Just Say Julie

For this week's installment of what's in my bag, I thought I would talk about what is literally in my bag. These are two things I pretty much never leave home with out. The one on the right is my trusty datebook. I love this datebook because it is just the right size to toss in my purse so I can keep track of what is going on in my world. This is actually my second time purchasing this particular datebook (I picked the first one up at a car wash on a whim because I liked the Austin theme to the book) and I'm getting ready to order my 2014 book for myself and two of my coworkers. The other massively huge item is my wallet.  Yes, I said wallet. I know it is big but that is why I like it. It holds everything. All my cards, including all those ridiculous loyalty cards that are hard to keep up with, and my checkbooks (we have 2 accounts) for those random times I need to write a check. Plus it is easy to grab and go if I don't want to take my full purse along with me. It has...

Texas is known for two types of food: Barbecue and Tex-Mex. While I have to be in the mood for barbecue, I can eat Tex-Mex 7 days a week. The better question is where do I want to get the Tex-Mex. There are so many good places to chose from here in Austin but I have a few favorites that tend to be my go-to places when I am in the mood for good Tex-Mex. First, there is my favorite taco joint: Torchy's . Two weeks after we moved into our new house, a Torchy's opened across the street from our neighborhood. There is also one near my office. So I end up hitting there close to once a week. Their queso is to die for with the diablo sauce and guacamole mixed in and my all time favorite, Fried Avocado Taco, is always on the menu.  Plus, I usually like to try the taco of the month just to mix things up a bit. For quick bite close to work, I like to hit Cabo Bob's Burritos . Cabo Bob's is basically a locally Chipotle where you can select your tortilla, meat and fillings....

Somewhere along the way, I became one of the makeup people.  I have always had a love for makeup even though I don't wear a lot on a regular basis. I'm always quick to try new products once they get on the market, which is funny since I still tend to go back to my tried and true long time love products. I think I have tried just about every foundation on the market. The problem I run into is not know if something will work out with my oily skin.  I can't always follow the recommendations of many of my fellow makeup loving friends because they have drier skin than I do which means products that work well for them most likely won't work for me. So I have to try things out for myself and often end up being on a different side when it comes to favorite products.  So here are some of my go-to face products: Foundation: For everyday wear, I prefer the CoverGirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 Foundation . This provides decent coverage although it isn't as long wear as...

Chris and I have been doing Weight Watchers since the end of July with a pretty decent amount of success.  I've lost 16 pounds and he has lost about 20.  I think we have both stalled a bit which I hate with the holidays coming up because I wanted to be closer to my goal so I could relax a bit and enjoy some of my favorite seasonal foods. But I figure I can still enjoy my holiday favorites in moderation and really hit the diet hard again after the first of the year. I'm still pretty motivated to lose weight, especially when I see a picture of myself with a roll right above the waist of my jeans.  One of the things that has helped us be so successful on our diet was the menu planning we have been doing using WW friendly recipes. I found a lot of recipes that we really got excited about trying. As people who loved food, this is just what we need so we wouldn't be as tempted to cheat. One of my favorite new recipes that I discovered was the taco soup my boss made for us ...

It was my intention to discuss interesting football games I watched in my Scoreboard Saturday posts. However, that would have required me to actually watch football today. Alabama had a bye week this weekend so I ended up spending my day in other, less fun ways.  My company is in the middle of upgrading our accounting software so we had to spend our morning completing the work needed for our month end close so the upgrade can take place on Monday.  Not really my idea of a fun Saturday but we made the most of by enjoying some Round Rock Donuts and my boss's yummy pulled pork. On my way home, I had to pick up my team's packets for the Austin Race for the Cure next weekend and hit the grocery store. The nice thing (bad thing?) about HEB on a Saturday is they give out samples while you are shopping. I tried some tasty chicken, wine, and sushi. So of course I ended up coming home with some of it. After I got home from the store, Chris mentioned that Jackson's eye had looked ...

Surprise! Two months later, I finally decided to show back up in your feed reader.  I really didn't mean to fall off the blogging band wagon but it happened.  Since school started back, we have been non-stop.  I know that never really changes in my world but it is the truth.  Somehow we seem to be busier than normal.  Plus I used a lot of my Fridays off during the summer to blog and schedule posts.  I haven't had that free time recently so I guess I will have to try to make up for it now. Luckily, it is now November and that means NaBloPoMo.  One of the goals I set for myself this year was to complete NaBloPoMo again.  The last time I did this, I found out I was pregnant with Jackson at the end of the month.  Hopefully we won't have any surprises like that again this year but nonetheless, I suspect it will still be fun.  I decided to make things a little easier on myself by deciding on a them for each day of the week. Unfortunately, si...

