Unconditional Love, Unending Forgiveness

To all reading this:  This is raw, unedited, uncensored, and unquestionably full of grammatical errors.

Tonight, I was sitting around, watching a TV show on Netflix, burning CDs into my iTunes and drinking a glass of red wine when Pup asked to go out.  Now, selfishly I was watching a show, downloading CDs into iTunes and enjoying a glass of wine, yet I hopped right up and said to Pup: "oh, do you wanna go outside?  outside?"  At that moment it hit me.  Here I was, having a delightfully lackadaisical evening, when I was willing to put that aside for a second to hop up off the floor and let the dog out.  Happily.  Now, that just isn't like me.

Yes, I am that selfish girl, who, when alone, likes to just relax and have some "me" time.  Well, here's the rub; "it ain't all about me!"  I know that letting the dog out seems like such a silly way to remember that, but I jumped up so willingly.

The other day I was talking to my dad about someone I had to forgive.  He felt that I could not move forward in my faith unless I truly forgave this person.  I got defensive, and told Dad that I did forgive this person, time and time again.  I told Dad that I referred to this person as my 7 x 70 (Matthew 18:22).  Dad then told me, that I had not really committed to this forgiveness, as I had not told the person I had forgiven them.  Now, to put this in perspective, I had been angry with this person for most of my life.  For Daddy to tell me that I had not done all that was necessary to forgive this person made me angry.  But, tonight, when I let Pup out, I thought back to this conversation with my dad.  Where is my love for this person, who I felt had wronged me unjustly.  Where was my willingness to jump up off the floor and tell this person I forgive and love them, as Jesus has loved me.  As God has told me to love not just those people I like, but those I do not like. (Matthew 5:43-48) I do not consider this person an enemy, but if I am to look at an enemy with love...

This is not the only example that came to mind when I let Pup out.  It is, however, the biggest one.  I find it amazing how God can take one little, seemingly insignificant, action in your life and turn it into a lesson.  My dad is my most trusted friend, my most trustworthy earthly counselor.  I know, that when I go to my dad, he may not give me the answer I want, he may not give the answer he likes, but he always gives an answer he believes is the best for my welfare.  He knows I may not always take his advice, but he loves me anyway.  He allows me to make my own decisions, even though I may get hurt.  He stands by, when I do get hurt, to lend a shoulder to cry on, or to be a metaphorical punching bag.  He forgives me, even when I don't deserve it.  He loves me, even when I don't deserve it.  He is always there for me, even when I don't deserve it.  He doesn't always like me, or my actions, but he ALWAYS loves me.  He always loves me, even when I don't deserve it!

I have heard some discussion, on why God should not be referred to as "Father".  To me, this is hard to accept.  My dad is not perfect.  But he exhibits love.  Have you ever heard the song "Daddy's Hands"?  Well, here is the chorus:

Daddy's hands were soft and kind when I was cryin',

Daddy's hands were hard as steel when I'd done wrong.

Daddy's hands weren't always gentle

But I've come to understand

There was always love in Daddy's hands.

With a Dad like that, it is not hard to understand how God is a father.  He may not always give you what you want, but a good daddy, will always give you what you need.  Is there someone in your life like that?

I do not know anyone whom I fight with more than my dad, yet, going two days without talking to him seems like an eternity.  What is our relationship with God like?  Do we miss him when we don't speak for a day or two?  Why not?  I go crazy not talking to my dad, even when what he has to say angers me or makes me uncomfortable.  Is there a lesson to be learned even when we don't want to hear it?  God loves us no matter what.  He doesn't promise us a rose garden.  (Okay, another country song reference, but it pertains, honest.)  What God does promise us is that He is here.  Whatever we are going through, God loves us, and is here for us.

It feels like an awful lot to get out of just letting the dog out, but who am I to question how God speaks to me?  I have taken steps to meet with the person I need to forgive.  I have not loved this person I need to forgive.  God loves me, and I am to love others, no matter what!

Friends, love is not always easy.  Forgiveness is not always easy.  But with God, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)

Our God is an Awesome God!!

God Bless,

Jules

P.S.  I wrote this from the heart, when it happened.  It was emotional to write and it is hard to hit "publish".  I don't know why it was important for me to blog this experience, but it was.
I knew of scripture references, but wasn't sure where in the Bible they were.  At the conclusion of this post I noticed that, clearly, this was a lesson in Matthew.

Surf Trip 2012

The weekend before Labor Day, my friends Roxi, Lily and I went down to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina to surf.  I had been wanting to learn to surf for quite a while now, but I didn't want to go alone.  It isn't just down the street.  So I early this spring I had mentioned to Lily that I was going to have some time off and I would really love to learn to surf.  She had been wanting to learn as well!  So we decided we would do it.  Later this spring, I mentioned it to Roxi.  She was all for it too.

And, so, a plan emerged.  We would all learn to surf the weekend before Labor Day.  The three of us left Thursday evening after work and drove the six and a half hours south to Wrightsville Beach.  We had to get to bed because we would soon be up for our surf lesson! Up early and raring to go!  He we are!! LETS SURF!

We were so excited to learn that the instructor got a little more pumped.  We learned how to read the ocean, other water safety, and pop ups while we were on dry land.  Then we moved to the water!!

 All of managed to get up on our boards!! WOO HOO!!!  By the end of the lesson, we were tired and hungry!! Kirstin, our instructor recommended some good places to eat, and we enjoyed Tower 7 so much, we ended up eating there both Friday and Saturday!!! :)  We finished our Friday bowling and renting surf boards for the next day!

