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Page 2 Starts Right Here

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Julie’s Herb Garden

I started our herb garden for the year if you would like to take a look at my Julie’s Herb Garden post. The best part is not just the delicious herbs that we eat that will make us healthy, but all the great neighbors that drop by.

Look! I see a butterfly!

And another one!

Not to mention the countless birds that come by for a dip in the fountains or the bird bath. I must see about 30 butterfly’s a day and about 40 – 50 birds.

They are always welcome!

My garden treat, new stuff every year.

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May 18, 2015

Congratulations Joseph!

My nephew, Joseph Lancaster

Just graduated from Tallulah Falls School in Tallulah Falls, Georgia.

He was Vice-President of his Senior Class

Won the President’s Commendation Award

MVP of the Tennis Team

Tri M Honors (for music)

Outstanding Boarding Student of the Year

National Honor Society Member

Performed with the TFS Singers at the Awards Night Ceremony

(They sang a song from Wicked)

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We are so proud of you Joe!

Wish we could have been there!

Love,

Aunt Julie

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May 15, 2015

Flashback Friday Mother’s Day Edition

My mother emailed me last Saturday and told me to expect something heavy in the mail on Monday. I figured that it would be something like this, a photo album full of my childhood pictures. Although this album is just the tip of the iceberg. I’m from a family of photographers that snap away at anything that moves, and has ever since before I was born.

Me above, and me and my mother, below.

These photos were taken at my grandparents house.

I was thrilled to receive this album as I have been begging my mother for years to give me the photos. She compromised by making me copies. Hey, I’ll take it!

I did enjoy strolling back in time and looking at the photos.

Seeing photos of my mother pregnant with me.

Fun pictures of birthday’s past.

My mother was right! I DID get an Easy Bake oven one year for Christmas. To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t even remember it. We moved around so much during my childhood that I don’t even know where we are living in that photo above. Rome? Atlanta? Gainesville?

However, the next two photos I ‘DOO’ remember well.

The Beginning Obsession With My HAIR (DOO)

Hair Drying While Eating Ice Cream in a Cup

You can just see the change in my mood when I like my hair.

Strolling Down Memory Lane

Best Mother’s Day Gift Ever,

Julie

p.s. I still like eating ice cream out of a cup.

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May 14, 2015

Mother’s Day Leftovers

We Never Got Dessert

Limoncello Gellato with Sugar Free Lemon Cake

Gellato is Italian ice cream. It is superior to our American version of ice cream because ours has more air in it than theirs. Gellato is spectacular, for lack of a better word.

In the photos above I placed some limoncello gellato in an ice cream dish with some lemon cake and a slice of lemon as a garnish. I also grated some fresh lime over it to give it that nice green flecked finish.

We also had a chocolate roll cake with some chocolate chip gellato.

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My Gifts

To me the best gifts are those where someone does something for you. I do love flowers and cards but I also love it when Veronica and Brodie would wash my car as my Mother’s Day gift. Or give me a foot rub. Or clean my bathroom. I don’t like them spending their hard earned money on me. I would rather they save it for their futures.

BUT, seeing as how I didn’t get a foot rub or my car washed, or my bathroom cleaned, they did buy me some lovely things.

I’m not complaining.

Julie

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May 13, 2015

Mother’s Day Part II

Gordon and Julie Backyard

(We’re obviously very proud of this little patch of our yard seeing as how we keep taking pictures here.)

Veronica took these photos of us on Sunday when she and Brian came over for dinner. This year is our 30th. wedding anniversary, though not until June, it is hard to believe that we have achieved a milestone that not many people are able to make it to.

Trust me, it was not an easy ride! But I think the secret to staying married is to genuinely like each other. I think couples who laugh a lot stay together.

Gordon and I are very Goofy and proud of it!

Have a super-duper day!

Julie

Oh, p.s. The dress that I am wearing above? $5.00 at my favorite thrift store! Yeah!

AND the dress that I am wearing below, $5.00!

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May 12, 2015

Photos From Our Mother’s Day Weekend

What a great day!

