Verses to come

I've been reading my Bible more consistently than I ever have before. It probably sounds dumb, but I have a Bible app on my phone and having that convenience helps me to read my Bible. About a month ago I finished up a 40 day fast from Facebook where the goal was to replace the time I spent looking at Facebook on my computer and phone with time in my Bible. I started a reading plan on my phone where I read one chapter from the Old Testament, one chapter from the New Testament, one proverb, and one psalm a day. Its convenient because my app checks off these sections as I read them and it help me to be accountable. Anyways I guess the point of all of this is to say that I've been bookmarking verses and I'm hoping to start posting them on here along with some thoughts. However, school is still pretty intense right now and then I'll be in Arkansas for awhile. So just hold your horses people... err probably just Krisann and Noelle. I think you two may be the only people who read this and I'm not even sure you guys do consistently. That's ok though. Like I said previously, its nice just to write and get all my thoughts out whether anybody is reading or not.

Busy, but Good

Ahh life.

Lately I have been realizing that any time someone asks me any question along the lines of "How are you?" I ALWAYS answer "busy, but good." And yes, I do really mean "ALWAYS" which I know we are supposed to avoid for fear of exaggeration. So why am I so "busy, but good?"

Well 15 units will do that to you. I am beginning to wish I had sought out a 9-week Health Course versus the 18-week. The problem with having two weeks to read two chapters, one quiz, and two random assignments is waaaay too much time for me. As a result I wait till the absolute last minute. Also since my teacher obviously hasn't figured out that you can change the automatic East Coast time zone setting on Blackboard over to PST and doesn't know that setting an assignment to be due at 2:30am ET on 3/21 is actually 11:30pm on 3/20 PST (He wants it due at 11:30pm on 3/21 but doesn't realize he's taking away a day and not adding one). So turning in assignments has been confusing and frustrating if nothing else. If I had taken the 9-week course I'd have been on top of things for 9-weeks when I had momentum and I'd be done by now. But no... I failed. The only good thing about this 18-week course is that in combination with Biology I'm finally learning how to take care of my body.

I still need to lose a lot of weight to no longer be considered overweight, but in the last 2-3 weeks I have lost enough weight to be weigh less than what I was at both my Junior and Senior years of high school. Woohoo! That is super exciting because I saved Christmas money, birthday money, and have been stashing my tip money in my dresser all for buying a new wardrobe in the next couple months.

Alright so more reasons for being busy.... school school and more school. I am being a slacker this semester. Yes I am getting everything done and yes I am going to pass, but definitely not putting my best effort into it. I am also ditching a lot more than I ever have in previous semesters. We'll see how much I piss off my professors, but I think I'm good. I'm just walking that boundary line very closely. Currently I am not at all looking forward to a group poetry presentation in my English class. I really need to start researching for that....

Also I need to write my lesson for Community Group that I am going to be teaching. I will be teaching on Commitment and Reliability in relationships. Approximately 10-15 minutes and then I have to facilitate a discussion. No sweat, but I want to do a good lesson and not some halfass job. That requires time which I have a lack of right now.

Work has been pretty crazy too. Valentine's day equals lots of working, all 3 bosses out of town for 4 days with only one other employee besides myself equals lots of working, Zin Fest monopolizing the time of 3 out of 5 employees equals lots of working. And this week manager is on vacation for her wedding and the other girl I work with apparently is over working at RMCF and has apparently asked for less hours which means more hours for me. Yay paycheck, boo time to do anything else.

On top of all of that I am still waiting to hear from CSULB. Waiting, waiting and waiting. Not a problem except for needing to apply to housing. Housing is impacted. I need housing. Housing application cannot be opened until I am accepted. I won't know if I am accepted for 6-8 weeks starting from March 5th. Housing application plus deposit is due May 1st. Anybody else noticing a bit of an issue there?

So yes Julieanne is busy. 15 units in school, 30 hours a week at work, church activities 2-3 days a week, trying to find time to work out, and I still would like to see my family and do all those little things that need to be done. Despite my hectic schedule I am loving life. I know things could be worse and I have an amazing God.

oh! Quick note! My Facebook fast is coming to an end. It wasn't meant to be a Lent sort of thing but it has indeed turned into that. During my fast I have been reading my Bible every day and I am loving it. Its a habit I definitely need to keep up. More on that later... I promise :)

For now I must go back to studying for my Psych test tomorrow morning. In an hour and a half I have a math test with work immediately after. So yes, for now I sit down on the couch with a big 'o cup of some delicious tea and a textbook. Oh how I wish this were a novel in my hand.

Compliments to the Chef

Dad is making dinner tonight. He's going for the simple stuff like Clam Chowder, which of course is no problem until he decides we need more food than that. Most people would think chowder/soup constitutes bread, sandwiches, crackers, something in that food group as a side dish. However, Dad is a bit more of a true chef?

Dad:"Julieanne, would you like anything else with your chowder? How about a sausage?"

Me: "*pause* No, I'm good"

Dad (talking to himself): "Oh I know. I could make eggs with it!"

I laugh to myself and think this must be recorded and put on the web somewhere, but since I am still refraining from any Facebook use I resorted to Blogger. Hooray!

Even now as I write this my Dad finally says "Oh! Do you want some bread? That would go well with soup!"

Kudos, Dad, Kudos

New Journey

God has really been speaking to me about my relationship with him. I've been realizing that I really don't know my Bible. Growing up in a Christian home I guess I took the foundations for granted. Yet I find myself jealous when new Christians can't get enough of their Bible. I've never felt that passion for my Bible; I have felt passion to know my God deeply, but never really to know my Bible deeply. Yet the two go hand in hand.

With Lent having started this past Wednesday I've been seeing Lent fasts left and right. Even my parents who attend a Presbyterian church are participating in Lent and I've realized its not just a Catholic thing. Isn't fasting meant for all of us? And Lent is just fasting. I started thinking about what I could fast from for forty days and my main fasting topic usually has to do with technology; no TV, no computer, no facebook, etc. Computer isn't logical with school and whatnot. Plus I have my iPhone so I would definitely be a cheater with that one. TV is reasonable, but we have DVR so am I really giving up anything when I can just watch stuff later or online? You see? I always find the loop holes. Lately I have been trying to subtly prove to my sister that I am not addicted to Facebook. And I am not really. I can easily live without it, but I do enjoy Facebook quite a bit. I love people watching and in its own way Facebook is cyber people watching. I love knowing what's going on in my friends lives cause, let's be honest, who actually updates all their friends on what's going on. But even with trying to cut back on Facebook as of late I felt I needed to do more.

So I am fasting from Facebook. Not necessarily for lent. Its sort of an indefinite fast. Listening to God on this one. I typically in the past have skipped Facebook for the weekend or the week, but I have a feeling this one will be much longer. For all we know it could be much longer than 40 days. Maybe I'll end up deleting my account.....God I hope not.

So what does this have to do with my Bible? I am replacing Facebook time with Bible time. I claim to not have time for my Bible or when I do have time I am "too tired" for reading. If that's the case how do I have time to play games on my iPhone, to check Facebook in the morning, at night, and many random times throughout the day? So I have deleted my Facebook link located in my toolbar on my browser. I am very used to opening a browser and immediately hitting the Facebook button. I am actually surprised its not my homepage. Either way, the link is temporarily deleted. I temporarily deleted the Facebook app from my phone and have filled its prominent ease-of-access location with my Bible app. Who knows if I'll actually use my Bible app but at least its featured on the homepage to remind me the point behind all of
this.

Sidenote: Sarah accidentally logged into my Facebook tonight (it stays logged in on my computer) and I had 34 notifications and 2 emails. I didn't check any of them, but really people? Its been 2 days!! I didn't even announce I was fasting. How could I possibly have that many messages? I know I didn't write on any celeb statuses so how did this happen? haha

Another thing I've been meaning to work on is journaling. I have a hard time with journaling. Get ready for the list of excuses cause whether valid or not they are still excuses.

1. My wrist has a tendency to hurt with too much pencil/pen action. I think it has to do with a past hairline fracture. School is annoying enough without adding journaling to the list.

2. I find journaling cheesy sometimes even though I know its valuable. Who do I speak to in it; my self; the journal (Dear Diary....); God? God is clearly the smart option in this scenario, but I still find it coming out cheesy. No clue why. That's probably something I should work on also. I need to learn to make my thoughts to myself actual conversations with God. I've done that in the past and, believe me, it will deepen a relationship with God incredibly. Think about how much you talk to yourself. What if you spent all that time speaking with God instead? Seriously an amazing change will take place.

3. I like people knowing what's going on in my life too. My journal is extremely personal and I am extremely paranoid about people reading certain things in there. (Please don't steal my journal :S) There are aspects of my life that I do want to share and that's hard if I close it all up in a journal I don't want anyone to touch. Yet another problem with Facebook BTdub, (Btw- just kidding guys) I hate people who post ten million statuses, but I find myself constantly wanting to be one of those people so I can share bits and pieces of me.


All of this to say I am going to be using Blogger a lot more. Facebook will be replaced with my B-I-B-L-E, Blogger, and hopefully some journaling in there somewhere. Maybe Blogger will get me in the mood for journaling. Even now I am having a hard time wrapping this up.

Blogger is sort of magical in its own way. Anyone could be reading this. That's a very scary fact yet sort of magical. I am putting a piece of me out in this big wide world and who knows where it will end up. I am kind of blown away by that and I am in love with the idea of the magic of this.

Ok so in sum- Facebook fast lasting an indefinite amount of time, praying for a renewal of my relationship with my God, some new healthy habits in the way of journaling and reading my Bible, and some Blogger action.



Thank you for your magic world. I am excited for this journey God has before me.

Chegg

ok this isn't some spam post. I actually am posting this. lol

If you do this you get 5% savings typically, right now its 11% and I get five bucks. lol I seriously saved so much money this semester.



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Changes

I feel like the last two days have been a sort of milestone in my life. I am officially twenty years old and officially past my teen years. Today was the first day of school at Cuesta and it hit me this morning: This is my last first day at Cuesta. It is my last semester. My first and only South County class. And I felt fairly independent today as I drove to SLO in super intense weather all by myself (yet again another first).

As this semester continues I will be closing a chapter in my life and starting another one. In the Fall, I will (most likely) be moving from Paso to Long Beach. I have never even moved houses in my life let alone cities or counties. Heck, I've been in the same bedroom my entire life!! I will be finished with Cuesta, have my Associates degree and will be embarking on a new adventure.

This is a week that marks the beginning of many important changes in my life. I am excited to see what God has in store for me.

I am emulous of Noelle and Stephie

I have been baking like a fiend.

Last week I fixed my craving for cinnamon rolls with: http://www.crumblycookie.net/2008/04/07/cinnamon-rolls/

and tonight's craving is fixed with some http://culinspiration.wordpress.com/2009/02/13/bevs-banana-bread

I will proceed to go cry over my banana bread in anticipation of missing me some Blicha. (sketch)