installment two: the chacra

several, several weeks ago now Gillian and I were invited to visit the chacra. what is the chakra you are now asking yourself? well... a chacra is more or less a family farm. our friends Omar and Jamesson invited us to visit the chacra for a day. they are brothers, although... unless i had been told i would have never guessed, they are very very different both in personality and in physical appearance in my opinion. but, they both take classes at SALI and are both an incredible amount of hilarious fun to hang out with. they have an uncle who owns a farm, about two hours ish away from Trujillo. so.. one saturday gillian and i prepared for a visit to the farm... chickens and cows and hay here we come? no. not so much. haha i think that mostly the farm is made of rice fields, although... i am no expert on what blade of grass is different from another... so there maybe be much much more there, and i also heard jamesson tell us that they have avocado trees somewhere... so our future holds fresh guacamole! (gillian and heather make amazing guac) 

the day at the farm was wonderful, to say the least. we went with omar, jamesson, and their uncle, who may be 50( or+..) but he definitely has the heart of a 20 year old. it was fun just to watch them all interact together. the view on the way there was beautiful... mountains and towns and flowers and people and lake and... just everything. here are some pictures, i hope you enjoy:

to me this is a perfect picture of the personalities of omar, jamesson and their tio (uncle) they like to joke around a lot, and make everyone laugh. 

yes, yes this lady is crocheting along the road. she is awesome. 

omar thought we were taking a serious picture.... 

there was mud... everywhere... and of course by the end of the day we all had mud all over ourselves either by accident, or on purpose because they guys thought it was funny to throw it. okay maybe gillian and i joined in. there wasnt anyone else around! we could act like kids! the funniest part is a story that their uncle told one of this friends when we arrived back in town... he told his friend... i came with four girls... and the two peruvians fell in the mud! (both jamesson and omar fell into the mud.. gillian and i were a little more graceful)
rice fields... yes they really were that green. they were beautiful
in peru its common to see more than one person on a one person bike... it doesnt look that comfortable but we see people on the streets of trujillo all the time like this. so... there was a bike at the farm.. and gillian and i gave it a try... i think we laughed more than we moved anywhere. and yes, it was uncomfortable. especially on a dirt road. 

chocho

is hothot.

today i bought my first little bit of food from the street. are you scared?

along the streets in trujillo there are vendors everywhere selling this or that, food and everything else. they set up along the street and are there in the mornings or at night. usually in the mornings you can find carts with fresh juice being made, which is nothing short of DELICIOUS. theres also always someone with some sort of food, kind of like ceviche. also, on good days, there is a man with baskets and baskets of baked goodies, including this awesome cookie that goes very well with coffee ;-) ive only tried the habas before, which are a roasted bean. and also the cookie that compliment coffee. but today i stepped out and am trying chocho. and it is hothot. maybe because there are bright red peppers surprising you every now and then with the seeds still intact. but its good nonetheless, (actually... the more i eat the more its growing on me... and the peruvian teachers here are pretty excited that i am eating it... not sure exactly why..) and full of cilantro which is my favorite herb. its made of a type of bean mixed with cancha which is a corn that gets popped but doesnt fluff up like popcorn. one good thing about it... it only cost me one sol. so one bowl full of healthyness for less than a dollar for lunch. i'll take it. we'll see how my stomach feels later about it... haha luckily i have not gotten sick yet from eating anything here. and its been three months. im not sure how this has happen, i am very lucky. i tell everyone that it must be the meat that they are eating, because i am the only one that hasnt gotten sick and i am also the only one that doesnt eat meat. haha

new cycle new classes new weather

A new cycle has started, yesterday actually... and yesterday began not only the first day of the last cycle for the year... but the first day of the last cycle before Christmas!!! It is incredibly hard to comprehend that Christmas is coming soon. The weather instead of getting chilly and miserable like i hear all my friends complaining of back home... is getting more beautiful with each passing day. Not your typical leading into Christmas kind of atmosphere. For a few weeks the sky was too indecisive for my liking... raining one moment.. sunny the next... cold... hot... sweater and scarf weather one hour and t-shirt weather the next hour. But this week it seems to have settled for peaceful rays of sunshine and wind that blows the dust from the streets up into your eyes if you aren't strategically careful. Also this week... Thanksgiving is coming!! For our students that means an excuse not to have classes... and do.. whatever they do when they aren't at SALI. haha. also for us it is a day away from teaching, and a day of gorging ourselves with food food and more food just like it happens back home. or so that is what i have been hearing. Gillian has been telling me that i need to prepare for the massive amounts of food that i will be consuming in the approaching thursday.. another intern was telling us that he couldnt remember it being so huge.. to which gillian, in an ever so gillian tone, responded with... 'you were in a food coma thats why you cant remember eating so much' haha