I had an excellent Mother’s Day weekend. Gordon and I started by putting our herb garden together on Saturday afternoon. Actually this is mainly my project that I work on every year but because we have been so behind on projects for 2015, we have been helping each other to catch up.

I did all the prep work in advance so that all we had to do was to plant everything. I even added some new herbs to our garden this year. Shopping for everything is the fun part.

Planting All Our Goodies

I always like a mix of herbs and flowers.

Planting Purple Basil

Whew! Is it ever HOT!!!

Our Finished Herb Garden for 2015

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Mother’s Day Italian Dinner

Next comes the delicious and HEALTHY part. Adding these lovely herbs to our food and drink.

Cocktail anyone?

Limoncello Cocktails

Limoncello is a lemon liqueur imported from Italy. It can be a bit pricey but this was a special occasion…..

To create this cocktail we just chilled a bottle of Limoncello, (I do not have the bottle pictured here), then we added some lemon-lime sparkling water, and the last of our Italian volanic lemon juice (pictured above with a sprig of my lemon tree leaves from our backyard.coming out of it). I sliced a few limes and lemons and added them to the pitcher, as well as some sprigs of our new lemon thyme herbs.

I like using the Italian Volcano 100% organic lemon juice because it has an excellent taste. Made from the organic Sicilian lemons that grow near Mt. Etna Volcano in Italy.

Shh……. That’s my secret ingredient.

Looks Very Pretty and Summery

Not to mention, refreshing.

I also added some basil to the drink. Not just for decoration, be sure to eat it as well..

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Mother’s Day Italian Dinner

This was a new recipe that we wanted to try and as usual we always change things around and gear it toward our health needs.

Zucchini Stuffed Pasta Shells

Topped with our new Purple Basil as well as our Green Basil

As usual with all of our food we pack it full of our herbs from our garden. Above on the rustic whole wheat Italian bread I’ve added some fresh oregano and chives. I also added some of our new lemon basil to the stuffed shells giving it a hint of a lemon taste to the dish.

The base of this dish is my homemade spaghetti sauce, or red sauce as they say in Italy. Into my “red sauce” I add lots of herbs, mainly our own chives and Italian oregano.

Before and After

Although very hard to tell the difference in these two photos, I added my “magic ingredient” and it changed the color of my sauce from red, to orange. So what is my magic ingredient in addition to my herbs, you may ask?

Turmeric!

We put it in most everything because turmeric kills cancer cells, so eat up!

If you have an Indian grocery store near where you live then you can buy a huge bag for just a few dollars and it will last you a long time.

I added about a teaspoon full here. It is a very bland spice and will not affect the taste of your food. I also add it to simple things like chicken salad and egg salad. It gives the salads a lovely golden color. But here it brightened my red sauce into a beautiful orange color.

NOTE: It is good for women to eat two cooked tomato dishes per week, such as a spaghetti sauce or a bruschetta or some sort of stewed tomatoes. Good for our breasts.

Our 2015 Mother’s Day Dinner

Italian food is beautiful and very healthy for you. Usually tomato based. In addition to our stuffed shells we also have an excellent artisan salad with sliced mushrooms, broccoli, bell peppers, roasted pine nuts and topped with shaved parmesan cheese, and a healthy Italian dressing.

The Appetizers

I added some pretty vine tomatoes as decoration to the table as well as pretty grapes.

Olives with feta and stuffed red peppers with a spicy hot goat cheese.

Bruschettas with little parmesan toasts that we made out of a stale whole wheat bagette, as well as store bought bread sticks that I placed in my Buca di Beppo souvenir glass.

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And to think, it all started here, in our garden.

Chives and Italian Parsley

Lemon Thyme

Italian Oregano and well as regular Oregano

Basil Leaves

Purple Basil

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It All Starts Here

The base of a healthy meal.

Gathering the Herbs

Wash the Herbs

Then you eat them!

You know, fresh herbs are cancer killers so why not incorporate more of them into your daily meals? If I can do it, then so can you.

