Breakfast Enchiladas???

You heard me, they are amazing!!! James and I have made an attempt at cutting flour and sugar out of our diet. At times we are great and other times its a very sorry attempt. Well I am trying now to conform our meals that we like into the "no flour, no sugar." We used to make green chile burritos for breakfast. With eggs, bacon, green chile and cheese wrapped in a big "Flour" tortilla. I was trying to figure out how to rework this recipe and little did I know I would come up with something amazing!! Heres the recipe!!!

15 corn tortillas
6-8 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1 lb of bacon or sausage (whatever your liking is)
1 tomato chopped (optional)
1/4 cup of onion chopped (optional)
1/4 cup of bell pepper chopped (optional)
1/4-1/2 cup of green chiles (optional)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tsp of pepper
2 cups of cheese
2 tbs of tabasco (optional)

First I start the bacon or sausage (whatever we have) then, while thats cooking I beat the eggs and add in the milk and veggies and spices. Then I get 5 corn tortillas and tear them up and cover the bottom of an 8x8 pan. Then I pour 1/3 of the egg mixture on top of the tortillas. Next I layer the bacon or sausage over the eggs and then I put a layer of cheese. I repeat this 2 more times. It goes into the oven on 300 for about 30 minutes and then on 350 for another 15 minutes. It should be to where you stick a fork in the middle and the eggs are cooked through. It serves about 4-6, depending on if men or women are eating. James usually eats about 1/2 of it. Its our new favorite breakfast and its super easy. Kind of like a breakfast burrito, omlet thingy. It reheats really well too.

Hope you enjoy!!!

JL

Project Detox

I love doing projects!!! I love the thrill of thinking out what I want to do and the creativity that comes along with it. I love trying to figure out how to get it exactly how i want it. Doing projects is almost like reading a book, there is a high at the beginning, I get excited to read, but i also get really excited to see how its gonna end. But when I am all done I am so sad that its over. Same with a project. I love thinking it out and excited to see the end result, but when all is said and done, i get very sad when its over. I think I may be a little weird, but its just who I am. So the project over the last couple of days......well its kind of a lot. I went into Catherines room and just got fed up! She has so much stuff. Too many toys, books, stuffed animals and waaaaaay to many clothes!!! So in an attempt to clear out her room, I went a little, (ok, a lot) bizerk!!! Project: Catherine's room. I went to target to get groceries and came back with a new bookshelf. I know, I shouldn't be adding stuff to her room but my idea is to minimize. So I put this bookshelf together, by myself, it only took me about 2 hours with the help of an amazing 3 year old. Well this is one of the shelves with the little 12"X12" squares. There were 9 squares 3 up and 3 down. So I had the insert boxes to go in them. I cleared out her dresser and got rid of a trash bag full of clothes and filled the 6 inserts with the rest of the clothes. We cleared her dresser out of her room and also her other bookshelf. I cleared out toy boxes and threw away stuff that is not used or useless anymore. After another 2 hours of cleaning, moving furniture and rearanging her room looked about 20x's bigger. Well, although i did love it, it just needed something more. So after a trip to the craft store today.....I came home with stuff to create labels for all of her clothing bins. I spent another 2 hours today painting, and hot glueing. I finally finished and I am so happy, yet very sad its done. I find myself sitting in her room looking at the shelf very pleased. I am so weird!!! Well, here are some pics.....now onto the next project!! Hope you all like it.

Oh My Girl

My Catie J says and does so many things to make me laugh so hard. Today we were about to eat lunch and I asked her what she wanted. She responds ever so serious and says "I would like to go to fred reckers house please." Of couse my response is "what the......fred recker?" Well after about 10 minutes of laughter on my part and frustration on her part we concluded that she wanted to go to Fudruckers for lunch. What a cutie pie.

She also came out singing the heck out of a song the other day. After the same phrase came out about 10 times I finally started listening to what she was saying. To the tune of the song and the words "All things are possible" My girl was singing, mind you, eyes closed, hands raised in the air, shouting and singing "I'll sneak the pasta bowl." over and over and over again! I couldnt stop laughing.

She is getting some of her grandma (jerilyns mom) in her. She is big on practical jokes and trying to be sneaky funny. So we were putting a puzzle together and I couldnt find 3 of the pieces anywhere. She starts giggling and then turns into full on laughter and I still cant find the pieces of the puzzle. She tells me to look in my pants. Lo and behold, 3 puzzle pieces. She had come behind me while doing the puzzle and put 3 pieces down the back of my pants.

One last funny one or just really cute one. I love rain and whenever it rains, which is not very often in Phoenix Arizona, I always wake up and say, "Thank you Jesus!!!" Well, We use James' tip money from starbucks to fill up our car with gas. Yesterday as we drove into sbucks to go get the tip money our low fuel light went on. I, exasperated and excited at the same time say, "Thank you Jesus!" And my Catherine says "But i dont see rain mommy?" Very cute! It is also nice to say it did rain last night and its a very cloudy day today! So "THANK YOU JESUS!!!" Have a fun day!

rejoice always?

Philippians 3:1
Finally, my brothers, Rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.

Yesterday was purely Christ speaking to me at Church. We have been going through Philippians lately and our family has been gone so much of the series. We helped out 2nd service with Childrens ministries for the month of July and then we were out of town for 2 weeks and yesterday for the first time in a while, we were able to soak in the refreshing sound of worship and the soothing words that Jesus knew we needed to hear yesterday.