with the new cycle this month i am also getting to meet some new students, i am teaching two classes which i haven't before. and well, i havent met them yet. yesterday was the first day of classes... but its very very common for peruvians to skip the first day of classes. so... my 3:45 class... im there on time... 4:15... nada. then my 5:30 class... 6:00 rolls along and nada. finally in my conversation class later i got to meet a few students. im excited and a little nervous about this class. it's a basic conversation class... what does that mean? im going to be laughing at all of my cheesy jokes by myself. thats what that means. because right now my spanish is as basic or more so than their english. but i am excited, the three students that did come yesterday were full of smiles. 

the following pictures are from a few weeks ago... there are a few markets here in trujillo where you can find a little bit of everything. everything. i wanted to find some buttons to make some more earrings with and when we happened upon the vender selling buttons... why i stopped in my tracks, eyes glazed over, and basically just standing in awe, my friend cynthia exclaimed "julie!!! what a good housewife you will be!!!" ohhh cynthia. thats her new joke with me now.  

also in this market... mangos. fresh oh so fresh mangos. yum. i think you need to come to peru and experience just how fresh fruit and vegetables can be. then you won't want to move away. ever. because you will realize that the flavor you thought you experienced from your kroger or publix natural and organic produce is practically bland in comparison to the party that your taste buds experience here. 

installment one: something of students

my students.... 

are amazing! each of them have their own awesome qualities and personalities that they bring into the classroom. usually i am constantly in laughter. other days ...like the ones where they seemed to have declared it speak in Spanish during English class day... i need to remember my laughter from the day before to keep smiling. each day is a new experience with them, and i wouldnt trade it for anything. 

each class we have at SALI goes in a cycle. a cycle is about a month long, give or take. so far i am into my third cycle, and one class i have been able to teach since i first arrived in Peru. they have truly helped me to adjust to teaching English. some of my other classes have been a little more difficult, as far as connecting with students and keeping on track with lessons... speaking English instead of gossiping in Spanish. this class in particular is at the end of my teaching day, and they have been a breath of very welcomed and needed fresh air to end my day with. they laugh at my jokes, at least when they understand them.... and tell me i am strange to my face instead of keeping it in whispers amongst themselves. haha. im not shy about telling them they light up my life. they arent shy about laughing at how funny that sounds to them. we have a very well rounded relationship. it works. 

this is a student from one of my advanced classes. advanced 3. they all speak English very very well. actually, i am in awe sometimes at their skill. but sometimes fun mistakes catch up with them, and we all laugh about it. and... sometimes those laughs get recorded... 

most of our students i would say are college age. 18 to mid 20s. but every now and then there is a student much older... or much younger.. one of my students was 14. it was fun to watch her interaction ...or lack thereof... in class. and after class. she draws very well and is in love with anime. and everything japanese. and loved to draw all over her tests as such:
our weeks are split up with a different kind of test each week. a writing test. a reading test. a listening test. and oral test and a final. what do we watch during listening test week you ask me? bring in on zach morris. we are in love with your innocently cheesy 90s humor. 
the boys of my advanced class:
the girls of my advanced class, minus one:
these students blow me away with their smarts most days. not just with english, but in general. they are smart cookies. and have big dreams for their future. i admire a lot in them. i am so glad that i get to be in just a small part of their lives. to me, this is one of the best parts of teaching at SALI. i don't just teach them english, i get to be a part of their lives. and learn about them. and laugh with them. i think that we laugh just as much as we breath in our class. there is always something... from laughing at small english mistakes that sound funny... to hearing one girl say what??! you are a vegetarian?? are you sure? ...but.... the vegetarians here are ... so... skinny... (thanks i thought... thanks...haha, this turned into a big joke)... to me pronouncing one girl's name, mercedes, like the car. which is wrong.....to me making a deal to drink milk like a cat if one student passed her driving test (i drank the milk...)... to laughing at one of the guys because he loves motorcycles and talks about how safe they are but that he has had... oh 8 wrecks. haha... to laughing at the other boy for how many girlfriends he has (i dont think he does for real but we like to pick on him because he makes it funny). 

