Realizing Blessings

Wow! What a week this has been! Now, I realize that God bestows plenty of blessings on us all of the time, but for some reason, this past week has seemed to be very noticeably spilling over with blessings! First, I got to spend part of the weekend with some very good friends who came down from Winchester and NOVA to visit me. Then, had an absolutely wonderful Sunday, which included meeting the Plain White T’s/getting a private concert with them, spending the afternoon enjoying awesome fro-yo and great company at Sweet FROG, talking for nearly 3 hours while getting super excited about potential video projects, and finally the PWT’s & Parachute concert, all with someone who is very special to me, but whom I haven’t been able to spend much time with for quite a while, so I was soooo ecstatic that we got to spend most of the day just hanging out and catching up. Also on Sunday, an adorable little girl and her family came home from Philly after she had heart surgery and spent a couple of weeks recovering at the Children’s Hospital (and I just received an email update from her Dad that her follow-up appointment at UVA also went well, so praise God for that!).

On Monday, I went for a nice run through the Fan without any serious knee pain, then came back and had a great phone convo with my Mom. I was so thrilled to hear that her arm is starting to get a little bit better and that she’s starting to see improvement from her physical therapy and home exercises. On Tuesday evening, I went to the second meeting of my new small group, the Needle’s Eye Ministries Young Professionals group, and something I shared with the group ended up sparking a really in-depth discussion that really helped us to connect with each other and I think we all benefitted from it.  It was just such an awesome feeling to open up and share our personal/spiritual struggles with a group of people who have only known each other for 2 weeks. Just wow. Everyone offered some really insightful advice, and at the end of the night, I drove home feeling spiritually rejuvenated and praying that I would learn to accept God’s will for my life and be content with His timing and whatever He sends my way, instead of asking for my own selfish desires to be met. It’s funny how you can be totally missing something and then someone else shares their thoughts and/or advice with you and it gives you a whole new perspective on things.

Now, continuing on with the incredible list of blessings that became so obvious to me this week: One of my best friends, who moved to Connecticut after graduating from JMU last year, had been working a part-time job for about 9 months since moving up there last summer. She told me on Wednesday that her company offered her a full-time position, which means that now she’ll have benefits and won’t need to worry about exploring other job options anymore! Then, I had lunch with another good friend on Wednesday who informed me that she just got accepted to VCU’s Pharmacy School! This comes after several years of seeking God’s direction for her life since finishing undergrad. Then this morning, as soon as I put my things down at my desk, a sweet friend from here in the office came in to share the wonderful news that she finished her last chemo treatment yesterday, then proudly showed me her certificate of completion. I was so overjoyed at this wonderful news that she shared with me! I gave her a huge hug and we had a mini celebration. She is the most positive and optimistic person and it’s just contagious when you’re around her. She is definitely a shining example of someone who fully puts her trust in God and hasn’t let the cancer get her down.

Wow, what a refreshingly positive way to start the morning by reflecting upon what an incredibly blessed week this has been! This has put me in such an amazing mood now! I hope you also will reflect upon the blessings that God has placed in your life this week. Have a happy Friday and a wonderful weekend, y’all! :)


Already getting super excited for Carbon Leaf tonight!!!!

Springtime = Concert Season!!! :)

Happy May!!!! In addition to flowers, May also brings about the beginning of spring/summer concert season!!!! :) As most of you probably remember from some of my posts last year, going to concerts is one of my absolute favorite things to do, so I get excited about the influx of opportunities to see more shows. What makes a show even better is when you get to go for free...and what's even better than that is getting to attend a private meet & greet/acoustic jam session with the band before the show! Thanks to the wonderful 103.7 The River, I got to do just that on Sunday! The Plain White T's were in town for a show at the Hat Factory with Parachute and Andy Grammer, so I was super excited when I received a phone call on Thursday telling me that I had been selected as a winner! 

