The Unadventures of Tracie

I'm updating so you can all stop sending me dirty looks through cyberspace. I love Halloween. And yes I know that Thanksgiving is now approaching (a holiday I also love) but I'm writing about Halloween now so those of you sick of it will just have to deal with it. I had two costumes this year. One for work and one for the family/friend Halloween parties. I decided on my work costume because of a conversation Charity and I had one day. We were discussing one day how we hated the term "comma nazi" because it has such a negative and derogatory connotation. So we decided to come up with a replacement. I decided that "comma ninja" was a much better alternative as one, ninjas kick the butt out of Nazis and two, it was a more accurate description. I approach editing in a subtle kick-butt approach, hi-yahing extra commas or karate chopping abused apostrophes. Like ninjas in the night, Charity and I sneak in and edit. Okay, so editors are nerdy. But most of you alrea...

So I saw this months and months ago and I planned to do it but I didn’t. So anyway, according to my search on Google, these are things that I supposedly need. (Do a search with your name and needs in quotations.) Tracie needs... .....to be pushed (I usually manage quite well on my own.) .....a date (always) .....to bite some chumps (Now where do I find some chumps?) .....a dress (a pretty one that fits me and isn’t expensive) .....a tumble (I think I’ve taken enough tumbles as it is, thank you.) .....a breakthrough (hmmm....still waiting...) .....to go to chuckle school (Awesome! I would love to go to Chuckle School.) .....to take a vacation (Don’t we all?) .....to lose the bad hair (Bah! I didn’t think it was that bad!) .....needs help, but can she be saved in time? (This is the question) .....a reality check (constantly) .....a chuckle right now (always) .....to pull the stick out of her gluteus maximus and relax (I’m quite relaxed now but sometimes this is true of me) .....to win t...

I love fall. It is my favorite season by far. I love it when it cools down and there's the slightest twinge of crispness in the air. The air smells crisper, cleaner. The sky showcases beautiful sunsets. And all the leaves in the mountain change color. I have many fond memories of going up the canyon to see nature's paintbrush. Everywhere gold, red, green, brown, yellow, and orange. I think Utah is at its most beautiful when the mountains display a master's palette of autumn colors. Recently Austin and I went up with my mom, dad, and my younger brother to see the leaves before they started falling off and dying. We went probably a week too late to see it in its full splendor, but it was still quite beautiful. Here are some of the pics I (and Austin) took: Alas, fall has fallen and now the seedlings of winter are on their way! It's already snowing! It's going to be a long, cold winter. :( If it were up to me, winter would last exactly 1 1/2 months. Beginning o...

Don’t these look yummy? They were. They absolutely were. A few weeks ago Tyler informed me that he had learned from the infallible Alton Brown that you could substitute avocado for butter and shortening when baking. Since I’m always on the lookout to make unhealthy treats a little bit healthier, I decided to try this idea out. So with Austin as my partner-in-cooking I set out to reinvent Mom’s chocolate chip cookies. I replaced all of the shortening and two-thirds of the butter with pureed avocado (I didn’t have enough avocado, otherwise I would’ve done all avocado.) It was quite the interesting concoction: green, wet, sticky, and a bit stretchy. I had to experiment with the cooking times quite a bit to get them so they were cooked on the inside and outside without burning but the final result was delicious. The cookies looked different but besides the slightly different texture, they tasted almost exactly the same. I will try this again. Project Status: Success!

I write more blog posts than you think I do. In fact, I've written so many things, not just blog posts, it's amazing. But where is all this text you ask? In my head. Yes, it is a fact that if there were an invention that would somehow convert thoughts to text I would have many writings attributed to my name. Why is this? Well, because I'm most creative and can write the best when, ironically, I'm not trying to write. Say for instance, right before I go to sleep. I wrote a whole page of a novel yesterday before going to sleep, but it doesn't exist anywhere besides in my own brain. And even that has gotten fuzzy. It drives me crazy that I can write out whole ideas, plots, concepts, articles, witticisms, etc. in my head and yet when I sit down to write I draw a big blank. My creativity is drowning in my own brain where it can't escape and will never live among the concrete things we call the written word. Today while I was resting, I wrote 3 blog posts that you m...

For those that haven't heard, Hurricane Ike is coming up on the Texan coast. Most of Houston and Galveston is being evacuated. Those not required to evacuate are hunkering down in their homes with emergency supplies. Austin's family is in Houston. I ask my family and friends to please keep them in your prayers for the next few days. EDIT: The storm has now passed and Austin's family are gratefully safe. :)

Yesterday I had the much fun experience of getting my wisdom teeth out. I've been dreading getting this done for months and months. I was extremely nervous and almost backed out a few times. I called HayLee the night before to get some reassurance that everything would be okay. And it was. It really wasn't that bad. I got up yesterday morning, ate breakfast (on Hay's recommendation), and drove to the dentist. I picked the movie Hitch to watch, and they got me set up on the nitrous oxide (a.k.a. laughing gas). The gas really helped to calm down my racing heart. Dr. Pincock came in and swabbed me with the bubblegum-ish numbifier stuff. I then got several shots, which frankly were probably the worst part of the whole thing. I got good and numb and then Dr. Pincock yanked out my three wisdom teeth (two on bottom, one on the top left). It was over before I knew it. I couldn't believe it was so fast. After going through it, I don't know why people would want to be put un...