Week in Review

So, it's been a pretty busy week, which is why I sort of fell of the map.  Lots of work, and loads of homework have kept me distracted, but I managed to sneak in a few fun things along the way!

A yummy new recipe, that even my picky eater husband loved.  Healthy too!

Started another knitting project.  Loved this yarn! (Yeah Hannah, that's Malabrigo!!)

Saw a superhero movie this weekend, Captain America, a fun summer flick!  Any recommendations for next weekend??

That kind of day...

So, I try to cook dinner most evenings, and I usually try and make sure it's semi-healthy, you know, at least one veggie option on the plate.  But every once in a while we have one of those evenings... the one where I make a quick stop at the grocery store and come out armed with a bottle wine and a frozen pizza.  Yeah, today was one of those days:

Epicness

Guess what I did this weekend???  Yes, "Harry Potter"!  It was pretty awesome.  Epic, in fact.  It even made me cry.

I thought it was a great film and held true to the book.  You haven't seen it you should. If you haven't read the series, you definitely should.

Student

So, I am officially a student again!

I've sort of been at a loss since graduating college.  A B.A. in Art History was super interesting to study, but hasn't been very helpful when it comes to getting a job.  I've toyed with the idea of going back to grad school for... something, but haven't been really sure what I want to do, and am hesitant to spend 2-3 years and loads of money on a degree, only to finish up and be ready to start a family, not a job.

Working at (the front desk of) a school has really peaked my interested in pursuing some kind of education degree.  While teaching elementary school would be fun, there's a lot of requirements for the certification, plus CA seems to be firing more teachers than they're hiring, so not sure that's the best option right now.  Preschool, on the other had, is something I'm really interested in, and the requirements aren't nearly as intense, and it also seems like a really portable career for someone who's a Navy wife and will be relocating every 2 years.  After looking around I found a great online accelerated Early Education Certification program.  A certification is only 27 credits (9 classes) and this program offers them in 5 weeks session, which means you could have your certification in just a few months!  Not only is it a quick program, the online factor is great for me, since the Navy will be sending us somewhere new sooner rather than later!   I hope this gives me more options as I move to new places and look for work, and it will definitely come in handy when I have my own little preschoolers!

Today's happiness...

Yes, new shoes.  My shoe of the month club was having a buy one get one free sale.  How could I resist?!?!  Oh, and yes, I do belong to a shoe of the month club.

Latest (and greatest) project

This is the new project I'm working on: 

I loved the adorable warm weather top on the cover of the magazine, and also loved the new yarns my knitting store had recently gotten in, so had to buy both.  Considering the fact that I'm working on pretty small size 4 needles and that I had to tear out four of the first five inches because I misread the directions, I'd say I'm chugging right along.  This will remain my main interest until I become obsessed with some other beautiful and colorful new yarn.  Or really cute shoes.  Or both.

Breadmaking

So I recently a book called Friendship Bread.  It was a cute book about a mid-west small town brought together by, yup, you guessed it, Friendship bread.  Although this bread is apparently very popular, I had never even heard of it (sorry mom if you used to make it when we were little, I don't remember).   Anyway, it's a ten day process in which you make a yeast starter, stirring it frequently, and adding to it along the way, but once you get it going you can keep it going basically forever.  You can also pass it along to your friends so they too can enjoy some delicious bread.  Here's my Friendship Bread journey:

Day 1:  Combine flour, milk, sugar, and yeast.  Let it get bubbly.  

Day 2-5:  Stir it every day

Day 6:  Add more flour, milk and sugar

Day 10:  Add even more flour, milk and sugar, and divided it into four parts.  Give away two parts to your friends, keep one part for yourself, then mix a lot more flour, sugar, milk and other yummy things into the fourth part:

Coat your pans in cinnamon and sugar, and divide into two loaves, which bake for an hour or so:

Enjoy warm, sweet bread:

By the way, if anybody wants to be my friend, I have starter for you. 

It's a smile, it's a kiss, it's a sip of wine...

Spent a great weekend with family this past Saturday and Sunday.   Had a long week, but spent the weekend talking, laughing, eating pie in Julian, wine tasting, and soaking up the sunshine at Wild Animal Park.

 Enjoying the beautiful vineyard and delicious wines!

Loved the tram ride at Wild Animal Park, got to see so many animals! 

Books

The love of learning, the sequestered nooks/And all the sweet serenity of books   

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Celebrating our Independence (and getting the worst sunburn of my life)

Here are few pictures of our 4th of July celebration.  We partied it up at the beach, and had a wonderful time!  Lots of yummy food, perfect weather, plenty of sunshine.  :)   We were so worn out at the end of the day we didn't even make it to the firework display!  

 Investigating some interesting sea life

The family