My Friday.

"It won't matter," she said. "You'll still be alone.

"No. I. Won't." The words came out harsh through my gritted teeth. I didn't mean for it to sound so demanding. But it was true. I wouldn't be alone. I would be surrounded by people, but of course, I wouldn't have anyone to talk to or even sit by. So, she was right about that bit. I would be lonely, but not alone.

I concentrated on the road and the cars passing by, thinking about what I would do afterward. I voiced out the few things I could think of doing; taking a stroll through town, going to the store to pick up the few things I needed... I was surprised at how little I came up with. I could think of plenty of things I wanted to do, but each of them involved having another person with me. I verbally went through the list of people I could call, but nothing sounded right. It was too last minute and I didn't trust my emotions to stay in check. I was exhausted. I needed to sleep, but that was the one thing I didn't want to do. Tonight was my night off and there was no way I was going to spend it shut up in the house.

Her quite voice pulled me roughly out of my reverie. "You're doing it again..."

"What?" I demanding, annoyed, not really caring what she was talking about.

She paused before answering, probably guessing at my reaction. "Talking to yourself."

I groaned. She was right. I was going crazy.

I pulled up to the parking lot and glanced at the girl in my rear mirror. Her hair was a mess and she looked really tired. I winced at the girl and she winced back. Eww. I looked away and climbed out of the car before things got ugly.

I went inside, bought the ticket, and sat down in the middle of the row of seats without looking at anyone. I kept checking the time wishing that it would go by faster. The longer I sat here with nothing to do, the likelier it was I would start talking to myself again. I really didn't want to do that in public. I would definetely get some strange looks and I had had enough of those last week, what with my face blown up like a balloon.

The movie was twelve minutes late. I sighed when it finally started, completely ready to be absorbed in someone else's life.

The movie was 3D. I couldn't help but feel that it was just a silly experiment with this new technology. Nearly every scene made it very obvious that it was trying to make the audience gawk at it's capabilities. I realized then at how much I really needed my space. Like most people I have a rather large space bubble. You touch it you die. Hah. No, I would never; in fact I wouldn't even tell you whether or not you were in it. That's just not the way I roll. But this movie really started pushing some buttons. I must have jumped over a dozen times. Things just kept popping right out at me and when it's three dimensional it's a lot harder to ignore.

Oh, and I realized something else too. Whenever I took my glasses off, and I did that frequently, the bulbous spectacles kept getting in my way, I realized that the screen -all fuzzy and distorted -was almost like not wearing my contacts. Only, this wasn't as bad. So, if for any reason you want to know how bad Julia's eyesight really is, watch a 3D movie without the aid of glasses. I enjoy watching movies the old fashion way -without glasses. Why couldn't they just make the screen 3D instead of constructing all these glasses for the audience to use once and then throw them away? I hated the glasses. But at least they weren't the paper ones that never fit over anyone's ears. I detested those. The new ones were just like dorky looking sunglasses.

The movie was good. But if you're looking for a good story it wouldn't be one I'd pick. If you want to see the cool high tech 3D, this would be a good one. You really see a difference. Maybe a little too much of a difference. The plot was cheesy and the characters were way over done. For how short the movie was and for how much the ticket cost I wouldn't recommend watching it in theaters. But, for some reason that I haven't figured out yet, I liked it. Despite all of the things that were wrong or could have been done differently, I liked it.

After the movie I went to the store to pick up something that I had shoved off until last minute. I've been working a lot, but not enough to use it as an excuse. I guess I've just been lazy. Anyway, after I picked up what I needed I went home, watched the end of one of favorite movies and then went to bed.

I really don't know why I'm posting this. Its nothing worth reading. But I haven't posted in a while and I felt like writing. I still feel all groggy and my throat feels like there's a cactus shoved in it. I hope I get better soon. I'd hate to spend the holiday feeling so lousy, not that I'm doing anything special. So yeah. That's my Friday night.

Email: Dear Family.