Saturday we wake up STOKED!!! We look out our window for a surf check.  We have a relative idea what we are doing.  :)  Saturday we had hurricane swells from Isaac rolling in.  It made for some fun surf.  We went out early, knowing our skill set was rudimentary at best, and we had a blast.  I caught a couple waves, squatted on one, Roxi caught the same wave!  It was pretty sweet!  We don't surf down a wave yet, we surf straight into the beach, so we didn't run into each other!  Lily caught a wave too! :)  It was fun, but the waves  were getting a little big for us and the water was getting a little crowded.  We decided it was time to pack it in.

After showers and a short nap, we ate and walked around window shopping.  It was a lot of fun.  We returned our surf boards and headed out for a late night walk on the beach.  It was definitely good times!

Sunday morning.  Our final day at the beach.  We did yoga first thing, ate breakfast after and one last walk on the beach.  We stared at the waves wanting to go back out.  We had an amazing time.  Roxi, Lily and I have found a new favorite hobby.  Our workouts have even been modified to aid in our surfing.   And, we came home with a slogan: "hot ladies with surf boards."  We can hardly wait until next year!  Surfs up!!

All my love,
God Bless,

Jules

God's House

The other day Chuckles and I are driving home, listening to a worship CD and we had an interesting conversation.

The conversation started by Chuckles asking if this song was about Jesus who died for us.
Yes, yes it is.  A few minutes later, I find myself talking about how, when it is time, we will leave earth and go and live in God's house.  What follows is a shortened version of the rest of our conversation...


C: "...and live with Jesus in God's house?"

Me: "Yes sweetheart, earth is temporary...not permanent, when it is time, I will go and live with God and Jesus in God's house."

C: "No, I don't want you to go live with Jesus in God's house, I want you to stay in our house with me..."

...and after a long pause, there were words spoken by this three and half year old boy, that I will never forget...

C: "Julie, Jesus lives in our hearts.  So you don't need to leave and go to God's house to live with Jesus, because you already live with Jesus."

For Chuckles, that was the end of the conversation, it made perfect sense to him, that no one needs to go to heaven, because we already live with Jesus and God in our hearts and lives, so why leave.  It also didn't help that my initial response was that of wow, and uhhhhhhhhhhh....

I am blessed with a wonderful family to nanny for.  They love God and it shows in their words and actions.  They have a new addition, a beautiful little girl, I will refer to as Spud.  Chuckles loves Spud and is always doting on her and wanting to 'pet' her.  I thank God every day for the blessing of this family.  I am blessed.

Jules

A Walk in the Woods

Yesterday we forayed into the wilds of the back yard. 

It was a lot of fun.

Chuckles loved the mud and frogs.

It was a good day!

I love my job.

Injury

Target is a dangerous place.  This is no secret.  But, I am not speaking of the unspeakable amount of money I would like to spend every time I walk in.  Now, I am speaking of my own stupidity, and how it caused me to injure my lower back, making me an almost invalid, for approximately three days thus far.  And how that actually turned out to be a good thing...

This past Saturday, I was buying a cabinet to put over the toilet (who doesn't need more cabinet space in the bathroom) and that is when it happened.  I had chosen my piece of furniture and was about to load it into the cart, when, all of a sudden, the box came apart.  Now, what every good girl should do, of course, is to immediately drop the box.  Preferably NOT on your toes.  But, unlike a good girl, who knows better, I tried to catch the box.  And that is when it happened.  That twinge in your lower back and the immediate realization that you made a HUGE mistake by not dropping the box, potentially on your toes.  Yes, that is me.  So I manage to make it home, I have R unload the item, warning him about the bottom of the box, and I go lie down on top of an ice pack for a while.

I am hugely grateful for the wonderful family I have been blessed with.  They took care of me, and even would stop me if I tried to do something.  :)  Now, three days later, I finally make it to the chiropractor.  I love my chiropractor, my headaches have diminished significantly since seeing him and he is just great at his job.  He seemed a bit confused as to why a healthy 28 year old woman in good health with no prior lower back problems, would still be this hurt three days after the incident.

As it turns out I have a spine thing I cannot remember the technical term for.  This, plus the strain on my back from moving furniture a couple days earlier, caused the extensiveness of the injury.  So, once I am healed, I get to add CORE workouts to my swimming regimen.  This will help strengthen my back and help reduce the risk of something like this happening again.  I do have to go to my chiropractor again this week, but I am happy to be on the mend and back in the pool by Monday's practice. WOOHOO!

I am fully aware that there are far worse things in this world than a pulled back.  But there was also a lesson for me.  Even in rough times, times of pain or discouragement, there is a bigger picture.  Now I know I need to work on my core to help with my spine, and any injuries this issue may cause in the future.  I know what a wonderful family I have to work with me and help me during this injury!  Trials are a time to learn and grow.  Some are bigger than others, but it is what you take out of them that matter.

Fabulous Weekend

What a wonderful weekend!  I had a four day weekend as the family was out of town.  It started with a mani/pedi on Friday morning.  My nails look great, by the way!

After the mani/pedi it was off to D.C. for some lunch from trucks with my amazing friend Lily.  She just got an awesome new job, so, since I had the day off, it worked out for us to have lunch.  We both had fish tacos.  They were SO DELICIOUS!

From lunch I went to the Library of Congress!  What a wonderful, beautiful place.  I am now a card holder so I can go into the research sections.  :):)  Oh yeah!!!!!!!  If you come out here, you MUST go to the Jefferson Building at least.

