Julie Petersen

Third Annual Academy Awards Party

2008-02-24T22:15:00.000-08:00

The past few years, Stacy and I have hosted an Oscar dinner party for our friends. Formal attire is encouraged, which is also a great way to re-use those old bridesmaid gowns! The menu this year was: Spinach salad, rolls, bacon-wrapped green beans, twice-baked potatoes and pot roast. For dessert, we braved our first attempt at cheesecake and I think it was a success. Stacy found this great recipe online so we bought some springform pans and tried it.

The guests filled out a ballot and prizes were awarded to those who got the most right. Shanna was the big winner this year with Erika taking second place. We had a third prize that was given to the "Best Dressed" guest, which was decided by an anonymous vote of those present. And the winner was... Cheris Larson - way to go, Cheris!

Here's a slideshow of pictures taken that night. Enjoy!

My Valentine's Day Date

2008-02-14T21:34:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day... the dreaded holiday for singles is always a challenge for me. Each year, however, I end up making something fun come of it.

2005 - Double date with Ben & Jerry. Erika's idea to eat some ice cream and watch movies with hot men in them.

2006 - Same Ben & Jerry concept, though we added Stacy to our soiree.

2007 - Dinner at Monical's followed by "Music and Lyrics" at the Palace theater with the girls.

2008 - Pizza and Trains with Grant Zimmerman! :) Mark and Rita wanted a night out and I have Thursday nights open, so it was a deal. I had so much fun! Grant is getting so big and more aware of things. He was also very excited to play with Miss Julie. As soon as I walked in the door, he rushed to greet me with a little bag of heart-shaped brownies that he had "helped" Rita make for me. I had barely taken my coat off when he instructed Mom and Dad to leave. We had some serious train tracks to build!

Super Bowl Party

2008-01-26T21:13:00.000-08:00

I hosted some of my Journey friends to a super bowl party. I am not so much a football fan, but it was a great excuse to get the group together to hang out. I had planned to use both TV's... one for those interested in the game and one for those who weren't. However, everyone congregated in the basement, both football and non-football fans alike. Maybe because that's where all the food was... :) Here's a slideshow from the party.

"Wicked" Trip

2008-01-12T00:13:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, I took a trip to Chicago with some of the girls to see "Wicked". We took the train up from Bloomington which was a fun adventure! It actually is much cheaper and less stressful than driving. $24 round trip... can't beat that! The only drawback of the train is that you are tied to their schedule and there are often delays. We had a great time in the city. The show was incredible... it was my third time to see it! We walked down to Giordano's for some pizza before the return trip to Bloomington.

Holidays 2007

2008-01-01T22:25:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2007 ~
This year was the first time to celebrate the holidays in my parents' new house. It was also the first holiday where Jen is married. It all worked out well though, because Eric's extended family celebrates on Christmas Day where ours is on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve, we went to church at Minooka Bible then came back to have dinner with extended family. Mom made dinner then we had the annual gift exchange. Everyone brings a $30 gift that could be for anybody and then we play the game where you can steal back and forth. The first year we tried this game, my aunt Lisa brought a victorian-looking Santa dressed in leopard print pants. He became the joke of the party and keeps returning year after year. And it never fails a guy ends up with him!

On Christmas Day, Jen and Eric came over after opening gifts at the Danielson's. We did our immediate family exchange. Jen and Eric then took off to his extended family gathering, so Mom and I watched a movie. It was a good, relaxing day with family.

New Years Eve 2007 ~
This year I spent New Year's Eve with my Journey friends. John Julien hosted the party at his house. Wii bowling was a hit!

3rd Annual Girls' Chicago Shopping Trip

2007-12-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, the girls and I braved the winter weather and took a road trip to Chicago to see the sights and enjoy a good meal. This year's crew included Stacy, Steph, Joy, Erika and me. We stopped in Shorewood for lunch at Portillo's, then finished the trek to the city where we did a LOT of walking. It snowed pretty much the entire day, so we had a few shoe issues. Stacy's shoes were cracked in the sole so water kept creeping in. Joy was wearing some non-water-resistant cute little shoes that quickly became saturated within 20 minutes of walking. So our first order of business was to locate a shoe store for those two to get their footwear dilemma resolved. Stacy ended up tossing her shoes and wearing the new ones right out of the store. Joy, on the other hand, still valued her old pair but changed them in the store before we left.

Another fun story is that Erika got engaged on Friday night so we got to hear all about it on the way up. She wore a permanent grin on her face all day and was often caught staring at her left hand. Congratulations, Erika! :) The day ended a bit earlier than we had planned when we found out that the weather conditions in Bloomington were not good. So we had dinner at Maggiano's then went to the State Street Macy's to see this year's window display. Erika read aloud each pane of the Nutcracker story as we worked our way around the store. It was a fun day with the girls - I'm looking forward to the next one! Here's a slideshow of pictures from the day.

I finally updated my blog

2007-12-14T22:25:00.000-08:00

It's now December. It's been 4 months since I updated this thing and my few faithful readers (Hi Mom!) have pointed out that it's time to post something new. I'll share some highlights of this last quarter of 2007. Maybe a goal for 2008 could be to do more frequent updates? No promises. Here goes...

