We're done with classes! This day seemed so far away. It seems like since we've been down here (three years in November) at least one of us has been busy with some sort of education. I'm not sure what we'll do with all this free time!


We've been caught up in the Christmas hubbub this month. And we're looking forward to another whirlwind Oregon visit. If only we (and our friends and family) didn't need to sleep, it would be so much easier to see everyone. We'll be making the usual Eugene-Portland-Corvallis-Eugene loop again, fueled by a lot of coffee.


Particularly exciting will be seeing the newly-engaged couple: my sister and Dennis! I can't wait to get all giddy about it with her in person! 

I shared my favorite Christmas cd of the year in an earlier post, but wanted to share the lyrics to the Christmas hymn that has touched my heart most this year. It's simple, but sweet. More about the big picture than just the manger scene. Maybe it will encourage you too in this Advent season.


Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
By Charles Wesley


Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.


Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

A flu bug has made its way through our home. On Wednesday night I had a tickle in my throat. On Thursday morning I woke up with a fever, a pounding headache, and a constant cough. I stayed home and slept and watched Christmas movies. I could barely drag myself around. Friday wasn't much better. Saturday I continued in my laying around and sleeping (but managed to watch the Civil War, Go Ducks!) and Sunday was finally feeling well enough to go out in public.


I like to think of my kitchen as my laboratory. On Wednesday I got a happy little package from Mountain Rose Herbs which included dried elderberries. I have read a lot about elderberry syrup lately for fighting colds and flu and decided I wanted to try making my own. I made my first bottle mere hours before the tickle in my throat started. I think it was too late for me, though it was soothing to take throughout being sick. But Jonathan was a good sport and started taking spoonfuls of the syrup each day. It actually tastes pretty decent and I didn't even use as much honey as the recipe calls for.


Well, the inevitable happened. It's pretty impossible for two people living in a one bedroom apartment to not share germs. Jonathan got the tickle in his throat on Sunday night. Monday morning he had a low fever, headache, and was coughing. He worked from home and took some naps. I'm proud to report that he is feeling better and back to work this morning! That's only 24 hours of being sick compared to my 60+ hours! 


Now, some may question my science. But I think that the elderberry syrup Jonathan took for the four days before he got sick and throughout being sick definitely played a role in his quick recovery. Try it for yourself! It's not expensive to make, definitely less than cough medicine from the store.

I just discovered a Christmas cd so good, I had to share. It's called Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson. The tenth Anniversary cd came out last year, so apparently it isn't new. But it's new to me and maybe it is new to you! It's full of mellow tunes and beautiful harmonies and it tells the amazing story of Christ from Genesis through his birth and beyond. Very worshipful.

We were inspired by my Dad recently completing P90X and decided to start it again today. It also helps that an indoor workout is more tolerable than an outdoor workout with the colder temperatures. We'll be going at a bit slower of a pace than the program because we are busy still, but we figure every bit helps fight Desk Body Syndrome.


We had a nice holiday weekend. Thursday's Thunderwolves Thanksgiving Potluck was a lot of fun and there was a very abundant amount of food. We are so blessed. On Friday we saw Harry Potter with the Shulls and then had them over to watch the Duck game. We made sandwiches with Charissa's delicious leftover turkey, Stacey's tasty cranberry sauce, and some bacon that Jonathan picked out. Saturday Jonathan met up with some old Varsity House guys who were in town for the OSU vs. Stanford game. Today was church and youth group. Our church put together an Advent devotional this year and I am really excited about going through it. We started tonight with Hope. 


Any other gaps were filled with homework, walking the dog, and running errands. Hugs to everyone, we're thankful for you!

We have been bundled up for our nightly walks the past couple days. It's no Pacific NW snow, but it's been very chilly. We've been having tea each night too. Did you know that there are a lot of benefits to consuming ginger? I have been adding a sliver of fresh ginger to our mugs to steep with the tea and it's quite tasty and warming.

The end of our classes is in sight! And I've had a bit more time lately to read for fun, crochet a hat for a friend's baby, and make up a granola recipe. If you enjoy oranges and spices like cloves and cinnamon, you better find a way onto my Nice List this year, because I'm planning to make a giant batch to hand out :). It made the apartment smell so good! We've been enjoying it sprinkled on vanilla ice cream. 

It would be so nice to be with family for Thanksgiving this year, but we are looking forward to a potluck with our home group tomorrow. Yum!