these are my students. we watch 90s sitcoms. we laugh. we learn english. they light up my life. ;-)

installments

according to my macbooks dictionary... installment has three meanings:

• 1. a sum of money due as one of several equal payments for something, spread over an agreed period of time
  
• 2. any of several parts of something that are published, broadcast or made public      in sequence at intervals
• 3. the process of installing something

what can we gather that i mean by telling you the available definitions of this word??

there are installments to come!! 

i and my heart are very heavily aware that i have left you in the dark. void. without words. alone to only imagine for yourself what is going on in Peru and in my life. 

therefore. the time has come my friends. if there is anyone anywhere still checking from time to time to see if i have written a letter or two in some sort of informing and understandable order... then your day is here!! yay!!

here you are my friends... my overdue gift to you... 

whats this??!

I can't believe my eyes

I must be dreaming

wake up jack, this isnt fair

whats this?

the streets are lined with little creatures laughing

everybody seems so happy

have i possibly gone daffy?

what is this?

whats this?!

i highly reccomend that you look up what's this nightmare before christmas and watch or listen to the clip.

and what's this? hey mom! guess what?! ive got good news! i took a shower today!! and, i even went so far as to take more than a comb to my getting longer by the day mane. you should be proud. ;-)

y

and... gillian is going back the the states for a few days, for a wedding. im going to miss her. although, my wallet won't miss her influence on dragging me to starbucks. eh, what am i saying, i will miss it anyway. ive started venturing there on my own now, i can't still use her as a crutch. the good thing is, flavored coffees may be a little more pricey, but the cafe del dia after a fiasco each time of explaining that no i dont want steamed milk just cold milk while i get this 'why on earth would you only want cold milk when you could have steamed milk?' stare.. is only cinco cincuenta soles. so its not so bad. im still getting asked if i am gillians friend when i come in here though. so obviously she... lives here. but hey, we are reaching starbucks employees for sali. seriously. eventually. maybe. hehe.

this is what makes my head spin

You're forever holy

God of all creation

pour your life into me

this is so overwhelming

You're forever holy

God of my salvation

Clothe me in your glory

-Lyrics from Forever Holy by the Glorious Unseen

Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 20-21

A distinction must always be made between the revealed truth of redemption and the actual conscious experience of salvation in a person's life. -My Utmost for His Highest

two things i am thankful i brought with me on my trip.. which frequently both supply and provoke encouragement... reflection... and the desire to know more. 

the weather in trujillo right now is beautiful. 

and so is the view at night of the city from our roof. 

the growth of friendships daily is bringing encouragement,

and all these things are gifts. 

a saturday a pen a coffee

sometimes its just good to get away by yourself and drink some coffee/ do some reading/ drown out all other noises with caedmon's call in your ears. i rediscover how much i love this band each time i listen to them. its just encouraging and deep and relaxing and all things good for you, wrapped up in melody. 

i am about to tell you something that may surprise you...

..i am currently sitting in a starbucks. see that one coming? now either you are feeling one of two emotions i am about to describe or you are the unpredicted and unforseen variable  and well, irrelevant. just kidding you arent irrelevant, just in this paragraph. since i have had people ask me about my 'village' here in peru i imagine there is a group of you that are struggling imagining a starbucks in the middle of a forest of huts. i commend you for your imagination. then there is a group of you that are saying, why are you in a starbucks? to you i say reread this blogs introduction. im getting in some good reflection time. two days ago marked my first month here in trujillo, and so much has happen that it truly feels as though i have been here so much longer than that. although, i would also venture to say that i may set aside time to 'reflect' but i think i am reflecting and growing and reflecting and growing all cohesively in each moment im blessed to spend here. 

one of the things that i have become more aware of teaching esl in a foreign country is the meaning behind our words. i think a lot of the time we just get so content with what we know our words to mean that sometimes we forget their meaning and we become nonchalant with the way we understand them and use them. (im so sorry if that doesnt make sense) im fortunate to have on my mac this wonderful dictionary program that is full of all sorts of  helpful info and ideas when trying to describe the meaning of a word. ive noticed that probably my most used way to explain meaning has been through example, which is probably especially true since i dont speak the language yet, but even the best example has its own faults. because one example doesnt explain the meaning of the word in entirety and other examples are necessary. which i discover over and over when i describe a word to a student only to have them look more confused and i look at the sentence they are reading and add "oh but in this sentence it means... " haha, oh how i must confuse them. 

