Just Jules

Time for a Tennessee Update

2013-06-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

It's been far too long, we've settled in, working, meeting new people and making new friends. I forget that not everyone knows what is going on since we moved and that I need to share more details. Life has gotten busy again and I've had little time to sit down to write.

Where to begin? The kids have started making friends. Conner being the happy--go-lucky guy has a whole group of friends already. He is running sound on Wednesday nights in his new youth group. He also likes to talk to everyone on the phone. We laugh that he talks on the phone more than I do anymore!

Elizabeth has been really homesick. She misses her friends in Visalia badly and hasn't made good friends yet. We are looking for new fall activities, groups for her to join and ways for her to make new friends. She has made some friends in her small group on Sunday nights.

Both kids went to "Beach Camp'' in Myrtle Beach,SC for a week. They stayed in a resort by the ocean, swam in the Atlantic for the first time and had a grand time. Now the planning for that is over and E is already looking for new plans!

Marty interviewed for a job last week with Knox County schools as a school police officer. We should know within the next few weeks if they will hire him. We are really hoping he gets this job!

I've been working full-time, trying to keep up with home, my own business and blogging! It's a full schedule. Being back in the pool has really helped, loving swimming again. Now to get back on a good riding schedule with the family.

We are all excited about our new church, a little church in the WWII city of Oakridge,TN. It is a very small congregation with a lot of love. We already feel like they are family and it is our home. It the same denomination our church was in California. That is comforting since we hear about many of the same things we did in California. We've been to several functions, dinner with the pastor and he even took the kids out after camp to hear about their time in Myrtle Beach. We are excited to see how we can serve with this church in the future.

Meeting new people, enjoying new beautiful places, making new friends. We are so thankful that we moved here and are settling in to our new life. We still have to a few things to settle but for the most part, we are loving life in the south.

"I used Grammarly to grammar check this post, because we all know I am a grammar failure at times!"

Better Together

2013-06-02T17:45:00.001-07:00

The sky is blue, the grass is green, the air is steamy which means summer has arrived in the south. Suddenly life is a fury of activity. Last weekend we traveled to Chattanooga to watch cycling and camp.

Sunday we dropped our kids off for beach camp. I love the activities of summer while they are happening, so much fun to enjoy the warm weather and exciting trips.

Of course, you come home from the activities and the chore that is never finished awaits.....the dreaded laundry

Of course, after camping clothes smell like campfire and are stained with dirt and grime. The kids clothes were full of sand and sunscreen. Plus, they are stinky teenagers now!

Good thing this week, I had help from P&G doing my laundry. There is something about Tide,Downy and Bounce together that make the smells of summer so much better!

A few weeks ago, one of my blog readers and Twitter friend Auntie Em asked me "What is your favorite color and why?"

During the summer, my favorite color to wear is navy blue. For some reason, navy blue screams classic, summer and put together to me. Maybe because I am an old soul, I love a traditional color? I am not sure why I love navy and white so much?

I own so many navy blue and white shirts that it really is intervention worthy. When I'm shopping my eye always wanders to the navy blue shorts and flowing white tops. Being a native Californian, I live in flip flops all summer long until the cold sets in. This summer I have a new favorite pair of white leather sandals that I am pairing with everything.

My Favorite Navy Blue and White top with dark denim capris

Simple denim dress with flip flops for errands or summer lunch meetings

This summer, I am trying to break free from my go to navy blue and bring in some color. I will never get away from white flowy tops but I can bring in a different color short. My first foray away from navy, denim or khaki

A bright turquoise pair of shorts with a flowing white top

Some things like Tide,Bounce and Downy go better together. They are classic like my standard navy blue and never fail to make my clothes look even nicer. Plus, they smell great and bring back memories of summers gone by. Just like those go great together, I know that navy blue and white work for me, why try something new when the classics work so well?

This post is part of the Daily Buzz Mom's Tastemaker program brought you to by

This post is sponsored by P&G. With Tide®, Downy® and Bounce®, you can keep your summer fashions looking new up to 50% longer.* Text CLEAN to TARGET (827438) for mobile coupons. *vs. leading value detergent alone

Finding Purpose in the Pain: Be Content

2013-05-29T06:07:00.001-07:00

Here is my monthly contribution to Finding Purpose in the Pain: Be Content: Be Content by Julie Timms But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6 I’ve been thinking about thi... read more over at Finding Purpose in the Pain.

Jules Loves Cycling: US Pro's Chattanooga

2013-05-28T10:19:00.001-07:00

How can I even begin to describe this weekend? Let's start with the fact that this month has been a tough one since our move. Some of my girlfriends went on the NKOTB cruise, I couldn't go and felt like I was missing out. Then the Amgen Tour of California started, the first year in over five years that Conner and I missed going. I was pretty sad but looking forward to meeting new friends and seeing cycling in Chattanooga for the US Pro Road Race. Little did I know that the weekend would be so amazing.

Return to Camping:

Our family has awaited this day since 2006. We camped with our friend Jen who stayed with us last year for the ATOC. We planned this trip as soon as we knew that TN was our planned destination. We loved camping again and enjoyed our new camping equipment. We got some great new equipment from Costco that really is outstanding. I thought of our donor Jerry the whole weekend, we talked with Jen about him on Saturday night after a steak and potato dinner.

The Race location and setup:

How exciting to have a race in my new home state!! All I can say is, it truly was the best experience I've ever had at a race. It even tops the famous ATOC when we met every rider. The city of Chattanooga did a wonderful job with setup,access and were wonderful hosts. The city made the parking garage free when they could have made money on parking. Volkswagen USA was AMAZING, their facility is gorgeous, they gave us free waffles and drinks plus let us drive their cars! I will seriously buy a Volkswagen just for the amazing weekend they gave us. It was that good!

The Divas Tour De France:

When I first started my cycling twitter, I met a lady Anita who introduced me to everyone I know on Twitter by introducing me to her friends. They are a group of amazing women, who love cycling and travel to support it. They are famous for their diva tents at races and really know how to do things right.

We had the best view, shade, any supply you could imagine all thanks to Anita and her amazing family. Not only did this family provide us fans with a wonderful spot but they have been so welcoming to my family.

They live in my new hometown and have helped us out so much since we have moved. I had built in girlfriends in Jane and Anita, a wonderful friend in Jeff ( Anita's dad) who has helped out so much as well. This weekend the F5 and B1 gave us a wonderful gift by showing us how to watch a race! Thank you Anita, Jeff, Vic, Mark and Jane for everything.

It was so nice to meet the other divas in person for the first time:

D'Andrea has a warm smile and gives great hugs, I felt like I knew her a lifetime the moment I met her. I almost cried hugging her goodbye, I loved being around her and watching cycling with her. I also loved watching her be a great momma to her daughter as well.

I also met another Diva Barbara, who was kind and friendly. It was great to meet her in person after hearing so much about her.

Jane is wonderful, she is already becoming a southern momma to me. I am so lucky to have met her and know her, she is that amazing.

Anita, I always say my friends are all thanks to you. You can out mom me anyday, it was nice to have someone to take care of me. Thanks for everything you've done for me. I am lucky to call you friend and look forward to more fun times

Jeff, DadBurnett! I love knowing you and so does my family. We talk about you all the time and just love calling you friend.

My favorite part is they are a family like my own family. They include everyone,feed them, make them feel like family and do everything together. There aren't many families like this in the world and I am so thankful that I found one like my own. So nice to be surrounded by people who love being a family!

