home safely, heart a little heavy - it's finally spring

Back in Montana. Missing some people. Thinking about stuff.
Glad the trees are finally budding.
Look forward to my future. I wish I didn't care so much about details.
Did I hate the game so much I started playing it? Nobody answers.

(left align, thanks to Johnny)

Line Dancing

So far it has been a memorable vacation here in Denver, lots of good times hanging with people. But by far the MOST memorable event so far would be tonight, when a group of us traveled south to Trail Dust, a hometown family restaurant, and had ourselves a linedancing party. I don't know a lot about linedancing, but I've danced to a little country music in my day and this evening was no exception. I recalled with very little detail and fond feelings the old days of 4-H fundraisers and country music dances. I'd like to give props to the boys that went for actually getting into it and dancing!

Arrived

Here I am, surprised to feel 'at home'. It's not home yet, but it feels normal to be here again. I walked for over an hour getting lost in the surrounding neighborhood and smelling the trees that are all blooming. I know this sounds sappy but every year when I smell grass and flowers for the first time I feel like the previous summer was so long ago I'd forgotten the sense completely. So I sat on the swings in a park I've never been to before and enjoyed the sunshine. To my further delight a thunder storm came up behind me at the end of my walk and like usual I can't help but laugh out loud a little bit whenever I head thunder. I thinks it's what God sounds like. Why is it so much easier to feel/hear God in certain places?

it's way past my bedtime

Quote for the day by Amber Scott: copyright protected (she said I had to put that)

Kissing is a two-way treat!

Busy

Usually life in Montana has been marked by unemployment, boredom and only the occasional social function. The Moving Home '05 episode has, however, been quite different. And BLESS GOD for the change of pace. Shortly after getting back to Montana I got a bi-weekly job cleaning a house, then I got work through the temp agency, then I got scheduled in for another house, and now I spend around 25-30 hours a week cleaning at the Barn. Poof! The Julie's unemployment problem in Montana has been rededied in record time! Aside from that, my last run of 12 months at home finally paid off socially because this time I have friends to come home to. After high school there was about one (i love you amber!) person I would call during the times when I lived here. This time I leached off by brother's social circle to get back in the swing of things (which worked quite fairly since I introduced him to all these people when he moved home last year) and now my cell phone actually rings from time to time.
All this to say it has been a couple of weeks - and that is a very good thing. I miss my friends around the world and the country, but I am blessed by the Lord's goodness to me in making this season at home a happy one. There is a good chance this will be the last significant amount of time I will be spending here in Montana and that makes it even more important that I enjoy it to the fullest. I'm just hoping that the working all the time won't eventually overwhelm me. Looking forward to a vacation always makes it easier to work a lot and not think about it, but after this coming week in Denver (yea!) and a few days in Idaho in May I will be all work for pretty much the rest of the summer.
Right, my last long season in Montana because? I've been praying about it a lot over the last two months and I think that God has given me the green light for going into missions fulltime! I don't know for how many years right now, I'll just take it one at a time, but it's a minimum one year commitment to start just about anywhere. Still sorting out the details and praying for more confirmation, but I am really just sitting back in awe of how much God has changed my heart in the last two years. While I was sharing at Bible study a few weeks ago it occured to me that "God made a missionary out of me, with out my even knowing it." There is such an incredible need in this world for the love of God, I can hardly wait to spend all my time working towards making it available to people who haven't even heard.
Prayer for me, if you want to, can be in the area of raising finances. It's a really difficult, humbling and faith building process to ask people to support the vision God has given you with their finances. Pray that I can communicate the heart of God toward missions to people who haven't caught the vision yet, and also that I will be dilgent and brave in contacting the people God has told me to. Ugh, it's scary...but the great thing is that God has already changed my heart toward this so much and given me peace for the process.
There it is, the promised post about what's REALLY going on in my life these days. It may have come out a little random, but hopefully we'll all gain clarity as the season moves on. I'm going to Denver in two days, so I should have some funny stories to post soon enough.

ABCDid I ever tell you how I feel about.....

It has been a while since I've posted. It's not the things haven't happened, I've been quite busy in fact. I just....haven't had the urge to write anything clever, or deep, so I have avoided the mundane. This quiz however is a little clever (my sources), and will hopefully bring me out of this blogging slump. I have been composing a novel in my head at work, though none of it is written down yet maybe I will post the first chapter when it comes together. Yes, I will post soon about what's ACTUALLY been going on in my life....soon. It's still setting in.

