Just Say Julie

Wow! What a year this has been! For the first time, I have experienced what it was truly like to live away from home on my own. I have experienced the ups and downs of dating again. I started counseling to dealing with issues left by my divorce. I fell in love, got my heartbroken, and I am still recovering. Through it all, I survived. I came out on the other side better, finally feeling comfortable in my own skin, realizing that I will be OK. I have learned a lot about myself in the last year and what I want out of life. And I must say that I am optimistic about what the future holds. So to recap this year, I decided that I will answer this quiz a few of my friends posted as a good way to look back. 1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Got a tattoo, lived alone away from my family, started counseling 2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don’t remember making any resolutions last year so I guess I di...

So I have been trying to figure where this month disappeared to. I know I have been busy and I remember Christmas happening about a week ago but seriously...2009 in less than 48 hours?!? Life has basically been non-stop for me since Thanksgiving. Stephanie and I hit the ground running at the beginning of the month wrapping up the decorations and plans for the office Holiday Party. I am happy to say that the event was a huge success but it took the better part of the two weeks leading up to the event for us to make it perfect. We did take a break on Pearl Harbor Day to attend the Christmas Market in Fredericksburg only to be surprised by the festivites of the Pearl Harbor Rememberance being held at the National Museum of the Pacific War. The air show from the Commenrative Air Force was amazing. I wish Daddy had been there to identify all the planes for me. The Holiday Party was the next weekend which only left me with a few days to prepare for Mom's arrival prior to the cro...

Once again I was perusing my Google reader when I came across a headline that just struck me as funny. It's actually from the WKRG breaking news and it reads: "Possible Tornado Hits Alabama" Now, my dear readers, how do you not know if it was a tornado? I personally have never been in a tornado so I don't know what it is like to experience one but I have been through my fair share of hurricanes. Believe me, you can't miss those suckers so I would imagine the same would be true for a tornado. Thoughts?

I think I have covered the majority of the dating sites out there. At some point in the last year, I have been on Match, Chemistry, Yahoo Personals, eHarmony, OKCupid, and ChristianMingle. I have met a few guys, some that lasted longer than others, but on a whole I haven't had much luck. I canceled my eHarmony account after I met Wally and, at the time, that was the only site I was on. When things started to go south with him, I re-upped my account for another month. Now that month is over and I still have no decent prospects from that site. So I canceled it again for about the 4th time. I actually thought that I would take some time away from the dating sites. So what do I do...I get bored and I setup my Yahoo Personals account again. Why? I can't give you a really good answer. I like the attention. I mean who can beat 122 profile views in less than 7 days? However, I am not impressed with the guys I am meeting on there. I don't understand these men who think...

Even though I have had my fill of family recently and they have the tendency to drive me crazy, I was feeling a tad meloncholy on Friday after Momma, Daddy, and Carol left. Some how when I am in these moods, music always speaks to me. It touches something inside me and relates in a way nothing else can. The right song at the right moment can totally lift my spirits. This was definitely the case on Friday. I had three songs come up that fit the bill and fixed my mood. The first song wasn't so much the song as the title. A song called "Still Haunted". I have never heard it. I don't know who it is by but the title said everything. In so many ways I am still haunted. Haunted by the memories of J. We met this time last year and my mind is constantly flooded with memories of our time together. There isn't a longing associated with these memories anymore. More a nostalgia. A thought to how much things have changed for me in the past year. I am also haunt...

Tagged by Ra The rules? Answer the following questions in one word and then pass it on to seven others. Where is your cell phone? kitchen Where is your significant other? nonexistent Your hair color? brown Your mother? kind Your father? quiet Your favorite thing? Maverick Your dream last night? work Your dream/goal? accomplished The room you’re in? office Your hobby? scrapbooking Your fear? death Where do you want to be in 6 years? remarried Where were you last night? play What you’re not? skinny One of your wish-list items? money Where you grew up? mobile Last thing you did? print What are you wearing? grubbies Your TV? HD Your pet? loud Your computer? Dell Your mood? determined Missing someone? always Your car? 4Runner Something you’re not wearing? contacts Favorite store? Ikea Your summer? hot Love someone? hopefully Your favorite color? purple When is the last time you laughed? yesterday Last time you cried? weeks Tag your it: Gina , Hope , Grayson

I have been writing this blog in my head since last night. This blog came from a series of events that while not at all related have made for an interesting 24-hour period for me. It started with posts from two of my fellow divorce club bloggers about how to handling their exes moving on. In their cases, they were referring to their ex-husbands. For me, I am fortunate that while the thought of Shawn getting married again seems weird, it doesn't bother me. My thought is more power to the poor soul who ends up with him. I know what life with him was like and I don't wish that on my worst enemy. I know he is dating someone in his hometown which I think is great since she is probably more what he was looking for in the first place. What I do have to deal with is the guys I have dated post divorce moving on which brings up event #2 that also happened last night. I came across a picture of J and his new girlfriend at a party. While James wasted no time finding someone else ...