I was brought up to view food as medicine, because that is what it is.

You know when you were a little child and you got sick, your mother gave you this nasty tasting spoon full of medicine that you choked down and it tasted nasty but then later on you felt better?

Well, that is what food is. I will sometimes eat something that I don’t like but I know that it is good for me and it will make me feel better later on.

It’s my medicine.

I want to have a good quality life and that starts with good health and healthy foods. Problem is that we live in the age of cancer. Well, there are things that we can do about it.

We’re mother’s so let’s educate our children and grandchildren on how they can be healthy too and survive in this age of unhealthy.

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All for now. Part II of my Mother’s Day will come tomorrow.

Take care to all of you!

Julie

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May 10, 2015

Happy Mother’s Day

You know, it doesn’t matter what country we are from, or what religion that we are, (or not), or what color skin we have, all mother’s are the same. We give birth to them, we nurture them, we raise them, and we sacrifice for them.

Then they grow up and forget all about us.

I’m kidding!

Have a super-duper day all mother’s everywhere!

Julie

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May 9, 2015

What a Great Saturday!

Saturday Morning Thrift Store Treasure Hunting

Some times I don’t leave until the car is full. The beginning of a business.

ttyl….

Julie

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Friday

May 8, 2015

Be sure to watch, Shark Tank tonight on ABC at 8:00 p.m.

My daughter’s boss at SynDaver will be on and it must be good news as he has put up a big screen t.v. in the breakroom.

As my daughter told us, “My artwork will be featured on national television.” She makes the muscles.

We will be watching!

T.G.I.F.,

Julie

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May 7, 2015

Here We Go Again!

Julie’s Happy Car

I am about two months behind but I had a blast today doing my shopping at Lowe’s, then Home Depot, then Lowe’s again, then Home Depot again, then Publix, then CVS…….

(Both Lowe’s and Home Depot offer a 10% military discount for active duty and retirees, like us.)

I’m exhausted but happy.

As I said, I am about two months behind on getting my garden started. It has held up very well since last year but I always need to update it, clean it out and replenish it. So this Mother’s Day weekend will be lots of fun things to do but also lots of fun work to do.

This has been a year of changes for us but we are hanging in there and rolling with the punches. A refinance, a new company, a new paycheck…. but we are the do-it-yourself couple so we are doin’-it-ourselves. Might even be starting two new businesses this year. Yep! That’s right. So stay tuned for the reveal in the near future.

But until then, have a super-duper Mother’s Day weekend!

Julie

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Barefoot Processo

Processo is an Italian fizzy wine that is excellent when you add something to it. For example, pour the prosecco into the glass and then add some sort of juice to it. It adds color and flavor to the wine. Really an excellent fizzy wine for any occasion.

Barefoot Processo on Ice

Prosecco and Mermaids

Keep on Swimin’,

Julie

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May 1, 2015

Happy Lei Day/Happy May Day

Aloha!

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Weekend Grillin’ With Gordon

Gordon cooking his world famous barbeque chicken on the grill at the condo.

Ready For The Grill

The best barbeque recipes always call for a dry rub and a wet sauce. This recipe is best with thighs. The thigh meat has all the flavor anyway.

Gordon Workin’ That Chicken

(That reminds me of a funny story. Back in 2003/4 when we were out at the condo with our New Zealand friends that were visiting us, Hurricane Charlie was on it’s way and scheduled to hit us here in Pinellas County head on. When a hurricane is on it’s way they blast the sirens for days prior to the storm to get you to leave. Well, we were living on the base at the time and they always kick everyone off days in advance of the hurricane and shut the base down so we had no where to go except the condo. Now Pinellas County was trying to get us to leave. We knew that we had a few days before it arrived but it is nerve wracking hearing those wailing sirens going off every 15 minutes.

