Milestones

It has been a productive week. Monday was our 4th wedding anniversary, and 12th anniversary together, and I can't believe how time has flown by since we made our vows on a beach on Maui. I still need to get a copy of the video my dad has from our little wedding. Its difficult to hear what was said due to the ocean, but the best part is when a single chubby beach goer slowly floats by in the background. He stops and watches our ceremony for a while, and them floats on. And if I recall, he floats back the way he came a few minutes later. My wedding was the bomb! :)

We didn't do too much to celebrate. We had gone shopping over the weekend and finally bought ourselves an Aerogarden, which we've been wanting for a while now. I tried to take a picture, but the full-spectrum lights on it don't agree with my camera. Monday night we took ourselves out for dessert too. And yeah, we're obviously very romantic. :)

Wednesday I started up new training classes with Ayla. Our trainer is an ex-K9 cop out of Oakland and she is so attuned to dog behavior, its amazing. I'm already seeing improvements in Ayla since our first session and my work with her. In fact, she's starting to sniff the hands of people who offer them to her, instead of getting scared and trying to run away. My poor little chicken! I'm not aiming at her becoming Miss Outgoing, but I am looking forward to her being less fearful and more trusting in my leadership. And Ayla just loves training and classes, so its fun for her too.

Then on Thursday I finally submitted my thesis for my masters degree. Its only a couple years late, but who's counting? I'm very, very happy to have the bloody thing finished and out of my hands. I had completely lost my motivation to finish it when I ended my internship the fall after my classes ended. The last thing I need to do is turn in some paperwork to file for graduation in a few weeks and I should expect to get my diploma in the mail this winter. And if I'm thinking correctly, it should be signed by our Governator himself!

Its been a nice, quiet weekend. I've done a lot of reading and finished up a knitted bag. I actually finished this bag a while ago, but found an fatal error when I was seaming up the sides. I had to rip back about half of my work, which took a surprising amount of time. Once I got to the middle of the project again though the work went quickly and I finished seaming the sides this afternoon. The end result is a nice stretchy bag that's squishy soft and should be great for shopping trips.

My always-willing (to do anything for a treat) model

Eco-Bag from Lion Brand

Yarn: 3 balls Sugar 'n Cream Twists
in Summer Twists (discontinued)

Chris requested some Banana Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chips Cookies (three of his favorite flavors, all in one), so I mixed up a batch. I need to work on the recipe before I can post it though as the cookies become quiet hard after cooling, but they are still delicious dipped in coffee. I did make up a batch of homemade tortillas from a recipe from our grocery store's quarterly magazine. They were very easy, especially using a food processor instead of mixing with a fork as specified, and very light and tasty. I used them for fajitas for our lunch today (with Mojitos on the side!):

Portabello, Summer Squash, and Bell Pepper Fajitas

For the Tortillas:
adapted from Raley's "Something Extra", Summer 2008

2 cups flour
3 tbsp. shortening
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup water

Mix together flour, shortening, salt, and baking powder in food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; mix in water. Place on a lightly floured board and knead several times to form a smooth dough. Cover with a cloth and let stand for 30 minutes. Divide dough into 12 equal portions. Roll each into a 6-7 inch circle. Cook each tortilla in a skillet over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes per side or until lightly browned and puffed.

For the Filling:

2 small portabello mushrooms, sliced
1 summer squash, quartered and sliced
1 small bell pepper, sliced
Garlic red wine vinegar
Taco seasoning

Heat a dash of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sautée until beginning to soften. Add the squash and pepper and sautée until done. Add a splash of the vinegar and about a tbsp. of the taco seasoning. Keep warm.

For the Salsa:
Recipe from my mommy :)

1 can stewed Mexican-style tomatoes
1 jalapeño, minced
1 onion, diced
1/3 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
Minced garlic
Dash of lime juice
Salt
Pepper

Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend to desired consistency.

I use this salsa for my guacamole - leave some salsa in the food processor, add a chopped avocado and blend again. Et voilà - Easy guacamole!

It should be a good week coming up. The weather is turning warm, which makes the dogs lazy. They tend to do a lot of this: