"i will pray, pray, pray until i see your smiling face..."

warm greetings from the land of oz. 

{don't ask why my arm is in the picture}

i'm sorry i haven't been a faithful blogger. i know the reading of my fascinating & ever so eloquent posts is the absolute pinnacle of your day. it's completely beyond me that you all have no idea what is going on in my life. truly astounding, i tell you... {since you didn't already know.} to be quite honest, i haven't had much to post about. we had a family over for lunch on sunday. they're very sweet & they have a daughter who's only a little younger than me. we went to church too, of course. it was pleasant but audrey & i couldn't stop yawning. raise your hand if you didn't close your eyes during prayer for fear of falling into a deep sleep... ooh! ooh! pick me! it's fun to meet new people & all, but it really exhausts me. i took a good, long nap after they left. & then slept in 'til noon on monday... & tuesday... my body is violently protesting this sudden change. emma came for dinner last night & voiced her concern that we don't get out enough... so today, we went out! she would be so proud of us. we went to a mall/town center sort of shopping center place. we ran errands & i, in my usual fashion {get it? fashion?} went shopping. {okay, now you get it.} calm down, i know you're dying to know what i got. i got... jeans. i went a little crazy & bought something i actually needed! two whole pairs! it's like i'm grown up or something... haha. not. oh, & we had starbucks. it's not quite the same as home. they didn't know my order when they saw me walk in... disappointing. but it was a lovely day out. see, emma? we do leave the house... sometimes.

now for some unrelated thoughts & things

• at stores, when they ask you if you need help, they say something like, "are you alright, then?" my first thought was, "do i look not alright to you?" but the next few times i caught on. she was really wondering if i needed a fitting room to try on my jeans... oh. okay.
• i took lots of pictures of myself to find one that i wasn't opposed to posting. why do i have such disdain for every picture i take of myself? i tried everything. happy face. sad face. creepy face. duck face. even blue steel. {with the preceding head turn & all} & my hair is just as crazy as it seems.
• the tatt is healing ever so nastily. it's all peely & yuck. this is not its best look.
• audrey is a great cook. she whips up a stir-fry like a champ.
• i awoke before noon this morning. *thumbs up*  it was closer to ten... meaning eleven.
• minimum food+maximum caffeine still=a bad idea. who knew?
• i hope you all understand my jokes. i think {know} that i'm hilarious. but hilarious could also mean hysterical, so who am i to judge?
• i hope i didn't just bore you all. you asked for blog post {yes, you did.}, so a blog post you received.

now i think i'll go watch some reruns of friends & sip some tea, or something.
good day to you all. {to which you respond, "good night"}

getting acclimated & experiencing the culture

meet the cast of made in chelsea. 

this show is basically the english equivalent of the hills. but so, so much better. because they dress great & have terrific accents. i was watching tv with emma this morning when this gem came on. i was so entertained, that i began giggling uncontrollably. it's one of those things that you try not to like & pretend not to like but end up getting hooked on. don't judge me. such good drama, i tell you!

in other news, i killed two spiders in my room this morning. & there are still about three left in the corner. i'm so strong & independent now...
also, there was a wedding in town today & they legitimately rang the church bells, guys. how would you all feel about travelling back here for my wedding? or my cat's dedication. whichever comes first.

meet my backdoor neighbour. sheep. she's a sheep.

lovely little garden & patio

more neighboursheep. they're quite pleasant.

sojourn: to stay for a time in a place; live temporarily

here i am in england land. it's midday friday. i don't really have words to describe how i feel. halfway through the flight, i just wanted to turn the plane around & come home to you all. as beautiful as this place is, & as warmly welcomed as i feel, it's not home. not my home. i can tell that this will be the biggest learning experience of my life so far. adulthood, high school has nothing on you. however, the amazing thing about leaving is that i came to a fuller awareness of how loved i really am. i've always had plenty of people to love, but having that love so clearly reciprocated is a wonderful thing. okay. all of this sentimentality is ruining my makeup. let me tell you about my rather lengthy journey here...

we flew out of seattle in the evening on wednesday. & now i'm here & it's friday. if the jetlag wasn't already messing with my brain... mom gave me sleeping pills to take but if you had seen the newly released movies they had on the plane, you wouldn't have taken them either. i think i watched water for elephants {well, hello, robert pattinson}, & red riding hood {hello to you too, actor & that other actor...}, & an episode of modern family & most of thor. i fell asleep during that one. sorry, buff, blonde superhero man. my brain needs sleep. they also had music. adele serenaded me with her brilliance known as music. i listened to someone like you on repeat. girl gets me. then, after a short layover in london/heathrow, we landed in manchester. our cab driver asked me how it felt driving on the correct side of the road. i'll admit, it threw me when audrey went to the left side to sit in the front seat. we got here around four? or five? again, no concept of time. i unpacked plenty & audrey went out to run some errands & when she returned, i was completely out. of course, i ended up awaking at the lovely hour of two in the morning. a charming combination of hunger & jetlag kept me awake for a few hours, which i spent watching jane eyre {highly recommended at all hours} on my laptop. audrey gently woke me up at ten, cup of coffee in hand. she takes such good care of me. my room here is so beautiful & so is my view. ribchester is delightful. the houses are all brick & lovely. i haven't really been anywhere but the house yet. movement is limited when you're THIS tired. 

i hope you miss me enough to have read that whole, long post but i understand if skim-reading was all you could handle.

 p.s. if any of this is unintelligible, remind your little old self that poor julia's brain wants to discontinue functioning for the next year. 

p.p.s. you know that snl sketch parodying how somewhat unintelligible british accents are? called "don' you go rounin' roun to re ro"? yes? well, that's my life now... :)

this is a post

i got a tattoo.

congratulations! it's a blog!

hello, my dearest reader. i felt the need to post something because my blog was looking downright pitiful. what better to post a picture of some of my favourite men in the world? & whose lyrics inspired the name of my blog. 

that is all. it is late. i bid you adieu.