My most vivid memory is of all the “chaos” that was going on with the residents and tourists of Indian Shores running around outside loading their cars, tying things to the roof of their cars, throwing things into car top carriers, dashing here, running there, it was almost comedic. All the while those sirens were wailing. I was starting to get stressed and I laid down on the bed. Bob, our Kiwi friend, was also worried and doing some pacing. Trish was all giggles thinking how exciting it all was. And there was Gordon, in the kitchen, cooking that chicken. Just as relaxed as ever. Stirring those pots. Lovin’ all over that chicken. Food was all that mattered.

Indian Shores, where my family has a condo, is located on a chain of islands along the Gulf Coast. It is important to get out before they close down the bridges. When the winds get to 45 MPH they close them down and you are thus trapped.

We were one of the last people to evacuate from Indian Shores and this place was a ghost town when we left!

We had our friends with us that were leaving in a few days to fly out of Tampa and onto New York so we first had to get them to the airport at 3:00 a.m., Then we had to come back to the condo, pack our things and then evacuate in the opposite direction the storm will be headed. So we headed to Orlando, found the yuckiest motel room there. Hey, every where else was booked!!

Veronica was in high school and Brodie was in junior high at the time. I had Veronica with me in my Issuzu Amigo and Gordon had Brodie with him in the Ford Contour. Once we checked into our crappy motel room I proceeded to clean it before we settled in. Not one of us was willing to venture underneath those nasty bedspreads and sheets so we slept on top of everything and just threw our many blankets and pillows over it. It was really disgusting. But we did settle in and Veronica and Brodie ordered a movie on the pay-per-view channel. Guess which one?

THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW

Bottom line is that we had an adventure that we will never forget and actually look back on as being very funny.

But I just cannot get over how calm Gordon is when he is in the kitchen cooking or down at the grill. Nothing gets in the way of a good meal with him.

Back to grillin’.

Chicken Candy!

I kid you not! I do love the dripping gooey sauce.

Gordon Creating the Skewers for the Grill

Skewers of Veggies Ready for the Grill

Two Different Mushrooms

Tomatoes, Colorful Bell Peppers, Mushrooms, Zucchini

Beautiful Colorful Bell Peppers

The Little Sweetie

I love all the birds that live around our house and the condo.

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Our Barbeque Spread

Barbeque Chicken, Grilled Veggies, Couscous, and Hawaiian Dinner Rolls

Couscous with turmeric, toasted pine nuts, pomegranate seeds, black olives, and fresh parsley.

Barbeque chicken on a bed of arugula.

I rigged the two-tiered platter above by adding a little ramekin to the center of the platter and placing the plate with couscous on top of it.

Dessert

Julie’s Mango Sunset with Fruit Salad

The pineapple top is to be planted in my garden. Yep, you can grow your own pineapples and that is how you do it.

Fruit Salad with Toasted Coconut

Julie’s Hand Painted Bowl

I made the bowl above in Hawaii in 1997. I hand painted it. I enjoy it to this day and hope to pass it down to Veronica.

We did this with our Girl Scout troop and everyone picked out some sort of ceramic item to paint. I chose this.

I continued with the palm leaves onto the underside of the bowl.

Wow! The exact date! Kewl, huh?

Always sign your work.

Gordon’s Dinner Plate

Julie’s BBQ Dinner

On lovely Hawaiiana serving trays.

Aloha and Mahalo,

Julie (Kulii)

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April 30, 2015

I Miss You Michael,

You had me dancing to ABC when I was 7 at the Dahlonega, Georgia city pool. I listened to you when I was in Junior high and my friend Lynn Jett came to visit and was appalled to see that I had a Jackson 5 record album but I didn’t care. You got my through college with your ‘Off the Wall’ album. And you always make me cry with your

I Miss You,

Julie

p.s. All of those accusations were unproven.

“Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone’s back.”

Desmond Tutu

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April 28, 2015

Grillin’ Cheese Sandwiches

I’ve often wondered why a “grilled cheese sandwich” is called a “grilled cheese sandwich” when it is not cooked on a grill? So I asked this question to Gordon and he had no reply. So, I told him that I wanted a REAL “Grilled Cheese Sandwich” and he went to work to create this.