Here's a quote from Pastor Richard Baxter that Randy Alcorn shared on his blog today:

“Resolve to spend most of your time in thanksgiving and praising God. If you cannot do it with the joy that you should, yet do it as you can.… Doing it as you can is the way to be able to do it better. Thanksgiving stirreth up thankfulness in the heart.”

I think Christmas is going to sneak up on me this year. Our minds have been all over the place.

That being said, I want to share a way you can make an amazing impact on a child you have never met this Christmas. It's not too late to sponsor a child through Compassion International. They shared on their blog the other day about what Christmas is like for an unsponsored child. For only $38 a month, you can help a child be released from the chains of poverty.

Sponsoring is a great first step, but communicating with these little ones is what gives them the message that they matter. That they are not forgotten. I read this post the other day and I've been changed ever since. If you read nothing else today please read that.

It can be tough to know what to write. This post was actually inspired by my buddy Katie who shared honestly on her blog about the struggle. This blogger has a lot of letter writing ideas and tips for what you can send to your sponsored child. Our sweet little fellow Angelo always draws us a picture, shares a Bible verse, and tells us about school and the people in his life. What gets me the most choked up though is that he asks for our prayer requests because he wants to pray for us. It is so humbling to know an eight year-old little boy in Colombia is praying for me.

If you already sponsor one of God's little ones through an organization, I encourage you to renew your zeal for growing a relationship with him or her. Whatever you do with this information, I hope it spurs you on to look out for "the least of these" each day.

My parents visited us this weekend. They rolled into town on Thursday night and stayed until this morning. I had the day off on Friday so we were able to get outdoors and have some fun while Jonathan worked.

On Saturday, we all went up to Berkeley for the Duck game. Their stadium is so unique. It seems like it's carved into the hillside. The game was pretty stressful, but we still enjoyed getting to go. Jonathan and I even ended up in a photo on Eugene's newspaper's website,can you find us?

My parents brought me a new Duck shirt that has a drawing of Chip Kelly with the words, "Go Chip" on it. Love it.

We made a quick weekend trip to Colorado Springs two weekends ago. Jonathan has some friends from high school/college who live out there and my friend-since-birth Candace lives there with her husband. I had never been out there before, it was so beautiful. Everywhere you turn, Pikes Peak is staring at you from his lofty height. The sky is massive and blue and golden aspen trees shake their precious little leaves with every breeze. 

On Friday night we were driving back to Candace's house and I saw a red fox run down the sidewalk. We thought it had to just be a weird looking cat because obviously foxes don't run around populated downtown neighborhoods. Then Saturday morning were eating an awesome breakfast at a local restaurant and a red fox ran across the street and made a car slam on its brakes! We asked the waitress if she saw it too, and she confirmed that, yes, it was a red fox in the middle of downtown. When we saw the third one while driving out in the Broadmoor area, I was prepared with my camera.

We wandered around Garden of the Gods, breathtaking! And generally just cruised around town. We also got to meet Candace's adorable bunny named Larry. He reminded us of Shinobi.

Have you ever tried a Japanese sweet potato? They are a beautiful fuchsia on the outside and inside is a soft chartreuse. They taste just like their orange relatives. I got a pound of them in my CSA bag yesterday. I like to bring one or two to work for a snack. For a medium one, I poke it a few times with a fork to make some steam holes, put it in the microwave with a paper towel on top of it and cook it for 45 seconds. Then I flip it over and do it again. I let it sit a few minutes to continue cooking itself inside. Then I slice it in half, put some butter on both sides, mash it with a fork, and gobble it up. Sometimes, I sprinkle a little brown sugar on it too. Delish!


We are going out of town tomorrow, maybe I'll tell more about it later...

Oops! It's almost been two weeks since I last wrote. Not sure where the time has gone...

Since I was last on here, we met the Woodwards for bagels, went on a runhike (or two?), watched some college football, I got sick, Jonathan went to a 49ers game, we went to The Weepies concert, and shared dinner with the Littaus.

The Weepies were so fun to see live! Deb is so tiny with a little bird chirp voice and Steve looks like a muppet. I'm pretty sure I was grinning from ear to ear the entire time. For some reason we call them Los Weeps. We're special like that. 

Here are some photos from the concert and a recipe for pumpkin dark chocolate cookies that I brought to the Littaus. I made a half batch which turned out to be about three dozen. It's easy to gobble up that many though.

