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A much needed update!

I'm so bad at this! It's been over 3 weeks since I last posted - and so much as happened since then, which explains my lack of sharing with you - at least in part!

First, I just have to point out that today marks just 25 days until my wedding! That's less than 4 weeks now! It's gone by so quickly and I know the few remaining days are probably going to go even more quickly. It's been fun, though. I had my first shower last Saturday - a co-ed western themed shower with pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, corn on the cob, and broccoli salad - courtesy of my mom, of course! I'm really looking forward to this Saturday, too. I have shower number two, a "traditional" shower hosted by my maid of honor, my sister, and that afternoon my bridesmaids and I are heading over to Disneyland for my bachelorette party, which I'm super excited about!

A lot of changes have happened in the last few weeks. I was finally able to find a job!!! Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me. It's a huge stress relief to have this job - and I absolutely love it. I'm working as the administrative assistant for Relational Ministries at the Crystal Cathedral. I am the assistant for the Lead Pastor who oversees Children's Ministry, Youth Ministry, Men's & Women's Ministry, Care Ministry, New Members, Baptisms, and Weddings. Yep, we're busy with a lot - and especially because we have a huge event coming up on September 19 called Community Fest that we're planning and coordinating! I came in at the tail end of the planning, so I haven't experienced the entire planning process, but we're certainly busy now!

I love the team I'm working with. We had a retreat last week and it was such a great opportunity to get to know our team - quite an eclectic bunch we are - and to be able to fellowship with one another. My boss is amazing as well. It's so nice to work for someone who is so caring, supportive, and encouraging. She models so well what a Christian woman should be and I'm so excited to be able to learn from her. Not only was this job an answer to prayer, but it is a total blessing. I actually look forward to coming to work because it's such a great environment to work in!

With so many changes going on in my life, I have also chosen to resign my position as the yearbook adviser at Azusa Pacific. After much prayer and conversation with John and my family, I decided it was in the best interest of the program and my life outside of APU to move on. I must say it was bittersweet. I've been involved, in one way or another, with the Tavaleph yearbook since I was a junior in 2002-2003, and it's something I absolutely love doing, but I also felt such a huge burden lifted off my shoulders after I talked with my department chair and stepped down. I'm sure I'll miss some aspects of it, but I know I made the right decision. I really need to focus on my new full-time job and my new marriage (and eventual family).

I'm very excited about what God has in store for me. I don't always understand why things happen the way they do, but I'm confident that everything I've been through the past three years has lead me to where I am now and I couldn't have asked for anything better than what God has blessed me with today!

50 Days to Go!

I can hardly believe that there are just 50 more days until my wedding - just 7 weeks from tomorrow! I'm finally able to get into the smaller and more "last minute" details after a short break from major wedding plans.

Yesterday, I went to the tailor shop to do my first fitting for alteration. It was SO fun to put the dress on again after almost 6 months of it sitting in the closet. And this time I had all of my other accessories (undergarments, shoes, etc.) to make sure the alterations are done just right.

I absolutely LOVE the woman who is doing my alterations. It's a small little shop in Long Beach called Marta's Tailor Shop and my mom is having her jacket thing for her dress altered there and we're very confident in her work. She seems extremely knowledgeabe, as evidenced by her solution to my hem and train with beading so I don't lose half of the beading! I can't wait to see it once she has it all pinned and ready to sew when we go back on the 29th!

NOTE: I would post photos, but since John reads this, unfortunately, I can't so he won't see me in the dress before the wedding!

I also had my first experience at Fabric Barn (recommended by two women at my new job). I heard they had a ton of ribbon for really low prices as well as wedding supplies, and since it was right around the corner from the tailor, we decided to check it out.

All I have to say is WOW! We found tulle for amazingly low prices (like 1/2 of Michaels or Joann's), so we stocked up on that and my mom found some decoration for our shower in three weeks. We also found the bags for our favors - they're clear plastic with a green, pink and blue (John will like that!) contemporary floral pattern. It should look really nice with what we're planning to do for our favors!

Our final stop of the day was at Sephora in JCPenney's at the Lakewood Mall. After looking extensively for reasonably priced make-up artists, my mom and I decided that we would get make-overs and just do our own make-up the day of the wedding. It was a lot of fun doing that with my mom. I learned a lot about doing make-up and discovered that sometimes, everyone else knows best.

I was undecided on exactly what I wanted to do for my eyes - either pinks or a more dramatic eye, so the make-up artist tried one of each and while I liked the pinks better since that's what I'm used to wearing when I do wear eye make-up, everyone else - my mom, another employee and the girl doing my make-up all liked the darker eye. After looking at it again later, especially after the eyeliner was on, I had to agree with them! It'll be a bit different for me, but at least John couldn't tell the difference between the two eyes when I saw him that night!

I can't wait until next week when all of my packages are scheduled to arrive for all of the orders that I made the past week - more paper, our sand ceremony vases, the sand, pudding for favors, and the ribbon to make the almond flowers!

ON A SIDE NOTE: I also found out yesterday that I will be starting a new job as an administrative assistant next Tuesday! I'm very excited about it...I just have to make sure I utilize my time in the evenings well so I'm not left with a ton of things to do during the week before the wedding!

What I Learned at Yearbook Camp: Day 2

So, this is going to be short and sweet because I'm super tired and my legs/knees are super sore...I'm starting to understand how age affects people now. These hills and stairs were so much easier just a couple years ago!