I bought a new desktop a few weeks ago and I finally got around to setting it up this weekend. I forgot how much easier it could be to type on a regular keyboard rather than my laptop. I have also been undertaking the huge task of organizing my office. The office has been the catch all room since I moved. Some of the boxes in here are ones I packed when Shawn moved out to separate our stuff so I hadn't seen their contents in more than a year. I came across a Valentine's card from Nanny that was probably one of the last cards she sent me before she died two and a half years ago. It's amazing how something so simple can make you hurt so much. I guess Memommie's death still has me kind of tender in the heart. There are still a few boxes that need to be sorted and reorganized but I made a lot of progress. I think Maverick is enjoying me hanging out in his room with him. He lays at my feet while I work on the computer. Truth be told I probably like his company mor...

This time last week I was packing to head home for the second time in as many weeks for Memommie's funeral. I had spent the better portion of the day with Wally and I was waiting for him to finish uploading his footage from the night before so he could come over for a while. I now know that was all a lie. Some time over the course of the weekend he deleted me from his Facebook friends list and blocked me on AOL Instant Messenger. Why, you might ask? Wouldn't I love to know. However, I don't because I haven't heard anything from him since he dropped me off at my car last Saturday night. No returned phone calls, no explanation of why he choose to end our relationship. I realized all this while I was getting ready to go to my grandmother's wake. As if I wasn't dealing with an emotional time already, add being blown off by the guy you were supposedly dating. I have run the gammit of emotions since Monday. First, hurt closely followed by confusion. I am n...

I had barely gotten my suitcase unpacked from my business trip to Alabama last week when I got the call from my mom that we had been expecting for years. My grandmother, Memommie, had passed away. Memommie had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for more than 20 years. She had been having a hard time the last couple of weeks and the time had finally come for her to go home. After processing the information, I started making the necessary preparations to head back home. Clay, my brother, and I boarded a plane back to Mobile Sunday afternoon. The next three days were a blur of visiting my aunt who was my grandmother's caretaker, attending the wake and funeral, and a constant stream of friends and neighbors calling and bringing by food. When my plane finally touched down in Austin this afternoon, I was completely exhausted. I never expected Memommie's death would be so hard. I felt like I had processed losing her years ago after watching her mind and body deterior...

Here I am sitting at the kitchen table in the spot that was once Vincent's seat until he moved out for college,the seat that I took it over in his absence only to relinquish it when her would return, waiting for the water to boil so I can fix a cup of hot tea for myself and my mom and I realize that some things never change. The strawberries are still on the wall paper and the wood paneling still covers a portion of the breakfast nook and all of the den. I know where to find the mugs and tea bags without asking. This is my home and that idea feels great. This house that I grew up in, with the exception of a few furniture purchases and some appliance upgrades, looks exactly the same as the day I came home from the Mobile Infirmary 31 years ago. Last year when I was going through the early stages of my divorce, being here was comforting, an unchanged island among the ocean of change going on around me. It was sitting at this table that I found the job I currently have online an...

So I changed my relationship status on Facebook this week after my conversation with eHarmony guy and let me tell you that has been the source of much discussion. Apparently a relationship status change is something that many people take notice to. I had 5 people comment on my page about the change as well as an email on the same subject that stemmed from a conversation among my church group. Let's not mention the calls from family members (along with lectures) about said change. I mean...really...is it necessary (the lectures that is)? Maybe I shouldn't have made the change yet. After all, Wally (OK...there I said it) hasn't confirmed the relationship yet*. Not quite sure why that is other than he just may be a little weird about it at this point because boys can be like that. I will admit to being curious when I have noticed changes on other people's pages so I can understand the fastination. However, I am beginning to realize more and more that we are all just bored ...

The week started out on a positive note since I finally heard from eHarmony guy on Sunday (yes, he has a name...we will get to that later) who was heading out of town for a week of camping and fishing. Sadly that was going to mean he wouldn't be back until after I left for Alabama so it would be more than a week before we could hang out again. However, due to a change in plans, he was back in town on Monday and called to setup a date for later in the week. Originally scheduled for Wednesday, our date was moved to Tuesday and might I say it was quite successful. We had a great time just talking and hanging out and all the weirdness (thanks to the ex-wife) of the previous couple of weeks seemed to have disappeared. We did establish ourselves as a couple but I am still realizing that this is a relationship I will have to handle differently from others in the past. I am still not 100% certain of the boundaries and how much is too much yet. I am constantly having to take a step b...

