I'm Back?

Well, its been far too long since my last post. So many things have happened....mostly good stuff.

We sold a house and moved into a new one. Fantastic blessing! It is actually the house my father grew up in. I have such wonderful memories of family gatherings in it, and now we can add more and more memories and stories. Its a great house to entertain, and we have already put it to use a few times.

My holiday shopping is almost complete. Just a few odds and ends left. I've almost completed my Christmas Cards and geared up for some a baking extraveganza Friday evening. I wasn't going to share my Christmas photo until after my cards are sent, but not many people read this blog anyway and its just such a cute pick...I'll go ahead and share!

So, hopefully come the New Year, I'll start blogging more. Life just needs to slow down a bit!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

What's In a Name?

I think the name "Julie" sounds weird. I can say that because its mine. When I call someone named Julie, it sounds normal, but when talking about myself, it just sounds weird. If I had made it out of my mom's tummy a boy, I would have been named "Jay." I think Julie is so much more fitting (even if it sounds weird).



According to Think Baby Names, my name has a French origin and means "youthful." Oh so fitting, don't ya think? When I searched for the origin of "Jay," I found that it has a Latin origin meaning "jaybird" or "song bird." It could also come from another Latin word that means "happy." So either way, very fitting I would say. I'm totally going to start telling people they are happy as a jaybird now too.

Funny thing is my parents picked out the names only because they start with a "J." (In my opinion, the name Jay was a total cop-out). I doubt word origins were at the top of their priorities at the time. We are a family of "J" names. Actually, we are a family of "J.E" names. We have John Edward (aka Dad, Father, Daddy, Daddio), Jen Ellen (aka mom, momma, mother, mama mia), Jeff Edward (aka the brother, Beavis), and Julie Elizabeth (aka ME - totally rad chickadee).

Another fun tidbit for all you trivia fans is the fact that all of our initials spell my mom's first name (well, mom's doesn't anymore). Even when I got married, my initials didn't change - oh so fun and probably the #1 reason I knew Michael was the one for me.

(ok, I'm kidding on the last part....kinda...)

Names become so important. They become a part of who you are. People identify the name with your personality, with your character. How often do you hear someone say, "Oh, I can't name my child "Jillian" because I grew up with a girl named that?" (or some other reason) The name becomes the person.

So, hi, my name is Julie....I guess that makes me youthful at heart with a little bit a weird mixed in for good measure.

PJ's, Ice Cream, and Lights

So, I know I've become a slacker, but I was on vacation and took it to heart by doing a whole lot of nuttin' (including updating my blog). Now that our house is back to normal, I guess I should get back in the grind of blogging.

Christmas was great this year. Among the Nephew's celebratory events included our 2nd Annual Light Watching Extravaganza. On the Saturday before Christmas (that would make it the 20th), the 4 of us dressed down in our PJ's (or pre-j's for some), stopped by Sonic for an ice cream involved beverage, and traveled around Ponca City America to look at lights.

We stopped by my mom's house so she could document the occasion for us. How awesome is her fireplace??? They just finished remodeling the house and it turned out beautiful.

So anyway, after looking at all the pretty lights, we drove back home. Michael and I decided to surprise the kids by seeing if they wanted to open their presents early. The kiddos quickly squealed with delight and said yes. We figured that since the kids were going to their mom's house on Christmas evening, they wouldn't have much time to enjoy their gifts...so why not just open them early!?! It seemed to go over well too and definitely made the week more relaxing.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas Season! Merry Christmas!! (a little late)

Christmas Picture Outtakes

A couple of nights ago our family took our annual Christmas picture together. For some reason when a camera is involved, goofiness ensues...










MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Mother and Friend

I have a cool mom. She is one of my best friends, and I love spending time with her.

Growing up she gave me perm after perm (first one being when I was 3!!), let me play in her makeup (I still love doing that), and did Jane Fonda workout videos every morning (I even joined in sometimes for fun...weird to think of it as fun now but I was little).



I was a handful - either totally happy or totally not. I'm still kinda like that now, but a little bit more mature.



