Blessed

Merry Christmas!

I hope your family had a very Merry Christmas!! I have had a jolly holiday and I feel so overwhelmed with blessings. We spent Christmas Eve where we always do - at my Nanny and PaPa's house. We had a delicious Mexican food feast, and as tradition goes, we all ate way too much. This year, we added something new ... a musical performance! My friends, the Craguns, loaned me their set of pipe bells and a few of us performed "Jingle Bells" for the rest of the family. (They were so much fun, I really want my own set now.)
After dinner, we had our gift exchange. My cousin, Todd, had my name and I got an iTunes gift card (the best gift you can give, in my opinion) and a hat and mittens.

Christmas is always better with kids around!

My cousin, Shawna, and her cute little girl, Emily.

My nephew, Logan, and his new pair of boots.

Now that the cousins are all grown up and some have their own families, it's rare that everyone can make it on Christmas Eve, but for the first time in many years, we were all there and it made it a really special night.

On Christmas Morning, I went to my mom's house with two of my brothers, Ryan and Brad. My mom decorates her house so cute for Christmas and she still hangs all of our stockings from when we were kids.
Ryan received some new clothes ...

... and Rock Band 2!!

My brother, Brad, and his dog, KC:

(Brad's the one in the hat)

On Christmas night, my mom, Ryan, Jon, Nicole and I went to see "Bedtime Stories".

It was a wonderful day!

December has gone by in a flash for me. I didn't get everything done that I wanted to get done and I didn't have the money to buy as many gifts as I would have liked -- but I still think this was one of my favorite Christmases in recent memory. In addition to what I've shared so far, I had a couple other big blessings this year. First - I was given the responsibility of organizing our ward's "Giving Tree" project. Members of the congregation purchased presents for 13 families and I gathered the gifts and got everything ready to be delivered. It was amazing to witness so much generosity, especially during these hard economic times.

The other big blessing is more personal. On Christmas Eve, some anonymous angels gave a very special present to my family. We walked outside to find it right on the front porch. We were all in shock and my mom cried tears of happiness. We feel so blessed to whoever gave us such a generous gift. You have made this Christmas one that we will always remember and we feel so blessed to have friends like you. I hope you receive many, many blessings for your kindness. It truly was a Christmas miracle.

My Christmas Mix For You

THANK YOU for all who have sent me Christmas cards. I love getting them! I'm sorry that I am a bad friend and don't reciprocate. (HOWEVER - I may blog my Christmas Card this year, so stay tuned for that.)

I'm better at Christmas Mix CDs than Christmas cards. Most of my friends who have lived in the same city as me have been the recipient of one or two in Christmases past. I have a LOT of Christmas music (as most of us Christmas-lovers do). So I thought I'd spread some Christmas cheer by sharing my favorite (and not-so-favorite) Christmas songs.

First, I must say that it's a Crooners' Christmas for me. I'm all about Frankie, Dean, and Bing. There's just something romantic about their renditions that transport me to a winter wonderland. (I also love Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como and Nat King Cole) So, unless I specifically list another artist, just know that I prefer the classics on these when available.

Let's start with the reason for the season.

Category: RELIGIOUS

• I Wonder as I Wander
• O Holy Night
• Who Would Imagine a King
• It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
• What Child is This?

Category: PROBABLY MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SONG OF ALL TIME

• Christmas Waltz (Frosted window panes, candles gleaming inside ...)

Category: SONGS FOR GETTING IN A HAPPY, HOLIDAY MOOD

• It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
• I’ll Be Home for Christmas
• Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
• Winter Wonderland
• Home for the Holidays (Perry Como)
• Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
• Baby, It’s Cold Outside (It's a draw as far as the Dean Martin or Johnny Mercer & Margaret Whitling versions)
• Cool Yule (Louis Armstrong)
• ‘Zat You, Santa Claus? (Louis Armstrong)
• A Holly Jolly Christmas (Burl Ives, of course!)
• I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm (Dean Martin)
• A Marshmallow World (Bing Crosby) (This one ranks VERY high.)
• The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

And just for fun, let's add a few more categories.

Category: CHRISTMAS-TIME MAKES YOU WANT TO BE IN A RELATIONSHIP.

• All I Want for Christmas is You (One of the only Mariah songs I really like)
• Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (U2)
• I’d Like You for Christmas (Julie London)
• What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve

Category: IF YOU’RE NOT FEELING JOLLY, HOW ABOUT SOMETHING MELANCHOLY?

• Hard Candy Christmas (Dolly Parton)
• Where Are You Christmas? (Faith Hill)
• When My Heart Finds Christmas (Harry Connick, Jr.)

