A baby GIRL and the Baby Bedroom Clean Out

Many of you know that we found out last Monday that we are having a GIRL!!! YAY!!!!! We are so excited! So now I have been thinking about how to decorate for a little girl. A few days ago I thought about giraffe and bright pink but I was afraid that I would get tired of that. This morning while getting ready I was thinking about how to decorate cuz, of course, that is all I think about these days is the precious little girl... I decided that the wall the bed will be against will be painted is a very dark brown and the other 3 walls will be painted a light pink. I will probably cut her name out or a scripture verse in pink to be put on the wall behind the crib. I have a Cricut Expression and learned this weekend with the help of a friend (Thanks Cristal :) how to cut vinyl with a Cricut and transfer it on to a wall....alot like Uppercase Living products.

Tonight I think I have decided on the bedding. I am kinda particular because for my personal taste I want to have a very elegant and frilly baby room and that is hard to find at most baby stores. Below is a picture of the bedding I think I will get but I have to think about it because I have changed my mind alot lately.

This baby bedding is by Glenna Jean and it's beautiful and of course eveything pictured here is not included in the crib bedding set so I will most likely only be getting the quilt, bed skirt, bumper pad and fitted sheet since these are included in the set. Then I can accessorize with other things that are cheaper :)

For those of you thinking that it is still early in my pregnancy to be planning this.... I know but I want to have a plan because we needed to clean out the room, paint the room, put the bed together, etc and this all takes time :)

Speaking of cleaning out the room. We did that this weekend also as well as cleaned up some parts of the house. We even took down the old twin bed and all of the pieces are ready to be sent to my mom and dad's house for storage. I guess you can say I went into nesting mode and felt like cleaning everything including wiping down the washer and dryer! This is what you call the soon-to-be baby's room before pictures :)

The far wall that the twin bed is against will be painted dark brown. Twin bed already dismantled. Almost ready to paint but will probably wait another month and to wait until we get the bedding to match paint.

Dark Brown dresser is the furniture for the baby's room. Light wood Chest of Drawers will go into closet for extra drawers for all of Baby Jewell's clothes and accessories.

Bins of clothes and old drapes taken to Goodwill today.

That is all we have been up to but we have made a lot of progress and I am just glad to be getting this mess of a house cleaned up. I'm in the mode that if I haven't used it in a year it can go to the garbage because I'm so tired of junk and clutter sitting around. It feels good to have a clean and tidy house.

Our next ultrasound is in about 2 1/2 weeks. This baby journey is a blessing and I just pray for a healthy baby girl in the end.

Boy or Girl?

We are so excited to get to find out the gender of Baby Jewell tomorrow! I am so excited! We will tell our family and then friends and be ready to spread the news. My OB doctor will only do an ultrasound if I am having complications or if I was high risk which I have neither so I will not be able to get an ultrasound there until I am 20 weeks which is the end of January :( I have a great friend who has a friend that does ultrasounds for a certain OB place here and she is nice enough to volunteer to do this for us. I will definitely be getting her something to say thank you. Tonight just thinking about this exciting thing that will happen tomorrow...I am beyond ecstatic! I just hope the baby cooperates! Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

Well I haven't blogged in about 4 months and a lot has changed. We found out in early October that we are expecting our first child. This blessing is due June 17, 2011. Yay!!! The day I found out I was pregnant, I actually thought that I wasn't but 3 tests later I was for sure I was. I got a card for Colby and some flowers and gave them to him when he got home. He had no clue what the card was going to say and he was soooo surprised. I told him in the card lots of sweet mushy stuff and then this: "So on this day...a week and two days before your 30th birthday... I just wanted to tell you... that I'M PREGNANT!!!! Happy early birthday!!! He was so surprised. (Yes we had been trying but he just wasn't expecting the card to say that cuz I made sure that it was a surprised so that he wouldn't guess before reading the card). We had to keep it a secret until that Friday night because that is when we took my parents and his mom out to dinner and told them. In order for them to be surprised we said that we needed to get together early for Colby's birthday because we would be so busy the next week so they were not expecting this surprised at dinner either. It turned out great and the grandparents are very excited!!!