Okay, so I wait every Monday for my brother to send me an email telling me all about his mission. Last week, when I wanted it the most, he didn't send one. Well, technically he did, but two sentences is hardly something that could be counted. I was not happy. But this week, after sending him a big long letter that probably hasn't even reached him yet, things were different. I didn't get anything. Nope. Nothing. Nota. Zilch. But, thankfully, my mother forwarded me (and these forwards are okay, so no problem there) my brother's email to the family. At least he sent something. Well, for those of you who know my brother and for those of you who are just bored and feel like reading about some boy down in Arizona, have fun reading! I hope you enjoy it. I cross my fingers for next week. Hopefully it will be better.

Alright, i have an idea. I've been writing in my journal for the past 3 months now, and i have about 30 pages written. (i also have been wearing my retainer too.) And i can take pictures of the journal pages and send them through email to you all. I'm not much for writing stories out though. And there hasn't been much going on. Were doing a lot of work, and we have our first baptism on Sat. Its a Hispanic guy named Rosendo and he came to church last Sunday, and we've talked to him 3 times since then. He'd been investigating the church for 2 years and moved here when he lost his 7 days a week job. We didn't even do anything with him, he just wanted to be baptized. Its pretty cool though. And we have about 10-12 others that will Most likely be baptized within a month or two. 3 have baptismal dates set for a few weeks from now, and the rest are slowly coming. My Spanish had been coming great. I can understand about 90-95 percent of it when its slow and clear. over all, about 50-60. Most people talk really fast. I speak a little less than that though. I really should speak it more often. Well, im doing great, having fun, making friends, sharing the gospel, and living life the best i can. I really like being a missionary. Ill have the pics next week. And the baptism too. Well, i love you all and i miss you. I dream about being home with everyone almost every other night. My companion said thats normal for the first few months and the last few months. lol. Well, ill write again next week. i love you. Please tell Sam i said hi. Grandma and Grandpa i said hi and i love them. The ward that im doing good and thanks for their support. The family that i love them too and congrats on all the wedding and babies. And please tell Cassie Leavitt and Danny Andelin that their old roommate in college is in my area. He is in the bishopric in a neighboring ward. It used to be my ward, but we switched when a new building went up and the areas changed. Hes in our area, but not our ward. And i forgot his name. Ill look it up
next week. Anyways, I love you all. BYE!!!

"The Dream."

Okay so I've been reading this series and I was thinking about how to blog about this specific thing, and yesterday -after I finished the second book -I had an idea. Okay, so this is an adaption of one of Tally's many dreams (aka: the main girl in the story) taken from the book called "Pretties" written by Scott Westerfeld. For those of you who have read it, it should sound very familiar; for those who haven't read it, I would recommends it. At least, I liked it...

~*~*~

So, there was this princess.

She was locked in a high tower, one with mirrored walls and cold, empty rooms that couldn't talk. There was no elevator or even fire stairs, it made you wonder how the princess had gotten up there.

But there she was, at the top. No bungee jacket and fast asleep. Waiting.

The tower was guarded by a gray dragon with jeweled eyes and a hungry maw. It had many legs and moved almost too fast to see, but it pretended to be a sleep, probably to avoid having to look at the princess.

You see, this princess was not like most fairy tale princesses. This princess was not pretty. That's not to say that she was was completely grotesque, but just that she wasn't pretty.

She had been placed in the inescapable tower to await her eighteen birthday -the day she would undergo an operation that would change her life forever; one that would make her pretty. For some reason, however, that the princess never discovered, her operation was pushed nearly five months after her eighteen birthday. Had too much time gone by? Had something gone wrong? Would she still be able to turn beautiful?

Then, finally, in the middle of a blistering August, the princess was taken for the operation. The doctor was kind and handsome. He reassured the princess that all would go well and that the procedure would be quick. The princess was filled with joy and excitement at this news. Today, after waiting over eighteen years, she was getting the operation. Today was the day she had prepared her whole life for. Today was the day that the princess would become pretty.

Less than an hour later the princess was awoken. The doctor touched her hand and gave her a warm, comforting smile. When the princess came-to she realized that the operation was finally over and that she was finally pretty.

The princess was disappointed when the doctors took her away to put her back in the tower -she hadn't gotten to see her pretty face yet. But then she remembered that her high tower was covered with mirrors. She laughed at the thought of never having to see her unpretty face again because it would be replaced with something beautiful.

