for people to marry, and how we should be 'live like we're planning to marry'.
Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out how that works.... when I figure it out, I'll tell you :)

Saturday 1 November 2008

Tim's Gone

Well, I almost forgot to post today, but I did eventually remember.

Tim (my 19-year-old brother) left for America today. He's going to visit my sister Narelle, and her family. He's gone for 5 1/2 weeks, and I'm sure we'll miss him. He's going to miss Joe's and my (mine? my's?) birthdays. He got off safely, and got to Sydney safely.

After we left the airport, the Packer's and my family went to West Beach and had chips and sausages (there was a little bit of bacon and some chicken as well) for lunch.
Elyse, Jimmy, Megan (a little girl the Packer's are looking after) and I went for a walk along the beach after lunch. It was good. I haven't walked along the beach in ages. It's very relaxing because you can just walk without worrying about where you're going. We almost got to the Henley Beach jetty, but Jimmy and Elyse said we should turn back. Elyse and I got splashed a little bit now and then, but Jimmy and Megan got soaked!
We met up with the parents and Lisa on the way back, and eventually found the boys (Joe, Daniel, and Brenton).

It was a good afternoon, and I'm really tired from chasing Jimmy down the beach in a skirt which wouldn't allow me to stretch my legs out.

I'm finally going to go to bed. Yay!

Friday 31 October 2008

Okay

Okay, I haven't posted in absolutely ages, and I'm sick of that!
So, my goal for the next month is to post something EVERY day!
It might be something about what I've done that day, or I might tell you some random facts about me, but I WILL (try to) post!

Well, today I'm at TAFE, and I'm tired. It seems like I'm always tired lately, and it's really frustrating me. I started taking iron tablets to see if that helps (and I forgot them the past couple days :D), and I'm hoping it does. I don't think I've been sleeping absolutely wonderfully, but from what I can remember, I only wake up a few times in the night!
Aside from taking iron tablets, I'm also going to try exercising more and see if that helps. Hopefully.

In other news, I bought a new jacket. It's got red cherries all over it, and it's SO me :) (well, I think so anyway). However, it was $29.99 :( I'm still in shock over the fact that I shelled out that much for a jacket. I sort of needed it, but not in a way that I'm going to die without it.
Because of that (and the fact I have HEAPS of clothes), I've decided (lots of decisions today :P) that I'm not going to buy anymore clothes until January (hehe. January sales!!)

In even more news... I paid off the first installment of MY car! I'm buying Kristy's car, and it's a Nissan Pulsar. It's pretty cool, and much nicer than my brother's old bomb that I was going to be inheriting! Thanks Kristy!

Monday 20 October 2008

Boldness

I'm praying for the boldness to stand up for my beliefs and boldness to share my beliefs with others.

I want my life to reflect God's glory. I don't want it to be about me. I want to learn how to change. And yet, I don't know how. I guess only God's the one that can change me.

I want to have the courage and boldness to show the youth in my church that 'Our God is an Awesome God!' I want us to truly worship him and seek to follow Him with our whole hearts. That we will live our lives for Him, and that we'll not say "This is what we/I believe", and then go and live a life contrary to that.

I'm praying for God's wisdom, courage, and strength

Saturday 4 October 2008

My personality




Your Personality Profile



You are dependable, popular, and observant.

Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness.

In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do.



You are unique, creative, and expressive.

You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while.

And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!



Friday 3 October 2008

Holidays

I'm on holidays at the moment! I've got two weeks off of TAFE, but I'm still working for Dad. I did 13 1/2 hours of work this week, and I still managed to have two sleepovers, and go to the beach yesterday! It's great having two extra days in the week, and having Mum home. I've still got jobs that I need to get done, but it's nice not feeling like everything's on my shoulders.

Next week, Elyse and I are going down to stay with Kristy. I'm looking forward to it. I get to spend some time with my big sister, and Elyse and I get to put up with each other for 6 hours on a bus. Hehe. Just kidding. I think we'll both be taking lots of books, and projects (I'm taking my cross-stitching) to read and do. We leave next Tuesday, and I come back the Monday afterwards. Elyse won't be back until the day before her birthday. The reason I'm coming back earlier is because school starts back on that Monday, which means that TAFE starts back on the Tuesday. I'm sort of looking forward to going back to TAFE, but it's great being free at the moment.

