What Love Really Means

by Christian artist JJ Heller, with her husband David.

This video and song moved me so much when I listened to it several times today. Is it not amazing that God does indeed love us? ...and not just that, He loves us for us, as we are! How can that be?
Yet, it is true.....and that's incredible.

What I Have Learned From Julie's Life

Julie Andrews is one of my favorite actresses (right up there with Audrey Hepburn and Emma Thompson!) I'm not sure exactly what it is about her, or her acting that draws me in, but it does. I always felt like I could identify with many of the characters she played in her various movies. Her role as Maria Von Trapp, in Sound of Music, is of course of special note. :)

However, there definitely always is much more to a person than just what they do for a living, right? The same is true for Julie; she was more than just her acting and singing careers.  I knew that she played great roles and was a wonderful singer, but I knew next to nothing about her own life, and the 'real' Julie Andrews!

    That's why I ordered this book (only $4!) off of Barnes & Nobles to read. Home, is Julie's memoirs of her early years from her birth to age 28. What first struck me as reading was that she did not come from a 'perfect home'! I guess I just always assumed that Julie Andrews ...I don't know, came from this perfect, happy-family dream world! Something like the Trapp family! Well, that was not the case at all; her parents, Barbara Ward Wells and 'Ted' Wells, both came from very poor, abusive backgrounds and met while working in the vaudeville/nightclub business.
     Once married they had two kids, Julie and her brother Johnny, before her mother left her father for another man (Ted Andrews) less than a decade after marriage. Eventually, when Julie was around 12 years old, her parents divorced and her parents went their separate ways. The resulting years were spent between the two families: her Mum and large, load, rough 'Pop', and her Dad and new timid, but kind wife. 

   Two things happened as Julie neared her teen years: Her Mum and Pop decide to change her name, from her christened name Julia Elizabeth Wells, to Julie Andrews. Julie was apparently very upset and averse to the change at first, but it stuck anyway. Secondly, her 'Pop' began giving her singing lessons and then later sponsored her to attend lesson by Madam Lilian Stiles-Allen. Turns out.... Julie had an amazing voice!

And the rest, is history basically. :)

     I thought it was particularly neat to see the pictures of her as just a young, slight girl meeting young Queen Elizabeth. Julie Andrews was & is such a special lady. A common theme I find in her life story is forgiveness, humbleness, and perseverance. Whenever people hurt her, or whenever she got praised, or whenever things got particularly rough, she responded in the same way, every time: by pressing on with a smile and hope in her heart. Now maybe that sounds like 'sentimental fluff', but I think it's a valid claim.

The optimists are the ones who keep us all from getting too bogged down with life and forgetting to LIVE.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Resources:
Favorite movies of Julie Andrews - Sound of Music, The Thoroughly Modern Millie, Mary Poppins.
Websites: http://www.julieandrewsonline.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Andrews

~Fiesta de Octobre~

My Answers...

{1} What is your favorite hobby or craft to do?
Probably photography. I do it the most, so I must like it, right? I do. Next to that, reading and writing letters, complete with tiny illustrations, gives me the most joy as far as 'hobbies' go.

"Sakura" by HEH

{2} What's the biggest/most difficult project you've ever tackled?
Helping my older brother dig out a 6'x6' foot square hole for a basement window. That was really a LOT of digging! Next to that, helping my Dad clear the driveway with his Massey this year, with.... 4+ feet of wet snow on the ground. That was...long & hard & frustrating. :)

{3} What project of yours are you the most proud of?
My English-style Circle Garden. It's 16 feet across, has four different sections to it (roses, vegetables, perennials, and herbs.) I built it for my high school botany project! It still makes me happy to walk through it, and I'm still changing it all the time, five years later. :)

me, in front of the herb quarter.

{4} Someone gives you a $20 JoAnn Fabrics giftcard. The first thing that comes to mind to spend it on is...
Canvases! And photography frames! I have a bunch of pictures of mine to frame that I want to sell and I have many ideas for paintings stuck in my head that need to come out. ;)

{5} Can you do a project and watch a movie at the same time?
The only thing I've ever tried this with is doing laundry at the same time, but that was sort of an obligatory thing, i.e. " Okay, you may watch a movie you guys, but only if this laundry gets folded..." etc.
I've tried to knit & watch a movie, but I kept dropping stitches. Too good of a movie, I guess!

{6} When you are hand sewing, do you bite off your thread when you're done, or snip it with scissors or just break it with your fingers?
I snip it with my old fashioned, swan-designed thread scissors that Mom gave me for that express purpose. ;)

{embroidery scissors, rather like my own pair.}

{7} Does anyone in your family collect things (like tea cups, stamps, bottle caps, etc.)?

