October

October is always a busy month in the O'Brien household, between birthdays, thankgiving and halloween it is always busy around here. Since I wrote an episle about Eric I should probably do the same with Chris. He is my youngest brother and by far the funniest person I've ever met, when I am having a bad day he seems to always make me laugh and it seems that we both go through a transfermation at about 9 or 10 at night...we are a tad bit crazy and that's what I'm going to miss when I move out. He is now 13 and I can't believe that it's been 13 years since I first met him :). I can't wait to spend eternity with him as well.

My birthday is also in October so again we had cake (it's no wonder that my parents complain about having to much sugar). On my birthday I hung out with my friend Julianna and that was fun and then I went home and had a good dinner with my family, I really am going to miss them all when I move out :(.

happenings

So since the last time I posted there hasn't really been alot going on in my life, I am currently working and attending one class at the College. Doing both really dones't leave much time for me to hang out with friends and it kinda makes me feel like a hermet and I don't like it. You see when i'm at home my friends are at school and when they're home i'm either at work or school so our scedules never coinside.

I am taking a childcare course and that is actually one of the funnest classes I have ever taken, it definitely has many politial aspects to it as it is a goverment course but other then that it's great. I am also volunteering at the school here to gain some expeirence in the classroom so i know if i truly want to go into Early Childhood Education or stick to daycare work.

On a happier note I should be getting a cell phone soon!! Yay for actually being in the loop and texting people :P I have never owned a cell phone of my very own so I'm pretty excited to be able to own it and be able to pay for it myself :)

About a month ago my mom was called to be Stake Relief Society President, and just last week she was sustained, I was in class at the time she was set apart but I can't believe how spiritual she has become in the past month and a half. At first she was overwelmed but as time went on she realized that she was choosen for this calling and that she needed to accept it and move on, she has truly been an inspiration to me and I hope in the future I become like her. I don't envy her though...any stake calling is a pretty big deal and to be able to handle it with the poise she has takes a very strong woman.

Also today is my brothers birthday!!! It's weird to think that 15 years ago today Eric was born and brought into this family. I'd like to think that I named him because one day when my mom was very pregant she asked me what I thought a good name was and I told her if it was a boy Eric, and if it were a girl Ariel (yes it was off of The Little Mermaid, but give me a break I was 3 at the time!!) I am so glad that he was given to my family and I and can't imagine my life without him in it. There I go all mushy again...ohh well, I am truly grateful for him and can't wait to spend Eternity with him and the rest of my family.

Summer Fun :)

Ok I haven’t blogged since my last depressing blog about how exams would kill me, but I am happy to report that I, Julie O’Brien passed every single one of my courses :) I actually did better on math then I had thought I would, which frankly feels awesome!!!

Another happy note is that I got to attend a Taylor Swift concert. Rewind to January my friends boyfriend wanted to surprise her with T-Swift tickets and lucky for me he asked if I wanted to go as well, at that time I hated country, no really I hated old country songs and how they sounded like hoedown music, but I agreed to go never the less. I am so glad I decided to go because after listening to her songs…I LOVED THEM!!! They spoke to me in a way no other artist has ever achieved in doing.

So we left about lunch time and were way excited, and if I do say so myself, looking mighty fine!! :P I even decided to straighten my somewhat curly hair.

Finally it was time for the concert!!!!! The opening act was Kellie Pickler and she was actually pretty good and even told us that she liked our Canadian accents…I didn’t know we had accents but I guess to her we do.

When Taylor came on stage the crowd went wild!!! And I have to say that Taylor is a great performer!!! It was defiantly a very entertaining concert, but half way through my camera died :( so I never got to document the last few songs. But for the last one there was a waterfall on stage and it even spelled out words!!!!! It was an amazing experience and I hope I can go to another one of her concerts someday :)

I also went to efy this summer; it was amazing and a good way to finish a 5 year tradition. Yes I was old but allow me to tell you my count for the age of the people who asked me to dance, 6/7 14 year olds, 6 15 year olds, 3/4 16 year olds, 2 17 year olds and 1 18 year old, let me remind you this was over the course of 2 dances. I was left wondering ‘do I really look that young???’ and my friend told me that because I’m short I look 15 or 16 years old….thanks Jaedan….haha. Other then that it was great and even Eric had a great time so he’ll be going back next year and I will be working :(.