Ingredients:

2 c butter

1.5 c sugar

16 oz can of pumpkin

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

4c fine whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp nutmeg

0.5 tsp allspice

1 tsp salt (0.5 tsp if you use salted butter)

2 c chopped dark chocolate

1 c chopped nuts (I used pecans and walnuts)

Cream butter and sugar. Add pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla; beat well. Stir in dry ingredients. Finally, add chocolate and nuts.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls an inch apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

With the colder weather lately (it's been upper 60's here, brrr ;) ) I've begun craving soup. I made a huge batch of butternut squash soup with coconut milk over a week ago. But I want to share another soup I made the other day. I call it hurry-and-use-all-the-vegetables-before-we-get-another-CSA-bag soup. I guess it's technically minestrone though...


I started by soaking some "7 Bean Mix" from the bulk section, it's just seven different beans all mixed together, you could use any beans. I put a cup of the beans in two cups of water with about a tablespoon of vinegar in a bowl in the morning. There are many benefits to soaking your legumes and grains. I could go off on a long-winded tangent about it, but I am in the middle of a recipe. So instead I will just share this nice explanation with you. 


With about an hour before dinner, I began heating a large pot on medium. I added a nice heaping tablespoon of butter and about a pound of grass-fed ground beef and let it brown. While it was browning, I started roughly chopping garlic, carrots, bell peppers, and zucchini. When the beef was finished cooking, I added the garlic and let it heat up for about a minute. Then, I added some chicken stock to deglaze the pot and made sure there was enough to cover all my ingredients, you can add as much as you want depending on your preferences. Next, I drained my beans, gave them a rinse, and added them to the pot. I reduced the temperature to medium-low and let the soup simmer for about ten minutes. While tidying up the kitchen, I found an almost empty bag of pasta in the cupboard and decided to throw that into the pot. I added the carrots at this point because they take longer to get soft than the other vegetables, and let it simmer some more. About five minutes before I thought the soup was done, I added the bell peppers and zucchini. I added salt, pepper, cumin, and a little chili powder. 


It was very filling. I served it with a nice thick slice of bread and there was plenty left over to freeze for later. I look forward to defrosting it when these veggies' seasons are long past and remembering this bountiful time of year. 


If you decide to cook something like this, I encourage you to use whatever you have around and taste it many times throughout. Trust your taste buds and instincts!

Saturday was a great day for college football! We watched the Duck game at the Petersons' house with the Shulls, it was a lot of fun.


We got up early Saturday morning for a hike. It's always so nice to start the day outdoors surrounded by trees. We both feel like it clears our minds to get some fresh oxygen straight from the source.


Youth group was canceled this Sunday, so we had a little bagel date before church. This Sunday was one of those that leave you feeling like you are surrounded by caring people. We are so blessed by the great people we have met through church. We went out for frozen yogurt afterward with some friends from our home group and just chatted and laughed outdoors, it was great.


Besides that, more school work. We are dog-sitting/house-sitting for the Littaus starting Thursday. I call it Casa Littau because it's like a little mini-vacation. And Shinobi loves it, too.

We've both been forcing ourselves to get back in the groove of school the past couple weeks. I'm taking two Accounting classes and Jonathan is taking a drawing class. This is the last term for both of us, I keep chanting, "I think I can, I think I can..." It will feel so good to be done!

So, not much is new for us, but Shinobi got a fun treat this week:

I try to keep up on brushing Shinobi's teeth (we pretend it's a game) but I wasn't sure if it was really doing that much good. I have given him rawhide bones in the past, but they didn't do anything except give him an upset tummy. I was reading an article the other day about dog dental health, and a veterinarian shared how his patients' overall health has improved from suggesting the owners feed their dogs raw bones. He said that dog breath is actually a sign of gingivitis and the bacteria from it can affect a lot of areas in dogs' bodies. He also brought up the point that the discomfort that gingivitis causes in the mouth and gums is something so many dogs have to bear their whole lives and it broke my heart! I found out that bones smoked at a low temperature are as beneficial as raw bones (cooked bones can splinter in their stomach, but I didn't want raw meat all over the carpet) and, lucky for me, the butcher shop near my office sells them! I made sure to ask the butcher about the source of them and the process, and he assured me that he gives them to his dog all the time. So I bought one and had them cut it in half, since Shinobi is so little. 

Oh my, he was a very happy boy! I put down a towel for him to eat it on just in case. He went off of the towel once or twice, but then I would say, "Ah ah, on your towel." And he would pick up the bone and walk back to the towel and get back to chewing. He's so smart! I don't know how he picks up on this stuff!?!

