"I brought you pie"

Now just so we are all clear, I am not a great cook by any means.
It stresses me out and i'm a bit OCD and I hate hate hate when things don't turn out how I want them to.
Because i'm lazy and fat and I just want everything to be easy to do and make.

But there was a party Friday night, and I promised my friend Luke earlier in the summer that i'd bring a pie to his next party.
And he held me to my promise.

And I brought a delicious and extremely fattening tollhouse cookie pie.
And it was just as good as it sounds.

So I had a long day at work which ended around 7 ish.
I had to run home, make the pie and then bake it for around an hour.
Go get Allie and then head to the party.

Let me just say, if you want to be popular at a party, bring something unusual.
Like a freaking pie.

So I did.
And it was fun and fattening.

And I brought a damn pie to a party.
Because that is just me.

Jello

Shots!

Have you ever made Jello shots?
Well seeing as my employer who is this wonderful woman would not let me go to work even though I was perfectly fine and she just wanted me to get better.
So I spent the day with Deanna making jello shots for the next day's party.

WHICH I DD'D FOR

So yes I got to experience all the work that goes into making jello shots.
Which actually is quite a bit of work so I applaud all those that decide to actually make jello shots instead of just doing shots.

But yes Deanna and I made a ton of those little things.
After juicing and then scraping out the insides of tons of lemons and limes.
okay maybe not tons but I did juice those damn fruits and it seemed like a ton.

So maybe at the next probably not existent party that I go to or host, I might make those damn things.

Zack

One of my best guy friends in the entire world turned 21 on August 17th 2015.

His name is Zack.

Now Zack and I have one of the weirdest relationships you have ever seen.

WE both love Disney movies pretty much more than life itself.

Zack is a straight male that just so happens to also be friends with me.

I know it's odd.

But we became friends freshman year of high school because we were both, get this, in marching band.

Where the cool people go to have more fun.

That is exactly where.

Since then we became better and better friends.

I think it really solidified in Mr. Bluhms honors physics class.

I am terrible at physics but I loved taking it because A- most of my friends were in that class and B- Zack was my lab partner. Fortunately for me and pretty unfortunate for him.

I escaped that class with just barely the grade needed, mostly due to Zack.

We used to play this game senior year in Mr. Martins class where people would time how long it would take to empty my tiny purple purse.

Zack loved to play this game and it was funny seeing him and my other friends compete to get to the best time.

We've just been buds all this time.

When Tangled came out we had this uncanny love for the song "I have a Dream" and we knew every single word to the song and would sing it at the top of our lungs while we drove home from school or events some days.

We would just sing it over and over again.

Like normal people do.

Last fall I came home for the weekend and went to a marching band competition and we got to hang out the entire day.  We got to cheer on our younger siblings and reminisce about our younger glory days of band.

And then when the new Cinderella came out, we met for the latest showing and saw it together.

Because I wanted to see it and he wanted to come along.

Afterwards we had a random adventure to Jack in the Box where I was introduced to their sickly sweet lava cake.

Many of breaks I make it a point to see Zack.

He's my bud.

We go to Starbucks and band concerts and marching band competitions.

Nerd out about composers and annoying customers that have come into our places of employment.

And each time even if we haven't talked in months, it feels like just yesterday we last saw each other.

Like nothing has changed.

And that my friends is why we are friends.

So Happy Birthday Zack, I hope your 21st was magical.

I'll be home for thanksgiving, so we can get our pumpkin spice lattes together and catch up like always.

Free at last!

GOD AL MIGHTY I AM FREE AT LAST

Around noon on tuesday I got a call from the mechanic that had been working on my car telling me that my car was finished and that I could come and pick it up that day!

Now seeing as I thought it would be done last friday I was thrilled it was done three days earlier than expected.

So suffice to say I got a ride from Lainey, thank god for Lainey once again, and got my damn car back.

In a similar outfit as when I went to the store in.

No make up, leggings and a comfy t-shirt.
I hobble into the mechanic, get my keys and drive to the drug store to get some meds.

Oh yes dayquill severe cold is like jesus juice.

So what have we learned from this kids?
Stock up on dayquill cold meds.
Have a good mechanic.
And become friends with even better people.

Thank god for those three.

Weird dreams

Have you ever drank so much tea that your tongue turned slightly green.
Yeah I did that.