Category: DOES ANYONE ELSE FIND THE WHOLE PREMISE OF THIS SONG DISTURBING?

• I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Category: I REALIZE THESE ARE SOME PEOPLE'S FAVORITES BUT I'M TIRED OF THEM AND PREFER NOT TO HEAR VERY MUCH OF THEM DURING THE HOLIDAYS.

• Rudolph
• Silent Night
• Jingle Bells
• 12 Days of Christmas

Category: NEVER WANT TO HEAR AGAIN. IT MAKES MY EARS BLEED.

• Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

Okay, there's my list. Now tell me your favorite Christmas song(s).

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

Dear Grinch,

I realize that your heart is two sizes too small, but I want you to know that you broke mine this morning. JUST when I'd found my Christmas spirit, you came and stole it from me. Literally. I wonder, what will you do with the Christmas decorations you took from my yard overnight? Will you use them to decorate your own house? More likely than that, you will probably sell them to someone else to make a few bucks. Well, I want you to know that I think you're a bad banana with a greasy black peel!!

You probably steal from lots of people, so to refresh your memory ... here's what you stole from me: (I found this picture online but they look like the same ones I had.)I just bought those lighted presents last year. Why didn't you take the spiral trees that are 6-years old now and have a short in the cord? OH ... I know why. It's because your soul is an appalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable, mangled up in tangled up knots.

Sorry. Your hatefulness is bringing out the grinch in me. I'm really debating whether to put up the rest of my lights now. What if you steal them too? But then again, if I don't decorate I guess I'm only punishing myself and then you win again.

In closing, the three words that best describe you, are, and I quote: "Stink. Stank. Stunk." And if you happen to read my blog, well that's just makes the whole thing even more disturbing.

Merry Christmas, JERK.
-Julie

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

My long-standing tradition has been to decorate my house on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I'm usually excited to get in the Christmas spirit and that's when I allow myself to start listening to Christmas music. I don't know what my deal was, but I just wasn't feeling it this year. I didn't get it done on Friday. Finally, on Saturday evening, I WILLED myself to do it. I knew that if I didn't get it done this weekend, then I might not have time to do it at all. (The worst part is dragging all of the stuff out!) Believe me, the thought crossed my mind of skipping the decorating all together this year -- but now that it's done, I'm so glad I did it. I love Christmas decorations!

Just when I had all the boxes strewn all over the living room -- I had a surprise visit from my friends, the Cragun family. They helped me set up the trees and decorate them. They brought some cookies to bake, and we listened to Christmas music and watched football. It made it SO much more fun than doing it alone.

(This cute little tree was decorated by the Cragun girls.)

They even convinced me to let them help with the outdoor lights even though it was completely dark outside. We got the yard decorations in place, now I just have to put the icicle lights on the roof and the garland around the door and the porch and I'll be completely finished.

I am blessed to have such good friends and I'm definitely feeling the spirit of Christmas now.

I hope your heart finds Christmas, too.

Black Friday

I spent "Black Friday" at home in my pj's, sniffling and coughing and wondering what good deals I was missing out on. I browsed all of the ads and found lots of stuff I'd want, but not much I could afford. So I balanced my checkbook to unequivocally confirm that I was indeed doing the right thing by staying home.

With the money I saved on "Black Friday" I decided to go shopping on Saturday! :) I didn't have much to spend, but there were a couple good deals I really had to take advantage of. And like all good deals -- that means I bought a few things that I didn't really NEED, but I saved money doing it.

For instance -- I completed my set of the Gilmore Girls series. I had all but a few seasons and they were on sale for $14.99 (Down from $48.99). Did I NEED them? No. But it was a good deal. (If any of you haven't seen the series but are the least bit interested, I would gladly lend them out. My friend, Karen, got me hooked a couple of years ago and I joined Netflix that summer just to catch up with the series. It's very cute and very addicting.)

This is my other VERY COOL purchase:Not the ipod -- I had that -- but the little bitty speaker. This was on sale at Brookstone for $19.99 (down from $35). I can't believe how good the sound is from this little thing. I mean, it's no Bose -- but it's decent! It runs on double-A batteries and so you can just carry it around from room to room. I love it!

In full disclosure, there may have also been another purchase -- a pricey hair-styling tool that was rated #1 by Consumer Reports. I realize that you can buy a 20-dollar blowdryer -- and that's always what I've purchased in the past -- but this Chi dryer has been beckoning me to take it home. Until now, I've ignored its siren's song. But the stars aligned and I felt it must be fate. Judge for yourself:

• A knob broke off of my blowdryer.
• I saw an ad that it was on sale for $40 off this weekend.
• I received a coupon in the mail that would make it another 20% off the sale price.
• We ran a Consumer Reports story this week on the best hair dryers and this very model was ranked #1.

