I have decided that I have outgrown this journal. If you want to keep up with me my new journal is http://tinychickadee.livejournal.com/profile

Julie elizabeth

seriously FUCK MY LIFE. I wrote a check to our officiant 5 fucking months ago and he chooses to put it through NOW when I dont have enough to cover it and to make matters worse the things i had the money for went in after it.... hello 6 over draft fees. awesome.

i do i even have a livejournal account? no one uses it anymore and no one reads or responds to my posts. its like talking to a wall.... story of my life.

I lost eight pounds from last tuesday to this tuesday. That feels good. I make myself bike to work everyday and drink only water. it probably helps that we are broke right now and I actually cant afford to take the train or eat when im at work or anything. I love biking I just wish i had a different bike for long distances. Its so hard to get motivated to take the bike but once you get out the door its great lol. Lets hope the next ten comes of just as easily! I have also started an upper body weight routine since biking doesnt do much of that. its sad when 5 pound weights make you sore the next day lol.

indecisive me. I changed my blog url AND i cant decide between blogspot or wordpress so im shamelessly using both until I decide. They are the exact same blogs though so pick one lol.... I think word press will be more compatable when I decide to add it to my website...that still is not done... anyways


passkeytothegarden.blogspot.com

or

likeclimbingtrees.wordpress.com

im trying something new. I got a blog at blog spot but its not a current- up date you guys type blog... its more about memories and things I want to tell you about me...Im hoping to drum up some creativity because I havent picked up a paint brush this whole summer and its starting to eat at me a bit. So, I dont know if you consider it an art-ish blog or what but its basically an extension of my art work....things that inspire me and my work or lack there of....Its things that i have been focusing my creative practice on in the last year or so but they usually get written on scratch paper or journals that get lost or set down and never picked up again... and my thoughts get lost so Im resorting to the blog. As you know my art work and now my photography has come to represent things that are personal and often forgotten so here it is all out in the open for you to see what goes on in my brain. I hope to create something in relation to each entry. and then add an image of it... wish me luck.

www.prettylittlebirdie.blogspot.com

and my flickr www.flickr.com/Pretty_little_pictures.

you suck.

This is what I want

Summer: finish this digital photo class, work, finally finish colins nursery painting, have all the wedding stuff come together and go off without a hitch! have a great time and have fun on the honeymoon exploring the east coast.

Fall: Married :o) Start a fall themes half sleeve ( appropriately) KNIT and or crochet, continue to grow my hair out, Graduate school :o) Buy a new bike.

Felt like telling you all that.

I need a new life. I get bored too easily maybe... maybe a new interesting hobby? or something.... I would love to move out of state but im tied here for a while.... Plus its so hard to make friends when your not in school....


did i tell everyone I got into DePaul? I did! 3 years from now I might have a degree that I can actually use!

i have to go to the doctor today. i dont know i feel about it. Its not MY doctor...and I havent been in years. not looking forward to it. Give me the dentist any day. I love going to the dentist. Which I also havent done in a long time. I finally have insurance again, and I will lose it in 3 months when I get married. argh.

Im going home again this weekend.....and I actually am really excited about it because I am staying with my sister which means I get to spend time with the new baby and I am also going to do some portraits of their little family. So thats exciting! Also I am going with my dad to visit my grandma who lives alone. The reason for the excitement (Beyond visiting with her) is her house it amazing. She is a packrat and has never ever changed a thing in her house since they moved in in the late 60's I think. I kid you not. My dads bedroom is as he left it when he went away for college. You will see in the photos I plan on taking... His room was always off limits when I was young because they probably didnt want me wondering off but it was right by the bathroom.... It was so creepy to me then that I thought there were ghosts in there or something... like some creepy little kid just hanging out in there lol... The first time I went in there was like 2 years ago. Fucking sweet. There is an model airplane mobile in the corner.... his boyscout badges still displayed etc.... The whole place is like this but his room is my favorite...its like a time portal. Her basement is full of old bird cages and old bikes and my dads old train set... The hallway is covered in her little embroideries. She used to own an embroidery store and a maternity store in Rockford and all of the merchandise is stacked up in her living room and dining room. Everything also has a nice thick layer of dust on it. We are going Sunday Morning so hopefully I will have some good natural lighting as well. Im excited because this is something I have wanted to photograph for a long time :o) My grandma is blind and in a wheel chair...I dont think she will be annoyed or anything.... I kind of feel bad for her... part of my would hate to be alone like that. My grandpa died when I was a freshman in college and all of her pets have passed away too... The thing is when I was growing up she was always such a bitter lady that we didnt want to visit with her.... I think she was very affected by war and what not... It sucks even more because I really missed out on being close to my grandpa and he was amazing. He was a woodcarver and their house has little wooden birds peaking out of corners and shelves and everywhere....I think that is why I like birds so much... I know I could have learned a lot from him. It actually really pisses me off and makes me sad.... My grandma has always had a problem with my mom for some reason, like she wasnt good enough for my dad.... but I still feel bad for her. UGH.

