Crazy Weekend

This is my brother's extremely fun and adorable wife, Alli! On Thanksgiving morning, David, Alli, my aunt and I all went kayaking on Lake Austin. We had a fun time paddling, watching turtles jump off logs, and splashing each other. Later that day we stuffed ourselves and watched like 5 episodes of Lost. Totally addicted!

My first roommate to get married got hitched Saturday afternoon. It's official... Amy Z is no longer here... it's now gonna have to be "Amy Dubs here!" The wedding was beautiful, especially this one h-o-t-t bridesmaid named Natalie Gallmore. And the reception met every expectation. Amy, Amy, Amy... I love that girl!

Tonight, after dinner with the 'rents at Joe's Crab Shack, Brit and Kimbo took me to Halcyon for the best chocolate cake ever and lots of flaming S'mores. It's just the coolest place. It's a coffee house slash pub with S'more trays that you take to you table to roast your own marshmallows. Goodtimes, goodtimes!

Awwwwww SICK 'EM BEARS!

So today I felt like the luckiest girl in the world because I got to see one of my favorite people on earth... Rachel Lundeen. Our friendship is one of those that never seems to skip a beat no matter how long it's been since we've been in the same city, or the same state for that matter.

The two of us met at summer camp when we were 17 years old. Rachel was singing Britney Spears and Mmm Bop, while I was dreaming of becoming a back-up dancer. That was a summer of laughing, playing, and plotting to "make the playbook" by doing something outrageous! Well, we've both grown up a bit since then. These past 5 1/2 years we've watched each other learn and mature. And we've been there along the way to encourage one another and to add a dash of fun to the other's life. That girl never ceases to amaze me with her wisdom and understanding.

Today we just hung out and talked. We went to Starbucks, ate her mom's home-cooked dinner, and went to a Baylor basketball game... but mainly we talked. My favorite thing about Rachel is that we can talk for hours and never feel like we've exhausted all topics. She always makes me think. She's the kind of friend who challenges me to have an opinion and if I don't have one, to find one. After talking to her, I feel as though I know myself a little better. Strange I know, but true. I think everyone should have a friend like her. I just can't wait until we are living in the same state next semester. I'm gonna be tearing up that road to Vail. Love ya, Rach! Thanks for being you!

Best Friends Forever!

I was going through pictures tonight for my scrapbook and stumbled onto this one. How precious are we!?!?! For those of you who came into my life post-Bartlesville, this is Lindsay Burness... my childhood Best Friend. She is pretty much a part of every memory I have from age 5 to 13... every birthday, every sledding trip, every Miss America-watching party, every Halloween, every sleepover, every Field Day at Wayside, every athletic practice, every Glamour Shots photoshoot, every summer day at Hillcrest pool, every recess, every everything! I love this girl and never get to see her anymore. It's sad... so very sad, but life's like that. You build friendships and then life pulls you apart and puts half the country between you. I am anticipating that very phenomena in January and it's so frustrating. I've experienced it many times (moving to California, going to college in Texas, leaving friends behind at camp every summer, and finally peacing out after college) so you'd think I'd get used to it and no longer be bothered by it. It's just that this time I feel so odd because when I moved to A-town I knew that I would be making friends that I would only hang out with for like 5 months. It's like "interim friends," but the thing is... they're amazing and have huge hearts. I wish we had the time to develop even better friendships. But even so, they are going to make every visit to my parents' home during my adulthood a delight because I will have friends here! For the past four years I have experienced going home to a home where I knew no one my age, but now that's no more! These girls and guys (whom Kimberly and I so fondly refer to as "The Reasons") are going to be my Reasons to be excited about holiday visits to A-town. "Tarrytowners," if you're reading this, I love ya'll and I'm so glad to have you in my life! I hope we overcome all the space life will throw between us when I'm up in the mountains of Colorado! And Lindsay Burness, if you're reading this, call me so we can catch up. I love you so dearly, BFF!

Guzzle it Page!

I love Page Price and apparently she loves Rudy's BBQ Sauce!

PS Thanks for giving me your banana runts... you're the best. Can't wait until your next visit and our trip to Amy's wedding. I'll wrestle you for the bouquet!

The Bigger the Better

The best part about this picture is that I was shopping alone and a girl in line at the check out watched me snap this pic of myself. She seemed to think I was very conceited.

Be Blessed!

