Julie Weiss

An Edmonds Kind of Day

2010-06-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

Hi there,
I am submitting writing samples for various on-line freelance writing sites and one of them asked for a 250 word essay on a city I loved. Naturally, I picked Edmonds. It was hard for me to limit the words!! Here it is below. Let me know what you think. :)

If you think you've seen it all around the Seattle area, think again. From the great Emerald City to it's outlying cities, there are many little-known jewels to discover. If you travel just 15 miles north of Seattle, you will find a charming town by the name of Edmonds. One of my favorite places to visit is Old Milltown right in the center of the city. You can find it just off of Main Street in Edmonds, a charming little indoor village of antique stores. It has the feel of an 1800's logging town, complete with photos on the walls of Edmonds in yesteryear and wooden floorboards that give off their refreshing, woody scent. The beaches in Edmonds are delightful, nearly private spots to while away the hours digging in the sand, investigating tide pools, collecting shells and just sitting on the old sun-bleached driftwood logs, enjoying the cool breezes and the foghorn of the Edmonds-Kingston ferry. A summer vacation wouldn't be complete for me without a walk-on ride on the Kingston ferry, the round trip journey taking about an hour. On a clear day, you can see the Seattle skyline as the ferry pulls away from the dock. Edmonds has been repeatedly voted as the Seattle area's friendliest city. In the local shops, a popular bumper sticker proclaims "It's an Edmonds Kind of Day". I hope you have that just that kind of day-- full of friendly people, sometimes the drop of cool rain, but one of breath-taking beauty.

Wonderful story told to us by our Stake President during Relief Society

2010-01-24T22:51:00.000-08:00

This was my journal entry for today. What a fabulous story! :)

Jan 24, 2010
Today was ward conference and our stake president, President Murphy spoke in our Relief Society meeting. He told us what had happened to him this past week. Early on in the week, a Brother Miller from our stake died and his viewing was to be held at our ward building (the stake center) this past Thursday. The day before, the stake presidency conducts their temple recommend interviews. One of the questions asked is if you sustain the prophet and one sister admitted that she was having difficulty sustaining the prophet. The stake president decided that she should not have her recommend renewed yet, but made an appointment to talk to her again on the next night, which was Thursday.
Thursday night came and President Murphy was in the Relief Society room with Brother Miller's family and friends for the viewing. He looked down the hall and whom should he see coming down it, but President Monson! It turned out that President Monson was Brother Miller's mission president in Canada and had come to pay his respects to one of his missionaries. President Monson talked to everyone in the room individually and shook their hands. He then gathered with the family in the back corner of the room and told them stories about Brother Miller when he was a missionary.
President Murphy then recalled that the sister that was having trouble sustaining the prophet, was arriving at that time. He went down the hall to his office and she had just walked in the door. He told her that President Monson was in the building and she looked at him as if he were crazy. He told her, "Come with me and I will make sure that he shakes your hand." She followed him down the hall and saw President Monson inside the room. He eventually came over to talk to her and shook her hand and President Murphy thanked him for coming. President Murphy then took this sister back to his office to talk to her. He said it was a very humble conversation, with the sister in tears. The sister's husband had also had trouble sustaining the prophet, and she would no doubt go home with a wonderful story to tell him. I gather that all was well with sister from that point on.
President Murphy then told us that it was a miracle and he had no doubt the Lord had a hand in making it so that the Prophet was there in our chapel at the exact time that this sister would be there. What an amazing story! I couldn't help but look back in the corner of the Relief Society room as he was telling this story and imagine President Monson standing there or walking down the hall of the chapel. I told Brayden and Daniel this experience and said that it makes our chapel even more special to me, since the Prophet had been there.

Honest Opinions, Please!

