What is my purpose?

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

- 1 Peter 1:3-9

We have been saved into something great! Salvation of our souls for sure, but why? Glory to God, that's why! We have been given new birth into a living hope, shielded by God's power, a refined faith to be proven genuine, all to give praise, glory, and honor to Jesus Christ. That is what it is all about... no mystery there :)

300 Crunches never felt so good

Because I am finally seeing results! Yuri and I have been trying to get in shape for a bit over 2 months now, and it is starting to pay off.

After we got married, we packed on the pounds quick! No longer were we riding our bikes to class 40 minutes a day, walking EVERYWHERE, not drinking alcohol at all, and leading very active lifestyles. Instead we worked 40 hours a week in an office, and it was reeeeeeal easy to relax when we got home, especially after we got married. All of the sudden it was so much easier to veg, and the calories from a drink or two most nights crept up quick. Plus, one of our favorite activities became eating Oreo cookies with milk, and a lot of them, all the time.

So we decided to do something about it. We stopped drinking at home (which also saved us a lot of money and made drinking out with friends or special occasions so much more special), we stopped buying Oreos and instead started buying pop chips (!), we tried to work in more fruits and veggies, started paying attention to the nutrition facts on food labels, really tried to avoid fast food, and overall just tried to be more conscious of what we were eating (something we weren't doing much of at all before.) We also got a gym membership, and are actually using it quite a bit! And what has really allowed us to keep track of our progress has been weighing ourselves every morning and writing it down. We have small, realistic goals we try to make each month, and it keeps us motivated.

I used to hate scales and thought it was so pointless to weigh myself before, and it kind of was. I was still growing and changing everyday, and my weight really was irrelevant. But I have pretty much leveled out, and I think I've grown all that I am going to grow, and now any extra weight I am gaining is probably because I am getting fat! And now, that is something to be aware of. As a teen, this would have been unnecessary stress and unfair to expect much of my changing body, but now that I am an adult, it's time to take responsibility for my health.

And so, I have now lost 7 lbs! Yuri is doing really great too. And we are in it for the long haul so we shouldn't be bouncing back to our old life-style even when we do reach our goal. We have super enjoyed feeling healthy and knowing that we are taking care of ourselves. I can feel the difference and I am now starting to even see the difference. It's encouraging :)

99 Problems

So let me tell you about a dream Yuri had last night. When he told me about, it I was just rollin' this morning. Apparently me, Yuri, Jay-Z and Josh Holloway and others were having a dance party on a mattress on top of old truck. I got off the truck and Jay-Z was all like "Oo, umm, yeaaa, come back here girl, yeaa." Then Yuri, none to pleased, yelled back at Jay-Z "Hey! Get off my woman! You know what your problem is?" Then he proceeded to follow him around the truck saying "You've got too many women, and it just makes you want more. You need to get one quality woman and just love her. That's the way God made us to be."

Cutie husband. I love him so much.

When are you and Yuri having kids?

O if I had a nickel for every time I was asked that question!! If you would have asked me before I was married, I would have said at least 5 years after I get married. Most people were suprised to hear that because I love babies so much, however I have worked with children long enough to know that I didn't want one of my own for a very long time. Too tough! Too much work! Once you have a child, there goes your life... and your body. My plan was to simply enjoy my husband for as long as I could before turning a simple, lovely, care-free 2 into a chaotic 3.

Post "I do," well that is a whole other story altogether. To MY surprise, I caught the baby fever, and bad. It all started when I had a very legitimate pregnancy scare just one month after the wedding! When I considered the fact that there was a real possibility I might actually be pregnant, I was SHOCKED at my delight. I would have been stoked if that were really the case. Now I wasn't, and I'm glad, but it really changed my perspective. All of the sudden, I was itching to have a baby! Not seriously... I wasn't about to stop taking my pills or anything like that, but the desire was definitely there, and it never had been before.

New goal: 2 years. And we are almost half way there! In fact, if I make it to September I win $100 from Yuri's cousin who bet I wouldn't make it one year. Right now, it's all about me, and I love it. I really am just enjoying my husband during this time like I had planned all along. But I have got to say there is a deep longing inside me have and raise children! I tried to explain it to Yuri, and I asked him if he felt it too, and he was like, "No, I have a deep desire for YOU to have and raise children." Hahaha, that's fair I suppose.

Anyway, I won't be getting pregnant anytime soon. We do want to wait, we do want to plan, and we will be ready when the day comes. I would looooooove a baby right now, but we know it isn't right for us just yet. That does not stop me from dreaming though! Take a look at this angel right above....

Freedom

"Freedom to me is not going out and doing what you want to do. Anyone can do that, and lots of people are doing it. Freedom is to have the power to do what you know you ought to do. Most people know what they ought to do but they don't have the power to do it. They're in bondage."

- Josh McDowell

This is a big difference in perspective between Christians and non-Christians. I think that a lot of people believe that if they were ever to put their faith in Christ that they would have to give up all of their freedoms and will instead be bound to a bunch of new rules. What they don't realize is that they are all ready in bondage to their sins and their flesh. They aren't really free at all, they are slaves to the most ugly part of ourselves. When you allow God to rule your life instead of yourself, you are actually being saved into a much more free and abundant life altogether. God doesn't "make" you do anything at all, you are only finally free to make your choices with out the hold of sin on your life. Plus you are given power from the Holy Spirit to overcome evil influence.

And people look at "commandments" or "laws" as restrictive, as if God is with-holding something good from us, but that is so foolish. Let's just take a look at one thing that our sweet God warns us against doing- stealing. If we would have all just followed even that one commandment, think about how wonderfully different our world would be. No more locks! No more keys! No more stolen iPhones! He asks us not to do things because they are bad ideas... If we would all follow His plans and the guidelines He has given us, we would really all be better off for it.

I lost my phone... again

So I have somewhat of a track record for this. I "lose" my phone about 6 times a day, and I've really lost it once before. You just can't do that with iPhones.... they cost wayyyyy too much to be replaced. That was a very costly mistake I made in January, and I swore that if it ever happened again, I wouldn't allow myself to get a new one. I can't afford to lose an iPhone every couple months!!

I'm fairly certain I left it at church. I had it at church, and I didn't have after church, so I'm hoping that is where it still is. I think I probably left it at the BEST place to lose something tho, so I have pretty high hopes that it will be returned. BUT, I still feel like a complete idiot. Yuri has been so sweet about it though. He doesn't need to convince me what a dumb move that was! He is so patient with me.

No more iPhones for me though! Not allowed!! Comon Julie, get your act together!

What a cheater?!!

I'm totally blogging, facebooking, texting, web-surfing, and goofing around at work. It must be the shoes... and the diet soda... and that nobody calls to order implants past 4:00 on a Friday afternoon.

Still cheating?

I also feel mischievous when I drink diet soda. It tastes so bad for you, but there are NO calories, NO sugar, No carbs! Now I've heard the argument that it merely heightens your cravings for sweet things so you will eventually consume more sugar in the long- run, also that diet soda causes cancer... blah blah. But what do you think? Is diet soda bad for you? Or is it a sweet miracle?

I feel like I'm cheating...

And I am.

These are the most comfortable, best kept, work secret. They look like shoes, smell like shoes, they MUST be shoes. But they feel like nothing at all. Or like I'm wearing slippers or socks or something. I feel like I am fooling everyone.

Have you ever worn flip flops to work? Don't you just feel like it's a fake work day? Like a fun, I'm so totally relaxed right now, day? That's how I feel, and it's wonderful.


Happy Friday!

30 Seconds to Free Bay Bay!

My husband and his brother are going to a 30 Seconds to Mars concert tonight at the Santa Barbara Bowl. Neither of them are huge fans, but Vadim won the tickets on the radio, and aren't we all fans of that? It a whole VIP package and they'll get to meet the band, so it should be fun.

For the past few days, Yuri has been doing his research on the band, listened to their entire discography and what not, and has made his judgments. They are too this, not enough that.... Okay, but it's freeeeeeee!

I hope he has fun :)

Snuggies

See I told you, all the cool people are doing it!

And btw, that's my boss in the middle with the pink shirt.

Cheerios!

So I was really hoping for a donut today because on most Fridays, people bring donuts. Not this Friday... I was sulking for a bit, until my dear friend offered me a bowl of cheerios. All better! Thanks Vanessa :)

p.s.- yes that is a leopard print Snuggie I am wearing. It's the cool thing around this office.

Bling!

My ring for the day, courtesy of my coworker Vanessa.

Can you feel the love tonight?

An instrumental version of this song was playing on a doctor's hold music today, and it made me happy.

I forgot my ring today

O boy I hate when I do that! Pulling out of the driveway this morning, I quickly realized my mistake, but I just didn't have time to go back... Doesn't seem like this should be a huge deal, but I certainly do feel a bit off today. I always squeeze my fingers together just to feel it, and every time I realize I don't have it, I freak out just a little bit. I love my ring, it's comforting :)

Plus I don't want anyone to think I'm a floozy.

Precious

I think this is lovely... When I have a little princess one day, will someone please remember this? I LOVE it!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/29512124/white-baby-beanie-with-oversized-jeweled

So I blog now :)

So I'm not entirely witty, and my life isn't terribly exciting, but I have all of these things I think about, and certainly someone will be interested know know what is going on right? So I'll blog!