Weddings, Parties and Socializing... Ew

Last Saturday I went to my first wedding ever. It was a friend's- Alex. The whole thing was really sweet. It was a relatively small wedding, compared to what I imagine a wedding to be. I saw an old friend from middle school there too. So I sat and talked with her. Which was hard, but I guess I pulled it off. So weddings are nice, and now I can't wait until my sisters.

Right afterwards we went to a party of another family friend. They are insanely rich, so the party was amazing. They had at least three different caterers, a wait staff and a drink bar. I was telling my cousin Hailey that I felt bad when the waiters came to take our cups and plates and things. I wanted to stand up and say "I can do it myself you know...". And we both agreed that one of the waiters looked exactly like Chase from the TV show House. One of the guests there was the writer and director of the show Gilmore Girls. Susan, who was throwing the party is her sister-in-law. Pretty crazy stuff... Yea, good time. I had some Crush soda...

Yesterday I went bowling with a mass of clarinet players. It was fun, and I sucked. 80 was my highest score. Yea, it was frustrating. Especially with John at some 150. I had a strong urge to kick him after he got his 4th or 5th spare. I should have... And then today I went bowling again with family including Haley from Maryland. (Not the same Hailey from the party, if you care.) And I bowled worse than the first time. Oh well...

I'm going camping tomorrow... Doheny. Even though I went to the beach 2 weeks ago, I'm still excited for it. I can't remember the last time I went camping. Oh, and we're bringing lots of cards, to play Nerts. Hopefully we'll get more of them hooked. And maybe Hailey can beat us this time. Okay, I'm off to Costco...

-Julia

I Love Juice

Sudden realization the other day as I was getting ready to eat my breakfast-for-dinner: I love juice. It's great stuff. I had some Strawberry Kiwi. And then some Orange-Peach-Mango. It was delicious. You guys should all go drink some juice now.

I've figured it out that I don't have a free day until school starts again. Wait, take it back- I have two. Yes! The 21st and 29th of July... Oh yea... That's exciting. Between babysitting, school and family I have no extra time. It's pretty crazy and really tiring.

Earlier this month, my cousin Haley flew in from Maryland. Last time I saw her was two summers ago, and she's changed a lot. It's been really cool spending these past couple of weeks with her. But now my other cousin stole her, and I won't see her as often. Here are some pictures of her and me, when we visited the Devil's Punchbowl this morning.

As most of you know, I have a slight obsession with the show So You Think You Can Dance. Last week we got tickets to see a taping of the Thursday night show (the vote off show). So last night, my mom, dad, cousin and I went to the show! We went inside the studio and everything. It looks so big on TV, but it's tiny in there. We got to see two dances, plus some solos. We saw all of the dancers and I was close enough, I could've touched Mark and Gev. You could see both of my parents on the TV screen a couple of times, because we were in the spot that the camera goes to the most. It's amazing being there, and so much fun. Oh and I also learned that Mary Murphy smiles, even off-camera. Great, great time, and I hope I get to go to another taping soon. After that we walked around in the Grove for a while. We went through the Farmer's Market and I got some Coca-Cola from Mexico, with real sugar, instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup. So much better... Then we kept walking until they started complaining about their feet. Come on, 7 hours standing up- no big deal.

Last Wednesday I went to Terra Nova at my church and they showed this video of Rob Bell. One part I'd like to show you, if you want to see. It's really funny to me. It's about the naming of the animals in Genesis. He does some more with this, but I can't find a video that has it.

The new Relient K cd is out and I just got it in the mail yesterday. The Bird and the Bee Sides. It's 13 of their new songs, and 13 older ones. Sadly, it's not as good as their last album- Five Score and Seven Years ago. But hey, that's just my opinion. I'm still a huge fan of Relient K, I'm just a little disappointed right now. Some of the songs sound a little country-ish to me and one of the few genres of music I cannot stand is country. But I like the rest of the album, and I'd recommend it.

I'd better go watch Hatari. Finally, now that I have a free moment. Enjoy summer.

-Julia

Murderous, Thieving Drunks

Finally, a social life during summer. Well, sort of. I guess not considering most of it was with family... Yea, never mind. But I'm still having fun, so that should count for something.

Last week I went to Priscila's Quinceañera. It was a great time in my opinion, and Priscila looked amazing. I had fun, even if I didn't dance. I got called the party pooper of the night, and I was told I "pulled a Kevin" just standing on the dance floor. But I won't go there. Thanks Pris for inviting me, and I'm glad I could be a part of that night with you.

In the last couple of weeks my family and I have been going movie crazy. Last Sunday we went to see Get Smart. It was a lot funnier than I thought it was going to be. Everyone that went said that the laughed a lot more than expected. It did get a little sick at times, which got annoying. But overall, decent movie. I've grown to like the TV show too. Then a couple days later we saw Wall-e, which was really cute. They did a good job, especially with having little to no dialogue in the first half hour or so. Then some of us went to see Hancock. Some of the scenes were really intense, and actually made me jump. So I think that's a good sign.

I missed a band practice last Wednesday because I had another nerdy band class to go to. But somehow, I got the music anyway. Marcea came over that same day, and we had our own practice. It went pretty well, until we both got sick of playing. Then my family convinced her to stay and watch So You Think You Can Dance with us. (Another amazing show.) That was all fun, in a sort of last-minute way. I notice Marcea is one of the few friends I can do that with. Just say "Hey, come over now." And it's not difficult to find something to entertain ourselves with. Also, one of the few friends I can just talk to, and keep talking to. Not even remembering what we were talking about. Just rambling on. That's always nice...

Last Thursday I went to Camille's, this restaurant in Lancaster. My sister decided that they were going to cater her wedding. The serve sandwiches, and chips and salsa, and chicken and tuna salads. It's really exciting that we have that finished. One step closer. And we also bought the Bridesmaid's dresses. And on the 18th a few of us plan on going up to the Punchbowl again, where their wedding is going to be. Okay, enough of this rant.

My 4th of July was really fun. It was one of the biggest parties we've had in a while. There was family, future family, church friends, family of church friends. It was cool. Sadly, the only age group close enough to me was in the 18- 21 year old range. But I was told I wasn't a bother, which was a relief. I like hanging with them. They're entertaining. Oh, and I killed them all at a game of Nerts. That was exciting... And I also heard some horrifying stories about my ancestors. On my dad's side, I have some Scottish. Apparently, we were part of the Campbell Clan. Pretty much all of our surrounding neighbors hated us. So we invited the McNab Clan over for a feast or something like that, to make up for everything. So they were all having a swell time, and they all got drunk. So while all the McNabs were sprawled on the floor, us Campbell's killed them all off... That's awful... And then I hear some of my ancestors on my Mom's side were Italian pirates. And then someone made some comment about us being Irish, and Irish being drunk. So that's where Murderous, Thieving Drunks comes from. But other than that disturbing news, I had a great time. Fireworks were pretty and we had a handful of illegal ones in the valley this year. Here are some pictures.

I've been reading Romans in the handy-dandy Bible lately. And sometimes I get a little confused. But we have this really cool book, called the Message. It's pretty much paraprashing the Bible, and helping people understand it better. I think it does a really good job, because it helps me a lot. I'd suggest it to anyone struggling through the Bible like I am. I'd just say make sure you read the real verses along with it. To get the details. Cool stuff... Oh, and then I was also looking through the Old Testament, looking for the story of Samson. And I read all of these titles I'd never heard of before. Like: Nahum, Haggai, and Habakkuk. I have no clue what's in any of those chapters... I felt kinda bad for not knowing. Well, I guess I'm off to bed, and I think I'll go read Romans now.

-Julia