I am loving girl-power-folk-rock right now. A few of my favorite lyrics below:

Dixie Chicks - More Love
...We're afraid to be idle, so we fill up the days. We run on the treadmill, keep slaving away 'til there's no time for talking about trouble in mind. And the doors are all closed between your heart and mine.

Just look out around us: People fighting their wars. They think they'll be happy when they've settled their scores. Let's lay down our weapons that hold us apart. Be still for just a minute, try to open our hearts

More love, I can hear our hearts crying. More love, I know that's all we need. More love, to flow in between us. To take us and hold us and lift us above. If there's ever an answer, it's more love.

Dixie Chicks - Not Ready to Make Nice
...I'm through with doubt: There's nothing left for me to figure out. I've paid a price, And I'll keep paying.

I'm not ready to make nice; I'm not ready to back down. I'm still mad as hell, And I don't have time, to go round and round and round. It's too late to make it right;
I probably wouldn't if I could. 'Cause I'm mad as hell: Can't bring myself, to do what it is you think I should.

I know you said: "Can't you just get over it?" It turned my whole world around, and I kind of like it.

I made my bed and I sleep like a baby, with no regrets, and I don't mind sayin': It's a sad sad story when a mother will teach her, daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger. And how in the world can the words that I said, send somebody so over the edge, that they'd write me a letter sayin' that I better, Shut up and sing or my life will be over?

Forgive, sounds good. Forget: I'm not sure I could. They say time heals everything, But I'm still waiting.

Pink - Dear Mr. President
...What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away? And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay? I can only imagine what the first lady has to say: "You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine."

Let me tell you bout hard work: Minimum wage with a baby on the way. Let me tell you bout hard work: Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away. Let me tell you bout hard work: Building a bed out of a cardboard box. Let me tell you bout hard work: You don't know nothing bout hard work

Dixie Chicks - I Hope
Sunday morning, heard the preacher say, "Thou shall not kill." I don't want to hear nothing else about killing and that its God's will. Cause our children are watching us, they put their trust in us, they're going to be like us. So let's learn from our history and do it differently.

I hope for more love, more joy and laughter. I hope we'll have more than we'll ever need. I hope we'll have more happy ever afters. I hope we can all live more fearlessly. And we can lose all the pain and misery.
Julie @ 9:52 AM Permalink |

Oh, hey. It's TV turnoff week, so get outside or read a book or something.
Julie @ 4:36 PM Permalink |

Yesterday in honor of Earth Day (and because we have to do it sometime) College Dems picked up our stretch of highway.

Missing from the picture is Ryan (taking it) and Dr. Donnay (late arrival).
Julie @ 4:33 PM Permalink |

The 7th Congressional District Convention went well (even Nolan thinks it was cool), despite waking up late, a few bad mics, and not being able to vote against 10 MINUTES for candidates to speak because I wasn't yet seated. Attending to details was stressful at times, but I really didn't have a lot to do, compared to my Mom and Dad, Pam and Lori. (Plus I looked like I meant business in my new suit.)

It was a big love-fest for Rep. Collin Peterson, whom we endorsed for the 7th CD.

Erma Vizenor, White Earth Tribal Chairwoman and Frank (among others) gave seconding speeches for Peterson.

We elected party officers and many state-wide candidates spoke, here are a few:

Amy Klobuchar, US Senate

Christian Sande, Secretary of State

Rebecca Otto, State Auditor

And the State Chair was there. I think, just to make sure everything went alright.

A few of my favorite Democrats were there, Andy Martin and Sara Kloek. If you think I'm an overacheiver, I'm nothing compared to Sara. And Andy's going to go to bat for me to get a political job this summer. (Rock On)

At the banquet, the governor candidates spoke. I didn't get pictures, cause I was sitting on the stage and didn't feel like looking star struck. Steve and Becky's speeches made me want to vote for them. Hatch's really wasn't as good. So, now I'm more torn than before. (And Steve Kelley had green beer in his hospitality room to drink while we waited in line for Al to sign our books.)