The best part though, is that all the stains on his teeth are gone and his breath smells like nothing! I'm amazed how quick his mouth improved. Guess he'll be getting these treats more often.

I can't believe it's been a year since we first met little Sophie! We went to her birthday party this weekend. Thirty adults and a few kids came and there were savory and sweet cupcakes, and cocktails. A very posh first birthday indeed. Even Shinobi was invited! Sophie is already running around on her own and has such a fun personality. Here are a few photos I stole from the birthday girl's father. All the people in them are from our home group, the Thunderwolves.

We also watched a glorious Duck football victory. We're watching the ESPN games via a live stream on ESPN's website so we can keep our basic cable and don't have to go to a sports bar to watch. Genius!

Even though we wear sandals and shorts or skirts most days, it's beginning to be chilly when we take our nightly walk with the dog. It's fun to bundle up again for a stroll with my sweet hubs. Something is so good about walking and talking together in crisp cool air. Jabbering about anything and everything under the sun, and how good the Lord is.

I have completed my table project! The table was (nearly) fun to sand, and I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment and artistry from priming and painting. The chairs on the other hand, well, I got through sanding two of them and decided that I had never liked them in the first place and certainly didn't like them enough to put so much effort into them. You can see in the before photo how complicated they are. So, they can stay for now, but I am going to keep an eye out for a killer deal. Our style is more clean-lined modern with an earthy flair, and I think a lot of different chairs could go with our updated table. The point of this project was to save us money in the long run so that maybe we can avoid the expense of a dining table. I'm amazed how costly they are. I think a good compromise is saving the table and getting different chairs. Especially since I barely spent any of my birthday money on supplies. I'm torn; I don't want to care about appearances very much, but I also want our home to feel home-y. Anyway, on to the before and after photos:

 Shinobi was a good little supervisor for this project.

And our shiny new table with some cheerful sunflowers. I used Olympic's no-VOC semi gloss paint so it will be nice and wipeable, not that we ever spill food... Not bad for a 1980's hand-me-down!

I have been eating steel cut oats for breakfast almost every day for nearly a year. Something about a chilly Autumn morning demands oatmeal. I stumbled upon a way to make batches of steel cut oats the night before instead of having to stand over the stove stirring for half an hour in the morning. Back when this committed relationship began, I was adding brown sugar, cinnamon, chopped walnuts, a sprinkle of flax seeds, a splash of whole milk, and diced apples to the prepared oats. When Winter appeared, I substituted dried cranberries for the apples and omitted the cinnamon. During that time, I discovered how beneficial raw coconut oil is and added a tablespoon or so of that each time to my recipe for some light sweetness and added boost of energy. I was more than ready for the delightful berries and stone fruits that Spring and Summer bring. It started with blueberries, then nectarines and peaches, and I am still enjoying a bounty of strawberries and raspberries as my fresh, in-season fruit of choice. 


When I first purchased steel cut oats, I bought the cute old fashioned tin of McCann's. With how much I liked them, I knew that would get expensive fast. So now I buy them in bulk from Whole Foods at a great price and store them in the cute tin. 


I adore my oat ritual! I have had enough people ask me about my recipe, that I decided I should share it here. 


About an hour or more before going to bed, I prepare the oats. Pre-made oatmeal can last in your fridge for up to a week, but I make enough each time to last me three breakfasts. You need a 4:1 water to oat ratio. For three breakfasts, I boil two cups of water and add a half cup of oats. I add a tablespoon of raw coconut oil while it is boiling. I let it boil for 90 seconds while stirring occasionally. Then I turn off the heat and let it cool to room temperature. I stir it a couple times while it's cooling. Once it's cool, I put a third into my little glass bowl with a lid that I take to work and put the rest in a larger storage container. When I'm ready to eat it in the morning, I microwave it for 30 seconds, give it a stir, and microwave it another 30 seconds. Then I add my toppings (I love watching the brown sugar melt into the oatmeal and swirl with the milk) and enjoy!

We had a great holiday weekend. Jeff and Julia were in town Saturday through Monday so we spent some time with them. We also got some laboring done: Jonathan started his homework for his new class and I put in some time sanding the table. We also watched some college football. I am very excited that football season is starting again.

On Monday, we got up early and headed to Half Moon Bay to bodyboard with Jeff and Julia. It was ideal weather and the waves were just right. It was nearly impossible to miss one. After we had worked up an appetite, we met our home group plus a few others at a popular fish and chip place and then headed to the beach again. Doesn't get much better than that.

