Lots of Updates!

It's been awhile since I've posted! Here are a few updates on what's been going on in the Austerman household!

I've been into a baking kick lately! Few weekends back I made homemade cinnamon rolls (Shane's favorite Saturday morning breakfast) and tonight I was feeling like baking again, so chocolate chip cookies it was! Yummy!




For the past two years Shane and I have helped lead an outreach project for Love Cedar Valley. I say both Shane and I, but I must admit, Shane definitely takes on the lion's share of the work! We help at the Waterloo Boy's and Girl's Club and this year we took down some playground equipment, painted a cafeteria and put up some benches and counter tops.





I've been doing a little more sewing! I made these new curtains for our living room! The fabric was really, really affordable so the finished product was WAY cheap! Yea! Also in this picture is the new crown molding that Shane put up!! I've been wanting to put it up since I painted last year and we finally got around to it!




And the most exciting news of all....we're having a baby!!! We found out a few weeks ago and I haven't got around to posting it on here, but most people already know! We are so excited! We definitely have and are learning a lot about God's will and God's timing through this pregnancy. This definitely wasn't something that happened right away for us, but we are enjoying it all the more because we've had to wait. And now that it has happened I'm learning a lot about patience getting through the first trimester. The past few weeks have been a struggle with the flu, morning sickness, and exhaustion...but it's alright, because it supposedly means the pregnancy is going well! We will just continue to look forward to the second trimester! :) Thanks to soooo many of our friends and family who have kept us in their prayers! We are so blessed and grateful.

Proud Wife

This last weekend Shane and I attended church in Grundy Center. It was great not only to visit Orchard’s Grundy Center campus, but Shane is participating in the current series “Stories from the Seats”. He did such an awesome job and I am constantly amazed by his story and his courage to share it! He will be at the Cedar Falls campus this Sunday at all three services in the Community Center!

a few thoughts...

Lord...help me to be content with my life, yet aspire for your great plans…

Lord...help me to learn that everyone is human and we will all disappoint each other eventually…

Lord...help me to find my passion and have the courage to live it out…

Lord...help me to love my husband for everything he is and is not…

Lord...help me to be patient and wait for your timing…

Lord...help me to live intentionally and align my actions with my beliefs…

Lord...help me appreciate life’s challenges, for they shape me the most…

Lord...help me give and receive love that is unconditional, unrestricted and absolute, because what else could matter more?

Sewing!

I've finally started using my sewing machine! Below are some pictures of my very first projects! There are a lot of mistakes in these projects, but I feel like I am picking up sewing fairly quickly. Luckily I watched my mom sew when I was little and remember a few of her tricks. I'm still pretty much learning as I go and I'm looking forward to more projects soon!

I made myself an apron! Hopefully I use it while I'm cooking up some yummy meals! We will see about that! :)

New pillows! Well kind of, I just recovered some old ones we had. I didn't use a pattern, just decided to wing it. They didn't turn out too bad -- just don't look too closely! :)

4 Dogs?

Yep! We've been living with a pack of dogs the past 10 days! We are watching some friend's dogs while they are on a mission trip. It's been experience to say the least! While our house is ideal for having dogs because of our fenced in backyard, we've found that 2 dogs will be the maximum number of dogs we have (or at least I have). :) Tonight we are taking our two visitors home, and although it's been fun having them around we are anxious to get our house back! And it will be nice to cut the number of paws we have to wipe off in half! It's been fun, but so long Domino and Mesa!

Izzy & Wyatt

This past weekend we had Izzy and Wyatt come stay with us! It was so much fun to spend time with them, although by the end of the weekend we were exhausted! We played games and did crafts at home, we went to the Humane Society to walk and play with the dogs, and we went to the UNI basketball game.

Since we don't have enough puppies around our house...we need to crawl on all fours and pretend we are puppies too!

Playing with Uncle Shane!

Cuddling with Aunt Jackee!

Another Bailey Story...

A few days ago Shane called me at work and frantically asked me if I remembered the formula to make dogs throw up. Needless to say I could have guessed that Bailey had got into something...
Bailey decided to chew through a bottle of allergy pills! We have no idea how many she ate, and luckily Shane was able to make her throw up every thing. Pleasant thought isn't it!? From being hit by a car, eating a plate full of fudge and now eating allergy pills, our life wouldn't be nearly as exciting without our little Bailey! Here's a picture of the most recent damage done!