A: Age 20
B: Best friend- Amber
C: Crush- Ehhh....I'm still deciding. Not Orlando Bloom!
D: Dad's Name- Dave.
E: Easiest person to talk to- Jae.
F: Fetishes- Stars and sunsets...jackets and blankets
G: Gummy bears or gummy worms- Da Bears!
H: Hometown- Bigfork, MT (one word, bigfork)
I: Ice cream flavor- Cookies and Cream
J: Jam or Jelly- JAM
K: Kids- 4
L: Longest car ride ever- 3 days, across northeastern Australia. Flat and empty- they call it "outback" for a reason.
M: Mood- My feet are cold, my hair is straight and I'm ready for Wednesday night chocolate chip cookies.
N: Number of siblings- 5 (2 sisters, 3 brothers)
O: One wish- To travel all over the world with two or three of my closest friends..
P: Phobia- Not being important to people who are important to me. (more of just a fear than a phobia)
Q: Quote- "I know some things..." - Rob Weichelt
R: Reason to smile- I love buying plane tickets, and I have one right now that's taking me somewhere in 6 days!
S: Song you last sang- I've had music playing all day, so now one song in particular. (That's boring, I think I sang out loud at work today to a Caedmon's Call song, or maybe it was Enter the Worship Circle.)
T: Time you wake up- 7:06 currently (+ 1 or2 4 minute snoozes)
U: Unknown fact(s) about me- I don't hate country music. I'm not good at talking on the phone.
V: Vegetable- Broccoli
W: Worst habit- Being distracted by looking for split ends when people are praying
X: X-rays you've had- Just my teeth
Z: Zodiac sign- Virgo

For Irony's Sake - A Song

This is an ironic response to my own blonde moment. I wrote a very disappointed email to a foreign friend of mine when I discovered I couldn't read their blog because it was all in Danish. Little did I observe that there was a button on the page for translation - "for foreigners". Yeah, I didn't catch that part.
So without further translation, the only Danish I can speak. No really, I don't know the translation - but it's a friendly drinking song, so raise your glass and mumble along!

Vi skoler med voks venner
Og dem sum vi kinder
Og dem sum vi ikke kinder
Dem skoler vi for!
Skoll -- Skoll!!

The tune goes like this: Da Da Da DaDA DAda...oh, that doesn't really work

Luke - If you read this, it is my toast to friends.
Filip and Rakel - If you read this, please feel free to correct my spelling and/or provide translation

I feel like I should post. Though I'm still not convinced more than three people ever read this, I guess that's ok. My thoughts, however, cannot seem to assimilate for a common theme. So I will just make a list.
1) Cell-phones are a neccesary evil. It is so annoying to have a conversation celltocell because you can never hear things clearly. I love having 'free' (as if i dont pay enough for it each month) long distance though. But I hate it when you really want to talk to someone and a stupid bad connection makes the conversation choppy and ulitmately awkward.
2) It is both a wonderful and daunting feeling to be needed by someone. To know that your opinion and involvment in someone's life really matters to them, and that your performance therein can affect the quality of someone's life for the time that you're a part of it - it's a priviledge and a responsibility. I have probably let more people down than I know.
3) There is a whole world full of extremely hurting people and I can make a difference, but it is so much bigger than myself. I need to pray more. I do pray, but it's such a large project when you begin to realize how big the world is with so much hurt. I know God wants to help, so I need to do my part and pray. I should always pray more.
4) I am an inherantly competative person I have realized. It is not a quality I am proud of, which is ironic because competativeness is the fuel that keeps pride afloat. I am working on this.

PS - did you know that you no longer need a blogger account to post comments? I just found out today.

The Postal Service vs USPS

For the record.

USPS - I am seriously unimpressed with the amount of time three letters have taken to travel a measely two states away. I'm not even sure they're there today! I mailed them over a week ago and to my knowledge there's no sign of them. What is the .37cents paying for if not delivery?? "Pay us money and have a nice time waiting." Ugh, I wanted them to arrive Monday, geez.

vs

The Postal Service - Thanks to one of my favorite European friends I have recently aquired thier album. Very smooth, unique sounds, like the electric feel. Not the strongest lyrical content, but still, I recommend them. Good for driving and napping - just not at the same time.