Introduction

Welcome to my blog - Learning to be Julie. I've attempted to write blogs before, and quite frankly, I wasn't very good at it. And who knows, I may not be good at it this time around either but I think it's something I need to do right now. The last year or so I have been going through a lot of personal development and I decided it was time to document that journey. I’m mostly doing it for me, but if someone finds comfort or solace in what I share then it will definitely be worth it.

So let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

My name is Julie and I currently live in Austin, TX with my husband Adam and two cats (Starbuck and Toby). We moved to Austin almost six years ago from southern California. It was definitely a bit of a transition and I honestly never thought I would live in Texas, but we really love Austin and it’s been really good for us. We moved here for a couple of reasons, mainly job opportunities and reasonable housing prices. It was a hard move but I think it was the right choice for us.

When we first moved here, I was very lucky to find an amazing job at UT that helped me find my passion - software testing. I really excelled at what I was doing and I knew I wanted to learn more. In very typical Julie fashion - I wanted to switch things up and so I applied for grad school to get my Masters in Software Engineering.

The last several years have been full of both some very challenging and some amazing moments. But about a year and a half ago, I found out that I have MTHFR mutation and it really sent me on a journey to find myself, improve my mental stability, and develop the best me. Although I had been working on myself and identifying what triggers my anxiety and how I can better handle stress, it wasn’t until the end of last year that I really took it seriously. For Christmas, my sister-in-law bought a book for me off of my Amazon wish list; it was The Miracle Morning. I seriously doubt that she knew how much that choice would change my life, but I am SO glad that she bought it for me.

So when I received The Miracle Morning for Christmas this last year, I knew it was a sign that 2017 was going to be my year and that I had to start taking my life by the reins and really living and not waiting for someday. The book had been on my wish list for months - geeze far too long, but when I unwrapped the book I knew it was the right time. I quickly went about reading the book and wanted to have at least made an attempt at starting my Miracle Mornings for the new year. I took Hal’s advice and wrote in the margins and marked up the book and really took what he said to heart.

On January 1st I embarked on my first Miracle Morning (MM). I had some difficulties at first, but I quickly got into a groove and started incorporating meditation, affirmations, visualization, and journally into my daily routine. At the end of January I knew I needed to step up my health and fitness, so I joined the 12 week challenge at Gold’s Gym. I finally felt like I was really starting to gain control of my life - perhaps for the first time. But life will hand you all kinds of obstacles, so I have decided to write this blog to document the journey of finding me, I’m excited for the ride!