anyway this observation has bled somewhat into the way i read my Bible or think about my devotionals. and its made me seek out the meaning of words which i 'know' but help me to understand more deeply if i take the time to think about them a little more than giving the verse a scan. i think taking a moment to look up a definition in a way is helping me to stop and consider further what i am reading. im sure that there is some technical term for this which i cannot tell you, because im not really a technical knowledge knowing kind of gal, but i would like to encourage you to give it a try yourself. 

being in Peru has/is truly being an eye opening/growing experience for me in ways that surpass the typical surface changes that are more obvious. its a time in my life where literally everything is new and the only thing the same yet still growing and changing is my relationship with God and my faith in Him. im overwhelmed with thanks for the experiences i get to share in here and the way that they are molding the woman that God created me to be. and I am oh so thankful for each of you that made it possible for me to be here. there is a lot going on in Peru Mission now, such as SALI, where i teach reaching record numbers of students. As I become more understanding of the way things work here i will keep you updated, but please keep our ministry here in your prayers as it continues to grow and change. 

Julie

according to the rating of 182 random or not so random as it whatever may be, people across the internet.. because of my name i am...

overwhelmingly feminine (but not in the lipstick kind of way i hope, or else they are incredibly wrong)

natural. 

refined. 

wholesome.

classic. 

apparently i am not..

complex.

modern.

devious.

urban.

i never said i could break dance anyway. 

i had some fun with this site on my lazy saturday morning: 

http://www.behindthename.com

go ahead.. you know you want to know what a random group of internet surfers think about your name. you know you do. 

bruise once you get back up.. bruise twice you laugh at yourself..

bruise three separate times within one week and a day of each other one the same knee.. and you start to reevaluate your ability to operate your own body.

i have never claimed to be as graceful as a swan (by the way... why ar swans called graceful?) but since being in Peru it seems my ability to keep bruises off my body, er specifically off my right knee, has essentially vanished. 

incident one: 

two saturdays ago i had my first Larco grupo de jovenes experience (aka youth group.. aka more like a singles group that happens to play games like youth group... aka its a blast) if you know me a slight bit at all im sure you are already aware that i was already a bit nervous approaching the new experience anyway. what you dont know is that the floors in the larco church, and everywhere else in peru, are very slippery. and are capable of making any pair of shoes sound like a flock of geese in and of themselves. but the squeakiness is irrelevant to this story, its just an added quirk. the point is, the floors are slippery. so when we were playing a game that involved quick speed in getting across the room with another person to grab another person to then go back and get into the seat next to you... im sure you can imagine perfectly what went down. namely my face/knee/entire ventral portion of my body. my partners adrenaline and strength surpassed my ability to keep my feet in the proper working direction, and i sailed across the floor, superman style. in front..of all my new peruvian youth group friends. it was fabulous. what a great first impression right?! luckily i walked away with only a bruised up right knee.

incident two:

exactly one week minus a few hours since incident one. this past saturday morning i went with a group from the church to help work on a families house. we (the guys) were tearing down a dilapidated wall and we (the girls and guys) were sifting through things and moving out reusable blocks of adobe. there is no story i can express for you about how my next bruise ended up on my knee other than i just wasnt paying attention and dropped a brick of adobe on myself. way to go coordinated one. so i scraped up my knee and it bruised nicely the next morning. the funnier thing in this circumstance is how many times we moved the same pile of adobe. how many you ask? three i tell you. the same pile you ask? yes i tell you, the same pile. why you ask? because this is peru i tell you. move one: from shambles to somewhat aligned rows near the street. move two: to neater rows farther down from where they were because there was a car coming to unload materials that needed the space. move three? well thats the thing, after move two was a success we were cheerfully informed that it wasnt the right pile of adobe to be moved at all, it was the other wall, and could we please put it back where we found it? yeah.  although the upside of that is that i was able to put what i learned in my spanish class that week into action. 'me duele la espalda' : my back hurts. 

