Tasty Thursday!

So back when i updated my blog i would sometimes post yummy recipes. I am always looking for awesome recipes that are easy, cheap and are something that you don't need every dish in the kitchen to make, so that's what kind of things I cook and I like to share them with you!

So tonight for dinner is:

Baked Penne Rigote

2 26 ounce jars of pasta sauce (any kind)
1 box Penne pasta
1 lb. Mozzarella Cheese grated
1 package Italian Sausage

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook Pasta according to the package instructions and drain. Cook the sausage in a skillet until they are fully cooked. Slice the sausage and stir it, the pasta sauce and 1/2 of the cheese into the drained pasta. Spread into greased pyrex dish and bake for 50 minutes. Spread the rest of the cheese on top and bake another 10 minutes.

Ok so my veggie loving friends won't be happy with this one, but i know you can leave out the sausage and it still be yummy or you could add roasted veggies. Tonight I used spicy sausage, and I'm hoping it turns out well, what i tasted before it went in the oven was really yummy!!

The best part of this recipe in my mind?? This recipe makes a TON of it, like enough to fill two small rectangle pyrex (maybe 9x11?) So it perfect if you have to take dinner to someone (you can make two pyrex and eat one yourself and do your neighbor a favor at the same time) What I did tonight was freeze the other pyrex, and some day I can pull it out in the morning and pop it in after i get home from school and then we have a ready made dinner!

So I hope that you try it out, and if you love it then you can thank my greatest friend, Jessica for her awesome recipe!

Julia

what's been going on?

not a lot of anything!! And it has been awesome!! I love being at home for Christmas break and so very little has been happening around here. We got back from Christmas on Sunday, after an awesome time with family. We flew to New Orleans and then drove to my Aunt and Uncle's house for the holidays. We spent the time really just hanging out with family. we got some awesome presents. Audie and I decided to get a Wii for ourselves for Christmas, which has been an awesome gift, and we have enjoyed it a lot! Audie got some good DVDs and Blue Ray movies that he has wanted for a while. I got some shoes, earings and a few measuring cups. They are really cool because they are the same kind that Alton Brown (i love him) uses for sticky liquids. I LOVE them, i want to make something with honey or mayo in it just so i can use them!! I also got to do a bit of shopping and i got some TOMS shoes!! So that brings my total up to 5 pairs!! I love wearing them for work because i have to wear closed toed shoes and they are super comfy, like wearing flip flops all day!

But definitly the best time was just sitting and hanging out with family and getting to see all my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and my sisters and mom and marcus! but now that we have been home it has been a boring kind of week. I really need to be cleaning our house up and getting everything settled in for the next semester, but I haven't really been motivated to do that stuff yet! so we've just been chilling out. Audie did catch a cold and stayed home from work yesterday to recuperate, which never happens, so it was nice to have him home, but sad that he was sick feeling!

well i know you were glad for the update, even if it was pretty boring. So i'll get back to catching up on my DVR and sitting around in my PJs!!

TTFN!

Julia

Job interviews!!

so if you know me, or heck even read my blog you know I was thinking and planning on applying for full time chaplain jobs in NC hoping to finish up here quicker than i would with chaplain jobs in GA. So i put in applications recently at 3 area hospitals. I got calls back to do interviews with all three, which is really encouraging (though i just got the last call today). I have ranked the three hospitals in case I get multiple offers, but I think that I would be happy basically at any of them, so i'm trying not to put too much stock in getting one over another.

So I had my first interview today (with the #2 hospital on my list) and I think that it went well. They seemed to ask me some tough questions, but also to understand and appreciate my answers. I really liked their office area, but the hospital where i did my internship seemed better. (like prettier, which is really arbitrary, it doesn't matter what kind of rooms i'm visiting in, just the people i visit.) But the people i encountered were really nice and I think i would be happy there at least. They pay a good amount, but 2000 less than the #1 hospital.

So we'll see as the other interviews unfold. the next is on the 5th of Jan. and another on the 18th of Jan. But no matter how well they go I won't hear from any of them until Feb. 16th. The area hospitals have an agreement to notify all of the applicants on the same day. So if any of the hospitals put me in their top choices (about 5-6 per hospital) they will give me a call and offer me a position on that day. If I don't get the top spot at any of them that doesn't mean i'm out completely, just that i'll have to wait and see after the top folks make their decisions. I think that these hospitals kind of figure that many of the applicants are also applying at the other places too so they know that they may offer a position to a person that decides to go somewhere else.