I love this man.

Lovely ladies

I saw Jane wearing this hat and copied it. I had sunscreen in my eyes all day and after I put it on my eye stopped watering!

Tweetups

I was most looking forward to meeting my tweeps this weekend. I could care less about meeting riders since I had met most all of them and didn't even plan on meeting any. I was most looking forward to meeting people that I talk to on Twitter everyday. I've got to know some of these people very well and yet have never met them.

Anna, I had no clue she would be there until she said she wanted to meet me! I was so excited to meet her since she was one of my first follows on my cycling twitter. She is an amazing young woman with a fabulous personality. Little did I know, we are a lot alike and actually share a lot of the same opinions. I was even more glad to spend time with her and talk about a lot of different things. She made me realize, I really am the cycling Twitter mom after so many call me that already. It was so fun to hang out and spend time together.Saddest part of the weekend was not getting to say goodbye. Follow her @pelotonitis for great race updates

Valerie, We've talked so many times on Twitter and on the phone. It was so nice to finally meet up and spend time together. She has heard about my family and it was nice she could finally meet them. I had fun wandering around chatting with you yesterday. I loved our test drive together, it was so funny!

MJ, Thank you for all the hugs and smiles this weekend. We are definitely kindred spirits, sometimes people just meet, it doesn't matter who or how, we are supposed to know one another! It was so fun meeting up and chatting with you this weekend! I will come visit you in Asheville soon. If you don't follow him, your missing out @dudeinavl

Rox, Thanks for the ride up the mountain and my picture with Ted!! I loved being able to talk to you in person and finally get to know you better. I just loved spending time with you and Anna together, I love that you're such great friends and so welcoming. You helped make my weekend great! Follow her for great pictures @cyclingrox

Steph, It was so nice to get to know you this weekend and meet up. I loved watching you watch cycling and wandering around with you. It was fun to spend your birthday weekend with you. I look forward to getting to know you better.

Dan, it was so nice to finally meet you and watch you in action. Conner and I have always been thankful to know you and learn from you. I loved seeing your beautiful family and enjoyed talking with your wife. I was so glad we finally got to chat a bit yesterday. We are blessed to know you. He is a funny tweeter who writes for VeloNews @Dwuori

I also got to meet the hilarious and sweet Emily aka SpazMcSpazzy, she is hysterical and definitely worth the follow @spazmcspazzy

Also was introduced to Jebbie, a wonderful mom of a well known cycling tweep. She is adorable and came all the way from Virginia for the race. I look forward to knowing you better.

The Riders

For me, this weekend was about falling in love with women's cycling. These women are underpaid, under appreciated and virtually unwatched. It was the highlight of my weekend watching these inspiring women race with little or no support. Even Conner walked away saying, ''Mom, we need to support the women more, everyone loves the men but hardly pays attention to the women.'' and he wasn't talking about the way they look. My kid isn't that kid, he was talking about the honest truth of women's cycling.

We planned on just watching, not trying to meet riders or get autographs like in the past. We've been there done that and really are over it. I did have one rider I have been wanting to meet, it just happened that he was in the same area and I was able to meet him. Then I got to meet a couple others at the end of the race since they were close to the area of the tent. I loved watching my friend Jen meet Tyler Farrar.

Personally, I wanted to meet Heather Nielson @ridempowered. I met her on Twitter when I first started tweeting and learned her story. This girl has sacrificed to follow her dream, she has scraped by and fought tooth and nail to overcome. I don't admire many people in the way I admire her, I rarely look up to someone but I look up to her. She has guts, determination and a feisty spirit. She's always been wonderful to me on Twitter and we are both California girls. I looked forward to finally meeting her this weekend and watching her race.

How amazing to see someone you know start a race and be able to scream loudly for them. There really are no words for how this felt and how much it made me adore her more. She thought she wouldn't have any fans, so I fangirled it up for her ( we all know I am a pro fangirl). I even timed a bathroom break to make sure I didn't miss her passing by. So imagine my sadness to see her rolling up the sidewalk when I came back, she had been pulled from the race earlier than expected. I was so bummed for her, the best part was I could give her a hug, listen to her frustrations and be able to be a support for her. What an amazing unexpected blessing. I will be a diehard fan as long as you race, I only hope that I can come support you at more races.

I love my Colgate Smile picture with Tyler. What a kind and gracious man, I will now cheer him on even more

Lucas Euser was so friendly and kind

Poor Ted King, he thinks I am crazy. The only reason I ever wanted to meet him was because of two followers Em and Jennifer. I made him take this picture for them. Someone tell him I am a nice mom.

Jen, Thanks for the wonderful weekend of camping,riding and racing fun. You are one of the family now and we love spending time with you. I love being able to mom you and take care of you while we are together. Thanks for printing out all the race info and keeping me straight all weekend. We are so much alike and you're definitely a sister of the heart.

Marty, I am so lucky to have a husband like you. You put up with all of my hair brained schemes and antics. Thank you for going and watching racing with me. For driving all the way home to take the kids to camp and back. Thanks for understanding my love of cycling and my love of tweeps, I am so glad you could meet them this weekend.

Conner, gosh, who would have thought that you watching the Tour De France in 2005 would lead to this. I love that we have a hobby together. It's so fun hearing you talk about cycling, your thoughts on riders and the peloton. I can't wait to become bigger women's cycling fans together.

Lizzie, I know you hate it! So I am glad you go and tag along. Hey, at least you get fun free stuff. Wait until you see the light up necklace I got you.

Long story short, I am one happy, heart full of joy, short peppy redhead. Life is good and this weekend reminded me of that. I was sad to let it go and leave it behind, truly made memories of a lifetime.

A/N

My antics became famous. A newspaper reporter wrote about our chalking party on Lookout Mountain. You can read about it here: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/may/27/ready-for-race/

Some pics Marty and I took this weekend.

Women's TT podium

Men's TT podium

Chris Butler's dad chalking his son's name. Loved this moment

Me watching the peloton

The winners

Books Written by Friends of Jules

2013-05-21T18:29:00.002-07:00

Over the last few years, I've been able to become friends with some amazing women, who write amazing stories. They all inspire me as writers and as a women, I am so thankful to know them and want to support them in any way I can. Several of them have recently published books and I wanted to be able to pass this on to friends who are readers.

I will preface this with a warning, these stories aren't for all of you and some contain sensitive content and most of them are romances. I want to be a supportive friend and that means sharing things some of you may be uncomfortable with and apologize in advance. I decided that being a good friend to them may offend some of you and I am willing to do this.

Geoducks are for Lovers by Daisy Prescott

I helped Daisy build her blog in advance of her book release. She was my first client and amazingly patient with me as I learned Wordpress. She is a talented writer and sweet as can be. Hop on over to her website and read her amazing blog. Then head on over to Amazon and buy her book!

Animate Me by Ruth Clampett

I actually had the privilege of reading this adorable story as she wrote it. Such an adorable story of an animator in love with his dream girl and his fight to woo her. Ruth is an amazing writer and woman, she has written other amazing stories that I hope someday to read again.

