61 years

As I plan and prepare for my own wedding, I continue to think about how marriages and weddings were back when my parents got married. Or even when my grandparents got married.

This article was published in the Elk River paper today. It is a wonderful story about my grandparents Orie and Nellie. If you like love even a little bit, you should read it. 

They're beautiful, aren't they?

I love my family. God is great.

Baby Onesies

 On Wednesday, our staff had a little baby shower after school. Casey works with us and he became a dad on  November 30, 2011. So, for a shower gift, I decided to add a little personal touch to some onesies for little Sawyer. He is a sweet little boy. 

Back to the shirts- there are all kinds of tutorials online, so I'll spare you all the little details. Basically, I ironed on the adhesive to the material, cut out the designs, took off the paper backing, ironed the design onto the onesie and then I sewed them on. Easy enough. And because I am such a procrastinator, it was great that it didn't take much time at all! Trey thinks I need to open up an Etsy shop selling these- we'll see...

 It was good to get back to my sewing machine. I haven't used it for way too long! After completing these simple little things, though, I am inspired to do some more creating. 

On top of this fun creating, I have been doodling out ideas for save the dates, planning a wedding ceremony and reception, looking for bridesmaid dresses, looking for groom and groomsmen suits, searching for wholesale flowers in the right colors, and battling a gross illness. Hopefully the illness goes away soon. The rest is all very exciting! Hooray for wedding planning!

Hope you all have had a wonderful week!

Caramel Rolls

Every holiday season, there is one item that is guaranteed on the menu. Mom's caramel rolls! We wake up on Christmas day, take pictures on the steps, and grab some warm gooy caramel rolls from the kitchen (sometimes even before we dive into presents, they're really that good!).

So, here is the absolutely delicious and simple recipe for my mom's caramel rolls! ENJOY!

36 frozen Rhodes White Dinner Rolls

1 cup Brown Sugar

1 large packet of  Jello Cook & Serve Vanilla Pudding

1/2 cup Butter

2 Tbs Milk

Cinnamon to taste

THE NIGHT BEFORE:

Allow the rolls to thaw for a bit to make cutting them easier.

Quarter 18 rolls, toss into a greased 9x13 baking pan.

Melt butter in a pan on the stove.

Once completely melted, add the pudding, brown sugar, milk and cinnamon.

Mix well.

Pour mixture evenly over the rolls in the bottom of the pan.

Quarter the remaining 18 rolls and toss them on top.

Spray plastic wrap with pam, cover the rolls, and place in the refridgerator over night.

IN THE MORNING:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Once they're done, flip the baking pan over onto a cookie sheet to make the bottom become the top.

Serve warm.

 

YUM!

 

We just made these. I ate a large helping. They were wonderful, as they always are.

If we can't ice skate...

...we'll rollerblade!

As much as I absolutely love winter and snow and everything that comes with it (even scraping my windsheild), I was very excited on Wednesday after work when it was nearly 60 degrees in good ole Sioux Falls.

Trey had a meeting after school, so I went to his apartment to wait (im)patiently for him to come home. As soon as he arrived, he changed into sweats, we threw on our blades and we were off!

We rollerbladed to "our place" TC's Referee, had some food- salad and fries for me, salad and wings for him- and we were back to the pavement to make the trip back home.

Happy New Year!

Every year, people come up with countless resolutions in an attempt to make the following year significantly better than the last. My question is, why do we have to wait for January 1st to "make this one count?"
How many people can honestly say that they are disciplined enough to make it 365 days without either 1. messing up, b. changing their mind, or III. forgetting their resolution altogether?

This being said, I resolve to wake up and attempt to make each day more enjoyable than the last.
Make each moment of each day count.

To live for the Lord.
To love everyone without holding back. 

Happy 2012 to you and all of your loved ones! I hope that your 2012 proves to be full of wonderful things that cause you to be humbled, grateful, and joyful for the life that has been given to us all.
Good luck carrying out your resolutions.
God bless!