We went into yesterday burdend and heavy. Longing, weepy and tired. We have been in the last 2 weeks given some unexpected obstacles pertaining to work for James and needless to say anything with money is aweful stressful. We also walked into yesterday learning yet again for the 18th month in a row we are not expecting. The night before our cabinent with all of our baking supplies was attacked with bugs and our refrigerator door wasnt shut all the way. I went through a spell of wondering if this would ever end. Now our bigger obstacles made these little ones seem bigger than they were but nonetheless, when you are expecting to finally sit down after a long night already, and all of this needs to be dealt with...well, it was a little overwhelming.

So back to walking into Church yesterday.....so refreshing to be in a place that is full of acceptance, love, grace and mercy. When I complain about life, I dont hear "you need to not complain." I hear, "how can I help you?, or, When can we bring you a meal?" This amazing church is full of "no condemnation" and beautiful, messed up sinners that know they are fully saved by the amazing grace of our precious Jesus. We learned how hard it is to rejoice in Christ in all of our circumstance. When life throws everything at you and you cant imagine you can deal with anything else, he calls us to REJOICE. He has given us so many reasons to rejoice. He has promised us eternal life with HIM. He knows life is not easy and he know exactly what he is giving us, he is not suprised and he is not running away. He longs to stand right next to us as we struggle and limp through this life. He longs for us to understand and lean on his promises, even if we dont understand them. When life is good and right and everything feels amazing, he longs also to stand next to us and go through it with us. He wants to rejoice in our blessings with us too. He knows more than anyone, that this world is not where we belong. That the treasures of this earth will not last, but He will last and HE is our treasure that we need to be seeking daily and always. He is who we will be rejoicing in always when all the things of this earth pass away.

So do I still long for another chid? Of course I do. But i am learing to Rejoice in the knowledge that we have an amazing God that knows my future better than I do, and he is not against me, he is not punishing me. In fact, he is doing this out of pure love.
We are still learing to rejoice during the struggles and blessings of life in the one who created them all. On my worst day I am Christ in Jerilyn and if thats true, and I believe with all of me this is true, then I can do nothing but rejoice in the beautiful sacrifice of the gift of his son.

Some Family Pics

Update on Waddells

Hello All!!! I started this blog really thinking I could keep up with it. Its a lot harder than it seems. I sometimes sit down to write and then feel like I have nothing to say. It has been a crazy 6 months. Catherine turned 3 and James and I both turned 26 in the last 6 months. Things have been going really well. James walked for graduation from Seminary with his MDiv in May and is now finishing up some summer classes. Its amazing how much a piece of paper can change so much. We are in a transition stage of not knowing what is next. We are continuing to learn and grow as we trust in his plan for us. It too is so much harder than it seems.
James started working at Starbucks this summer so we could benefit from their insurance. I didnt know how much else we would benefit from. Only 20 hours a week for insurance, a free bag of coffee every week, great employee discounts and free coffee for me everytime he comes home from work. Not to shabby. He, for now will teach Math at a Charter School part time and work at Starbucks part time. Its not ideal but its better than throwing Seminary in there too. I am also starting work this next week!! I will be working as the Childrens Pastor assistant for our Church. We go to an amazing Church and I have been involved with the Childrens Ministries for about 3 years now. I am really excited, the best part is I get to make up my own hours. I will also be running a Moms Day out Program for 2-3 year olds. I am very ready to get back into the school year.
Catherine is growing everyday! She is 3 and a half and she is wearing 5 year old clothes. She is tall and skinny like her daddy. She is learing to read and write, she loves to learn. It has to be on her timing but she loves to learn. She memorizes songs like no other. She is seeming to start grasping on to so much of what we are trying to teach her. Like, how much she is loved, not only by us but by her creator, that Jesus always protects her. And that people are more important than things, so its better to build a relationship than to have things or to fight over things. She is learning that everyone needs Jesus and not everyone hears about Jesus so we are supposed to tell people about Jesus. I just love when she prays and when she is really thinking about the things we are saying. She is old enough to express emotion and does very well at it. She is strongwilled and stubborn, but i wouldnt have it any other way. She is so uniquely created by our precious Jesus and I am so proud of my precious little girl.
As for our family......please keep us in your prayers and we are begging God for another child. Sometimes I feel like I am asking too much and sometimes I feel like when it comes so easy for others, that I am asking nothing. I continue to struggle in my battle with who He says i am and what He thinks of me. I know in my head I am his beloved and he cares so deeply and intimatly for me, but sometimes it just doesnt get all the way to my heart and I get so jealous and afraid that his plan is not the plan I had in mind. Yet through all of this, we met a lady from our Church and she runs her own Adoption Agency and has talked with us quite a bit about adopting. I love kids so much and I love being a mom more than anything, maybe Gods plan for me is to love the kids and babies that would otherwise not be loved. Maybe he wants James and I to create a safe home for so many unloved children. Now these are only considerations and thoughts right now, but we are more than willing if thats what we feel God is calling us to do.
We are also running into to the infamous "whats next" phase of life. We are longing to do missions and be in a church. So the next phase is really pushing towards those goals. We will definatly have to wait and see, but we are hopeful and excited to take this next step together.
I love being a Mom to my Catie J and I love being a wife to the most amazing Man alive. God is good, gracious and faithfu.. When I remember his blessings and his amazing gift of life, I gain new perspective every time. He is GOOD!!!