I've got some issues with my lower back at the moment, which is very frustrating. I'm a person that likes being able to do whatever I want (independent and stubborn :D), but at the moment I have to be careful how I'm sleeping. If I sleep on my side or stomach, I end up in heaps of pain. If I sleep on my back, I don't end up in as much pain. It also makes it uncomfortable to sit down for long periods of time. I'm hoping it will rectify itself soon.

I'm still struggling in my walk with God. It's very hard to constantly be 'on my guard'. To stop myself when I start thinking about something that I know it's unhealthy for me to be dwelling on. To constantly be going to God in everything. It's very frustrating for me to pray for God's presence in my day, and that He'll help me love my family, and then to hear myself snapping at my brother (or anyone else) later on. It's so easy for me to justify getting mad, but when I stop and think about it, I realize that God had so much more reason to get mad (and He did :P), but He still had incredible mercy on us and showed us so much grace by sending His Son and giving us chance after chance after chance to pick ourselves up and have another go.
It's so easy to go back to what I was (and frequently still are) and just give up. However, I know that God can do anything. Which means He can draw me closer to Him, and fill me with His Presence. Praise God.






Thursday 18 September 2008

Do Hard Things

I'd love to read "Do Hard Things" by Alex and Brett Harris. The book club that I'm in, was going to be doing it as our next book, but unfortunately Felicity (my youth pastor's wife) couldn't get enough copies to do it this time round.
My sister Kristy, reviewed it here.

However, that's not the point of this post. See, the thing is, I avoid doing hard things as much as I can. Confrontation, meeting someone new, doing something very different from what I'm used to, those things scare me to death.
I'm (slowly) trying to work on it, but it's gonna be a long process because I've been this way for a VERY long time.
On Monday, though, I did something hard. My parents had been telling me for awhile that I needed to do it, and lately I'd begun listening to God telling me to do the same thing. I wrote in my testimony that I hadn't wanted to give God all of me because I wanted to still be in control of certain aspects of my life. This was the biggest one. On Sunday night I gave God all of me. On Monday morning I did what would have to be one of the hardest things I've done.

My prayer (one of them anyway) at the moment is that 'All things will work together for good to them that love the Lord'*
I'm actually quite nervous about this because I have no idea how it's going.
All I want is for God's will to be done. Unfortunately, it's not easy.

Please pray for God's peace in this.
Also, please pray that I will leave it in God's hands, and not grab it back into my own.

*This verse was paraphrased

Tuesday 16 September 2008

My testimony (sorta)

Sunday night we had a youth service. It was the first youth service that the youth band has played in since April. I think we did a very good job! Once the service had started, it went really well.
I had been asked to give a testimony, and I thought I'd share it on here as well.

Here it is:

I gave my testimony last year at the youth service after youth camp. I talked about how I was having regular Bible studies and memorizing Bible verses and how this was helping me grow closer to God.

However, this year I’ve really been struggling. I’ve felt like God has been far, far away. Like I can’t get close to Him, no matter how hard I try. Then I was reading a book called ‘Lies Young Women Believe’, and one of the lies that they mentioned was that ‘God is not enough.’ I immediately thought ‘I don’t believe that! I know God’s enough! I’ve been taught that my whole life!’
Then the author went on to say that she used to look to friends to fill the emotional void inside of her, and it took some time for her to grasp the basic Truth that God IS enough.
That made me stop and think. And when I stopped to think about it, I realized that I believed that Lie. For quite some time I’ve been asking God to ‘create a void inside of my friends that only You can fill so that they grow closer to You.’
However, what I hadn’t realized is that I have a void inside of ME that only God can fill.

That amazed and freaked me out! And when I looked back over this year, I realized that this year especially, I’ve been turning to my friends more and more to fill the loneliness inside of me. I rationalized it as “I’m very much a people person”.
Which I am, but I’ve gotten to the point where, when I have the house to myself for whatever reason, instead of embracing the quiet and spending that time alone with God, I fill up the quiet with noise and try to find friends that I can go see, or talk to.