I drank so much celestial seasonings peppermint tea that my tongue turned green.

That is not good.

And to top it off I seemed to have an excessive amount of really creepy realistic dreams.
Now as a disclaimer I normally never remember my dreams like ever.

And here I am having 2-3 daily.

Do you want to know why??

It was the mother loving tea!
Apparently peppermint tea has been known to give people weird and vivid dreams

Definitely happened to me and freaked me out a bit.

So if you want to actually sleep whilst sick, drink something other than peppermint.
And maybe don't drink so much it turns you green.

And the storms hits

You never really know how much you took your parents for granted until you are sick and currently live alone in college.

I thought I was fine.
Until I realized I had no energy.
And my throat was killing me.
And I am sans car.

So once again we have another instance of Allie coming to the rescue.
So around 9:30 at night, I text Allie to see if she will take my sorry ass to the store.
Well she had RA training the next day so we decide to go after I muster up enough energy to go.

I went out in public at 10 pm to city market, in inside out leggings, no bra, and a flannel with out showering.
Suffice to say this seems to be the mating call for all attractive and stupid men to go to the store.
Because there was a legitimate horde of pretty men that acted like idiots whilst i'm pushing around my little cart trying to get groceries and not pass out and dodging them as best I could.

Stock up on groceries and head home.

Drink some peppermint tea and put my little butt in bed.
Hoping this will all blow over.
Which it does not.

The Roommate.

Friday wasn't just a day to dress up like a gangster and feel ridiculous, but Friday August 14th 2015 was the 20th birthday of my beloved roommate Annamarie.
Now I often refer to her as "the roommate" and quite frankly that's how I often refer to her.
Maybe its because her name is so long - 4 syllables- or maybe the bigger reason is because I have the pleasure of getting to live with her for nearly 2 years.

So many people don't really know the story of how we met.
Well after Bri passed away, a few months prior we had signed a lease for an apartment starting in August of 2014.
Well Bri passed away around the end of June, so I didn't have long to mourn before I realized "shit, I need a new roommate or else i'm going to loose this place".
My world was already going to hell in a hand basket so I just had to keep this one thing together.
I had to prove to myself I could.
For Bri.
So I went roommate hunting.
And I had some promising offers but they all kind of fell through.
Then out of the blue I thought to look on the FLC discussion board. Sometimes there are roommate listings on there and seeing as I just needed a room filled it shouldn't be too hard.
Turns out there's a lot of weirdos that needed homes.

But then I stumbled across Annamarie, she seemed normal and so I texted her and asked if she still needed a roommate.
And she said yes.

After a bit of talking I just put her in my phone as "roommate".
Haven't even met her in person yet but I just had this feeling that this would work.

We met up for coffee a few days later after finding out that we are from the same hometown and literally live 5 minutes from each other.
My mom coached me to just act normal and "not scare her away".

Well I was in a bind and so was she and we just kind of hit it off.
And it worked for us.

A few weeks later we headed to Jo Anns to find crafty stuff to decorate our apartment.
Glitter tulle, cupcake washi tape and a lot of ribbon.
Plus some massive letters.

And around the end of august we moved in, and it has just worked for us.

There have been plenty of days I've been so thankful she dropped into my life.
Plenty of tears, embarrassing pictures and crazy adventures under our belts.

Shes like my little partner in crime.

She keeps me grounded and is always there with a hug and a listening ear.
She is able to laugh when i screw up.

And she loves to take the odd opportunity to take pictures of me whilst asleep.
Yeah, shes the one that does that.


So thank you Annamarie Sue Glenn for being my person.
For living with me and being my friend and quite frankly the closest thing I have to a real relationship is with you

You are the absolute best girly.
I can't wait for you to be home.
Happy late Birthday GORGEOUS!

Gangsta bro!

So as we all know, i'm pretty much the definition of a very feminine and girly female.
I like my make up, skirts, dresses, heels and lip products probably more than the average female.
Especially for Durango.

Well I was invited to a party hosted by some fellow employees of m2w.
And just guess what the theme was?
Gangsta.

Now lets just think for a second.
Do I, Julia Grace Volzke have anything at all that would resemble that of being something a gangster would wear?
We have a big ol' NOPE
nope
nope
nope
and a double nope.

This theme was obviously thought up by men because girls think of cute themes like Masquerade or something cute like that.

So suffice to say for the days prior to the party Lainey and I were seriously unsure of what the hell to wear.
Because we are quite similar in our fashion choices, we decided to do our best and not care if you didn't look right.

At least we tried.
That's what counts right?

Well Lainey got off around 8, so I met her at work and we gussied ourselves up really quick and headed to the party.
I in a black skater skirt, a black floral crop top, my hair up in this high slicked back pony, seriously insane winged eyeliner.
And to top it all off some gray low top converse that have bright pink bottoms.

That's what I went with.
Lainey was in shorts, a cute crop top and a flat brimmed hat.

We roll up and all the girls are in baggy pants, white wife beaters and have gaudy gold jewelry.

And the count of the number of times Julia and Lainey or some other preppy female friend have overdressed for an event is somewhere in the thousands.

Well we had a fun night anyways.
We went to go see Straight Outta Compton.
Which seeing as I don't listen to rap music, I didn't much care for.
And then came back and stayed for a bit longer before we went home.

Overall I learned a few things.
First- don't let men pick the theme.
Second- I am always going to stick out
Third-That was actually OK being something else for a night besides a stuck up 21-year old woman, which is my usual.

Screeching

If there is something to know about me is that I cannot think clearly with loud screeching noises.
I have an awesome olfactory system and my hearing is on point.
Sight is a downfall but we can't all be perfect.

Anyways at work on Thursday it had been a day of just weird things happening with our computers and internet and just technology was not on our side.

Well pretty much as soon as my co worker Claire decided it was a good time to leave because A- it was slow and so B- we didn't need 2 people there.
So I was closing by myself which was fine.
I've done that before so we were free and clear.

And then the devil decided to screw up my day, just like when he decided to put the alphabet in math.

The mother loving fire alarm decided to go off.
For no real reason that we could find out.
And i'm frantically trying to turn it off with no avail.
And i'm trying to call my boss to ask her what to do.
And absolutely nothing is working.
And then there are customers still coming in from some crazy reason because this alarm literally screeches.
I cannot think straight and theres this lady trying to look at scarves as i'm frantically trying to turn it off.
Does this make sense to you??
It certainly didn't to me.

Well turns out the entire part of our building was going off so the girl from Silk Sparrow came over to tell me hers was going off too.

Well the owner and I over the phone just decided to just close the doors and wait outside for her to come.

So there I am with the Silk Sparrow girl just hanging out on the sidewalk outside our perspective shops.
And there's a bench full of older folk just giggling at the entire situation.
Nerve wracking to say the least.

The fire department shops up of course.
And cant find a fire.
And they scour the place.
Turns out it was a glitch and eventually reset the entire system



So suffice to say, I am not a fan of the alarms.
They are obnoxious.
Why cant we have a nice one that just asks you to leave the building?
That would just be peachy.
Instead of this terrible screeching that everyone for what is seems miles can hear.

Nope, not a fan.

Master of dating myself

I was going to put the title as Masturdating...

But I think mommy or mormor might be a little confused or horrified.



Yes Masturdating.
A mix of the word masturbating and dating.

As in making yourself happy whilst single.
So taking yourself out on dates, treating yourself, and being happy in your own company.
In other words you become your ideal other half.

I know its weird.
But I think in this world where everything needs to be bigger faster and better.
Why cant I just be happy meandering along looking for my love?
And loving myself.
With out stressing myself out??

I don't really have the sense of urgency to settle down and get married.
I have time.
So why rush it.

You have the rest of your life to find someone and be attached.
Why not enjoy being unattached and happy with yourself.
Not needing someone else to fill a void.

I'm filling my own void.
I am dating myself and learning to love it.

Before I would immediately catch on if I was the only single person in a group.
And I would feel alienated for it.
For no real reason other than me being insecure in my singleness.

But now I've learned that I am fine being the only single person.
I cope and for the most part the people i'm hanging around with that are not single will include and try to limit the amount of couple like actions that they do.
And I don't feel as odd.

HOWEVER
The world has this weird way that as soon as you are comfortable where you are and what you are doing, it likes to mix it all up.
So currently there are males that might be pursuing me.
And quite frankly i'm not interested in anything more than just a date and maybe some flirting.
Nothing more than that.
Unless something really hits me that is miraculous and life changing or my mentality changes to wanting a relationship then maybe something will happen.