2010-01-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

Honest opinions, please--I recorded me singing for 20 seconds and uploaded it. I did it while I was tired and I sound like a little kid. Yikes. What do you REALLY think? I want to audition for America's Got Talent, but don't really know if I'm good enough. I don't want to embarrass myself!!! :) It sounds a little rocky at first (I was tired), but hang in there! :) Here is the link:

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=a3860db9385b015fe8947b&skin_id=0

Thanks! :)
Julie

Pumpkin Patch Oct 26, 2009

2009-10-26T20:06:00.001-07:00

We had a lot of fun at the Pumpkin Patch tonight for Family Night. The kids enjoyed picking out their own pumpkins and I had fun taking their photo. Click on the photos to make them larger. Enjoy! :)

I'm so funny--unintentionally, but I'll take it. :)

2009-10-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Trunk or Treat for our ward (yes, a week early) and I took the kids (Trevor had to work). Brayden was a zombie/mummy; Daniel was an alligator; Sarah was a bunny. (Don't they look CUTE?!) I decided to dress up also in a costume I made for Trevor years ago (details at the end, I don't want to ruin the story). So anyway, I was talking to my friend Donelle and said that I was "over the moon" about maybe going to Washington DC in a couple of weeks to see Holly, Scott and Noah sealed. She started laughing hysterically and I asked why, she looked at me and said, "You're dressed as a cow!" I had forgotten about my costume when I said that. We had a good laugh. :)

Daniel was unintentionally funny tonight

2009-10-17T21:07:00.000-07:00

A great one from Daniel: He wants to be Luke Skywalker for Halloween and I found a pair of tan pants (in storage) to go with the outfit and I told him, "Look! I have Luke Skywalker's pants!" He looked at me with wide eyes and asked me, "How did you get them from him?!" That had me in stitches! I love 6 year olds! :)

Big Girl Bed!

2009-09-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

I found this fabulous deal on our local classifieds website and got this Princess bed frame with the bedding included for $30!! We already had a mattress (crib size) and I didn't have to disassemble the bed to get it into the minivan, so it was a very easy thing to put it all together in Sarah's room.

I was nervous about the first night, but Sarah was so excited about her new big girl bed, that she stayed in it after I told her to and slept through the night the two nights she's slept in it!! We took apart the crib this morning. It was all very bittersweet as all of my kids have used the crib, but at the same time I was glad to see it go. It was barely holding together and we needed to get rid of it.

This video is of her getting into the bed the first time. "Goodnight, Mom." So cute! :)

We may be moving to...

2009-09-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

SEATTLE! A manager job for Delta has opened up in Seattle and Trevor has the experience they need, he also knows everyone up there since he worked in all the departments and they like him a lot. Some people have told us that he was the best manager they ever had. So, please keep us in your prayers that he gets this transfer. We want to come home!!!

My husband's "Learn to Fly" blog

2009-09-08T07:07:00.000-07:00

Hi there,
My husband, Trevor has a new blog for learning to fly.
His address is:
http://flightweiss.blogspot.com/
Thanks!
Julie

I might be on the Dr. Oz show!

2009-09-05T16:14:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!
Dr. Oz, Oprah show regular and amazing doctor, is getting his own show. I found out that they were asking people to write in their questions for Dr. Oz and I asked why it is that I sneeze when I go out into bright sunlight, as it doesn't seem to be something that happens to everyone. It mostly happens when I've been inside a dimly-lit place like a store or movie theatre, but it happens every time. Well, a producer called me today and asked me to submit a video of me asking this question (among a few other questions I have) and I might even be going to the show this Wednesday in NEW YORK CITY to tape my question there. I'M SO EXCITED!!! I will let you know what happens!
Love, Julie

I'm sad...

2009-06-19T23:41:00.000-07:00

I found out today that a wonderful lady I knew in my college years has passed away due to cancer. Laura Benson was an incredible person and friend.

I knew her husband, Jan first as he was the faculty advisor for a program called S.T.O.P. (Students taking over prevention) that I participated in. We presented a program to schools to help kids "Just Say No".

I met Laura when we were in a production of "Oklahoma!" together in Logan, UT in 1994. She was so much fun (as was all the cast) and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her. I am sad at her passing and my prayers are going out to her family. Goodbye to the best "Ado Annie" there ever was.

