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.