So that has been my summer :)

DSS

Sorry I haven't been on very much lately it seems that studying and work has taken over my life :P I am so excited that school is almost over!!! I just want to move on, no more high school drama, no more government tests and finally I will get to meet some new people!! But to get to that point I need to get past my DSS (Diploma Stress Syndrome), if anyone has any pointers on how to get a good grade on exams that the government writes so that the person who gets high 80's low 90's gets a 65% then feel free to tell.

GRAD

Ok so here it is, the pictures from my graduation that happened on Friday. Even though I still have 6 weeks left of classes it's sad that this part of my life is over, not that I'm not excited to start a new life and move on it's just moving on kinda scares me...it should but it does :P anyways here are some of the pictures:

here's what my hair looked like from the back, suprisingly it only took one hour.

Here's a family photo, notice that even with me wearing heals I'm still short :P

My brothers and I :D

My parents and I

Me :P

My Friends and I

Hasn't Set In

I can't believe that I have been to Europe...everything just seems so sureal, I saw so many cool things and tasted the best pasta in the world and I even threw a coin in the Trevi fountain. I still can't believe that I've seen everything that I have, and it probably will take me a while for everything to set in. So instead of talking about my experiences because there are so many to name I'll just show you through pictures with some captions:

Here's one of the Efile Tower, we didn't get to go up it because it was on strike but it was cool to see it up close.

This is Notre Dame, we didn't have time to go inside but looking at it was enough for me

This was at the Juno Beach Cemetery, this was one of the parts of the trip that I actually teared up, for those that don't know Juno Beach was one of the most significant battles for Canadians because we lost so many people, and seeing the number of graves there was pretty powerful.

The Arc de Triomphe

Me standing by the Louvre

A church in Florence built many years ago, it was huge!!! and Florence was by far my favorite part, I am going back to Italy someday I swear!!

I just wanted to show you how green Italy was :D

Yes this is defiantly the Coliseum...it's so pretty and amazingly beautiful

This is the inside of the Coliseum

I almost cried standing here, this is the Trevi Fountain...it looked so gorgeous and especially at night!!!! I loved this night, we walked around the city at night and everything was so pretty I could hardly believe it!!


After visiting the Vatican City we were in St. Peter's Square and we saw the Pope!!! here's the one in the middle.

Ok so that's a taste of what I saw in Europe, it was definatly a life changing experience and I hope that I can go again some day.

Bon Voyage!!

Ok so I haven't really updated this much in the last few weeks...I promise I'll do better in the future. So I am heading off to Paris in exactly 4 days!!! and then spending the next 10 days traveling around France and Italy. After I get home Tammy basically has claim on my life until grad is over, which is actually 2 weeks from the time I get home. I really don't know what I'm going to do with my life after the next month is over...study for exams I guess :P Oh and I forgot to mention that I now have my dress!! Here's a lovely picture of what it looks like, you'll have to wait until after grad to see it on me :D

So I leave from the Calgary Airport at 1:15 pm on Tuesday and after a connecting flight in Toronto I will arrive in Paris at about 10:15 in the morning...so basically I will have to sleep on the plane or risk being totally exausted all day :P I can't wait to visit sites such as the Efile Tower, the Vatican City, the Trevi Fountain and much, much more!!!

What I am also looking forward to is visiting Juno Beach, the location of one of the most significant battles for Canadians durring World War Two, many people died there and it's just one of the many pieces of history my class and I will be able to experience. I will post some pics as soon as I get the time to, so for now bon voyage and talk to you in a few weeks!!