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!