So that's what is up. By the way: Audie and I both had a very blessed Christmas, we traveled to Louisiana to be with my family, but that blog is for another day i guess. The job stuff was just way more on my mind!

ok ta ta for now!!

Julia

Merry (Early) Christmas!

So i know i have been MIA for the last four months, but i have a good excuse, my last post (i have never been so busy in my LIFE) was true for the last four months. BUT i'm setting all that aside to say hi to all my bloggy folks, if there are any readers left! maybe there are some folks that are still reading, and maybe i'll be better this coming semester about posting. I worked really hard at the hospital this semester, about 25 hours a week on top of taking two classes. Grades came back last week and I wound up with an A- and an A!! that is pretty difficult to accomplish in grad school so you can be impressed and i will be bragging about it. Since school let out I've been working on "chillaxing" and submitting applications for jobs for after graduation.

Right now I'm continuing to focus on chaplain jobs in this area. I hate that we'll not be back in GA as soon as we hoped, but i think that it is where God is leading me. I had a meeting recently in my hometown and they approved me for another year and gave me the go ahead to stay and continue doing chaplaincy for now. So I put in my applications at Duke Hospitals, UNC Hospitals and WakeMed (which is in Raleigh for you folks that don't know) and I have gotten interviews with two of them so far. In fact my first interview is next week! Ahh, kinda crazy! I'm really trying to focus on just putting this in God's hands, because i know his plan is to prosper me and not to harm me! So I put in my applications and will do as well as I can on the interviews, and have ranked them in my preference, but wherever God wants me to be I know he'll give me the green light to go there. Whatever place that is highest on my list, and offers me a job, that's where I'm going to go and trust that it is God's plan!

In other news: We got a new car! it happened about a two months ago, but Audie's car completely died on us (it had a messed up transmission) and we had to have a new car. It was really fun to pick out a new car, but it is way not fun paying for it!

We're definitely excited about the coming holidays. We spent Thanksgiving with Audie's parents in Atlanta and so we're spending Christmas with my mom's whole family in Baton Rouge! I'm really excited to get to fly with Audie this week (we haven't done that in a really long time- three weeks after we were married to Puerto Rico(fyi NOT our honeymoon, but a mission trip with 20 youth)) i think it will be really fun to get to sit next to my hubby on a flight and not some stranger.

Ok so we've been really busy, so don't judge the fact that we haven't sent out Christmas cards, finished our shopping or put up any decorations!! but that doesn't mean that we don't know and appreciate the real reason for the season!

TTFN

- Julia

wow

i have never been so busy in my LIFE!!! i had a great weekend at the wedding/ baptism, but now it's back to work! I've had some great times at work this week, i'm getting better at 'cold calls' were you just go and introduce yourself to a patient/family. This has worked out pretty well.

Today i had my first pretty hard case. I can't give any details, but it was hard to be this family's spiritual rock in the hard and difficult situation they were in. so your prayers would be greatly appreciated!! also this weekend I am on call for the first time. That means for 24 hours i am the only chaplain in the whole hospital! AAHHH!! i hope it goes ok.

in other news i spoke with my DS today, and asked him about if i could put off ordination for a year and do a chaplaincy residency for a year. He was very supportive. I'm still not sure if i will do that or not, because if i do that means that we have to stay in NC for an extra year. But there is a bit more security in us doing that because audie has a job that he likes, i would have a job that i like, we're happy with where we live, etc. the only sad part is that most of our friends would be moving back and we would be staying for a while. what do you think? is it crazy to put off ordination for a year? my DS seemed to think it was ok, and then i'll try for ordination in 2011. wow that seems so far away.

Ok that's all for now- i have TONS of homework to do because i was off doing great things all weekend.