After enjoying a complimentary late lunch at Blackfinn, the winners, guests, and radio crew gathered 'round as Tom, Dave, Tim, De'Mar, and Mike entertained us with a phenomenal acoustic performance. They opened with "Rhythm of Love" (I was super excited about that, since it's one of my faves). I even shot a short video with my digital camera:

Next, they impressed us with their current single "Boomerang," and of course finished with Tom belting out their most widely known song, "Hey There Delilah."

It was a blast to be a part of this little get-together. The guys were awesome and so much fun! They answered any questions we had, took time to sign our souvenirs, and posed for photos with us.

Several hours later, a line started forming outside of the Hat Factory as eager fans anticipated the stellar performances from the Plain White T's, as well as opening performer Andy Grammer, and Charlottesville's own Parachute.

As anticipated, it was a total blast! All 3 bands were fantastic and definitely put on a show to remember! I took wayyy too many pictures, but will spare you and only post a select few to give you a taste of how amazing the show was!

Andy Grammer opening the show.

Will Anderson of Parachute

Will jumped off the stage into the crowd and I managed to snap a few pics before I nearly got trampled by adoring fans, lol!

Many thanks to Parachute and the Plain White T's for putting on a high-energy, crowd-pleasing show, and for kicking off May with a bang!

Alas, my springtime concert series continues on Friday with Carbon Leaf at Friday Cheers at Brown's Island. Not too shabby for the first week of May, huh? :)

Okay, time to head off to work....have an awesome one, y'all!

On the road to recovery, and thus one step closer to training for the half-marathon! Woo-hoo! :)

For the past few months, whenever I went road-running for more than like 3 miles, I could anticipate knee pain for the last several miles of the run, followed by limping for a couple of days, and having trouble taking the stairs for a couple of days after that. After limping around this past weekend from doing a 6.5 mile road run last Thursday (I knew that would happen when I decided to run, but it was SO gorgeous outside that I couldn't resist!), tonight I decided to finally go back to my orthopaedic specialist. So, after work, I joined some friends from work at Capital Alehouse for our office happy hour. We shared some laughs while discussing the "Bacon Challenge" charity fundraiser that I was involved in last week (we raised over $2,200 between the competing factions; one group was raising money to see me, the office vegetarian, eat a bacon-maple sundae, while the "Save Juliana and the Ice Cream, Too" fund came to my rescue and was successful in sparing me from eating that gross concoction). I hung out for a bit and enjoyed a delicious black bean burger topped with cilantro-lime slaw and an ancho-chili sauce (a few curious coworkers came over to inspect the burger, taken aback by the idea that I was eating a real burger...I quickly assured them that they had nothing to worry about...you couldn't pay me to eat red meat!), along with pita chips and a healthy dose of what I believe is the best hummus in Richmond. Anyway, I'm rambling and I know you don't need a recap of every detail of my evening, so let me get back on topic. When I left Cap Ale, I headed out to the West End to get my knee checked out. I fully expected him to x-ray my knee and tell me that it was suffering from chondromalacia patella, which he diagnosed for my left knee last October. However, it turns out that there is only slight evidence of that, and the real problem is a minor meniscus tear. So, the doc gave me a cortisone shot, along with the orders to rest it for 10 days (aka no running). After 10 days, I can start with 1 mile and gradually work my way back up.

I'm sooo excited to be able to run pain free (hopefully) again soon!! And the horror stories about cortisone shots are SO over-exaggerated! Seriously, I barely felt the needle at all! Granted, I guess once you've had a few injections in your eye, all other shots seem like a breeze by comparison. But nonetheless, I don't think anyone's ever been so excited to get a shot as I was tonight! LOL. The whole concept of a shot being able to eliminate all pain in a joint sounds almost too good to be true, but I'm optimistic that it's gonna be successful and I'll be able to start training for the half-marathon soon! :)


And to make my night even better, my buddy HC just emailed me to let me know that he got them to box up the leftover hummus from our happy hour tonight and it will be awaiting me in the office fridge when I get to work! Homemade hummus for lunch tomorrow!!!!! Woo-hoo! :)


And on that happy note, I'm signing off....


Oh, and only 6 more days until Easter! Which also means i can have ice cream and chocolate again! Although, being deprived of chocolate really hasn't bothered me...at least not nearly as much as ice cream has been tempting me. I think as soon as the Easter service at church is over on Sunday, I'm going to suggest to Mom and Jon that we skip lunch and head straight for the ice cream shop! Haha. Just kidding....but only halfway! :)


Night y'all!

Blog Facelift/New Name/New URL!!!! :)

I've been wanting to revamp "Juliana's Juncture" for quite some time now, so tonight I finally decided that it would be easier to just start from scratch, hence the current unveiling of "In a Richmond State of Mind." (Yes, in case any of you were wondering, I am a Billy Joel fan, thus the inspiration for the new title). After creating this new blog, I was relieved to discover that Blogger lets you export all of your blog posts into an .xml file for future uploading elsewhere. So, I decided to transfer posts from Juliana's Juncture from January 2010 onward, since that was the official month when I began my life as a Richmonder. I'm excited for this new, updated look, and I hope you enjoy it, as well! Hopefully the excitement will motivate me to post updates more often!

I just realized it is after midnight, which means it is now officially my mom's birthday! Happy Happy Birthday, Mom!!!! Hope it's absolutely fantabulous!!!! :)

2011 Monument Ave. 10K = Complete!

Waking up at 6:45 isn't usually a pleasant thing to do on a Saturday morning....that is, unless you're super excited for a race!!! As you all know, I've been anticipating this day for several months now, so it was totally refreshing to wake up, gobble up some Special K with skim milk (my personal favorite "Breakfast of Champions" haha), put on my running gear, and start my 1.4 mile walk to Monroe Park.

(Please excuse the poor quality...my digital camera finally kicked the bucket and my new one isn't supposed to come in until Monday, so I had to resort to my BlackBerry camera).

I'm not normally this awake before 7:45 on a Saturday! LOL

I checked my bag (obviously can't go anywhere without my cell phone, chapstick/lipgloss, and keys haha), and then headed a few more blocks over to Broad to wait with the other 40,000 runners. It was quite a long wait, since I had arrived around 8:20 (the first wave started at 8:30), and my wave wasn't supposed to start until 9:16....what can I say? I like to be early for things that I'm excited about, and apparently thousands of other people felt the same way! :)  This is the first race I've run in that used chip timing, and I am definitely a fan! Anticipating a gun shot to start a race always makes me feel like I'm gonna throw up....I blame that on my years of track & cross country. So, after what seemed like forever, Wave QA approached the starting line, then before I knew it, we were off! I was near the front of the wave, but about 2 blocks in, I could feel my knee brace sliding off my knee, so I had to make 2 very quick stops to try and fix it. By the end of the race, I think it was acting as more of a calf brace, but I finally decided to suck it up and quit wasting time trying to adjust it. As I told my Mom on the phone during my walk back to my apt., I think it's time to buy new knee braces that use straps instead of the pull-on one that I've been using.

Aside from the knee brace annoyance, the race was pretty awesome! The live bands and cheering spectators made it lots of fun! The one thing I learned for next year is that it's not a good idea to sign up for a slower wave than what you're capable of running just to stay on the safe side. Even though I knew I should finish under 60 minutes (notwithstanding a bad injury or an act of God), I signed up for a 61-65 min. wave, thinking that it would be better to run at the front of a slower wave than at the back of a faster one. The result: I got stuck in more bottlenecks than I've ever seen at Capital Ale House! The joggers who signed up for the faster waves were spread out everywhere across Monument, so those of us at a faster pace ended up zigzagging back and forth just to get through them. Not a huge deal, just something that could have been somewhat avoided if I had been in an earlier wave....but at least now I know that. :)

Overall, it was an awesome experience and I ended up setting my personal best record:

During the race, I kept thinking about Dad and reminding myself to push harder because I was running this for him. And I also wanted to have a good report to give Mom and Jon when I called after the race. When I crossed the finish line, I didn't think I had improved much, if any, on my usual time, but when I got home and checked the chip time, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I had knocked about 5 minutes off of my usual 10K time. Granted, this was a very flat course and much easier than most other routes that I tend to run, but I'm still pretty satisfied overall. I hope Dad was watching....I'm pretty sure he was :)

Okay, well, as if all of the black and yellow this morning wasn't enough of a reminder, VCU's big Final Four game is tonight so I should probably start getting ready before my neighbor and I go scope out the least crowded local bar to watch the game. Let's Go Rams!!!!

Long Overdue Update...Monument 10K is almost here!

I just finished baking and icing strawberry cupcakes for a work friend's birthday tomorrow and I remembered that I haven't posted anything on here since Dad died, so I figured a new post was long overdue. On that note, it doesn't seem possible that he's been gone for a little over 2 months now....we miss him soooo much :(  Everyone says it gets easier with time, but I'm still not convinced. It's true that the tears don't come quite as often, but even thinking about the happy memories makes me sad when I realize that those are the only memories we have to hold on to for the rest of our lives until we see him again in Heaven. Sometimes when I don't feel like being sad, I try to push the thoughts out of my head, but then I realize that it's good to think about him as much as possible, since those memories are the only ones we have and I never ever want them to fade.

On a happier note, I'll be running in the Monument Avenue 10K this Saturday in honor of Dad! Feel free to check out my Massey Challenge page here. After a couple of decent training runs last week, my "good" knee decided to start giving me problems, so I took the past few days off to hopefully give it a rest so it will be fresh for the race this weekend. As usual, Mom keeps telling me not to push it too hard, and that I shouldn't run if my knee issues continue flaring up, but she knows I'm a stubborn one and when I sign up for a race, I'm going to finish it, even if I have to limp across the finish line. Hopefully that won't be the case though! Haha. Of course, next Saturday is going to be an especially epic day for Richmond, since now in addition to the 40,000 runners making their way down Monument Avenue that morning, VCU will be playing in the Final Four of the NCAA Tourney!!! Obviously, I'm a lifelong, dedicated JMU fanatic and my allegiance will always be with my beloved Dukes no matter what, but living in the middle of Richmond amidst all of the VCU hype is kind of contagious! Plus, it makes perfect sense to support the only Virginia team in the Final Four! This city has come alive with VCU fever....walking down the street in the Fan, bypassers shout "VCU! VCU! VCU!" Cars drive past with the windows rolled down, honking their horns continuously while the driver shouts "Go Rams!!!" All of the restaurants and storefronts are decked out with VCU banners and Rams' horns. Richmond is just buzzing with basketball fever and it's a blast!

In other news, my good friend and former D.C. roommate flew up from Georgia to visit me several weekends ago. We had a blast doing some touristy things that even I hadn't done yet, as well as spending time at some local Richmonder hangouts that I've grown fond of over the past year.

 Carytown!

 Maymont Park

George Washington statue in the Capitol

Another Carytown shot

Speaking of that, it's crazy to think that I've lived in Richmond for over a year now! Even though my long-term job stability is entirely dependent on the voters of Virginia (among other factors), and I have no idea what path my life may take in 2.5 years, if things work out, I could definitely see myself staying in Richmond for a while. My neighborhood is awesome for running, super convenient for walking to all sorts of great restaurants, and only a short drive away from Downtown. I've made some wonderful friends here, and I've finally found a church that seems to be the right fit for me. The only downside is being 2 hours away from my incredible family and friends back home, but luckily that's close enough to allow for frequent weekend drives back to the Valley.

