Brody and Traci

Books I Read This Year

2012-01-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

Here we go again! One of only 6 post this year :)... Books I've read in 2011:

Fallen by Lauren Kate
Building You Paparazzi Business by Ryan Daley
See Jane Date by Melissa Senate
Wicked Games by Jill Myles
Start Something that Matters by Blake Mycoskie
Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix by J.K. Rowling
City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
Way to Be! by Gordon B. Hinckley
Sugar and Spice by Lauren Conrad
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Deceit by Brandilyn Collins
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Condrad

Favorite book of the year: Divergent
Favorite re-read: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (I cry every time)
Most influential book: Start Something That Matters (Read it! You'll want to change the world)

And now I'm looking for book suggestions for 2012! Go!

Copycat

2011-08-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

I am a total copycat. I fell in love with this mirror from IKEA:
Isn't it AWESOME?!? It is also $129, whomp whomp....
SO, I conned Brody into helping me make one! I took an old floor length mirror that I've had forever (the frame was held together with Duct tape - HOT) and chucked the frame:
This is the back view of the mirror (photographing mirrors is hard!) Then Brody made me a sweet frame:
And I bought the most amazing orange paint at Home Depot (did you know you can buy sample jars of ANY color for $2.95???) And WAHLAH:
It's so pretty!! And I love the reflection of my alphabet picture in the background (also an IKEA find) :)

Yes, Traci went Camping

2011-06-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun in Moab with Brody's family over the Memorial Day weekend.

We went 4-wheeling...
And hiking...

Found a giant hole...Did NOT almost fall in, thanks to me...
and stood on top of an arch!
And we got to experience all types of weather.
SUNSHINE
80 mph WIND...

and when we got home, SNOW...boo

And I got to read!!! If you liked the Hunger Games - read "Divergent" by Veronica Roth. It's awesome. And here's a Friends quote about books and wind!

Friends Quote:
MONICA: Rachel you have to read this book. It's called Be Your Own Windkeeper. It's about how women need to become more empowered.
PHOEBE: Yeah and oh, and but there's, there's wind and the wind can make us Goddesses. But you know who takes out wind? Men, they just take it.
RACHEL: Men just take out wind?
PHOEBE: Ya-huh, all the time, cause they are the lightning bearers.
RACHEL: Wow.
PHOEBE: Yeah.
RACHEL: Well that sounds kinda cool, kinda like The Hobbit.
MONICA: It is nothing like the Hobbit.

Before and After

2011-04-24T13:36:00.001-07:00

We did a little bedroom makeover this week. I've been wanting something gray and yellow for awhile, and of course my Target had the perfect thing. And my handy-man, Brody, helped recover the headboard. I think it turned out pretty great :)

BEFORE

AFTER

Harry Potter Land

2011-03-10T18:07:00.000-08:00

It's been a month since Brody and I went to Orlando and I've finally gotten around to blogging about it...sounds about right. It was a spur-of-the-moment vacation and it was wonderful. My favorite part, of course, was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I want to live there. It was magical.
Here are just a few pictures - check out my facebook album for the rest of them :)

Hogwarts Castle

Butterbeer! Sooooo good

Hogsmeade

Blue Man Group

Books I Read This Year

2011-01-03T19:27:00.000-08:00

Not sure if anyone has noticed my running list of books I read this year - I totally stole this idea from a friend's blog (hollah Brittney!) But I have realized that the year is now over and so I should probably start this list over...but it hurts me a little to just delete it, so here it is, preserved forever in a blog post:

Matched by Ally Condie
Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card
The Confession by John Grisham
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
Paradise by Judith McNaught
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peter Meyers
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Shakespeare's Christmas by Charlaine Harris
Shakespeare's Champion by Charlaine Harris
Shakespeare's Landlord by Charlaine Harris
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Favorite book of the year: The Hunger Games
Favorite re-read: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Most influential book: Our Stolen Future (threw out all my Tupperware after I read this)

And now I'm looking for book suggestions for 2011! Lay 'em on me!

Cozumel

2010-12-05T20:14:00.001-08:00

Brody and I were lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving week in Cozumel, Mexico with my family. It was a wonderful, warm, and relaxing vacation.

XPLOR - cave swimming, ATVing, and ZIP LINES

SNORKELING

Having a little Marilyn Monroe skirt moment...

Our resort had FLAMINGOS!

and IGUANAS (didn't know they climbed trees...)

It was such a fun week! And it is SOOOO cold in Logan!