incident three:

the very next day. Sunday night. our first of many soon to come of interns getting together on Sunday nights with our new intern director to get to eat some good food together, have a bible study together, pray together, ...and watch american football together? yep. ;-) well this night.. i happened to be in the yard with heather playing an oh so friendly game of ping pong. im really not that much of a competitive or athletic person (not that it takes a superb athlete to play ping pong.. and not that ping pong isnt a sport) ... and its not that heather was trying to blast me with the tiny white harmless ball. okay, maybe she was. an uninformed bystander could have mistaken her for the competitive type, but in actuality she just liked to launch the balls at me to then laugh at the drama that would then and always happened in my facial expressions.  so naturally at one point in the friendly game... the ball sails toward my upper body with great speed and i...? i think i will defend myself with my knee apparently because i jerked my knee up which was actually under the ping pong table because i was standing too close and i cracked my knee cap to the edge of the table. 

oh what grace i have. and oh how many colors my knee has seen this week. 

**by the way, for those of you wanting to see pictures.. i am currently working on loading some into a google album but i dont have it all figured out yet, so i will soon update you on how you can see for yourself some pictures from some of my random photo experiences in peru!**

p....s.... i miss her.

its time to let you know

that i do not know how to operate my copy and paste options on my laptop.

well, thats true.. and let you know that i know its high time i give you a bit of a hello update from peru.

i had a good bit written out... then as previously mentioned... i lost all awareness of how to operate my laptop .. and lost it. maybe i can recreate the moment:

i am hanging out waiting on my students to come to class.... 

one of my classes this month has been at 5:30. what time do all FOUR of my students roll into class.. about? 6. so yesterday at the end of class i made each one stand up and repeat after me while holding their right hand over their heart and their left straight up in the air ' i ...(name)... promise to be.... in class when it starts.... at 5:30 starting tomorrow' well, except for one who i made promise to be here at 5. because she volunteered to come 30 minutes early to talk spanish with me before the class where i teach her english ;-) the only problem is... she never comes on time except the days when i am a few minutes late.... of course. 

well, i think... i hope... that is all i have time for right now. because i hope that all four of my students are about to surprise me and step around the corner and say 'miss julie we are here for class, five minutes late but thats better than 30!'

and in the mean time... i hope you enjoy some photos:

(which by the way were taken on the strike day... two tuesdays ago, there was a transportation strike so... classes got cancelled ... because the students didnt have a way of getting to class. and basically everything shut down. taxis parked everywhere. the only cars in the streets were personal vehicles or those taxi drivers that dared to roam the streets...  so we walked the streets in search of fun. 

getting acquainted with a new friend

the kind of friend you expected by the title of the blog?

i didnt think so.

on wednesday, i experienced the central market of trujillo with gillian and heather. (both girls i live with, and teachers at SALI) and we came back with... a gatito! 

a precious addition to our six girl filled apartment. he craves attention every second of every moment, and he could quite possibly be a gold medalist in the olympic kitten crawling division if such a league existed. like just now, he decided to crawl from the floor up the couch and up my clothing to my shoulder, with no assistance provided by me, to chill and find some sleep while i work on my computer. how adorable is that? you know it is, even if you are a dog person you know you find that awesome. you now wish you had your own crawling gatito don't you? 

in other news...

we just finished our first week of classes at SALI for September, and i just finished my frist week of classes at SALI ever. whew! i was a little nervous, all week i wasn't so sure i was cut out of the right mold for the whole teaching thing. but i love my students. already. they are great, and make teaching a little less intimidating than it could be. plus, when i picture teaching, i picture teaching someone much younger than me... but my students are all teenagers and my age. also, i get to hang out with them outside of class too. 

also.. just so you know.. the abundance of raw meat here is... endless. 

out our living room windows we get to witness chicken meat or intestines or whatever being hung out to dry all over the roof across the street, for the restaurant downstairs..

and this morning i entered a bodega (store) in our neighborhood.. hunting for fruit to make pancakes with gillian. all of a sudden i think to myself my goodness whats that smell... if you will, picture me with a pinched nose turning my head ever so slightly to the left... to check out the three chickens hanging out, not staring back at me. and smelling quite ripe. 

all i can manage to think to myself is....exit the room. just exit the room. yeah, that doesnt make me desire to change my vegetarian ways. if anything it quite confirms it. 

kind of like finding out that none of the girls i live with own a brush. this confirms that we are to be best friends. at least in my mind. ;-)

well, there is your update for now friends! i hope everyone is well!