Minneapolis Weekend!

Last weekend Shane and I made a trip up to the cities. We had such a great time! We bought tickets to a Laker's game for our Christmas present this year. Although the reason for the trip was the game, we were able to sneak in a little time for shopping as well! :) Here are a few pics from our trip. Sorry they aren't the best quality - I forgot our camera, so we had to use our phones to take pictures. Not ideal...but it worked.

Shane in front of Bynum and Gasol warming up. Those guys are HUGE!

LAKERS WIN, LAKERS WIN!!!!!!!!

Yes Honey, I know I am the best wife ever. ;)

Organizing!

Here's what I spent my afternoon doing today! Organizing bills, taxes, insurance, warranties, manuals, and other important documents! I wish I had a before picture, but I wasn't thinking quick enough. I'm so happy to have this job behind me. I haven't gone through all of our "important" documents since we moved into this house. I think we are good to go for another year now! Yea!

Happy New Year!

Ok - so I've realized how much I've neglected this blog in 2008. Shane laughs because I was so excited to have this blog, and to have a online documentary of our life, however I have miserably failed at actually utilizing it! I'm usually not one to make "New Year Resolutions" however, I do enjoy setting new goals and dreams throughout the year. I find that I'm usually motivated by by trying new ways to achieve my goals whatever they may be at the time.

So with that being said, one of the things I would like to achieve this year is updating this blog more. Here is a list of some other interests for 2009! I don't want to call these goals or resolutions for the new year, however I find that living intentionally usually helps me stay focused on what really matters!

Jackee's intentions for 2009:

1. Bible Study/Reading: I would really like to find more time to get into the Bible and really let God speak to me through his word. I don't do this nearly enough right now. I absolutely love to read, however usually it involves reading books, magazines, and Internet articles. It's time to dig into some Bible study!

2. Cooking: I'm going to try really hard to learn new recipes and cook better dinners. I've found that just planning ahead really helps me in this area. Even though planning a "menu" for the upcoming week seems a little obsessive, it really helps me have plenty of options in the house when we get home at 5:00 and ask "What's for dinner?" What's even better is that Shane and I enjoy cooking together!

3. Running: I want to get running again. I've never really stopped running for an extended period of time, however I have taken a few weeks off after doing a challenge with some friends this winter. I want to become more consistent in my running and possibly start running in the mornings before work. This would help me with routine and accountability. We will see about doing any races. I don't have much of a desire to do a marathon at this point...I'm not all that competitive when it comes to races.

4. Sewing: I know, I know...a little dorky. I've had a bit of an interest in sewing for a while now, and my parents gave me a sewing machine for Christmas this year! I've started sewing an apron and I'll be excited to finish it finally. I also want to make some pillows and some kind of blanket. We are starting small and see how I do!

5. Debt Reduction: This has been something Shane and I have been working on consistently for a while now. It's something that isn't easy, but will be so worth it when we can be out of debt! Although, I don't see us completing this goal for many years, it's still something that I like to focus on and never forget.

6. Simplify: I love trying to clear the clutter out of my life. Whenever I simplify, it feels like I can focus on everything else better. I'd like to continue to go through our house and get rid of the things we don't need or use.

So I was sharing with Shane the items that I would like to strive to achieve in 2009 and he agreed to let me put his list on here too! It's great to have discussions about what we want to work toward together and there are a few we left off, however we will probably devote some other posts to those! For now, here is Shane's list!

1. Bible Reading: I want to continue to grow my faith and learn more about what God's will is in my life.

2. Serving: I want to find where God would use me and my story to help others.

3. Running/Lifting & Eating Healthier: I'd like to find a balance in working out and life. Spending the right amount of time to stay in shape while not letting it consume my life.

4. Career Promotion: I'd like to find ways to continue to grow in my career and possibly get promoted. And a nice raise to help with everything above! :)

5. Home Projects: Multiple projects around the house that need to be done! ie: lighting in basement, crown molding, new fence, paint porch

Dream big this year - and do something about it! Happy 2009!