Friends Quote:
Phoebe: I think David would probably wanna hear a few lectures.
Ross: Oh, right, because he's a scientist!
Phoebe: No, no, because, you know, he's been in Minsk for 8 years and if he gets too much direct sunlight, he'll die.

Workin' on My Fitness

2010-11-19T18:44:00.000-08:00

So my job only has one perk...discounts on fitness equipment. And I finally caved and bought some stuff!

This is my beautiful Incline Trainer! You may recognize it from this commercial.

And this Brody walking at a 29% incline - it goes up to 40%!!

And here's my shiny spinner bike! I'm so excited to not have to drive to the gym in the cold snowiness this winter!

Friends Quote:

Chandler: What’s wrong with you?
Joey: Nothing! Well, I-I got this blinding pain in my stomach when I was lifting weights before, then I uh passed out and uh, haven’t been able to stand up since. But um, I don’t think it’s anything serious.
Chandler: This sounds like a hernia. You have to—you-you go to the doctor!
Joey: No way! ‘Kay look, if I have to go to the doctor for anything it’s gonna be for this thing sticking out of my stomach! (Rolls over and shows Chandler.)
Chandler: That’s a hernia.
Joey: Why did I have to start working out again? (Looks at the weights he was using.) Dang you 15s!

Crafty Part 2

2010-10-31T19:09:00.000-07:00

I made me a case for my Kindle...

Crafty Time

2010-10-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures from the latest craft project:

My sister-in-law found this tutorial on this blog and we each started making our own set about a YEAR ago (not really, but it was many, many months). Brody, my wonderful, wonderful husband, cut out all the shapes - which took quite some time - did I mention that he's wonderful? He also helped me staple the fabric to the back and hang them on the wall. As we stood back to admire our work, Brody asked me "So which part of this project did YOU actually do?" He has a solid point. He is a large part of my crafty skills :)

Friends Quote:
Monica: Hey, how did it go with Mike, is he gonna let you keep the painting?
Phoebe: No, he really hates it. But he's gonna let me keep my box of human hair! So you got to pick your battles. But the good news is, Gladys is yours!
Monica: Wow, what's the bad news!
Rachel: Who's Gladys?
Phoebe: Oh, she's that work of art I made, you know, with the woman coming out of the frame.
Rachel: (sarcastic) Oh, and Monica gets to keep her? In her house? I am so jealous!

Autter

2010-09-15T18:19:00.001-07:00

So I was watching Ellen today and she was discussing how it is not yet Autumn, but not quite Summer either...so she invented Autter! And since everything Ellen says is completely legit, I also think it is Autter. She also thinks "Autter" sounds like a small cute season you could cuddle with. Somehow the Summer seems to have flown by and Autter has taken me by surprise. And of course I didn't post about anything we did this summer (I'm not a good blogger), so here we go: Summer 2010.

4th of July BBQ w/ Brody's Family

It was HOT! I'm pretty sure you can see the sweat on my face in this picture...

We always play a really INTENSE game of volleyball. Brody's fam is pretty competitive, but then again so am I (thanks to my brother), so the hair came up and the shoes came off. And since I don't think anyone who played the game reads this blog, I played AMAZING, scored all the points, and obviously my team won.

Brianhead - Traci's family Reunion

This is the only picture I have from our weekend in Brianhead because I don't take pictures (my daddy took this one) - aren't the red-rocks and the red-head so pretty??

Bear Lake - Brody's Family Reunion

AND this is the only picture I have from Bear Lake. Many grueling volleyball games also took place during this weekend. And again, my team always won.

Mt. Naomi Hike

My family is WAY into hiking and convinced Brody and I to go with them to the top of Mt. Naomi (up Logan Canyon by Tony Grove). I do not love hiking, but my mom and I kept talking about how many calories we were burning and that helped :) And when we got to the top it was pretty awesome - I felt super accomplished looking at how far up we had climbed! And I had a few blisters to show for it too (note to self - do not wear hiking shoes that have not been worn in 5+ years without properly re-breaking them in).

Friends Quote:
Joey: But, okay my towels for instance. I come in to the bathroom here and my towel is not on the floor where keep it. It’s up here on some hook..and…smells different.
Janine: It’s clean.
Joey: Yeah, well, it feels different.
Janine: It’s dry.
Joey: Alright, I can make my peace with the clean dry towels…Also what is with these chips you bought?
Janine: No no no no, it’s potpourri. You’re supposed to smell it. (Joey takes a big whiff of the potpourri.)
Joey: (Voice cracking) Well that’s like summer in a bowl.

