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!