Which is so weird for me to say no.
But here I am.

Just dating myself.
And that is perfectly fine with me for now.

WE'VE MET?!?

So I've had this situation happen quite often lately.
I'll meet someone that I think I've never met before and then they reply, "we've met"

.
..
...
..
.

SHIT
My heart drops and my usually quick mind scrambles for where the hell to place them from my past.
And i'm just sitting there looking like a complete asshole.
Because I forgot them completely

Now I usually have a pretty great memory.
If we've had a class together, have had a few conversations, maybe saw each other in passing, I know you, sort of.
But if I've only met you once, in passing, years ago, and I haven't talked to you since.
Then I may have very sadly forgotten you, where we met and at what time.

I am very sorry.
I am not perfect.

So this is usually what happens.
I'm out, flirting and some guy will come up and we will start talking and then he'll say "you know we've met"

And its just bad.
Because they totally remember me.
But I don't remember them.

I was pretty anti social freshman year of college and so I've probably met a lot of people once, that I haven't talked to since.
And somehow they always remember me.
It's just odd.


So just as a PSA to all past, present and future people I will encounter.
If we do not chat again after we've met the first time, I may not remember you.
I'm sorry if you remember me and what I did freshman year and the people I dated, and I don't remember your freaking name.
This is just how I roll.

Sometimes I forget things.
I'm working on it.
Or you know you could always just say "Hi" again after all these years and remind me.

That would work too.

So i'm sorry if we've met.
I will TRY  to remember you.
REALLY going to try here.
I promise.

And another girly day

I swear I got my dose of estrogen for probably the next week or so on Sunday and Monday!
So on Sunday Deanna had mentioned getting our nails done.
I agreed.
She proceeds to make an appointment for us to get manicures at 1 pm on monday.
I wake up around 10 from a text from her telling me we have manicures and that she'll pick me up around 11.
Crap.
And awesome.

I hurry and get ready just in time.
We go and have lunch and then get our manicures.
Now I have only ever gotten a pedicure and that was just recently.
So i'm in for an experience.
I decide to just get the gels and maybe next time i'll be brave enough to get tips.

We then proceed to go shopping.
Do some damage.
I now have a new pair of gray low top converse that have bright pink bottoms.
Too good to pass up.

We then decide to head back to Carter and Deannas where we watch not 6 not 10 but 14 episodes of Friends.

That is ridiculous.
Let me just tell you.

But I seriously needed this because i've been antisocial all summer and Deanna and I have been busy working.
So we finally got our girl time in.
After a long time of waiting.

Yay for estrogen!

Basic girls day out

So I think the universe decided to send out a distress call Saturday night saying to all my close female friends that I, Julia Grace Volzke, is with out a vehicle and will only be going out of the house either for work or for food, via bike.

Well Lainey and Deanna answered the call.
I went to the Fair with Lainey the night before and the next morning I had a lovely lunch date with Deanna.
Who says you need a man to take you out to brunch?
Not me.

So we went to 6512 which I think is a seriously underrated restaurant and had a lovely brunch.
I know, basic girls doing Sunday brunch, how much more adorable can we get?
We of course needed to catch up on gossip and I had to be undated on her relationship and she on my lack there of and how i'm fine with it.
We took our sweet time and then headed on to the tea room to enjoy some tea where she met Josh and Mat.
Good day for that.
I had a cherry blossom and she a peach blossom.

And then to even make our day even more girly we went out for ice cream at Cream Bean Berry.
Which is the best place to get amazing ice cream in my opinion.

And we enjoyed our merry time together there before it was time for her to head home to get ready for work and I a nap.

But some days you just need a good day out with a great friend to feel like a girl again.
Thanks Deanna, you are the best!

Celebrar

The word celebrar as you may have guessed in spanish translates To Celebrate.
And August 8th 2015 was certainly a day to celebrate.

I woke up early to the first light of the day.
You know when you are greeted by the sun but not blatantly woken by it.
Its a nice little good morning.

Then I get to go to work and hang out with lovely people.
Everyone is cheerful because its Saturday and right now the farmers market is going on, and who doesn't love the farmers market??