I then took a circuitous route to the White House.  I was meeting my friend Jess to head to Happy Hour.  So Jess and I headed to Crystal City, to one of my favorite restaurants, Jaleo (pronounced Ha lay O).  Many friends joined us there.  We had such fun eating tapas and drinking sangria, we did not want the evening to end.  So we decided to get some Thai food for dinner.  This was hilarious because we weren't really hungry after all the tapas.  

Saturday morning began with coffee and picking up Jess for a project called Rebuilding Together.  Rebuilding Together is a lot like Habitat for Humanity only it does more renovation than building. :)  Jess got to do some demo work, which she found very satisfying, and I spent some time with other friends attempting to lay pavers down.  We definitely learned a lot!  I almost may have gotten teased a bit for my slightly OCD approach to laying them.  :)  I just wanted them to look good! ;)

From there I swung home to get in a quick shower and catch a movie with Lily.  After which I headed straight to a youth event called MERGE.  Our wonderful youth pastor TJ, throws these events once a month as a non-Church based event the youth can bring their friends to and just have a grand ol' time.  The youth had an absolute blast.  They played dodgeball on a tennis court, and just dance at a youth's home.  I was there for the dodgeball and actually got a kiddo out!  WHOO HOO.  (For those of you who do not know, I am NOT good at dodgeball, but I do have fun!)  After this, I ordered Chinese food and drank a glass of red.  Mmmmmm.

Sunday morning came early.  Well, technically it didn't, but you should know by now that I do not like to wake up in what the world calls... morning! :)  I actually have learned that I enjoy having a full day of accomplishments, just don't tell my dad!  I still remember him waking me up 45 minutes before I needed to be up for work, to have me work on Christmas cards.  Yes, my beloved daddy!  No, I was not thrilled with him at that moment!  :)  I know I live 1,092 miles away from Daddy, but somehow, some way, if he wanted, he could get me up 45 minutes before I needed to be up, to do something he thought was important.  I love my Daddy!

Anyhoo, back to Sunday.  I actually showed up to church 10 minutes early.  Yes, I know.  Well, I needed to be there for some stuff and didn't want to be late.  Y'all know how we Wests are!  Anyhoo, again, there was a really good sermon this Sunday.  I love it when the sermon is poignant, when it really speaks to me, or something I need to be doing in my life.

After church, the Young Adults went to a restaurant called Texas de Brazil.  Ummmmm, do you like steak?  I do!  And this place is all about meat!  YUMMMMMM!  Any place that comes around with unlimited steak, chicken, and pork is a HAPPY PLACE!!  SOOOOO HAPPY!  Our pastor Eduardo indroduced us to this place, and you bet we toasted him!! THANK YOU EDUARDO!  Not just for the delicious food, but for the wonderful sermon!  Thank you!

After dinner, I was ready for a nap.  And I took one!  A full twenty seven minutes!  After that it was off to RAMP!  (Yes, I did manage to take a short nap, and make it somewhere after.)  RAMP was amazing, as per usual.  I was definitely challenged this RAMP.  Thank you Lord for so many youth in my life and for your guidance that night!  

Monday morning did NOT come early.  I slept in til after 8:00 a.m.  I did not do much this morning.  I watched Torchwood on Netflix.  I did take some time to work out!  Yay, big accomplishment for the day.  I had a dentist appointment this afternoon.  I have not had a dentist checkup for approximately 10 years.  Considering that, the appointment wasn't that bad.  I need to floss. ;)  

Even with the dentist appointment today, I had a wonderful weekend!  It was full of good friends and good food.  Who could ask for anything better?

God Bless,

Jules

Moving

Hey y'all!

Wow!  It has been a busy few weeks.  We are moving!  Getting the current house ready to show has been a lot of work for R and S.  I have helped out a little too.  I am very excited about the move to the new home.  It is a little sad, as R and S have been in this house for 10 years!!!! But, they found their FINAL house.  Meaning they do not intend to move again.  :)

Some awesome things about the new house:
     The house is at the end of a cul de sac.
     The house is 7 doors down from the local pool. :)
     The house backs up to the woods.
     The area has a good school system for Chuckles.  (He starts preschool this fall.)
     There are amazing neighbors and is just a great neighborhood!  :):)

We move in a couple weeks, and I am so excited.  :)  Also, Chuckles will have a little brother or sister come mid-August, so I will remain in the DC area for a while yet! :)

All my love!

Jules

"My Mess"

As most of you know, I strongly dislike cleaning.  I am generally NOT a neat person.  I am determined not to impose this flaw of mine onto Chuckles.  So I have been making him clean up a toy/activity before he moves onto another.  Sometimes I wont make him clean up immediately if I think he will come back to that toy/activity in a short while, but mostly, I make him clean up.  (Do as I say, not as I do mentality!) One benefit of this, is it helps ME clean up after myself immediately, because I should lead by example.  You are about to see how far I have yet to go!  (I still don't clean my bedroom until I have to! Nobody sees it but me, right?)

Today, I let him keep his cars and his mega block racetrack out for most of the day.  He had moved his cars to the couch to play with and had decided he wanted to play something else.  Without my asking, he started to clean up his cars because he was going to do something else.  Yes, he explained it to me! :)  So, I asked, "oh, are we going to clean up the racetrack too?" On this day. at 2:55p EST, Chuckles responded, "Don't clean up my mess Julie, I clean my mess." 

I stood there, with my third cup of coffee (yes, I have cut back) smiling.  HOW COOL WAS THAT!!??!!! Pretty awesome! :)

Have a great rest of the week!  Love y'all!