So as of today I am 15 weeks pregnant. I have been very blessed so far as to not have had very much "morning sickness"...just some nausea here and there, tiredness and headaches but nothing I couldn't deal with. Almost 4 weeks ago I had my last doctor's appointment and we got to hear the heart beat. Of course the good news was that we did hear a heart beat. That is the sweetest sound I have ever heard. You see...I am a nurse at a children's hospital and I guess you can say that I have seen everything and have come to realize that life is fragile and God is the ultimate creator and sustainer of life. Right now, I am trying to not worry (because the bible says that is sinful) and just place my faith in God that whatever comes our way is His plan for us. I can not wait to find out if we are having a boy or girl. As of right now, I will be 20 weeks at the end of January so that is when my doctor will do an ultrasound but I have a friend who knows someone that does ultrasounds and we might get to find out next week. (Trying not to get my hopes up in case it doesn't work out) I'll keep everyone posted. Just the thought of finally seeing the baby on the ultrasound monitor and finding out the sex of the baby makes my heart skip a beat :)

We recently purchased the crib and dresser which I love but now I have a problem on my hands. I found out yesterday that the reason we haven't been able to order the bedrails for the crib that will turn it in to a full size bed later on, is because the bed rails might be discontinued... I am so disappointed because that was the point of getting this "convertible" crib so that we won't have to get more furniture later on. I'll have to investigate next week about this HUGE problem I now have on my hands. So today is Christmas Eve...I must get off here, get ready for the day, make some broccoli casserole, and wrap some presents.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matt 5:3

Okay so here goes...I hope for anyone that has been reading my blog that I am not confusing you. The last post I tried to quickly wrap up the last book that I just finished. I talked about the next book I have started called The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace.....loving this book!!!! I am also starting to read another book called A Beautiful Offering by Angela Thomas. At first starting out I didn't think I could read/do both books. I was originally just reading the one by Angela Thomas since that is the class I would be doing with the deacon wives at our church then I realized that they were offering this other book as a class on Wednesday nights which was a book I had already thought about reading. I am already learning so much and so excited that all I can say is thank goodness I have a blog because I want to share the things I am learning.

So hear goes.... tonight I am going to talk about a few things from the book: A Beautiful Offering. This book is about the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount and puts it in to a perspective that helps us with our lives we are living today. The above scripture(title of the blog) was the first beatitude discussed. I loved it when the author said this How gently he teaches us that even in our brokeness, this life can become a beautiful offering to God. He said, first thing that when you are poor in spirit, when you are broken, when you are completely empty and without resource-especially then you are blessed. She said the verse could be translated like this: Your life is a beautiful offering to God, even when you are poor in spirit, because then you are very close to the kingdom of heaven. She also said that when everything is gone that makes more room for Him and every time there is more room for Him, you are blessed.

This author made it a point to state that many of us that grow up in christian homes or become a "christian" think life will be great after that. We think we will be happy forever, no trials to come, and singing our christian songs by the campfire but life does continue and God says...In this life will be trials of many kinds and that's where the brokeness comes in. But right here in scripture God says that we are blessed because of that. He loves us and knows we are not perfect. The author says Brokeness comes to us for many different reasons and a lot of times because of the choices we make. We look around us and know that it's not how we dreamed it, but here it is, and it's all in a million pieces. It becomes obvious that this life isn't going to be put back together like a puzzle. Somebody is going to have to start over. Wow!! Isn't that awesome that we can start over. That first means praying to God and asking for forgiveness, then turning away from the choices that got us there in the first place and sometimes means still having to work through the scars left behind. I always try to remind myself that when life is not going great, God is working every piece of it for His glory. That gives me hope for better things to come.

The next chapter focused on the scripture from the Sermon on the Mount. You are the salt of the earth......You are the light of the world. Matthew 5: 13-14 This means that as followers of Jesus/ God we are to be light in the darkness of the world. I will leave you with this. It was a little passage written at the end of the chapter I read tonight set up like a poem but didn't sound like a poem. Seems like a collection of thoughts.

It's never to late to become.

It's never to late to change.

You haven't been away too long.

His forgiveness can still cover your sin.

His love can heal your wounds.

Your life isn't too broken for Him.

As long as you have breath, it's never too late with Jesus.

He doesn't expect your offering to be perfect. He never said that it would be easy. Move toward Him, and watch Him supernaturally make you into salt and light.

Stay the path.

Let Him pick you up when you've fallen.

Face in His direction.

You may have given up on God, but He has never given up on you.

Go be the city(the light). Go be the salt.