Our Delicious Grillin’ Cheese Sandwich Ingredients

Wholewheat bread, sharp cheddar cheese, tomatoes. basil leaves, and just for me, sweet bread and butter pickles.

Me, Waiting for Lunch

Gordon Melting the Butter on the Grill

and Buttering the Bread

We bought a whole loaf of bread so that we could slice it ourselves. We needed thick slices for this because something thin would not have held up to the grill. It would have burnt too quickly.

Everything melts and cooks very quickly on the grill.

We also grilled some spring onions to eat with this. Just drizzle a little bit of olive oil on the onions.

Julie, Grillin’ Apprentice?

We think the sandwiches resemble Stewie’s head from the t.v. show, Family Guy. We actually thought about adding the pickles to the side to represent Stewie’s ears.

But who can wait to dig into this?

Grillin’ Cheese Sandwiches

Beautiful Day at the Condo

Yeah, they are that good!

Julie

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April 27, 2015

Photos From The Weekend

We spent the weekend at the condo in Indian Shores and had a nice time. I would like to say that it was relaxing but we tend to cram a lot into a weekend so rest is usually the last thing that we do.

But here is an account of our fun weekend at the condo.

We Shot a Video

We’ll bring it to you when we get it uploaded hopefully by tomorrow. We’re such amateur’s that we loaded it wrong and we need to do it again because it’s just too pixelated. Hey, we never claim to be experts at anything, just happy go lucky amateur’s.

But here are some photos of our video shoot.

Pretty Props

I love colorful beach buckets. They look so casual and fun. I tend to use them for a variety of reasons but here I’ve put some orchids and seashells and even some fruit inside.

I also think they are very childlike and remind me of my summers in Florida with my grandparents.

Mermaids and Kiwi’s

Julie’s Mango Sunset

Always Lots of Pretty and Delicious Fruit in Seashells to Make Me Happy

(Mango, Pineapple, Lemons, Limes, Cherries)

Julie’s Mango Sunset

To be enjoyed at a real mango sunset.

Cheers!

Julie Barefoot

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But prior to our Mango Sunset we had a lovely time around Indian Shores and got dinner at one of our favorite local seafood hangouts.

Crabby Bill’s

The Crabby Hours

I love the casualness of beach life. Everything tends to be very colorful and weathered and just so unique looking. Here we are outside Crabby Bill’s.

Gordon Reading the Crabby Menu

Crabby Bill’s is a very casual family oriented seafood restaurant located in Indian Rocks, just down the road from us in Indian Shores. It’s frequented by tourists and locals alike.

Crabby Take Out

Gordon reading the crabby menu and me, waiting on our Crabby Bill’s Take Out.

The man in the photo in back of Gordon is Crabby Bill himself.

Yummy, can’t wait for that blackened Mahi-Mahi.

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I Do Love the Fun Things we See at the Beach

An interesting and fun sign post, kites always flying, and of course a low flying helicopter…

Wait?

What?

A Helicopter??

Look at it! It’s right above those people’s heads!

What the??

Like I said, we always see the most interesting things at the beach…

Julie

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April 24, 2015

Flashback Friday

Cute Little Bros Edition

My Little Brothers

L to R, Ben, Frank and Johnny

(And to think that they were nothing more than annoying pests to me then.) But they were cute!

Johnny, Frank and Me, 1978

at some resort hotel in North Carolina.

Happy Appreciate Your Bros Day,

Julie

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April 23, 2015

Here We Go Again!

Have a Super-Duper Day!

Julie

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April 22, 2015

Sprucing Up My Vintage Birdcage

I originally found this on Ebay a few years ago. I do love it. It’s very vintage and I think a little bit Asian looking. One Christmas I added lights to the inside of it and I just never removed them. I like having them on throughout the year and not just on special festive occasions.

I’ve placed some pretty birds all around the cage, and always the cage doors open, never closed.

I like to place candles inside to add that special little glow. Sometimes I change them from something casual to something more formal. Sometimes I place dishes inside, all stacked up.

But I did want to add something a little bit more to reflect my current theme in our dining room so I found some nice fabric and lined the bottoms of the cage with it.