Justification OR Justified? You be the judge. I'll let you know if it's as fabulous as the reviews say it is.

Thanksgiving '08

As they say, "There's no place like home for the holidays".

Unfortunately, I spend most of my holidays at work -- (See: 4th of July) -- and Thanksgiving is no different. Most of the producers have to work on Thanksgiving because we have every one of our newscasts that day. (The Friday after Thanksgiving, we only have a 6pm and a 10pm so most of us can have that day off. Another reason to LOVE FOOTBALL).

Anyway -- the bosses bought us a turkey lunch from Grady's-- Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans and Pumpkin Pie. (Thanks Dave! I mean "Kenny") It was delivered on Wednesday so I volunteered to heat everything and serve it to our crew of about 20 or so on Thursday. I meant to take a picture of us sitting down for our "family" dinner, but I forgot -- so that's why you have the picture of our tables without people at them. I bought some rolls from Luby's and some cranberry sauce to complete the meal. It was good but of course it wasn't NEARLY as good as my family Thanksgiving meal. I always make the fam PROMISE to save me a plate for dinner. (Several years ago, they forgot to save me rolls and mashed potatoes, but I'm working through that loss and I think I'm over it now.) I usually make it out to my family's Thanksgiving gathering just as everyone is saying their goodbyes. That's what I had planned to do again this year, but I had a really bad cold and by the time my workday was through --- I was too. (Sorry, Shawna!) I just wanted to go home and get in my pj's -- plus I didn't want to spread my germs to my relatives. (I had already exposed the co-workers as I prepared their meal for them. HA HA -- Just kidding. I washed my hands a ZILLION times and didn't breathe on anything. Just ask Mario who was hovering to make sure.)

Anyway, I went home and my mom and brothers delivered my leftovers to me! A HUGE plate of food and a HUGE plate of desserts. It was so delicious!!! I had enough food to last me for several meals. Well done, family!

This is the part where I should write about all of the things I'm thankful for. I won't bore you with a LONG list ... I'll just say I'm most thankful for my Family, Friends and my Faith. And even though I have to work on holidays, I am very thankful that I have a job!

Leaving Lost Maples

Fall has finally arrived in Texas.

And as my favorite motto (See Also: excuse, rationalization) goes ... Better Late Than Never.

One of the traditional Fall treks for those living in this neck of the woods, is to Lost Maples State Park where you can take in some of the best Fall foliage. The colors at the park were at their peak about a week ago and people have been flocking to Lost Maples to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

I haven't been to Lost Maples since I was a kid. Every year I want to go, but I just don't seem to make it. So when a friend said he wanted to go this weekend, I was very excited to finally make it up there and get in a good hike amidst all the pretty leaves.

We knew we needed to get an early start, but our ideas on "early" differed somewhat. (Sorry, but I was so tired and had gone to a late showing of Quantum of Solace on Friday night). So we settled on 8am. As I headed out the door to meet him, I picked up my morning paper and right there on the front page was a picture of Lost Maples with the headline: "Storm blows the leaves off of Lost Maples." A wild cold front had blown in Friday and it was monstrously windy and apparently it blew most of the Fall leaves off the trees in the park. Great. Oh well, there would still be some color on the trees and because of the cold front, the weather was absolutely perfect on Saturday. It was the ideal day for a drive in the Hill Country.

I mean ... come on ... how pretty is this?

Apparently, hundreds of other South Texans had the exact same idea. After a missed turn and a 45 minute detour, we arrived at our destination to find this:
There were dozens of cars lined up waiting JUST to get in the park. The wait was estimated to be about an hour or so.

Sadly, we decided not to stay. I had to be back in town for a meeting at church at 5:00, plus the low-fuel indicator light was on in my friend's car and we were about 40 miles from a gas station. (Luckily, he has a diesel VW with insanely good gas mileage).

So another year, and I still haven't made it to Lost Maples -- but all was not lost. We still had a good time. We stopped at this Apple Orchard/Bakery and did some antique shopping in Bandera.

And the scenic drive was absolutely amazing.
(I hope blogspot lets you enlarge these next two pictures because they are so pretty.)
We stopped on several bridges to take pictures. This one is my favorite:

See? Texas can be pretty in the Fall.

Sock it to Me

This is how I went to work this morning and how I stayed all day long.

"Why only one sock?" --you may be asking. Well here's the deal. We've already established my issue with tardiness -- so of course I was frantically trying to get out the door this morning. My last stop was the dryer where I was going to fish out these socks. I searched and searched but could only come up with one. The other is still hiding somewhere amidst the t-shirts and workout shorts. I was running so late that there really wasn't an option to run upstairs and find another pair.