Al Franken was surprisingly serious for much of his speech but still gave us plenty of laughs. And, because Lori Olson is nice and I'm the A.Chair of Belt. Co., I got to be seated next to Mr. Franken.

My lovely uncle, Nicole and Michael kept taking my picture with Franken. Which was nice, I felt famous:)

It was a long day, but really great. (Carly, Jess and Me)

Then, Jess and I went to Keg

Julie @ 3:52 PM Permalink |

Call my Dad 751-0197 to reserve tickets or contact me and I'll hook you up.
Hosted by the 7th Congressial District DFL and Beltrami County DFL
Julie @ 5:32 PM Permalink |

It was Kari's last youth group night on Wednesday. She has ensured that the group remained a no-pressure, ask-a-lot-of-questions, safe, be-yourself place for 6-12 graders to be. It's a scary thing to lose her, the person to fill her place has a lot of expectations to live up to.

The motley crew

A favorite pose

Check out the sky yesterday.
Julie @ 5:21 PM Permalink |

Designed by Dutch born, English designer, Tord Boontje. I saw it in a shop on the way down to the cities yesterday. It took a while to track down online, and its a little expensive, but it so rocks.

As well, the curtain is pretty spiffy, but lets not get carried away.

Julie @ 8:16 PM Permalink |

I just uploaded my pictures (unlimited space omigod), scheduled them to be printed at Target for me to pick-up (33 prints for $4.60 with my discount), and had stamps made from one. How cool is that? Now, they just need to hook it up with my flickr account and everything would be outstanding! Wait, it might be already and I missed it...
Julie @ 7:35 PM Permalink |

Yesterday, the breeze was warm, the sun was warm, it was down right stuffy. It was so warm in fact, that I hung my jeans up to dry on the line outside at my parent's house. I can't remember the last time the air was so warm so early. It should still be snowing for pete's sake. Climate change is very apparent this year in Bemidji.

And I see that the crocuses are popping out of the ground already. Everything else is brown and ugly, but they are a bright reminder of the Spring and Summer to come. I am honestly, so excited for Summer weather. I love winter weather, but after March it starts to get depressing. I can't wait for days on end where I don't have to wear socks, shoes that tie or a coat outside.
Julie @ 7:28 PM Permalink |

Julie @ 7:24 PM Permalink |

Time for Easter, time for Spring, for new beginnings, for open toe shoes and a chance to renew/remember our connection to God in ordinary things on Holy Ground
Julie @ 10:51 AM Permalink |

Be my friend, hold me
Wrap me up, un-fold me
I am small, and needy
Warm me up, and breathe me

"As darkness falls, confusion rises. Voices nearby drop away, disappear. Spectators lose interest. Now just the silent sound of hearts breaking, hope evaporating." - Martin Wroe

How shall I bury you, O my God?
How can I wrap you in a shroud?
What dirges can I sing for your departure,
O compassionate One?

Aposticha of Vespers of Holy Friday
Eastern Orthodox

"Joseph went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. He took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in fine linen cloth. Then he put it in a tomb that had been cut out of solid rock and had never been used. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and watched how Jesus' body was placed in the tomb."
Luke 23:52-53, 55
Julie @ 10:06 AM Permalink |

There was a lot of church yesterday. First at St. Phillips for a service to remember Angi and Amber's Dad. A solem service with incense, rituals and memories.

Then, Eucharist at BUMC for Maundy Thursday. I was pleasantly surprised to see elements from last week's EPIC service intertwined in the traditional. We wrote down prayers, concerns, joys on a black prayer cloth. Our prayers mixed with others as we prayed together. And before kneeling for communion, we stopped to dip our fingers in a bowl of water to feel the coolness and remind us of the healing power of God's spirit.

I loved the fact that we used the old communion table as our common table for the night.

A view of the stained glass window in the Chapel from the outside. It protrays Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Julie @ 9:34 AM Permalink |

For youth group we watched Jesus Christ Superstar. I love that movie and try to watch it every year during Holy Week. I admit, it can get boring at times, but I love musicals (I sing along the whole time - surprise). And I notice new things everytime.