Julia

today:

today I had poppyseed dressing on my salad at lunch. When i got in my car at 5:30 i realized that i had a poppyseed in my teeth. Why o Why can you not tell me i have something in my teeth when i am talking to you?

today i booked tickets to go see my family for Christmas! we're going to Baton Rouge, by way of New Orleans!! we got two round trip tickets for $420 total, for the week of Christmas!! i love good deals

today i looked at blogs instead of cooking dinner and then rushed to get something together so i wouldn't have to admit to the level of my blog addiction!

Today i 'paper-cut' myself on a CD while driving!

that's all!

Julia

I LOVE my Job!!

So can i tell you guys that I love my job!! I'm working as a chaplain for the Labor and Delivery unit at a hospital. I have completed my first week! I worked 12 hours on my floor, directly working with some awesome nurses, doctors, and other hospital folks. I also made 9 pastoral care visits!! most were just routine visits where I simply introduced myself and told them what we chaplains are here for. But I got to pray with two lovely families/ ladies. So i also spent a good amount of my time charting all that I did and i spent about an hour on the phone with IT people trying to get computer access for different things (doesn't that happen every time you start a new school/job!) Anyway! it has been awesome so far. it's not just good times though, there are some families that have experienced some deep loss and are in a good amount of pain when their babies have to be in the ICU or stay when they get to go home. It's a really hard job, but wow do i love being with these people in their happy and sad times, and bringing the name of the Lord into their days!

So another thing that i am really excited about is that in a week one of my BFF's is getting married!! and then a month later another one of my BFF's is getting married. The really cool pat of both of these weddings is that Audie and I are very good friends with both people so that always makes the wedding better! also i'm excited because we won't have to drive a mega long way to the weddings so we can stay as long as we want and the receptions. I hate having to leave before the couple does, and the last few weddings we have gone to it seems like we don't get to stay too long because we have to get back for some reason or another.

So classes also started back this week, and they look good. The chaplain classes I'm taking along with my time on the floor are going to be tough with a lot of work, but it seems like my other two will be ok!

alright that's enough for now, i'm going to go sleep and rev up for Friday! i also have to work really hard this weekend to make up for the fact that we're going to be in ATL for five days for Jessica's wedding and my niece's baptism.

Also on that note- our niece's parents (audie's sister and brother-in-law) asked us to be her godparents. What does that mean to you? everyone i have asked says something different and i'm not sure what they have asked us to do! Also Leah- if you are reading this i really want know your opinion.

TTFN-

Julia

my aassignment!!

Oh my lordy ya'll i know i haven't posted in FOREVER!! but you know how it goes, and i'm so sorry i've been too busy for blogging.

I just wanted to pop in and tell ya'll i'm busy and to forgive me! i started orientation this week at the hospital where I'm a chaplain. I'll be working there this semester 20 hours a week and also taking two classes- Evangelism and Christian Worship. but this week we're doing orientation with the hospital all day every day!

so far we've just been finding out where things are and basics and we'll be learning a WHOLE lot more the rest of this week. Today we selected our units. I'll basically work around that one unit of 32 beds or so, answering to the pastoral needs for any patient is in those beds! So i'm excited because I am assigned to the Birthing Center!! where most of the other chaplains will have more somber and hard emotionally driven areas, i get to spend my time with ladies in labor, their families, and thier babies!!!

TOO EXCITED about spending my time with the labor and delivery patients!!!

TTFN,

Julia

annifestabuel

so yesterday and today make audie and my annifestabuel!  so audie and I's first date was on July 1st and then we got married a year later on June 30.   So we refer to these two days as our annifestabuel (it rhymes with fuel in case you were wondering about pronunciation) We got the idea from a friend of mine and her ex who had a diagreement over when they're first date actually was so they celebrated both and called it annifestabuel.   It works for us. 

this year we pulled out all the stops and both went to work all day yesterday!  when working at the church Tuesday becomes my busiest day, because i lead bible study in the evening.  We don't get home until late and i plan our discussion all day + yesterday i made some pastoral visits and went to a VBS meeting.  all went well.  

Today for annifestabuel we're celebrating by me doing laundry all day and audie going to work again!  i know we are some wild folks!   

but we're going on vacation for a week starting on Friday afternoon (as soon as Audie gets off from work, so pray for a slow day!)  so we have got to clean our house and pack and a million other things that need to happen!  So i'm spending the next three days cleaning so that when we come home from vacation we have a clean house.  

i'm really excited about seeing all my fam for vacation, and more importantly having a week where i won't have to do anything work related.  

well TTFN, 

Julia 

i think i created a monster!

ok so after i posted about how amber had not posted in a while, then she posted again!! So not to be outdone, here's post number 2 of the day!