I hope you are blessed by these thoughts as I was when I read them tonight in the book. Have a blessed weekend (it's almost here).

~Julie

New Book: The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace

Wow! What an amazing day! Where to start is the question..... First I will start by talking about our anniversary weekend. We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary this weekend with a quick weekend getaway :) I had to work the weekend before our actual anniversary so we waited and celebrated this weekend. Colby planned it all and every step of the weekend was a surprise. We had an excellent time and were able to just hang out together without any distractions and enjoy new experiences together. We left Saturday at noon and ate at the Old Spagetti Factory in Louisville. From there we headed to our hotel to check in. We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel in Indiana on the Ohio River. For the afternoon we just hung out and went swimming at the hotel. For Saturday night, Colby had made dinner reservations at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for 9pm. It was so awesome because when we got there the sun was starting to set. On Sunday we ate at Denny's for brunch and then headed to the Louisville Slugger Museum (a place neither of us has ever been). Then we sat on a park bench on the Ohio River and enjoyed the Sunday afternoon breeze. The Belle of Louisville just happened to be coming down the river and turned in front of us and headed back up the river. I, of course, got tons of pics. We went to Derby Dinner Playhouse for the evening to see the show Ring of Fire. Again, we both had never been there. The food was good and the show was great! We got home around 10:30 Sunday night. We enjoyed our small weekend getaway!!!

So flash forward to today......I was at home today. As many of you know, I had been reading the book A Woman After God's Own Heart. I finally finished today and it was an amazing book. This book has definitely challenged me to prioritize my life and organize my life as to be an effective follower of Christ and effective helper to my husband! There is much more to this book than that but the priorities are to be as follows when prioritizing your day: #1 God, #2 Your Husband, #3 Your Children, #4 Your Home, #5 Your Spiritual Growth, #6 Your Ministry Activities, #7 other activities. Having this outline to plan my day by has really helped. In the morning you can sit down and write out your plan for the day by putting each thing in the appropriate slot. In each category you ask the question: What can I do for ______ today? Example: What can I do for my husband today?...... I HIGHLY recommend this book to any woman that is struggling to find out the purpose of her life as a child of God and as a wife if you are married.

So now I will move on to the next book I am about to start reading. Our church has discipleship classes on Wednesday night and has classes that are taught based on various books. I am so excited to read this book. It is called: The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace. I got the book tonight and read the first two chapters. Wow! If only I had read these two books right before or shortly after getting married. These two books would have been very beneficial in helping with my walk with Christ as well as being a godly wife to my husband. But I am a firm believer that now is never to late to start. So here I am. The author in the book asks some very hard questions: Am I doing the good works God intended for me? I am very excited to see what else the book holds. I am ready for this journey! I am excited to see God working around me. I am excited to see prayers answered. That is all for tonight. There is so much awesome info in this book I would like to share but I just can't narrow it down right now.....maybe b/c it's late. Anyway, I plan on posting more about this book and another book I will be reading for a different class that I am taking with the deacon wives at our church. I will leave you with some pics from this weekend.

Saturday Lunch: Good Food and Cheap too!

The Louisville Skyline from our hotel room

Saturday Night Dinner

Louisville Slugger Museum


The Belle of Louisville turned around
in front of us and headed back up the River.




We saw the show Ring of Fire!

Have a Blessed Week! Julie :)

Keep Your Faith that God Will Move in Tough Times

Well, today is our 7th wedding anniversary! I don't feel nearly old enough to be able to say that but I feel very blessed to be able to say that as well. I am truely blessed with a wonderful godly husband. He is my best friend, encourager, listener, and shoulder to cry on. It has been a wonderful day. We went out to eat with my mother-in-law to Smokey Bones which was very yummy. I have a few pics but will post those later since they were taken with my husband's phone and I have to figure out how to get them on here. We will further celebrate our anniversary this coming weekend since I had to work this past weekend. I'm super excited because Colby has planned this and has not told me what we are doing yet! Well now I will continue on about what I have learned recently in my quiet time with God.

Today as I sat down to do my devotion and quiet time, I was very burdened about some friends I have been praying for! It seems as though I pray and I know that prayer is the most powerful thing I can do but my human nature takes over and satan begins to put doubts in my head. Doubts that fill my thoughts such as just give up praying because it's too late now and this will never work out for the good. But it seems as though when I am lacking the faith that God is there and that He hears my every prayer and already knows the plan, God reminds me very blatantly to have faith in Him because He does know the future and the plans He has for us and so I must remain strong and keeping praying diligently for my prayers are heard by the Lord and he will answer those prayers according to His will in His perfect timing. Today was one of those days that God used my quiet time with Him to remind of these such things.