Well, I will admit that I have been putting off writing anything because I keep hoping that things will change and I will have good news to report. However, that has not been the case. It has been a week since the last time I saw eHarmony guy and a week since he has called me. We have chatted online a couple of times this week with him initiating the conversation but that has been it with no mention of seeing each other again. I am so confused. I don't know if I am getting the big blow off or if he is just taking his time right now. We started off pretty hot and heavy the first week we were dating but things have definitely tapered off since then. I know he had to deal with his ex last week and that is enough to put anyone in a mood for a while but how long? I really like this guy and I don't want to do anything mess up our chances so I am taking the advice of all of my friends and letting him come to me. It's been hard to not initiate contact as that is my typical...

I was listening to my favorite radio show this morning and some of the members of the show were giving lists of things they love. Since I haven't had much to blog about recently (yes, I know I owe an update on the new man.), I figured this would be a good way for me to get in the mood again. So here it goes...just a few things Julie loves (in no particular order)! 1. Maverick - He may be bad at times but he sure does love me. 2. Pedicures - Nothing is better than the foot massage associated with a good pedicure 3. Massages - I would take a good rub down any day. 4. Japenese Lasagna from Tomo Sushi - This is by far my favorite. Think I might have to get some tonight since Happy Hour is next door. 5. Chicken Minis from Chick Fil A - It is so good that I don't live in my apartment anymore since I would stop at least once a week on my way to work. 6. Breakfast Tacos from Rudy's BBQ - Yet another place I used to stop on my way to work. 7. Good Wine - I am still improving my pale...

I know it has been a couple of weeks since I wrote anything and that is mostly because I haven't had a lot to tell. I do have a couple of updates to pass on. First, I have missed my training for the last couple of weeks. The first week was due to the threat of a little storm known as Ike. The next week was for a trip to Six Flags in San Antonio. This week is was the case lot sale in Killeen. I know...I know. I am supposed to be dedicated to the program. Well, I have bad news to report. I don't think I am going to be able to complete the half marathon. I have started having problems with one of my toes. I am thinking that I injured it when I was dancing and it never healed properly. Now it hurts and I am heading to the doctor to determine what is wrong. I had noticed it before but I think all the training time on my feet made it worse. My second update is that I have dipped my toe back into the dating pool and it has been successful. I think I might actually have ...

I finished my third training session with RR Fit today and I figured this would be a good time to update everyone on my progress. Last week I decided to drop down to the half marathon group mostly because I can't imagine myself ever wanting to walk 26 miles nor do I want to spend the better part of a day trying to do it. So last week's training was 1.5 miles while we increased to 2 miles this week. I am quite pleased with my results today. I managed to keep it at a 14-minute mile pace and finished the two miles in 28.07 minutes. At that rate I will be able to finish the half-marathon in a little over 3 hours. What I need to work on now is my timed walks during the week. I haven't been able to get myself out of bed in the mornings for various reasons and I am just going to have to start forcing myself to get up. I realize that the training on the weekends will never get me anywhere if I don't supplement with additional time spent walking. The good news is that I...

So here I am playing procrastinator trying to avoid doing my homework for two reason. 1. I am tired and I just don't feel like it. 2. I haven't read the chapter so I am not totally sure how to do the assignment. That being said it would be my luck that my professor will decide to collect the assignment in class tomorrow. Instead I am blogging because I know that is productive in helping solve problems one and two. I did feel the need to share some thoughts I have had recently. For some reason the last few weeks have been a series of realizations for me. It's like everything that I thought was a bumfuddled mess has suddenly become clear and I understand why certain things happened they way they did. The first realization is related to dating. Basically what it comes down to is that I just don't care right now. Sure I would love to meet someone great but I realized that I am more concerned about taking care of myself and doing what I want right now. I figure th...

I mentioned a few weeks back that I had decided to sign up for the LiveStrong Challenge . I had worked out a bit of a training schedule to get myself ready to walk (or run if I so desired) the 5k at the end of October. Needless to say, after one excuse or another I hadn't gotten very far on my training and I was getting frustrated with myself because of it. While trolling around on the internet one night, I stumbled across the website for a local marathon training program. After reading the information on the site and emailing the program director, I decided that this was a program I could do. The program is called Round Rock Fit and is based on a marathon training program called USA Fit. Fortunately for me, there are different levels of training based on your pace, if you are training for the half or full marathon, or if you are a walker. I decided to join the walking group. Between my knees and my back, I wasn't sure my body would be able to handle the running and I...