I can't believe tomorrow is the first day of September! August, we enjoyed you, but you didn't stay long enough. September always makes me miss Oregon, that's my favorite time of year there. We've been taking advantage of the nice weather here though, keeping in mind that soon it will get dark earlier and be chilly at night. We swam some laps the past couple nights and ate dinner on our balcony. Barbecued beef sandwiches, watermelon, and corn on the cob, trying to enjoy the flavors of summer until they are gone. We discovered tonight that Shinobi likes watermelon. A lot. 

I went to breakfast with my dear friend Sakura this past weekend at the amazing scone place. We also joined some friends at the Shulls' house for dinner and games.

A pretty normal week still ahead: working, exercising, walking the dog, reading, cooking, home group. But we are looking forward to Jeff visiting this holiday weekend and a trip to Half Moon Bay.

Also, today a new album from The Weepies made its debut. I highly recommend it. It makes me spontaneously break out into dancing every time I play it. I think it will be my soundtrack for the month of September.

Our friends Kendra and Whitney visited this past Saturday and Sunday. They left Monday morning to continue South to Disneyland for a little Anniversary trip. We made sure to show off Mountain View's fine cuisine and also took them to Santana Row and Valley Fair. Kendra has incredible shopping stamina. It was great to catch up with them. I can't believe this picture was taken over three years ago, good times!

It has been boiling hot here the past couple of days. Bleh. This apartment cools down better than our last apartment, but it was still pretty miserable. Lots of homemade popsicles. The living room gets much cooler than our bedroom so we pulled the mattress out into the living room and have had a slumber party out there the past few nights. Shinobi seems to like it. Though, both mornings I woke to him sitting next to my head and staring at me. A little creepy, but cute too.

Time for Brinner and home group!

We had a lot of fun in Niagara Falls. The family reunion events included two dinners and a lunch and there were over 120 relatives who attended. It is always touching to see the "Originals" (the Maves siblings) interacting, telling jokes, singing songs, and laughing together. There are some amazing old stories about Charlie and Clara, the patriarch and matriarch, and life in the Maves household. Jonathan asked my Grandma why they had 16 children and she said,"They just took what God gave them."

We got a chance to visit the beautiful town of Niagara on the Lake. You can see where the Niagara River becomes Lake Ontario there, and at the Brock Memorial you can see over the river and lake all the way to Toronto. We also rode on the Maid of the Mist and were majorly misted by the American Falls and Canadian Falls.

We ate a lot of great food (my Grandma's honey cookies are always my favorite) but Jonathan adored the Buffalo wings. He consumed eight of them in one sitting! So tonight I decided to recreate them using chicken tenders. I dipped the chicken in buttermilk (whole milk with a splash of white vinegar) and then into flour. I baked them at 350 on a parchment paper lined sheet for 15 minutes and then flipped them over and baked them for 15 minutes more. While they baked, I melted two parts butter to one part Tapatio hot sauce in a sauce pan over low heat. When the chicken was done, I used tongs to dunk it in the buttery hot sauce and served them all up on a plate. We ate it with dipping sauce, homemade potato salad, and canteloupe. A perfect summer supper. And judging by the number Jonathan ate, I think he liked this version too.

Jonathan finished his online class! Hooray!


We had a pretty lazy weekend, took the dog to the park, and went to the Littaus' house for a breakfast potluck on Sunday before church. Yum. 


We haven't watched tv in so long; most of it disgusts me and we would just rather do other things. But we majorly overdosed on Sunday. We have Netflix (the cheapest one-DVD-at-a-time version because a movie will sit on our shelf unwatched for a month) and discovered the show "Lie to Me" on instant queue. It is totally our type of show – psychological/analytical with a bit of humor. We watched six episodes on Sunday, Nerd Alert! 


We dropped Shinobi off at his Auntie Jane's house this morning and we'll be flying out to Niagara Falls, Canada tonight after home group. Every five years, my Dad's side of the family has a big family reunion. My Grandma is one of sixteen siblings which makes for quite the sizable gathering. It is always a lot of fun and Jonathan is looking forward to his first trip out there.

Do you like Denver omelettes? Do you like pizza crust? Then you might like this little recipe I invented tonight. 


Take some pizza dough out of the fridge and let it sit while you dice so it gets nice and stretchy (I had some from Trader Joe's). Dice some ham, green and red bell peppers, onion, cheese, and kale (why not?) until you have a pile that is probably equal to one cup and put it in a bowl with two heaping tablespoons of ricotta. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on it and mix it up. Split your dough in half and begin lightly pulling the edge of one chunk around in a circle while the majority of it hangs down and rotate it, letting gravity do the work of creating a nice big circle, like you are making a pizza crust. Plop it onto a baking sheet and spoon half of your filling mixture onto one half of the circle of dough. Pull the half without any filling over the top and pinch/fold the edges until it is sealed. Repeat with the other half of the dough and filling. Then, I like to pat grated parmesan all over the top so when it bakes it gets crispy. Follow the baking directions that came with your dough, mine was 8 minutes in a 450 degree oven.


This got all sorts of oohs and ahhs from the hubby. He dipped his in homemade marinara, I liked mine plain. Buon appetito!

So, apparently I haven't written in a while. Probably because I have been scrambling to finish my class and also because I have a fun new project!

With some of my birthday money, I have decided to get supplies for refinishing our dinner table and chairs. They are hand-me-downs from my Aunt and are in great condition; probably because they are made of heavy solid oak. They aren't really our style, but we were happy to receive them back when we got engaged. After some inspiration from one of my favorite blogs, I decided that I could give this dining set a new life and maybe even end up loving it! I'll post before and after photos if the project turns out well. Otherwise, I'll pretend I never mentioned it :)

Our trip North to Point Bonita lighthouse, Muir Woods, and Stinson Beach for my birthday was nice. It was a bit foggy, but we didn't mind. One of my favorite parts was driving up Highway 1 in the cliffy hills and coming around a curve where suddenly all of Stinson Beach was visible, bright blue and sandy white. A funny moment occurred at Muir Woods: we showed up ready for a serious hike, we even had our Camelbacks on, and as we were parking we saw a family walking toward the entrance with a stroller. We thought, what kind of hike is this going to be? It was more of a paved path through some tall redwoods, but it was still breathtaking to be dwarfed by ancient trees.

Our CSA has delivered some rockin' produce the past few weeks. We've enjoyed four ears of delicious, sweet corn on the cob each week, along with bell peppers, heirloom zucchini, and kale (to sneak into smoothies, pasta dishes, and enchilada pies). And the strawberries, raspberries, and stone fruits keep rolling in, which definitely puts a smile on my face. I've also kept making (and perfecting) the homemade bread recipe. I've decided Sunday is the perfect day to make it. I mix it all up in the morning and let it rise while we are at church. When we get home, I give it the minimal kneading it requires and let it rise again for an hour and a half. Then, I bake it and it's ready in time for dinner. So surprisingly easy! We've been gobbling it up with some fabulous jam my sister sent me.

One thing we do nearly every week is have Brinner (breakfast + dinner) for one meal. I've found that this saves a little money in the grocery budget because eggs are so much less expensive than meat and we always have them around anyway. Also, Jonathan and I both love breakfast foods, but rarely have enough energy or patience first thing in the morning to make anything fun. Eating out for breakfast is so overpriced, too. I keep the weekly Brinner interesting by alternating with homemade hashbrowns with potatoes from our CSA, pancakes, french toast, or yogurt/granola/fruit parfaits. And we always have orange juice with it served in wine glasses just to be fancy. Why not add Brinner to your weekly meal plan?


On another note, my birthday was yesterday. Woohoo. I received some fun goodies, ate lunch out with Jonathan, and went to home group. An above average Thursday. But we will be going to the Point Bonita lighthouse, Muir Woods, and Stinson Beach on Saturday as a little belated celebration.


TGIF!

So much going on! We really enjoyed our time in Oregon. The wedding was gorgeous and everyone involved was so sweet. As matron of honor, I had the privilege of being Amber's shadow the whole time through pedicures, happy hour, arts and crafts, and all the other fun things a wedding entails.

We both flew back on Sunday and since then we have been busting our hineys to get caught up in our classes. Since we are both taking software classes, we both need to use the desktop PC so one of us is on there at all times. And after both being on computers all day at work, it's not exactly a thrill. But only a few more weeks to go!

Our friends Chris and Kristi stayed with us Thursday night on their way South for a wedding. It was so great to see them and share dinner and breakfast.

We are caught up enough now that we are taking today off (kinda). I woke up early and baked some bread, then we went to Furry Friends, then we exercised, and tonight we'll take Shinobi to the park and hang out with the Shulls for dinner.

