Inside all of us is a WILD THING...

I can not wait for this movie to come out:

Where The Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak was my FAVORITE book as a kid. I even bought a pink shirt with the book cover design on it just a few years ago. I loved it, maybe because I have always been a dreamer (in the literal sense, and in the figurative sense too, but right now I am talking about literally...I have always had very vivid dreams).
Who wants to go with me to see it?

Yes, I'm still alive.

I know my blog junkies have been craving a fix of "Julia's Thoughts," but they have just been in my head, not on the internet. That is for a few reasons, which I will list now, then blog about later this week:
1. Spring Break (busy having fun, no time for blogging)
2. Tatem, Scott, and Eliza came in town! Hello, why would I sit in front of a computer when I could be giving Ellie horsie rides around the living room! Duh!

3. We spent Wednesday-late Saturday night in the great Northwest.
4. Okay, the real reason is that our laptop has been in repair by the Geek Squad at Best Buy. It is hard to blog when you do not have a computer to use.

I promise I will blog soon and post lots of delightful pics from the past week. Thanks for being patient! Wish me luck, this week I start second grade. I hope I like it as much as my kinder cubs! :)

The Office

Happy Friday! For those of you who get one, Happy Spring Break! Here is some Friday cheer for everyone, on this Friday the 13th!!! :)
PS- I hope you like The Office, or you might not appreciate the cheer I am spreading, haha!

Drip Drop

Tuesday I got to school and received several compliments about my hair from the ladies in the office. I thought the kids would think it was cool Icut my hair too, but when I got to the classroom, they all just kind of looked at me funny. One little boy finally said "Mrs. Oldham, you were way much better with long hair." Haha, I just laughed, it did not bother me in the least. Then several of the other boys chimed in "yeah, it was best long" but thank goodness for sweet little girls..."you look pretty ALL the time Mrs. Oldham" (or some variation of that name, depending on who was the one speaking).

Kelly Clarkson's new CD is AWESOME! It is like her Breakaway album...very fun and catchy. Even the slower songs are amazing! I love when an artist I like releases a new CD, because you get to see them everywhere! (Ellen, Jay Leno, David Letterman, etc) Well, Kelly was on American Idol last night and she was great. I will say she has gained weight, but who cares? She is a great singer, and I have heard she is pretty down to earth. She has a house in Mansfield, which is like 20 minutes from us, so lots of people around here know her.

Speaking of American Idol...YES! I like the top 11 remaining contestants. I still have not decided who is my absolute favorite, but I like Alexis and Megan alot. I like girls with a little punk edge to them...haha, maybe it's because I always wanted to have one, but was too scared to not be mainstream? Shame on me! I also love Lil Rounds because she reminds me of Mary J. Blige. My two favorite guys are Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert, but part of me wants Anoop to go far too. As you can see...I like ALOT of them! :) I'm going to pick one video a week to post though, and it's hard to decide which, but this week my favorite performance award goes out to ALEXIS GRACE! (even though I have never heard the song "Dirty Diana")


I already devoted an entire post to Dancing With The Stars, but I will just say again...I'm a fan! Go Melissa!

Eli sent me a link to this amazing video. It is a fun little pop song, but the video is a treat for the eyes. :) Definitely worth watching!!! "I wanna see you drip drop, drip drop, drip drop!" Also, some of the dance mixes to it are really fun too...makes me wanna go dancing with Eli! :)

Post about my last day of Kindergarten coming soon! :)

These baby blues are hurting...

I can't believe I am just now posting about this. I started this blog last Friday...