By the way audie if you read this blog, please act like you are surprised with your present in about 30 minutes when you get home! i worked really hard to make sure that you had no clue that it was coming to the house today, so if i screwed up by posting on my blog about your gift i'm gonna be pissed!

almost as pissed as i was when Jillian kicked off Jake the Pilot, but it's all good it looks like he comes back swinging this week!!

Julia

don't freak out!

the world is not ending just because i'm posting for the first time in about forever.
Let's just say that Amber over at Tweet Tweet Chirp Chirp was basically my excuse for not posting for a while. I kept saying to myself, well i know i havent' posted in about a million years, but she hasn't posted in about 9.6 million so it's ok. Surely i'll get back on the horse before Amber does! Yeah right, amber posted earlier today, so i figured i needed to get my act together!

so what's been going on?? well i started my chruch interneship, that's been going great, but making me much busier than i though i would be. this week is definitely my busiest so far.

We're going to a wedding this weekend! so excited to see two good friends get married. This will be the first wedding i have gone to in a while that i'm not in, so it should be great to just observe things!

Audie and my anniversary is this coming week. 2 years of marriage is kind of crazy. I can't believe that we've beeen married that long, and at the same time it seems like we've been together forever. it's timeless, like any great relationship!

For our anniversary Audie got me a Kitchen Aid stand mixer! i have totally wanted one forever, and so it was really nice to get one! last year we didn't get each other gifts because we were kind of strapped for cash, we just went out for a nice dinner. This year we're giving each other gifts, but not going to dinner together specifically to celebrate.

Also we just got cable, internet and dvr set up! another reason to post, because i can do it from a internet connection that i paid for! so pumped!

so i'm going today to get audie's present for our anniversary, so excited about surpising him with a macbook pro laptop. We're replacing our old desktop computer. We're going to donate the old one because it's still working, but not working good for our puporses. Since you get an iPod Touch for getting a laptop at the Mac store with your student discount, he's getting both as a surprise!

ok that's enough for now, lots of love folks!

Julia

bachlorette thoughts

the bachlorette last night was pretty great! i have started to like some of the guys and really dislike some of them. so Jillian here are my thoughts on some of the guys:

Jake the Pilot: i love him so far! i really liked how goofy he was on their date last week, and how he wasn't afraid to look kind of stupid in front of her. also you could tell that he was nervous- too cute! so we'll see how things work out but i think that he's my front-runner right now.

Kyptin- I'm not sure if that's how you spell his name but i really think he is a cutie! i think that he's just an all around nice guy, and so i want him to continue!

Wes the Country music guy: so i know that Jillian really thinks that his singing is really sweet/sexy/cool. But i disagree! first off to the producers: stop showing the same part of that song to us!! if you are going to continue to show him singing the same freaking song over and over then show some other parts of the song!! please!! Jillian- don't you think it's a bit strange/weird that this guy's song is so similar to a garth brooks song? also do you think it's weird that he only plays his own music and not anyone else's? he just seems like he doesn't have any other qualities than his music. i think it's a bit fake feeling, and some of the other guys think he's just here for his music, and i agree.

Tanner the foot guy: this guy has a weird thing with her feet! it is getting a bit ridiculous!! i mean i get it that some folks have things that they really like on a woman's body, but come on, talk about something else! during last night's episode she put her feet into his lap (i think adding fuel to the fire) and he could barely string together like 4 words he was so distracted by the loveliness of her feet! WEIRD!! i mean if a guy is a but/boob guy that's not all he talks about- so he needs to get it together and get in the game 'cause we're getting a bit tired of the foot thing.

Dave the angry guy: So at first i really liked him because he got so nervous the first night he really forgot what he was supposed to say, kind of cute! but now i have reconsidered!! he reminds me of all the nasty/disgusting/mindless frat guys i knew in college, and the stupid/cocky cops/military guys i know now. i just think he is full of himself!! and his anger issues are quite concerning- because i don't think its ever ok to even think about beating up another person- much less voicing that desire outloud in a real conversation! i think that last night he had way too much to drink, and got angry over the stupidest thing- the other guys that are participating- he knew when he signed up for this that there would be other guys involved, so you can't get mad now!