Jules

My Camera: The Return

I got my camera back! :)  Actually, I did not.  I got a replacement.  However, it is the same model!  The benefits?  Well, first of all, it was a maufacturer replacement, so I did not have to pay for the extended coverage again! :)  The next benefit is that I now have two batteries, two battery chargers, two USB connectors and all that jazz! 

I got a call the night before I was to head for the wedding this past weekend that they were going to replace my camera, and I could come in and pick it up at any time... Unfortunately we were leaving the house at 11am to catch our flight out of BWI to get to Sarasota for Roxi's wedding (which was absolutely gorgeous by the way).  So Chuckles and I headed to Best Buy (I know, I know, I got lucky) to get my replacement.  We were in the door at 9a.m. sharp when the doors opened.  Unfortunately the members of the Geek Squad scheduled that morning did NOT come in. :(  It worked out though, it may have taken a bit longer, however, I still got my new camera in time, and the guy helping me learned how to do a new task in that department.  So it all worked out! 

I am now happy to report that my camera functioned beautifully this weekend and I am so pleased to have gotten it before the trip! :)

God Bless,

Jules

Thanksgiving Trip

I headed back to Iowa for Thanksgiving the Saturday prior to the Sunday following. It was great to see everyone I got to see :), and sad to miss those I didn't catch up with! :( Next time guys!!

I started realizing how much I missed Dad when I was at Dulles airport, calling him to tell him I made it through security. No, I did not have to be patted down or go through a body scan.  It was great to see Dad again.  I think this was the longest we have gone without seeing each other... I think prior to this it was around a month and a half...

I actually made turkey and it came out great: THANKS ALICIA!

I got to see a lot of people from church Sunday morning.  I had a surprise waiting for me at church when I walked in!  HEY MORGAN!  THANKS FOR COMING!  :)  I was also able to interrupt Sunday School to visit some of my kiddos from MnMs, THANK YOU Sunday School teachers!  I miss my kids, and MnMs!! Unfortunately I went home over a holiday and they were not having MnMs that week! :( Awww pooh! 

Went to Alicia's Sunday night, we stayed up talking... of course!
Took a nap Monday morning after the Community Breakfast in New Providence: great to see y'all.
After nap, started in on dinner, Alicia's sister was due in from Kentucky? (Correct me if I am wrong and I will get it fixed)  We also invited over Mindy and Dustin and Kaden and of course the new addition, Jordyn!  SOOOO CUTE!  Definitely her big brother's sister!  :)

Tuesday morning it was off to Ames:
I had breakfast with Kari at Perkins.  :)  I wasn't late at all.... uhhhhhh....
After breakfast it was off to Starbucks for coffee with Brady, nice to catch up, it had been a while.
Then off to surprise Buffy at work!! She was definitely surprised! :)  We ate lunch at Maude's.  Pretty good, I had never been there before.

Then I drove to the Driver's License Station in West Ames to get my new driver's license... since I had lost my other one in Cancun this summer... I told y'all about that right?  It took nearly an HOUR!! Well, 45 minutes of waiting 5 minutes with the gal at the counter, and 5 minutes for my pic to be taken and wait for the printout!! RIDICULOUS I TELL YOU!! They should have a fast lane for people who don't need the whole shebang... But I guess it is my fault for trying to get it somewhere there is actually some semblance of population... Love you Ames...

Then it was off to Des Moines for the rest of the day to see Curt.  My ginger.  What a blast, we hung out while he folded his laundry, then we went to Target, which was near a Sprint store that we considered shopping... but we didn't.  Then we stopped back by the apartment while we took the last load of laundry  out of the dryer and folded it... then we stopped at Barnes and Noble and the Von Maur clearance shoe room (there wasn't anything good this time... in my size at least.  I saw plenty of good stuff)  then we ate at Hu Hot and contemplated seeing the new Harry Potter :) which we did not.  Instead we went back to his apartment, watched some Say Yes to the Dress with Megan (his roomie) and later did our traditional, eat lots of food whilst watching some Doctor Who and Torchwood.  After which we went to sleep.

The next morning I went to the grocery store then met with Kyle... at Village Inn this time... We talked, God is doing great things through him, then I was late for heading back to Audubon.  whoops, SORRY DADDY!  I stopped at the house then saw Mel for a short while... too short... I miss that gal!  Miss you MELZ!!!  Later that day I got to visit with Janice and Pastor Dwayne!  It was great to see them! :)

Thursday morning, I slept in, of course.  We had turkey and corn and hand mashed potatoes and pecan pie and egg nog.  It was delicious.  I didn't realize we didn't have a pie pan until that day, so on Friday I made pumpkin pie with hand whipped cream, it was also delisch.  There were plenty of leftovers.  I love mixing corn and mashed potatoes and just heating that up and eating it.  YUMMM!! 

Dad and I spent time together til I had to leave, very early Sunday morning!  I woke up at 3:30!  Oh boy, I am not any good at that! LOL.

Needless to say it was a great trip.  I miss everyone from back home!  If I did not get to see you this time I really hope I get to see you next trip back!  I miss and love you guys!

My Camera

I had to take my camera in for repair the other day! It was a sad moment.  The shutter doesn't fully open and the zoom doesn't work properly.  It either zooms all the way in, OR all the way out... Not effective for actually trying to accomplish a decent photo.  I finagled it a bit to get the pictures of the cookies.  :(  I was really hoping to get through the next few weeks without having to send it in, but it is just too messed up! :(  Sad day. 

Please return to me in working order camera.  I  know you are just a point and shoot, but I miss you!  Especially since I just started to put pics on my blog, which makes blogging more fun...That is all I have to say for now! 


God Bless!