When they reached the tower the doctors dumped the princess inside and flew away on their hovercar before she could even thank them for the ride. But that was okay. The princess had something much more important on her mind.

The princess got to her feet, brushed herself off, and glided to the closest mirror. What she saw made her heart stop and tears stream down her cheeks. After all this time. After all this waiting. The princess was changed. The operation had altered her completely.

And you couldn't have this dream without a prince.

He made it past the dragon, not so much slaying as creeping, finding chinks in the ancient stone wall to slip his fingers into, because it was old and crumbling. He climbed the tower's daunting heights easily, sparing only an amused look down at the dragon, which had been distracted by a host of playful rats scurrying through its claws.

The prince made it through the high stone window and swept the princess into a kiss, which woke her up. The dream always ended the same. The prince would pull back from the kiss to look at the princess's new face. Then, his expression would change to that same one the princess had been wearing since returning from the operation. The princess would reach out to him, only to have him back up too far and fall backward, headfirst out the window. He was then eaten by the dragon.

Everything would have worked out. Except for one thing.

The princess was totally ugly.

The Operation.

Okay, so the operation didn't go that bad. I was in an out within forty or thirty minutes. Aside from the fact that I now have twenty-eight teeth instead of thirty-two, not much has changed. Well, when I first got out the door that is.

My cheeks are swollen, so now I have the face of a chipmunk, but that was to be expected. I also expected to sleep a lot, but unfortunately that one didn't work out in my favor -not that the chipmunk cheeks did. Anyway, my caregiver/chauffeur/amazing cousin was instructed not to let me sleep for the first four to six hours. Well, as easy as that may sound, trying to keep an exhausted, dead-tired eighteen year old awake was harder than anticipated. I was REALLY tired.

The operation started just a smidgen after nine and then, as I said, I got out thirty or forty minutes after. I was finally allowed to go to sleep at two o'clock, but a lot of good that did. My body, plus the medicine they gave me, equaled not a good combination. I was very sick.

-Oh wait! I almost forgot. Two things actually.

The first was that, as many of you many know, I gave blood a few months ago. I mentioned that during the processes a song was playing about bleeding. Bleeding love to be exact. The song is sung by Leona Lewis and every time I hear it on the radio, I am reminded of that gigantic needle stuck in my left arm. Ouch. Well, anyway. When I walked into the oral surgeon's operating room, that very same song was playing. I thought it was really funny. Anyway, as for the second thing:

Before they put me down -before they gave me the IV Sedation -they clamped this thing on my finger to monitor my heart rate. I watched it dance around the high seventies and lower eighties. The constant beeping noise made me feel a little nervous. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

I must have been waiting for about five minutes or so and my heart rate gradually fell to the lower seventies. I tried to relax in the chair, telling myself that it would all be okay. And then-

"-Hi!"

I jumped with the doctor entered the room. He had dark skin and jet black hair. The dark green scrubs looked good on him. But he was the doctor. The person who was going to cut open my gums and yank out my teeth. I was barely aware of the monitor now, going berserk on the far table. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I only noticed it when the assistant pointed it out. She laughed and explained that my heart rate had jumped up into the hundreds. Seventy-two to a hundred-five in just two seconds. Yeesh.

Okay, so back on track. I got sick, slept a lot, and, all in all, I had a very miserable Monday. I have a lot of gross stories, but I won't bother posting them. I mean, who would want to hear about those? One of the things that I was rather worried about was the simple fact that I wouldn't be able to remember anything. The drive home for instance. Was I going to say really stupid things? The assistant did say I was a little loopy. I remember laughing a lot, but not like hysterically or anything. I think I was just so relieved that it was over and that I didn't hurt at all. Well, for the time being that is. Needless to say that didn't last very long. Fortunately, aside from just a couple of quick lapses, I remember everything; arriving there, driving home; the long hard hours afterward...