"So why wear the one sock -- why not just go barefoot?" -- you may be asking next. Well, here's the deal.

1. These are my new shoes and I want to keep them nice.
2. They're just more comfortable with the socks.
3. Why should both feet have to suffer when there is one sock available?

Perfectly rational explanation, I think. And to be fair, I let my right foot wear the sock for the first half of the day, then I traded it to the left foot.

Girls Day Out

I promised my friend Ami's daughters I would take them to lunch and a movie for their birthdays - which were within a few weeks of each other. So Saturday, Kenley, Adi and I went to see High School Musical 3 and then had lunch at Firehouse Subs. Despite the grimace on Adi's face (I took the picture with my arm outstretched and we were looking right into the sun) we had a great time! They are such sweet girls!!

Afterward, I did a little retail damage and purchased some random things that I really don't need. I was sucked into the after-Halloween 50-percent off sales! Here are the items I ended up with:
I got everything displayed on this bookcase for about 55 bucks. I won't show you what else I bought (shirt, shoes, a purse or two) so as not to be subjected to further ridicule.

Happy Halloween!

Boo!


I hope everyone is having a Happy Halloween!

(Especially my brother, Lance who is celebrating his birthday today!)

The Grinch may have stolen Christmas, but the economy has put the kibosh on Halloween ... at least at my place of employment. We used to have a party and a costume contest with CASH prizes. I've been known to win some of that moolah in years past. Last year, I finally achieved my dream Halloween costume. I had been wanting to do it since 1984 when Danielson (Ralph Macchio) sported it in The Karate Kid. This masterpiece won me 25 (or was it 50?) bucks. See how we all played along? Usually we have a ton of people in great costumes, but not this year. It's sad. There are just a few of us. Not that my costume is great. In fact, it's my go-to witch apron and hat that I bring out every few years when I'm too lazy to come up with something good.

Phil and Me. You can't see his boots in these pictures, but he was either a cowboy, Indiana Jones (with a large man-purse), or Woody from Toy Story. I'm not sure which. (Or maybe he wasn't dressed up at all??)

But check out the picture below. There are some unexplained phenomena in the upper right part of the picture. I'm pretty sure they are ghostly orbs.

My coworker, Mike, looked better in my witch costume than I did:It's so fun to play dress up. Maybe I should have gone as the Sonic commercial girl. Lately, a lot of people have been telling me that I look like her. I guess we both have blonde hair and small noses ... but other than that. I dunno. What do you think?

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjHoxSKqE0M

And speaking of other people's perceptions of me ... my friend Tobi wrote a blog about her quirks ... and in it she mentioned this talent she has for assigning songs to people she knows. So, of COURSE I wanted my songs. I got two of them. (Awesome!) The first was a Daughtry song -- "What About Now." cool. But the second one is so tremendously fantastic! Apparently when she hears BRICKHOUSE by the Commodores, she thinks of me. I'm sure you are all familiar with the song, but let's review the lyrics:

Ow she's a Brick-house
She's mighty mighty
Just lettin' it all hang out
She's a brick-house
That lady's stacked
And that's a fact
Ain't holdin' nothin' back.
Oh she's a brick-house
Yeah she's the one, the only one
Built like an Amazon.

Is that not the most hilarious song assignment EVER. I'm LOVING it. Thank You, Tobi!! I think she was inspired by the picture that she posted of me on her blog where my bosoms are OUT OF CONTROL huge.

I Rocked the Early Vote!

Civic Duty: a

Finding Joy in Life...

... And in My Order of Curly Fries.

I dedicate this post to my mom.

Me, Quirky??!?

Dang it.

I got tagged again.

You can blame Jodie for this post. I'm doing this under duress, but apparently, I'm supposed to share SIX QUIRKS about myself. Here's the thing about quirks -- they're usually things that others notice about you but that you think are perfectly normal parts of your personality. Most people probably don't even realize the quirks about themselves that others find glaringly obvious. So I'll try to list my quirks, but if I'm way off -- feel free to comment and fill me in on what my most obvious idiosyncrasies are.

Quirk #1: Over-analytical & Indecisive
I drive even myself crazy with my inability to make quick decisions ... especially when it concerns things of very little importance. I will mull over very trivial things for an obscene amount of time. I often can't decide what to order at restaurants and quite frequently will just tell the waiter to decide for me. It's a problem. Hence the name of this blog. The launch of the blog was delayed because of my internal debate over a title. Analysis paralysis is what happens when you analyze a situation for so long that you become paralyzed and unable to make a decision. Unfortunately, it's a state I find myself in often.

