Thoughtful Throwback Thursday: Long Classroom Day Makes Jules Rambly

Who am I kidding? It doesn't take much for a rambling, wordy blog from me! The past two weeks, I have spent eight hours a day in a classroom. Now I have homeschooled for 11 years but we don't sit for eight hours straight. It has been a challenge for my mind and body, definitely see runs in my future next week.

The new job is going well, definitely can see a long future with this company. Today I met my supervisor, she was talking about how transplant drug calls mean a lot to her. I immediately got the chills, she then said, '' My daughter was an organ donor.'' I knew right then, I am in the right place with the right supervisor. My friend Melani said, ''It seems like it was just meant to be.'' So true, I love the environment and can see a long career ahead there.

Sometimes I have wondered, ''Why do I keep blogging? What is the purpose of this blog? People must be really tired of me talking about my life!?" and ''Where is this thing going?''

My main purpose is to share my struggles and triumphs with others. If I can make a difference in someone else's life then it is worth it. Just wanting to spread joy, positivity, love and be upbeat. Truly wanting to encourage others. For every difficult thing I have shared on this blog, there is so much more to my story of life that many don't know. As open and transparent as I am, there are dark parts of my life that very few know that I don't share. I would rather talk about happy things and bring a little light into this dark world.

My blog for my friend Jim really touched him and his family. I am still getting comments days later and it has really been encouraging to encourage him.

Then today a former member of Candace's website came to me on Facebook. She told me how much she admired me and how I helped her through her first tour of duty in Iraq. I was floored, sitting in the break room at my job crying. My co-worker looked over and said, ''Are you crying?" obviously my co-workers have yet to learn of my teary nature. I had no clue that I had impacted anyone much less a soldier in Iraq. Amazing!

It was so encouraging and reminded me of why I blog and tweet, it made my day and gave me focus to keep going. Also my friend Rebecca told me last week on the phone that I am making a difference and to keep going. So I march forward in my one girl band!

The talk about transplant reminded me, I have been angry with myself for being upset over trivial things recently. I remember what it was like just a few short years ago, I tend to over think everything and recently my over thinking has been out of control! Today reminded me to not go there and stay positive.

As I was sitting pondering ''WHY DO I BLOG EVERYDAY IN NOVEMBER'' yes, I was #CAPSLOCK yelling at myself in my head. Then it hit me, that still, small voice, one I know is greater than mine. '' Go back and read your old blogs. See where you have come from and remember what is good.''

November 6, 2007: "Marty has been accepted for dual transplant and will be listed as soon as one lab comes back! YAY! This is the best news we have had in a long time."

November 6, 2008: "Something that did come to me since I wrote the last post on this subject. Most of last year was filled with many unknowns and stresses. The unknown of dialysis, now that has passed and we know the answer. The unknown of when he would be able to get his heart test done, that has passed and we know the answer. The unknown of when the transplant will happen remains left standing.Above all I know, God is in control and I am not. Worrying gets you know where and no matter what things always work out."

November 6, 2009: "Today marks two years of waiting. Really short in comparison to the family who will live forever without their loved one. Pray not for us but for them. Our wait is short compared to theirs."

November 8, 2010: "Today marks 3 years of waiting. Three years ago today, they told us it would take a year and here we are still waiting. It has been a hard, challenging road, running on pure faith and pressing on toward the goal. Sometimes there aren't many words to be said. Our prayer is that God has used us to minister to others, that he has changed us permanently and that we can use this to help others.

Our prayer is always for the donor and their family. Today I think of them and the time they have left on this earth.

Today we are at UC Davis looking for a second listing. We are hoping this will speed things up, maybe God wants us to move transplant centers? only he knows but he has opened the door for us to come here.

I hope next year on this date we will be celebrating together."


November 6, 2011 " I left my Southern California hometown and headed to my Central California home. No matter how long I am away or how long I have lived here, Whittier will always be my home. Doesn't mean I want to live there just means I love to go visit.