September - The slow pace of summer ended and life picked up again. BSF, Orchestra, Small Group, etc. I'm down to just one free night a week, but somehow I thrive on keeping busy. Here's a picture of our Journey Labor Day picnic at Annette's house. That's Tiffany, Shanna, Jerrad, Craig and Kera.

October - Life as usual, I guess. A few birthdays... the girls celebrated with Tiffany as she turned... oh I better not say. She's 29 again. ;) My little cousin Kaylin turned one so there was a big family celebration. I'll attach a picture with her smash cake - she's adorable!

November - Rehearsals for my church's Christmas concert really ramped up this month so I spent some considerable time with that. I also participated in the worship team for the ONE Thanksgiving Dinner event at East White Oak. Here's a picture from that. My real Thanksgiving at home in Joliet was nice too. Grandma and Murrie hosted - it was good to spend time with family.

December - This month started with Eastview's Christmas concert the 1st and 2nd. I got some more use out of the bass clarinet and alto sax, so that is always fun. Last weekend we had an ice storm - gladly it's all melted now. I went to Jen and Clint's wedding amidst the storm, only managing to fall in my heels once, and that was at Huck's getting gas on the way home. So, not too bad! :) The ceremony was very nice with a reception later at Crestwicke. My favorite quote of the evening was by an usher who looked all around for the rest of my party before escorting me in... "Are you here all by YOURSELF?!?!" Yep. Nice, huh? Tomorrow is a day in Chicago with the girls. I'm hoping the weather holds off for us!

I'm 30 - for real this time!

2007-08-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

Well the day is here. A landmark event. My 20's are officially over. :( However, I had a really fun day today. My co-workers went to town decorating my cube with "over the hill" decorations and they brought in lots of food to celebrate. I didn't accomplish a lot of real work, but I got to visit with many people who stopped by for food and good wishes. Some felt that it was wrong to classify 30 as "over the hill". I have to say I agree!

That evening I met some of my friends for dinner to celebrate both my birthday and Annette's birthday. She is 33 on August 23rd so we decided to combine our parties. We went to Chevy's so we got to sport their lovely birthday sombreros. Amy's birthday was August 16th so we made sure she got to participate as well. Tiffany brought a Strawberry Jello cake for us too. After dinner, a few of us went over to Eastview to watch Kera's softball game. It was a great 30th birthday and I'm so thankful to have such good friends to celebrate with!

I'm 30!! (Well, almost...)

2007-08-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, August 18, 2007, I met up with some friends to carpool to dinner for Amy's birthday. I came ready to go with my camera and a card for Amy. Heather drove us to Swinger's Grille at 6:30, the appointed party place and time for our small group of eight to celebrate Amy. However, upon entering the room where we were meeting, I was stunned to see a roomful of about 40 people - my family and friends. I stood there, dumbfounded, confused and thoroughly surprised. They got me good!! I had no idea that "Amy's birthday dinner" was actually a huge surprise party for my 30th, which isn't until August 22nd.

My good friend Stacy coordinated the entire event, from fake email invites to stealing my cell phone for contact information of college friends. She put a lot of hard work into making the party a success. My parents, sister and brother-in-law, Grandma and Uncle Earl all drove down from Joliet that day. Also, a group of college friends from Chicago drove in for the event. Add in the friends I've made in Bloomington the past eight years, and local cousins... it was a roomful!

Here is a slideshow of pictures my dad took (using the camera I brought to take pictures of Amy's party!)

Journey Retreat - Aug. 3-4, 2007

2007-08-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

The singles group from my church, called "Journey", and the singles group from East White Oak Bible church (FIA) held a combined retreat at East Bay Camp the first weekend in August. We spent time around the campfire, had several sessions of worship/teaching time, and various free time activities.

Here's some of the girls during dinner. It was also Kera's birthday that day, so we celebrated with a Mrs. Fields cookie!

Landon and Frank leading worship

Pastor Rod teaching on deepening your spiritual walk

Jen's Wedding slideshow

2007-08-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

My cousin Jill shared some of her photos with me. I snagged a few to post on my site. She was an amazing wedding coordinator and was right in the action for some good shots. I also grabbed a few pictures from Jen & Eric's camera that Juanita took. Enjoy!

Amy's Wedding

2007-07-29T21:53:00.001-07:00

Congratulations Amy and Brian!

2007-07-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

Amy and Brian got married at Eastview on Saturday July 28, 2007. Their reception was immediately following right at the church. It was a fun day for the girls to celebrate with her! Amy was beautiful and the ceremony was very nice. Now she and Brian are off to Niagara Falls!

Amy with the girls - Steph, Jessica, Stacy, Shanna, Heather, Amy, Julie, Tiffany, Kera, Erika, Christy

My first blog - Jen & Eric's wedding

2007-07-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

Jen and Eric with flower girl and ring bearer.

Well, my little sister got married last weekend - July 21, 2007. It was a beautiful day and so much fun. We had a detailed itinerary of the day starting at 8 am and going through midnight. The ceremony was really nice. I got to catch up with a lot of old friends and family. I didn't take a lot of pictures so I'm looking forward to purchasing some from the professional photographer.

Here's Jen pre-wedding having some fun in the bridal room . My aunts picked up these sunglasses and gave them to her when we were outside doing family pictures beforehand.