McJules

A Dozen Dozen...

So, my Young Adult group is feeding the homeless at church tonight...

          So last night, I baked cookies....

          A lot of cookies...

My favorite stage to eat is the tray second from the right.  Still warm and gooey, and just about ready to come off the tray!! YUMMY!!  Although the far right is great in ice cream! ;)

          I find this stage whets my appetite the best though...

When they are melting in the oven, all gooey and delicious smelling! :)

I want coffee... whoa, sorry, my mind went off on a tangent there for a second... Although, coffee and cookies does not sound like a bad idea?  Perhaps I should run off to the kitchen and brew some... I digress... So, back to the cookies...

Now, when I say I made a lot of cookies, I wasn't kidding.  I made a dozen dozen cookies!  That is 144 cookies in approximately two hours. I maintain that I am a Rock star for accomplishing this feat, no matter how crazy Alicia says I am! Love ya chica! :)

          This is what 12 dozen cookies looks like...

A giant bundle of goodness... At shortly after midnight, I could definitely say,
          "my work here is done."

And then I went to bed...



Love y'all,

Jules

...so about that coffee...

Snipets

~Sunday I got home from Iowa.

~Yesterday was the first day back with Chuckles :)

~Christmas is everywhere :) ( I am good with this now that it is AFTER Thanksgiving)

~Started some great recipes

~Chuckles took his pants off, twice, it was funny!

~Chuckles got into my fave summer makeup... That was also funny... but my camera is broken so no pix :( Needless to say he was bright and shimmery... all over his face! :)

~Spent an HOUR at the grocery store: poor Chuckles!

~Found more recipes to try: liking the ones I can freeze and pull out later when I don't feel like cooking. Planning ahead is always a good thing!

~Had Tex-Mex night on a Monday, it was delicious! (Chuckles got Mac'n'Cheese)

~I worked on my my blog post from Thanksgiving!  Man, do I write like I talk?  If so, how do you guys follow along???

~Monday flew by... looking back... Chuckles slept a lot.

Love ya guys!

"Turtle" Park

Dear Friends,

First of all... SORRY!!! I know I have not written in FOREVER and a day... So, again, sorry!! Also, again sorry for the randomness that is my brain, and the lack of organization...

Oh Turtle Park! So much fun!!! We can easily spend three hours at the park... and I still have to make Chuckles to leave. To have a better understanding of my favorite park, here is a rough outlay...

I generally park in front of the soccer fields. This is usually where we start our play... Chuckles loves to play soccer (kick the ball around the field) and watch people practice or play soccer... So we could actually sit contentedly for a good 20 minutes at least just watching some guys play soccer... another 10 to play soccer himself... then we move on to the pond.

To the right of the soccer field is a pond. In this pond there are turtles, fish, frogs, lily pads...etc... At least during the summer all these critters are present!! Chuckles is obsessed with water critters... Turtles especially (he really loves sea otters a little more but that is not relevant to my story... I digress) Because of this fascination with turtles, we (and by we, I mean I) have dubbed the Mason District Park-"Turtle Park." Rolls of the tongue a lot better and sounds way more fun to little kids!! So, naturally, we spend a bit of time feeding the turtles (they like goldfishes best and there are NO signs posted to NOT feed them... I walked all the way around to make sure!), and listening to the bull frogs and watching the dragonflies and bees and once there was a blue heron in there... SO PRETTY! Unfortunately I only had the camera on my phone! :( Sadly none of the pics came out. :(

Okay, so just up from the pond, across the sidewalk and down a small hill is the playground. He climbs and slides and jumps (not off the high stuff) and has a blast there! Then, further up from the playground and a little to the right is the tennis courts.

I park at the tennis courts when I only want to be at the park for an hour or less... I just keep Chucklesfrom going down the path that returns us to the playground or the soccer fields... We throw tennis balls up and down the courts and chase them. He just got a kiddy tennis racket so now he attempts to hit the ball... when I bring the racket... But that is still pretty new. If there is someone playing tennis, we sit and watch for a while. This is a good time for a snack... usually. Then we either take the long path through the woods or the short path directly to the amphitheater.

This amphitheater is pretty cool. It is just to the left of the tennis courts only a few hundred meters... We come in at the top of the seating... There are probably 7 rows of wooden benches. These benches are pretty tall. They are probably about bar height to Chuckles… We play with acorns, and rocks and bits of mulch. He really likes acorns though. We have even found some walnuts and pine cones on the ground. My favorite time however is when we actually get to the actual theater! There are 3 doorways on both the left and right and two in the center. The center is actually a floating wall with one doorway behind it; you can go out either way… It is so much fun to play hide and seek. Or to just go into a different door than Chuckles went into and scare him when he comes looking for you! We throw a tennis ball around here too!! It is so quiet there and we always have the theater to ourselves. Chuckles also uses his imagination to play at the amphitheater which is probably the other reason I like it so much. Got to keep that little mind going!! 

Now, when we head out, I usually take the route down to the soccer field. (The other option is to take a path back to the playground) I prefer this route because it is so much prettier, there are trees everywhere and even a small stream that Chuckles likes to stop and watch. Also, I only have to hit the soccer field on the way back to the car, and by this time we have usually been at the park for 2-3 hours… and I am probably hungry… I mean Chuckles is probably hungry…LOL… ;) If we go back via the playground, we stop and play at the playground again, then the pond and the soccer field. I usually try to skip the second round of soccer field if we go this way.

Well, that my dear friends is “Turtle” Park. My favorite place to go with Chuckles on a nice day… I am going to have to come up with something new now the weather is changing…  But with Chuckles, I know we will have a good time!! 

