A very happy birthday to me!!

Yesterday it was my 28th birthday and it was a great day. Thanks to all my friends for the wonderful cards, gifts, calls, and messages I received. I did have to work, but it wasn't so bad. My wonderful coworkers helped me celebrate with yummy cake. I had a beautiful arrangement of flowers delivered to me from my parents at work. I came home to more beautiful flowers from Chris, a card that made me cry and very thoughtful gifts. I got a fully equipped picnic basket (something I've wanted for a long time so now we can have romantic picnics at the park, my favorite champagne, CD's (this is important because I don't buy music, so I have to rely on Chris listening to me say "I like that song" then he buys the CD on ITunes for me), a microplane (if you go back to my previous post of 100 things about me, you'll remember that I think kitchen gadgets are great gifts...and I complain every time I have to zest a lemon that I don't have one), and the most darling apron (again...kitchen gadgets, and I love aprons, and the best part is that I happened to see it hanging in the store and Chris remembered I thought it was cute). The best thing about all of the gifts I received was that it seemed like people heard little things here and there that I had said and remembered, which really makes me feel special. My parents and my sister gave me great gifts and I can hardly wait for the shopping it will allow. Then today I came home to a beautiful flower arrangement from my inlaws. I got to celebrate for 2 days!!! Chris and I also went and had dinner at JCT Kitchen...highly recommended!!

A big thank you to Southern Savers!!!!!!!

About a week ago I discovered a website called Southern Savers. It is a website that teaches you how to use coupons, store sales, and all the drug stores to your advantage. I spent some time reading and wasn't sure if I was totally convinced. Saturday morning I gathered all my adds and coupons (now remember, this is my first week so I only had 2 weeks worth of coupons). It was fun, sort of like a scavenger hunt...I know, I know I'm sort of weird like that. Anyways....drum roll please....my grand total for groceries pre coupons and sales was $179.02 and here's how much we actually spent $74.94!!!! Are you impressed? I am. I must say thank you to Jenny who runs Southern Savers and spends hours each week I'm sure. CVS actually paid me 2.26 for taking dish soap and some disposable razors off their hands. Yes I did by things we don't use. I bought contact solution, but Rite Aid paid me $2 to buy it, and we'll give it to a friend or a shelter who could use it. If any of you who read our blog live in the Atlanta area and are interested in bringing Jenny to us to teach a class let me know and I'll contact her. She charges $10 per person.

Just Finished

Okay so this was the book I swore I'd never read. I have a tendency to bypass things that are all the rage. But I was looking for a book that I could read quickly and would hold my attention. Now I'm waiting for the second book so that I can sit in the pool all day tomorrow and read.

Quite the Weekend

I have two days left of my vacation from work and already I'm sad to go back. I really like my job, but honestly if I never had to work another day in my life I wouldn't complain. Here's a brief recap of our weekend. On Saturday morning we go to sleep in together (a rarity) and then we went and had breakfast at the West Egg Cafe. I had amazing eggs benedict, which always grosses Chris out because he doesn't like runny eggs. The West Egg Cafe is in this up and coming area of Atlanta with cute little shops, restaurants, and condos. We then perused Room and Board my new favorite furniture store. Chris let me cross the street to go look at the animals at the Humane Society, which is a weird obsession of mine. While we were there we learned they are having a volunteer orientation this week and we're going to attend so we can be volunteers. After our breakfast adventure we decided to take the Marta (public transportation) to Decatur, GA and walk around the Arts Festival. The only problem: this is what the weather was like: We're Oregonians, right? A little rain never hurt anyone. Lucky for us, the rain was done by the time we were off the train. After shopping for art we can't afford we headed back on the train and stopped at Borders for some coffee and book/magazine reading...another favorite activity of mine since it's free!!! We topped the day off watching Slumdog Millionaire and eating our kettle corn from the Art Festival. Sunday began in it's usual fashion where we had breakfast at the Corner Bakery, which is in the same parking lot as our church, followed by church and a fun lunch with friends. Then Jenny and Ian came over for dinner, and brought their adorable puppy Sophie. We made homemade pasta with vodka cream sauce and Mascapone cupcakes with strawberry glaze for dinner. Dinner was soooooo good. You have to follow the links to thre recipes...trust me it's worth it. Then we played a few games of Clue...quickly becoming a tradition with our group of friends. Today I plan to get my kitchen cabinet full of spices and baking ingredients organized...

Amazing

I came across The Art of Jim Denevan today. Isn't this amazing? Go check out his website for even more cool art.

A Fun Craft Project

Ann and Jared Coe are good friends of ours from George Fox. Chris and Jared lived together while they were in school and Ann and I would cook frequently together...fajitas were our favorite. She sent me a message the other day asking for new recipes so I couldn't resist the urge to do something crafty.

Dog vs Human Surgery

Gunnar had surgery yesterday to remove one of his premolars. He had a checkup last week for his yearly vaccinations and they discovered he had a slab fracture on his tooth. He had to have the tooth removed because the fracture was all the way into the inside of his tooth. So the poor guy had to have his gum peeled back and the tooth broken into pieces to remove it. Our vet said he did fantastic. We love our vet sooooo much. She is great. For those of you in Atlanta looking for a vet we highly recommend Dr. Keri Wyle at Peachtree Hills Animal Hospital. I thought this was funny though: The medication I came home from sugery with: The medication Gunnar came home from surgery with:How does an animal need more stuff than a human?