After I stopped to think about it, I realized that no matter what I try to fill the void with, it’s never going to be filled by anything other than God.

Also, this year I’ve been struggling with some things, and instead of praying ‘Lord, please show me what you’re trying to teach me through this’, more often I’m praying ‘Why do I have to deal with this? Why can’t you deal with this for me?’
I realized my focus is always about me. However, it should be about God, and what He can do with me.

I tell myself that I’m trying to draw near to God, but there are parts of my life that I’m reluctant to let Him into, because I don’t want to hear what He has to say about it. But God wants to be my closest confidante. He wants to meet all my needs. I am valuable to god, and He cares about the minute details of my life. If I draw near to Him, and allow Him access into all parts of my life, He will draw near to me.

My prayer for this year is that God will fill my life with His presence, and that I will be able to give Him access into all parts of my life. I want to be able to say truthfully: “Whom have I in Heaven besides you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you”

Tuesday 2 September 2008

Well, howdy!

Well, it's been awhile since I last posted, and it was awhile ago that I posted before that!
I'm really sorry. I've been wanting to write, but I just feel like I've got nothing to write.
However, I thought I'd give you an update on what's been happening.

TAFE is going really well. I've made a few friends, and although their language isn't the best, I've persuaded at least one of them to be careful about what they're saying :)
I had been handed an assessment (like a test) last week, and I had told myself that I would do it before I came this week so that I could get onto the next section of theory. However, I put it off on Wednesday, and worked all day Thursday, and forgot about it until last night. So, at 10 o'clock last night, I was just about to go to bed ..... and then I realized "Oh no! I haven't done the assessment!" So, I grabbed it out of my backpack, and was about to head out to the kitchen when Joe walks in and says "Can you check my tests?". Talk about it never raining, but pouring! I told him to ask Lisa to do it, and so while I was doing my assessment, Lisa was sitting next to me asking me "How do I score this? Do I take off 1 point, or 1/2 a point?" The really funny thing is that she talks while she's doing things (like me :P) in order to figure things out. So, she's sitting there going "So, 2+2+1+1/2.....", and I'm going "Lisa, please be quiet. I can't concentrate." So she quiets down. Five minutes later "1+2+1/2...."
Anyway, to cut a long story short, she finished scoring the tests, I finished my assessment, and headed to bed.
This morning I handed it in, and I found out this afternoon that I passed it!

In other news, Joe had an earache this morning, and because Mum's away, I had to administer the onion juice! This is the first time I've done it, and apparently I didn't heat the spoon up enough. It was cold when it went into his ear, and he made a face (embarassing :P)

I'm hoping that this week will go well. It started out not-so-great, but has gotten better. So, I'm hoping it continues to get even better!

Monday 25 August 2008

Prefects Dinner, A Night at the Oscars 2008

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a formal. It was Craigmore Christian School's Prefect's Dinner, A Night at the Oscars 2008. Contrary to the name, it's not just for the prefects, but is for years 10 - 12. I was invited to go as friends with a guy from Year 12, Michael Michell.
Here we are walking into the dinner. It's a very charming photo of him, isn't it? :P There are other, better photos, but unfortunately, this is the only one I have at the moment because I'm having a little bit of trouble getting photos off of people. (I think he must have been talking to Rosie, or something)


Here's a very charming photo of Mr. Barnes (the deputy principal :P)

This is a photo of one of the tables, and in the background was where the red carpet was, and the wall that we stood against to have photos taken.

This is Rosie (the head prefect), Me, Elyse, and Rach.

I had a really good time! As I said, there was a red carpet, chair covers, a very nice meal, entertainment...
Rosie and her Prefect's did a really good job! We had a lot of fun, and Rosie had invited heaps of our non-school friends, which made it even better!
Rach helped with the decorations (she works for a wedding company), and Elyse, Rach and I got ready together at my house. There are so many more photos from the night out there, but I just have to get my friends to give them to me! lol

*Thanks to Rosie for the photos!

Monday 11 August 2008

Very cute, no?

I got itchy legs this morning.
So....... this is me now.


Why yes, that is my little sister's finger in the photo above! :P

Very cute, no???