Various Titles by Mary Whitney

Mary is the loveliest of ladies. She and I met via Twitter during Marty's illness. Her stories provided an escape of sorts while Marty was sick. She has been so supportive of me and a rock at times, I adore this woman and would stand by her anytime. She has written several amazing stories and my favorite of them all is getting ready to publish soon. In the meantime, read her other titles

Camping

2013-05-18T18:04:00.002-07:00

The smell of ocean air, sand, smoke from a campfire, eggs being cooked on an open flame. I love the feeling of camping and have my whole life. Ever since I was a little girl, my family camped all over the state of California. When my kids were little, our family started the tradition for them as well and then life took a sharp turn and our camping days were over.

One of our many camping trips

Growing up, my family had a tent trailer. We often went to San Onofre and camped along the train tracks, over the shoreline of the Pacific. Our mom gave us baths in the same tub she washed dishes in ( clean water of course) we ate chorizo and eggs for breakfast and played at the beach all day long. What fond memories of Carpenteria, Doheny, San Simeon and the Sequoia National Park.

After Marty and I moved the central valley, we joined a group of friends that went camping. I experienced tent camping for the first time in my life and new campgrounds never before camped at. I remember spending E's second birthday camping at Morro Bay State Park. My dear friends and I went camping the weekend after 9/11 at San Simeon State Park.

With my good friend Stacy camping in Morro Bay

For my 30th birthday, Marty and my mom planned a camping trip to San Simeon, my favorite place on earth. We went to the beach, visited Hearst Castle and then Marty took me to stay at the famous Madonna Inn for a few days by ourselves. Little did we know, that would be our last camping trip for the next seven years.

When Marty was diagnosed with renal failure our life came to a stop. We longed to go camping but because of his dialysis shunt and infection, we couldn't go camping. Then we started planning our move to the south and just haven't had the chance.

Next weekend we are remedying this and going camping! One of my cycling friends Jen, asked us if we wanted to go camping next weekend in Chattanooga for the US Pro Championship race. We jumped at the idea of going camping and watching cycling.

We are so excited to be going camping again and getting back in the habit. As we drove through the state on our move, we noticed all the campgrounds. We are so looking forward to exploring the state and camping on the east coast.

Look for updates after our trip!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

2013-05-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

Finally my Mom has internet access and can read a Mother's day blog that is long overdue!

I have the world's most fun mom, how many people can say they have a fairy Godmother for a mom! When we were little,she taught preschool and we always did the most fun crafts. We sang fun songs, she made our dresses and taught us about many different cultures.

As we got older, she took us to do fun things. She has worked for Disney most of my life, so on days off of school she would let us stay in Disneyland while she worked. Then on nights she didn't feel like cooking,she would take us there to eat dinner. She drove me on many crazy adventures, let me stay in a school far from our house and drove me there daily.

She instilled a love of all things Disney in me. Not many girls had to call their mom the day Annette died knowing that she would be crying! She taught me to watch Haley Mills movies, the Mickey Mouse Club and Alice in Wonderland.

She let me throw silly little parties like Pauly Shore wedding parties ( don't ask, it was a phase okay?) and Halloween parties. She took us camping, it wasn't her fault I drank the bacon grease that one time thinking it was hot chocolate!

We had a lot of fun together. We haven't lived together since I was 18 years old, I remember the days of living in our apartment in Orange together fondly. We had some fun times in that apartment planning my wedding, going to the mall and other fun things.

Mom has always been a good friend to me. The kids love her and called her ''Best friend Grandma'' when they were little. She and Conner are particularly close, I often will find him talking to her on the phone during his school lunch breaks. They've loved their Disney grandma, she always takes them on fun adventures, buys them fun treats and helps them out on special trips. How many kids get to go to Disneyland as much as they want? My kids have been more than some kids have been in their entire life.

She helped Marty plan a 30th birthday camping trip for me, she helped us with our move across country and many other things. Last year, she even helped me get cookies to my favorite cyclist! Now she is hooked on watching cycling since she watched it live!

Mom, you taught me to be kind, loving, patient, a good mom to my kids, a hard worker, a Pollyanna, someone who loves to do crazy things,and you taught me to bake great Christmas cookies too! I am so thankful for all you do for me and my family, we all love you so much. Happy Mother's day!

The Little Voices in My Head

2013-05-10T19:08:00.002-07:00

I may be weird,silly and a little nuts but I am not that crazy! These are the voices in my head:

A few months ago, when we moved into this house in the middle of winter; I was walking around on the wood floors with no socks on. My feet were cold, suddenly I could just hear my Grandma saying, '' Put some socks on those feet. You''ll catch a cold.'' Not literally, it was just years of her repeating that sentiment that somehow, it finally sunk in!

Funny how years after she's gone, that little voice remains in my head. We never realize how much we'll miss those little things until they're gone. As the years go on, moving farther away from when they were alive, I miss my grandmothers so much, sometimes it takes my breath away. It does take much to make me miss them, a song, a scent, hearing someone talk about a soap opera one or the other watched.

A few weeks ago, I was talking with my kids about my Gramie and how she smelled of Avon Intrigue, Doublemint gum and cigarette smoke. To many that sounds disgusting but to me it was heavenly. I was recalling that scent from memory. A week later, a man walked into my job smelling like Doublemint and cigarette smoke. It took everything I had to keep my composure and not start bawling on the spot. It was amazing on one hand and so heart wrenching on the other hand.

As I moved away from home and family, I thought a lot about my Grandma Brown. She did the same thing many years before leaving her family in Wisconsin for love in California. She raised her family away from her own family and created her own life with my Gramps. I knew she would've been the first to encourage me to go and take a chance.

I hear my Gramie when I iron shirts, she taught me how to starch when Marty was going through the police academy. It was the very last lesson she taught me as she died before he graduated. I can hear her telling me how to iron the crease and put just the right amount of starch.

They are the little voices in my head as I walk this journey of mothering and being a wife. They were two of my best friends in the entire world and my heroes. I love that even though they're both gone, they live on through lessons learned and lessons taught.

As Mother's day approached, I just needed to write this out and remember them in some way. It's been 10 years since Gramie has been gone and seven years since Grandma has been gone. I still get jealous when I hear other people talk about seeing their grandparents, I still miss them just as much as the day they died and maybe more. Not sure I will ever be ready to let go. So thankful for their voices that live on in my head.

"You're So Weird''

2013-05-06T19:06:00.002-07:00

When I named this blog, I named it Just Jules for a reason; I am just Julie being Julie, I've never been one to conform to the norm. Over and over the same phrase is repeated to me, so much so its become my catch phrase, '' Julie, you're so weird!''

For a long time, I struggled to understand why I was so different? I didn't realize that all little girls didn't read books about Princess Di over books about Super Fudge. Or when most girls my age(9) were listening to Madonna and I was listening to Tears for Fears, I had no clue I was different? My after school reading material was ''The Fitzgerald's and the Kennedy's'' before I was reading Bop.

What do you mean its weird to not like baked fruit? my cousin Sarah agrees with me, baked fruit is so gross! Who wants to eat a hot, cooked apple? Not me.

To me this is all really normal, nothing out of the norm. I tend to forget that other girls who liked New Kids on the Block really and truly liked pop music. I never really was a fan of pop music outside of this one act, I was more in it for the boys per say.

Other girls in high school were shopping at Charlotte Russe, The Limited and Gap. Instead, I was out searching thrift stores for vintage clothes and wearing plaid skirts while dyeing my hair bright red. To me it was normal and fun to be different.

