Okay friends, the fashion blog has officially commenced! Here's the link:

http://www.juliellesears.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

So, with MUCH excitement and anticipation, we have THREE exciting announcements! Maybe they are equal, and maybe they are not. And maybe the third announcement has nothing to do with Ben.

We are NOT pregnant. :) I knew you were thinking that.

How should I order these? Chronologically, of course. 

Number one: By the loving and attentive hands of God, I have been given the opportunity to work with children who are victims of the sex industry. Seriously, all glory to Jesus for His passion for redemption and reconciliation. Without Him, my life would be entirely broken. About four years ago, God began to put prostitutes, strippers, and women who are victims of sex trafficking on my heart and mind pretty often. Now, years later, all of that dreaming has come to fruition. My heart is overwhelmed and deeply excited about what is to come. Isn’t God so good for giving us the desires of our hearts? The fact that I had to wait several years for this opportunity makes me realize how huge God is, and how higher His thoughts are than mine. His timing is truly beautiful. 

Numero deux: After a lot of prayer and waiting, Ben walked through an open door to apply to work for the Houston Police Department in addition to his job with the Reserves! Thus far, the interview process is going so well, and it’s looking very likely that he will be hired! This possible job is right up his alley, and we are excited to see what it could lead to! So, really, this is a quasi-announcement. I tricked you. 

Number Three: I am finally caving in and starting a fashion blog. Hooray! I know you’re as excited as I am. Seriously, I’ve been wanting to do this for some time now, and after some encouragement, I’m just going to start. Fashion interests me more than most things. It hasn’t always been this way...maybe it’s living in a large city? Or being married to a cowboy? Either way, I’ve started to really enjoy the challenge of creating outfits and helping others do so on a low budget. Now, let me balance this out. I’m not fashionable everyday, and I find great joy in The T-shirt. This is why I’m only going to post twice a week. 

Now, this is where you come in, my fashion forward readers. What questions do you have about clothes? What fashion-related things would you be interested in reading about?

That’s it! We are deeply excited about what God has made possible. And I’m completely excited to start sharing outfits with the internet community. And I’m sure Ben is, too. 

The Joys of Christmas

Well, hello! Time has flown by, and I find myself (again) falling way behind on updating the blog! Life has simply been crazy, and it continues to roll on! Can I get an amen? The new year, and semester, has begun. I feel slightly (possibly more than slightly) overwhelmed, but in a good way. I read somewhere that we truly grow in crisis, much more than we grow in comfortable seasons. Not that I'm "in crisis", but you know what I mean.

The Christmas break was truly sweet. It was a joy to be with my family in Fayetteville for much of the time, as well as to see dear family and friends in several cities. God has blessed, blessed, blessed us with precious people. (As a side note- I love people, and new friends. It's so beautiful to be sharpened by all kinds of people throughout life. And that's that.). So, to illustrate our break to you faithful followers, I will share the super condensed version.

First- Ben got home from Fort Rucker! There really isn't a better treat than that. We are beginning to see that this season of our lives means a lot of time apart for Ben's job. This is a hard reality- but there's much to be learned from it. I'll be writing more on that later. :)

Then- We drove to  Fayetteville, AR- one of the greatest places on earth. Being an Arkansas girl, it's always good for my soul to go back. We stopped in Little Rock to see one of my closest friends, Leslie Reynolds! She is one of the most fun people in the world. Everyone needs a friend like this girl. After laughing a lot with her, Ben and I headed to Northwest Arkansas. Because we are still in the beginning of our marriage (1 year down, holler!), I find a lot of joy in seeing Ben around my family. It's so fun to watch them connect and learn about each other. He learns a lot about me, and I get to fall more in love with him as he's so great with my family. It's a win-win situation.
                                          
                                                    Here are some pictures from that trip:

I know, you're probably thinking "wow, they really like red plaid." I will explain.

A) We do, because it's awesome. 

B) I promise I changed shirts over the break.

C) The family went to see Asleep at the Wheel- and if you know anything about them, you will know that it's totally appropriate and even necessary to match your whole family in country-wear when attending a concert.  

Fayetteville was great. It was so sweet to get to spend time with my family, which is not so often these day- as we live so far apart! Also, Ben and I got to hang out with my brother David, and his awesome wife, Fran. They are so great together! I love how our family has grown and how God has brought Ben and Fran to be a part of it! They are both so fun and life-giving. 

After Arkansas, we got to visit one of my favorite families ever: The Sanders. This family has been so influential in my life- and we hadn't seen them in a couple of years! They were here from Indonesia, and God was so kind to allow our paths to cross! It was such a joy for me to see Gab and JJ, and for Ben to see Jarod, as well! I'm kicking myself, because I totally forgot to take a picture. Oh well, next time!

Once we got home, we got to see Ben's wonderful family. I love them. His brother Joe and sister-in-law Rachael moved back to the States from Istanbul last week! We're really excited to spend time with them and their precious kids a lot now!

Finally (sorry this is so not condensed), WE GOT A PUPPY! About a week ago, we welcomed to our family little Gus. He's a toy poodle. Bahahahaha. Ben can handle it because he's so manly. Bless his heart- Ben is a cowboy living in a loft in downtown Houston, with a slight girly girl and a toy poodle. God does have a sense of humor. :) Ben handles this new lifestyle so well. (To defend myself, I'm not THAT girly, and Ben got a shotgun for Christmas.) Maybe someday we will live out in the boonies and have wild steers as pets. One day Ben, one day. 

                                                             Here is baby Gus. 

What a hoot it is to have a puppy. This is totally like training for parenthood. Who knew a puppy was so needy? So far we have laughed a lot at how much work he is. But he's SO funny, and will be a great little companion once he gets a little bigger and is potty trained. And anti-barking trained.

Okay! That was the biggest blog post ever, thanks for reading! Feel free to comment if you want!

Love, 

The Sears