This Old Thing?

Ben and I in our yukatas.

Ange in her wicked 70's dress.

Laurie in a bridesmaid dress, Jessie in her wedding dress
Devin in his Star Trek tie
The Abbotsfordians guessing at charades
The Langlyites guessing at charades
Ashley in her grad gown, and Chris in his Halloween costume

Jessie and Lars-in Jessie's dress

This Old Thing?

I had my birthday party Saturday (yesterday). My theme was "this old thing?" and people were invited to wear that thing that they would never wear again, or haven't worn in a long time. I was amazed at people's creativity. We had 2 wedding dresses, a bridesmaid dress, a couple grad gowns, Ben and I wore our Japanese yukatas, a tux, a jail shirt, a Star Trek tie, and two beautiful men in dresses (which they promised to never wear again)

(I'll have pictures as soon as Beth emails them to me.. this picture at the top was a cell phone pic..our camera is out getting fixed.. crappy cannon warranty that returns a un-fixed camera and makes me miss taking pictures at my birthday...grrr)

It was also a wine and cheese party, so people brought all sorts of wine and yummy cheeses. Ben and I got a bunch of beads and rings so that people could make their own wine charm/dangley thing. This was good, as I was continually losing my wine glass, and asking people if they had seen a wine glass with a J on it.

People wrote about their outfits, and later in the evening we created a fashion show. I read out what they had written: what they were wearing and when the last time they wore it. Everyone hammed it up real well, and it was sort of an introduction for everyone, as we had people from different aspects our lives all together. I was impressed our basement suit held 20 people!

And then what's a party without charades? Bekah, we played that game you taught us at Christmas, it was actually requested.

All in all, it was a great time. Thanks for those of you who came and helped me celebrate the road to thirty.

If I was a flower...

I am a Sunflower What Flower Are You?

"When your friends think smile, they think of you. There is not a day that goes by that you can't find something good about the world and your fellow human."

It makes me wonder, what kind of flowers are nasty people? I wonder if that's an option in this quizz? Let's find out what the anti-Julia flower would be...

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

"You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."

Kinda spiky.. figured that

Julia's Birthday

Tuesday was my birthday. I turned 26. I thought that should affect me in some way, that I shouldn't like that, but I do. I've actually been 26 for half a year already.. in my mind. Whenever people ask me how old I was, I would think 26, and then remember that I was still 25. I guess 'cause so much has happened in the last year, I figured I must be older for it. Plus I feel like I've achieved a lot already, I've achieved my goals for the most part of what I wanted to do by this age. Our 5 year plan we set out 4 years ago has gone as planned, and I sent in my UBC application for my B. of Education yesterday. (On Tuesday I woke up to apple pancakes, and then in the evening, Ben came home, on his bicycle, with a huge bouquet of flowers! I'm such a lucky girl)

I'm really loving being at the high school on Mondays too. This past Monday I got to be in art classes in the morning. It was great to be able to walk around and talk with students, give them ideas for their projects, and get to know them a bit. The art teacher and I hit it off, and spent lunch drawing animal skulls for an example project for after spring break.
Ok, gotta go to work.

Dreams Come True

Have you ever had a dream come true? Not a day dream, or a "when you wish upon a star" -type dream, but a real, while asleep dream?

My sister's husband has applied, and is very much considered for a Youth Pastoring position on Vancouver Island. While they were still in the "we don't know if this is going to happen" stage, I had a dream that they were accepted, and they were looking for a house. The same night, I dreamed about people dressed up as crayons-like for Halloween. The next day we were at Ben's parent's house for a family dinner, and Ben's brother's girlfriend was saying how when they were little kids, they dressed up in crayons for Halloween. (and as they got older, they became the next colour up in size).

Flash back to YEARS ago-- I watched one of those mystic ghosts and dreams type shows, and this woman had dreamed about her daughter getting stung by a bee, and then she did. She also dreamed about something else that was way more important... and the dream about the bee was for her to pay attention to the second dream that was to come true. For some reason that always stuck with me, and now I was wondering.. did the crayon dream tell me that the dream about my sister's family moving was true?

Anyways, to what most of you want to know... BEN'S INTERVIEWS
He can re-write this later if he wants (he's at work right now). He had his University of Alberta interview on Friday. I drove him to the Abbotsford airport super early on Friday. He got a shuttle from the airport on that side to the school, had his interview. He said it went really well. He didn't endorse euthanasia like some other bloke who interviewed before him. He felt comfortable with the conversation style interview. They had this little square table, three sides of interviewers knocking knees with Ben. They asked a lot about his Japanese and Angola experiences. His friend Bruce lives in Edmonton, so they hung out, and Ben got to crash there for night, and he came home in the morning.

Sunday was the UBC interview, and I got to go with him. I hung out in the Lobby waiting, watching all these interviewees walking in with their mom's or dad's, or both. Thought it was a little funny to go to an interview with your parent, but hey. The interview was pretty much the same, except a larger table. They asked more about Ben's work with Autistic kids. I think they should have jumped up, and offered him a spot in UBC right then and there, but, alas, they didn't, and we have to wait until the middle of May to know anything more.

Oh, I also started school on Monday. I pretty much sat at the back of the class, and watched. I also got to hand out, and photocopy papers. I'm at Brookswood high school every Monday now. I'm really excited for this opportunity to learn from Lynie, who I met at Ten Thousand Villages. She's an amazing teacher, and you can tell that the students really respect her. My favourite quote of the day

"You are all ignorant. Luckily that's curable"

In response to the grade 11's who were trying to figure out what the cold war was about. They figured it was between the Americans and British, and had something to do with the Boston Tea Party. I had a good laugh at the back of the room. Precious.