I always have preferred to watch old movies, read historical books over new works. I have always been told by my Dad that I was born in the wrong time. I am an old soul in so many ways. Singers and standards, musicals, punk, and the Cure make me happy

Who knew I had a weird memory skill that most others don't?

My sense of humor is warped ( some may say non existent), I have a nervous laugh, take life way to seriously and have a huge, tenderheart. I've had a strong faith ever since I was a very young girl, its something that has always been there as long as I can remember. One of my best friends calls my strong gut feelings, sixth sense my ''spidey sense'', I always listen to my gut feelings and sometimes have to share some of those with friends about things in their lives. I prefer to call it a ''the gift of discernment''

I prefer to watch pro cycling ( there is a story and reason behind that), I have a weird view on celebrity thanks to living on the other side with friends, I don't have many people on pedestals to me we are all going through this crazy life and are equals.

I homeschooled my kids for many reasons, I moved across country to help a friend, I would rather stay home with my family than go out. I think being a wife, mom, daughter, cousin and friend is the world's most important job.

To me all of those things are normal. I am so not cool and totally okay with that! Truthfully, I don't want to conform or be normal. I like being different, its is what makes me...me. I have absolutely no desire to be anyone different than me. I always am striving to be better, change and grow but not to conform to the patterns of the world.

So the next time you call me weird? Just know to me, its a badge of honor.

Around the Table Memories are Made

2013-05-03T18:51:00.002-07:00

Today I was moving a rug from under a table, a simple task that brought back a flood of memories. Sitting around the table was and is a huge deal in my family. A visit to family means sitting at the table, talking, reminiscing playing games and laughter. If you ever visited my grandparents house, chances are you sat at their table and chatted. If not, let me take you on a journey 'round the table where memories were made.

It started even before I was born, here is my dad at the table of some family occasion;

My Grandpa,KanKad and Gramie ( paternal and maternal grandparents, they were good friends) celebrating a birthday around the table. My Grandparents were friends and did a lot together

My first birthday at my Grandma's table with Grandma looking on. This was the ONLY time we were every allowed on Grandma's table. One of her sayings was ''Tables are for glasses, not for little @@@es''

Sitting on my Grandma's lap at her table

Playing under Grandma's table was a favorite of my cousin's and I. We would lift the tablecloth, crawl under and imagine our own little worlds. We played casino with poker chips, post office, grocery store for hours on end. Once, I had the bright idea that we should move Grandma's table and the rug under it to play ice rink on the wood floors. I will NEVER forget the wrath of grandma after that incident, lets just say we didn't ever do that again.

My grandparents had five tables in their home. One in the kitchen where you often found grandma and grandpa sitting during the day. One in the living room where we sat as kids and watched MTV. The dining room table that was the buffet on holidays, the place we sat and sang Christmas carols and oldies, the place we played Trivial Pursuit and Encore.

Grandma and Grandpa round the table celebrating their 40th birthday

Birthday's round the table were a favorite of mine. Here I am celebrating my 16th birthday at the picnic table outback. We had two large picnic tables at Grandma and Grandpa's that were used year round.

This next picture was my 18th birthday. Three months later, I would sit in the very same seat shaking like a leaf as I announced my engagement to Marty. I remember staring at the lace tablecloth scared of the reaction that would come.

The same table would later hold the food for my bridal shower followed a year and a half later by a baby shower for me.

Our family would later plan care for my grandparents round the table, then the table held food for two funerals eight weeks apart. We would cry and reminisce at the table for months to come. Then the table moved to my aunt's house where it now hosts holidays, family dinners and most importantly this

Baby Drew playing under Grandma's table

This weekend when our family visited my uncle Bill's house, we sat around his table playing games, eating, talking and laughing. Making memories around the table to reminisce about for years to come. A couple of years ago, I asked a friend to make a sign for me. Above my table when you come to visit, there will be a sign that says, "Around the Table Memories are Made''

Come visit, we will make some memories around my table just like the memories I have from many years sitting around my grandmother's table.

Thanks for Helping us Move

2013-05-01T08:29:00.001-07:00

During my brief stint with writers block, some of my twitter friends sent me blog ideas. It was so nice of them and I have used one of them already. My follower and swim buddy Alicia suggested I write a post thanking those who helped with our move. Such a great idea and definitely something that needed to be done.

This cross country move has been an undertaking of epic proportions. I am so thankful for the many wonderful friends and family that helped us move. We truly couldn't have done it without them and they made the load much lighter.

Thanks to my Mom for helping in a huge way. We truly couldn't have moved without her generous help and support. She drove across country with us, mapping the route, finding hotels and saving receipts. Thanks Mom for supporting us.

Thanks to our friends Matt and Tammy for giving us a wonderful going away evening at your home, for the beautiful words of support and encouragement. Coming to your house will always be some of our fondest memories of living in Visalia.

Thank you to the Katayama family for coming and doing the really hard work. We couldn't have done it without you. Thank you Kim for organizing dinner with Sandi as well, for bringing us dinner and goodies to take on the way. We are so thankful for your many years of homeschooling support and friendship.

Our friend Michelle, she supported our family for so many years in so many ways. She came and helped so many moves and cared for our dogs for years. She brought us dinner on our last night in Visalia. We miss her so much.

Heather and Huntar, thanks for coming and hanging out, helping clean the last night. Thanks for being Elizabeth and I's besties. We loved our last girls night out with you both.

The Marcelino family: thanks for listening, supporting and being there during my last days in Visalia. I am so thankful for the love and support. I miss you all every single day and never laugh so hard anymore.

Dad: Thanks for coming up that last weekend and working so hard to get us packed up. I am so glad you came and pushed us to do more. We miss you so much and hope to see you soon.

Lee and Flavia: we wouldn't or couldn't have made this move without your prayers, love and support. We are so thankful for all that God is doing with our two families.

The Franklin and Burnett clan: we are so grateful for the kindnesses you've shown and the warm welcome to Knoxville. We look forward to knowing you better as time goes on.

Rebecca J, Thanks for meeting us on the road, giving us goodies and for being so welcoming. Can't wait to know you more and more.

Clare and Bella: thank you for the lovely housewarming gifts. Melissa and Sheila, thank you for the lovely housewarming cards.

For every person that called, messaged or tweeted their encouragement we thank you as well. Grateful to be one loved and supported family. It truly takes a village and we are so thankful for each person who helped along the way.

Happy Birthday Cousin Series: Happy Birthday Jillie!

2013-04-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Wait for Baby, Jill is bringing up the rear in the cousin series. She isn't an orphanage anymore, finally she gets her birthday blog. I had to add some favorite family sayings in to the opening, only family will get them and soon I will blog on what they mean.

Ah Jill, another of the ''J'' girl cousins. Jill is number ten in the cousin line up, definitely not last or least. Jillie was truly, the cutest little girl you've ever seen. She had the cutest little face and personality as a little girl, one of my favorite memories is her singing ''Little Ducky Dawdle'' as a little girl.

Jill and her sister Caiti

Jill, Julie, Carrie,Brianne, Rissa and Andy being Andy

Jill often got called by my name and I've often been called by her name. We both are swimmers, though she is a far better swimmer than myself. We both swam competitively in high school.

One my wedding day, my feet hurt so badly in my wedding shoes and at the time Jill was about the same size shoe. So she gave me her shoes to wear around so that my feet wouldn't hurt. The funniest part about that story is at the time she was 11 years old! she had normal size feet and I was still wearing kid sizes at the time.