     Thanks to Ginger 's Bring Back the Words linkups, I have been blogging a lot more recently. However, I haven't really talked much about what has been going on with us, just responding to her prompts.  As you all know, we sold our house and moved in May.  School ended and our summer began.  I'd like to say I'm one of those moms who plans all these fun activities for my family to do during the summer.  Truth is our schedule doesn't change much just because it is summer.  Sean went to camp at his school and Jackson attended the summer session at his daycare.  My office implemented summer hours which meant I worked 10 hour days 4 days a week with Fridays off (normally we do 4 9's and half day Fridays).  The only major change this year was having Sean here rather than heading to his mom's for the summer.  So I thought I'd do a quick recap of our summer now that it is coming to an end. June: I spent a week in DC with my boss at...

Prompt 2:  School is starting for a lot of people these days. Tell us your most memorable “back to school” related story. I didn't get this post in before the cut off for Ginger's link up last week but I still wanted to write my story so here it is.  I don't remember anything significant happening on any of my days heading back to school.  I can remember loading down the car to drive to Marion for college (my freshman year sticks out most in my head).  I can remember helping out with registration at Murphy when I was a cheerleader.  But mostly, the back to school moments never really seemed like a big deal to me.  What does stick out to me was the year I had to change schools in elementary school.   Growing up in Alabama, even in the 80's and 90's, racial tension was always an issue.  So much so that I was forced to change schools when I was heading into the 4th grade because they were cracking down on the districting that was in place as...

Prompt 1:  Tell us a story that is “family legend.” In this week's installment of Bring Back the Words, Ginger is asking us to tell a story about a family legend.  Well, this prompt has been wracking my brain trying to come up with a story to tell.  I keep thinking back to stories I heard from my grandmothers and their sisters growing up but none really seem like legend.  So I decided to tell a story that isn't so much legend because I actually lived it.  It is the story of how I met the elusive Harper Lee. If you have ever read the novel To Kill a Mockingbird , then you know it is set in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama.  What you may not know is that it is based on the town of Monroeville, Alabama, which just so happens to be my father's home town.  Harper Lee grew up in Monroeville and was known as Nelle to those who knew her in town.  That included my grandmother who taught Nelle (aka Harper) in the 4th grade before she married my gran...

     I finished reading John Green's Looking for Alaska last week. As with many of the books I have read recently, I didn't really know much about the book before I read it.  I had just heard some recommendations for John Green's work and I decided to check it out.  I was pretty excited when I read the synopsis that the book took place at a boarding school in Alabama.  I just knew this book was going to remind me of my time in Marion and I was right.        You see, I went to college at a Southern Baptist women's college that was three blocks away from a military boarding school in small town Alabama.  MMI, the military school, was a high school and junior college.  While I was there, they added 8th grade to the school.  Most of the younger students were locals who opted to attend the school over the local public school so they could receive a better education. However, there were several students at the school who wer...

Prompt 1:  Tell us about a hobby/addiction/obsession of yours. I used to have hobbies.  I would cross stitch and scrapbook.  I danced when I was younger.  I acted in musicals.  I was an avid reader. And then work got busy and I got married (again) and had a baby and my hobbies kind of disappeared.  I moved my scrapbooking supplies for the 3rd time and still haven't taken them out of the box because I have no time and no space to work on all the books I have wanted do over the last 5 years.  Same with the cross stitch work.  And the dancing and musicals fell to the wayside as I got out of shape thanks to sitting at a desk all day with no exercise.  I am trying to read more but even that is hard to fit in.  So I really don't feel like I have hobbies anymore.  But I am hoping that will change. As for obsessions, well, there is this certain college football team I am kind of fond of.  You know, the University of Alabama Crim...

Prompt 2:  A getting to know you list–share all the places you’ve lived (and if you want to, how you got there, and why you left). Bonus points for expanding on whether you plan to stay where you are now, or if you have a dream location you still want to get to. I'm not sure if I will answer Ginger's other prompt from this week because I have absolutely no idea what character from a TV show I would want to be.  So I'll have to think on that one and come back to it.  But talking about where I've lived is pretty easy because it hasn't been that many places. 1977-1995: Mobile, Alabama - Obviously, this is home.  I was born here.  I have spent the majority of my live (so far) here.  I wouldn't be opposed to returning here one day. 1995-1999: Marion, Alabama - I'm not really sure if I should count college but I did spend 90% of my time in this town while I was in college.  Although I like going back to visit Judson's campus periodically, I know I ...