I have been reading about the financial and nutritional benefits of baking your own bread in the blogosphere for a while now, but have always written it off as something I can't squeeze into my schedule because I work full time. I try to take all sorts of frugality and health information in without letting myself feel bad if I don't adopt it. But when through one of my frequent rabbit trails of a link that led to a link that led to a link I spotted a recipe for Five Minute Whole Wheat Artisan Bread, I had to give it a try. I made a half batch (in case it was a major flop) last night and let it rise for eight hours while we slept. Then I baked it this morning and it turned out great! Flaky crust and not too dense inside. I used coconut oil for the oil in the recipe which added a little sweetness. We used it to make sandwiches for lunch today and it held up pretty well. I think I may be adding this to my weekly routine. You can keep the dough in the fridge for up to a week and just pull a chunk out when you want to make a loaf. I might try to make some cinnamon rolls with the dough at some point. Here's a photo of the beauty (with some iced coffee in the background), mmm.

We celebrated our fourth Anniversary last week! We went to an Asian fusion restaurant called Xanh and the food was very delicious. We ordered four different dishes and shared them followed by a yummy hazelnut dessert. I can't believe four years have passed already. We just have so much fun together still.

Jonathan headed North to Oregon on Saturday and I'll be following him Thursday morning. He hasn't been out there since November, so he is getting to spend some quality time with his buddies. I have been getting ahead on my homework, with breaks for pool parties and lunch dates, so that I can fully enjoy the festivities of this coming weekend. My dearest friend Amber is getting married Saturday! I'm so excited to get to be a part of such a fantastic celebration. 

And we're back to studying. Jonathan started a new Advertising class on Monday. Since it is Summer semester, the class progresses at double the pace of a normal semester. So, instead of fifteen weeks, he will complete the class in seven weeks. Tomorrow, I will start a new Accounting class that is a double pace class that takes five weeks to complete. These next weeks will take a lot of discipline, but by doing a class each in the summer we will stay on track to both be done with this phase of school by the end of 2010. 


We still managed to squeeze in a lot of friend-time and pool-time this weekend though. And I read the book "The Call of the Wild" while Jonathan studied. I am trying to read books for fun in a series format. "The Call of the Wild" completes my Jack London series, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm hoping to take a trip out to Jack London Square in Oakland as a finale of sorts to my series.


For the fun-in-the-kitchen report, I got a set of popsicle molds as a fun summer treat to myself. I made two with coffee, shaved dark chocolate, a dash of coconut milk, and vanilla yogurt; and four with strawberries, nectarines, orange juice, and coconut milk blended in the blender. We taste-tested them today because it was boiling hot out and they were sooo good! I'm so excited to invent some new varieties this summer.

I completed my last assignment for my Accounting class last night! It feels like someone took a backpack full of bricks off my shoulders. In the past two weeks a quiz, two homework assignments, and a ten page paper have been assigned and due. Now I just have the final exam to take on Sunday. I stopped "reading for fun" this term because I knew I wouldn't read my Accounting book if there was a fun book waiting for me, so I am quite excited to start reading for fun again.


Jonathan graduated from his intern program on Friday night. There was a very fancy dinner in honor of the graduates. The program draws some great people and we were delighted to be able to dine with them.


Jonathan left Saturday morning for the youth group lake house retreat and gets back tonight. He seems to be having a great time and even got to drive the twelve passenger van. I think he was more excited about that assignment before the six hours of driving started :)


On Saturday, I met with my dear friend Sakura for brunch at a beautiful cafe in an old house in Redwood City that had four different "scone of the day" options. Talk about my kind of place! I spent Sunday afternoon and evening with friends swimming, watching the World Cup, and eating.


Summer is here!

What Shinobi does while I'm studying:

This weekend the window game began. The one where you fling the windows open and crank up the fans as soon as the sun goes behind the shady tree and eventually sinks below the horizon for the night.

But, when the temperature rises like this, the scent of jasmine begins to grace us with her presence as the daylight fades. One of my favorite scents in the whole wide world.

All the colorful fruits and vegetables (and peonies) of the season add such cheer!

This week I chose cheddar cauliflower for one of my CSA options. I love all things cheese so I couldn't resist. Jonathan is gone for a quick business trip so I had a lazy lady dinner (that didn't consist of cake and ice cream for once) while I did homework. I cut some carrots, zucchini, and cauliflower into bite size pieces, game them a quick saute in some coconut oil, and made a dipping sauce by whisking together peanut butter and soyaki. All this, plus the leftover challah bread I used for french toast for Brinner the other day and I was stuffed to perfection. And the cauliflower had a great creamy texture. If you see a yellow cauliflower at the store, buy it.