I moved away and rarely got to see Jillie. Thankfully Myspace was invented and that is when I really got to know Jill. We both love to read and have bonded over our mutual love of classic books. I love talking with Jill, she is so intelligent and we just understand one another. It's been awhile since we've talked and I am missing her writing this blog.

My favorite thing about Jill is her fun bond with Elizabeth. They are both a lot alike and just clicked when E was very young. She LOVES seeing Jill and talking to her. They both love cartoons and reading amongst other things. Jill once wrote a story using E's nickname of "Bibbeth'' and actually created E's own special nickname from her.

Elizabeth had a pair of purple pants that were hand-me downs from a friend. She wore them to a family function one time and Jill told her ''Those are your amazing purple pants'' and kept the joke running about E and her ''amazing purple pants''. She actually had my mom buy her a pair of purple pants this year because she didn't have a pair. It's a cute little running joke that has endeared Jill to E, which everyone will tell you is no easy feat.

Jill is also a red head like myself, as our aunt Alison always tells us ''you both were meant to be red heads'' and we both enjoy it. This is one of my favorite pictures taken last year

Jill, it's so nice to have a cousin who just gets me and I get her. I love the fun bond we share and am sorry that I've been MIA recently. I miss our little chit chats and look forward to catching up soon. You truly mean the world to me and I am thankful for you.

Cousin Series:

Julie: http://www.julesmpg.com/2012/09/happy-birthday-cousin-series-happy.html

Brianne: http://www.julesmpg.com/2012/07/happy-birthday-cousin-series-happy.html

Sarah: http://www.julesmpg.com/2012/06/happy-birthday-sarah.html

Rissa: http://www.julesmpg.com/2012/09/happy-birthday-cousin-series-happy_22.html

Jessie: http://www.julesmpg.com/2012/11/happy-birthday-cousin-series-happy.html

Andy: http://www.julesmpg.com/2013/02/happy-birthday-cousin-series-happy_18.html

Jamie: http://www.julesmpg.com/2012/06/cousin-birthday-series-happy-birthday.html

Caiti; http://www.julesmpg.com/2013/02/happy-birthday-cousin-series-happy_24.html

Jillie; this blog

Ben; http://www.julesmpg.com/2013/03/happy-birthday-cousin-series-happy.html

Lacey; http://www.julesmpg.com/2013/01/happy-birthday-cousin-series-happy.html

Alex; http://www.julesmpg.com/2012/08/happy-birthday-cousin-series-dear-alex.html

Randon; http://www.julesmpg.com/2013/02/happy-birthday-cousin-series-happy.html

Happy 13th Birthday Snookadoodle

2013-04-27T00:00:00.001-07:00

My baby is a teenager today, how is that even possible? Seems like just yesterday Elizabeth Helen came screaming into the world. Named after our paternal grandmother's on our father's sides, she came into the world with a big name and an even bigger personality.

E and her best friend Chocolate the dog

From the moment she came into the world, she let us know what she liked, how she liked it and how wrong we were doing it. She has kept us on our toes ever since.

From the moment she was born, she's been the girl of many names. Conner called her ''little bit'' because he couldn't pronounce Elizabeth. That morphed into ''bibbeth'' for the same reason and then things just went crazy from there.

Finishing her second triathlon

E is her online name given by me. It's easier to type E than to type Elizabeth, so many people now call her E when they meet her. We don't call her E ourselves, if we call her by name it is Elizabeth or Elizabeth Helen.

She loves her ''Moo Moo"'

She's been B.A. ( bad attitude), then that morphed into ''Stinky'' because her attitude stunk. That morphed into "Stinkadorfulus'' for awhile. We've called her ''pookie'' which turned into ''snookie'' BEFORE the Jersey Shore ruined it.

With her best friend Huntar on moving day

Marty turned pookie into ''POOHHHNNKEY" which is mainly what he calls her these days. Lately I've stuck with ''Snookadoodle'' or ''Stinkadoodle''

with Crazy Rachel on their birthday last year

My Mom calls her Beth, My Dad calls her Liz and recently her friends started calling her Lizzie. Funny enough; with all these names when someone calls her Lizzie, it throws me for a loop.

Our beautiful girl!

Whatever her name may be, Elizabeth is grown into a beautiful young girl. It's been a tough move for her, she's missed her friends so much. She loves doing triathlons, being with the dogs is one of her favorite things to do and she recently told me she would like to become a librarian. She loves to read just like her momma though she refuses to read any book I like. She loves 1D, joking around with her Dad, fighting with her brother and listening to Toby Mac.

We love you Stinky, we hope you have a wonderful 13th birthday today!

Happy Birthday Friend Series: Our Crazy Rachel

2013-04-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

The summer of 1991, I begrudgingly marched into a classroom at Buena Park High School to re-take Algebra 1. It was summer, I should've been swimming in the pool but instead I was sitting in a classroom. Twenty years later, I tell you "Thank goodness I failed math!"

That fateful summer, I met one of my life long friends Rachel.

Summer after summer for three years straight, Rachel and I took summer school math together and forged a life long friendship. In high school, we weren't particularly close. We had many friends in common, shared the love of the color purple, loving to talk and being rather boisterous. Other than summer school math, we didn't spend much time together outside of school. After high school, we lost touch and remained out of touch for over ten years.

During the advent of Myspace, we reconnected online. It was during this time that Rachel's high school BFF Lori died of lung cancer. Her sudden death prompted a very heartbreaking time for Rachel and many other of our classmates. It was during this time our true bond was forged.

Rachel like myself is a night owl, many nights after Marty went to work at 10 pm, she and I would get on the phone and talk until one or two in the morning. It's no secret, Rachel and I both LOVE to talk and never run out of things to talk about!

After a few months, Rachel surprised me by stopping by my house to visit. She was driving through my area and wanted to visit. It was the first of many, many visits and it was on that visit we discovered that Elizabeth and Rachel are birthday buddies.

Rachel's first visit 09' ( Conner was 11, E was 9)

During the darkest times of my life when Marty was sick, it was Rachel who helped keep me going by coming to visit. She was that little piece of home when I couldn't go home and see my family and friends. She kept our family cheered up along with my cousin Sarah who also visited often during that time.

Birthday Month number 1

We stink at math

Rachel and E's birthday 2010

Visiting Facebook in Palo Alto

Our self made fascinators for the Royal Wedding

Somewhere along the way, during a car ride with Rachel my kids started calling her "Crazy Rachel" because she loves to sing in her purple car "Bianca" while honking and waving at people. They loved going places in the car with her. She is another step in "aunt"' to my kids and they love her dearly.

When Marty was transplanted, it was Rachel who drove my Dad and the kids over 8 hours to see us one weekend. I cry just thinking about it, she didn't have to do that but yet she did. How did I get so lucky to have such a wonderful friend? Even my Dad loves ''crazy'' Rachel.

When the Royal wedding came along, Rachel drove up to spend the night with me and watch the festivities together. We even made our own fascinators!

This year, it just seems weird not having seen her this birthday month. Yes, you read that right ''month'' Rachel has taught Elizabeth that their birthday is a month, not a day. She celebrates the entire month with friends, events and activities. Many years, we had a birthday celebration for the two of them and this year we are missing out.

Rachel went back to school, got her degree and found happiness in the last couple of years. We spent many,many years praying over so many things together. So wonderful to see those prayers be answered in unexpected ways.