Juan- now there is a lot of controversy about this guy 'cause Dave the angry guy got all pissed at him because he didn't think that Juan was being for real, that he was acting fake. Now i disagree with how Dave went about voicing his concerns- see above! - but i kind of see what Dave is talking about. Juan is just too calculating. every time he approaches another guy to pull jillian away he brings her another drink, or a blanket. he also always has a line about her dress, her eyes and the rest of the stuff. i mean i appreciate the thoughtfulness, etc. but he's just a bit too slick for my tastes! i like a guy that allows the imperfections to show at least a little bit. He's just oily feeling and a little fake.

ok so not that my oppinion of these guys is what matters, but you know i have to do the commentary to the show that i love to watch, and about those boys that i just love to hate!

so hopefully next week will bring more drama- i love the confrontation between juan and dave this week- though i want to know how jillian didn't get wind of all that happening- and i wish some of these guys would speak up about hwo they feel about these crazy guys! apparently next week they call out some guys who have girlfriends back home! oooohhhh i love drama filled summer reality TV!!

so loving the summer,

Julia

dinner tonight!

Ok guys and gals! I have an awesome recipe for you- i realize i have kind of dropped the ball on the recipes, so sue me! but after i got back from an awesome road trip with my friends sarah and meridith, we had a few days of slow down and relaxation. Then Sunday evening meridith passed out at work, hitting her head on the floor, and she got a concussion. She was in the ER for about 24 hours and I spent one night in the ER with her, and then sarah took the day shift. i had to go back Monday night so she wouldn't be by herself. yesterday i went and got her mom from the Airport so that her mom could take over all the mothering!

she's doing great now, just still on nausua and dizziness meds. now if her mom doesn't drive her crazy in the next few days it will be a miracle! not because her mom is aweful, but becasue let's face it once we all get out of the house having our mom/dad parent us again is like torture!!

ok on the recipe! this is my mom's mac and cheese recipe with a bit of a yummy twist (from another yummy recipe i had)! i definitely made this a few weeks ago and then have had cravings for it ever since!!! so now it's on the menu for dinner tonight- along with sloppy joe's ( they are audie's specialty) and roasted broccoli and watermelon for desert!! ok on with the mac and cheese:

Mom’s Macaroni and Cheese


1 box macaroni noodles
1 block of Cheddar cheese
milk
2 eggs
a few dashes of hot sauce -optioinal
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard - optional

• Boil and drain noodles, and place into a sprayed or greased glass baking dish.
• Cup up the block of cheese into cubes, and stir throughout the noodles.
• Beat eggs in a small bowl and add enough milk to fill the glass dish. Mix in the few dashes of hot sauce ( I use about 10-15 drops) and the ground mustard, if using.
• Pour the milk and egg mixture over the noodles and cheese.
• Bake at 400 degrees for an hour, or until the dish is totally solid
• Optional: grate cheese over the top about 10 minutes before it is finished.

so the hot sauce and mustard give the mac and cheese a real savory flavor and that little kick of spice. i love the change to my mom's traditional recipe, but try it both ways! hope you enjoy!

Julia

I'm back!

ok so i have officially been back since friday/saturday at 1 am, but since that means i have been exhausted ever since then i figure now is when i make my return to bogging. Not much to report- well really too much to say is the more likely problem after two weeks almost with the best girls in the world.

we picked out the cutest bridesmaid dresses ever!! so excited!! we traveled a LOT of miles to see a million things! um yeah too much to say at this point, so i guess i'll begin with this weekend- a whole lot a nothing!

sleep sleep and more sleep to recover from the 1 1/2 weeks of much travel, many strange beds, and not enough sleep because of the combination. Audie and i also watched Charlie Wilson's War! it was awesome!! too good!! we also will watch Valkarie tonight so i'll report back as to the goodness of that one.

ok that's all folks, at least for now!

Julia

this week

so this week, and next i'm in GA, with family and friends. And i'm too busy hanging out and loving every second of the time i'm spending with them to blog about it! sorry for the interruption for no news but things are good, i'm not dead and i'm having a blast, but missing the husband!

have a great week off everyone!

weeks recap!