And then after work I stop by the tea room and see some of my favorite men and just chat.
Then I get to ride home and hang out for a bit before I'm called and told I don't need to go into work the next morning.
AND THEN Lainey calls me and tells me she wants to go to the Fair, so I pretty much just throw on clothes and then walk out the door.
From there we head to the Fair and each of us decides its a good idea to get a funnel cake.
I only finish maybe half and Lainey is a trooper and does pretty much the entire thing.
It was impressive.
Then we went to go look at all the furry creatures, and went home.

Overall a wonderful day of friends and sunshine.

But there was another reason to celebrate.
Saturday August 8th 2015 marked 3 years since my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.
It was her 3rd annual survivor day.
And I couldn't have been more proud of her.

Some days it seems like just yesterday our world stopped turning.
I finished writing a blog and had just published it when Mom comes into my room with tears in her eyes and tells me the news.
My world literally stopped turning and my heart dropped.
I wasn't sure how to function.
You seriously do not know how much someone or something means to you until you have the potential that they might not make it.
We always knew she would but even though this was one of the hardest years ever, it brought us all together.
We appreciate each other so much more now than we did.
We love and cherish each other more.

The next year was a massive series of ups and downs.
She beat it, had a double mastectomy with reconstruction and a year later we were having her 1 year survivor party.
Just to thank everyone that helped us and loved us all along the way.
I have no idea what we would have done with out the support of our amazing community that literally came out of the wood work.
To this day I still get people asking how she is doing.
And I can tell them she is doing just fine now.
We all are.

And that is something to celebrate.

Via bike... in the rain

One of my older brother's Owen favorite stories to tell about clumsy Julia happened about 3 years ago.
We were on vacation in Acadia National Park in Maine,
And one of the days we decided to rent bikes and bike around the carriage roads that run through the park.
Now as a disclaimer if you don't know already, I am not coordinated.
So riding a bike can be quite tricky for me and quite hilarious for all those watching at times.
Sometimes I like to stick my knees out and pretend i'm Kermit the frog from the muppet movie.
Yeah most don't really find that funny...
Anyways, so were riding bikes and I like to kind of go all over the road.
It drives Owen crazy.
Well at one point, I may have just ridden my bike into a ditch, toppled over and started crying.
Me in a nutshell...

So bikes and I have never really been on that good of terms.
And now currently to get anywhere besides via walking or someone picking me up, I ride my bike.

Well the first day I rode I had to go to work.
Getting there was fine.
I didn't get hit or cause any major accidents.

But then after work the weather had other ideas and decided to rain.
And I of course didn't plan ahead so I didn't have a rain jacket.
So I decided to brave the storm in my shorts and captain america t-shirt.
Really good look going on here.

I find this entire situation hilarious and quite ridiculous for about the first two thirds of the ride home.
And then I get cold.
Really cold.
And i'm a born and raised Colorado girl so I can stand come cold.
But I was wet and cold and tired.
And done with this whole bike business.

Suffice to say when I got home I took a very long and hot shower.
But yes it is quite refreshing and terrifying to ride your bike in the rain.
But hell it happened.
And it was ok.

It's been a day.

Well my day started off early, informing the parents of the current car situation.
And thanking god that I was blessed to a pair of parents that love me so much and help me out when I need it.
And remembering that I needed to be at work at 8:45 and sweet Miss Lainey was picking me up.
Thank god for Lainey.

Well I get to work and then it just so happens that that particular day in Silverton, the Gold King mine was doing some repairs and they accidentally let loose 1 million gallons of toxic mine water.
So I got to go home early.
Actually that just meant I had 2 hours until my next job started.
So since Lainey was working and I didn't want to ask anyone else because i'm trying to be self sufficient here, I walked my happy little ass to work.
Which was around 3 miles.
And I wore loafers or I guess Sperry's
And it was a bad life choice.

I thought you know "I run most of this trail in the morning so it cant be that bad".
It was noon.
On a hot summers day,
I had a heavy back pack and not the right shoes.
And a massive blister brewing on my middle toe on my right foot.

It was not pretty when I hobbled into work.
Drink, sushi and coffee in hand.
A hot mess in a mild to wild t-shirt.

It had been a day.

But after some food, and I rehydrated myself I was back to my normal bouncy self.