The author of the devotional passage I was reading today was discussing how she had been praying for some friends that had walked away from God and lost there faith for some time. She was discussing how no matter how far away from God someone seems to be, God will use something, whether it be a person, a song, or a situation to draw them back to Him. She said she was reminded of the passage...Nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37) The Lord will use all types of situations to lead a person back to Him. She continued with the passages....Follow me...My yoke is easy and My burden is light....I am the way the truth and the life...(Luke 5:27, Matthew 11:30, John 14:6). And so when I was done reading this devotional passage for the day, I realized that God had just given me a little punched to the shoulder so to speak and taught me for the day that I must have faith and continue to be committed and pray. He taught me today that He is in control and He already knows the outcome and will use any circumstance to work things according to His will. My job is to not worry but to trust the Lord and shut out the doubt that satan is using to continue to control this situation. I finished this quiet time today with renewed hope and faith in God. How Amazing!!!!! I thanked God today for sending messages like this to me in the perfect time that it is needed. It is in those times I am reminded that there is a God, He hears our prayers and answers them according to His will and is there in times when encouragement is needed in our lives!!!! I will continue to pray without ceasing! ( 1Thessalonians 5:16-18) The following is also another favorite verse of mine: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Have a Blessed Week,
Julie

New Computer: The Better to Blog With!

I now have a new computer. Yay!!!! Colby got me a new laptop for our wedding anniversary that is coming up. Our anniversary is August 16, 2003 and yep that means that this year we will be married for 7 years. That is why I changed out picture on the blog to a pic of us when we got married. I don't hardly feel like it has been that long. We have been through a lot together and still love each other more everyday. Marriage is definitely something that you have to work at in the bad times as well as the good times. I hardly feel old enough to have been married for 7 years now. It's easy to quit in the hard times and give up on a relationship but think about the greatest feeling when you do the hard work and persevere through the hardest of times and come out stronger in your relationship and also having honored your vows you made before God. Lately, I have been reading 'A Women after God's Own Heart and Colby and I have been doing nightly devotional time together. Two things have really stood out to me that I have learned during this time.

First, to have a marriage that lasts for years to come a person must know Jesus as their personal Savior. They must have Jesus ruling in their entire life because we are all sinners and when our focus is not on Jesus and our life is not focused on Him then we are focused on ourselves. This leads to a selfish attitude and life that is no longer pleasing to God and we have distanced ourselves from God. When all of this happens, it is reflected into our marriage and is often not a pretty sight! (Therefore whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them. Matthew 7:12) If you are married or have been married you could most likely think back and realize that most arguments and issues that have come about in the relationship are due to our own selfishness. When we are in turmoil with our spouse this becomes unconfessed sin in our lives and separates us from God which is just what Satan wants! Just this week I experienced this in my own life. Colby and I had a disagreement and it happened at the end of the night right before we did our devotion and prayer time. My feelings of being slightly mad actually made it hard to pray together with my husband because my heart was not right. It literally felt like I was separated from God for that period of time until I confessed that sin. The ultimate forgiveness experience in marriage comes when you and your spouse ask each other for forgiveness for the wrongs committed against each other and then actually pray together and confess those sins before God. (He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Proverbs 28:13) In our lives the priority should be God first, relationship with your spouse second and children third.

