Food. Football. Fun.

Many fun things have happened today. From beginning to end, the day was filled with wonderful flavors (either scents or tastes), wonderful people, and wonderful experiences.

My parents got in last night around 7:30 and came downtown to visit me, and eat, at Chedd's. After they were all done eating, Trey took them for a stroll along Phillips to look at some of the cool sculptures downtown. Luckily, I worked with one of my favorite and speedy co-closers and we were out of that place shortly after 9 o'clock. From downtown, we headed over to Falls Park to take a nice evening stroll by the Falls. It was fun to see them at night and to share the view with three lovely people made it even better. From the Falls we decided it was time to unload the trailer full of my stuff into the home I would soon call mine. We unloaded the whole trailer into my new room and called it quits for the night. But it was very comforting to know that all of my belongings would not be stolen from the trailer while we slept! By the time we got back to the apartment, sleep was just what we did. I set my alarm, brushed my teeth, told my parents and my boy goodnight, said my prayers and I was in dreamland.

At 7am, my alarm began to play. For those of you who don't know me, you should know, I am definitely not a morning person. I don't think I am particularly cranky in the morning, I'm just not alert. I am not really interested in much for the first half hour to hour that my eyes are open. And, to be completely honest, I may set my alarm with the best intentions of getting up to do something special, but when it goes off, I generally hit snooze at least twice; sometimes three or four (and by four I mean five) times at which point my alarm turns off altogether. It's almost like my alarm is giving up on me, really. This morning, however, I was out of bed at precisely 7:02am! I was in the kitchen and preparing to create some cinnamon rolls. Some cinnamon rolls that would make all other cinnamon rolls inferior for the rest of my existence on the earth. I also made sure the pot of coffee was beginning to brew; I wouldn't have made it very far if there wasn't a promise of some coffee this morning!

BEFORE

AFTER

YUM.

THEY WERE PERFECT!!!! Seriously, I am in love with this cinnamon roll recipe. Of course, it didn't hurt to have good company to not only eat them with, but to visit with while we waited (somewhat impatiently) for them to be done. The smell as those cinnamon rolls were baking was almost unbearable! I wish I could have boxed it up so I could smell it every day!

My source for the recipe is Miss Julie, a.k.a. "The Skinny Cook." She used a different icing than I did. Her's is an actual icing while I modified it to make it the cream cheese frosting. Either one would be lovely, I'm sure!

After we each ate our share of cinnamon rolls, we got ready for a 7th grade football game. Trey coaches a middle school team and we all thought it'd be fun to go watch and support the O'Gorman Knights! The best part, they were playing the Mitchell, Kernels! Not only is that exciting because I went to school in Mitchell, it is also exciting because Wade and Monica's son, Kevin is on the 7th grade team, so I got to see them there too! Trey's dad, and grandparents also enjoyed the game with us. It was a lot more fun watching the game with people I knew than it is watching by myself. I do like going though. Afterall, what is fall without some live football?

Mitchell got an early lead and was up 13-0 in the first half, but before we knew it, O'Gorman scored a touchdown followed by an extra point to bring the game back within a single touchdown. The Knights scored again to tie the game 13-13. Come the end of the 4th quarter, the score remained tied. This meant overtime! I promise, I have never been more excited about 7th grade football in my life. Each team received an additional 4 downs to see who would walk away with the "W."

The Kernels were up first. They managed to score a touchdown on the 3rd down, but couldn't muster out the extra point conversion. Then came the Knights. They ran a successful first play to gain 8 yards, which meant there were only two measly yards to the endzone. The Knights pushed through the line and got their touchdown! Finally, it came down to the extra point; the question in everyone's mind was, "can they get across that line again?" Sure enough, the Knights pulled it off and won the game by a single point!

I cheered. Everyone cheered. The band was even there and played the fight song. It put the cherry on top of the perfect ending. The boys were ecstatic. My whole being was filled with happiness. I like when that happens.

Wade and Monica had to leave before the end of the 'B' game, so I offered to let Kevin stay in Sioux Falls and hang out with us for the afternoon since he wasn't getting to go to the DWU game like he had planned. So we took Kevin under our wing for the afternoon. And MaryChar arrived just in time for lunch!

After the games were over, the 9 of us went out to eat at Old Chicago. It was wonderful. The people, the food, once again, I was filled with happy.

We all parted ways a little after lunch. Trey and Kevin went to the apartment to get cleaned up, MaryChar and Rich II went to Sam's Club. Dutch and Char headed back to Yankton. My parents and I went to the antique store.

I got a new lamp. It is really cool. I did not take any pictures of it, yet. I will though! It is too cool not to share!

Some relaxation time was much needed. The 'rents and I headed back to the apartment to rest with the two boys for a bit. We had all had a very busy morning, afterall.

Wade and Monica came back. And they brought more fun-loving people! Chane, Brandon and Andrew rode back from the DWU game with them, so they all came in to see the apartment and visit for a little while. This somehow morphed into them tasting some cinnamon rolls, playing football, and engaging in wonderful conversation! I am glad it did! MaryChar, Lynette and Rich II were next to arrive. And finally, Austin's plane landed in SF so he got a ride over to the apartment! So many wonderful people all in the same place at the same time. It brings a smile to my face just remembering the happy afternoon. We played catch out in the grass for a long period of time, all the while laughing, smiling, sharing stories and just absorbing everything that was fall about the day. It seriously could not have been designed more perfectly in my head.

Although all of this was fun, I knew there was still work to be done. As the crowd  dwindled, the party moved inside, and football was being displayed on the television, I decided it was probably time to go start organizing all of my bins and bags that consumed my room. First, we went to Walmart to pick up some of the essentials and then we grabbed a bite to eat with MaryChar, Nate, Trey, Mom, Dad and myself. We ate at Chevy's. It was very tasty! Shortly after our plates were cleared, Trey, my parents and myself headed over to the house to begin the organization process. And that's exactly what I have to keep reminding myself, it is a process.

Some people hate moving. I honestly can say I don't. I am not going to sit here and tell you I love it, because that would be a lie. But so far, I have not had a terrible moving experience. Granted, my  mom did all of the packing of my stuff this time around, so I probably didn't get the full experience... but I have packed my own stuff multiple times as well as helped others pack for a big move, and I have never despised it. I am excited about this move. I think it will be a fun little place to live (for now). I couldn't have done any of it without the help of my parents, though! They really are the greatest!

So, after this long, fun-filled day, I am ready for sleep.

I ate another cinnamon roll as a bed time snack (that's okay, right?), typed this blog and now it is off to the bedtime routine.

As I lay in bed to fall asleep I will be thinking of all of the wonderful people God has placed in my life and how blessed I am to share perfect days with them. The love I have for these people is beyond explanation.

I hope all of you had as joyful of a Saturday as I did. Goodnight.