Family Home Evening insanity

2009-06-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know that FHE is a great program, but how do you get a bunch of wiggly kids (even the 10 year old) to listen? I always feel my frustration growing as I teach the lesson (which I keep to about 5-10 minutes anyway) while they make faces at one another, giggle and crawl under the table. Hopefully this week's lesson on keeping the Sabbath day holy will sink in during the week or we will have an interesting Sunday. We can't play outside? We can't play with friends? No TV (except for church videos)?! Are we grounded? Yes, I will admit that I enjoy my nap time on Sunday which means I haven't enforced those standard Mormon rules mentioned above enough. I am repenting of that. We will see how it all goes down. I need to mention my deep satisfaction when I said to Brayden (the wiggly 10 year old), "Brayden, you will be giving the lesson next week" to which he looked at me in shock and said, "WHAT?!?!" So funny. Can't wait to see what he comes up with. (insert evil laugh here).

Lost tooth!

2009-06-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

The tooth fairy has been busy at our house...Daniel lost his first tooth this week and then Brayden lost his 10th tooth not even 24 hours later! They both have two more loose teeth. Daniel was soooo excited to get 4 quarters under his pillow. Brayden also got a dollar, but I just gave it to him as he no longer believes in the tooth fairy.

Watch "According to Jim" tomorrow night (June 2nd)...see why below!

2009-06-02T01:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, I was not a big follower of "According to Jim", but my sister Joan and my sister-in-law Becky and her daughter (my niece, of course) Tali wanted to experience a television show taping while we were in Los Angeles together last September. We went and saw a taping of "According to Jim" and I was surprised by how HILARIOUS this episode was. We have been waiting and waiting for it to air and finally, FINALLY, it is airing tomorrow night on ABC. It will be the 1st episode of the two back-to-back episodes on ABC. 7pm MST and 8pm PST. Go watch! It will be worth it! ;)

In other news (and I will blog about this tomorrow)...drum-roll...Daniel lost his first tooth tonight! He looks so cute with that little gap in his teeth. Two other teeth are wiggly. Brayden would want you to know that he has 3 loose teeth also. :) I will post a photo tomorrow. :)

Goodnight for now!
Julie

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay...I'm lousy at the blog thing. But, I thought I would start over and post some recent photos of the kids. :)

Brayden is becoming such a young man now. He still loves to play outside like a little kid, but he is so much more mature now. It's fun to have real talks with him. I can just see how mature his mind is. There are some things that I love that he hasn't let go of, yet. He loves to have me read to him at night. The kid has a 8th grade or higher reading vocabulary (this includes comprension)! We are reading "A Wrinkle in Time" which at first I thought was a little too old for him, but he is loving it. I also introduced him to "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (yelling at the swear word parts so he couldn't hear them...shame on me for knowing where they are in the first place!)

Daniel is about to graduate from Kindergarten and they had some professional "graduate" photos taken of each kid in his class. Now, I know this sounds bad, but I've never understood why there are kindergarten graduations. I mean, they are already in elementary school, so it's not like a Jr. High Graduation or High School Graduation where the kid moves up to high school or college. I've got to admit though, he looks pretty darn cute in his cap and gown!

Finally, there is Sarah. She is so dang cute most of the time and exasperating the rest! She changes her mind at the blink of an eye. She is definitely making us scratch our heads to figure out how how her mind works. She tips over the dining room chairs when she is angry. We had her professional photos done at JC Penney at the beginning of April. I was surprised how well they turned out as she pouted the entire 15 minute-session. She had her finger in her mouth the entire time!

Tali (my niece) and her kids came to Salt Lake for a visit along with a couple of friends. Her son, John Paul stood in some photos with my boys. He is wacky! Also, here are a couple of shots of Sarah with her girl cousins (well, the two on the right are her cousins Kaylyn and Kariann, the two of her on her left are her cousins' friends). What's funny is that Sarah is not in the same generation as these girls...she is in the older one (Kariann and Kaylyn's Mom is Sarah's 1st cousin!)

Sarah and her cousin, Kaylyn ------- Sarah's cousins Kariann and Kaylyn are on the right

Hello to everyone!

2009-01-09T16:14:00.000-08:00

Hello! Well, so far our new year has been great. I have a new part-time job taking care of a little 4-year-old girl who lives nearby and is really sweet.