For those of you who chose to give up something for Lent, you probably know that we're just about halfway through. One of my good friends at work and I share an addiction for ice cream, and before the Lenten season began, we had a tendency to be bad influences on each other by taking afternoon field trips to various ice cream shops (not to mention our unsuccessful quest to find Shamrock Shakes in Richmond....luckily both of our respective hometown Mickey D's came through for us and we were able to enjoy our favorite March treat during the weekend before Fat Tuesday). In the midst of our ice cream ventures, I started feeling guilty for completely reversing any minuscule results that I should have been achieving at the gym, so he suggested that it would be appropriate for us to give up ice cream for Lent, and I agreed wholeheartedly. However, I had already intended to give up chocolate, which I did successfully 2 years ago. So, deciding that I couldn't bail out on my original plan, I decided to combine the two and gave up ice cream AND chocolate. I figured it wouldn't be too hard...just have to keep both of those items out of my kitchen and desk and I should be fine. Sounds easy enough, right? On the Thursday after Lent began, unaware of my decision to give up chocolate, my boss walked in to the office and put a full carton of Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans on my desk (there is almost always a supply of these on my desk, thanks to my obsession that one of my favorite people instilled in me right after I moved here, and that I have since shared with several of my friends in the office). As if this wasn't enough temptation, he completely restocked his candy dish with Hershey's miniatures (including my fave dark chocolate!!!). And then, several days later, when I was convinced that my will power was stronger than these temptations, my boss plopped two boxes of Girl Scout cookies on my desk! The Thin Mints tormented me for the few days that they lasted, but I was good and didn't give in. Lucky for my friend and I, a new frozen yogurt place just opened up in Carytown about a month or so ago, so we can still get our frozen dessert fix without cheating on our Lenten promise. Sweet Frog is by far my new favorite guilty pleasure (but most of the flavors are non-fat, and I top it with fruit so it's not too terribly unhealthy...or at least that's what I keep telling myself haha). They have a whole wall full of flavors from cake batter (my absolute fave!) to bubble gum to mango. 

The best part about Sweet Frog, aside from the delicious yogurt, is that it is a Christian-run business! FROG stands for "Fully Rely On God." Love it!!!!

Well, on that note, I should probably sign off and get some sleep. Gotta get up a tad bit earlier than usual to go decorate someone's office for her birthday! :)

Have a wonderful week, y'all!

Every Day, It's Sinking In....

Last Thursday evening started off much like any typical Thursday night in Richmond during session...after leaving work, I accompanied a good friend to a reception at the Jefferson Hotel. Then we headed back Downtown to the Tobacco Company for Thursday Night Caucus, which is a fun weekly session tradition in which legislators, LAs, lobbyists, and others in the political arena gather together to enjoy drinks and each other's company before the week wraps up. I spent most of the evening gabbing with a few good friends and my former roommates, as well as other LAs who I worked with at the General Assembly last year. The group I was sitting with established that the working world must be wearing on us, because by 10 p.m., we were all already pretty tired and getting ready to call it a night. It wasn't quite 10:30 when I noticed that my cell phone was vibrating in my purse, so I hurried to dig it out. The caller ID showed that it was Jon, so I answered and said “Hey Jon! I'm at caucus and it's super loud in here. Can I call you back later?” He said that was fine, but for me to call him as soon as I got back to my apartment. So, I took my sweet time, finishing up conversations and telling friends good-night. I finally arrived home about half an hour later, called Jon back, apologized for blowing him off, he asked about caucus and we made small talk for a little bit. Finally, he double-checked to make sure I was indeed back at my apartment. I assured him that I had literally just walked in the door and was hanging up my coat, he took a deep breath and began with “Well, I'm sure you probably know why I'm calling....”

For the past few months, every time I saw Mom or Jon's name pop up on my caller ID, my stomach flipped and I braced myself for the worst, and then breathed a sigh of relief once I realized that was not the news they were calling to tell me. But on Thursday when that was indeed the phone call that I'd been dreading, I wasn't expecting it. I'm so thankful to my bro that he wanted to make sure that I was safely home before delivering the news, but felt bad for making him wait 30 minutes to tell me.