Updated to add: I'd love it if you'd leave a comment! If you don't know how, I posted a tutorial awhile back. Here it is

Monday 4 August 2008

Buses and TAFE

This morning Mum and I went for a trial run on the bus into TAFE. We've figured out that Tim will drop me off at the bus station each morning that I go to TAFE, and pick me up after he finishes work. In the morning, even if I miss the first bus, I still have another bus that I can take after that which will ensure that I still get to TAFE in plenty of time. It was a really easy run on the bus which calmed pretty much all of my fears. There are still a couple of worries, but that's just nervousness wondering what it'll be like without Mum there. Tomorrow's my first day, and I'm starting to get really excited!
Mum and I got some stationery today. I love stationery! I walked into Officeworks with Dad the other day, and I was in heaven! They have such cool colours and shapes! For instance, there was some sticky notes in the shape of stars in funky colours, and notebooks, and 3-ring binders, and...... so much stuff!
Anyway, I'm looking forward to tomorrow, and I hope it goes really well.

Sunday 27 July 2008

Nothing to Post

I have nothing that I can construct a blog post on at the moment, so you'll get a bunch of little bits and pieces :P

  • I have one more week until I start TAFE. Scary!
  • I love my friends, and I'm so glad they put up with me. Especially when I tickle them, and scare them to death :D
  • I had a really good talk with my Dad on faith, doctrines, and a bunch of other faith-related things
  • Mum's away in Mt. Gambier with BOTH Joe and Lisa this time. So, I'm all alone. There's only Dad, Tim, and I at home this week.
  • Dad's going away sometime this week for work, so it's only going to be Tim and I. Will we survive???
  • I miss my family. It's so quiet, and I don't know what to do with myself.
  • I made a Breakfast Risotto yesterday. It was really good!
  • I'm tired
  • I have youth band this week, and I'm really looking forward to that because it'll be almost a month since we last had it. At the same time though, I haven't gone to the last two music practices, so I feel really bad that I'm going to miss another one.
  • I can't think of anything else to say :P
Have a good week!

Saturday 19 July 2008

Houseboat

This past week I've been on a houseboat. Mrs. Hogan (my brother's Mother-In-Law) had placed a bid on a houseboat trip awhile back, and had been successful. They asked my family if we'd like to come along, and we agreed (thank goodness :P). The holiday was booked for the second week of holidays (this week just gone), and there were 10 of us that went: Mr. Hogan, Mrs. Hogan, Dad, Mum, Michael, Melinda, Me, Joe, Lisa, and Caleb. We left on Monday from Morgan which is out in the Riverland. Tuesday morning I got woken up before I wanted to (my Dad doesn't understand the concept of a sleep-in, or letting others sleep in), and so I was grumpy. Now that I look back on the week, I was probably grumpy a fair bit. At the time I thought I was justified, but I always think that in the 'heat of the moment'. All in all, it was a really relaxing week, and I'm so glad it happened.

Things that I did over the week:

Assembled a lap cross-stitch frame
Graphed a cross-stitch for Caleb (I'll try and remember to post photos)
Started the cross-stitch
Read 5 books (could've read more, but I didn't have more :P)
Got to sleep in 2 days out of 4.
Got to hold Caleb a fair bit!

Sorry to everyone that was on the houseboat for being a grump.

Book Giveaway!

I just wanted to let you all know that you should go over to my book blog: Reviewz by Jewelz. I've got a book giveaway going on, and nobody's entered yet!!!!!

Thursday 3 July 2008

It Is Finished

That's right. As of yesterday, my work experience is finished. On Monday, Mrs. Harrison (principal's assistant) had asked me if I could come in on Wednesday because reports needed to be sorted, placed in plastic sleeves, filed etc., and when I asked Dad, he said that I could work all day Wednesday if I didn't work on Tuesday. So, I chose to do that. At recess, they put out a cake for me (2 actually. So that all the teachers could have some) in the staffroom, and a sign saying "Thanks for all your hard work this term, Julia -- We really appreciated it." Mr. Harrison (enrolments officer) gave me a reference, and they gave me a $50 dollar gift card! I SO was not expecting that, and it made me feel really appreciated! I got told thankyou heaps and heaps of times, and I kept saying thankyou, and it was really nice.
I kept saying "Thank you" because everybody had made it really easy on me. If I didn't know how to do something for someone, that person would wait while I went and found out, and whoever I asked would show me how to do it, and they never made me feel stupid or anything.
I'm really going to miss everything about working there.