Rachel, you've shown me so much with your friendship. When we talk, it feels like we're still those two girls sitting in math class together. It's like life has never skipped a beat, we haven't grown older and we are just the same. Thank you for not only loving me but loving my entire family. You truly are a fourth member of the T family. We love you so much and miss you terribly. Your happiness makes us so happy, we can't wait for you to come visit us in TN!

Donate Life Day 2013: A Tale of Two Families

2013-04-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

September 23,2010 A family in California is in the midst of a dark valley waiting for a much needed kidney/pancreas transplant for their father and husband. In Texas, another family is in the darkest journey of all, struggling through grief after the loss of a child.

That afternoon, while I was on Facebook, a link to a video was shared with me, I watched it and sat weeping. The Storch family from Texas meeting the recipient of their daughter Taylor's heart. In March they had donated their 13 year old daughter's organs after her death in a skiing accident. I anxiously awaited Marty's return home from work to watch the video together.

I will never forget sitting on our couch that afternoon, watching the video together and weeping. This family had lost their child and yet given a tremendous gift to others at the same time. It brought home the price that would be paid for Marty to live a new life. Our son Conner was almost 13 at the time, the same age that Taylor was when she died. It was just too close to home. During this time, Marty had been recently re-listed on the transplant after huge misunderstanding with doctors and we knew his time was coming near. It brought reality, so close to home. Four months later, Marty received a life saving Kidney/Pancreas transplant.

We found out her parents had started an organization to raise awareness for the need of registered donors. I started sharing their posts on social media as often as possible. Who does that? Lose a child, donate and give life and then starting a foundation? Todd and Tara Storch, that's who. These amazing people in the midst of dark grief gave so much. It inspired us with hope, they became our donor family in a way, donor's of hope. We don't know them but we feel such a kinship with them.

This week, I picked up the new book written by Todd and Tara sharing intimately their journey with losing Taylor, organ donation and the donor's stories themselves

I started reading yesterday afternoon after Marty and I came home from a Nephrologist appointment at the University of Tennessee. We were there to check on his new kidney and make sure everything is as it should be. We got a great report and that always makes me think of Jerry, his mom and the Storch family. Where would our family be without organ donation?

The second chapter of the book is a look into the life of the recipient of Taylor's Kidney and Pancreas. The chapter gave me the chills. It was an honest look into life before transplant of a Type 1 diabetic. If you ever want to know all of the things I've never shared, read this book. It shares in detail many scary experiences that Marty and I ourselves lived with low blood sugars and other things. I couldn't have written it better myself.

I couldn't put down this book and stayed up until 2:30 in the morning reading it. Our stories are so tightly interwoven in the dates. During the time they were grieving their daughter, we were in the darkest time of our lives. So many of the dates mentioned in the book that they were struggling, our family was struggling as well in a very different way. Something that really hit home, this is the journey of donor and recipient We trade places in suffering.

The pain of losing a loved one is forever, while the pain of waiting for transplant is temporary. Thankfully our family always had a good perspective on this. The minute we were told our donor was only 18 years old, the wait meant nothing to us. Our donor died in a horrible way but in his very last act on earth, he was a hero to a family of four.

We are so thankful for people like Todd and Tara. Our family tries to give back by supporting their foundation in any way we can. Today is Donate Life day but it also is Taylor's birthday, she would've been 17 years old today. Instead of wearing the traditional blue and green today, our family has chosen to wear Taylor blue in her honor.

Elizabeth, Marty ( Kidney/Pancreas recipient), Julie and Conner with love to the Storch family

Her life has impacted our lives in a huge way, we never knew her in life but in death she has given our family so much hope. Reading the book and hearing about her personality, she was very much like Conner and I as a person. She was the friend to the friendless, lover of the underdog and champion of the unseen. In her death, she has really changed so many lives and will continue changing lives as the years go on.

Please go out and buy Taylor's Gift the book, register to be a donor on the foundation's website: www.taylorsgift.org, buy a Taylor's gift shirt ( I love mine, you can see it on my Twitter avi and I also make a guest appearance wearing it on the Taylor's Gift site as well) or donate to the cause!

Thank you to everyone who has registered to be a donor, to the family's who've donated and never heard from the recipients, we thank you. To the families who've made the selfless choice to donate, thank you. Thank you Storch family for making a difference and helping to promote organ donation. To Debbie, our hero mom, we thank God for you and Jerry every single day.

A/N as you know, I am a Twitter/cycling Junkie. When I started my cycling twitter, I just so happened to become tweeps with Jonathan Finger one of the recipients of Taylor's kidneys.

Finding Purpose in the Pain Devotional and Giveaway

2013-04-17T18:43:00.000-07:00

A while back, my friend Stacy from Finding Purpose in the Pain told us she would be writing an e-book devotional about her experience with chronic pain. I was inspired that she would take on such a huge task an idea that I've been toying with for a while now.

This week, her devotional has released on Amazon in e-book format. You can follow this link and buy it there, it is a great deal at only $3.99

I've known Stacy since March of 2003, we met in a prayer forum online. She was fresh out of college, I was a young mother of two. We bonded over our shared faith and grew into friends, eventually leading bible studies on that site for women around the world.

During this time, I learned of Stacy's debilitating struggle with Fibromyalgia, it was hard to fathom this young twenty something girl, struggling with severe and chronic pain. We prayed together so many times for her to be healed. Her pain only got worse and worse as time went on.

In the opening of her book, she shares a candid moment that took my breath away. Her pain had grown to the point she was anguished. In the last year, she has gone off all of her medications and has been doing really well with essential oils. It has been amazing to see prayers answered and Stacy thriving.

This devotional helps anyone whose ever been in a tough place whether it be with pain or trials. She brings the focus back to God and his word. It is a great devotional for any one actually, whether you're struggling or not.

Stacy has agreed to give away a copy to one reader of Just Jules. Simply leave your name in the comments and I will use a random picker based on the number of comments.

The Floater

2013-04-14T05:16:00.000-07:00

The floater floats around the room, talking to everyone gleaning little bits of conversation from here and there. Floaters notice the person in the corner, instead of walking past, the floater approaches them with confidence and ease. I am the floater.

I think it is safe to say, that I march to the beat of my own drum. When I titled my blog ''Just Jules", I meant every meaning of the saying. I am just me with no inclinations to conform to any patterns of this world, I just want to be the best me possible instead. Here's the thing, I know that I am different but I like being different!

Truthfully, it wasn't until I slammed into the adult world in my 20's that I started to realize that I was different. Socially I have tons of friends ( too many if you ask those closest to me, they have given up trying to keep up) and never thought that socially I was different.

It wasn't until I was in a small setting that I realized.........I don't like groups of friends. I am fine if you're in a group of friends, I just don't like the trying to fit into the group part. I am more happy to watch groups of friends do their thing but will never push to be a part of the group. Once in my twenties, I tried to worm my way into a group of friends with disastrous results. Actually, I think the results aside from the bad parts were good for me. I then realized, I like being the floater.

As I started to talk with my high school friends as adults, I realized that I knew far more people than others. It was then that I realized the benefits of my floating ways, I get to know more people outside the scope of a circle and broaden my horizons. Maybe at one point, I was on the outside wall but instead decided that floating around worked better than standing around?

