Natalie, Anya, and Inna Oh My!

It was such a fun girl-time filled weekend when Natalie, Anya, and Inna came to visit us! To tell you the truth, I was rather doubtful that they would actually come when Natalie contacted me. 400 mile drive, just to spend one night and 1.5 days here with us. But it was true! They came and it was such a blast. They came into town about 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and us girls headed out and in the evening Vlad joined in on the fun.

Here are just some pictures:

Happy Birthday to My Sweet Little Sister Yuliya

I can't believe how old my little sister Yulichka has turned. She has hit the big twenty-one. I still remember her little baby hands (as weird as that may sound- I hold sentiment in that). I actually remember when one day I took her hand and was surprised- I was used to it being the cute baby chubby, shorter fingers, and little nails type of hand; but instead it was a hand of lady, no chub, no baby fingers, and pretty nails-.and.that's.when.it.hit.me.or.so.I.thought.- & it hit me again this year when she climbed over 20 years of age. She has grown into a beautiful, God loving lady.

God is good, it's the best thing to see in my little sister: the evidences and fruit of her faith through out these years become stronger as she matures. 

If you would want to meet one of the kindest people in your life, it would be my sister Yuliya.

Love.Love.Love.Love.Love.My.Yuliya.

Burlaka Mom and Dad Come to Visit!

It was such a treat to have our mom and dad come visit us on the 4th of July- middle of the week- holiday! They came by on the evening on the 3rd and stayed with us til the afternoon of the 4th :). 

Showing them around our hometown:

 

The Americana at Brand:

Out to breakfast @ Black Cow Cafe:

 

Thanks Mom & Dad!

A Saturday In June

One of my most favorite ways to spend a Saturday is taking a spontaneously planned trip. I love waking up, packing up, and heading out with my most favorite. With no time schedule to follow and do what we do when we do it....

We've never been to Santa Barbara before, so we took advantage of the (usual) wonderful southern California weather and took a drive up 101 and HWY 1. It was so pretty and fun.
-We had the roof down the entire time :).
-We even stopped at a fruit/vegetable stand and bought 8 avocados.
-We scored some nifty convenient parking and took a stroll up and down state street, did some light shopping, and enjoyed a yummy lunch.
-Then we went ahead and continued to explore the land of SB. There are so many different beaches there for just about any type of person, crowded, secluded, rocky, sandy, dog welcoming, dog forbidden, and you can fill in the rest. We ended up on the dog forbidden, sandy, secluded edge of a crowded beach section. I guess that means we didn't want cute doggies running around us as we dodged their fetch items, we wanted soft warm sand between our toes, and we like people.
-But the best part of the entire beach was: DOLPHINS (my favorite animals)! All 6 of them were hanging out right in front of us!

All in all it was such as sweet day to spend with the hubs.

Here are some pictures: :)

 

Submitting Anxiety & Greed

I took some time to analyze my wants/desires/longings (pick one) in various circumstances and oh dear was I out of sync in certain departments of the "ME_WANT" section of my life. When we just moved down to Los Angeles, there were many questionable choices because the outcomes weren’t  always so bright or let’s just say what we thought we wanted seemed to be just-not-happening. [Which by the way: I am so glad that what we thought we wanted didn’t happen] I faced some challenges- spiritual and physical. I failed to trust what I knew was true. I failed to trust in the Lord and cut myself short of the peace provided by God that surpasses understanding.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”- Philippians 4:7.

The peace was there… for me… but I looked away and did the predictable- trusted in my own agenda.

But as always, and I am so thankful for this, God did not let me cave into my own prideful strength and wonderfully reminded me that He is in control. Vlad and I prayed and believed. We sought counsel and encouragement from our dear family and friends. There were times of discouragement; however I am not going to go on and make a pity list, but instead look ahead and let me tell you, the more I trust God and am content with what I am so graciously given, the more I realize how much I truly have and my wants/longings become aligned to what is God’s will in my life. Applying my knowledge of God to my circumstances brings about great joy with much contentment no matter what circumstance we are in.

Being content is pretty tricky. It’s difficult to be content during difficult times but it is also not very easy to be content during the best of times. I usually associate being discontent when there is a lack of something because when we have little or are going through something challenging it is difficult for us to trust God to provide what we need.  Instead we worry and plan and worry, worry, and worry.  On the other hand, during the best of times when we seem to have everything we want or need there is a risk of forgetting our dependence on God. To be content with less or during a difficult time is hard but to be content with much can be impossible because we will always want more.  Apart from the satisfaction that we can only get from God, we are insatiable- we will always want more.

"All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing." - Ecclesiastes 1:8

I like the way Barbara Hughes puts it: “whether rich or poor we must submit both our anxiety and our greed to the Lord.” 

Don’t forget to analyze your longings. Center them on what most glorifies Christ.  A longing for God is proper; cultivate your relationship with him. The things of this world are important in their own place of our priorities but how much more important it is to live in such a way that glorifies God in everything that we do and care about.

"As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?"  - Psalm 42:1-2

Length, Width, Height

Something’s are just easier when you know less about them. I’ve experienced my ill-experience of framing art and all the rules and tricks to making it right- and now it’s hanging curtains. To get the look I want it’s no longer: just go buy something in a pack that’s the right color to go on my window. 

The past two times that Vlad and I hung curtains I just eye-balled where I wanted the curtain to hang and without really measuring out how far out and how down low I wanted the curtain to be- we just hung. I just cared how straight it hung--- and Vlad is our natural leveler, I can barely draw a straight line with a ruler! Each time, after the curtains were hung straight, I wished that they were lower to the floor and were out wider than the window. So after the first time I decided that NEXT time I will consider all that and measure; however when the second time came around I forgot what I promised myself… so I decided NEXT time again. So here we are at the NEXT time after the previous NEXT time (our third time). [We have moved 3 times since September 2011- more on that later, maybe].

The apartment we are living in now has the infamous lovely vertical blinds that hang on the outside of the window pane which means that I needed to order brackets that would go out at least 4.8” from the wall. And since they are my favorite vertical blinds I want to cover them up a bit with a sheer curtain… which means I need 2 more brackets that would adjust to go out even more than the 4.8”… so after searching for something practical and priced well… I scored 4 brackets for about $15.

The brackets came in and I decided to take care of business. Last night I grabbed the step stool and started measuring out to plot out where I wanted Vlad to put the hardware for the curtain rods; however, since I don’t have the curtains I just need to measure how tall, low, and wide I want the curtains hung.

First I am starting with our bedroom. I really want the curtains to hit the floor to add that fluffy pretty drama, and promise myself to be sure to vacuum and shake off any collected dust. I’m aiming for about 5-6” to be on the floor…. This is where the measuring will come in that I have never done before… how wide and how tall--- then this will determine where I go shop… hopefully it will steer me to Joanne’s--- that way I can get something specific.

Bedroom without curtains:

Bedroom with curtains:

In Process

Happy Birthday to My Papa!

Happy Birthday to my Most Amazing Papa ever! I am so blessed to have such a dad who loves and cares about us no matter what. He has invested so much time into us as we grew up and is always there for us to this day!! I love you Papachkin so very super much.