But yes, I forgot how much I love and depend on my car.
So currently it is via bike for me.
Whoopee!

So it was a really good thing I picked Lainey up from the airport...

Because I am seriously not car savvy.
Like at all.

But she is.
And my car had been acting kind of weird but I wasn't totally sure about it.

Really I should just know by now that if its acting weird I should take it in, call dad, or call Lainey.
It's that simple.
But do I listen to myself when I should know better?
NOPE

So Wednesday night is trivia night at Brew. Yes that.
And I often go with my old co workers from the tea room. Yes we know.

So after the Top Tots fought and got I believe somewhere around 3rd from the bottom or something like that, I headed to the airport.
Hoping the car was fine.

And it was still acting weird  but being the stubborn person that I am, I went on.
I get to the airport and get Lainey.
We wait for her bag and gossip as per usual.
A lot had happened the week she had been gone and we needed to get up the speed on each others lives.

Then we proceeded to drive home and that's when it all went to hell.
Car starts acting up and she says we should stop and look at it so she can get some diagnosis of whats going on.
We stop off and her place so she can look at whats going on and urges me to take my car in asap.
Well by this time its after midnight, we both have to work in the morning, and the garage she is suggesting to drop it off at is across town.
Fill up some fluids, hope to god its OK, and drive it across town very gingerly.
Get to the garage, drop it off and pray they can fix it.
And then Lainey has very kindly driven with me in her own car so she can take me home and she drops me and my sorry ass back home and promises to pick me up for work tomorrow morning.
Since I am now sans car.
And I live across town from work.

So suffice to say we both didn't get to bed until very late.
And I am so grateful to have a friend that has more of a sense about cars than I do.
So we seem to have a reoccurring theme.
Julia suddenly becomes a damsel and somehow has fantastic friends that help her.
Thank god I picked Lainey up from the airport, or i'd be in an even bigger mess with my car.

So moral of the story, make friends with people that are good people and that have various talents.
You never know when you'll be in their debt.
And suffice to say, i'm seriously in Lainey's debt.

Stand up for kids

So for those of you that don't know, I am an Arvada Colorado native. Any way the current superintendent of Jeffco is doing a terrible job.
And this is the email I wrote to him the other day.
No response just yet.

Hello Mr. McMinimee.

I would like to let you know of my disappointment of what is happening to my community that you just so happen to be the Superintendent of.  I currently am a Senior at Fort Lewis College in Durango, pursuing English Communications with a Spanish minor. Now seeing as your degree is in Physical Education, grades K-12, I think a degree in Communications would have also helped seeing the debacle you seem to be in with the entirety of Jefferson County unhappy with what you are doing to our education system. I am an Arvada native. My mother graduated from Arvada West and my dad from Wheatridge. Both of my grandmothers have worked at Coors. I and my two other siblings spent our entire childhoods in Arvada, starting at Stott Elementary, then Oberon Middle School and lastly graduating from Arvada West High School. I was one of the 2012 graduating class speakers and I can tell you now, that if what is currently going on in my community now was happening when I was writing my speech, the entire community listening would have heard the disappointment and the shambles you have left our school system in. I am part and intertwined into the community of Jefferson county. As are you. Growing up and going to Hackberry, you must have some sense of our community and our ideals. But it seems not as much as we would like.

Why would  you ever try to change and edit out what was taught in AP US History? Just why? Shouldn't we be in this day and age where we shouldn't be afraid of our darker side. Why should we only hear about the good? We need to learn from the past to have a brighter tomorrow, and you are making for a darker and more problematic tomorrow.

Also today you prohibited new Jeffco educators from meeting with veteran educators to form a bond and become a better community. You called police force on them so they could not meet. Do you not think that is a bit excessive?

I am part of the community for a brighter Jeffco,and you seem to not be in that community.

I expect better as a sister to two other Jeffco graduates and friend to many Jeffco educators. 

So i'm asking you to get your priorities straight. Make our community progressive instead of breeding this terrible mistrust.

So please, do better for not only the students of Jefferson County but for the state of Colorado.

A rant about Orange Juice

Maybe i'm just old fashioned, but when did this whole orange juice not really being like orange juice stuff start coming out.

Maybe when I was little it was just regular orange juice.

Or maybe mom just got the natural orange juice.

Whenever I go to the store and get orange juice there are literally 3 types.