I went to the eye doctor today for my annual check-up. I go every year and get new contacts and find out my vision has gotten even worse. Seriously, I got glasses in third grade (but never wore them), by sixth grade I had to wear them non-stop. In seventh grade I got contacts, and have been wearing them since then. I've always been good about going to the doctor once a year, and every year my prescription gets stronger. I tried to get lasik when I was 18, but I was not a candidate because my vision was still changing too much. My optometrist told me that it should stop changing any time now, but here we are 7 years later, and it is STILL getting worse! :( Hopefully now that I am in my mid-twenties...it really will quit changing! I certainly hope so, or at this rate I will be blind by 40! (I practically already am!)
Anyways, these visits are always quick and painless...just order the new contacts, pay the money, and go. NOT THIS TIME!! It never even entered my mind that the appointment could throw a curveball at me, but it did! I had been having some discomfort in my eyes lately, but I thought it was a new mascara I bought, and made a mental note not to buy it again. Simple right? Nope! I have an eye condition called Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis (GPC). Basically, "there is increased mucus production, irritation, itching, sometimes photophobia (light sensitivity) and decreased tolerance to contact lens wear. Soft lens wearers may find their lenses moving with the blinking of their eyelids, further irritating the eye and causing even more mucus secretions---creating a cycle of increasing severity of symptoms." The good news is that my doctor said that we caught it early and he thinks the medicated drops we prescribed me will be able to reverse the effects. (The other good news was that since I have a medical issue, I got to file the appointment with Blue Cross, Blue Shield, even though I don't have vision insurance through them.) Anyways, so I have to majorly cut back the hours and amount I wear my contacts. That means I am going to have to start wearing my glasses alot more. :( My current glasses prescription is 6 years old (since I used to only wear them at night and in the morning), so I am getting new glasses this year in addition to the new kind of "breathable" contacts I am switching to.
It just occurred to me that this is probably really boring, and I'm sorry for that. I doubt you care about my vision and eyes. haha. SORRY! I promise tomorrow I am posting a really good one, about my last week in Kindergarten! :)

DWTS

I have never watched the show "Dancing With The Stars" before, but I love this season's cast of stars! After one night...I am hooked! :) The hard part is that there are so many people I like, I don't know who to root for, so for now I am rooting for several of them...Shawn Johnson, Holly Madison, Ty Murray, Steve-O (who is sober now) and probably my favorite (if I was forced to pick one) would be MELISSA from The Bachelor! I love her, and y'all...she can dance! Good job ABC for putting her on the show! :)

Best SUNday ever!

This day was so awesome. I just have to start at the beginning.
-Woke up late, snuggled right in between Zac and Molly.
-Had lunch with Zac and Ram at one of my favorite restaurants, Jason's Deli! Hello...have you tried their broccoli/cheese soup? YUM!
-Breck stopped by for a few hours. She was up in the area this weekend visiting other friends, so she came by on her way home. We ended up talking for like two hours, and it was SO awesome to catch up and just sit and visit.
-I found out that Tatem, Scott, and Eliza are coming to see us next weekend! We are so super excited! We are going to go to either the Dallas Zoo, or the Dallas Aquarium. Any opinions on which is better for a 16 month old and four adults? I know some of y'all have been to both!
-Watched "School of Rock" which makes me happy EVERY time I watch it! :) "You're not hardcore, unless you live hardcore!"
-We went on a Molly Outing! She has been having to sit at home so much, now that I am interning, and Track has started up, so we wanted to do something fun for her. We considered going back to the "clay park" (that's just my own personal nickname for it!), but decided to venture out and try something new. Zac knew about a lake in Waxahachie, about fifteen minutes from us, so we headed that way, with fingers crossed. We got there, and it was perfect! :) Molly got to run, and swim, and sniff, and mark trees...all her dreams came true! She hasn't been swimming since last summer, so we were not sure if she would get right in, but she didn't hesitate much. We thought the boat ramp would be a good place for her to be able to "ease" her way in, but she accidentally stepped off the side of the ramp and plunged into the deepness. Her face was so scared for a second, but then her Aqua Dog skills kicked in, and she just swam right back to us.

She also loved to fetch sticks...


-After the lake, we were on our way home and saw a snow cone stand! If you know me, you know I LOVE snow cones!! I got half grape, half peach, and Zac got his fave...pickle juice. (nope, I am not kidding...that really is his favorite. He likes it even better with Lemon/Lime salt on it, as if it's not salty enough!)
-Look how beautiful the sky was tonight...