Hosanna heysanna
Sanna sanna ho
Sanna heysanna hosanna
Hey JC, JC won't you smile at me
Sanna heysanna ho superstar
Julie @ 8:46 AM Permalink |

So, I was at the salon today and I ran into a former co-worker. We chatted for a long time and caught up on each other's lives. She mentioned Assemblies of God and inside I cringed and thought, "Oh, don't tell me you are in with an intolerant, fundamentalist bunch like that."

Which, I'm sure she had an opposite, but equally disappointed reaction to me telling her I want to work for the Democratic Party. Because, she asked me, "So, you're not involved with the church anymore?" To which I replied, "Oh, yes I am. I help with youth group and the alternative worship service. And I'm thinking about applying for a job there." Which, I think really confused her.
Julie @ 7:43 PM Permalink |

It's holy week, but it doesn't feel like it to me. As with the rest of lent, I don't feel very spiritual or connected. I feel like I'm going in fast forward and that everything keeps getting faster. With the exception of work. That's been pretty slow (thankfully).

I got my butt to church Sunday morning for Palms, New Members (Angi), Ham and egg hunts. It reminded me of why I don't go very often. The announcements were TOO LONG. They need to be at the end. We talked about money for TOO LONG. And the sermon was TOO LONG for a Sunday in which there are about a million extra additions to the service. See, I can't worship this way. I really try and not be so critical, but I don't care how much is left on the building mortgage and the more I think about it the more pissed off I get that it took WORSHIP time to talk about it!

I complain that the sermon was too long, but it did talk about good things. I was enlightened that Hosana doesn't mean "rejoice" or "praise God". It means "Save me". So when the people and Jesus paraded into Jerusalem on "Palm Sunday" they were not praising Jesus, but asking God to send them a savior. Reminds me of the Dave Matthew's song "Save Me"

It also suggested that Jesus, sort of came to save us from bad religion. I.E. the pharasees and macabees who had gotten so judgemental they had forgotten about love. Hmm, sounds like some churches today (mine included, except we are selfish instead). As well, Eric suggested that when Jesus used parables, they were a way to get people to think about God in new ways. Hmm, sounds like what we're trying to accomplish with EPIC

Angi and the kids become official members of BUMC and it was great to be there to support them.

Before church, Luke Manley (age 5) gave me a quarter and asked, "Will you put this in the offering thing?" I asked him if he was sure he wanted to give me his quarter? He kinda hesitated and said yea. And I did.

Julie @ 8:52 AM Permalink |

HOLY GROUND

THE REVEALING of the Holy One is what we need to transform our lives. We need to know that the ground on which we are standing is holy ground. When we have found one truly holy place, then all places become holy.
- David Adam, Forward to Freedom

WALKING PRAYER: A PALM SUNDAY MEDITATION

TO TRY this practice, decide on an amount of time to spend in prayer. . . . Start by addressing God and stating your intention to know God's presence through the practice. Then begin to walk very slowly and continue for your set time. That is all.

At first, what may seem slow to you will still be quite fast. Every few steps, slow your pace even more. Try to reach a point where you are taking at least fifteen to thirty seconds for every step (this will seem like an incredibly long time). As you walk, pay attention to the movement of your feet. Feel them on the ground. Feel as one leaves the ground, moves through space, and then touches the earth again. Allow your mind to begin to move as slowly as your body. . . .

As we become familiar with this prayer practice, we perceive our surroundings more fully. We become aware of how quickly we are moving, and the desire to slow down and watch for God grows in our hearts. God begins to speak to us out of the content of our lives, and the knowledge that we are indeed on a journey into the holy grows.
- Daniel Wolpert, Creating A Life With God

A MASS MOVEMENT OF COMPASSION

Our times cry out for a mass movement of compassion. This urgent need coincides with the goal of the Christ-following life, for unless our faith makes us compassionate, it can hardly be called Christian. Following Jesus means moving out of our privatized, isolated, and self-enclosed worlds into a compassionate engagement with our suffering neighbor. As we open ourselves to the pilgrimage experience, ... we journey from self-centeredness to compassion. May you and I become everyday pilgrims whom God can use to bring healing to our broken world.
- Trevor Hudson, A Mile in My Shoes

A BOOK OF WISDOM

LET US ONLY intend to see and hear, and then the whole world becomes a book of wisdom and instruction to us. All that is regular in the order of nature, all that is accidental in the course of things, all the mistakes and disappointments that happen to us, and all the miseries and errors that we see in other people become so many plain lessons of advice to us. ...