Thanks to Mr. Harrison, Mrs. Metherell, Mrs. Barker, Mrs. Harrison, and Mrs. Pelentsov for showing me how to do things, pushing me out of my comfort zone, making me feel like I had a choice in everything I did (even though I probably didn't :P), encouraging me along the way, and constantly affirming and thanking me.

Thanks to Miss Jesshope (principal) and Mr. Barnes (deputy principal) for allowing me to do work experience, and telling me what a great job I'd done.

Thanks to all the teachers, monitors, etc. for being patient when I didn't know how to do something and therefore had to go check with someone.

Thanks to all the students for also being patient, and not laughing at me :P

Thanks to the students that I know for coming in and seeing me, and saying hi.

So, basically, thanks to everyone at Craigmore Christian School!!!!

I absolutely loved my time there!

Monday 23 June 2008

Work Experience

For the past 7 or 8 weeks I've been doing work experience at Craigmore Christian School. It's nearly over, and I'm so sad. I have 3 days left :(
I've really enjoyed my time at the school. I love seeing my friends even though I can't really talk to them for long, I love being a help, I love smiling and thinking that a smile might just cheer someone else's day up, and I love the work. I really don't mind filing (it gives me a chance to go off into la-la land :P), and I enjoy photocopying things, I like filling out enrolment information, I like folding letters etc., I like stuffing envelopes, I like answering the phone,and I like addressing envelopes (and I'm sure I've forgotten quite a few things that I've done!).
I've loved it, and I'm really glad I was able to help. Also, I'm really thankful to the school for giving me the opportunity, and I'm really glad that I learnt a lot of new things.

Friday 20 June 2008

I have a problem!

I have a slight problem. Actually, it's more of an addiction.
See, I like to take photos. On my camera, on my phone, on other people's camera, on other people's phone etc. Only, they're not just any type of photo. However, instead of telling you, I'll show you.
Yep, you got it right! I have an obsession addiction with taking photos of myself!

Those are some of the nicer photos...
Now, I want you to take a deep breath and prepare yourself. See, lately I've sorta gotten addicted to another type of photo. Let me show you:I know, I know. I'm absolutely, certifiably nuts!!! But it's so much fun!
Now you know my deepest, darkest secret. I hope you won't leave me.
And please stop crying. I know it's scary, but I promise I won't show you one of those faces when I say hi to you :P

Monday 16 June 2008

About Me

I stole this from Camy


ONE WORD ONLY!


Not as easy as you might think. Now copy, forward, or post this and change the answers to yours and pass it on. It’s really hard to only use one word answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? pocket

2. Your significant other? nonexistent :P

3. Your hair? in-between

4. Your mother? Mt. Gambier

5. Your father? lounge

6. Your favorite thing? books

7. Your dream last night? forgotten

8. Your favorite drink? coke

9. Your dream/goal? Jesus

10. The room you’re in? dining

11. Your ex? nonexistent

12. Your fear? failure

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? married

14. Where were you last night? home

15. What you’re not? serious

16. Muffins? blueberry

17. One of your wish list items? books

18. Where you grew up? SA

19. The last thing you did? ate

20. What are you wearing? jeans

21. Your TV? on

22. Your pets? quiet

23. Your computer? Gateway????

24. Your life? busy

25. Your mood? tired

26. Missing someone? friends

27. Your car? nonexistent

28. Something you’re not wearing? watch

29. Favorite store? cheap

30. Your summer? gone

31. Your favorite color? Yellow

32. Last time you laughed? today

33. Last time you cried? Wednesday

34. Favourite food? Lasagna

35. Who will re-post this? somebody

Sunday 15 June 2008

This is Me



You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe



But don't think plain - instead think, uncomplicated

You're a low maintenance kind of girl... who can hang with the guys

Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that's you: the friend everyone invites.

And you're dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear.