Raw Emotion & Inspiration

My friend, and fraternity brother, Jason has picked a fight with cancer. He himself is not stricken with cancer, but cancer has stolen treasures from his life. For the past few years Jason has participated in the LIVESTRONG challenge, cycling for 100 miles to raise money in the fight against cancer. Jason trains for the challenge most of the year, and as he has participated for the past few years, I'd certainly say that he has dedicated his life to the fight.

Watch this video, and tell me you are not moved. Watch this video and tell me you will not support Jason and everyone else who is so brave as to stand up and pick a fight with cancer.



If you were as moved as I was, you can go here to join the fight, and/or here to make a donation in support of Jason.

THANK YOU!

I'm feeling inspired today. Jason inspires me. and there are two women out in the blogosphere who I am happy to have been acquainted with. They are strong, extraordinary women, mothers, friends. So I post this poem in their honor. For Kori and April - Thank you for being phenomenal!

PHENOMENAL WOMAN
by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing of my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

from And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou.

Jason, Kori, April, you inspire and humble me. I am grateful to have you in my life.

Wisdom of Gandhi

I came upon this through Twitter. I have a vague recollection of hearing it before, but it's definitely worth repeating and remembering.

The Seven Blunders of the World

• Wealth without work
• Pleasure without conscience
• Knowledge without character
• Commerce without morality
• Science without humanity
• Worship without sacrifice
• Politics without principle

"This list grew from Gandhi's search for the roots of violence. He called these acts of passive violence. Preventing these is the best way to prevent oneself or one's society from reaching a point of violence."

Julie's Economic Bailout Plan

CC Sabathia, Derek Jeter, A-Rod, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, LeBron James, Tom Cruise, Shaq, Peyton Manning, Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Britney Spears, Diddy and every other individual in Hollywood/professional sports that makes MILLIONS should give their excess to the government. When I say excess, I mean like, everything over, maybe, $200,000? I'm serious. Watching the news lately about Sabathia's 161 MILLION dollar contract with the Yankees makes me sick. The people in this world who deserve be paid even 1/161th of that amount are people like Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawkings, Mother Theresa, TEACHERS, etc... people who are/were geniuses, future shapers, empowerers, phenomenal humanitarians; people who make/made a difference. In my opinion, entertainers absolutely do not deserve to make that much money. At least there are people like Oprah, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Angelina Jolie who use some of their fortunes for the wellfare of others. But seriously, CC Sabathia could help bailout California... at least cover a couple days worth of our debt.

J

MY KING

I went to church tonight and they played the audio of this sermon by Dr. S.M. Lockridge at the end of the service. It's so powerful to hear.

Moving forward

One other crappy tidbit that most of you don't know is that the audit exam I passed 18 months ago "expires" on November 24. So since I failed this most recent exam, I lose the audit exam. Now I have to take TWO exams to get that license. One step forward, two steps back...

I checked and received my failing score at midnight on Saturday (as I had just gotten home from the Carrie Underwood concert and then a drink out for my friend's birthday). My score was 67. 75 is needed to pass. As you can imagine I was quite upset. I didn't get out of bed until 4:30pm on Sunday (with the exception of bathrooms breaks, during which I cried the entire time I was awake). Then when I did get out of bed, I cried for the next two hours until I made my dad invite me over for dinner because I told him I couldn't be alone. Taking a shower and getting out of the house really made things better. I had decided in my hysteria that I was over it; I can't do this anymore and I won't do this anymore. I've spent too much time on this already, and it's been SO costly on my mental health and overall happiness. Like I've said before, these exams have been a huge burden on my shoulders for three and a half years! and they've been stifling my creativity and ability to feel free.

But of course, after the hysteria, I'm still VERY upset but I've decided that I can't throw away those other two exams that I passed and have not yet expired. And God has a way of getting a message across at the right time... I'm in LA for the week for work because there is a client I've worked on for the past 3 years, this year is my fourth year, and they just can't let me off of it yet. This will be my final year on the client, I just need to transition it over to another senior. Since I'm in LA I was hoping to get together with some of my friends. Kirstin invited me to come to a Bible study with some other friends from church tonight. I went to the Bible study where we read Exodus 16 and shared about what makes us "grumble" in life. I shared that I grumble about giving my all and working my butt off and then failing. I forget exactly how the conversation progressed, but then our leader said, that grumbling is not being a good steward of our resources or talents (or brain). And I'm like, God? Are you talking to me?


In other news, I went to the gym at the hotel tonight and I was able to ride the recumbent bike for an entire 30 minutes! yeah! go me!

And in other news, my brother and his girlfriend got engaged on Saturday!

peace and love,
J

Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America

Barack Obama was announced to be the 44th President of the United States of America at about 8pm PST! I am SO SO SO proud of my country right now! I'm actually crying. I am SO hopeful for the future!!! This is AMAZING!

The emotions are so overwhelming right now. America has voted a black man to be president! I have no other words. I'm just overwhelmed.

Peace and love.
J

Edited to add: I just saw that this is my 44th post. Interesting... the 44th president is announced in my 44th blog post.

Stress!

I am taking the Business and Economic Concepts (BEC) portion of the CPA exam on Saturday, October 25. If I pass it, I will be DONE! If I do not pass, I'm screwed... I lose the Audit (AUD) exam that I passed and I have to take both AUD and BEC again. Needless to say, I am studying my butt off so that there is no other option than to pass. Please, if you're the praying type, remember me in your prayers that I might learn and retain this information, that I might not have anxiety, and that I may be calm while taking the exam. Thank you!

Peace and love.
J

P.S. After this exam my life begins! I have big plans for getting back to exercising, being creative, and just overall enjoying life (and my freedom from exams)!

Update

Just a quick post to make a whole ton of announcements...

I'm going to be an aunt. My brother and his girlfriend are expecting a baby in February.
I'm moving to San Jose to be closer to my family (and be an aunt in person).
I'm moving in NINE days!!
I'm transferring with my same company, and I will have a lot more opportunities and a lot more work in the SJ office.
I passed the CPA exam that I took in July!!! One more left and then I'm done forever!!
I went to New Hampshire for the wedding of my good friends Ken & Kirstin. It was a beautiful wedding, a super fun reception, and an overall great trip/mini-vacation.
Charlotte is still super cute and happy that I'm done traveling. She had a flea infestation, but thank God, I think they're all gone.

I'll be back with more posts after my move. I'm taking my fourth, and final, exam on October 25, so maybe I won't be back until after that. Who knows. My posts are infrequent and unreliable!

J

Becoming a Possibilitarian

Didn't have much to do at work today, so I busied myself looking at beautiful things on etsy and exploring artists' websites. One of my favorite mixed media artists on etsy is Kelly Rae Roberts. She is so creative and talented. Her work is gorgeous.



From Kelly Rae Roberts’ website:
i first heard the word ‘possibilitarian’ in a quote by dr. norman peale: “become a possibilitarian. no matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities – always see them, for they’re always there.” i’ve been hooked on its meaning ever since. do you see the bright light of your life’s horizon (even on the average days)? do you feel its warmth (even when you’re struggling)? have you begun to tough the surface of all that is possible for your life? does it give you goosebumps to think about it (i hope it does)? if so, then you’re a possibilitarian too. it’s the best feeling in the world, this thinking of what is possible. it’s energy. it’s passion. it’s dreaming big, and taking small steps. it’s the oomph of our everyday lives.

I know that I was meant for more than being just an accountant. Yesterday at work I was surfing etsy as I’m wont to do and I came upon a shop of a lady who had committed to donating some of her profits to Doctors Without Borders in the wake of the horrific results of the cyclone in Myanmar. I’d heard of Doctors Without Borders before, but I had never looked into it until this week. Not only are they looking for volunteers in the medical field, they are looking for people with office-type skills to manage their operations. One of the opportunities that jumped out at me is the Financial Controllership job. I could totally do this! Now since it’s a volunteer position, I certainly cannot afford, at this point in my life, to take a year off of being paid to do this. But, I have a meaningful goal to look forward to.

If you are interested in learning about Doctors Without Borders or in making a donation, please visit their website at www.doctorswithoutborders.org.

Peace & love.
J

Listen to your body

A few weeks ago my neck went out again. I was out of commission for two and a half days; just lying in bed or on the couch. I was pretty angry about it. I thought that this year's busy season would be more tolerable and less stressful because I only had one client this year whereas last year I had 4-5. Unfortunately I was wrong. In exploring the situation, I discovered that I don't really express anger when I feel or experience it. I store it all in my neck and then eventually it "boils over" and I wake up with nearly unbearable pain. I couldn't believe I'd "allowed" this to happen again.

Last year when I suffered this neck pain and ended up in the hospital, I didn't go to the gym for a month or two at the advice of my physical therapist. This was to allow my neck to heal because we thought that the pain was caused by a subluxed vertebra. This has never been confirmed nor denied, but after talking to my chiropractor, I'm beginning to wonder if it is a subluxed vertebra or just a shit-ton of tension.

So this time I asked my chiropractor, "Can I go to the gym and/or exercise? or do I need to take it easy for a few weeks to heal?" and his response: "Listen to your body. If you want to exercise, then exercise. If you start to feel pain, soreness, tension, then stop and take it easy."

What a novel idea! I am amazed that we, as a culture, tend to not listen to our bodies. It seems so obvious. It should be common sense. But, no. We push ourselves, overwork ourselves, over-eat, under-eat... and the list goes on. So now I'm listening to my body. I'm working on listening to myself so that I can be effective at work and in life!

Peace & love.
J

How to have a good day

I honestly can't believe that the events/lack of events of my day have left me feeling so great. First, I woke up at 4:45am to get to my client's office as early as I could/would since the accounting manager works from 6am to 2pm. At first I was totally dreading it, but once I got on the road to downtown LA, I was awake and ready to face the day.

Amazingly the client had nearly everything ready for me, and was very friendly! Pretty much everyone in their office left by 3, so when I finished up what I could without their assistance, I left at 3:45! This allowed me to get home at 4:15 and then head over to the gym before it got crowded with the after-work crowd. I had my first work out since the car accident. It wasn't bad, but I could only go for 35 minutes before I got a killer headache. Got home by 6, showered, and had a nice healthy dinner of soup and broccoli.

Now it's 7 o'clock and I feel motivated to create some jewelry and hopefully get in some reading. I've been working on reading the Kite Runner, but it's been slow going with my fatigue and laziness. I'll post some pictures of my jewelry next time I blog.

Peace & love,
J

Music makes life better

The Grammy's are on, and Carrie Underwood is performing, so I've been inspired to write a bit about my new favorites. In addition to getting a new iPod for Christmas, I got some iTunes giftcards, so I've been spending a lot of time on the iTunes store.

The albums I've purchased in the last few months are:

• Alicia Keys "As I Am" My favorite song is "Lesson Learned" featuring John Mayer. You should see me singing in the car when that one comes on the iPod.
  
• Colbie Caillat "Coco"
• Sara Bareilles "Little Voice" - I can't get enough of "Love Song"
  
• A Fine Frenzy "One Cell in the Sea"
• Kip Fox "Astronaut" - Kip is an old friend from college, and he has an amazing voice.
• Carrie Underwood "Some Hearts" - I know this is her first album, which was released a couple years ago, but I just decided to purchase it last week.
  
• Yael Naim - I didn't buy her album, but I may at some point in the future. She is the unique talent behind the song "New Soul," which is currently featured on Apple's MacBook Air commercial. Her other hit sing, "Far Far" was the iTunes free song of the week this week.

Unfortunately I'm going into the third week of my car being in the body shop. The rental car I'm driving doesn't have an AUX port where I can plug my iPod in, so I have only been listening to it on my speakers at work. I haven't been to the gym either since the car accident. I wanted to go this week, but I had to stay late at work every day. Then yesterday I slept in late and today I was too lazy to go. Hopefully I can fit a work out or two in this week.

I usually listen to R&B, hip-hop and rap, but as you can see lately I've been more into the folk, indie, pop, and country. I attribute my liking of pop-country music to my friends Taryn and Shannon who got me addicted to Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney back in college. And I think my love for John Mayer is what got me hooked on pop-rock-folk stuff like Colbie Callait, Sara Bareilles, and A Fine Frenzy. I couldn't get through a music post without mentioning John Mayer. The man is a musical genius. I can't wait for him to release his next album.

Peace & love.
J

2008 is all about me

I started "going to therapy" back in October, and for some weird reason I think it's motivated me to get going to to the gym. I went three times the week before Christmas, once last week and yesterday. That might not seem like a whole lot, but considering that's more than I'd gone in the past 2-3 months combined, I'd say I'm making some major progress. (I got sick last week and that's why I didn't go any more than the once. And I didn't go tonight cause my neck hurts for some reason and I just wanted to rest.) It's not that I'm discussing exercising or even losing weight with my counselor, rather I guess the discussions we are having is motivating me to do more for me. So, 2008 is going to be about doing things for me!

I'm going to go to the gym regularly. Get in shape. Hopefully lose about 40 lbs! Indulge in being creative - making jewelry and taking more photographs. Pass those last 2 pesky exams! Pay off my debt. Be more social.

It's going to be an awesome year!

Peace and love.
J

We are the body of Christ

After listening to bad music on KIIS FM at work all day I hopped into my car for a commute with Casting Crowns. I have their self titled album from 2003 and I LOVE it. When the second track came on I felt convicted by the lyrics. I haven't been acting as the body of Christ in my daily life. I'm not doing horrible things, but I am not honoring Him and loving others to the fullest extent. I think we should all take these words to heart and encourage each other to live like the Body of Christ that we are.

If We Are the Body
It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in trying to fade into the faces
The girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

Chorus:
But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances
Tells him that his chances are better out on the road

Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the body of Christ

Jesus is the way


Praise Him!
Julie

Fantastic Day

Today was pretty awesome. Today more than EVER I am SO thankful that I live one block from my office. In case you didn't hear, a construction crane fell on the northbound lanes of the 405 freeway today at about 1pm. All lanes were closed. ALL LANES OF THE 405 WERE CLOSED!! for 5 HOURS!! For those of you who don't know LA, the 405 is the lifeblood of So Cal. The only time there is no traffic is probably between 3am and 6am on Sunday. Seriously. As you can imagine, LA was pure madness today. Unfortunately I wasn't actually in my office, so I didn't get to just walk home. I was at a client's office 7 miles away. It took me an hour to get home when it usually takes 30 minutes. Wilshire Blvd East was backed up all the way to Beverly Hills, which is about 5 miles from the 405. Every street leading to Wilshire was backed up. Even though it still took an hour, I was so thankful I didn't still live downtown where I'd probably have to drive 2 hours to get home. The good news is that no one was killed or seriously injured in the accident.

And the most fantastic part of my day is that I'm getting a tax refund of about $1300. Yes, I know this is not good because it means I had too much money withheld for taxes and I didn't earn any interest on this money. I don't care. I AM JUST SO GLAD that I don't owe. I started doing my tax return last week based off my last paycheck, but apparently I had no idea what I was looking at because TurboTax said I owed $400. (I am NOT a tax accountant; I am an auditor.) So praise God that I'm getting a refund because I NEED that money! YAY!!

Peace and love.
J