and please, continue to keep peru mission in your prayers!

she made it to peru!

a look outside my hotel room in lima for a night. which was still gated into the airport parking lot. thats convenience. 

and in Trujillo! getting all oriented to my surroundings, getting ready to teach on Monday morning! Of course macs are cool in Peru too. (actually, four of my five roommates have macs. haha. yes, we have mac parties at night, i will admit it) 

This is my friend Ivan, he tells me that in a past life he was a vegetarian. haha. the first time i met him  i was with a group from one of Gillian's classes and he ordered the pizza for us. After questioning me over picking out the sausage and whatnot, he apologized over again for not asking me before he ordered it. 

thanks for your prayers for safety for my trip here. i appreciate them. it was a little bit scary coming into the airport through customs and what not, not really knowing what was going on and knowing i wouldnt really be able to understand them if there was a problem. but all went very well, and i am safely where i should be. no bags lost, no awkward encounters, no scary moments.  go on ahead and take a breath of relief mom/grandma/all other concerned female family  ;-)

August 25th

friends, i know it seems i have taken a break from everything, not posting... leaving everyone in dire wonder of what is going on in my life. 

i know. 

i know. 

you open up to shemustandshallgofree and think maybe today will be the day... maybe today i will open her blog and she will have told me about her day, maybe just a hello, maybe just a picture, line of a poem, sonnet of love, something surely today is the day.  haha.

well it's here!! i am so sorry i have been so slack of an individual that i haven't even loaded a photo or two. and its not that i have been living mundanely, there has actually been quite a lot going on! this is where i am passing the blame: over the summer i was going to panera or jittery joes or wherever to get internet connection, and well, when i get so distracted it gets harder to write. i think i could be diagnosed with add. but then again i really think we all could. so i dont think i could be diagnosed with the real thing, just the general add. thats why i havent been posting, that plus ive just been slack. im sorry i haven't kept you posted, it has been an eventful summer, i will try to catch you up here and there. 

but in the mean time... remember how you knew i was going to peru at some point? well the time is here! i am currently updating you from the toronto canada airport. in about an hour i will boar my flight for lima. and tomorrow i will be in trujillo!!! i am so very excited. well, excited isnt the best way to describe it. i have been experiencing a wide range of emotions over the past week and even few hours as i realize i really am about to be in peru. they are all good growing emotions though i assure you! 

but please, continue to keep me in your prayers. please pray that my transition will go smoothly and that i will be able to pick up on the language, relate/ be encouraging to my students, and be receptive to new experiences! 

sunny sundays

my left foot has one swollen toe. ants. darn sneaky things. it makes me walk a little funny.  i laugh at myself about it so you can too. yesterday was as pretty beautiful as Sundays get.

usually i have to roll into work at eleven, so the morning is me dashing from the eight forty five service to home, to change back into my smelly work attire then to dash to work. with all that dashing theres not really much time to absorb the beauty that is a Sunday morning. 

but yesterday, yesterday there was no work involved. so lezlee and i took up a seat in the second service instead of the earlier. theres more people in the second, and more that i know, as well as more chances that i wont be able to see the words to the music on the screen. this is a little frustrating and makes me realize i take for granted the thinner first service. 

nonetheless i enjoyed the service. sometimes i hesitate to use the word enjoy, but i realize this is just silly. i suppose thats the part of me that feels like i should feel a wave of serious conviction when i go to Gods house. but there's nothing wrong with saying yes, i felt renewed, refreshed, and reminded of my purpose, and i enjoyed it. i would hope i could describe going to church as that way every time i go, otherwise i dont think my heart is in the right place. 

i truly appreciate finding community bible. the messages are so solid, a mixture of learning biblical facts as well as application. the people i meet are so friendly and encouraging, overall so genuine. im really excited that God has placed me there. i have learned so much already, and i am excited about opportunities to join their family in the future. 

we took communion yesterday, which is one of my favorite parts. its such a personal thing, yet you are sharing it with so many others that are on the same road you are, maybe at different mile markers, but all on the same road. its just quite powerful. 