The weekend was spent splashing in the pool, some of the splashing was with the Shulls, and doing homework. We took on a nerdy organizing project, too. We just like being together.

Some photos from the weekend:

Two gallons of perfectly ripe strawberries from the farmers market, sliced and frozen.

Tasty cake made with peaches and strawberries for hanging out with the Littaus.

Bodyboarding at Half Moon Bay. So fun!

What a privilege to enjoy such freedom! Thank you troops past, present, and future.

I think we have a fun Memorial Day weekend ahead of us. We'll be having dinner with some out-of-town friends tonight. I'll be bringing some spinach from my weekly CSA supply since we've got more than ten Popeyes could consume. Then, tomorrow morning we'll head to Sunnyvale's Farmers Market to snag some flowers for church and strawberries to freeze for smoothies in the fall and winter after the season has passed. The second half of Saturday will be spent at the Littaus, one of our (including Shinobi) favorite things. I think I will bring this for dessert with some of our CSA peaches and berries. I just love what is springing out of the ground this season! Sunday will include church, lunch, and a midterm for me, but I'm trying not to dwell on the midterm piece. And Monday we will likely be bodyboarding in the sparkling Pacific, hooray!

Hope everyone we love can enjoy some good weather, good food, and good company this weekend, too!

We had a nice little weekend. Jeff visited us and Shinobi turned three years old. We took him to the park to play fetch Saturday and Sunday. I only have four and half (and counting) weeks left of my current Accounting class. Jonathan is almost done with Intern and then he will be starting up Advertising classes again. We are still enjoying our delicious, fresh produce from the CSA. I get to pick up a load today that will have peaches and blueberries among other things, Mmmm. And we are on target to have a fun holiday weekend in a few days.

We watched the season finale of Lost on Sunday with our friends, the Bells. Anyone out there who watched Lost might find this article interesting. The author nailed it in certain respects. But, his conclusion makes me sad for him; that the mysteries of life are unanswerable and we can only hope in the love we feel and deeds. What a joy to know that we were created and life is not about us. That what we do means nothing if it has no eternal value. Our hope is in the Lord of Heaven and Earth!

What a whirlwind the past couple of weeks have been! Lots of fun socializing, my 2010 Tour de Oregon, and a visit from Jonathan's parents.

I went to Oregon for a week for a couple of reasons: My Grandma June and Aunt Susie from Canada were in town, I threw Amber a bridal shower, and I was long overdue for an Oregon Trip. I can't believe my last visit was July 2009, oops!

While in Eugene, we checked out the new Duck baseball stadium and academic center, went to a Duck spring football game, ate lots of food, and laughed a ton.

I made a quick trip North to Corvallis to see my Azalea House buddies for some coffee, dinner, and dessert. Such great ladies!

The time I spent in Portland was mostly with my dear friend Amber. She is getting married this summer and I was able to throw her a shower while I was in town. It was also so nice to get to spend more time with her than just a coffee date. I got to see my Portland buddies Karly and Amber C. too. They have some very sweet kiddos who romped around on a playground while we chatted.

Jonathan's parents came down for a visit this past weekend. We got to show them around Santana Row and take them for a hike. It was nice to spend some quality time with them because we usually have to juggle so many people when we are in Oregon.

And, I got my first Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) delivery today! I'm still recovering from how beautiful and vibrant my strawberries, sugar snap peas, broccoli, oranges, and yukon potatoes are! Yum! What a joy to have such a bounty of spring treats!

I hope everyone is able to enjoy some sunshine and flowers this week!

Hi. It's been a while. 

I started a new term of Accounting two weeks ago. It's been a wild term already. I'm supposed to have "daily attendance" in the online forum and there is a minimum of a chapter to read, a quiz to take, and homework to turn in every week. I'm already counting down the weeks until this term is over. Bleh.

My sister and her manfriend, Dennis, visited us for Easter weekend. They were really nice to spend time with. Much laughter and theological discussions and coffee were shared. Here's a picture of us four on a hike.

We house-sat for our buddies, Karl and Jane, this past week. They have two perky Havanese dogs (mentioned in this post from the past) that Shinobi loves to play with. It was really nice to have a change of scenery. It almost felt like a mini-vacation.

Besides that, we are just plugging away with work and life. We are so thankful for all that we have and the people in our lives.