Sorry guys, I realize that katie b. posts more in a day than i do in a month many times. But this week has been fairly busy- about as busy as summer time gets around here.

Sunday: not much happening around here, i think Audie and i just enjoyed the fact that we had nothing to do that afternoon.

Monday: Babysitting again. i watched my fav. girl again, picking her up from daycare and then putting her down for a nap that afternoon. more like a day of stuff to do. after babysitting i taught a friend to drive a stick shift, she did really great! she was my like second student ever, and she was driving in a neighborhood after only about two hours. Audie stayed home sick that day, and i think he passed it to me, because by that evening i was sneezing and stuff as well.

Tuesday: Orientation for Field Ed. So my supervisor and my reflection group leader were not present- which is the majority of what you do at orientation- meet and get to know them/ hear about what you'll do this summer during the internship. SO my day was basically pointless. a long day of doing nothing at the Div. school. I didn't really have to be there for most of the day so i skipped out on some things, but was present for the most important things.

Wednesday: again babysitting! another nice day with the girl! she was really funny, because her mom has been gone for the last week (she was in the hospital- she was fine, but still) the girl has been with dad, and has been totally missing mom. That afternoon when she woke up from her nap, and found me there instead of mom or dad she was pretty upset. after she calmed down we were playing, when she had to get in a bit of trouble for doing something dangerous- not a big deal i just told her no (a word she doesn't hear too often i'm sure- especially this last week, while dad has been in charge) But she got mad at me, and then pitched a bit of a fit- she threw herself on the floor, and then like screamed loudly. I told her to stop that or she would have to be in time out. And at that point she started 'crying' where she just made crying noises, but no tears were there at all. And when i told her that wasn't going to get her anywhere- she jsut made the noises some more and then would stop long enough to check if i was paying attention, and then when i looked at her, started 'crying' again. Kids are pretty funny, I told her to play something else and she pretty much did, in like 5 minutes i was her favorite again.

Thursday: not much going on here! i stayed home in my PJs all day- for the first time since school has been over!! reading and watching TV, and really resting with my cold. I still feel pretty crappy, but i think the cold is on it's way out, i'm totally living off sudaphed and robutussin, and the combo has made me pretty sluggish!

but this time next week i'll be in GA!! I'll give the low down later, but I'm pumped about $29 one way tickets that i got on tuesday, and i'm pumped to go home and see my mom, and then go dress shopping with the newly engaged Jessica, and when i get home, i'll be going on the road trip of GA with my two good seminary friends!

so see ya'll later, enjoy the longest post ever, and i hope you have had a great week too!

-Julia

summer is great!

AAhh, i love summer time! I have had the best few days! (i have had plenty of time to blog, but i have just been doing nothing and enjoying my time off)

Thursday: i babysat for one cute little girl Hannah, we went to the Life and science Museum in Durham, AWESOME i really recommend it! totally worth the ticket price. Anyway we went and so did like every school child in durham public school and their parents as chaparones. they were everywhere= too crowded and not too fun. Then we went back to her house for lunch and a nap! Then Audie and I just spent the night at home. (the girls and i were gonna do a sleep over that night, but finals wore us out too much)

Friday: we did get together for a poolside lay out day of reading, relaxing and chatting. But the sun did not cooperate, clouds and then rain ruined our day, so we went inside and watched Bride Wars- too cute! On the way home from sarah's i got an awesome call from one BFF Jessica about her getting approved for a new house. She bought a house!! that's crazy, but so exciting, she and her boyfriend are awesome good friends of ours, both were in our wedding (they walked down the aisle together!) and they had been looking for houses, waiting for a good deal/ good house. They found an awesome house- it was great news to hear! Friday evening a few friends and Audie and I went to the Durham Bulls game. Awesome seats for just $10. We were like five rows back from first base, right next to the Bulls dugout! we were really pumped and had a great time at the game- even though we lost 14-1. boo on the bulls! But the real drama of the night was that my car was broken. When my friend came over to go to the game he came in and told me that my brake lights were on, even though my car was NOT on!! really freakin wierd! anyway we took off one of the battery terminals so that the battery wouldn't run down.