Beautiful Asian Fabric

This time I replaced the candles with some of my vintage Asian tea cups with a candle on the inside.

Pretty Touches to the Birdcage

I like it. Now it fits in a bit better in my dining room than it did before.

Also never overlook a good thrift store. A lot of my things I found very cheap. Including my dress. Talbots, size 10, lined, dry clean only, $5.00!!

Can’t beat that!

Julie

p.s. You know my message to everyone has never been, ‘Do what I do. I know best. I have great taste. Blah, blah, blah’. I’ve always said to do what YOU want to do and not what someone tells you to. Decorate, dress, look, how YOU want to and not how some self anointed group of “experts” tell you what looks good and what doesn’t. After all, someone just made all this stuff up at one point, declared themselves important and then got a bunch of people to follow them.

This is YOUR life so do what YOU want to do!

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April 20, 2015

Nicole Curtis Rehab Addict

Gordon and I have always been a big fan of Nicole Curtis’s Rehab Addict DIY t.v. show from the very first season. Mainly because you learn something from her. She wasn’t just on t.v. as a pretty face, she is a smart, talented restoration expert that cares about old houses and neighborhoods. She is the best face for Detroit in years and I wish her and all of Detroit a successful future in saving the city and restoring it.

Her philosophy has always been mine,

“Old houses, old people, old dogs.”

She loves and cares about the past, so do I. She is a very caring person and that is reflected in her charity work. Occasionally she has her parents and grandparents on her show and you can see where her caring nature comes from. She is also passing that on to her son, Ethan.

I hate to label someone a “role model” but if you are going to emulate anyone, then she is the one to copy.

Watching her t.v. show to me is like watching Spongebob Squarepants. He just makes you feel good to watch the show.

Nicole Curtis to me is the Spongebob Squarepants of DIY.

You can’t help but root for her success because you just know that some of it will spill back on to you. We wish her the greatest success and we are behind her cause of saving things and not destroying them. I am not a particular religious person but I am very spiritual. I want to build things up and not tear things down. She is someone to root for. Which is why I am copying this from her Facebook page. I think it is relevant in today’s world with today’s people. The following was posted by Nicole Curtis on April 18, 2015. I am not posting the photo of her and her friend Sarah, just the content of the post.

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When you spend your childhood never feeling good enough-you tend to accept whatever comes your way as far as “friends” . Many years spent trying to understand how and why I was in situations where people lied, cheated and had no idea of what a loyal, honest life was. What I realized in my late thirties was that all that time trying to rationalize ill behavior would’ve been better spent just seeking quality people to surround myself with. Today I had chats with one friend who has known me since age 10, another from age 28 and some newer ones – and I’m so very thankful for all of them. No more crappy people (post it on my laptop screen). And one more life lesson for today – just cause someone’s been in your life for a long time – doesn’t mean they should be smile emoticon btw posting this pic of Sarah – she always is critical of her pics and I’m here to say I think she’s beautiful-mom, wife, advocate and someone who will have no problem saying it like it is:)

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I agree with the post and I can relate to it. We probably all can. But I do think it is important to move on from relationships that no longer work for us even if they are family, friends, or people that we have known forever. All of us deserve a support system. I am the kind of person that will stay in a relationship long past it’s due date in the hopes that it will get better. But after awhile I then realize that things will never get better and that is when I leave. Life it too short to feel bad, I want to feel good and I want to be around people that make me feel good.

Everyone of us deserve that. So listen to Nicole, and ME. 🙂

Find your happiness and be with the good ones, move on from the wrong ones.

ttyl….

Julie

p.s. I would truly KILL for her hair!!

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April 18, 2015

All This,

Just For,

ME!!

Sometimes I think that I am the luckiest girl in the world. But I never take it for granted and I always appreciate it!

Have a nice weekend,

Julie

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April 17, 2015

Poolside Blogging

Today is a much better day. I am avoiding beach chairs at all costs. Some shady poolside blogging is on the agenda for me.

T.G.I.F.

