as of right now...

Sunday...

today is how I like my weekends to go.

sleeping in until 9:30

a little computer time to myself

made some pancakes

took the girls to the thrift store

walked around Monterey taking pictures
then...

off to the Ol' Factory for some beer tasting

although not so much for me
my head cold.
has ruined my taste buds .
for a couple more days.

(sigh)

they all tasted weird...even ones that I would have usually enjoyed.

watched the girls play a little foosball.
Nate and I got in at the end
to speed up the last game
so that we could head home.

came home to make a recipe out here for Spicy Autumn Vegetable burgers. so good. Also made roasted sweet potato fries with parmesan and garlic. Also very good.

I love when a weekend can include friends, and sleeping in, good food, computer time, movie watching and still have a chance to get house cleaning done. Sometimes I feel as if the weekend flies by with nothing to show for the time off. Today was one of those rare days when the day balanced itself out. I wish my life could balance itself out this easily. Balance is one of those things I'm constantly striving towards. When it happens naturally like today it really gets me thinking about how I can work to make all my days feel this balanced and complete. I'd love to know what you have done to make you own lives a little more balanced...

While we were at the beer tasting, our friend Steve, offered to let me use his studio one weekend to practice my photography skills. With his camera and lenses. And he will be my assistant showing me lighting and other neat tricks. So I'm doing a photo shoot with Alex and her friends as part of her birthday present. To say her and I are both very excited would be an understatement. Steve is one of the biggest supporters of my photography. So this is a great opportunity for me:)

how was everyone else's weekend??

jen

Raison D'Etre

so this past Saturday I tackled another item on my list. I brewed my first batch of beer. Not by myself you understand, I needed A LOT of help from Nathan, because all grain beer brewing is complicated. Who knew?? My lack of interest in math through high school came back to bite me on the a$$ this weekend when I realized that brewing beer involves a bunch of different math skills. I left that part to Nate because it was taking all my concentration to just understand all the steps involved with brewing. And the cleaning. And the lifting of very heavy carboys and buckets of grains and such. And did I mention all the cleaning. I don't think it helped that I chose to try this recipe. One of my favorite beers and one that is not available in California (yet). Definitely not a simple recipe for a novice to start out with, thankfully my brewing husband is an expert...(he'll laugh when he reads that). Did you know it takes like 6 hours to brew a batch of all grain beer. And that's with two people. I had a really good time though.  Possibly it was just spending time with Nate and working together on something he loves to do. That he was able to share his passion with me for the first time ever. I usually use the time he is brewing to get things done (like errands). I can't promise you that I will be brewing again...I am waiting to see how this batch comes out. It's not like scrapbooking where in 6 hours you usually have a finished product to admire and share. Now I have to ferment if and then bottle it and then in like a month or so, I can take my first taste to see how I did. I'll keep you posted.

How was everyone else's weekend?

jen