Secondly, I have realized that God created me to be a helper to my husband.( I will make him a helper suitable for him. Genesis 2:18) God must have wanted to really teach me this one the last couple of weeks because I read about it in my book and also in the devotional book my husband and I are doing together. You see, in this day and time women are made to think that we are to have the power, no man is to rule over me and tell me what to do. So here goes the infamous verse that I am willing to take some slack over. Jesus said it in the bible and I'm sure he caught slack over it back then. (Wives, submit (or subject) yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Ephesians 5:22) So if you really think about...if it's easy to submit to the Lord then this is what Jesus is asking us to do to our husbands. It means being a blessing to your husband instead of being recentful and nagging. It means putting your husband first instead of yourself. Now there may be someone who reads this and says ' How can I continue to be submissive, respectful and think of my husband when he doesn't think of me/not respectful of me?' Well first of all pray, pray and pray some more for your husband that God will change his heart because you certainly can't do that on your own. Also, in this situation I am reminded of a great verse in the Bible. (Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands to that even if they do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 1Peter 3:1-2) I shared this with a friend that was going through a hard time in her marriage at one point. She was about to give up. They had a lot of stress in their lives and I told her pray for you husband and I read this verse to her. Now obviously that didn't make things into roses and butterflies but it did remind her of Jesus' teachings and gave her hope to persevere through that tough time. Just think about the fact that if a person's husband is to be won without a word by the conduct of their wife (ehhhmmm, nagging) the wife's life has to be godly, her focus on God and her life right with God. I leave you with a few questions...... Is God the number one priority in your life? Are you taking the role as helper to your husband seriously and are you honored to have that God-given job? Are you submissive to your husband as to the Lord? Sorry if any guys are reading this as it was geared toward women mostly but if you pay close attention you too can learn from some aspects of this post.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Julie

Short and Sweet Post tonight!! :)

Hey Everyone! I am just posting a short and sweet post as I call it tonight (well maybe not short). I need to go to bed shortly because I have to work the next two days. Booo!!! Anyways, I will post a much more lengthy post hopefully on Friday since I will have that day off. Yay!!! I posted last week about some books I am reading and well, I finished the one called 'Deacon Wives' in about 3 days. It was an excellent book and I am now on track about what it means to be a deacon's wife! So my husband and I continue to do the devotional together every night called 'The Love Dare: Wedding Edition'. This has been excellent because we have been purposeful in doing this each night together. We read the devotional for that night, pray together and do a question and answer session using a question or two from the back of the book. It's been really great and it's a time that we actually turn the T.V. off and hang out together. I am also still doing my quiet time/devotion time each day. Yesterday I was not feeling well and missed my quiet time in the morning, however, I did remember later that night. I will get into more detail on Friday about what I am learning from this time with the Lord and the time with my husband. I had told you all in the last post that I feel so hungry to learn more about God and about my walk with Him. So since I finished the book on deacon's wives I needed to find another book. I went to Lifeway Christian Stores on Saturday. I LOVE that store. Oh wait....I think I already said that in another post. Anyways, I found two books that I purchased. The one I am starting on first is called 'A Woman after God's Own Heart' and the other is called 'A Wife After God's Own Heart'. I am really excited to get into these books and learn more about how I can be the woman and wife God wants me to be. Well that is all for now.... I will hopefully blog on Friday. PPPLLLLEEEAAAASSSSEEEE feel free to leave comments at anytime if you read my blog. I have 2 followers right now (which I love them both) but I know there are many others that read this. You just have to set up a google account to be able to post a comment or if you are a Facebook friend you can comment there. I hope this continues to bless people because that is my purpose for doing this blog. Oh, and one final thing....I have an unspoken (huge) prayer request and it would be great if everyone that reads this blog will lift up a prayer when they read this!!!!

Have a great rest of the week,
Julie

Blessings this Past Weekend!!!!!

Wow, it's been almost a month since I last blogged. Well I guess I am on a roll in that aspect though because it seems like I have blogged at least once a month since I started this. I have been busy but it doesn't seem like I have had much to blog about. Over the weekend I began thinking about the purpose of this blog. I have been also thinking about the purpose of my life, my marriage and my job. I know that there may be many who read this blog that are from many walks of life. I began thinking about this blog not only being about an update of my personal life from time to time but also thought about turning this blog into my thoughts from my daily devotional time that I spend with God each day by discussing what I have learned that day/week. I may not blog each day but maybe I will set a goal for each week at first. I am thinking about doing this so that maybe this can be a blessing in someone elses life. I feel like this would be a more effective blog in that way.

On Friday I went to Lifeway Christian Stores. I LOVE that place. Aside from being at church that is one other place where I feel the love of God. I would stay there all day long if I could because I love looking at all of the books and information from the bible as I try to find guidance in my life. I went in search a three things mostly. I wanted to find a great devotional book for my quiet time that I need to spend each day with the Lord. I also went in search of a devotional book that Colby and I could do together that would help us strengthen our marriage and give us guidance for a devotional time together. We had started a devotional time together and gradually simply forgot about it. And lastly I went to Lifeway to find a book to help guide me on what it means to be a Deacon's Wife.