The Price is Right episode was so much fun to watch. I went to my sister Joan's school to watch it with her. She is a 4th grade teacher at Copper Hills Elementary in Magna, Utah and they set up an assembly for all the 4th graders to watch the show live. Brayden, Daniel and Sarah were with me (Trevor was out of town) and we whopped and hollered. Channel 2 (CBS) news came and so we were on TV. It was funny as they said my name was "Jill" instead of "Julie". My sister thinks that maybe during the interview she had called me "Jul", as she often does. It was fun to watch on the news and my kids were excited to see themselves on TV. My sister has a DVD copy that she will bring over so we can upload it onto YouTube.

If you missed the show, CBS has it online for a short while. Go to http://www.cbs.com/, go to shows, click Price is Right, then select Jan. 5th full episode (if they still have it). My friend also sent me a link that you can go to to see it. http://tinyurl.com/a99kxw My sister is Joan Harris and is the 2nd one called to come down. We are in pink shirts. The other two with us are my niece Tali and her Mom, Becky (my sister in law). We had such a great vacation together going to Disneyland, a taping of "According to Jim" (which will be aired, I think, on Feb. 13th) and of course, The Price is Right.

Price is Right!

2009-01-02T23:40:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,
In case you didn't know, my sister and I along with our sister-in-law and niece went to the Price is Right in Oct. Well, my sister Joan has watched the show for 35 years and was picked to "Come on Down!" She won her game, spun the dollar on the big wheel ($1,000) and won the showcase! The show will air THIS MONDAY, Jan. 5th. You will see me blubbering like an idiot as my sister is the sweetest person I've ever known and so deserved to get called. :)

What a Christmas!

2009-01-02T23:19:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!
Christmas was great in the morning, but a nightmare in the evening. Sarah was bit on the upper lip by my sister's dog and we spent a couple of hours in the ER. It was a small dog (a shi zu...spelling?), but she had to get a couple of stitches! Ouch! She is doing fine now. The stitches came out New Years Eve day. I took some photos of her yesterday on my phone camera, as our camera isn't working right now. The camera on my phone doesn't take great photos, it makes her look weird (like a fish-eye lens). Oh well. She is healing very well.

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-29T19:24:00.001-08:00

Well, our camera is broken, so we have been using old-fashioned Kodak disposables until it is fixed.

We hope you all had a great Christmas!
:), The Weiss Family

Here we go again!

2008-09-13T06:51:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
It's been such a long time since I've blogged that I forgot I had a blog!
Things are going well for us.

Trevor just became a certified flight instructor (WAHOO!).

I have started a new job as the photographer of the newborn babies at Pioneer Valley Hospital in West Valley City, Utah. I love it!

Brayden started 4th grade a couple of weeks ago and loves it. I am so happy for him as 3rd grade was rough. He reads on a 8th grade reading level and a 5th grade level in all other subjects so he was bored stiff being stuck with a 3rd grade class that (literally) had trouble spelling "and". No kidding! He was so bored and his teacher thought his boredom was lack of interest. Same thing, right? So she said she couldn't recommend him to the gifted and talented program! Doesn't make sense, right? Anyway, he came home from school the first day with a HUGE grin on his face and said, "Mom! I learned something NEW today!" It also helps that he made a new best friend in a boy who lives in the building behind us. :)

Daniel just started kindergarten and loves it. It can be hard to get him up for school even with enough sleep, but once he is up he is happy to go.

Sarah is still cute and petite. She is 2 1/2 years old now (she turns 3 in Dec.) She still fits nicely in clothes that are for 18 month olds, but she is a little fireball! She may be small, but she is definitely a 2-year-old mentally. She has an attitude. Her favorite word is "STUPID!" when I can't figure out what she wants. Thank you, Brayden and Daniel. ha ha ha. She is so adorable most of the time and is still loved by her brothers (and us) immensely.

The kids are growing!

2008-04-23T00:59:00.001-07:00

Brayden is now 9 years old, Daniel turns 5 this week and sweet little Sarah is 2.