Hmm, I can't seem to think of anything else to add... Today is now Wednesday, my face is still huge, my stomach hurts, and I am very tired. I've found that if I move slow enough the world remains stationary and I can walk around without running into the walls, so that's good. Erm, what else? I'm suppose to be wearing my rubber bands for my braces, but I think that during the operation they bent one of the hooks inward -I can feel it pressing into my gums -so that's not good. At all. I'm suppose to wear my bands for twenty-one hours a day or more and I've already gone past fifty hours of not wearing anything. ...I hope that doesn't come back to haunt me.

...Well. I guess that's about it. If you have any further questions I'd be more than happy to answer them!

100th Post.

Well, golly! I actually made it to one hundred. I guess that's not too much of a surprise, considering how much I love to write. Have I ever told you? It has always been a dream -I mean goal -of mine to write and publish a book? Yup. And I've been working on it a lot too. In fact, that's what I'm doing now. ...I only wish I were better at it. I read all these book and I'm thinking, Wow! I wish I could write like that! Maybe that's why I got a blog in the first place... Naw. My blog is more of a 'what I do for fun' sorta' thing. I wouldn't call it 'Practice for Writing' though I guess in truth it is. Anyway... I guess all I wanted to do was say that I actually made it one hundred posts! I should throw a party! ;) Just kiddin'. Hmm... Well, I guess that's about it. Happy Reading!!

The Visit.

So, my family came down to visit me last weekend. They arrived bright and early Thursday morning. They had just gotten home from a big long trip to Florida and back at midnight that morning and only had a couple (probably less) of hours to sleep. As for my parents, I don't think either of them slept a wink! So yeah, as my hosts left for the day, at work of course, my dad, mom, older sister, six of my younger sisters, and my two younger brothers, all came and visited. My parents crashed on my bed and the rest of them just stayed down-stairs for the most part. It was hard to keep track of so many of them!

It was really weird at first. I mean, I'm use to the big family and all that. To me, it's not big deal. But the house my hosts live in is rather small -perfect accommodations for only two people. Adding a single person wasn't much, but adding eleven was quite the shock. Of course, it was only for a day and a half, but still. Living with my cousin and his wife for the past ten months has been a little....well, different. I guess I got use to the small part of life and forgot what it was like to have so many kids in the house. Well anyway, enough of that.

I'm usually the type of person who likes to get up at the bum-crack of dawn (pardon the expression) and get going with the day. I've trained myself to absolutely loath sleeping in. What a waste of a day! I like to get up at least around seven and start on my mental To-Do list for the day. Only....Thursday... well, I guess I couldn't expect more from my worn out family. We left at eleven to go and see a few of the church sites. I had work at four so we couldn't do everything we wanted together. Oh, and I guess I'll mention this just because it was funny. Both of my jobs called me in to work today. The first called and asked if I'd cover a shift, I flat out said no and that I had family matters to attend to. The other just asked if I'd come in two hours early, and again I said no. I wanted to spend Thursday with my peeps.

First we went to...Oh, Liberty? -No, Independence. I really get confused with what place is what up here. We parked across from the RLDS' Temple and were able to go to our visitor's center and take a tour with one of the sister missionaries. It was funny, we happened to park our fifteen passenger van right next to another fifteen passenger van; same make, same model, the only difference was that theirs looked brand spanking new next to my family's rusty old thing. Ha, I just thought it was funny.

We toured the Book of Mormon room and then a lot of other places. My sisters and I had just been there on a previous Youth Conference trip, so a lot of the tour was just a review. We got to
watch the new Joseph Smith movie. It was really good. Even the second time. My mom and dad had never seen before and were rather anxious to watch it. Needless to say, the majority of us was all in tears when it was quite over.


After that we all went to CiCi's and ate as much pizza as we could. I guess I wasn't hungry or something. I only had four -an unusually small portion compared to the nine or ten I usually get whenever we go to CiCi's. Anyway, that was really fun. I got to catch up with my older sister, and two of my younger ones, closer to my age. I had a lot of fun. We spent the last of our visit there and then headed down to my work to drop me off. I'm not exactly sure what my folks did for those seven hours I was at work, but when I got home nearly everyone was awake.


