I have found my love!

And it's the beat-up crock pot that Cal gave me after he discovered Rochelle's was better. It may be a little greasy, small, and not have the temperature dial anymore, but I made the BEST pot roast on Friday and I AM HOOKED! Gone are the days of rushing home from work, throwing a haphazard dinner together, and then running back out the door with our plates in hand. From now on, I will come home to a hot dinner just waiting to be taken out of the pot. Hmmm... the posibilities are endless!

Watch it!!

I love how protective family is. Now that I'm pregnant, they think I'm made of glass and are always telling me to be careful! "You're carrying precious cargo" they say. When I considered doing a sprint triathlon (no expectations, I'm pregnant right???), my mom and grandfather thought I'd lost my mind and weren't easy until I promised to give it up. My dad is constantly getting on to me for lifting things and Cole even gets worried when I get too into group games. I was playing spoons over the summer with my very-aggressive-spoon-playing cousins and every time I lunged for a spoon, I could hear Cole saying, "Julia, Julia, Julia! Please be careful!" :) I love it!

However, no one beats my cousin Sarah Parker! She was one of the first people I told and she is not only super super excited to be an aunt, but she is like a watchdog for my physical well-being. I was with her at a high school football game over the weekend and several times I almost got mowed-over by guys not looking where they were going. But before they could stomp on me, Sarah Parker would yell "Watch it!" and grab me to safety! Then she would proceed to give them a scathing death look! She also kept asking me if I was okay standing up, if I needed to sit down, and if I was hungry or thirsty. It was great :) I love how protective she is in taking care of her prego cousin!


Don't worry, she's not going to eat the baby! She's just crazy excited!

Fall Days! and other things :)

The weather has finally turned cool here!!! And by cool I mean less than 80 degrees :) It's been a wonderful 65-75 for the past few days and I am relishing it! You Asheville friends can't imagine how wonderful it is to walk outside to get the mail without breaking into a sweat.
And speaking of Asheville, I've been especially homesick thinking of the Fall leaves and the colorful mountains! I know of no other city that has such a beautiful fall scene. I want to drive home this weekend and go on a hike or a run or something!
And speaking of running and hiking, this time last year I was training for a half marathon. Hard to imagine considering I can't run a mile right now. I think baby Nickell is taking over my body and using my blood and oxygen entirely for herself!
And speaking of baby Nickell - she finally has a name! That is... if she really is a girl. If a boy pops out I suppose we'll have to apologize for all the pink and purple. Anyway, we've decided on Claire Ann Nickell. Claire has been a favorite of mine since I was born and Ann is a family name on Cole's side. Woo hoo!

I'm A Big Kid Now

So yeah, I did a Facebool survey meant for "Grown-ups". It was 38 questions for people who are a little older and I just did it for amusement. Enjoy!


1. What bill do you hate paying the most? Cars bills, especially when you have to fix stupid things like your windows. Who knew that could cost $330!!!

2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner? Well, most of our meals are eat-and-run, but we did have a really nice dinner at Sawadee Thai Restaurant a few weeks ago.

3. What do you really want to be doing right now? I want to be at home sleeping in my bed!

4. How many colleges did you attend? Two: Covenant and AB Tech (woot)

5. Why did you choose the shirt you have on right now? I'm wearing a purple dress from Target. Pants and shirts aren’t comfortable anymore with my pregnant belly :).

6. What are your thoughts on gas prices? They’re not as bad as they have been and I save $0.10 a gallon when I shop at Kroger, so I’m making it okay. And if it gets too bad, Cole and I will start riding our bikes around Aiken again. It’s really quite fun!

7. First thought when the alarm went off this morning? ”Maybe my cold is too bad. Maybe I have a fever. Maybe I can call in sick…” I got up anyway.

8. Last thought before going to sleep last night? ”I am so tired…”

9. Do you miss being a child? I miss college and wish I could go back sometimes, but I’m pretty content with growing up.

10. What errand/chore do you despise? I don’t like grocery shopping. I love cooking, but I wish a fairy could get everything I need and just drop it off at my house.

11. Get up early or sleep in? Sleeping in is AMAZING.

12. Have you found real love yet? OH YES!

13. Favorite lunch meat? Turkey or Roast Beef.

14. What do you get every time you go into Wal-Mart? Bannanas.

15. Beach or lake? I love the lake. No messy sand and I love skiing!

16. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual? No, and people that think that have commitment issues. Don’t even get me started on what I think about the world’s view of marriage!

17. Sopranos or Desperate Housewives? Neither. I prefer a good movie.

18. What famous person would you like to have dinner with? C.S. Lewis. He is the most amazing writer and Christian apologist.

19. Have you ever crashed your vehicle? Well once I backed into the garage door because I forgot to open it. Nothing big though.

20. Ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose? Nope.

21. Ring tone? Something really perky that Verizon made up.

22. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth? The woods. Or the Frankfurt, Germany airport.

23. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to go? Coronado.

24. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or a new relationship? Definitely a new career… I’m going to be a mom!

26. Do you have a go-to person? Oh yes. My husband or my five closest friends.

27. Are you where you want to be in life? Getting there…

28. Growing up, what were your favorite cartoons? Spiderman :)

29. What about you do you think has changed the most? My standards and values. I feel like I finally know exactly what I believe and can articulate it to others.

30. Looking back at high school were they the best years of your life? Yes and no. I really really enjoyed them, but I wish I’d had a little more maturity.

31. Are there times you still feel like a kid? Oh yes. Most people mistake me for being one of the high schoolers I work with. In fact, I bet most people think I’m a poor knocked-up teenage mother. No one ever bothers to look at my left ring finger ;).

32. Did you ever own troll dolls? Yes, and I actually thought their hair magically grew.

33. Did you have a pager? No. Those are sooooo 90’s.

34. Where was the hang out spot when you were a teenager? Downtown Asheville!

35. Were you the type of kid you would want your children to hang out with? Yes.

36. Who do you think impacted your life the most Cole, without a doubt the best person God ever put in my life!

37. Was there a teacher or authority figure that stood out for you? My pastor Jeff really impacted my high school years and Drs. Davis and Foreman made Covenant amazing.

38. Do you tell stories that start with “when I was your age”? Sometimes. I don’t want to be condescending though. Plus I’m not THAT old!

Ohhhh CC!

This week all the Covenant College students are heading back up the mountain for another year of school. And I am jealous! I've been following facebook and reading everyone's happy comments about being back and seeing people and the nostalgia is hitting me hard! OH if I could just rewind a few years and enjoy that time all over again! College is so wonderful and carefree... no real life 8-5 jobs, no house payments, no huge responsibilities, and you can even skip class if you want to sleep in! Sure, you have the papers and the homework and the occasional huge, overwhelming projects, but that's all part of experience and most of the time you pretty much live a carefree life. THINK about it: you can plan your day so that you don't have to wake up until 11 or 12! You have someone else making all your meals. You live with your best friends. There's always something fun going on. You feel independent but you don't have the whole weight of full responsibility on you yet. Oh man, college was good.
Here are a few pics to illustrate my college experience:

Well, we did party some...

And we played some...

We goofed around a lot...

Oh yeah, and we studied...

But we had to take breaks so we wouldn't shoot ourselves...

We ate a lot...

So then we worked out a lot...

But over all, I made the best friends in the world...

And I finally graduated...

Go CC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s.

Just in case you read this, that post was for you Mrs Bruns and I will put up pics soon!

Being Pregnant Motivates Me...

And I'm serious. There's nothing like knowing that a baby's on the way to get me off my rear and doing things to prepare. For instance, since I've been pregnant I've/we've painted two rooms, ripped up the carpet in our living room/dining room, cleaned out a huge closet full of technological stuff and pieces of paper from Cole's schooling (oh yeah, we had fun... not), cleaned the baby's room-to-be, rearranged and de-cluttered our room, and are in the process of putting down hardwood floors. After that I will actually get to decorating the baby's room. We've also started talking about making a will (weird!) and setting up a college fund for baby Nickell. Not to mention lots of serious talks about what kind of parents we want to be. Knowing that a little one will be here in five months really makes me think. Wow!

Soon to come: I'll put up the pictures of all our projects once we have the "after pics".

Oh beach...

So due to the lack of creative juices lately, I haven't posted anything in a while. I think two weeks of vacation zapped my energy and turned me into a slug :) You know how you always think that you'll get books read, letters written, and be all rejuvenated to come back to regular life? Yeah well, usually you end up sleeping in late, sitting around waiting for something to do, watching tv or movies, and generally not exerting much effort. So then you get back to the daily grind and you're completely exhausted with "doing nothing" and totally not ready to get up at 6:45 and work all day. Yeah, I want to go back to the beach...

The Sand Lobster!

Handstand competition

The Marshall/Johnson cousins minus 5

P.S. I can't make these pics larger without loosing the quality.

VACATION!

After coming back from Miami and working one week, I'm off the beach for TWO WEEKS! Wahoo! Aren't you jealous? :)

Brain Dead

So I thought I would come back from Miami with all these funny stories and witty comments, but I think I've gone brain dead in the creative department. I only have four things to say:
1) It was hot. I think I lost 10 pounds in sweat.
2) I hate Florida. And it should never under any circumstance be called southern.
3) I love Haitians - they are so friendly and hospitable.
4) Do tha stanky leg!