All three of these books that I was looking for are reflective of areas I know I need help in to be able to grow in my walk with God. And of course all of these books put me right back into scripture from the greatest book of all The Bible. The devotional book I got is called ' Be still and Let Your Nail Polish Dry'. I have the hardest time doing a devotional(quiet time) in the mornings before I go to work because I have to get up so early. Those are the days that I need this time the most. The days that I work are filled with stress and time constraints and I really need to have this time BEFORE I go to work to help me get through the day!. The next book I got is called 'The Love Dare: Wedding Edition". Yes, it is based on the movie Fireproof. This book does say in the beginning that it is mostly meant for people that are in their first year of marriage. Well, I decided that didn't matter to me. We will be married for 7 years on August 16 of this year. I think this book will still be a very effective devotional time for us to do together for the next year. The last book is called 'Deacon Wives'.

Some of you may not know some parts of my life so I will explain. I have attended the same Southern Baptist church my whole life. Shortly after we got married (about 2 years after) our church deacons began talking with my husband and discussing the characteristics of a deacon in the church. A Deacon in our church means that he is a servant of the church and helps the people of the church with any needs they have. He is an extra hand to the pastor. The bible says there are certain qualifications he must have. Theses qualification are listed in the bible in 1 Timothy 3:8-13. So the deacons held my husband to these standards and decided that he had met these qualification. Being a deacon is not something to be taken lightly. It is a lifelong committment to serving the church people with any needs they may have. On September 11, 2005 Colby was ordained as a deacon in our church. This now made me a Deacon's Wife. What did that mean? Well, 1 Timothy 3:11 tells what the wife of a deacon is to be. I decided this week to get this book about being a deacon wife to better understand my role and what I can do to help my husband as he helps the people in our church. This has been an excellent book so far and very helpful. I am learning!!!

I share all of this because I know all too often in our lives we get caught up in the day to day happenings of life that really blind us to what we should be doing and that is having quiet time with God everyday. Our lives as so busy and before you know it the day has gone by and we have not even so much as said a prayer to God that day. Just last night with every intention of having a devotional time together which we had done everynight since last Friday, we sat down and watch T.V. and went to bed realizing later we missed our devotional time. We get distracted and then when trials come in our lives we realize how much we need God for strength to get through. But what we don't realize is that we need God everyday in our lives. We need to spend time with Him when our lives are going great before the storms of life happen!!!!! Then we will be armed for battle when the bad times come. Life happens and the bible says the storms will come (James 1:2-4, 12). I am not perfect and I am actually sharing all of this to show where God has been working in my life lately. Those areas are: my need for quiet time with Him, a devotional time with my husband and to learn how to be a deacon wife. After I am done with the book 'Deacon Wives', I plan on starting another book. I think this will be a good way to help me grow in my relationship with God. I am thinking the next one I may look at is a study by Beth Moore. I have never done a study by her but know that so many women I know recommend her studies and they all say that they grow so much in their faith and walk with Christ after reading her books. My soul is just hungry to learn more right now!

Thanks for reading and I hope if anyone is reading this they have been blessed in some way! These have been the thoughts going through my brain the last few days. There is more to come so I will do my best, like I said, to post at least once a week if not more.

I thought that I would share my favorite verse that got me through a lot last year and continues to be a reminder of one of God's promises to us:
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Blessings,
Julie

It's been a while!!!

Wow, well it's been a little over a month since I blogged and mostly because I just haven't felt like much has happened to blog about. So here I am. I am back. But these blogs may still be sporadic at times. Sorry if this blog seems random at times tonight.

