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whiskers.

Nora's whiskers take up the vast majority of her face.

They are by far the biggest whiskers I have ever seen on a cat.

But, they make her her.

And, I love them (and her).

Broncos vs. Raiders.

For our 1-yr anniversary, I gave Micah tickets to the Broncos/Raiders NFL game. He's been a Broncos fan since he was little (odd, I know). And, the Raiders drafted a player from Alabama last year, so I thought it'd be fun to see him play.

Our seats were high up in the stadium though. I mean, really high up. There were two rows of seats behind us and that was it! Here we are all smiles, before the game began and before the fan drama went down. Oh, to be innocent again.

They had a number of different pre-game activities, one of which included 4 people parachuting

right onto the field!

They really pulled out all the stops for the Broncos grand entrance. Smoke. Fire. A huge blow-up bronco. Cheerleaders. And a cowgirl riding a horse in front of the players.

And that's pretty much where the fun stopped. I won't go into the whole story, but it included the 4 class-less people sitting behind us yelling expletives at the Raiders and then at us to the point that I did not feel safe. So, we got up and left. I was SO angry. I have lost count of the ridiculous amount of poor encounters with Coloradans, and this was just the icing on the cake. I was literally in tears, walking towards the exit, hoping that by a miracle we could, instead of going home, get to the airport and never turn back. I was THAT ticked off. I know it was a highly emotional response given that one can't expect much from people that are regular football game attendees, but come on!

Our first thought was to just leave the game, because it had been such a bad interaction. But, after being assured by security that they would take care of it, and after talking to guest services and being offered new seats, we decided to give it another try. And, I'm really glad we did. We got seated in the plush club level and this was our new view.

You can definitely tell that I had been crying before this photo was taken,

but there were still smiles to be had.

You could actually see the players quite well from our new seats. See #55 on the Raider's team? That's Rolando McClain, he played for Alabama! And, I was secretly rooting for him. He made some great plays.

And then came half time. It was probably the best part of the entire game. It was some little leaguers vs. a whole slew of mascot characters. I still can't understand why all these mascots were at the game, but it made for a good laugh, mainly because they would just chase after some little kid and plow them over.

The game didn't get any better in the second half (the Broncos loss 14-59), but let me remind you, we had some sweet seats!

The weather was amazing, and I took this picture as a few darker clouds rolled in. A little dramatic, but I like it!

Lastly, here's a shot from one of the bars inside the club level. It had a nice view of downtown in the background.

All in all, I won't be back for a Broncos game. I'll cheer them on from home or a bar, but I'll keep my sanity and lessen the potential for interactions with stupid people.

a birthday surprise.

So a good, almost month and a half ago, my dad turned 60. It was a big deal. He's been through a whole lot this year, and my mom and my sister and I all wanted to make it a special occasion.

We both (along with Micah and Hsiong) flew to Alabama under the pretense that we were going to a band reunion (yes, laugh all you want, I was that pimply-faced teenager in the band that could give you a million "remember that one time at band camp?"). It wasn't a lie either, because we did attend a pathetic attempt at a reunion. I think there were about 10 people, ok 20 max. But, it was a part of the plan, and it got us in town without suspicion.

Friday was my dad's actual birthday, but the party was planned for Saturday night. I was quite surprised that we were able to pull it off, with all the little white lies and covering things so that he wouldn't know anything was up. I wish I could have seen his face when he opened the door and there inside was a gathering of family and friends that have been faithfully supportive and encouraging over the years. He was quite shocked!

My dad and some family friends.

Kristen, Hsiong, and April

My mom (on the right) and some family friends.

Darn this picture for being blurry, it's so cute!

My younger cousins were eager to help my dad open all his presents.

My dad got an ipad for his birthday. Here he is with the keyboard attachment.

It was also Kristen's birthday!

Me, Heather, and Sarah

My grandmother and my youngest cousin (isn't he adorable?).

Micah and Hsiong. Not quite sure what they're talking about here,

looks like it was concerning.

Micah, Heather, and I

My parents (with one of my cousins ruining the picture in the background!)

I should have gotten some pictures of all the amazing cupcakes Kristen made. I think there were about 5 different kinds. And, they were all a hit at the party. I'm extremely glad that we all got to be home and celebrate together. Dad, if you're reading this, I hope you know how much I love you! You continue to amaze me with your honesty and perseverance.

biscuit cinnamon rolls.

This past Sunday I woke up and I really wanted cinnamon rolls. The thing is, cinnamon rolls take what seems like forever to make and I wasn't feeling that patient. That, and I didn't have yeast and I didn't want to walk to the grocery store. So I did a quick search on google and came up with this recipe, adapted from here.

Ingredients for dough:

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-2 tbsp sugar

-1 & 1/4 tbsp baking powder

-3/4 tsp kosher salt

-1/4 cup butter

-3/4 cup buttermilk**

Ingredients for topping:

-softened butter (the recipe called for 4 tbsp, which I thought to be a little excessive. just spread a light layer on.)

-brown sugar (I didn't measure, but sprinkle till your hearts content.)

-cinnamon (again, just sprinkle it on)

-you could also add nuts, raisins, etc.

Ingredients for icing:

-cream cheese

-powered sugar

-vanilla extract

**(By the way, you can make buttermilk by adding a tbsp of lemon juice to a little less than 1 cup of milk. I used this method, just adjusting a little bit to make 3/4 cup)

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Mix together the dry ingredients and then cut in the butter and mix until crumbly.

-Add in buttermilk and mix together to form the dough.

-Roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick.

-Spread on a light layer of butter.

-Sprinkle on your toppings (brown sugar, cinnamon, etc.)

-Roll the dough up lengthwise (i.e., you want the roll to be as long as possible)

-Cut evenly into pieces, about an inch thick.

-Place in a round 8-inch cake pan.

-Bake for 16-18 minutes.

-While the biscuits/rolls are baking, make your icing. I totally winged it here. I just added cream cheese, powered sugar, and a little bit of vanilla extract until I thought it was the right consistency and it tasted good. Really, I don't think you can go wrong with those three ingredients!

-Spread icing on all rolls, or do them individually, whichever you please.

I was impressed with these. They really do taste like biscuit cinnamon rolls and for me, a person that loves both, this was a winning combination. And, they were pretty easy to make and did not take near the time normal cinnamon rolls do. So, this is a perfect recipe for when you have a hankering for them, yet lack the energy to go all out.

morning ritual.

Sometime this summer Micah and I bought a french press. It can be a testy process, sometimes it's a little on the weak side, sometimes on the strong. But, it does makes good coffee. I mean, really good. Since this little purchase came into my life, it's made my mornings ten times better. And, the improvement isn't just from the caffeine. The addition of the french pressed coffee has allowed for more time in the morning for breakfast, for sitting down at the kitchen table and not just grabbing something as I run out the door. It brings a little calm to my morning. And, I don't mind waking up a tad earlier if it gives me the time to spend a few extra minutes taking in the day with my husband.

it's october again.

And even though the weather in Denver has yet to really cooperate by cooling off, I'm so excited. I'm excited for falling leaves and sweatshirts and boots and most important pumpkins. Yes, pumpkins. Pumpkins in my pies and in my lattes. October is a glorious thing.