The high pulp.

The no pulp.

Or the i'm not even sure if that came from an orange orange juice.

When did this concentrate shindig start??

I would just like normal orange juice. 

Like I just squeezed an orange and got orange juice and here is the pulp orange juice.

The high pulp feels like the took the pulp from the no pulp orange juice and put it in the high pulp orange juice.

Like you are chewing your juice.

Which i'm fine with pulp but this is just unnatural.

And normal orange juice is not perfectly smooth.

Is there really all that large of market of people that despise pulp that pretty much all orange juice is low or no pulp??

Bunch of weirdos.

And then there's the orange juice, like tampico, that is from sort of concentrate.

With all sorts of unnatural flavors and colors.

And its just a little too orange.

Like most orange juice is a yellow orange.

This somewhat resembles an orange traffic cone.

And there is just something not right with it.

Like you can tell there is no actual orange in this.

Its all artificial.

So i'm telling all suppliers of orange juice.

JUST GIVE ME MY DAMN REGULAR ORANGE JUICE!

No weird colors, extra pulp or flavors that are not natural orange.

I WOULD LIKE ACTUAL ORANGE JUICE

AND I WOULD LIKE TO NOT HAVE TO SEARCH THROUGH ALL THE WEIRD ORANG JUICE TO FINE REGULAR ORANGE JUICE

That is all.

Have a nice day.

Buy regular orange juice.

Learning Curve

So you know how when you first start a job there are varying learning curves depending on your level of experience.
Well seeing as one of my previous jobs was extremely similar to my current one, the learning curve isn't too high.
The environment is different, the clothes are different, the coworkers are different, and its just overall slightly different.
But i'm fitting in.

I've only been there a few days but I like it already.
Like the other day I got my very first paycheck, and on each envelope she had written "Thank you Julia" or whomever paycheck it was name.
Just little things like that.

Its good to feel appreciated and liked in a new place.
And like you fit.

So yes, the learning curve isn't that high but it is different.
And that's ok.

I have fun. I enjoy my new coworkers.
And I feel extremely grateful to have this job.

Closure

So last year after Bri died, I was unable to come down for her funeral.
And so I never really got closure for her death.
Which its been nagging at me all year to go to her home town, which isnt that far from durango, its Mancos, and pay my respects.

And I felt I did just that.

I got off work early,
Deposited my paycheck,
And then instead of driving home I drove right past my place and just kept going until I got to Mancos.
Because I felt this was something I needed to do.
For not only me as a person but also so that I felt that Bri and I might have our last goodbye.

Still shocks me that she's gone, even over a year later.

So I decided to drive.
However I did not plan ahead and found out when I got there that they did not have a cemetery in Mancos.
And I couldn't find the marker on the side of the road.

So I drove around town.
Through the neighborhoods.
Downtown and through the tiny town where she called home.

I just thought about her and talked outloud to her about life whilst I drove.
About all that had happened in the past year.
How I am doing.
And how I missed her.

So even though I didn't get to see her grave, I felt like I had some small ammount of closure for myself.
And it felt good to let go.

The only halfway decent sport I can play

So as we all know, I am not graceful.
Like in the least.
Sports and I do not really mix.
Pretty much ever.
I have great fine motor skills but terrible gross motor.
So never ask me to hit a ball with a bat or really throw a ball.
Or hit something at all.

But there is an exception.
Kick ball.

Wait what?

Yes Kick Ball.

Did you ever watch the show Recess back in the 90's?
They all loved kick ball.
And I do too.

So when I heard work was going to have a Kick Ball game this past Friday, I was so game.
I was pumped.
Like I was actually looking forward to an athletic activity.
Isn't that so not me?
I know but its kickball.
And kickball is life.

So I get down there around 7:20.
Its supposed to start around 7:30 but we all know its going to take a while for everyone to get there and get the teams sorted so it doesnt really start until around 8.
There is "lemonade" and other beverages about.
And everyone is supposed to have a cup in their hand at all times.
After i finish my drink/ actually I just spilled like 90% of it I can fully focus on the game. Because I hate the drink in hand rule.
And our team actually does semi decent.
Oddly enough.
Well most of the staff is male guides.
So of course the sporting event was fun when there are athletic men about.