On a lighter but still sad note, I wanted to go kayaking and exploring the shore line of the Kishwaukee ( Places you cant really walk to ) this weekend but it suppose to rain.... The shore is full of really beautiful exposed root systems of these huge trees....also itching to photograph it...even at the risk of taking my camera on the water!

Im baking Marissa a funfetti cake ( Our fav) for her bday! I bought purple icing to write with and pink candles too. Man we are getting old.


Ok thats enough. I dont think anyone reads these anyways.

I think I am on too many social type websites.

myspace
facebook
livejournal
flickr
wordpress
etsy
ravelry

i refuse to get a Twitter.

I think I might get rid of facebook, wordpress, and maybe even myspace.

I wish I could find my darn tripod. I really am obsessing about my new camera and would like to take some self portraits.

My apartment is trashed. I hate it. I think i just dont care about it because Josh and I have such different taste in decorating....If it were up to me I would have old stuff and lots of things I have collected here and there. AND NO TV If he had it his way we would have everything brand new super put together and all the electronic shit you can think of....its sort of both and neither and it definately doesnt look good. So we just dont try I HATE IT.... Luckily I pretty much have the bedroom and bathroom to do what I please with lol....anyways...


I bought hair extensions. Its great fun, but it needs to be cut and layered to blend in with my hair better. I just cant grow my hair out. Its too thin and damaged and it grows slow and needs to be trimmed too often and I get bored. Now I can just decide one day long the next short haha!

i need friends.

Im quickly realizing I remember NOTHING about Cameras. I learned it all like 3 years ago on a 35mm and pretty much have been using a point and shoot the last two years....Now I have no idea how to use this camera! AGHHHHHH Im hoping my class starting friday gives me a good refresher. I dont want to be an asshole with an expensive camera that just puts it on auto! Any tips or quick refreshers people? I feel like all that information fell out the back of my head at some point.... arghh...

Im am the proud new owner of a Nikon D60. Its about time. haha! and to break it in! Lots of pictures of my sisters new baby! He was born this morning around 9 am and I MISSED IT I was stuck at work. I booked it back to Rockford and OMG HE IS SOO CUTE. He is itty bitty and they had him wrapped up like a little burrito! So I officially have 3 nephews and a niece to spoil and in two months Ill have another one! Of course some one had to make the comment "Your next" I kindly reminded them that there is a 5 year gap between me and Krissy and that it AT LEAST how long they will be waiting haha! Pictures soon!

So I have been biking to and from work since summer hit. I told myself I had to once school got done for money and health sake. I have been using mapmyride.com to figure out calories and what not. Basically my daily cycling burns just under 1000 calories (9.5 miles total) and if I do it 5 days a week I should see some improvement in my energy level and overall health. Unless I eat cheeseburgers everyday WHICH IM NOT. Im also drinking water and milk only. Anyways I am also saving 25 dollars a week in train tickets. WooHoo!


My wedding dress is in :o) I had a nightmare that it didnt fit. There fore I am that much more motivated to bike to work.

As of right now the only thing that hurts is my butt from my horrible seat. ( Im riding the cruiser because it has baskets for my junk and my road bike needs ALOT of work)

im broke.

T mobile makes me want to kill myself. The last time I paid my bill online they said I clicked "reocurring payment" BUT I SWEAR I DIDNT. imagine my surprise when I checked my bank account that I just put all my graduation money in and its negative 70.00 dollars. They basically said tough shit but the worst part is I am going to get hit with 3 overdraft charges and I dont get paid til the first of the month meaning more fees. Im officially keeping my money under my damn matress from now on. That is if I can even recover from this one. This is fucking bullshit.