My younger sister & brother collect stamps & coins. We all 'collect' books; but I collect books older than 1950 (I have 36 of them.) I also collect....feathers. Yes, feathers. I have quite a variety, several of some: owl, duck, goose, several kinds of chicken, turkey, bluejay, mockingbird, parakeet, pheasant, and peacock. I used to collect discarded birds eggs & nests, but then I heard about how dangerous (germ-wise) that can be, so I stopped. I always collect tiny (small) books, and letter from from friends. ;)

a barred rock hen feather

{8} What are your favorite color combinations that you use in your crafts?

Olive green, brown, coral & cream white.

{9} Does decorating a Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head sound interesting to you?

No... Sorry! I think drawing faces on eggs in the carton and watching your mother's reaction when she opens it is much more fun. ;)

{10} The manager at your theater needs help in the making of the costumes and/or set decoration and set up for the next production. You volunteer to do....what?

Make the hats. By all means, I will make the hats.

Always,

One Day in the Life of {Little Me}

[Archived. Written Friday, October 1st, 2010]

My family is gone from home (off on a college-weekend event) for four whole days! I spent the first part of this day, inside, trying to recuperate from this nasty head cold I've got.
I was reading, writing, yes, chatting & Facebooking. But you know, after "puttering about" (as my Uncle Erik calls it) cleaning, cooking, dish washing and laundering... I'd had enough.
The inside just wasn't big enough, and it felt constricting.I felt awful. (Being sick, as we all know, is no fun and feels like the 'end of the world' every time.)
So, I went out side. I discovered more stinkbugs on the screen door...

  I found that my garden needed tending...

Most people consider moss a nuisance
and try to rid their brick houses, walks and patios of it, but I like it!
So the moss stays on my garden walks. :)

It's funny why we weed. I can understand if something has thorns, or causes
a rash, or is crazy vigorous, but really? Pulling out every single 'foreign' looking plant
to make room for a sparsely planted, -ultra tidy garden. I don't know... I think I'd just rather the
garden be a little more wild. :)



Wild Strawberry & Yarrow Leaves.
Once the flowers are all gone, I can focus on photographing
& sketching the foliage of plants.

 ...and found that the animals, rabbits & chickens, needed watering and food and a few eggs collecting. The rabbits were eager for some clover. :)

Secret: {This is my favorite wildflower to photograph.}

Peter, left & Jeremy, right.
Quite the rabbit characters, they are! ;)

I did that all and then just stood, in the sun--soaking up the warmth of it.Then, better yet, I grabbed the new feathers I found (from the chicken yard)

...and saw a nice grassy place on our hill, where the grass had flowered and shot up stalks a few feet. They were swaying in the wind, just calling my name.

So I sat in the midst of the grass and flowers (there was some Chicory and Aster there too) and just basked in the sunlight. What therapy! And no medicine involved. :) It felt great. I even got visited by three squirrels who though I was like a statue obviously, I'd been sitting there long enough. They were busily gathered and burying nuts. (It was kind of funny to watch; it almost looked like they were opening little root cellar doors, to stick the nut in, and then when done that, they looked as if they were making tiny beds, of grass, when they were smoothing the spot over! So cute.)

I found a bunch of ruby-red, ripe tomatoes in the garden too. Washed & dried those.
Grabbed the blankets and clothes off the line that got doused in the earlier rains and then dried---all in one day!

 I found a tiny rosebud from my pink rosebush to bring inside & look at...

Floribunda, ever-blooming Pink Rosa blossom.

The sun was absolutely glorious today! I was loathe to finally shut the shades before that particular hour when the outside light and the inside light match in brightness...

Our front door nob.
So much more handsome looking that the other, plain nob we used to have.

 But, once done, it was to a-fixing dinner for myself (rather lonely ritual, by myself!) Tea, soup, crackers a pear & chocolate. Very nutritious! ;)

This cup is from our 'musical cup' set. They look homely but when you
*tink* your spoons against them, they sing! A very musical ring they have to them. :)

 Oh, and POPCORN. My favorite! For the movie, Bright Star.

'Hand popped' popcorn, with our oldie popcorn blower thingy. :)
Just add a little olive oil & sea salt, and voila!

So that was my day, in words & pictures.
Hope you enjoyed a little diversion and learning a little bit more about me. ;)
Love,

Andie (Re)Introduces Me to Levi

"Levi"

I was exploring photography websites of friends, and those of friends of friends. I came across Andie, from Portland, Oregon. Man, do I love her photography! This girl is really good behind her camera and the results are fine, crystal-bright high quality photos. Plus, she is making a living doing what she loves to do and that's my personal goal!

*officially inspired*

Austin and Gideon

Also, on a side note: There was this one post of hers of band photos for these two guys named Austin and Gideon. Turns out this was the band I had been looking for, Levi (previously called Feng Shui) ever since I met Austin Kearney, one of the singers, at his home church while visiting friends in Oregon this year. He may be remembered from the small film his acted in, Come What May. Now, I know what their music is like and I find it to be awesome. What a great sound! Go friend them on Facebook and MySpace.