Being Still

I spent Sunday in bed. Sick with some sort of cold. Enjoying some delicious pho but sick nonetheless. But I am thankful for it because it took this cold to help me realize that I sometimes spread myself too thin. I read a book not even a year ago about living simply but the message of the book obviously didn't sink in. I tend to try and do as much as I can in the time I have been given. A few classes here, a coffee date there, and another committee later, I am feeling like I just can't do it all.

Filling your time with an excess amount of activities, leaving little time to refresh leads you to inevitably get burnt out. The time we have in this life is to be used wisely. We must redeem the time and make our actions intentional. If that means cutting a program from my schedule then so be it.

But that is not the only thing that I know I need to be aware of when it comes to my time. I know I squander free time with a minutia of unimportant things, i.e. too much time spent surfing the net for craft ideas, looking for blog material, etc.. As much as I love blogging and working on crafts, the time spent working on them sometimes gets to be too much, leaving little time left for the more important things in life.

Jeremy and I were talking the other night and he said that he didn't know why we fill our time with so many other things and not do what we ought to be doing. God is here and readily available at any moment to talk to, to learn from, etc.. yet time after time you see that we choose to fill a significant chunk of our time on other things and leave just the leftovers for Him.

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth! -Psalm 46:10

This time of being sick and staying home to recuperate has helped me to see that I just need to be still. I just need to lay low and spend time with Him. I can miss a class or move an appointment to another time if it means I am setting my priorities straight. My christian yoga teacher once said "God has not called us to a busy life, but to a purposeful life". I will spend the rest of the time getting better just resting in Him.

Summer Delights

Summer has finally arrived in Seattle and this weekend was filled with the many of joys of this time of year.

Jeremy got home from work early on Saturday so he came over to my Mom's house and we each got to work making dinner. Jeremy worked on the drink, I worked on the fruit salad and Mom made the main course.

I love using fresh fruits and veggies to make super easy and super yummy meals. Take these for instance: For a cool mocktail to help beat the heat, add 1 can of coconut milk into your blender. Use the option on your blender to get the mixture good and frothy. Next add 1/2 pineapple that has been sliced into the blender. Add a little agave to taste and your ice and blend it all together. And for a refreshing fruit salad take 1 watermelon and a bunch of mint. Mince the mint and add to the cubed watermelon. Toss and enjoy. See, so easy but the results are DELICIOUS!!



My Mom also made my new favorite salad: a BLT salad. How smart is that!? They are good on bread but even better as a salad!

8 slices chopped and cooked bacon
4 cups sliced green-leaf lettuce
1 cup halved grape tomatoes
1 cup low-fat croutons

Dressing
1/4 cup light mayo
1 Tbs. water
1 Tbs. cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. agave
pinch of black pepper

Combine all the ingredients for the salad in a large bowl. Then, in small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients: toss salad with dressing. Makes 4 servings.

And after church today it was too nice out to just go home, so we made a trip to the local zoo and enjoyed looking at God's varied and sometimes goofy creation.








Loving our summer so far and looking forward to enjoying more of it. I hope you also had a joyous weekend!

Moving Forward and Trusting Him

I am back from a short blog break. Lots of things are in the works at the casa de Egerer:

We are moving within the next month so I have been busy cleaning, organizing and purging our house of unnecessary items. You have got to do this if you don't do it regularly. I really didn't realize the amount of stuff we've collect over the years. I'm kind of a minimalist as it is and we still have a few boxes of extra stuff. Gotta love donating it all to the Children's Hospital thrift store!

In other news we will be paying off the last of our debt soon (WOOHOOO!!) and thinking about starting a family. Along with these exciting things comes some uncertainty, like figuring out how we are going to afford a baby, what type of job Jeremy will have, where will we end up, etc...

The last week or so has been one at a cross road. Boy does it feel uncomfortable in this spot. But I know it is in these times that I must trust in the Lord to get us through.

I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out- plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed.

-Jeremiah 29:11-13 The Message

On another note, Jeremy gave his 2nd sermon this past Sunday at the local convalesence home. God has given him a gift and I am so proud! If you want to watch either of his sermons you can watch them here.

B is for Baby Shower

This weekend we celebrated my brother and sister in law and their baby Avery. She will be here soon so this was the time to shower the soon to be parents with love and baby gifts.

It was a co-ed shower and my brother in law really enjoyed himself as you can tell by these pictures. He was too funny opening up the presents. You'd think he thought they were for him!


Instead of games, guests made onesies for sweet little Avery. It was hard to pull everyone away from the onesie station so I'd say they enjoyed it and I'm sure Avery will look adorable in the sweet little designs!


Mommy and Daddy are very excited to finally meet their little one and it was a joy to share in this special time with them. May God bless their new little family!

Grill Master

My husband is known around our house as 'king of the grill'. Before we were married he had a whole slew of different roommates, one of them was from Shreveport, Louisiana. It was that roommate, who taught him how to spice and cook lip smacking steak, pork, chicken, you name it!

The key to really good BBQ food is the seasoning. Jeremy likes to spice the heck out of the meat, but trust me, you will love it! We made some of the seasoning for my Father-in-Law for Father's day.

Jeremy's Amazing BBQ Seasoning - goes well on chicken, beef, pork, and burgers

Dry Ingredients:
*Tony Chachere's creole seasoning
*Onion flakes
*Garlic powder
*Crushed red pepper
*Coarse black pepper
*Dried basil
*Dried parsley

Wet ingredients:
*Hot sauce
*Olive Oil
*Avage Nectar or honey
*Minced fresh garlic

Combine the dry ingredients. You can eyeball the amount depending on the amount of meat you are cooking and to your particular taste. We LOVE garlic so we add more of the garlic powder than others might use. Rub the dry seasonings on the meat. Then add your hot sauce, olive oil, avage nectar and fresh minced garlic to coat. Next, fire up the grill and start bbqing. The result is amazingly spicy and sweet BBQ goodness. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. YUM!

God Moments

Ever read your bible and find yourself getting excited because you've stumbled upon an amazing verse? Ever just have to tell someone about it because it's too good not to share? Jeremy is usually the person I do my sharing with but there are times when I tell him and it may not be as exciting to him or he is preoccupied with something else and he is clearly not understanding how unbelievably cool it is. Well those are the times when I remember that I shared that moment with the One who I was excited about in the first place. I cherish those God moments, just me and Him, taking in His word and loving every minute of it!

(Side note: Jeremy deserves credit for finding that un-be-lievable passage in Zechariah. Cross that with John 1:14 where the bible says that The Word (i.e. God) became flesh and dwelt among men in their midst. He is truly an awesome God, worthy of our praise!*

Fresh Baked {baby onesie cupcake tutorial}

This adorable gift idea comes straight from the oven for that special mom-to-be in your life. Simply gather your ingredients and start 'baking'.

These cupcakes look good enough to eat. In fact, my cousins lil one thought they were real cupcakes for her and not her new baby sister!