Since September 24th I have seen almost every member of my family. Aunts, Cousins,Nephews, Nieces, Parents,and both siblings. I've only missed seeing one aunt, one uncle, one cousin and two nephews. That really blows my mind. In fact, I have seen one entire side of the family and all of those cousins!

I praise God for his faithfullness. He answered prayers about my Dad's health and did it at the perfect time. I could leave Marty, I was missing home and now Dad is on the right track to wellness."

By that post, Marty was well again. He had been transplanted on 1/12/11, our life was back on track and I could travel again. My Dad was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure and I was able to go care for him.

The point of this exercise was to remind me, look where you've come from and keep blogging everyday in November. Good reminder to self, life could always be so much worse!

PS Life is good! I love my new job and cannot wait to start my new schedule.

Wordless Wednesday: 2005 The Year Just Jules Began

2005

The Full Story

I betcha all think you know the story behind my Full House connections and I am here to tell you, you have no clue; I am finally going to share the whole thing for the first time. It really is a cool story for those who know it and it has been an amazing story to share with others throughout the years. God worked through People magazine to bring an amazing journey into my life.

I got a shirt in the mail from Candace's site yesterday and there was a sticker on the tissue. The sticker simple said http://www.candacecameronbure.net/. CCB.net as we affectionately call it. A place that was my number one visited site for over five years!

 In March 1996, I got married at nineteen. Nobody I knew was getting married, everyone I knew was off at college, the trend in marriage at the time was more people in their thirties getting married versus younger marriages. One day, I was heading into my job at Disneyland and stopped at the store, I saw People magazine in the rack and it had a picture of Candace Cameron in a wedding dress on the front. I knew we were the same age and so I bought the magazine to read the article.

Buying that People magazine changed my life and I didn't even know it! I read the article and saw, she had gotten married just a few months after I did, she was twenty by a few months and had been engaged at the same age as I got engaged. I felt a kinship with her, someone my age that was married young. It was all rather strange.

I watched Full House with my family but I wasn't what I would consider a ''fan''. I didn't look up to the characters on the show, in my eyes they were/are peers. Since I had been introduced to another cast member via mutual friend back when the show was on the air, I knew they were just regular girls like me, who happened to have a interesting job.

Fast forward to 1997, I was home on maternity leave with Conner. We had our first computer and I decided to see if I could find out how Candace was doing being married. I remember finding a website that she shared on and that she was expecting a baby herself. I started following along on that site until its demise.

In 2002, I decided to see if I could see how things were going for Candace. I found a site online that was created by a girl our age in Australia by the name of Gemma. She was a fan of Candace's who had created a site for Candace to share on. It was really cool and Candace would send in pictures to share and her fans could talk to each other and her in a forum setting.

I would go check it, though I thought it was really weird to go online and read a celebrity site. So I never told anyone!

One day, I noticed a prayer section. The readers of the site could share their prayer requests with each other to pray. I thought to myself, ''But who actually prays for these people?" so I made it my mission to pray for each request put on the site. I met a girl named Stacy on the site who was doing the same thing and we bonded together to minister to the other readers of the site.

After about a year, we went to Candace and Gemma, we asked if it would be okay for us to lead bible studies on the site for the readers. I remember confiding in my dear friend and prayer partner Olga about my involvement in the site. She was the first person aside from Marty that I ever told. She started praying for me and my work on the site. Eventually I went from contributor to co-site administrator along with Gemma and Stacy.

One day, I realized that God had used an article in People years before to bring me to this place. Through the site, I met amazing women from around the world and was able to help them through many things. I made friends with some amazing people. It helped me end up reconnecting with another friend, through this common bond a friendship was born.

I met a young girl named Kayla, she was only 16 at the time and I watched over her and taught her online safety. I met C, a young military wife expecting a baby.  I met Scott and Jodi, two people with cerebral palsy who were big fans of Full House. I made a life long friend with Gemma and Stacy through our administration of the site.