Prompt 2: What are your top 5 favorite vacation locations? The second prompt from this week's Bring Back the Words linkup asked us to list our top 5 favorite vacation destinations.  This one was harder for me than I thought it would be because I realized when I started writing it that I really hadn't traveled as much I would have liked in my lifetime.  So I had to try to pick from the places I have actually been.  I didn't really want to include any of the traveling I've done around Texas, not that there aren't lovely places to visit here, nor did I want to count trips to see family.  So here are the places that my list. New York - My mom work for the University of Mobile Theatre Department for several years after I graduated from college.  Every other year, the director would take her seniors from that year & the upcoming seniors to New York to see shows and tour the city.  The last four times she took the trip before leaving the school, Mom an...

Prompt 1: Share your top 10 favorite TV shows with us. One of the questions Ginger gave us this week was to list our top 10 all-time favorite TV shows.  Just like the movies last week, it was hard to narrow it down to 10.  I love TV.  I watch a lot of TV.  I easily have more than 10 shows scheduled a week on my DVR.   So I really had to think about the shows that I could rewatch again and again or the ones I was upset to see cancelled.  Here is my top 10 (in no particular order) with a few extras added in. Sex and the City - We didn't have HBO when Sex and the City was on so I didn't watch it until after it was over and I purchased the entire box set.  I loved this series.  I firmly believe there is a Sex and the City episode that relates to most of the issues women face.  I can think of several episodes that I have encountered personally.  (I'm a Charlotte by the way.) JAG - This was a show that my parents and I would watch each...

One of the things we have been excited about in our new neighborhood is the number of kids Sean's age on our street.  We live on a cul de sac and there is a playground at the entrance so there are kids out playing all the time.  This is something we didn't see much of in our old neighborhood.  There were kids but they weren't out as much.  So it has been nice having others around for Sean to spend time with until Friday.  There is one little boy who lives across the street and he has just rubbed me the wrong way from day one.  If we tell him Sean can't come out because it's dinner time or too late then he starts questioning us.  He basically has no respect for our rules (I know...he's only 8 but still) and we know he has rules at home because we've met his parents and heard some of the things he gets in trouble for.  However, things reached a breaking point on Friday.  Eric was at our house and left only to be sent back a few mi...

I am participating in Ginger's Bring Back the Words Link up ...check it out! Prompt 1: In another life, what career/job would you have, and why? I've thought a lot at different times through my life what I would do different if I was able to start over and select a different career.  There are a couple of ideas that have crossed my mind at different times and given the right circumstances, I could have made them happen.  But let's first start with my current career.  I decided to study business in college because I had a dream of opening my own dance studio and I figured a business background would help me know how to run the place and my school didn't have a dance major.  My first business classes included accounting principles and, much to my surprise, I was actually really good at it.  Accounting made sense to me.  Once I realized that, my path changed and suddenly I was exploring my options for completing an accounting degree and sitting for the C...

Prompt 2:  Give us your top 10 favorite movies of all time. So Ginger gave us something a little different to work with this week for our weekly link-up prompts.  We are supposed to list our top 10 favorite all time movies.  Well, most of my fellow bloggers couldn't limit it to just 10 and I'm not sure I will be able to either.  So I have decided to just list my favorite movies in no particular order. Mona Lisa Smile - This movie reminds me so much of my college experience.  Even a women's college in the 90s had a tendency to feel like we were still living in the 50s or 60s. Under the Tuscan Sun - I watched this the first time around the time I was going through my divorce and it just hit home.  While I didn't decide to movie to Tuscany, I did decide to move to Austin all on my own.  Not exactly the same (OK...not even close) but I knew what Frances was going through. Chasing Amy - I love Kevin Smith movies but this one is my favori...