Saturday: So far the day has been great. I got woken up to the news that Jessica- friend with the new house- and her boyfriend James GOT ENGAGED!!! too awesome timing James! they are such a great couple. They started dating about six months after Audie and I did, and i have been wanting them to get engaged probably worse than Jessica has! but they now are, and the rign si lovely! a beautiful antique- james' grandmother's! love it! sigh, love is in the air! ok well then since we were already up, from the 8:30 phone call from Jessica, we decided to go ahead and take the car to the shop. No news yet on wether little herbie ( that's my car's name) will be better soon or not, here's hoping 'cause i was supposed to teach a friend to drive stick this afternoon/ another friend on Monday. I kinda need my car for that!

Ok so anyway- summer is awesome i love having nothing to do! though it is a bit wierd having nothing to do, you know what i mean?

Ok well i'll update all of you when i know more about herbie's condition! love to all on a beautiful saturday!!

-Julia

Done!

20 minutes ago i submitted my last final! and a full ten minutes before the deadline! i was done at 9:30 but i had a friend proofread it with some fresh eyes- really good idea since the paper was for 50% of my grade! so i'm off to bed, then going to spend my first day off babysitting for the sweetest girl in the world!! then my two great friends meridith and sarah and i are all having a slumber party at sarah's- no husbands! then on friday will be the whole day spent by the pool, until we leave to shower and get changed and go to a Durham bulls game!! it's going to be a great summer, including some awesome reading, though Not one of you gave me any suggestions! it's ok we're still friends, but throw me a bone here- give me some suggestions for any good book you have read in your entire life that you think i should read!

ok bed is calling!

lots of love from officially a senior (third and final year) in Divinity school!

julia

halfway there!

Ok so i have completed two of my finals!! two papers down and a test and a huge paper left to go!

So i have completed two papers that equaled 17 pages and have done my portion of the study guide for my test on Monday. Tomorrow afternoon my study group is going to combine all our portions and discuss and study together, and i'll continue studying on my own Sunday evening and monday morning prior to the test at 1:30

After my test i'm going to start writing that massive ethics paper- 6000-8000 words (18-22 pgs) on an ethical issue. sigh- this is going to suck bad!! but Sunday shall be spent outlining paper and gathering sources, then after my test Monday- around 4:30 i will begin writing! hopefully it will all be done by Wednesday at dinner, though it isn't technically due until midnight. I will be writing until it is done though!!

And then Thursday is going to be spent in my PJS!!!! first day of summer break!!!! I'm going to read as much pleasure reading this summer as i can- And i'm taking suggestions- any book you think i should read leave in the comments! I already have several in mind, but any book will do! Also i plan on spending Friday poolside with my two best seminary friends - don't worry i'll have plenty of SPF. And in a few weeks we have planned a road trip of GA to show off my home state to the two of them!

Then i'll start my summer internship, go to AL with my whole extended family, finish the internship, have a few weeks off, and then school starts back- the last year here!!

ok so i went on a jaunt through my summer plans, but really i still have to write that paper, and study for this test!!!

but what am I doing for the evening?? Red Robin (awesome restaurant) for dinner- thick cut steak fries, an awesome burger- with onion straws, A1 and bleu cheese on it!!, and a strawberry lemonade -real strawberries!!! totally my fav. stress food- carbs, red meat and a pink drink! then a movie on the couch with popcorn with the hubby! loving it! i need a night off after all the study prep, and writing I have done this week to give me a surge of energy for the next half!!

love to all- sorry i have fallen off the face of the planet- finals are killer!!

PLEASE suggest books for my summer reading- hell suggest a million of them- i'm a fast reader and i'll have all summer!

-julia

AAAHHHH!!!!

so the last post with this title was a relaxed sigh of relief. This one is a scream of stress! So now i am totally into my finals! i have three papers due and one test to take. I have done nothing so far and i need some major encouragement!! it will all get done, but will my sanity last that long? that is the real question!

in other news: there is no other news, my life is school, everything else is on the back burner! my house is a mess, i have barely cooked dinner in the last few weeks, and laundry is piled up - clean laundry that needs to be hung up (that's my least favorite part)

so from the messy house- have fun for finals week- i know i won't!!

-julia