I was supposed to have a date tonight. I cancelled. Why? I am not really sure. I have been on a bit of a dating hiatus recently mostly because I haven't found myself really being attracted to anyone. I know it has been more than a month since the last time I went on a date. It has partially been due to a lack of interesting prospects and partially due to my own personal issues. I have realized that I was trying too hard to find someone after Shawn and I split up and I don't think I was ready to move on yet. I think I need time to be me and get used to it just being me again. It took me some time to realize that and that has been what the last six months have really been about. It goes back to something J said to me right after we broke up and that was that I couldn't lean on him. It wasn't until I moved into my house that I realized how much I had tried to do that not only with him but during the short period of time I dated James. Since I have moved, I hav...

I am a well trained human in the eyes of my dog. I let him on the furniture (because he is calm when chewing on a bone on the couch next to me) and I let him sleep with me (because I like have his warm little body in the bed). One might say that Maverick is in charge in this house. Recently Mav has been in the bed with me if he is in the room with me at night rather than sleeping in his own bed on the floor. I had convinced myself that he couldn't jump up on the bed because he couldn't get the traction he needed to get the running start to make it up on the bed. Well, last night my sweet boy decided to prove me wrong. I climbed in bed last night preparing to settle in for the evening. I was going to read a bit and then lights out. Well, I decided Mav needed to sleep in his bed so I didn't help him up on to my bed. Apparently Maverick would have nothing of that. Next thing I know he had backed up a bit and was bounding up the side of the bed. Had I not be sitting ...

My Google Reader is setup to feed me news stories from the newspaper and a news channel in both Mobile and Austin. So I tend to stumble across some rather interesting stories that make me wonder how people determine what is truly news. Also, I start to realize that there are some truly bizarre people in this world. So I give you today's crazy headlines. PETA Wants Freezer Body Billboard Let me start off by giving you a little background related to this headline. There is currently a man in Mobile who is charged with murdering his wife nearly 4 years ago and stuffing her body in the freezer. The body was discovered when one of his 8 children accused him of rape and police searched the house. On top of this, the man is a preacher! Now PETA wants to use this to their advantage by promoting that "All Meat is Murder" and posting a billboard in Mobile showing a leg on a plate. Frankly, I think this is just wrong and distasteful. The whole situation gives me the creeps....

No dish towel is safe in my house. If I try to hang one from the oven handle or dishwasher handle, it is on the floor in ten minutes. That is if Maverick doesn't decide to run around the house with it. As soon as it gets it in his mouth and I realize what he is up to, off he goes. Now that the boxes are out of the dining room I don't have a way to block him in so instead I have to find another location to corner him. His path goes something like this. He hops up on the love seat, across to the couch, and then hits the ottoman before diving off to land in the foyer and dash through the kitchen and around the dining room table. Somehow I just end up standing there turning in a circle until either he drops the contraband or I get him in between the couch and love seat. Tonight he got the dish towel and once he finally dropped, he ran to the couch and grabbed the remote instead (my dog loves electronics). What do I do? Grab a treat and head to the back door knowing that h...

So I have been hard at work trying to finish putting my house in order. I know I have been in the house 3 months now. One would think I would be unpacked by now. But with all the issues I have had from furniture being on back order to lack of assistance with putting together said furniture to the closet collapse , it is not a surprise that I am still sorting and organizing. fortunately great strides have been made this week in accomplishing the near impossible task of being completely moved into my new house. I managed to get all the boxes moved from the kitchen so you can actually walk across the entire room and open all cabinets (and the dish washer and oven) without hitting anything. This also allowed me to put together the table and baker's rack which take up the open space in the front of the kitchen across from the pantry. I also had some come install the Elfa closet system I purchased from the Container Store to replace the old closet on Friday. This has vastly improv...

Just when I decided to write about my playful pup, he does not disappoint. Since moving into the new house, I have been allowing Maverick to sleep in the room with me. He has a bed in the corner which works out well since he can't jump up on to the my bed because it is too high. So when I put him in his room Thursday night so I could get ready for bed, you would have thought I was abusing the pup based on the noises coming from his room. Of course I let him in the room with me once I was heading to bed and, since I am the well trained human that I am, put him up on the bed so he could snuggle with me. Needless to say Mav doesn't quite understand the concept of sleeping in a bit. At 6:15 the next morning, I felt a cold wet nose on my face. Now I am one of these lucky people who has a flexible work schedule so waking up at 6:15 is not something I that I prefer to do. So I went into a full belly rub attack hoping that would calm P-dog down and he would return to dreamland ...