Prompt 1:  What’s your very earliest childhood memory? (Courtesy of Kristina) This one is actually easy for me.  I was two and it was during Hurricane Frederick.  Frederick was the last direct hit to Mobile and it occurred in September 1979.  It actually hit on my cousin's first birthday.  However, that isn't the memory.  I have heard lots of stories about that storm but what I remember is sitting on the couch watching my dad and my oldest brother, Vincent, walking out the back door of our house to check the damage to our house. (A tree fell on the house and did a number on the roof over my parents' room.)  I was sitting on the couch right across from the door and all I could see outside was gray.  (I'm not sure if it was early morning or why it was so gray.)  I remember thinking they weren't going to coming back because it looked like the had been swallowed up by the grayness. Prompt 2:  Do you have a habit that wouldn’t make...

Dear Jackson, Two years ago you entered this world in your own stubborn way after a couple of long, tiring days for your daddy and me.  At that moment, my life changed and it has remained that way ever since.  I never realized you were the missing piece of the puzzle I had waited 34 years to plug into my life.  Not a day goes by that I am not amazed by you.  You surprise me all the time with things you know that I didn't teach but you learned somewhere.  And I am so excited to see what is in store for you next. I will say that not every day is a picnic.  Some days you are very much 2 years old and that is the only way to describe your behavior.  Some days you are my sweet boy who gives me kisses and wants to snuggle.  Either way you are still my baby and I wouldn't trade you for the world.  I want to cherish all these moments because I know they won't last for long. Right now you love Cars and Memo but Elmo is still your buddy.  Pu...

I’m participating in  Ginger‘s Bring Back the Words (BBTW) link-up! Prompt 1:  What’s something you believe/support that 20 year old you would be surprised about, and why? 20 year old me would be surprised that I am a mom and I love it.  In college, I was always the one who said I didn't want kids.  I was going to be everyone's favorite aunt.  Even through my first marriage, I had no desire to have children.  Until I turned 30 and everything changed and then I got divorced and it started to look like having a baby would never be an option.  Even more so, I loved being pregnant.  I would go through pregnancy again.  I just don't really want another child.  This is not a surprise to me. Nor was the fact that labor was miserable.  And if I go back and think about it, that was always my issue with having kids.  But now I have and it wasn't fun but I'm glad I did because then my little J wouldn't be here. Prompt 2: ...

Week 2  Prompt 1:  Tell us a favorite summer memory. My mom and I actually talked about this on the 4th of July. Growing up my extended family would get together would get together somewhere near a body of water to celebrate. As we all grew older and got busier, we stopped having these celebrations. I miss sitting on the dock of my step-grandfather's beach house, eating watermelon, and spitting the seeds into the water.  Those were the days! Spent in and out of the water and in a bathing suit all day. That was the way I wanted to live life and, if I had my way, I would live near the water now (and I don't mean a lake like we have here). There is nothing like early morning with the sun rising over the water or the calm of the waves at night. So that is summer to me.  Week 2  Prompt 2:  What is your quintessential summer supply list? One of the things about summer growing up is that it was the start of hurricane season so summer always meant th...

So today is my birthday. Yay!  I'm at the point in life where birthdays aren't really a big deal anymore so it is nice when you end up with little surprises like this: One of my coworkers had decorated my desk before I got to work this morning.  Plus there was also a fun card and a box of donuts waiting for me.  Then they took me out to lunch and we shared a cake at the office afterwards.  The morning had started off pretty rough with Jackson being crabby (which is why he wore his crabby but cute shirt to school) and Chris taking something I said the wrong way.  So I needed a little pick me up and I got just that when I arrive to see my coworker's handy work.  It was a nice day and the great start to a long weekend. I really wasn't expecting much out of today and my mood the last week or so has been evident of that.  Pretty much since my mid 20s my birthdays have been a bit of a let down.  My ex was never big on birthdays and, even though I w...

I’m participating in  Ginger ‘s  Bring Back the Words (BBTW) link-up ! Prompt 1:  What is your best dating story? I can't really think of a best date because I was never a fan of dating.  Not in high school, not in college, not after college, and especially not post divorce.  I know I should probably say that Chris and I had a wonderful first date and while it was nice, it was nothing special (sorry, Honey!)  It was just dinner out and time to talk and it was good for us.  I didn't need anything fancy.  But what I will say is that Chris has been trying this year to find opportunities for us to "date."  About once a month we try to get a night out without the kids when we can get the chance (and preferably free babysitting) so we can spend a little quality time together.  It has been good for us as a couple because it is easy to get stressed out by work and home responsibilities and forget why we are together in the first place. ...