1) I decided to attend a class about marketing in hopes of gaining information and ideas about how to do damage control with the yearbook program at APU and really reach out to the students through some strategically planned PR. Well, I have a lot of great ideas which I plan to implement as part of the yearbook courses this fall and while I know it will take time, I strongly believe there is hope of reviving the program!

Since I only have one thing I learned tonight, I chose two favorite photos from today, both because of the angle.

Tomorrow we're off to the beach and a picnic, plus some more classes and technology training!

P.S. Just 2 months from today, I will be Mrs. Julius!!!!

What I Learned at Yearbook Camp: Day 1

I'll start by answering the question you probably have running through your head...WHAT is yearbook camp?

Well, the easy answer is that it's a camp where yearbook staffs work on the building blocks of their yearbooks for the coming year. It's also a chance for them to hone their skills in photography, design, writing, technology, leadership, and teamwork before they hit the ground running on the first day of school.

As some of you may know, I'm a bit of a yearbook "nerd" and this is actually my 8th summer working at this camp/workshop at Pepperdine University in Malibu. I've been an RA in the past and my role the past couple years, this included, has been the official photographer and tech assistant (which means helping with the rental computer check-out/check-in and software installation on student and adviser computers). Obviously, I love it because I keep coming back!

Each night, I'll share what I learned at camp this year (yearbook related or not) and include one of my favorite photos of the day.

So, here's Monday:

1) Traffic is NEVER good on the 405 (not something new I learned...just something I was reminded of) so make sure you allow yourself about double the amount of time you need to get where you're going if you have to travel a significant distance

2) Construction will make you skinny! If you've never been to Pepperdine, it's built on a hill, so you're constantly walking up and down hills to get where you need to go. They are just finishing up a big construction project right in the middle of the central campus area, which requires taking a detour that greatly increases walking distances (and altitude changes). Even if I pig out all week, I wouldn't be surprised if I lose some weight and tone my legs. In fact, I got up a few minutes ago after sitting for a while and my legs were so stiff!

3) You can never know everything there is know about yearbooks. I learn new things and see creative new ideas and ways of doing things every year I'm at camp and since I'm a yearbook "nerd," it's so exciting to me!

4) PC computers can be very difficult. As I mentioned earlier, I'm working partly as a tech assistant where we install software onto personal computers the campers and advisers bring. Most of them have PC's. It takes at least twice as long to install the software as it does on a Mac and almost half of the PCs wouldn't work for some reason or another! I'm not saying that Macs are better (though if you know me, you know my position on this), just that in this atmosphere and my experience, Macs have been much easier to work with!

5) Cafeteria food is nothing like Mom's home cooking - or even my own home cooking! While I very appreciative of the fact that this cafeteria serves so many campers and camp staffers throughout the summer, I don't understand how warmed up turkey sandwich meat qualifies as dinner. Lunch was actually pretty good though - a pesto pasta. Here's to a better dinner tomorrow!

And finally, as promised, my favorite photo of the day:

In Smothers Theater during the Opening Session

I'm making a quilt! Part 2

I learned how to sew today!

Up until this afternoon, I had never used a sewing machine in my life. I was a little nervous about learning because I'm a bit of a perfectionist. My mom showed me how to thread the needle...and the other 6 or 7 hooks, latches, etc. it needs to be threaded through. She then showed me how to actually run the machine and start and stop at the end of the strips for the particular quilt I'm making.

It was then my turn to try it - it didn't look that difficult! Okay, so it wasn't that difficult, but I did struggle with a few things:

• Keeping the fabrics lined up with the "foot" of the machine AND with each other
• Finding a medium speed...well, more accurately, figuring out how to KEEP that medium speed...those pedals are touchy!
• Starting at the beginning of sewing two fabrics together without having it get jammed

I was able to sew 4 of the 28 blocks so far and I'm hoping it will start to go a bit faster once I get settled and more confident in what I'm doing. I'm really excited though because the strips that I have sewed look really good and I can't wait to see the entire thing put together, though that's a bit down the road still.

I'm making a quilt! Part 1

The only time I have ever sewn in my life is in 4th grade when, as part of this "life skills" unit, we learned how to sew a button on a piece of construction paper.

But, that is all about to change! I am making a quilt and matching euro sham pillow cases for John and I when we get married.

It started with my mom finding this quilt-along on a blog (http://oldredbarnco.blogspot.com - it starts in mid-May, I believe) to make what originally seemed to me like an odd-looking quilt. Well, once she finished it, I realized that it ends up looking really neat and that I was going to make my first sewing adventure a quilt for John and I.

My mom's quilt (the colors are brighter than what mine will be)

Photo by Back Porch Quilters (www.backporchquilters.com)

We had to find 12 different fabrics that went together and fortunately, Pink Chalk Fabrics (www.pinkchalkfabrics.com) had a bunch from the same line, so we knew the colors would match really well (it can be hit or miss when viewing stuff online). We started by picking out fabrics with blues, greens, creams and browns (blue for him, green for me, cream and brown to complement) and ordered them online, mostly from Pink Chalk and the ones they didn't have, we got from different Etsy sellers.

The first step in making this quilt is cutting each of the 12 1-yard lengths into 2.5-inch strips. Oh, and you have iron them all first too! I HATE ironing - that's what a dryer is for!

BUT, I ironed all 12 of those fabrics, folded them, and then cut them...the first three with a dull-blade I come to find out - what a different a sharp blade makes!

It actually went pretty quick. I think it took me about 4 hours to iron and cut all 12 fabrics, but they're done and waiting to be sewn. I just have to find time to make it over to my mom's so she can show me how to use a sewing machine and sew this particular pattern.

Our 12 fabrics in 2.5-inch strips