If you would only carry this intention of profiting by the follies of the world and of learning the greatness of religion from the littleness and vanity of every other way of life, you would find every day, every place, and every person, a fresh proof of the wisdom of those who choose to live wholly to God.
- William Law, Total Devotion To God
Julie @ 8:47 PM Permalink |

Dan Bye and I giving a seconding speech for Mary

The girls and I waiting to hear the results of the ballot.

Me, Erica and Jessica with Mary after she won!

Mary giving her acceptance speech
Julie @ 7:27 PM Permalink |

I stopped at the Labyrinth in First Lutheran Church today after lunch to help qualm my frantic/frenzy/sense of urgency.

I was alone, so I picked out a good CD from the stack and turned the female chanting up loud. I stood for a while at the entrance and tried to calm myself. I walked slowly to the pace of the music.

I kept having to stop myself from thinking about how I would blog about it later. And from thinking about if I was taking too much time and if someone wanted to take everything down.

I focused on me, Jesus & God. I kept repeating it to keep me focused. I tried to stay in-the-moment. I meditated/talked to God about on things in my life, people in my life, issues in my life, decisions in my life.

I sat in the middle in a good yoga pose and breathed. Breathed. And tried to clear my head. I lit a candle for everything that overwhelms me with dispair and one for the things that give me hope.

It is amazing how the labyrinth always unearths emotions that I have been supressing. It took away the knot in my stomach.

There was a clay labrinyth medalion to take away that I put in my pocket for future finger walks.

Ahh. I should have been doing this all Lent-long.
Julie @ 12:08 PM Permalink |

So, I was checking out my webstats/tracking when I stumbled upon a local internet/politics scandal. And from the looks of things, there is plenty of name calling and scolding going around within the MNDFL blogosphere. Personally, I feel there is nothing wrong with an employee having an anonymous blog.

And for pete's sake, the Call was incorrect. We were allotted an incorrect number of delegates, the chair figured it out when he was adding it up. No one from campaigns was involved. There is no conspiracy.

Finding these posts/comments brought access to blogs of people who I've been wondering about.

I'm not including names or links because, I don't really want to enter the fray (although, I may have anyway). Just had to exclaim how fast and far and out of hand this particular issue seems to have gone in a matter of hours.
Julie @ 7:43 PM Permalink |

13.98 and 12.58
Julie @ 6:43 PM Permalink |

Julie @ 10:45 AM Permalink |

Easter Saturday holds the promise for us that there is no hell we can go to, where God hasn't been before

Which means that God knows what it's like to face the deepest sadness in life. What are the things that overwhelm you with despair? - devotion

Me:
Poverty
Human Trafficking
AIDS epidemic
Apathy

As well our soundtrack was provided by Neil Young's "When God Made Me"

Was he thinkin' about my country
Or the color of my skin?
Was he thinkin' 'bout my religion
And the way I worshipped him?
Did he create just me in his image
Or every living thing?
When God made me
Julie @ 10:24 AM Permalink |

My coat which held my keys and student ID was stolen off a coat rack when I was out this weekend. This has been a royal pain in my ass.

I was locked out of my apartment, so I had to sleep at my parents. I got the extra key to my car, but I have to go to the dealership to get a new remote ($$). At my parent's house I had a bad dream about an ex-boyfriend and then remembered where I was, why I was there and then I got yelled at for being at the bar and hanging my coat up at the bar.

Why didn't I freakin' put my keys in my purse?
Julie @ 6:30 PM Permalink |