Last summer (2004) while working at K-Klassic I was in a Bible study led by Missy White in which we studied the beatitudes. I had read that passage in Matthew many times in my life, heard tons of sermons on it in my years of church growing up, and had even tried unsuccessfully to memorize the chapter a couple months before heading to Klassic but I had never REALLY gotten deep into what the scripture truly was saying. There was one beatitude that really struck a cord with me one hot summer day and I am reminded of it again this evening as God has put it on my heart to share about it. In Matthew 5:4 Jesus said "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Some of you might be thinking... "What happened, Julie? Did someone pass away? Did you get sent to the ER... Again?" I feel like people (including me) forget about this verse and put it on the back burner, until we attend a funeral or until we comfort a sad friend who is going through a tough break-up... But that's not the heart of what Jesus is getting at in this verse. He is calling us to mourn sin everyday. We are to mourn our own sin and the sin that surrounds us in our depraved world.

We are sinful by nature. Ever since Adam and Eve messed up in the Garden of Eden we were born into it. Just like an alcoholic inherits the genes of an addictive personality, so we inherit the addiction to self... sin. It is hard for us to come to terms with the fact that we are all sinners because we love ourselves so stinkin' much! We have the audacity to think this world and God owes us something because we are the center of the universe. I think if you are anything like me (and I think you are) you have probably at one time in your life pondered the disgusting thought that maybe... just maybe everyone else was just a character in the play that was your life. Gross huh? And it's this selfishness that blocks us from seeing our sin... sin blocking the view of sin. It blocks my view a lot of the time. I have fooled myself into thinking that I am a pretty darn good person. And sadly, my eyes are rarely completely opened to how disgustingly sinful I am, as they are tonight. And it's when they are open that I pray God will allow me to stay aware and stay on my knees mourning my sin. And it's only when God allows us to breakdown that wall of sin and realize how sinful we really are, that we are able to mourn that sin. And His kindness leads us to repentance. It's hard to admit to wrongs when you know the judge is going to throw the book at you... but God's not like that. He loves us. He wants us to acknowledge and mourn our sins so He can comfort us! Those who deny their sins can't be comforted, and their sins become like unattended malignant tumors that grow under the surface. Only those who admit they are sick can be healed by the one true Healer.

We are also called to mourn the sins of others. I am not implying that we should go around saying, "Billy, I feel so bad for you cause you are a SINNER." But I've learned that we should love the sinner, mourn the sin. It's so easy to not like someone who gossips about you, hurts one of your friends intentionally, or is living in a life of habitual sin. But we are called to love them by separating our love for them from our disdain for their sin. We have to hate their sin and mourn that it so easily entangles them and us. God calls us to pray for our enemies. It's hard to hate someone you pray for every morning, noon, and night. We must love in an unusual way... loving the unloveable. May people find us wonderfully weird in our acceptance of people and our rejection of sin!

PS If you are randomly reading my blog even though you don't personally know me (as some are in the habit of doing), I'd love to hear your comments.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of those holidays that I just associate with my sweet friend Page. Most of my adult memories from October 31st include her... Freshman year of college driving around wishing anyone and everyone a "HAPPY Halloweeeeeeen!"... She pretty much slept through the entire fall semester sophomore year so I remember sneaking quietly out of our room at the Theta house to go down stairs and hand out candy to the little trick-o-treaters... And then there was the time we thought up those Black Eyed Pea outfits (so cool)... Let's just say, Monday night I was missing me some Page, even though I still had fun. A bunch of our girls from Hot Ladies of Austin Dinner Club (HLADC) got together for a festive dinner in our costumes at Shady Grove on Barton Springs. We had great times eating, laughing, taking pictures and chatting it up with our waiter, Jay Jay. During one conversation a newly engaged couple came up, so Allison dove into her purse for her LIST. Yes, Allison Nelson carries a list in her purse of all the people she knows that are engaged or newly married. I find this quite amusing. It's like a game... minus the fun and the competition. On this list (of mostly Aggies, may I add) are approximately 45 couples (90 stinkin' individuals) who are newly engaged or wed. CrAzInEsS! I mean really... Anyways... After dinner I headed over to the Fall Festival at my church to check in on my friends from "The Reasons" and also to see lots of cute kids. (P.S. Halloween costumes make kids so huggable... It's torture because you know it freaks moms out when strangers dressed up as crazy things are huggin their kids, so you have to refrain.) After making a couple rounds and visiting with everyone I decided that my face painting talents needed to be employed, so I joined my friend Natalie at her station. I warmed up by drawing a sweet dainty ladybug on a little girl named Laura's cheek, and then I moved onto my masterpiece pictured above. The joy of satisfaction overwhelmed my soul. It was as if she was born to look that way. Anyways, after painting her face I had an awkward conversation with Zorro who insisted I take his contact information, and then I petted many different soft animals in the petting zoo. All in all... Okay Halloween.