God Bless,

Jules

So Sorry!

Okay guys! I will start by apologizing for my long absence! Please forgive me!

WOW! So A while back I went to Ft. Lauderdale with the S and Chuckles! It was a lot of fun! I got to walk on the beach and hang out with Chuckles in the sun a lot. And we all know how much I love warm weather and the sun! The last day of the trip we got a babysitter and went slogging! :) Slogging is basically hiking through the swamp. It was amazing! Some of S's friends run this program called Science Eye where they teach kids about the swamps and the ecosystem of Southern Florida. They did some of that with us so I actually learned quite a bit about it. It is really fascinating. I will have to put another post up soon about all of it. Then we went on an air-boat. The driver was crazy! He actually got into the marsh and was purposely trying to attract an alligator!!! CRAZY!!! The alligator actually had a name... BOB... Because he would suddenly bob up out of the water! Yeah... good thing we had someone who knew how to drive the air-boat back!!! Bob did not show up... Probably a good thing!

Since then it has been pretty much business as usual. I went to a Nationals baseball game with a group from Iowa I joined. It is called States Society of Iowa. I found out about it from Stacy (from High School) and her boyfriend Elliot, and Brooks (from New Providence). I have been hanging with them quite a bit lately. For Elliot's birthday I actually went hiking on a really hot day... We hiked 5 miles in about 2 hours! It was a lot of fun!

I don't remember if I have mentioned this, but I have found a church. Annandale United Methodist, they have a website. I officially join August 22 of this year. It will technically be a transfer from Audubon First United Methodist. I really like the pastor... what a hoot! :)

I am trying to give up Starbucks and go back to making coffee here at home. The $$ saved I will donate to Skip1.org. Skip1 is an amazing charity!! 100% of proceeds go to feeding children. The shipping and other costs of running it are donated by corporations and run by volunteers and such so it is really great. Right now I am focusing my donations on the Lumbrera de Caballona School in the Dominican Republic. They are trying to build a kitchen so the kids can actually eat during the day! :) Okay so basically how Skip1 works is that you skip something like eating lunch out or in my case Starbucks and you donate what you would have spent on that cup of coffee or whatever to Skip1. So if I skip Starbucks, that $3 cup of coffee now becomes a $3 donation to Skip1. It is pretty cool. That charity and Voice of the Martyrs are what I am focusing my giving on.. so yeah... Also, my friend Kyle is going on a mission trip soon, so some of my giving will go thata way! LOL. More on his trip later!!

I am currently reading the Bible in a Year in chronological order for personal. For book club we are reading the Girl with the dragon tattoo series. :) Both are good! :)

I have actually been working out a lot. I decided that I was not satisfied with my fitness level, so now I work out 3-5 times a week. Yeah! And I am still out of shape!! That is pretty bad! :( But I will get there! That is my hope.

I really do need to get on here more often so I can actually relate what is going on and not skip a bunch of stuff!!! So, yeah, sorry I will make an effort to keep updating on a regular basis again!!!!

Sorry for all the rambling!! Just typing fast and getting the post out!!! I did not proof read it so, yeah, sorry for any typos or whatever!!! ;)

I miss you guys!! God Bless!!!

Jules

Not A Lot

That is right folks, "a lot" is two words, not one! Moving on!! There is not a lot going on right now. But here is what I have got since being back from the trip!

I am fairly certain I have made a decision on my home church. I will know more after I meet with the head pastor. Just a few things to check out! :) It looks as though there will be plenty of volunteer opportunities, which I hope is the case... I will let you know when I know. It is the Annandale United Methodist Church. It is about 5-10 minutes away depending on traffic, so that is nice and close. The head pastor is a hoot! He looks for responses from the congregation when he asks us questions that may seem rhetorical, they aren't! And he is absolutely on fire for the Lord. He loves to worship... AWESOME! He notices newcomers and guests and has sent me an e-mail (since I actually gave it this Sunday) to welcome me and offer a meeting. I have been praying about it and it feels like a good fit!

I have joined a book club. It is the one Sharla is in and it is a great group of ladies! This month we will be reading a Chelsea Handler book. Talk about lewd! I think I can handle it so I said yes... Here we go! Buffy, I know you love her! I will let you know how the book reading goes.

As far as personal reading is concerned, I am re-reading "Christy" by Catherine Marshall! I forgot how much I love this book. Has it really been that long since I read it? Apparently! I am not that far into it at this point, but already I am touched by things Miss Alice Henderson has said. I was not in the same place spiritually when I first read it, so I wonder if the words are speaking to me differently now. Some of my favorite quotes from Miss Alice (so far): "Evil is real-and powerful. It has to be fought. It cannot be explained away, not fled. God is against evil. So each of us has to decide where we stand, how we are going to live our lives." and, relating to how a guy felt the urge to visit this young girl but waited two days, and when he went she had died. If he had gone when called she probably would have lived... (read the book) "...God's clear order went unheeded. And evil had it's day. The result of our disobedience is that simple, that terrible." This last quote spoke to me because I don't know that a call God has made for me to follow has resulted in something so devastating, however, it can. If we don't stop and listen to what God is calling us to do, only He knows the true impact of that call going unheeded. Like I said. I love this book. So many lessons in it...

Okay, today was a good day with Chuckles, and he took a good nap this afternoon. This is great because he has been cutting down to one nap, and not really getting enough sleep in that one nap. Just waking up cranky and not wanting to go back down! He has been sleeping in a bit later, which I think is helping with that! :) I was actually productive during his nap today! I got the last two blog posts up... the ones you all have been waiting over a week for... Yes, I am still sorry. I also got quite a bit of cleaning done too! Yes... I am not used to being quite so productive... But it opened up a lot of evening time for a bit of a change, so I was able to read and relax... Ahhhh....