Quirk # 2: Musical Tourettes
I break out into song -- A LOT. My coworkers call me "Julie Gill, the musical". In fact, when I asked them what my quirks are -- they named this one first. When someone says something in the midst of normal conversation that happens to be a song lyric, I must sing the song. I've been this way my whole life. In elementary school, it got me sent to the Principal's office. Here's what happened: The lunch lady was fussing at the kids at my table to be quiet and in her German accent yelled out, "Enough is Enough!" OF COURSE I was compelled to break out into the Donna Summer classic. The lunch lady, Principal and my mother all thought I was being disrespectful. I was not. The music was in me and I had to let it out.

Quirk # 3: Persistent Tardiness
I hesitate to mention this one because I am sensitive about the subject. I don't know if this is a quirk as much as a major personality flaw. But again, my coworkers insisted that it needed to be on the list. It's something that I really can't stand about myself. I am constantly getting mad at myself over it. I try to change -- but I've been late my whole life. (Seriously -- I got in trouble in elementary school for it!) My whole family is late and believe it or not, I'm not the worst offender.

Quirk # 4: My Need for Symmetry
I asked my mom to name my most glaring idiosyncrasy and this is what she came up with. It's true. I like things symmetrical and balanced. My mom laughs at me all the time about it, but for the life of me I can't think of a single example to further explain this one. And this is one of those that I may not have completely realized about myself if someone else didn't point it out. Thanks, mom.

Do I really need to come up with two more? What the heck should they be? Is being self-deprecating a quirk or a personality trait? I'm really over-anaylyzing this. This is taking WAY too much time -- I could be watching TV. Ugh. ...... Phewsh, just thought of two more.

Quirk # 5: Spelling and Grammar Police
This is one of my quirks that I know people find annoying. I tend to correct other people's spelling and grammar mistakes. Sorry. My mom corrected my grammar when I was growing up, so now I must pay it forward.

Quirk # 6: I Notice Other People's Quirks
Overall, I think I am a pretty tolerant and easygoing person. A lot of the big things don't really bother me. I tend to be patient in a lot of situations that drive other people crazy. Instead, it's the minutiae of people's behavior and individual oddities that can drive me insane. I am a very attentive person and I notice things about people that others don't. Repetitive phrases, hand gestures, the fact that a person has one nostril bigger than the other. I notice these things. Most of the time I process the information but I don't let it bug me. But if I'm in an impatient mood or if someone is on my nerves, I lose patience and become agitated at the little quirks. On occasion, if I feel the need to vent by pointing out such oddities to a third party, people think I'm either 1)crazy or 2)extremely judgemental judgmental. I'm neither. It's just one of my quirks.


I won't tag anyone else by name, but instead I am tagging EVERYONE who reads this. Ha Ha Ha! Take a good, hard look at yourself and share with the class what you think everyone else finds peculiar about you. It's great for the self esteem. And I'm checking your blogs so you must do it!

Vacation is Over

To everything .. (Turn, turn, turn)

There is a season ... (Turn, turn, turn)

And a time for every purpose under heaven.

Unfortunately, my vacation time has come and gone.

As I was packing up to leave the Anderson Zoo, Shar's kids were asking why I had to go back home and why I had to go back to work. It's simple kids ... it's time to earn that paycheck so I can plan another vacation!!

Who's excited to look at more vacation pics?

Here are a few that I tried to display on my earlier vacation post but you can't really see because for whatever reason blogspot is all buggy with the "click to enlarge" function.

Pretty Scenery:

By request -- Shar and the kiddos:

On my last day with the Andersons, we went on another hike to the beach. (We found one that wasn't polluted and stinky). In fact, it was gorgeous and we had a really cool experience -- I saw something I've never seen before in real life! Let me tell you the story.

Once upon a beautiful Fall Saturday afternoon ... The Anderson Zoo and Julie went on a walk in the forest.

We walked through some really tall trees until we reached a beautiful beach.

We walked along the beach looking for shells when suddenly we noticed something in a tidal pool. It was a STARFISH!

It was so cool! None of us had ever seen a live starfish before!

The kids were excited to touch it and to pick it up and look at its belly.

They weren't scared at all, even when it "relieved" itself as they were holding it.

The kids decided the starfish was stranded in the tidal pool and wanted to set it free back in the ocean.

So long, Starfish!

As the starfish swam away to its home, we headed back to ours. First, we hiked back through the tall trees in the forest.

Then, we drove back along the enchanted tree-lined roads to the Anderson home.

THE END.