Cinnamon Rolls

Greg and I decided to make some cinnamon rolls last night. We were so excited, especially Greg. We have a bread-maker, so we made the dough, rolled it out after it was finished, spread butter all over it and poured cinnamon and brown sugar onto the dough, rolled it up, cut it into little rolls, and started baking the 17 cinnamon rolls we had created (it sounds more complicated than it really was).

Somebody was a little anxious for the cinnamon rolls to finish baking...

They turned out perfectly! And they are so tasty, and pretty cheap! I love baking with my wonderful husband!

Here's the recipe:

Best Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients
• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
•
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
•
• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions
1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
2. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Carving

Well, Greg and I decided it was time to do our pumpkin carving for Halloween (I have been so excited about this ever since the pumpkins started being sold at the store). It was a lot of fun! We both were trying to conceal what we were carving so we couldn't see what the other person was doing. I wanted to carve the Cat in the Hat, but as I was doing it, it was wayyyy too hard, and I ended up ruining one side of the pumpkin! We were using steak knives, so that's my excuse.

I ended up carving a simple pumpkin face on the other side of my pumpkin. That didn't work out so well either, let me just say. Those dang knives were so tricky to use! When I was finished, I decided to see how Greg's was coming along. Of course, his was turning out perfectly despite the horrible knives we were using to carve.

Of course we had to make some pumpkin seeds!

We just had so much fun!

Here are the finished products:
Left side-Greg: He carved Lord Voldemort which looked perfect.
Right side-Sam: I carved a normal pumpkin face with the failed Cat in the Hat on the other side, but you can't see it.

Happy Halloween!

Guess What My Smokin' Husband is Doing

Well, we've got some good news! Greg is going to get his Associate's degree by the end of this semester. Can you believe it? I am going to be married to an Associate's degree holder. Haha Greg said this to me today actually. He just cracks me up. But honestly, it really feels like we are getting things done. We both have our graduation plans figured out, like which classes we are going to take for the rest of our Bachelor's degrees.

The reason why this is so exciting about Greg's Associate's degree is because now it might be a little easier for him to make it into BYU. It will look better to the school that he now has his Associate's. So, we don't have an official plan as to what we are going to do yet, but we will soon.

I'm realizing that there are big decisions that need to be made as new things enter into our lives. It's a lot different than being single because now there's two of us. We act as one. I love it, but it's not very easy at times. I am learning that I have to compromise, and I know that as I do this, I will be happier, and our marriage will run smoothly.

So long BYU

I made it into BYU.

Well, now that they want me, they can't have me!

Greg didn't make it in, unfortunately. I feel bad because I know he really wanted to get into the Marriot School. But hey, he can always try again and maybe he has more important things to do. Who knows?

As for me, yes, I'm bummed that I can't attend the school of my dreams. I've waited all of my life to get into that school, and now that I am finally admitted, I cannot attend. But I know that I have something better than BYU. I have my husband. He is the most important thing in my life, and I wouldn't trade marrying him for anything if I had the choice, not even BYU. True, I have to make sacrifices now to not go to this amazing place to gain an education, and yes, I now have to make decisions that I wouldn't have made before I was married. But I have no regrets. I have no reason to be sad or angry or upset. Because I've got what I need.

So I say, so long BYU. At least for now.

My Wisdom Is Gone!

ALERT! My wisdom has been removed from my mouth. Yep, that's right. My teeth were pulled last week. Can I just say that it is the weirdest feeling to wake up from an oral surgery like that? Let me start from the beginning:

It all started because one of my stupid wisdom teeth started to break through my gums at an extremely rapid rate. My gums swelled up, and my tooth was trying to grow through a very thick piece of my mouth. So, to say the least, it was very painful. I went to the oral surgeon, had an x-ray, and made the date for two days later to get my teeth removed. I was terrified. I kept asking Greg all of these random questions about if it hurt or not, if I was going to wake up or not, if I was going to feel anything during the surgery, etc. I'm sure he thought I was crazy. Anyways, I went and got them out and when I woke up, I felt really drowsy, obviously. In fact, the nurse couldn't understand what I was saying. I also couldn't walk properly. The worst part was that I could feel where they cut into me and it HURT. I told Greg about 8 times on our 20 minute ride to the pharmacy that it really hurt. Needless to say, I got the medicine (painkillers that make me really drowsy and nauseous) and I'm still taking them because it still hurts! When will the pain end? I have no idea.