We didn't stay up as late as I thought we would, but I guess that was a good thing. I had a long day ahead of me on Friday. Driving all the way down to Arkansas and back would definetely drain me of all of my sleeping hours, so I'd need as many as I could get. I slept in the basement with my three younger sister -those, again, closest to my age. They were pretty much all asleep when I finally got changed into my PJ's and was totally ready for bed. I had to really fight myself to actually sleep down there. I could just as easily have slipped off to my own room and no one would have been the wiser, but I would have felt bad doing it. My room wasn't big enough, I guess, for all of my sisters to fit, otherwise I would have enjoyed having the three of them up there rather than down in the basement. But with the house the size that it is, space was best provided on ground level, well, I guess technically it was below ground level, but you get the idea. We all fit better down there.

I woke up to the loud roar of water as it fell against the pipes. I stiffened under my blanket, afraid that something had gone completely wrong with the house. Were we in the middle of a tornado? It took a minute for my sleepy mind to realize what the noise was. And then, after I discovered that all was safe, I couldn't go back to bed. I was so cold! I rolled over on the hard cement floor (my body was stiff but that wasn't unusual. I don't roll when I sleep so I'm always waking up with a stiff back.) to see if my sisters were as cold as I was. All of them were sound asleep sprawled out under huge thick quilts. Of course. Why didn't I think to bring my quite down? ...Well, I know the answer to that one. I didn't want to mess my bed up and have to remake it. Lazy Julia. I leaned over and grabbed my cell phone, flipping it open to read the time. 4:37AM. Ugh. WAY to early. I tried going back to sleep, but my efforts were futile. My feet were frozen and my body was shaking uncontrollably through my thin blanket. I tried holding out for a while, either waiting for my body heat to kick on or for the clock to read a likelier time for waking up. My body won the fight and I gathered my things and climbed upstairs to thaw myself out. I sat in the armchair among my sleeping family and waited. Yeah, I just waited. I got to see my cousin off to work -something I hardly ever do anymore now that Seminary is over, and then, after that, his wife left too. It was nice seeing them. I feel like I'm always gone when they're home.


Anyway, my family got up around seven, ate breakfast, packed up the van and helped clean up around the house. I was sad to see them go, but glad because that meant that the sooner they left, the sooner I could leave for Arkansas, which in turn would mean that I would be getting home sooner. Well, I guess you know the rest of the story. I just wanted to post what the visit was like for my sake. If you haven't noticed already this blog is my journal. I post everything. Well, no, just the things that are audience-appropriate. The personal stuff I usually just save as Drafts, never to be published. Anyway, thanks for reading. Sorry it was so boring! That just the way my life is! :)

I love this song...

Forward -They Go.

I love getting emails (but not nearly as much as I love getting snail-mail), but one of the things that I do not love is getting forwards. Yes, forwards. I get them ALL the time! Depending on who sent them to me, I usually just delete them. One by one. Click by click. Until my Inbox is completely free of them. But if someone specific sent it to me, or maybe even personalized it (i.e. "I think you'd really like this" or "this reminded me of you") then I'll actually read it, but I usually just delete them. ...No offense to the sender.

So, today, much like any other day, I had to "take out the trash" of my Inbox. I deleted a few ads from different banks or whatever; deleted some retail ads and some online bookstore ads; but then I stopped on a forward sent to me by my sister. I sighed. Ugh. If only she wasn't related, then I'd have just deleted it and saved myself the torture of actually reading it... and there weren't even cool pictures to look at... Well, this is something like what I read:

>
>>
>>>THIS IS FOR REALS!!
>>>>
>>I'm dead serious!
>>
>> If you don't send to everyone in your contact list then something really bad is going to
>happen to you!
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>>> keep scrolling and read the following!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>It's creepy!
>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>
(Lots of weird shapes. Yada. Yada. Does the computer automatically do that or does the sender just get bored?)
>>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>
>
>
...but then, somehow the rest of the forward gets slurred together or the contents get lost in the jumble of little arrows and half the time I really have no idea what the email is going on about. Anyway... It continues...
>
> Pass it on to your true friends (as opposed to your false ones).
>
>SOMETHING GOOD WILL HAPPEN TO YOU TODAY.
>SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING TO HEAR.
>
>
>
> THIS IS NOT A JOKE; SOMEONE WILL CALL YOU BY PHONE
> OR WILL SPEAK TO YOU ABOUT SOMETHING THAT YOU WERE WAITING
> TO HEAR.