the rest of the day was just as lovely as the start. i had lunch with my friend lezlee. sushi and seaweed salad. then we spent like 3 plus hours at the park. i used to go there alot... but i will openly admit that i am a little skiddish when it comes to the ducks, especially the oversized ones, and the flock of geese. anyway we were there for quite a while. we planted our blankets apparently near some ants. and apparently my tactics of just letting them do their thing on my blanket unless i thought they were on me, didnt work out so well as i was the one that ended up with a bite and lezlee is ant bite free. (she was constantly shooing them away) and the geese just nearly surrounded us at one point. i was a little anxious about the way they kept getting closer and closer. lezlee just laughed. i did however finish up a narnia book. one more to go. and i will have officially read the chronicles. i recommend that if you, like i, didnt read them as a kid... go do it right now. 

hey, mom

maybe you should use this in your picture frame at work instead of that oldie. 

ha ha  ;-D

the tax collector.

my awesome friend bailey gave me a bible read through list, quite a while ago, from New Cov.. as a guide to read through the whole Bible. i havent been as regular with it as i had planned to be, but i am working on it none the less. today i read a passage from Luke chapter 18, 9-14. a parable. a parable Jesus told to "people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt" have you ever read a passage and went ahead and just photoshopped your own name into the story? no i dont mean in an exalting way, i mean in a jesus is giving us a heads up about this and that means you too Julie, no exceptions. anyway, i read it over a couple of times and was blown away. the pharisee is counting off the things that make him great, and saying yeah im so glad im not like that guy over there even, the tax collector. (whom was in the same temple too) the tax collector couldnt even look up to heaven, but was asking God to be merciful to him, 'the sinner!' 

sometimes its too easy to count the good things we do, and live in an imaginary world about the ways we dont measure up. as if we are going to be able to do anything to deserve the grace that God gives us anyway. we must be kidding ourselves. 

the honesty of the tax collector in that parable is just so beautiful. God knows our hearts anyway right? theres no need to lie to ourselves about it. 

"for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted"

threads and paint..

so, i came out with paint all over myself (of course, be it baking or painting i always make a serious mess) and our bathroom... because for some reason i have a thing for doing painting in the bathroom lately...(but dont worry yourself rach, its cleaned up! haha).. anyway i have the first few shirts done! i am incredibly excited over them. i wont lie, carving out the stencils with an xacto knife was torturous... and deciding on the lettering, and size and everything may have been the worst part. but here it is!! and my lovely friend cassie offered to model them for us, how sweet! 

well okay so the conversation went a little like this... 

(cassie had tried her shirt on)

Myself: yay! so can i take a picture of you in it?

Cassie: sure

Myself: great! can i put it on my blog?

Cassie: uhhhh

(later she pre-approved all images and of course deleted the rest)

so, by all means, if you would like a recycled t shirt hand made by me, including a llama image, please email me at : jules.ann.rogers@gmail.com with a size (which varies in kids sizes, adult sizes, and womens sizes) and i will make one specially for you! 

currently reading:

John Piper's Dont Waste Your Life

Isaiah 26:8

...we have waited for You eagerly... Your name, even Your memory is the desire of our souls

"Because I was created by God and for His glory, I will magnify Him as I respond to His great love. My desire is to make knowing and enjoying God the passionate pursuit of my life."

...

"But whatever you do, find the God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated passion of your life, and find your way to say it and live for it and die for it."

lettuce,

tomato, and avocado sandwiches will rock your face off.

you should give it a try. 

support raising

is for extroverts.

just in case you were wondering.

what was at least one thing i learned through my four years at anderson?

i am about as introverted as they come. 

please pray for me.

go green in a supporting way.

t-shirts... fabric paint... stencils.... rulers... scissors...that can only mean one thing!

where can you find the words peru, julie, recycled, and a hip picture of a llama all within one frame of view you ask? well i will tell you! im working on a shirt for fundraising purposes. and the makings have begun my friends. all you upper body clothing wearers out there,  you are going to want one of these. and your friends are going to want one too. and your great aunt ellie doesnt want to feel left out either. she has a soft spot in her heart for fluffly llamas. 

granted this is the beginning, i am just getting you all the heads up. this is how i picture it:

[front] "helping send Julie to Peru...."

