Just Say Julie

I have been thinking a lot recently about what I want out of a relationship. This train of thought started a couple of months ago when someone from my past reappeared in my life with promises of a future. I began to question whether or not I wanted that person back in my life. The main question I could not (and still can't) answer was whether or not that person could be and do the things I want in a relationship. I started to realize that the only way to truly know the answer to that question was to figure out what exactly I am looking for. So here, dear readers, is a list of my criteria for achieving the ideal relationship: 1. Mostly importantly the person needs to be emotionally ready and opened to the idea of a relationship. That means no recent or pending divorces or breakups. 2. The person needs to be willing to provide me with an adequate amount of attention. This could include phone calls, text messages, emails, instant messages or even Facebook posts. Anythi...

After several crazy weeks of proposals at work, I was finally able to make my escape from the office and from Austin to head to the beach for a couple of days. Jenny and I left Friday morning for Port Aransas after I dropped Maverick off at Doggy Day Out for the weekend. Four hours later, we were sitting in Virginia's by the Bay eating fresh seafood and looking out over the water. That night we took a stroll on the beach and then relaxed in the condo until bedtime. After sleeping in Saturday morning, we loaded up our stuff and head to the beach from some fun in the sun. Here is my view from Saturday morning: So we enjoyed the sun, sand and water for a couple of hours before I realized that I was turning pink and it was time to head in. More relaxing in the condo and another late afternoon walk on the beach rounded out the day. Sunday morning meant checking out of the condo to head back home. At that point the last thing I wanted to do was drive back to Austin, so we decided...

I hope everyone is enjoying the new look of Just Say Julie. If you would like a cute and fun background, you should check out The Cutest Blog on the Block . They have tons of cute, free layouts that work perfectly with blogger. I had a hard time chosing one and I suspect I will change them out to spice things up a bit.

I have avoided talking about this topic too much because I was surprised at how much it effected me. My brother called on Good Friday to tell me the news that he had been crossleveled into another National Guard unit that was deploying this summer. I was shocked. I immediately hung up the phone and cried. Shortly after that, I left work to go shopping hoping that would make me feel better. It didn't work. I spent the rest of the weekend feeling like I was in a bubble watching everything go on around me and I wasn't really apart of it. It was hard to process what was about to happen and I didn't fully understand why I was so upset. I had seen Clay deploy twice before under much worse conditions than what he will be going into this time. I had also seen Shawn leave twice. But for some reason, it was always harder for me to see my brother leave than it was to see my husband leave. I have commented before on how far removed my life is now from the military lifestyle...

I am having one of those days where my heart hurts. That's about the only way I know to describe it. I am sad. I am not looking for pity, just want to release some feelings. I miss my mom. I miss being home. As much as I love Austin, there are days when I just want to be around my family. I think the fact that Clay is leaving for Iraq again this summer is making it a little harder. He is my link to home here in Texas and with him gone, I will be missing that. There is also the fact that Mother's Day also makes me wonder if I will ever be a mother. I never was certain that I wanted to be a mother. I'm still not but the fact that it might not be an option for me upsets me. I think the biggest thing is that I want the option to still be there and for me to decide if it will happen or not. But as I get older which no real prospects of a serious relationship on the horizon, the more that option seems to be slipping away from me. I know I wouldn't want to have a ...

My failed attempts at online dating are quickly coming to a close. I decided after a very rude message from a guy from Plenty of Fish that enough was enough. I cancelled all my accounts. Eharmony will remain active until my current payment expires in June. I have been playing this game for nearly two years now and I am done. I have tried Match, Chemistry, Yahoo Personals, OK Cupid, Plenty of Fish, Christian Dating for Free, the Austin Chronicle Personals, and eHarmony at some point in time over the last 20 months. I have only had one relationship that last more than a month from the selection of people I met through these sites. I think some of the issue is my own insecurities while some of it is the way we come across online which leads me to the topic of this post. I realize that the intent of sites like eHarmony is to match you with someone you would be compatible with personality wise. They try to take looks out of the equation. But let's be honest. While a good person...

I have learned a few things in my latest attempt at the online dating world. I decided to check out Plenty of Fish after hearing some others talk about the site. And much like my last experience with a free dating site, I found that the quality of men was not the greatest. My biggest lesson learned in this process would be the many things a man can do to turn me off. Here are a few examples: Spend our entire first telephone conversation talking about how much pot you like to smoke. Call me at 2:30 in the morning because I haven't returned your text from the previous day. Tell me you are no longer interested because I was on the phone with my mother when you called and it was too late to return your call. Become extremely clingy after a couple of instant messenger chats. Post comments referencing me in Facebook quizzes when we haven't even met. Needless to say, I canceled my Plenty of Fish membership a week after I setup the profile.