....and then, this is the part I always get a kick out of:

>>Do NOT BREAK THIS EMAIL!
>IF you do, something terrible will happen!
>Send it to a minimum of 234 people
>>>within five minutes!
>
>
>Send it -or else!
>
>
>
>
...And what do I do next? The only logical thing: I delete it.

What Happens in Arkansas Stays in Arkansas....

It's gone. All of it... But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I really only have three things to say, hence the three horribly formed paragraphs below...

I said goodbye to the family today, around nine-thirty this morning (they came for a very short visit to see some of the church sights -but I'll post more on that later). They were headed home and I was headed to Arkansas for one of my orthodontics appointments. Well, the drive was fine. Nice and hot. I grunged down for the drive as Sheldon lacks an AC, and thankfully I didn't sweat at all through the entire drive! Amazing what something little can do. But then... now I wish I had picked something else to wear. Something a little more... shielded... Anyway. In my stupidity I played a game. One must have something to entertain ones self when driving across states. The game was "Lets see how tan we can get Julia's left arm until it turns crisp and red..." Well that wasn't exactly what I was aiming for. I usually don't tan, and the occurrence today merely proved that further. I don't tan. Really I don't. I simply burn tomato red and suffer the entire week after. Nothing I look forward to. Well, I had forgotten this simple tan-less fact and tried it out anyway. I wanted to see if I could make my arm any more darker than the other. My last trip proved a slight success when I noted that my right arm was only a slight shade lighter. Anyway. Boredom and lack of company got to me. I gave in and played the stupid game. Now, needless to say, I have a very bright red (-and I do mean RED. Against my pale skin it looks very obvious) cover that stretches from right under my chin down to the knuckles in my hand. My whole upper-left side... Ouch. It really hurts.

Oh but I have good news! My orthodontics informed me that I am now on month 21 of 24. (that is to say my teeth have progress to that equivalence. I haven't really had them in for so long. Wait. ...maybe I have. Has it really been that long?) My only instructions were to ware my rubber bands (now Jaguar instead of a Sea-Lion, which means that the bands are bigger and harder to handle, but will be a big leap in my progress for a perfect smile) for twenty-one hours a day -and nothing less! -and also to chew gum. Lots and lots of gum. (I'm not a gum chewer. And it makes it even more awkward to have to chew it when your mouth is clamped shut with thick bands. But doctors orders. I guess I'll have to go and get some.) So yes, I'll have to wear these thick bands for seven weeks, and then I'll go in and, IF all has gone well, I should be getting my braces off then (not all of my braces just the front of the top row and some of the bottom row) and then, IF all goes well, they'll take the rest of them off two weeks later, fit me for a retainer that I'll have for the rest of my life pretty much, and then they'll send me on my way. (On my way to Idaho!) So, in sum, I should have my braces totally off by late October. Hopefully. If all goes well...

...Okay, so for my next piece of news. ...It's gone. All of it. I've wanted to do it for months now, its really been getting in my way and what with the hot weather and all, it just seemed to be slowing me down... Well, as much as the thing can. ...I cut my hair, or rather, I had my hair cut. All of it. I mean, I'm no Patrick Stewart or anyone, but it definitely looks different. To be honest I didn't think I'd like it. As soon as the scissors touched my hair and I shut my eyes. Oh please! Please, Father. Please let me like it! I suddenly felt the urge to jump to my feet and bolt for the door. What was I doing?! My hair! My long, dishwater hair! What had I done? I felt silly when I had to swallow the lump in my throat at the fact that I would no longer have my hair. No longer have that big mess of strings hanging down my back. No longer struggle forever to try and straighten it. No longer waste so much product on keeping the nest clean... I should be happy. I shouldn't feel sad. Regardless. I still was. It was strange, feeling the tips of my hair brush against my shoulder whenever I turned my head to see the road behind me. I was in shock every time I brushed my hand through my hair only to find that mid-way, there was nothing for my fingers to find. Nothing. It was gone. Sitting in a trash can in an Arkansas salon, shoved in the corner of a supermarket. *Sigh* ...And yet, I think I like it. No, I do. At least, I think I do. I guess I'll have to wait for someone else to see it before I let my own opinion out. But, even if I discover that I actually do hate the thing, there's really nothing I can do. What's done is done. *Sigh* Oh well. Depending on my developing opinion and the opinion of my hosts, I may post pictures later. Or I might not...