It opened many doors for me, it really was the beginning of my online work. I wasn't even a blogger during that time. It helped me see that wonderful things could come from being online and meeting people even in the oddest of ways. I've always been grateful to Candace for allowing me to use her platform to help others and reach them with love and kindness.

It was a wonderful time in my life that eventually came to a close. It was a stepping stone that helped me learn a world that would eventually play a role in another friendship and in life in general. It gave me a peek into a side of celebrity that many never see. For me, I view fans and celebrity very different than most normal people. It's a time in my life that I am proud to share with you and think back on fondly. It has brought many wonderful people into my life and opened many doors I never thought possible.

There you have it, the Full story of my weird Full House connections. I am proud to be in the circle of women who are connected to Full House in one way or another. They are amazing ladies and I am thankful for them. God has used it to bless my life in more ways than one. During our time on the site, we became a family of sorts and still are to this day. For a long time, I tried to run from this family but now have fully embraced them and accepted this weird part of my life.

Gem,Mel,Roxie, April, Kayla, C, Scott, Jodi, Susan, Stacy, Steph and many others, I am glad for our connection through this site and the blessings you have been to my family through the years.

Back in the CCB.net days. My first time hearing Candace speak.

I guess in a way, DJ is my favorite. If you want this cute shirt, click on the picture and it will take you to Candace's store where you can buy one for yourself.

A/N: I bet you thought you knew, didn't you? my other friendship has nothing to do with Full House. It is just another weird sisterly connection AB and I share.

The story of Mr.Fitz and Jules

My phone starts whistling on Saturday afternoons, yes, it is a happy little phone. The reason it is whistling is a text message is blazing across the country from sunny San Clemente, California to crisp East Tennessee. I know who it is and what its about. It's from Fitz and its about football, its our weekly thing of the past few years. It involves good natured ribbing, mostly on his part and my attempt to learn about college football. He watches the ''whiny, overpaid babies of the NFL.'' for me and I try to keep up with the Ducks and Irish for him. Who is the man and why is he so important?

The story of Jim Fitzpatrick and I goes back to sometime around 1983. My older sister Kim was involved in the youth group of our parish St.Bruno's in Whittier, Ca. She would come home talking about the youth minister Jim, I really don't know the details other than our family started participating in events with the youth group. My very first memory of Jim was during a youth camping trip that our family tagged along on. The youth were camping on the beach and we were nestled in our trailer. It started to rain and Jim came busting in, I ended up having to share my bunk with him.

He was a young twenty something, unmarried, trying to get into the fire academy and he became buddies with my Dad. I remember Saturday mornings Jim would come running to our house during his training runs and I would make him an egg in the microwave...no butter, no seasoning, just a scrambled egg in the microwave. It was true friendship that he ate my eggs!

We just had a bond, not sure that bond can be explained outside our mutual admiration society. Since I was seven years old, he has big brother, mentor, confidant and friend. He used to call me his little ''Meggie'' when I was really young. He is really tall and I have always looked up to him and adored him.

Jim was a fixture in our house, always popping in and hanging around. He was friend to my Dad, long after he was done being youth minister and friend to me as well. One day, he brought a beautiful young girl with brown hair to our house. I remember that I was jealous, I didn't want her to marry my Fitz!

They did get married and we fell head over heels for Jim's bride Jen. She is beautiful on the inside and out with the voice of an angel. Eventually they would have children and I would become their chief babysitter. I always tell people that Chris my nephew, Kevin and Caiti Fitz were my first children. Kevin and Caiti were my babies before my babies.

We would spend every weekend together. Jim bought a boat, took Jen and I out and taught us to water ski together. Saturday morning's after my Friday night babysitting gigs, he would put me in the driver seat of his blue Nissan truck and taught me to drive stick down Stage Road, patiently teaching me through me jerking us through stops. I will never forget once Jen said to me, ''Jim never goes the same way twice, he is always finding little shortcuts here and there.'' 

As an adult, my father likes to complain about my driving. He says, '' You never go in a straight line! You always are going a different way'' I always tell him, ''Please forward all complaints to the Fitzpatrick school of driving'' ( or his sister Maggie)

Jen would curl my hair, talk to me about boys and makeup, pick me up from school on Friday's and drive me home. They paid my way through high school with my babysitting money from them!

One day Jim and Jen moved away, I got married, had a baby of my own and moved away myself. We didn't see each other often. Only at family events here and there, weddings and my grandparents funeral. Jen played for my Grandpa's funeral and helped us give a true wake in his honor. 

Though he did break my heart at my Grandmas funeral by telling Brianne, my cousin that she was his favorite of the Brown cousins. He always has maintained that is true but that I don't count in that group, I am different!

Then text messaging came along and bridged the gap. Jim took to texting me about football and it has stuck, I love our weekly tete a tete's. I always love when he texts that he is visiting my Dad and staying the night. One of the last things before I moved away was go to stay with Jim and family. He and my Dad didn't want me to move and I know why. Aside from Marty and Conner, they are the two men I love most in this world and it was going to be hard on all of us for me to move.

That last night I spent with the Fitz's was something I will remember for the rest of my life.

Mr.Fitz and I, December 2012

Thank goodness for college football and the NFL. It doesn't feel like we are far apart at all. Two weeks ago, I did get chastised for not paying attention to the scores of Jim's teams which led to me making a public apology on Instagram to Jim. He loves the social media as much as me, I need to get him a Twitter account!

To know me is to know of my love of Jim. This blog has been a long time coming, I was maybe going to write it next year for his birthday. As we were texting back and forth tonight, it only seemed right to tell you all about him. He makes me laugh, loves me and is truly one of my life long best friends. Everyone who knows me well, knows about Fitz. Even my Dad knows that he shares his friend with me!

Jim knows that I love him, I tell him often just as I know he loves me right back. I've been lucky to call him friend for over thirty years now. Never discount children, I truly maintain that friendship can withstand age gaps, when you have a bond with someone, you just do, age doesn't matter at all!

The year I met Jim. I always thought this was a picture of he and I. It is my Dad and I though, Jim was there that day though.

I love my cop husband but I love my fireman friend Fitz too. Three of the loves of my life talking to each other.

All of my babies together. My kids and the Fitz kids 2006

The best thing Jim ever did is marry beautiful Jen

Jim being Jim, dancing with my Dad on my wedding day

Jen Fitz and I, December 2012

Jen knows if she sings, '' You are my Sunshine'' that I always cry. My own private concert 2012

Kevin demonstrating the fire phone. I made many a phone call on that phone during my babysitting years

I love this picture. My Dad and Fitz, two most important men after Marty and Conner

Dancing with Kevin and Caiti on my wedding day

Caiti and I on my wedding day in the famous Princess Di pose

Jim sends me these in texts, just to make me smile and laugh

Kevin and I, 2012

Caiti and I, 2012

Retreat Weekend

This weekend Elizabeth and I went on a retreat with a few ladies from our church. Springville, Alabama was the locale for this retreat. At first, truthfully I wasn't envisioning the place we ended up or that Alabama could be so beautiful. Good thing, I was wrong and the place was gorgeous, we enjoyed basking in the lovely fall weather while hearing great speakers. It was fun to make my first trip to Alabama and learn it is a pretty place after all.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Elizabeth and I went paddle boating. I only fell out at the end and into the lake!

Going in circles on the lake

My friend Melanie and I on the swing

Elizabeth and Melanie

After a long week of classroom learning, it was nice to get away for the weekend and relax. Looking forward to returning next year to enjoy this beautiful place. Life is good!

The Bachelor and Dolly

As you know, my life is an adventure with lot's of weird stories that make sense to me. I hear it all the time, "Julie, your life is so weird." I haven't lived a cooKie cutter life.  My experiences have made me unique and I'm content with that.  So I just share my random life stories with my readers instead.