Julie

I did make a friend yesterday. This sweetie sat right beside me for a very long time. Animals seem to like me. I think they just sense that I won’t hurt them.

p.s. For those that have asked me if I was upset that people were laughing at me yesterday, the answer is “yes and no”. Yes, because I was embarrassed, and No, because it’s just Schadenfreude. Schadenfreude is that part of the brain that receives a rush of endorphins when we see someone slip on a banana, or trip, or fall down. That is why we automatically burst out laughing. It’s just science. It’s not even anything that we have control over.

Just think how many times we were all punished growing up for laughing at someone when they fell down by our parents? It wasn’t even our fault.

When you take the hokum out of life then all that is left is science.

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April 16, 2015

(I tend to travel light.)

Beaten Up By My New Beach Chair

I’m at the condo off and on until May and I realized that I needed to buy a new beach chair, the chaise kind. So I stopped off at a few places on my way out here the other day and I was literally forced to buy this blue thing as I couldn’t find the kind of beach chair that I normally like.

We tend to go through beach chairs quite quickly.

Evil Beach Chair

Don’t let looks deceive you. This chair may look nice but it is EVIL!!

I laid down on it this morning for the first time on the beach and the legs went out from underneath, I was thrown backward with the back of my head hitting the sand and my legs sticking straight up in the air. I’m not as young as I once was so getting out of that position was not easy. There were lots of groans and grunts and twisting and scooting. Finally I made it out without causing too much of a scene on the beach.

Then I decided to try again, but this time I would place my head at the opposite end. Yes, NOW it will work. Uh, oh, I could suddenly feel the chair totally moving underneath me. The legs collapsing. Not again! Yep, now I have slid sideways into the sand, face first, and the back of the chair is up in the air with my legs once again, sticking straight up!

I picked myself up from the sand, a bit perturbed as this was the second time I had been humiliated by this beach chair. So as I was getting up from the ground I didn’t have a very good footing. I found myself falling backward toward the chair. Oh No! I am going to fall onto the beach chair! That might hurt, what should I do?

I immediately started to twist my body around so that I would be facing the chair, all while I am still falling towards it. I could see that I was going to land on it. Oh,no! So I stretched out my arms like Superman and tried to fly over it.

I could see the ground coming toward me as I crashed onto the sand with my torso and legs landing on the beach chair.

Ouch! That DID hurt! I didn’t DARE look around to see how many people witnessed my beating. I was too embarrassed. So I picked myself up, TRIED to brush off all the sand that had stuck to the sunscreen all over my body, and I used the chair the only way that I could, flattened on the sand. Which begs the question, then why have a beach chair??

I HATE This Chair!

Once I got my composure back I laid down on my flattened beach chair to eat my lunch of a whole wheat peanut butter sandwich and kettle BBQ chips, only to discover that I had set up camp on top of an ant hill.

Can this day get any worse??

That’s when I realized that my visor certainly wasn’t giving me much protection from the sun. Well, that’s odd. So I felt on top of my head and realized that my visor was sticking straight up in the air. It had been that way for the last ten minutes and I didn’t even realize it.

After all of this the last thing I was going to do was get into the ocean. At this point the only thing missing from my day was a shark attack.

So after a humiliating day on the beach in front of several people I decided to look at the bright side, hey, at least a boob didn’t fall out of my swimsuit during my beach gymnastics.

Have a Nice Day!

Julie

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Beach Bag

Julie’s Beach Bag

I was looking at my beach bag when I suddenly remembered this segment, I believe that it is in Coastal Living Magazine, where it features celebrities and their beach bags. Most of the items in their beach bags are sexy string bikinis, expensive sandals, lovely beach cover ups, the latest best seller list novels, designer this and that. Then I looked at my own beach bag. I have tons of plastic bags just in case I find some treasures to put them into. Sunscreen, magazines, waterproof camera, waterproof cellphone, sunglasses, reading sun glasses, reading glasses, backup reading glasses, tissues, napkins….

Then there is my little cosmetic case that I have probably not changed anything inside of it for the past few years.