Email: Elder Willis

Okay, so this isn't quite the norm, but I wanted to post this up because -for all of you who are a member of my family (distant or not)- I figured that this would be sort of an update. Elder Jacob Willis was sent out onto the field on the twenty-ninth of last month (which is also my Dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Dad!) and he finally got around to sending me his address in an email. Well, this is the email that I got from my brother, which isn't even exactly mine. Well, that is to say, he didn't bother personalizing it. Oh well. Enjoy!

Hi Julia, its me. I sent this bit to the fam. so i just coppied it for you:
My Pday is on Monday now. And ill be getting on about this time every week at least for 6 weeks, most likely for 12 or 18. Anyways, Ive only been here for a week and ive already found a scorpion, roadrunner, freaky spiders, 200 million types of cactus (including the choya [jumping cactus]), taught 19 lessons so far, and most were in spanish, eaten dinner at a members house every night, made some friends, in the ward, ill be giving a talk next Sunday at the new ward, and a ton of other stuff. But thats about the jist of it. Oh, and we have as much time as we need on the computers now. My companion says he spends between an hour and an hour and a half. I probably wont need that much. Anyways, im attaching some pictures too. Thats the Valley from the plane, My house and car, A cool Scorpion, and roadrunner. Ill send more pictures later.

So, im doing really good. I miss you, and can wait tell i get letters again. (Dearelder.com doesn't work here. Thats what ive been told at least) My new address is "226 West Siesta Way Phoenix, AZ 85041". Ill be there definetely for another 5 weeks, and most likely for another 6 or 12 after that. Transfers are 6 weeks, and ill probably stay here for a while. I plan of being fluent by the end of my first transfer. I can do it. My trainer Elder Borup (ill send you a pic later. I don't have one yet.) said im doing really good, and were only going to speak Spanish to each other from now on when we can.

Anyways, thats about it. Im doing really good and i love it here. Thanks again for you letters and Package. Will you call Josh and yell at him for me. And give him my new address please. Well, i love you. BYE!!

Nostalgia?

Okay, so I was driving to work the other day and I while I was waiting at the fifth stoplight (all of them red. Just my luck.) I noticed the car in front of me. Well, of course I noticed, it's just, I mean, I paid more attention to it than I normally would any other car. Anyway- The car had a long white body and a brown strip along either side. I recognized the car immediately as a station wagon. But then, that's just like saying something was a van or a truck. It surprised me then that this car, this station wagon, was a Buick. Thats the reason why this car caught my attention. I had no idea that Buick made station wagons. With this model specifically, I tend to try and avoid it. Whenever one passes me on the road I look the other way as a wave of nausea sweeps over me. I really don't like station wagons.

The reason? Well, I'll tell you. With painful, unwanted childhood memories, I try my best to block them out. Unfortunately, whenever that happens I find myself utterly surprised when something shakes my memory. Like the other day looking down my nose at the hideous car. Ugh. You see, my family use to own one when I was younger. In fact, I don't remember owning any other car (aside from my dad's work car). This was our family car. Thankfully it was replaced with our fifteen-passenger-van.

That car had a lot of memories, most of them still make me sick. The car was long, as station wagons go, and the flat bed in the back folded out into two benches, on either side of the car. As children, one of our favorite games was to see how many kids we could stuff down inside the space between the benches and still be able to close them together. (Youngsters that we were, the idea of having the ability to still breath wasn't something we cared about. Air was air and it was always there.) I think the most we ever got was three, unless you stuffed in the littlest ones first.