-When we got home, we gave Molly a bath, and then she immediately passed out on the couch, not to wake up until the morning. She will be dreaming about swimming, sticks, and car rides tonight! :)
If you want to see ALL the pics, go to my picasa page. I have posted all the pics from the entire AWESOME AND AMAZING weekend.

My First Red Carpet

So this past weekend I got to walk my first red carpet...and not even as a guest! I was a host and a presenter! :) Okay, so really it was just our cheerleading banquet, but it was HOLLYWOOD themed and oh-so amazing! The moms and "banquet planning committee" did all the decor and planning, so I had no clue how fantastic it would be! I can not believe how gorgeous this room was. I wish I had taken pics of the room before everyone got there, but I didn't. Silly me. I will tell you about it though...as you walked in, there was a red carpet, and then huge white letters spelling Hollywood (like on the side of that hill). The banquet room had chair rail going all the way around the room, and the moms had made each one of the girls a Hollywood Walk of Fame star. The tables had movie reels and Oscars on top of them. The colors of the evening were red, gold, black, and white, so there were also some red and gold Hershey kisses scattered on the tables. On both sides of the buffet line (which had the yummiest Italian food!) were humongous, larger than life gold Emmys. There was not a single detail left unthought of. I was worried that there might be some drama, since we all know this year was rough (to put it nicely) but everyone was on their best behavior. It was truly a magical night, and a wonderful way to end a really rocky year! I even got a big scrapbook a girl made, some roses, cards, and lots of hugs. :) Oh, and I forgot to mention there were favors for everyone at the end of the night...big bags of red, gold and black candy!

Colorectal Cancer

You know that Colon Cancer Awareness is a cause that is very near and dear to my heart. It does not get near the publicity that breast cancer or heart disease gets, even though it is a huge problem. This month is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and I want to do my part to raise awareness! Did you know...

Among cancers that affect both men and women, colorectal cancer—cancer of the colon or rectum—is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the United States.

The risk of developing colorectal cancer increases with advancing age. More than 90% of cases occur in people aged 50 or older.

If everybody aged 50 or older had regular screening tests, as many as 60% of deaths from colorectal cancer could be prevented.

A colonoscopy is a simple, short procedure. I have had like 15, and that was back when you had to drink 4 liters of pure nastiness the night before! Now days, you can drink like 8 ounces, or even opt for a pill...so simple! NO EXCUSES!!!

To learn more about Colon Cancer, or to spread the word, please see these sites:

CDC site for Colorectal Cancer (This is actually REALLY informative and easy to navigate.)

Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (I have been a member of this since I was 15!)

The Climb

There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes you're going to have to lose,
Ain’t about how fast I get there,
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb
We had a wonderful time in Oklahoma this weekend with Liz and Andy and Madeline. I will post stories, pictures, and videos this afternoon about our trip to the Ranch. In the meantime, I want to share with y'all an epiphany I had.
At breakfast Sunday morning, I was talking about how I can't wait to move back to Austin and leave the town we are in now, how I am sick of school, and ready to be in the next phase of my life. Uncle Ken shared some words of wisdom with me that I have been thinking about ever since. He said that we should enjoy every phase of our life, because after all, it is part of our life. If we spend our time thinking about what will be better in the future, we can't see the good in the present. It makes sense, but I guess it just took someone telling me to my face that I need to enjoy every day and be grateful for all the phases of my life. With that being said, I am going to try to start soaking up the present, appreciating each day, and all the blessings I have NOW. I will still look forward to the day I graduate and the day we get to move back to Austin, but I might as well have fun, be grateful daily, and LIVE each day like it is the day I am looking forward to.
I also came across this beautiful song that has a similar message. I know some of you will hate it before you give it a chance (because yes, it is by Miley Cyrus), but it truly is a pretty song, with alot of meaning.

The struggles I’m facing,
The chances I’m taking
Sometimes they knock me down but
No I’m not breaking
I may not know it,
But these are the moments that
I’m going to remember most
Just got to keep going
And I,
I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on...