It's not always easy being the floater, sometimes I struggle with it. Especially when I see groups planning fun gatherings or meet ups. I am never one to invite myself and would rather miss out than doing so. We always have something to work on as humans and this is one thing I should work on. I always feel like a pest or beggar when I do, I really have no desire to be either of those.

Floating has brought me much happiness, many gems have come from dancing around the room unaware of the groups within. I meet so many wonderful people that way, talking, listening and sometimes scaling the walls of people who are socially uncomfortable. I prefer one on one conversation, I don't like having to talk over others. One of my acquaintences always tells me, " you're deep water'' and that is the truth. I prefer the heavy duty conversations. My odd sense of humor isn't the norm and is often lost on others, so I prefer to stay deep, I like deep and know it well.

I truly doubt, that I will ever give up my floater ways and conform. I like being the floater even though, sometimes its hard. Really, I like doing my own thing which is often doing things with Marty and the kids instead of trying to do things with others. That's another blog for another day......

If you want to find me, I will be the one flitting and floating around. I am always easy to find!

One Boy Scout Mom's Wish!

2013-04-13T04:59:00.000-07:00

My dear Twitter friend 1Lavishone has offered to help me out. I am suffering from a bit of writer's block, I am reading old blogs and trying to not repeat myself. Thankfully, she has hopped in and blogged about some of her most hilarious tweets this week. 1Lavish is a dear, she has been a rock for many of us the last few months and we love her dearly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, this week I've been asked by my lovely friend Jules to share a few thoughts about things that I'm thinking about?

First, my son is in Boy Scouts which is a great thing. Except when my husband is out of town and I'm the one forced to go to the meetings. Let's just say, I'm pretty girly I loathe camping and the idea of doing any of that outdoor hiking crap is just not appealing to me at all. Frankly, my idea of roughing it is watching black and white t.v.

Anyway, I take my son to the meeting (after frantically packing his special backpack for inspection - but that's another story). We get there and one of the patrol mom's starts talking about something. I saw her lips move, but all I heard was a buzzing noise that went to the center of my brain and died there. All I could think of was PLEASE STOP TALKING.

Now I'm sure she's a nice person, she's just infected with the Boy scout fever. Her excitement over the upcoming hike bordered on religious fervor. It was...unsettling.

I sat at this meeting thinking you know what would make this meeting better? Wine. Sadly there was no wine to be found. Or cake either. I spent a whole hour praying for wine and cake. Best news of the night came when hubs called from the airport saying he was ready to be picked up. We got in the car and floored that puppy!
I drove to the airport to pick up my husband.

Which leads me to my next rant. People, if you are going to turn, USE YOUR SIGNAL. I don't have ESP and I have no idea if you are planning on turning. How about if you help a sister out her and let her know what the plan is? Honestly, almost nothing is more irksome than finding out someone has decided to turn at the last minute almost causing you to have an accident.

I wish people who didn't use their turn signals could be shamed in some way into doing it. It would make the roads much safer and less irritating. This rant is in no way related to the rant about old people and stoners forgetting to turn their blinkers off. That's a story for another day......

Mother's Day Gift Idea

2013-04-06T17:52:00.002-07:00

My friends at MailPix are giving my followers 40% off Photo Books in time for Mother's day. Be sure to order now and treat your mom to something special. Just click on the ad to get the discount, really easy and simple gift giving.

Happy! Happy! Happy!

2013-04-05T17:35:00.004-07:00

Lately this seems to be the words I hear more often than not. No, I am not referring to Duck Dynasty, I am referring to comments people keep making to me. Everyone keeps telling me, that I seem so happy and look so happy. This move has been very good for us, we are very happy we moved and I guess it shows.
We truly are "Happy!Happy! Happy!" as Uncle Si says.

Fourteen years ago, when we moved to Visalia,CA from the O.C.; I was so lonely and isolated, twenty-two years old and my first time away from family and home. I cried nearly everyday for months on end though I had family nearby. I missed my friends, my job, my family and the place I grew up. As the years went on, I made friends, got great jobs, learned to be happy in my surroundings and adapted. It was so hard but worth the life change it brought about for me.

We lived a very rough, long stretch of life for many years. My Grandparents passing away, then both parents struggling with health issues and ultimately Marty's renal failure and transplant. We missed out on many years of living life while waiting for his transplant. Our plan to move came about during his waiting period and gave us hope that we could start again. It was the fuel that kept us going along with many prayers from our support system.

We agonized over leaving our family and friends once again. This wasn't an easy decision and very unpopular with some close to us. I spent many days crying after hearing how upset some were that we were moving. It wasn't easy but we knew it was time to go.

As we were driving out of California, Lizzie turned to me and said, '' I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest." and that is how we all felt. We were following our dreams as a family, taking a chance and a leap of faith.

We are so happy to have made this move. The overwhelming peace we feel is truly amazing, undescribable, and long awaited. Truly for the first time in years, we are really living life in a big way. We are meeting new friends, reconnecting with old friends and finding our way. We love exploring the area and finding new treasures along the way. We love our new little rental house, it is really nice and cozy. Soon we plan on looking for our own home.

This week I talked to three of my SOH's Olga,Tammy, and Heather all in California. They all said how amazed they were at everything happening. I also had two surprise visits from Twitter friends at work this week; Mary, Jane and Jeff all stopped by and gave me hugs. Next weekend I get to see my dear friend Kim in her beloved Pigeon Forge, a six year dream come true! I haven't felt alone or isolated this move at all, so very different from the first time around,

Thanks for all of your support along the way. The emails, phone calls, texts and tweets have kept me going and encouraged us.

Our family loves TN

My new friend Flavia

Happy C and E at Cades Cove

TN cousins sleepover!

From my front porch

Even Max is happy

E enjoying our front yard with the dogs

Confessions of a Messy Moose

2013-03-29T18:19:00.000-07:00

I was a naughty, busy little girl, who was extremely curious and mischievous In addition to those traits, I was extremely uncoordinated and clumsy. I ran into walls, fell and got hurt constantly....and we aren't talking your regular scrapes and bruises, we are talking gashes and stitches. This prompted my parents to start calling me "Messy Moose",( I was messy too, really messy) for most of my childhood.

My first accident was jumping on my parents waterbed at 18 months old, that led to stitches in my forehead. You can still see the scar when I laugh or make certain faces. Then there was the night at dinner, when I was sitting at my little wooden table next to the big table. I was pushing my chair back on the legs while eating and fell backwards, the issue was I had the fork in my mouth and stabbed myself in the back of the throat. I still remember my mom putting a towel to my face as blood came running out.

I put my cat in the refrigerator( they kept hearing him meow, I finally told them " I put him in the fwidgerator'') he never liked me again? I was only two, not sure what possessed me. I bit my sister when she came home from the hospital, I stole her bottle. I was a bad seed, a very bad seed.

There was also my childhood drinking problem, my Dad thought my mom was drinking wine all day and she kept denying it. Then they finally found me with the door pulled just so sitting on the bottom shelf drinking wine. Oh and did I mention the I had my first hangover at three, I guess that at my aunt's wedding, I went around picking up drinks off the tables. I told my mom the next day, ''Mommy, I have a fuzzy head." No wonder that I have never liked to drink, I cured myself of that.

Then I moved on to the harder stuff. One sunny Saturday morning, my parents were mowing the lawn and I was playing on the lawn. I thought the gasoline for the mower was lemonade and drank it, my Dad turned around just in time to see it. I don't remember getting my stomach pumped, I do remember Bernie giving me an Ernie doll after my hospital visit. Sadly, I didn't learn my lesson and drank kerosene from a little glass mouse oil burner months later. My parents always say, back then if CPS had been around, they would have been in big trouble.