I remember fondly my friends and me sitting on my parents bed chatting with my mom. As a teen, I never really got that whole embarrassment about being with your mom. She was cool. She still is!

In high school, I would often remind my mother that she wasn't a teenager herself and that my friends weren't her age. It was a on-going joke between us. (Not in a creepy Maury Povich Show kind of way) She never completely believed me that she came across that way - as if my friends were her bff's too, but she totally did it all the time. Many might see this as weird, but you have to understand my mom. She is silly and fun and kind hearted. She rarely gets angry (stand back when she does), and always gives good advice. She is just an awesome person.

Well, freshman year of college, mom was helping me move into the dorms. I saw a girl I knew and said hello, chatting for a minute and then got on the elevator. While on our ride up, mom stated, "Oh, she seemed so nice. Is she our age?" (She said it dead serious too) I quickly looked at her with a smile and stated, "No, mom. She is MY age." We both cracked up.



She will always be young at heart, no matter what age her license says! Love you mom!!

You met who?

So, yesterday while enjoying our Thanksgiving meal, my grandfather (Papa) tells us a story.

Now mind you, Papa has awesome stories, and I love hearing them. He even helped write a book called "Palace on the Prairie: The Marland Family Story" about the Marland Family and the Marland Mansion here in town. He's experienced a lot in his 92 years, but this was one story I wasn't expecting!

Last week, Papa went to Tulsa for a funeral. After it was over, he and a friend went to eat lunch and then came back to the church. As they pulled up, the family of the deceased were also returning from the grave site. A buddy of Papa's asked him to come meet a jester (at least that's what Papa HEARD) and thought he was referring to the Masonic Lodge. (which I don't completely understand, but everyone else at the table did...so I didn't question it). Well, come to find out, it had nothing to do with the lodge. Instead, he was meeting JESSICA SIMPSON!

Ya, the gal who is on my Ipod was shaking my Papa's hand calling him Mr. Northcutt. Come to find out Jessica's agent (or something like that) was also related to the deceased and Jessica was there for support. Funny thing is that Papa had no idea who he was meeting until after the fact when his buddy clued him in to his new friend's identity. Papa just smiled and said, "Well, she was a nice looking young lady."

Too bad there weren't any paparazzi to capture the story!

Turkey for you, Turkey for me...

Happy Thanksgiving!

So much to be thankful for - oh so much! My hubby, our kiddos, our families and friends. I thank God daily for you guys!

Today was a great day. We celebrated Thanksgiving with family at my mom's house. Although not everyone was in attendance, we still had a great meal with wonderful conversation. Our food spread consisted of all my favorites that I dream about throughout the year.



Mmm...turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing (or dressing depending on what you decide to call it), and cranberry salad (which I made). Topped off with coffee and pie. I'm definitely thankful for having ladies in my family who are good good cooks!

So, here are a couple pictures of the gang enjoying the meal.





Hope everyone else in cyberworld had a great Thanksgiving too!

Be sure to tune into tomorrow's blog where I'll be retelling a story that my grandfather told us today. Things like this only happen to him!

Its not goodbye.

Today is kind of a sad day for me. 8 years ago today, my father passed away. He was a great dad and really taught me a lot.



In 2000, my family went through a lot. In one year, we lost 3 family members. Two of which were two weeks apart. Needless to say, it was difficult. Through it all though, I never wavered in my faith. God was my rock. I remember often thinking, "how can people get through this kind of pain without Jesus?" The void in my heart from losing my father at a pretty early age (he was only 51) was completely filled with the love of Christ and knowing that one day I would see my dad again.

At his funeral, I read this poem. I originally wrote it for a Christmas present the previous year. I felt so much comfort in knowing that he read this before his death.

Daddy

How could I manage without you?

You have been there for me time and time again -

Provider, encourager, strength.

Words cannot explain all that you have done for this family.

But not just the family - for me.

Words of wisdom I don't' always want to hear,

But almost always end up being right.

So much of you has been instilled in me -

My outlook on life, sense of humor, and prankish behavior.