Well, it seems I wrote quite a bit about not a lot! Hope you all are doing well! Miss you!

Peace and God Bless,

Jules

Cancun

Cancun-Great time!! And definitely DO NOT pay any attention to grammar (or lack there of) in this one!

So, directly after the UM Conference, I flew to Cancun. Well, I skipped Tuesday and went to the airport instead! So, IT WAS A BLAST! Except that I lost my wallet... It is okay, everything is getting replaced, the most annoying thing is my driver's license but that is getting figured out too! Pictures are up on Facebook, but I will try to get them added here...

So I was waiting for the shuttle downstairs as we had already checked out of the hotel that morning... and there was NO COFFEE!! Now, I forgot to mention in my previous post that I was living off coffee at the UM Conference... FOOD? That was just to keep my stomach from going haywire from all the coffee! Especially Saturday. I gave Dad a run for his title of major coffee drinker that day!! And they had the gall to close down the coffee stand at like 7pm!! I know!!! CRAZY!!!! I made it through however... anyhoo back to the Cancun story... So it took them 45 minutes to get coffee and by that time, I took the shuttle to the airport...

I sat at the Des Moines airport for a while, (these were times I wish I had a laptop... then you wouldn't have been waiting for the blog... maybe the posting of, but it would have been easy as they would have already been written, LOL) I kept myself busy with books and people watching... I do love people watching... you have to be careful though... You don't want to be caught staring incredulously at people... Trust me on this ;)... Again, I digress... the flight was on time, and I had about a three hour layover is Dallas/Fort Worth... I wish I had stayed in the terminal I arrived in a bit longer, as there were a bunch of cute Army guys heading to OCS... Nothing like "people watching" to pass the time... Just kidding... Anyhoo, in Terminal D, where my departing flight was, there was this really neat sculpture thing... I really cannot describe it, well I could but there are pics instead! LOL, anyhoo, when you walk through this structure, it makes music... It was pretty neat! I then board to Cancun... I was very excited, and I got lucky sitting next to this nice couple who were doing trivia games and stuff like that. They were from Iowa too... Just goes to show that Iowa people really ARE nice!

Well, we landed and I took a cab to the hotel... Well, it was really a resort... I basically had an efficiency apartment all to myself... I let Chuckles come in to play a bit too! The room had laundry and a kitchenette as well as an amazing tub, an ocean view and a little living room area that led to the balcony... They had a series of pools which were infinity pools. If you are unfamiliar with infinity pool, if you are in the pool and look out to the ocean.. it looks like it never ends... that the pool goes straight into the ocean... Pretty amazing.

If you don't know me very well, you may not know that I absolutely LOVE the beach!! The smell of the saltwater and seaweed (I know it sounds kinda gross, but it is my happy place) the sound of the waves, the sand beneath my feet, the beating sun, the smell of sunscreen, the lightening of my hair... yes, I totally heart the beach! Anyhoo, I seem to be using that word a lot this post, It was amazing, that first day was kind of my free day... I spent time in the pool with S and R and Chuckles, and at the beach, swimming in the ocean... getting salt in my suit and my eyes... yes, it gets everywhere... Still love it though... The next day we spent more time in the water and even went to the aquarium... a waste of money, by the way... go to Xcaret... but I am now getting ahead of myself...

The day I spent alone with Chuckles, we almost lost his sand bucket... well we did lose it, just not permanently... Chuckles accidentally lost it when the tide came in, and I almost had it but a big wave came, and as I was holding Chuckles, did not quite catch it... I did not see it again for about ten minutes, when Chuckles and I were walking along the beach (yes it was a ways down the beach) this really nice guy found it and returned it to us... :) I was glad... The reason I was holding Chuckles is because he was going in after the bucket... I was sad when I had to tell him it was gone!! :) God looks out for us! :)

On Saturday, our last day, we went to Xcaret. It is pronounced like Eesh-kah-ret... Check it out at www.xcaret.com. If you ever get that way, you should totally go to Xcaret!! It is an eco-park. While that meant nothing prior to me going there, it is AMAZING!!! It is kind of like an aquarium and zoo and beach and pools and scuba diving and all kinds of stuff wrapped into one! Everything is natural so there is no real maintenance of things like pools. They have pools but they are fed by the ocean. There are underground rivers which you can snorkel through. Which I did and it was really neat... Also a great way to cool down around mid-day. The water is very cool... Almost too cool to begin with but you get used to it pretty quick. It is hard to describe. It is amazing! And totally worth probably two days of your time... We didn't get to everything in one day.

Well, Cancun is very American. 99% of the people speak English and most are quite friendly. Probably because Cancun was created to be an American tourist spot. But still. We got some gas outside of Cancun on our way back from Xcaret and had to speak Spanish, we got a bit more IN Cancun, and English worked just fine! LOL. Sunday we headed back. My flight was before theirs so I took a cab to the airport and barely made my flight! And I was there early!! Still, it was a great trip. minus the loss of my wallet... I bought a new one the other day... The only real money lost was my Metro Card... I did not have it registered... But there wasn't a lot of money on it anyway so that wasn't that big a deal. The real bother was my driver's license. But that is getting worked out.

WOW, looks like I had plenty to write about. And I fell sure I left stuff out... Well, until next time!! Hasta!

