out & about

Taco Meatloaf

Julie — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 21:11:33 GMT

1 pound lean ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup Ritz Crackers or Saltines
1 package TACO SEASONING*
American, Cheddar, or Colby Cheese, sliced
Salsa

Combine hamburger, egg, cracker crumbs, and taco seasoning and mix well. Place half of the meat mixture into loaf pan. Place slices of cheese on the top of the meat mixture, followed by a generous amount of salsa. Add the remaining meat mixture and top off with generous amount of salsa.

Bake in 375 oven for about 35 minutes. Remove from oven and top with more cheese, if desired. Return to oven for approximately 10 more minutes or until the cheese is completely melted.

Serves: 6

*TACO SEASONING

6 teaspoons chili powder
5 teaspoons paprika
4-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2-1/2 teaspoons onion powder
2-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine chili powder, paprika, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and cornstarch in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Close the lid securely and shake well to mix contents.

7 teaspoons is equivalent to 1 (1.25 ounce) package of taco seasoning

Douglas County Chamber Singers celebrate 10th season with Friday concert

Julie — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 01:55:58 GMT

From the Douglas Neighbor...

Read full article here.

Spring is in the air

Julie — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 14:20:00 GMT

Love the mailbox in this picture.

About me

Julie — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:19:00 GMT

Oh hi! I’m Julie, and I’d like to welcome you to my blog. I live on 8 acres about 35 miles west of Atlanta, GA with my husband of 20+ years.

Community

I’m active in my community and belong to or have organized several different community groups:

Douglas County Chamber Singers: I sing in the tenor section and I’m also their webmaster
Douglas County Literacy Council: I volunteer as the Executive Director of this fine charity
The NeedleNerds: Since I crochet and love all kinds of needle craft I founded the NeedleNerds - a community of crocheters, knitters, tatters, embroiderers, needlepointers (and anyone else who wants to participate). I’ve made some great friends through this group and it’s very rewarding to have brought together such a fine and friendly group of folks
Epilogue Book Club: I love to read great novels so I founded a book club that is devoted to reading all of the Pulitzer Prize winning novels.

Education & Work

I hold BBA and Masters of Science degrees in Decision Sciences and currently teach college business courses in Atlanta. Before I started teaching, I worked for many years in roles such as software training and support, marketing analysis, consulting and project management.

Other Interests

I’m a bit of a gadget geek and love technology (you can find a link to my gadget blog below). I’m usually packing a couple windows phones, a Zune and a windows 7 tablet. I've been awarded the Microsoft MVP in Windows Phone for the last 5 years, so I guess that means I'm a bit of an expert.

I also play the guitar, enjoy cooking (at times), and love my motley animal kingdom that consists of 2 dogs and 4 cats at the moment.

So many of my interests and hobbies are sedentary things, so I’m feeling some urgency to kick it into high gear these days. When I'm not messing around with my gadgets, guitars, hanging out on the internet, or teaching, I'm trying to get back into shape by running (or walking) down the road with my favorite running companion, Gracie – the sweetest Labrador Retriever in the world.

You can find me on the web in lots of other places too:

frommypocket.pocketprimer.com
jujubean1958’s Flickr
profjulie’s Twitter
jujubean dailymile

Epilogue Book Club

Julie — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:10:25 GMT

UPDATED 1/25/2012

Epilogue Book Club was formulated in April 2009 in Douglas County, Georgia to read award winning books, starting with Pulitzer Prize winning novels. Epilogue is currently meeting approximately every six weeks at the Border's Bookstore at Arbor Place Mall. Books are chosen at random from the list of Pulitzer Prize winners.

Epilogue's Reading List

Julie's favorite books »

Current Reading List & Meeting Dates

Meeting dates are subject to change (especially the ones that are several months away). Future meeting dates are confirmed via email notification.

Meeting date	Book & Author	Yr

02/05/12	The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara	1975
03/11/12	The Fixer, Bernard Malamud	1967
04/22/12	Alice Adams, Booth Tarkington	1922
06/03/12	Reserved for 2012 Pulitzer Prize Winner	2012
	One of Ours, Willa Cather	1923
	A Death in the Family, James Agee	1958
	Laughing Boy, Oliver Lafarge	1930
	House Made of Dawn, N. Scott Momaday	1969
	Now in November, Josephine Winslow Johnson	1935
	All the Kings Men, Robert Penn Warren	1947
	Martin Dressler: A Tale of an American Dreamer, Steven Millhauser	1997
	The Store, TS Stribling	1933

Past Reading List

Read Date	Book & Author	Yr

11/19/11	Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri	2000
10/02/11	A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan	2011
08/07/11	Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
06/26/11	The Shipping News, E. Annie Proulx	1994
05/22/11	The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields	1995
04/03/11	The Hours, Michael Cunningham	1999
02/18/11	The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, Robert Lewis Taylor	1959
12/05/10	Advise and Consent, Allen Drury	1960
10/03/10	Tinkers, Paul Harding	2010
08/22/10	To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee	1961
07/11/10	The Color Purple, Alice Walker	1983
05/30/10	A Summons to Memphis, Peter Taylor	1987
04/18/10	Breathing Lessons, Anne Tyler	1989
03/07/10	The Confessions of Nat Turner, William Styron	1968
01/17/10	A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, Robert Olen Butler	1993
12/06/09	Guard of Honor, James Gould Cozzens	1949
09/20/09	Elbow Room, James Alan McPherson	1978
08/09/09	The Keepers Of The House, Shirley Ann Grau	1965
06/28/09	Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout	2009
05/31/09	Gilead, Marilynne Robinson	2005
04/23/09	The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz	2008

To learn more about the Epilogue Book Club, call Julie at 678.321.6526 or check out our Facebook page.

The NeedleNerds Home Page

Julie — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:59:14 GMT

The Needle Nerds are a group of knitters, crocheters, tatters and needlers who live around Douglas County, Georgia. We welcome stitchers of all skill levels. Our meetings are informal and there are no membership fees. Beginners are always welcome!

We meet on the first Monday of every month except for Mondays that fall on a holiday, like New Year’s, Independence, or Labor Day, when we meet on the second Monday of the month.

Please plan to join us on our next meeting. Just bring your latest project and come on over to the McDonald’s restaurant on Chapel Hill Road (just south of the I-20 ramp). We’ll be the obvious group of needlers sitting in the back of the restaurant.

We don’t have an independent website, but you can check out the articles on this blog, which is maintained by Julie, the founder of the Needle Nerds. [I haven’t posted much about the Needle Nerds lately, but will try to post more in the future].

For more information, give Julie a call at 678.321.6526 or go check out our Facebook page.

Epilogue Book Club meets this Sunday to discuss "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara

Julie — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:03:05 GMT

We will meet on January 29th to discuss this book.

Here's an interesting podcast about the book from the Slate Audio Book Club.

Moss growing on a tree

Julie — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 03:39:20 GMT

I took Gracie for a run this afternoon and noticed the moss growing on the tree.

Lenten Roses are blooming in the woodland garden

Julie — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 21:11:56 GMT

Fun at the Georgia State Fair!

Julie — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 04:41:35 GMT

At the Georgia State Fair!, originally uploaded by jujubean1958.