But its not just the personality traits,

Your love for God and ability to continually

grow in him have touched me in more ways than

you will ever know.

Thank you Daddy for showing yourself to me.

Its not goodbye. Its just see you later.

Goofy Us

Our family loves to take pictures....especially goofy ones...









Ya...the goofier, the better.

Days of Old

This evening I was totally at a loss about what to blog about. Michael started giving me tons of ideas about my clock collection, fake flowers, and even about Oceans 13 (the movie we watched tonight) Unfortunately, none of those really inspired me. So, I started searching through pictures saved on my computer....and I got inspired by of all people...my brother Jeff.









(ya, I was a cute kid!)

I kinda have a pretty cool brother. He is funny (but probably not as funny as me), extremely smart (ya, he is smarter than me), a great dad (I even used to call him my 2nd father), and just all around cool guy. I don't think he reads my blog, otherwise I probably wouldn't admit all of this in writing.

Growing up we didn't always get along, but I still wanted to hang out with him and his friends. (yes, he found this extremely annoying) He was my big brother, and I just knew that his friends probably thought I was cool like them.

As we got older and went on to college, he really took on the role of leading me in the right directions. He found me a roomie for my freshman year of college, showed me what classes to take (and even went with me to enroll), and told me that I WAS getting involved at the BSU (Baptist Student Union). Ya, he was kinda bossy, but only because he cared. I made amazing friends at the BSU while also growing in my relationship with the Lord; I learned a TON about communication from my roomie that year, and I had a manageable class load that allowed me to not feel too overwhelmed my first semester of college.



After our dad passed away, Jeff took on an even greater leadership role in my life. It was easy for him since he liked to tell me what to do anyway. He sees things very black and white. (haha - black and white like our outfits at our weddings)





His opinion was a huge deciding factor for me moving back to Ponca City America. The coolest part is that God's hand was over the situation the entire time. By moving to Ponca, I was able to spend some much needed time with my mother, save money to buy a house, and eventually found the love of my life. No, those things didn't happen because of my brother, but his guidance and love were used by God to help move me in the right direction.

So ya, I kinda have a pretty cool brother. (Even if he still calls me butthead.)

"Hunting" Day

My fantastic hubby really enjoys hunting (mostly deer and turkey). He took Austin to go "hunting" a couple times last year and decided it was time to go out again this year. The icky part is that it is squirrel season. I told my hunter hubby that there was NO WAY ON EARTH I would eat squirrel. They are only one step above a rat for goodness sake. Michael reassured me that he wasn't doing the hunting - but that Austin would be - which made me extremely thankful since more than likely, he wouldn't actually hit a squirrel. Uncle David (Michael's brother) has a small rifle, a cricket, that is just Austin's size. The little guy has shot it a few times (with ample supervision - don't worry, the boy knows better than to even look at a gun without having Michael or David next to him) and really enjoys it.

So, a couple weekends ago was the first hunting day of the season for the boys. Since I had to blog about the experience, my sweet hubby took along the camera. Little did I know he would get rather literal when I asked him to document everything. I cracked up when he showed me all the pictures and told me what captions to use....so here is the story in picture/caption form.

First off was a bit of target practice for Austin...



Then all the boys loaded up into Grandpa's truck in search of "danger"...well...in search of squirrels or whatever else they could legally shoot...



Austin quickly realized the REAL danger was Grandpa's music. It really isn't bad music - just not in tune with the likings of a 7 year old....



Once the hunting gang made it to their final destination, they all quickly realized there were dangers everywhere...

Like thorns...



And wasps....



And poison ivy!



While on the hunt, they also discovered a creek but were still in search of those pesky squirrels..



Sadly, they never saw any squirrels; however, they did come across the dreaded crab apple. (yes I'm aware that it doesn't look very dangerous, but trust me, those things are deadly!)



Austin quickly grabbed his gun (well, Uncle David handed it to him), aimed, and fired...



All this "hunting" can really build up an appetite. Thankfully, Grandpa had snacks...



Overall, my guys had an awesome father/son day and hopefully will get to do it again soon.