We did all of our traveling in that car; vacations, church, store trips, everything. As a child the most vivid memory I have with that car is my constant feel of being car sick. That smell of hot fabric and the rush of heat whenever we climbed inside. The car was always the same as the weather. If it was hot outside the car would be hot too. If it was freezing outside the car would be freezing too.

So, sitting there in my car, in my twelve year old Buick Skylark, I felt a rush of memories sweep into the front of my head which left an awful, familiar sickness. An after-taste of my childhood. Eww. Does nostalgia have an opposite?

Night Owl.

Okay, so as much as I'd love to draw this post out to every minuscule detail (I do love details) ...I can't. I am much too tired and brain dead for any of that. I feel dead. Well, the term "dead on my feet" is how I feel. Ugh.

So I bought the book last night. I was able to hang out at Wal-Mart with two of my good friends, along with all the other excited teenage girls, for the book. A vendor, I never did catch her name, was the one who first introduced us to the books. First she set up a small table and laid out a bag of buttons and a stack of stickers -all of them Breaking Dawn Themed. I grabbed three of each -hey I had family-fans. ;) Well, it was fun waiting and all. The book was tons bigger than I expected. It's more like the new Webster's Dictionary than a teen novel. It's huge! So yeah, I drove home in torture at the idea that I had to wait the whole fifteen minutes to drive home before I could sink my teeth into the book. It took a surprising amount of concentration to keep from speeding all the way home.

Anyway, blah, blah, blah. I got home, changed into my jamies, got comfortable on the couch and just read. I was careful to leave the living room light on as well as the bright lamp in the corner. I didn't want to risk falling asleep, not to mention ruining my eyes. Well, one o'clock rolled around, and I surprisingly wasn't tired. Then one turned into three, barely noticed, and then when six thirty rolled around I shut the book. I wasn't close to being done, but I was getting really tired. It wouldn't hurt if I just shut my eyes for a few minutes. I could see the sun peaking in through the blinds and I was sure I wouldn't sleep for very long anyway. Well, just as soon as the book was safely tucked at my side, my eyelids fell like a ton of bricks. I was out. I was out cold. I think the word "unconscious" wouldn't be at all far from reality. I woke up an hour later though afraid that I would sleep in too late.

So yeah, now, aside from my ever burning eyes, my senses and muscles are all but completely dead. I can hardly move. I hurts to hold anything. Even holding my fork at breakfast was too much for my weak state. Holy Cow. I can hardly stand without staggering or having to brace myself against a wall. Ungh. Work is going to be fun. Sure. Sure.

I've never pulled an all-nighter before. Today would be the first, and I still didn't technically do it. I was curious to see how my body would handle it. Obviously, it isn't doing too well. Not only am I the weakest link, but my emotions are all out of whack. I don't even know how to handle myself! ...Man, I am so tired. Anyway, the book is going good. I can't really say that I'm "enjoying it". I am at a very interesting part in it though. I'll be sure and let you know my honest opinion of it just as soon as I finish. I don't seem to be getting any farther into it than I was six hours ago, but that's okay. I'll finish it eventually. Probably Sunday, if luck has me.

I have work this afternoon and I don't get off until very late. And if my calculations are correct by the time I get home tonight I'll have pulled a solid forty hours of being awake, of course, with the exception of that one hour. So thirty-nine.

I guess this has taught me at least one thing:
Julia + Sleep Deprivation = Totally Not Good.

Book Four

Okay, so I'm trying really hard to contain myself right now. "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer, the final installment of the Twilight Saga, is coming out in less than a day!! And I would totally fill up an entire post of exclamation marks if I knew it was going to get my excitement across. But I won't do that. That would be a waste. Just trust that I am practically bubbling with joy and impatience. It's almost like the feeling I had when I actually got to meet Stephenie Meyer (and I still can not believe it actually happened. I have to remind myself more frequently now) but not nearly as much. Still, I am WAY, TOTALLY, UTTERLY, and in every sense of the word ECSTATIC! for this next book. The last time I was this excited for a book was when Harry Potter Seven came out. And that was a long time ago. "Breaking Dawn" here I come!!! ...just as soon as I finish work, and pick up some deodorant...