I had to make a quick trip to Oklahoma City this week for work. Normally when I am traveling I make observations about my fellow travelers and comment on any mishaps that might befall me along the way. However, I miraculously had no mishaps and my fellow travelers didn't provide me with any new material to comment on. This trip did afford me the opportunity to catch up on some reading. You see I tend to do my best reading on airplanes. I joined a book club a few weeks ago and my first reading assignment was Marley and Me by John Grogan. Now I had heard a little about this book but never really thought to read it. But with the movie coming out, the book has regained popularity. Being a proud dog owner and lover, I realized that this was a must read. So I spent my flights to and from OKC devouring this book. I must say that I laughed out loud many times as I read Marley's antics and related them to tales of my own beloved pup. I am sure my row mates were confused by my...

A couple of months ago I stumbled across the website for the LiveStrong Challenge. I decided I wanted to participate for multiple reasons. First, I have felt a strong need to volunteer or do something to give back. The Lance Armstrong Foundation is doing a lot for cancer research. I don't believe there is anyone in this country who hasn't been effected by cancer in some way, shape or form. Just in the last year, I had a friend from college pass away from breast cancer at the age of 29. Also, Maverick and I are in serious need of some physical activity. I figure that having a goal to be able to walk (or run) a 5K by October 25th is a good place to start. I used to walk about 3 miles a day in college. I just got out of the habit and now I am having to build myself back up again. The heat doesn't help but I am trying to find times when the heat isn't so bad (either early morning or late evening). Mav and I are starting out by tackling laps around the block. Onc...

Last night my sister-in-law, Jenny, and I went to see Martina McBride at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Selma, TX (right outside of San Antonio). The drive from her house in South Austin (Kyle to be exact) only took us about an hour so we arrived with about 45 minutes to spare before the gates opened. We wanted to get there a little on the early side because we had general admission lawn tickets and we wanted to make sure we got a good spot on the lawn so we could see the concert well. While we were waiting in the heat (a concert in July in Texas...what was I thinking!), we were informed that they were closing the lawn for this concert and would be upgrading us to actual seats. This was a nice surprise because it meant we would actually be covered and not have the sun beating down on us. However, if we had known this ahead of time we could have waited another hour to drive down and still would have gotten the seats we were given. The concert itself was great. It just made ...

I was not a fan of dating before I got married so you can imagine that I am even less of a fan of dating now that I have divorced to add to my status. I never had much luck in the relationship world and being that I am still new to the Austin area, I have found it hard to meet people. So I have been trying the world of online dating via such websites as Match.com, Yahoo Personals, and eHarmony . Granted while I have had some luck in the form of J and James, the majority of my matches have been misses and it has been months since I have had a real connection with any of the guys I have been matched with. I received an email last week that is a prime example of why I hate dating again. Here is that email, word for word, with only personal information removed: your cute and you sound like a very sweet girl, but please dont take me to a musical, lol . im rob, i work graveyard so i dont wake up till like 3 or 4 in the evenings. and i try to be in bed before the sun rises. hit me up...

I intended to write this post on Friday on my actual birthday. I spent a lot of time in the weeks leading up to my birthday thinking about the last year and everything that has happened. Birthdays are really a good time to pause and reflect on life. I am still amazed at everything that has happened and how much my life and I have changed over the last year. So I decided to do a quick rundown of the last year. July - my 30th birthday; Shawn was at NTC for the big day but took me to Fredericksburg to celebrate August - trip to Hawaii; Shawn moved out; Shawn filed for divorce September - went home for Labor Day; found job listing on Monster for job in Austin; applied for job in Austin; interviewed for job in Austin; offered job in Austin October - started working in Austin; listed Killeen house; secured apartment in Austin; Shawn moved back to Alabama November - divorce finalized; moved into apartment in Austin; Mom and Dad came for Thanksgiving; met J December - dating J; his di...

I started out this morning being a little lazy because it was Saturday and I could. However, I knew I had some shopping I wanted to do so I finally got myself motivated to get clean and head out the door. I decided to head to Cracker Barrel first since it was on my way to Ikea and I was craving some home cookin' after watch Down Home with the Neely's this morning on the Food Network. Being that Cracker Barrel is Cracker Barrel and it was lunch time, it was a surprise that the place was packed and I had to wait 10 minutes just to get a table for one. Shortly after I arrived an older lady came in also requesting a table for one. I thought nothing of it and when my name was called I headed to the hostess stand and reminded the lady that it was just me and I didn't need two sets of silverware. Well, the older lady had requested a chair to sit in while waiting and was perched up near the hostess stand. When she realized I was a party of one, she proceeded to ask if she mi...