So Colby just got back Sunday morning from a fishing trip to Minnesota near the Canadian border. He was gone for 10 days and I MISSED HIM SO MUCH. Now don't get my wrong, I was so busy while he was gone because my grandma had surgery on the Thursday before he left and I was at her house almost everyday that I was not working trying to help her and take care of her and my grandpa. Please pray for her continuing recovery!!! So anyways I really missed my hubby while he was gone. I hated sleeping at night with the other side of the bed being empty. I hated being at home alone each night with no one to protect me:( I didn't like coming home to an empty house and no one to talk to about the day...no one there to share the happenings of life with. Now I know some of you may be thinking... 'Gosh, he was only gone for a week'. Well I am just sharing this because that is how I felt. I did enjoy having some time to myself, however, I missed sharing my time with him MORE. We have had our ups and downs in the 6 years (will be 7 years this year, WOW!!!!) we have been married and it has only made it stronger. I give thanks to God for helping us get through the tough times (last year being the hardest) and rejoice for the great times. I am so thankful to have my best friend by my side through this thing called life. On Friday I was off and set aside most of the day to clean the house. Let's just say that it was a total disaster since I had been so busy all week. I spent 6 hours and cleaned the kitchen, our bedroom, the living room and our bathroom. I did this all because on Colby's fishing trip he had slept in a tent and roughed it the whole week and I thought it would be nice to have a clean house and clean bed to come home to. He really appreciated it! On Sunday Colby got home around 7:30 am but I was not home because I had to work:( I did end up getting off work early at 3pm and decided not to call him but instead to surprise him when I got home. I walked in and he was totally surprised that I was home. He hugged me so tight. I could tell that he had missed me. So glad to have him home!!!!!

This coming weekend I am a bridesmaid in a wedding. I am so excited for these dear friends that are getting married! I think this will be my 4th wedding that I have been in. I love weddings. I usually end up remembering memories from my own wedding.]

I have been having headaches lately and it is getting real old. I had been going to the chiropractor for my lower back pain and it is doing much better. These headaches are more like tension headaches than migraines. It is associated with shoulder and neck soreness and I think it is related to stress. I am just trying to be less stressed and hopefully these headaches will go away.

Lastly, tomorrow (well actually today now) I am going to see Toy Story 3 in IMAX 3D with a friend. So excited about that. That movie is hiliarious.

Well I better get to bed. I really have a major unspoken prayer request on my heart right now. I pray that God works in this situation. If you are a praying person please join me in praying for this. Thanks :)

Our Other Family Member

Well a couple of blog posts back I told you all alittle bit about us. For this post I thought I would include a couple of pictures of our other family member. Our dog Bella is a beagle and we just happen to think that she is the cutest dog out there of course. She is an AKC registered (pure bred) Beagle. Her AKC registered name is Annabelle Lightning Bolt Jewell. She is very smart and we have worked on training and tricks with her. She can sit, stay, come, watch it, shake, fetch and she is very cuddely. She is now 2 years old and has made it through the puppy stage and she has become very sweet. We have not yet had her "fixed" because we think she would make some very cute puppies but we are not sure if we are ready for the commitment that comes with having 5-10 puppies around. So we're thinking about it. Here are some pictures of our sweet Bella.

My Quest for a "Green Thumb"

About a month ago I decided to plant some flowers around our mailbox and place a stone border around it. I planted some beautiful purple and red tulips. The tulips died a week later and I found out that you are not supposed to transplant tulips from a pot to the ground at this time of year. I guess I will see if the tulips come back next year.

So this is why I am now on take 2 of trying to have beautiful flowers at our mailbox. Today I finished up the stone border, weeded (again), placed 2 bags of garden soil, planted pretty petunias, and placed mulch on top. (Sorry if this is boring to some of you :) I really hope that these flowers live because I have put alot of work into this. Every time I have done this, I end up with back and shoulder pain for which I have been going to the chiropractor. (Guess you can call me a gardening wimp.) Gardening is hard work. The next weekend that I am off I will be pulling weeds in the landscaping and putting mulch down. That will be a huge task because there are a lot of weeds to pull since I didn't get started earlier in the spring before all of the weeds had a chance to grow so much. Here are pictures from the tulips I planted that died and then the last picture is of the petunias I planted today.

Round 1 of Flower Planting 101

Red Tulips and Yellow Daphodils

Round 2 of Flower Planting 101: My Petunias

A Little Bit About Us :)

Well, I have just started this blog and I am very new to this. I thought today that I would share with everyone a little bit about my self, my husband, and my life. I love God, I love going to church and most of all I love learning more and more about God. I am so thankful to have been brought up in a christian home with christian parents who love the Lord and loved me and are still together. God is my source of strength and hope and without Him I don't know how I would make it through this life.

I am also married to the most wonderful husband in the world. We've been married 6 years and 9 months. We began dating in 1998 after meeting him at my 16th birthday party (a mutual friend brought him). So we have essentially been together for 12 years. We have been through alot together. Just starting from when I was sixteen...there are so many changes you go through in life between then and college and so forth. We got married August 16, 2003 and I still had a year and a half of nursing school left. So I finished up nursing school in December of 2004. I currently work full time as a nurse. It can be a very stressful job at times and very rewarding also.