Since I was late to the party for Ginger's Bring Back the Words link-ups, I decided to go back and do a catch up post for the prompts that I missed.  Here we go! Week 1 Prompt 1:  Why’d you start blogging? I originally started blogging some time in 2005 when I moved to Texas because I thought it would be a great way to let my family and friends back home know what was going on with us.  I closed that blog and didn't save any of the posts unfortunately so I can't show what I posted back then.  This makes me sad because we did some fun stuff when we first moved and it was all documented there.  Then I started blogging on MySpace (ha!) when they added that feature.  I moved those posts over here after I setup this blog.  I decided to setup this blog because I like writing and, while I am not super consistent with it, I love having the option to get my thoughts on to paper so to speak. Week 1  Prompt 2:  What’s the best decision you ...

Now that we are half way through 2013, I thought it would be a good time to review the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year.  Things have changed a lot around here since I set these goal in January so a lot of them don't apply anymore. Actually attend The Blathering this year. I am sad to say that this isn't going to happen. When the attendance cap was reduced, we had just moved and we just didn't have the money for it at the time.  I am still chatting with my Blathering buddies on twitter so I am sure I will make it back one year. Take Jackson to his first football game. This has happened yet since football season hasn't started but I found out my hometown college will be playing here this fall so that might be a great game to take him to. Buy a new rug for the living room. Bought it. Loved it. It's in my garage right now because the new house has carpet and we don't need rugs like we did over the hardwood in the old house. Read  The Grea...

I’m participating in  Ginger ‘s  Bring Back the Words (BBTW) link-up ! Prompt 2:  Share a small moment of happiness and/or peace from your week. While trolling through my blogs on Wednesday night, I happened upon a post for our local 4th of July celebration.  I had forgotten that the city puts on a pretty big event for the day.  With Chris working most holidays, I normally don't really plan for us to do anything.  However, I sent a text to Chris this morning asking if he wanted to head down to the parade after he got home.  I thought the boys would enjoy it and it would be nice to get out of the house for a little while. So we loaded up, grabbed some breakfast, and headed downtown to find a spot to watch the parade.  Jackson got a bit testy waiting for the parade to start but he really seemed to enjoy sitting on his daddy's shoulders watch the parade go by.  I had so much fun watching him point and wave at the different sights he s...

I’m participating in  Ginger ‘s  Bring Back the Words (BBTW) link-up ! I am a little late to the game on Ginger's BBTW challenge but I think it will be good for me to give me something to write about and a deadline to get the post up. Prompt 1:  What is your worst dating story? Oh, there are many bad dating stories in my past but I think the most appropriate thing to mention here would be how my anxiety would effect my dating in high school and college.  It wasn't until I was an adult that I understood what caused all my issues.  You see when I was younger, I would get so excited about something that it would make me nervous and would cause me to get sick.  I pretty much didn't go on a date in high school or college that didn't require me to run to the bathroom or else I'd get sick in front of my date.  Somewhere around my junior year in college, I finally got over this problem but man, was it miserable while it lasted.  I remember o...

We have been in the new house almost a month now and we are still getting used to it. Almost all the boxes are unpacked but we still need to hang pictures and bring some stuff over from storage to really make it feel like home. I am ready to be settled but very disheartened at the thought that it will likely be time to move again before we are really settled into this house. I like the new house alright.  It has a very drawbacks that I don't love but can live with.  I have to tell myself a lot, "This is a rental. You won't live here forever."  Mostly when I am doing the dishes, this comes up.  I hate the sink.  It is so shallow.  When I try to rinse dishes, I end up covered in water because it sprays everywhere.  And the dishwasher is tiny.  I am not sure how that is possible since it is the same size on the outside but the inside definitely has less room.  I honestly think we could do 2 loads of dishes a day and still have an overflow. ...

Two weeks ago, we loaded up a U haul with the help of a moving crew and moved our stuff 1.6 miles to our new "home."  I say "home" because a rental doesn't feel as much like a home to me.  Not that the new place doesn't have some great qualities.  It just all feels so temporary since we only plan to be here for a year while we look for our next place to live.  We haven't figured out exactly what we want to do next.  If we want to build or if we want to buy an existing house.  Where we want that to be.  Do we look closer to my office or try to plan around the school we would like the boys to go to?  There are just so many factors to consider.  I'm afraid I'm still so stressed out from the move that I can't seem to narrow my thoughts down to one thing.  Of course Chris would like to stay close to where we currently are since this is where he grew up but I would really like to live in Austin proper. We also closed on the old hou...