The Unadventures of Tracie

Everyone can shout for hooray. Why? Tracie is posting pics on her blog! Yay! Anyway, these are the photos from our trip to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point. You can all Ooo and Ah over them. Pictures include those of flowers, trees, water, and the various themed gardens, such as "The Rose Garden." There are also many pictures of water lilies. It was the first time that I had seen water lilies, and I found them to be absolutely gorgeous. If you ever have an opportunity to go, I highly recommend it. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and serene. Thanks Mom & Dad B. for making it possible for us to go!

10 years ago I was... a geeky teenager in junior high spending all of my free time with Heidi 5 years ago I was... living on my own for the very first time, waiting for Steve to go on his mission, and about to meet Jonathan and go through that whole disaster. 1 year ago I was... living in Provo and taking summer classes and nannying the boys. I miss them :( Yesterday I was... (at the time I started this) Working from home (woo-hoo!) and visiting Austin's family 5 favorite snacks... Anything and everything chocolate Triscuits Apples & other fruit Fro-Yo (best frozen yogurt EVER!) Western Family string cheese 5 favorite books... The Princess Bride The Death & Life of Superman Harry Potter 1-7 Beauty Tale of Two Cities 5 Favorite movies... The Princess Bride Ferris Bueller's Day Off/Better Off Dead The Little Mermaid Ever After 10th Kingdom (technically a miniseries) Honorable Mentions: Star Wars Original Trilogy, When Harry Met Sally, Al...

(3 posts in a day!) I’ve recently made the decision that I was going to work out every day. No matter what. No excuses. Every.single.day. It doesn’t matter how long I exercise or what exercise I do. The main thing I wanted to focus on was to create a habit of exercise in my life. Though I do want to lose weight, that is no longer my objective. My objective is to become healthier just by incorporating daily exercise into my life. So far, I’m doing pretty good. Fourteen days in a row now. Some days have been longer or more vigorous sessions. Some have been just a walk around the block. But I have done it, every day, for the past 14 days. Though I haven’t lost any weight yet (I’ve actually gained a pound), I can definitely feel changes. My body is getting stronger and firmer. My endurance is increasing. I feel better. I’m sleeping a little better as well. And the only thing I’ve changed is incorporating at least 10 minutes of daily exercise. Though I’m trying to eat better, I’m not really...

In honor of Father’s Day, (yes, I know it was yesterday, but better late than never.) I have decided to write a list of the TOP TEN reasons why my dad is so great/why I love him so much: 10. He gives good hugs and is always quick to give me one when I need it. 9. He’s taught me to be a hard worker and to be the very best I can be. 8. He’s the most persistent, resilient, ambitious person I’ve ever known. He doesn’t let anything stop him or get in the way of what he wants to accomplish. When obstacles or challenges come his way, he just finds a way around them. 7. If I need help with something, he’ll “make it happen.” 6. He loves my mom. 5. He’s a great example of charity and service, always willing to step in and help others when he can. 4. His family is the most important thing in the world to him and he’d do anything for us. 3. He’s a man of integrity. 2. He loves the gospel and listens to and follows the spirit. 1. He loves me! I love you, Fajha. ...

This weekend was quite the whirlwind for Austin and me. (Yes, this is correct usage. See CACCAAA for more information. I will soon write an entry on this subject.) Anyway, quite the whirlwind. First of all, good news! I found out on Friday that I’m going to be a work-from-home editor! I will be working a few days here at the office, but I believe the majority of my time will be spent working from home. I am quite excited about this for a number of reasons. I will be saving a lot of money on gas (with me currently having to fill up every 4 work days and gas being about $50 to fill up now). I will be saving lots of time (with the average commute being around 2 hours daily). I will be able to get more sleep on a regular basis as I won’t have to drive into work. It also works out great with our current plans. We also won’t have to move anymore, which we were both dreading. Now, on to the rest of the weekend! Charity and James came over for dinner Friday night. I made Tomato & Basil Ma...

I hate flowery perfume. What I hate even more are women who wear flowery perfume so strongly the smell persists even if they have vacated the room. Ever worse than that is women who wear said perfume in an attempt to cover up the smell of cigarettes. Then I have to deal with overly strong perfume AND smoke. Wonderful. Today’s experience reminded me of my English Honors class in 11th grade with Mrs. Bestor. I would dread every single day that I had the class, and not just because Mrs. Bestor was kind of a jerk. The smell of perfume in her classroom was so strong that it leached out the closed door into the hallway. But that wasn’t the worst part, oh no. Besides the perfume that was so thick you could see the fumes, Mrs. Bestor had to have the temperature stifling hot every day of the year, which made for a toxic combination: extreme heat and overbearing perfume. It was like a torture chamber of the worst kind. I would get headaches and struggle to stay awake, knowing if I fell asleep th...

Today at work I got tired of sitting on my butt, so I walked down all 16 flights of stairs and took a minute to walk around outside. It was glorious there. It was warm (unlike the often subarctic temperatures inside) and sunny with a gentle breezing carrying the scent of what I like to call “the great outdoors.” I then bemoaned the fact that I spend much of my life inside during the wonderful daylight hours. How I mourn for my lost youth. I miss having a summer: no school, no work besides maybe 2 or 3 hours, and all the free time in the world to spend outside. I can’t wait until I can be a stay-at-home mom if nothing other than the fact that I will be able to take my kids outside several times a week so they and I can enjoy one of God’s greatest gifts. (p.s. I do understand that being a mom is time-consuming, entails hard work, and requires lots of patience. My desires to be a mom go beyond my simple desire to quit my 40-hour work week plus 2-hour daily commute job.)

For once, Austin's giving me a chance to tell everyone what's going on. For all of you who have been complaining that I haven't been posting as regularly, blame Austin. It's no fun to write about stuff he's already written about. So, the other day I found randomly a list of events going on in Utah county. One of them was at the Museum of People & Cultures on BYU campus. The activity was called "Culture-Me-Mine." It was a date night activity consisting of looking at the museum's exhibit, a clay sculpting competition, a scavenger hunt, and couple's feud. (It also consisted of eating yummy brownies and cookies.) All for the low, low price of $5 a person. It was a pretty fun night. Austin and I had the chance to do something different for a date, and it was cheap! What more could you ask for? (Well, I guess you could ask for more, but I won't.) You can see the "Man on a Couch" sculpture that Austin and I made together. It was pretty...