I was a bit like Elmyra from Tiny Toons, I loved my animals sometimes too much. I accidently loved my guinea pig too hard and he died. I love the cat mentioned above, not sure why I did what I did. I loved my parakeet Duke, I thought giving him salted sunflower seeds would be a treat? I guess not.

They kept having my eyes tested and knew something wasn't quite right. Finally in elementary school they found out that I had under developed motor skills because I never crawled as a baby. I skipped the crawling and just walked. So I had to have therapy for under-defined motor skills during my elementary school years.....I was special indeed.

I have recently been asked about a picture that I included in my cousin Andy's birthday blog. It is a picture of me watching Andy blow out his candles with a head bandage on.

Well, there is a story and of course it involves me being clutzy. I had my childhood friend Christena over to visit one day after school, this was a big deal since my parents worked and I rarely got to bring friends home. We had just finished watching our favorite movie "Nadia" when my friend called us to come outside. I was running down the hallway to the staircase and tripped....putting my head through the wrought iron banister. My head was stuck and I had to have it pulled out of the bars.

I split my lip in two and had a huge goose egg. The hospital said everything was fine, stitched my lip and sent me home. After my stitches were removed, they realized my head was still swollen and discovered a hematoma. I had cracked my skull and had bruising between my skull and skin. My sisters never ate grape jelly again because they watched them cut my head open to remove the hematoma! My head is still misshapen in that area.

It's a wonder that my parents survived my childhood! Mainly after that incident the worst I did was sprain my ankle yearly in my tween and teen years. Well, there was the one time when I jumped from a moving car and got pretty skinned up. I was mainly messy in those years, always spilling something on my clothes and the like.

I am still not graceful by any means but I don't get hurt often any longer. I am very neat however, I really detest messes and like order. People wonder where Conner got his curiosity and I always tell them it was my payback. My poor parents, I totally understand, I totally understand.

A/N After publishing this blog, many stories have been left out. My childhood friend Christena mentioned one in a comment on FB. In memory of her grandma Ilene, I must share:

Ilene was my babysitter one year in elementary school. After school one day, Christena and I were in the kitchen. Her neighbor Lonnie called from his house for us to meet him at the bottom of Christena's backyard which was an orchard. I got so excited, that in my excitement I grabbed a whole bottle of dish soap and poured it in my hair. I needed to wash my hair before we saw Lonnie, or so I thought. Her grandma Ilene was so angry, it took her all afternoon to get the soap out of my very long, thick hair. Christena has NEVER let me forget this story. I laugh so hard thinking about it still to this day.

Help Rissa's Student

2013-03-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

My cousin Rissa is helping a teenaged student of her's get read for prom. I told her she could use Just Jules to get her message out to family and friends since as a teacher she isn't allowed to use social media. Here is the story and info if you want to help:

Hi Friends and Family,

Some of you may already know I have a student who was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. As I was talking to her during her first round of chemotherapy last week, she expressed her excitement about being able to go to prom, which happens to also be her birthday weekend. After extensive treatment over the next few weeks she will not have to undergo treatment that week but will most likely not have hair for prom. She is an amazing individual and her strength has me in complete awe. Her treatment plan as of now will take place over the course of 2 years. To help her and her family I want to purchase a wig for her and I want to do so before prom. Because she will need a wig for some time, after some investigation I realized that they are quite expensive. I am seeking financial contributions to assist with the purchase of a wig and any other unforeseen expenses her family may encounter.

The following is a link to give donation via paypal if you are interested.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=646G2XCMHUXSQ

Thanks so much for your help!

Rissa

I've been married how long?

2013-03-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

Today is our 17th anniversary, I have been married as long as I was single ( I started dating Marty when I was seventeen years old) and it hardly seems possible that it has been that long. We have really been through so much in those 17 years. We've loved, we've lost, we've moved, we've survived. Time really does fly by and I have a feeling it will only go faster. Happy Anniversary Marty, love you.

Here's a look back at the anniversary blogs throughout the years:

10 years ( 2006): I was pretty excited on our 10th anniversary, Marty bought me a new wedding ring that year: http://www.julesmpg.com/2006/03/yeahcheercheer.html

11 years ( 2007): Little did we know that Marty didn't have a cold like we thought. He was in renal failure and we had no clue how sick he was:http://www.julesmpg.com/2007/03/11-yrs.html

14 years ( 2010): It was a very dark time. Truly in sickness and darkness, I couldn't even write but I shared a song: http://www.julesmpg.com/2010/03/i-will-be-here.html

15 years (2011): Marty had just received his transplant and I made him a slideshow of our years together: http://www.julesmpg.com/2011/03/happy-15th-anniversary-marty.html

16 years ( 2012): Thinking of Jerry and his mom, thankful for the gift of more time: http://www.julesmpg.com/2012/03/16-years-and-counting.html

Monthly Post on Finding Purpose in the Pain

2013-03-21T20:06:00.001-07:00

Here is this month's post on Finding Purpose in the Pain. I share about when I started to panic and worry right before our move to TN. Check it out: http://www.findingpurposeinthepain.com/2013/03/trust-and-obey.html

Just Jules 100,000 Page View Giveaway

2013-03-17T20:06:00.001-07:00

Never in a million years did I ever imagine that this blog would be viewed 100,000 times! The number has approached at a fast pace this last year. Mind you, it took six years for me to hit 10,000 page views and much less time for me to hit 100k.

Thank you readers, friends and family for sharing my blog with others, for reading our story and supporting our family through good and bad. It means the world to not only me but my family as well. Lately the blog has become a platform for others to share their stories as well. I love being able to share stories from other woman who inspire, encourage and promote positivity. I hope as time goes on to share more and more inspiring stories from others aside from myself.

I wish that I could give all of you a great big hug! Alas, I cannot do that nor can I send all of you a gift.
Instead, I am hosting a humble giveaway of some great items I selected from Fig and Company, my new workplace. It is my way of saying thank you and trying to give back.

As this giveaway has approached, I wanted to give things away that meant something to me. Of course, not everyone wants Nadia ( the movie), Anne of Green Gables, Jane Austen or Twilight books! So I found a few things that I thought were cute but very me.

One lucky winner will receive this gift bag

Contents:

A handmade reclaimed wood and Upwords tile sign saying ''tweet tweet''- Yáll know I am a Twitter addict

A Journal with the words ''Every journey begins with a step'' on the front ''take a step'' on the back. I love writing my thoughts and prayers down. Mostly I journal on this blog but I have kept a journal of my prayers for years. I love looking back and seeing how I've grown and answered prayers.

One burlap bag with a bicycle printed on the front. Everyone knows I love all things cycling and bikes!

Two Seattle Chocolate bars, all natural, made in Seattle. The Lemon Drop and San Juan Sea Salt are my favorites. Definitely yummy!

How to Enter: You must use this format to be entered. You use the rafflecopter to enter the contest. You must leave a comment on the blog to gain one entry on the Rafflecopter. You can gain more entries by using Rafflecopter to tweet the entry or by liking my Facebook page via the entry form. The contest will end after my page hits 100k or by next Sunday 3/24/12.

Good luck and thank you for reading my blog

a Rafflecopter giveaway