Jules

United Methodist Iowa Annual Conference

Catch up time... to start I had a blast seeing who I got to see... So thank you all for making time, as mine was limited! I hope to see more of you next time I am in Iowa, which will probably be this fall/winter. I will keep you updated! :)

The Iowa United Methodist Annual Conference was awesome!There were a few things on the business end that frustrated me! However, Corey was a sport and just laughed at me!! Thanks for that! :) One of the highlights was a guest speaker named Bishop Kulah. He was from Africa. (I cant remember where, and didn't put it in my notes, sorry.)

Bishop Kulah said many things, and some of it related to where he came from. One of my favorite analogies has to do with walking. He started off by saying that where he comes from, walking is not a sport. Not a way to get fit. Walking is community, fellowship, meditations, questions and connections. When we walk in life we meet people in a community and fellowship with them. We meditate on things, ask questions of others we are waling with and make connections. (He put it much better than I, of course, I am not a Bishop either though, LOL.) So we should walk with Christ. Build a community, fellowship with other Christians. Meditate on God's word, allow Jesus to ask us questions, and make connections with Jesus and God, and our community! I love this. I cannot quite seem to put it into words that show how it makes me feel. I haven't been doing all that, and this was a good way to put it into perspective for me! WALK WITH CHRIST! :)

One thing I absolutely related to that he said, "Scripture is primary, discipline is secondary." This just may be my new motto! LOL. How often do we read scripture to make sure that what we are hearing is the true word of God. Are we learning and meditating on God's word? Or the word of our Pastor, or neighbor, or fellow Christian? Now don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that I am perfect, or that those listed above are not well meaning, but I believe this helps us to keep accountable to God, not to people. This leads to another quote: "Some people believe the Bible contains the word of God. I believe it IS the word of God" Which I too believe. We should follow the word of God! I feel that the Discipline of the UMC is rooted in the word, and as hard as it may seem some days, hours or minutes, I am trying to live my life through His word. I often fall short! Former Iowa Bishop Ruben Job said, "regardless of circumstance, you are a child of God." Regardless of the many times I fall, or fail, I can always remember that I am a child of God! And I hope you all do too!

Out in Fort Dodge there is this ministry that "takes it to the street." It is an outdoor ministry in which started out as a children's program, but now reaches those from infant to 92 years of age! It is a summer ministry in which they have sites outdoors where they do mini church services. The coordinator sometimes gets slack from some members of her congregation because this ministry does not necessarily bring more members into their church. But as she points out, it is not about filling the pews, it is about bringing the gospel to those who won't hear it anywhere else! Kudos Jennifer!! YOU ROCK!

Pastor Dwayne had a retirement ceremony that some people were able to make it down to Des Moines for! Which I am glad for, because my dad was one of them!! I love you Dad! ;)

Well guys, my next post will be about Cancun, it will probably be shorter than this one, but I hope you enjoy it! And I am sorry it took me so long to post this! LORI, I am sorry, I know I told you it would be up Saturday night! I fail!! The family had guests over and it was late before I got back upstairs! Sorry!

Til next time!

Jules

Church and Trips

Okay, the family has chosen Cancun for vacation this year. I will be leaving from the conference to go straight there! :) I am excited to get to use my Passport for more than employment identification. :)

So, I will be flying into Omaha on Thursday June 3, around 11:30 p.m. I hope to get to see some of you on Friday!! Kenessa will pick me up at the airport and I will stay with her Thursday night. Around 10:30 a.m. Friday I will be with Alicia, and we will pick up Kari for lunch! :) Then I hang with Curt and I will be staying in Ames with Curt that night and he will drive me back down to the conference start on Saturday morning! :)

I am also down to two churches. The Falls Church which was Episcopalian and is now just Anglican, and the Annandale United Methodist. I am currently attending both. I am praying for guidance to the right church! Please pray for me too!

I have also started going to the gym... FINALLY. And I started swimming laps at the local pool the family has a membership at. So, I hope to be fit in no time. There is also a Tae Kwon Do place across the street from my gym that I may take classes at. Curt has me interested. :) I will check that out when I get back from Cancun. I miss you guys and am glad I get to see some of you in a few days!

Miss you and love you guys!!!

Jules

Now and Coming Up

Not too much is going on but I thought I would let you know what is coming up... :)

I will be working on this blog to add pictures and make it look great and inviting...a place where you might actually want to visit to see what is going on! :) I will update more later.

I really enjoy listening to Nate Fowler while I write and work on ideas for the blog. I just discovered him last night when he friended me on Twitter. :) Oh and "friended" should totally be a word!

I joined Gold's Gym. They have a lot of classes... now I just need to go!!! They have Zumba, which I will be going to at 11:15 on Saturday, spin classes, and so much more... I could definitely get fit if I just hit one class a day I am sure... LOL...

A lot of things are coming up soon!!!
This weekend I will probably have made a final decision on a church! In a few short weeks I will be headed back to Iowa for Annual Conference in Des Moines. I may be able to catch up with one or two of you... LOLOLOL. I am excited to see Janice and Pastor and Corey for certain! :)

I will be flying down on Friday, June 4, the conference starts on Saturday morning, and back out Tuesday evening, the conference ends Tuesday, June 8, at noon. Curt said he might be able to come down to Des Moines to hang out... I am trying to get him to come back to DC with me ;) A lot, however, depends on what S and R decide to do for vacation.

They will be heading to Bermuda (that is the plan so far) that same weekend and they may fly me down after the conference. I really like that option. Bad timing Iowa Conference!!!! I could have definitely gone to Bermuda! And I already have the shorts!! ;);)

Well talk to y'all later!! Miss you guys!

Jules