Here is a funny story that I thought I posted but when I went to post today it was there in my saved drafts....it happened last week


today i was riding my bike and my phone fell out of my pocket ( im dumb) and onto the street. Luckily there were no cars coming. Unluckily a homeless man picked it up and put it in his pocket.


When I asked him nicely for it back he ignored me. When I told him to give me my god damn mother fucking phone back he tried to act dumb and say " Can you identify it?" To which I replied " Its a white cell phone and its in your fucking pocket."

He tried to get me to pay him. FOR MY CELL

I was really stressed out this week but some how I just sat down and DID THE WORK lol. Im usually a master procrastinator as everyone knows....but this week I skipped a class I hadnt miss once yet ( i know crazy right!) and spent the whole time in the wood shop finishing my shelves and what not due Saturday...thought they didnt get painted :o( anyways... thats just for a workshop so im not going to stress. Then I came home and just whipped out a research paper lol ( I realized paper writing is super easy its just the starting thats hard to do) Then today I went to my first class and turned in that paper then between my two classes ( about an hour) I wrote a 3 page paper for my 20th century art theory and criticism class! LOL It helped that I knew the subject like the back of my hand ( Minimalist v Pop Art) Then again it was hard because What I think it common knowledge actually isnt and then I dont know if I have to cite it or not? Anyhoo...I found my teacher and handed it into him and asked him ( for my own pice of mind) what else we had to do. WELL we were suppose to have one more paper and a take home test. HE CANCELLED THE LAST PAPER!!!!!!! OMFG I love this teacher. SO all I have left to do is:

My final test for history of the 1960's
My final test for History of the American City
MY Take Home Vocabulary Test for 20th Century art
a short paper for my online lit class
AND MY FINAL PAINTING FOR THE BFA SHOW

and then HELLO SUMMER

The best part is all those things arent do til the last day which means all this time I have now ( Like what 2 weeks?) I can study, get my notes together and focus on my painting and moving!!!!!

God I hope I pass all my classes lol

I had a fantastic weekend. I went home on Friday evening and went to Granite City with Josh, my sister, her husband Dave, his brother Daniel, and our friend Rory. We had some food and drinks. Highlight: We ate on the patio and there were some dumb kids in their cars hanging out in the parking lot and we got Daniel to go over there in his Cobalt and rev his engine...its so funny because he is so shy. He even drove up the them and said Hey lol...then came back. So entertaining. We then went to take 20 since Dave's friend Aaron owns it and I got to watch Dave and Josh make fools out of themselves singing karaoke.

The next morning I played soccer with my nephew, and despite the rain, Josh, me and my dad took the kayaks out on the Kishwaukee River starting in Cherry Valley and ending at Blackhawk Springs. It stopped raining like ten minutes in :o) and we fished a little. I didnt catch anything but I did see a beaver lol... Then we had a cook out at Josh's IT WAS SO GOOD. They cooked the meat with Jack Daniels Woodchips....mmm. We spent some time with his family and then had a bonfire which was nice. Highlight: everything!

This morning Joshs grandma made breakfast then I went to my grandmas. I did my cousins hair for her first communion pictures and visited with my family a little more. We came back to the city around 6 and I finished my homework for tomorrow and a chunk of my big term paper.

This was a much much much needed weekend. I realized im very very pale and need to get outside more lol.

I would like to be settled. Im tired of moving and not being able to afford things. grumble...school is going to be the death of me. I serious cannot wait for summer to be here. I will have this 19 credit hour semester behind me! I will work my easy peasy part time job 4 days a week and have a photography class on Fridays. I will be living in a smaller apartment but it will be better location wise and so forth. I can ride my bike to work and school instead of stupid fund sucking cta. I can get some color on my cheeks and be outside much much more. This summer should be great, there is no way it wont be. Saying good bye to Columbia! Getting married :o) taking a trip anywhere we want, and living in the neghborhood we love. ALSO my dad just bought a new truck which means we can take the boat out! Im so looking forward to out weekend trips back home. Kayaking, boating, tubing down the river, exploring the parks and preserves and fishing. I miss having time for all of that. Its going to be great! How many weeks left? let me check...omg 4? really? fantastic!


did i mention that i have a final test the last week for my history class that is FORTY percent of my grade. OMG thanks for adding the pressure teacher!!!!


3 papers due today and only 2 are getting turned in but the other one is almost done so its ok...


I CANT WAIT FOR SUMMER