Cinnamon Roll Party - Family Style

**For my Mom and Aunt,
Under special guidelines to not include photos of faces, "messy houses", or the bad batch of cinnamon rolls. I followed them accordingly.

**And to Gran,
Thanks for helping me critique, they really needed our help, didn't they?

Last Friday, my favorite women got together to pour sweat (from pounding the dough) and tears (from laughter) into a cinnamon roll recipe, that, in the end made over 4 dozen rolls and took 10+ hours from start to finish.  Good thing Gran and I provided the entertainment and superb taste-testing skills.  I don't think the day could have been a success otherwise.

As always, I documented:

A bike ride at sunset

Our Community Garden: success!!

We did it! 

After breaking ground in April and planting a few weeks later, we now have fruit and veggies growing on the vine!  I sort of can't believe it worked, you know? 

Curently...

(we heart it)

attempting to // get my life (and our apartment) back in order from our recent travels. 

excited about // new season of SYTYCD.  Anyone else watching or have a favorite?  (here's mine)

listening to // Dave Barnes and reminiscing of the time this girl and I ran past the security gates at TCU (a college neither of us attended) to hear him live at their homecoming.

loving // after-work pool time with Ryan.

hating // pass out temperatures + humidity in Oklahoma.

looking forward to // 4th of July gatherings back home in a few weeks.

reading // last issue of my Real Simple subscription.  Should I resubscribe?!  It's sooo good.

stumbled upon // veggie bacon strips... oh man!

watching // My So-Called Life, a 90s classic, for the first time on Netflix.

spending time // with my head in the clouds, dreaming big about the future.

Go ahead, take the plunge.

A trip up the ski lift - sans the skis

This is what we use to travel to the bottom?

The backward hat shows he's serious.

Always taking photos, even as I plummet to the ground.

Terrifying Signage

MADE IT!  (x2)

Heritage Square Alpine Slide in Goulden, Colorado

My family travels to Colorado at least once a year, if not more.  And on one of those travels, when I was much younger, my dad and I went down an alpine slide just like this one.  I remember before we took off, the gentleman at the top of the mountain said, "keep your arms inside or you'll end up with this" and then showed us this nasty burn.  I was wide-eyed.  But enjoyed the ride, with my arms tucked tightly by my side, with my dad. 

Once Ryan and I saw this alpine slide on our recent trip to Colorado I knew we had to ride it.  It was just as fun as I remembered.

1 year and counting

   
And I'll stand on your shoulders
To watch us grow older
I can see us far along the road
As the trail grows deeper
you're my giver my keeper
Laughter for years untold

Baby Booties

 

They're definitely not perfect, but I think they are pretty darn cute.  I just hope they fit Baby Ella and I can't wait to see them on her!

How to:  I used the Mila Baby Shoe pattern for both pair of booties.  For the pink and white striped shoes, I followed the tutorial exactly and for the OSU-inspired ones (both mom and dad went to college in Stillwater), I exchanged the elastic band for orange ribbon and excluded the little ruffles.