I remember in 2006, Travis Stork was on The Bachelor and I wanted to know who he would end up picking.  I found a website and started reading. These amazing women could figure out the ending by looking at screenshots and other information.  I loved reading this website and watching the Bachelor.

It was on this website,  I met some wonderful women. These women would chat about life and I started joining in. I realize now,  once again God was using something random to lead me to much needed friends.  Right around the time I started joining in, Marty was diagnosed with renal failure.  These women ended up becoming my prayer partners and some of our most ardent supporters.

One year, they all decided to meet up in Pigeon Forge, TN. We all know this story in my life. ...I had to say "no". I cried and felt like I was missing out. This happened for several years. The day Marty got his transplant,  the ladies all said "now you can have your turn too!"

Sadly,  that year it wasn't meant to be either. That fall, I met up with two of the ladies in Georgia and South Carolina.  Finally the next summer, I was able to meet up with another one of the ladies in Pennsylvania.  It was such a wonderful day.

This year, we laughed. I now live the closest to Pigeon Forge instead of being the farthest away. I couldn't wait to see the ladies.

Last month, my dream finally came true.  The ladies and I met up in Pigeon Forge. It was an amazing dream come true.

We ate, we laughed, we cried and went to Dollywood together. We even went to  church together.  These ladies have become some of my best friends and confidants.  We all pray for and support each other through thick and thin.

I'm so glad I finally got my chance.  It was an amazing weekend with much happiness and joy. Truly a dream come true.

P.S. 1: I typed this blog on my phone 2: No, I don't watch the Bachelor anymore!

NaBloPoMo 2013

It's become my November tradition, dating back to 2007. My friend Di suggested we all join in with the Blogher ladies and do NaBloPoMo. I had never heard of such a thing but once again played follow the leader with Di and joined in. Used to be Andrea,Di and I blogging away for two years and then just Di and I. Now, I stand alone in the NaBloPoMo challenge.

This year, I have actually thought about not blogging. I am busy training eight hours a day, five days a week for the next six weeks for my new job. I am sitting at a computer all day, reading and learning. The last thing I really want to do is blog.

The thing is..........I have been writing several blogs in my head for the last few weeks. Yep, you read the right, I write all of my blogs in my head before I actually publish them. I start the bones of them that way before ever sitting down at the computer. My brain is a fascinating place, it is a like a giant Rolodex of memories and blog ideas.

Along with my photographic memory, I can write a blog and put pictures in it all in my head. For me,  this is  completely normal  until I realized, most people can't tell you every single picture they have by just thinking about it. Last night, I was looking for some Halloween pictures and really wanted one of Elizabeth in a certain costume, I knew that we didn't have a picture of her in that costume though. No need to search, I know exactly what pictures we have and where those pictures are in bins. ( I really need to scan my pictures into my computer, I am so lazy though.)

So anyways, this month I have several blogs lined up to share. I have a few posts that I have been asked to write by an author and an app company. This year, I am actually scared to fail the challenge. I am a purist, I don't write my posts ahead of time, they are written daily during the challenge. I am out of town tomorrow, so this could be challenging in itself. Still working that issue out in my head.

Life has been full lately. Full of learning, living, growing and changing. I hope to share that with you this month. Above all, the labor of love this blog has become is something I want to focus on. It has grown from its early days on Myspace, then switching to Blogger, now its own site which I am thinking of finally transferring over to hosted Wordpress. From maybe five views a blog to over 11,000 hits a month now.

My blogging friends that I started with have quit blogging almost completely. Here I stand, still writing and moving forward. The other night, a huge supporter of this blog actually was encouraging me. Sometimes I wonder, ''why bother? I am only talking about myself most of the time and people must get tired of that.'' but she was telling me that it made a difference and impacted her life. She really built me up and gave me the courage to continue on.

Now I am looking forward to sharing, continuing to be Just Jules and focus on topics that are important to me and my family. I am particularly anxious to share a few stories with you that have impacted my life this year. I hope you will join me on the journey as I attempt to blog everyday in November.