[front left side/part of back] picture of llama (as seen above)

[back] "...and recycling too"

or something along those lines anyway.

recycling you may be asking yourself?

well, i shall tell you. im assuming you probably know me pretty well, if you dont then here is your heads up. that i love to recycle and and i love me some thrift stores. and honestly, i get more compliments on things i get from thrift stores than from stuff ive gotten off department shelves. its easier to find yourself, or at least your unique self within a rack of variety than on a shelf of buy 2 get the 3rd half off, and end up with three shirts the same shape but different shades of purple. [but hey im not knocking those sales.. old navy tanks are some of my best friends]

anyway so the shirt. 

i think the idea really reflects my personality and i hope you guys like it. 

im buying t shirts, some plain, and some with graphics on them, in different sizes...

and recycling them! im making stencils of llamas to put as pictured above, and fabric painting them as well as words to make a unique reused shirt. plus since they are pretty cheap for me to make, i dont have to charge you guys much for them. im not sure what i am going to ask for them yet. but... i am excited about them! hope you are too! if you have any suggestions, please give me a heads up, i am totally open to them. for support raising in general as well as with the shirts. 

take me home country roads

my grandmother informed me that i wasn't allowed to only post pictures anymore. okay, thats not quite the way she put it. 

i made my way up interstate 85 yesterday to come home for a few says. of course i had every intention of leaving early, but we both know that didnt happen. it all worked out anyway though, and i made it in at a little after nine. to a big bowl of homemade vegetable soup. without ground beef. my grandmother is more than amazing.

i knew i was back home.. after not being at her house for an hour and finding a tick on me... yeah. and then this morning i left, giving myself plenty of time to make the drive to charleston.. to come to a tree fallen across the road. there was a whole line of cars... and i was so close to the interstate! i was thinking to myself... okay there are enough of us... if we all get out and work together, we can SO move this thing. yeah, then it was my turn to turn around and i saw how big the tree was. i withdrew my silent idea. it was a little on the large side for a tree moving bonding activity. 

 

i decided yesterday, during lunch before i left... that this trip was going to help me get rid of a layer of my shyness. i decided yesterday to do this in two ways to start: to sing in my car on the highway if i wanna... even when im passing cars or vice versa... and even if im really into the song. and to take a picture if i feel like it, and not care that people are looking at me like im crazy. these are the results:

restroom tile somewhere in virginia.

restroom sink somewhere in virginia.. after taking this picture i laughed out loud for at least five minutes. there was this older lady in the restroom while i was taking it... and when i left the bathroom and started walking outside.. i saw her standing with whom im assuming was her husband, her hand cupped over his ear whispering... and him staring at me. it was so obvious she was talking about me. that was so worth it. i can just hear her now .."that girl.. yes that one there... the bathroom sink! yes! the sink!"

side.walk.

let us leave this place where the smoke blows black

and the dark street winds and bends

past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow

we shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow

and watch where the chalk-white arrows go

to the place where the sidewalk ends.

shel.silverstein.

someone sent me flowers. made of paper. 

they are pretty much more than beautiful.

i.love.them.

a tuesday.

a saturday.

this ones kind of girly

so i decided to take on the task of crocheting myself a shawl. i got this awesome vintage dress a few months ago when i was in savannah with cassie.. and ive not worn it yet. i dont do much that requires a dress. although i suppose dresses arent only for dress required events. so ive got no excuse. except that i didnt have something fun to wear over the tiny straps. so, in the next couple of days i am making myself a shawl!! (because im going to break out the dress for graduation aka a dress required event) its a pretty simple pattern so i think i can do it. i am incredibly excited!! i may also note that i am ridiculously excited that i dont have classes anymore and i can crochet! (its when i make comments like this that karrie refers to me as an old woman, hmph!) this feeling kind of reminds me of when i was a kid and i would read like crazy. i read babysitter club books like it was going out of style when i was thirteen or so (yeah.. what about it?) and thos RL Stine pick your ending books. i would read like three a day. it was that serious. i would wake up, and lay in the bed for an hour reading. and i will not confirm or disconfirm whether or not that was because i knew that getting up meant chores outside waiting on me. ;-) 

anyway the progress after an hour with the shawl: (and its green... of course, it seems like nearly everything i crochet is green) 

its the size of a bandana right now (hey... did you hear that one about why pirates spell bandana with a d? ....no? ... because if they didnt, they would be wearing bananas!!!! har har)

;-)

~~~~~

you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart

I will be found by you

Jeremiah 29:13/14

a day in the downtown.

im thinking of something a friend told me not too long ago...

"anybody can take a pretty picture of a pretty flower"