As odd as it might seem, I didn't really even cry at first. I wanted to, but for the first time since Dad's diagnosis, the tears didn't come. I just sat there on my bed, shaking, yet numb, and hugging my favorite stuffed animal as tightly as I possibly could (yes I'm 23 and still sleep with a stuffed animal....Disney's Stitch, the adorable blue alien to be precise...and I've admittedly needed to hug him a lot since August...maybe I'll grow up one day).

For anyone who knows me well, it's probably needless to say that the not being able to cry part didn't last too long. I sat there for a while, not moving, just staring blankly at the floor, clutching onto Stitch while a million thoughts ran through my head, wanting more than anything to be at home with Mom and Jon. I finally managed to fall asleep sometime after 1:30, then woke up early and started throwing things into my suitcase. After stopping by the office for a few minutes on Friday morning, I hit 64-W and headed home. The two-hour drive, combined with an assortment of songs on the radio, provided lots of time for reflection as fond memories filled my head, coupled with thoughts of the last few times that I spent with my dad, including the very last time that I saw him, on Monday afternoon when I left to head back to Richmond.

As friends and family have visited over the past few days, lots of stories and memories of Dad have been shared. From tales of his hunting adventures to memories of him working at his beloved hardware store, these are the stories that will live on through those of us that he has left behind. I am grateful for these memories and so proud of the many lives that Dad touched over the years.

It's tough coming to grips with the fact that he's really gone and realizing that he won't be there for any of our life events in the future. He won't be there to walk me down the aisle if/when I get married. We won't get to tell him about career changes, ask his advice for big life decisions, see him smile and laugh at funny moments (he had the best smile and laugh!). I know he'll be looking down and watching us from heaven, but it's still hard and painful beyond words.

Despite the sad time that Mom, Jon, myself, and the rest of Dad's extended family and friends are going through right now, the outpouring of support over the past few days has been incredible! I feel so blessed and loved beyond measure by all of the wonderful people in my life who have visited, called, emailed, sent flowers, food, let us know they are praying for us, and offered their support in so many ways! Love you all SO very much! God's comforting touch through each of you is what's keeping us strong and getting us through this together.

As much as we love and miss him, Dad is in a much better place, free from the pain and suffering that he endured for so many years. I smile to think about him seeing Jesus face to face, and being reunited with my grandparents and everyone else who was there to welcome him to Heaven. 

In case you were wondering, I've been bawling my eyes out pretty much the entire time that I've been writing this, and I'm sorry if this post has made you do the same. Tonight, I just finally got the courage to put my raw thoughts and emotions into words, and thought I would share them in case anyone was interested in reading them. Regardless, writing always makes me feel better, so it is what it is.

Save A Place for Me by Matthew West has been by far the most soothing, yet heart wrenching song for me during this difficult time. I've been listening to it on repeat for the past few days and no matter how many times I play it, it never gets old. In case you haven't heard it, I've posted the video below. I also included the lyrics, because they are spot on with how I'm feeling right now:

Don't be mad if I cry
It just hurts so bad sometimes
'Cause everyday it's sinking in
And I have to say goodbye all over again
You know I bet it feels good to have the weight of this world off your shoulders now
I'm dreaming of the day when I'm finally there with you

Save a place for me
Save a place for me
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon
Save a place for me
Save some grace for me
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon

I have asked the questions why,
But I guess the answer's for another time.
So instead I'll pray with every tear,
And be thankful for the time I had you here.

And I wanna live my life just like you did
Make the most of my time just like you did
And I wanna make my home up in the sky
Just like you did
Oh, but until I get there
Until I get there

Well, I hope you enjoyed that song as much as I do. Thanks so much for reading, but now it's time to wipe away the tears and think happy thoughts....it's what Dad would want for all of us.

Much love to you all,

Juliana

 

Father's Day 2010

Family Pic - August 2010

 

Christmas 2010

We Love You, Always & Forever, Dad!!!!