Success!

Remember last Friday when my photos didn't save correctly? This was when I made fANNEtastic Food's awesomely yummy Almond Butter French Toast? Well today, I saved myself and made this fabulous dish once more, and I have the photos to prove it.

Last time I used Arnold's whole wheat bread, but I don't think it was thick enough to soak up the french toast mixture. This time I tried a 12-grain loaf from Whole Foods and the thickness was just right. Ryan isn't a french toast fan (I can't believe it, either!) and I made him a mini helping. He LOVED it!

I know I post a lot about leftovers, but I am guessing a lot of you do the same? Ryan and I try to stretch out food out during the week (as best as we can, of course) in order to avoid wasting food. Plus it's just us and that makes life a bit easier when you have your meals ready to go. So yeah, lunch featured Saturday's game-day hotdish, Buffalo Chicken Casserole. I also had a salad with herb greens, cucumber, tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar.

Tina at Faith, Fitness, Fun had a compelling post this morning about finding joy in each day. I feel like this is something I take for granted as I get into my daily routine. Taking time out to notice what makes you happy throughout the day should be a natural part of living, right? Anyhow, I thought she made some interesting points, which brings me to what I'm joyful for today: volunteering!

While I'm still feeling the affects of what seems like a never-ending recession and not having a full-time job at the moment, I am using some of my time to get back into the community. I did just this when I was caught in the first round of layoffs at Microsoft in March 2008. I was living in New York City at the time and needed something to intercept the usual job search rigmarole. Fortunately for me, I found iVolunteer (I have their widget listed at the bottom right), which is a non-profit group that places individuals with Holocaust survivors for weekly visits. I had the opportunity to meet with a lovely woman named Ruth up until my move to Chicago earlier this spring and the experience was incredible.

Anyhow, I'm getting carried away here. What I'm trying to say is that volunteering, at least in my experience, provides a positive outlet that's so separate from everything else. And today, I started the Book Buddies Program with Open Books. Here's my joy for the day, people! Book Buddies is a weekly program that provides elementary students the opportunity to meet individually with trained mentors for assistance in reading. I'm a book geek, so this is awesome! The students I met today were fantastic, bouncing off the walls with enthusiasm and bright and wide-eyed for what's coming up this semester. I could say the same for me.

Once walking in the door from my fun-filled hour spent with my two book buddies, Ryan had more leftovers ready for dinner. This time we had our second and final helping of Grilled Salmon with Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce and Red Pepper-Coconut Rice. Still so good!

I also had a hankering for some ice cream from Gyood. This stuff is 100% lactose and cholesterol free and low in fat. I enjoyed it, too, as I did 45 minutes on the elliptical machine today, plus 10 sets of 10 weights! Annnnnd I went over 10,000 steps on the pedometer, so I'm in good shape.

Another good day for the books, my friends. Thanks again for reading! xx

Have you volunteered before? If so, what was your favorite volunteer experience? Or would you like to volunteer?