In August of 2006 my husband was working at a certain job (place to remain anonymous) and ended up rupturing two discs in his back. That year was a very difficult year for us as far as stress. Right before he hurt his back our house had got struck by lighting and we were still working on the repairs from that. We were blessed that our house did not catch fire and burn to the ground. So anyways....in November of 2006 my husband had to have back surgery. Let me tell you, I was a basket case when he went back to have his surgery because as a nurse I knew too much and was very worried but the surgery went well. Three months later he went back to work and began having back pain again so we now knew we had to find him desk job with no lifting. We said many prayers and new he would probably have to take a pay cut. You see....the job he has been at paid well, had great benefits and we figured my husband would work there until he retired which would be at about age 50-55 with a pension. Sounds pretty awesome to me. But now looking back, I know that was our plan and not God's plan. So Colby got a new job working with computers and computer networking and is currently going back to school for these exact things. His back issues continue to be issues but he knows his limits and gets through it. So now fast forward to last year....Colby (my husband) fell off the ladder on our back deck. This really threw his back into a lot of pain and let me just say that last year was the hardest year we had ever been through. I HATE to see him in pain. I want him to be able to do activities that he wants to do without wondering if it's going to put him in a lot of pain. He was off work for several months and then finally in December we found a great pain management doctor , Dr. Dunbar. I was at my wits end at this point and looking for nothing short of a miracle. We were actually on our way to the first doctors appointment and I had just been praying and asking God for a miracle so that Colby could be able to do regular everyday activities (or just be able to sit through a whole days work). On the way to the appointment we were behind a semi-truck and on the back of the trailor was written "Trust God". Last year my most favorite verse that I would remember everyday was 'For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11. That verse kept me going. Colby had his first epidural in December 2009 and was completely pain free the next day. Now this "epidural" did wear off because that is what they do but the steriod and pain medication helped to reduce the swelling and then his pain was much less. He has his good and bad pain days and that is something he will always deal with. I have never relied on God more that I had during last year. We were both stress out but with God's help we made it through those tough times. The strength of our marriage was tested through all of the tough times we experienced last year and I am happy to say that we made it through by praying together, communicating, relying on God and relying on each other. I may never know in this life why God allows us to go through tough times or trials in our life but I already know this...We have some dear friends that we have been able to help them walk through some similar trials in their life because we have been through them in ours. We have been able to be an encouragment to them or at least I hope we have been and to me that has already been worth it. Sure I would definitely prefer for Colby not to have back pain and I still wish everyday that he didn't have to have back pain but if this is what is given to us then we much not ask why is this happening to us but we must ask how can we glorify God through this. Now I am human so I have had my share of pitty parties last year so please don't think I am trying to act like I am perfect.

So...now on to another subject in our life. We are now praying about starting a family. Now this is something that I have to have patience about. I know it will be in God's timing and that is so hard to wait when you really want something (a blessing like this). So if anyone reads this please lift us up in your prayers. Sorry this was so long but I really wanted to share some bits and pieces of our life story with everyone.

Mother's Day and Brother-in-law Visit

Well, here goes my first real blog post....LOL.
On Saturday Colby and I celebrated Mother's Day with my mom (and dad). We took her out to eat to Texas Roadhouse (paid for my dad also). It was so delish. I got the mushroom jack chicken and green beans. Yummy!!!! Of course I got her two cards...one from me (to make her cry) and the other from Colby and myself. However...I forgot to bring my camera :(. But we all had a great time.
On Sunday we went to church of course and then headed to my mother-in-laws house to celebrate mother's day and my brother-in-law's birthday. We were also celebrating having Colby's brother home for a visit. He's been in the AirForce for 3 or 4 years now I think and we had not seen him in 2 years. Colby's mom was super happy to have him home. We got some family pictures together minus a few family member who did not make it in the pic because I forgot to get pics before they left. I had actually almost forgot to bring the camera but went home and got it after church. Well here are a few pics from this weekend.....

To Blog or Not to Blog....That is the question!!!

So I have been thinking about setting up a blog but not really sure if it is worth doing right now because I don't have kids which is one thing a lot of people blog about. However, I do have a lot of blessings in my life that I could share. So right now I'm just checking out this blog thing and see how it goes. So check back later to see if I actually figure this thing out.