We ran, shouted, sang, cursed and then ran some more.
And it was a blast.
Quite frankly I want it to be a weekly occurrence.
That would be just peachy.

But if you havent played kickball in a few years i'd suggest getting some friends together and doing just that.
It may surprise you how much fun you actually have whilst doing it.

"You are an attractive, intelligent, confident businesswoman."

So one of my all time favorite shows is Ugly Betty.
Now I know its off the air and its been off for a while.
But its on Netflix.
And I have a habit of whenever i'm having a bad day i'll watch an episode of Ugly Betty and tell myself that if Betty can do what she is doing, then I do anything I set my mind to.

Well I started my first day at Renae Marie at 2 pm on Wednesday July 29th.
And I had to tell myself that before I went in.

After you are let go from a place you loose a bit of confidence in you abilities as a person and as an employee.
I told Renae the owner all what went on with the last job, and she looked past all that and hired me.
I thought if I told her it was a sure fire decline.
But it wasn't.

And here I have a new job.

And i'm trying to keep it.

But I feel good here.

The first day is always a little overwhelming because you are still learning and getting acquainted.
And the first few weeks in general are a little tough.

But that day it had the usual first day feel. But not the stress of having to learn everything perfectly so quickly.
The first day jitters went away and I felt like a bird to the air again.

I do well with things that deal with fashion.
I am knowledgeable about trends and what all looks good and put together.
So to be given another chance in a place that deals in fashion after just being let go from another similar place, is incredible.

So suffice to say, even though I thought I needed those reaffirming words to remind myself how much of an asset I can be to a company, I didn't really need to.

I hope this job will turn out better than the last.
Because that would be peachy.

Allie comes to the rescue

So I have this good friend named Allie.
You might have heard of her a few times in these blogs.
Anyways she's pretty much the best.
For many wonderful reasons but what she did last Wednesday really took the cake.

So I was taking my car in to just get a little check up and just make sure everything was OK.
Well I get there, check in, and find out what I thought was going to take like an hour or two will take much much longer.
So as i'm heading out around 9 am I have the brilliant idea to call my dear friend Allie and see if she wants to hang out or in other words, save me from boredom and my sudden panic that I might just have to walk back to my apartment.
Well I call her and get this, I wake her up.
How lovely of friend am I?
Helpless, stranded and now rude because I woke her up from her beauty sleep.
If this had happened to me it would not have been good.
So I wake her up and see if she wants to hang out.
Oddly enough, she does.
I head to a coffee shop and she comes by.
We then head off to go shopping together and now she has become my personal valet.
Because I am the definition of a damsel in distress.
Get back from shopping and I go and grab my clothes for my first day at Renae Marie and we head over to her house so she can make lunch for her siblings.
I'm just saying this now, but if you've ever read the Junie B Jones books, her little sister seriously is the spitting image of Junie B Jones.
We then decide to go and get lunch which I get because she has so kindly turned into my valet and savior.
Eat lunch and kill some more time before she drops me off at work.
After work I just walked and picked up my car and drove home because the shop wasnt that far from the new work.

I legitimately would have had a much worse day if that woman hadn't been as wonderful as she is and done so much for me.
I hate to impose on people, and I seriously imposed on her. Which I feel bad about but don't you worry, surprises are in the future for her.

Thank god for Allie.
And saving my sorry ass from boredom.

I might just miss this...

So I know this is going to sound really weird, but I might actually miss going around and smoozing the hotels for Mild to Wild.
Is that so crazy?
The hotel owners are super nice and I've become friends with some of them.
They know me and I enjoy talking to them.
I used to not really like the idea of smoozing and I stressed myself out, but now that I have gotten the hang of what to do, how to treat each hotel and all their quirks.
And we've built a relationship, I'm going to miss going to see them each week.
Because the season is almost over.
And soon it will be back to school.

But maybe its for the best because this one guy who i've met in passing a few times over the past few months,
who likes to flirt a lot,
works at one of the hotels,
which I didn't realize,
and I saw him last week.
And he asked me for my number.
Didn't give it to him thank goodness.
He's never getting it.

But everyone else I like for the most part.
And I've started making actual friends there now and now everyone is going back to school or home and so now i'm going to miss them.

But yes, i'm going to miss working there actually.

But I hope to keep friends with the people and guides that worked there.

So yes I will miss it.