8 Layer Cheesecake

2010-09-05T17:12:00.000-07:00

And here it is...
That's right, 8 layers...including: original cheesecake, fudge cake, caramel with peanuts, peanut butter cheesecake, and chunks of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups spread throughout. Yes it was yummy. And after we ate that, we went here...

You can't see it in this picture, but Brody is wearing a BYU hat (I'm so proud!) And Steve Young and Jim McMahon were hanging out by our portal...
And my boyfriend Ty Detmer is down there somewhere too...

NE!

2010-08-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

So we've finally purchased and planted some shruberies. Landscaping is not really my forte, I'm much more partial to the interior...anywho, here they are!

Ah, such cute little shruberies.

Friends Quote:
Joey: What’s the game?! What’s the game?!
Phoebe: Oh, well, it doesn’t have a name—oh, okay, Phoebeball! No, it doesn’t have a name. Umm, okay, Monica, what is your favourite thing about trees?
Monica: They’re green?
Phoebe: Good! Good! Five points!
(They both rejoice; Chandler is totally confused.)
Phoebe: All right, Joey, same question.
(He looks to Chandler, who doesn’t have a clue.)
Joey: Uhh, they’re tall.
Phoebe: Ooh, three points. Both fine answers, but we were looking for leafy, leafy.
(Joey turns and is angry that Chandler didn’t come up with the answer.)
Monica: That’s not even a game!
Rachel: What? Shut up! We’re winning!

Big News

2010-04-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

NO, we're not pregnant, get your mind out of the gutter. The internet will be in 3D before I announce that on the blog. Don't get any ideas now, James Cameron.
So anyway, this has been a HUGE week for Brody and I. Brody got a new calling in church - 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric. Seriously. We're in a married-student ward so the counselors are just youngins. We were a little overwhelmed to say the least. I think I was more nervous on Sunday than Brody was. He's a rockstar though, he handled it so well.
AND...after 8 weeks of doing two jobs, I finally got a promotion at work! I am now the Product Line Manger over Fitness Accessories. Its kind of huge and I feel pretty lost and unprepared, and though Guitar Hero tells me I'm a rockstar, I'm still nervous. Needless to say, I've been a huge anxiety-ball lately...what does an ulcer feel like?

Friends Quote:
Rachel: Hey, Pheebs, quick question for ya.
Phoebe: Yeah.
Rachel: How do you think this suit would look on an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale’s?
Phoebe: I don’t know, it would totally depend on her coloring and… (realizes) You got the job!!
Rachel: Yes!!!

Kitchen Pictures

2010-04-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

We finally got our kitchen island and dining chairs so here's some pictures!!

House Pictures

2010-03-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

So I know that it's March and we moved in in October, but I was on a blog-strike. Here's some pictures of the house all decorated and what-not. Kitchen pictures coming later this week...(the kitchen island should be going in soon!)

New Car

2010-03-04T09:09:00.000-08:00

So we upgraded the RAV last week - my beautiful silver one was having some transmission problems... if it would've just SHIFTED I would've kept it forever. Oh well, now I have a pretty blue one with many cool features...including shifting!

Friends quote:
Ross: Hey uh Mon, I saw the Porsche parked out front, can I get the keys? Thought I’d take that bad boy out for a little spin.
Rachel: Wait a minute! (To Monica) You let Ross drive the Porsche and when I ask you, you say you’re the only one who’s allowed to drive it.
Monica: Yeah, well he’s my brother! And plus he drives so slow he could never hurt it.
Ross: It’s a car Monica! Not a rocket ship!

Honesty

2010-03-02T09:43:00.001-08:00

I'm going to be honest with you all. I'm probably never going to blog again. Now stop harassing me. :P

I'm SO good at blogging!

2009-11-23T21:27:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago Brody and I went to LAS VEGAS! I really love Las Vegas, even though everyone in Utah hates it. It's warm, they have an H&M, among other great stores, and it's warm! Of course we forgot the camera (awesome!) so these pictures were taken on the trusty ole cell phone. This is where we stayed...

We saw this store from the freeway and Brody got SO excited! It's his mother-ship.

It was a pretty rad store. They had all kinds of unique animals all taxidermy-ed up. It was kind of like a really sad zoo.

RARRRRR!

I thought about Melissa the whole time I was standing by Geoffrey the Giraffe. And yes, I'm really that small...or maybe the giraffe is just big...

My mother-ship.

This is Brody. Isn't he cute?
The hotel had a bowling alley in it so we decided to knock down a few pins. Only a few though... Apparently it was pro-bolwing night in the alley though, because everyone around was CRAZY good. They were doing the crazy palm-spinning, leg-kicking-above-head, sliding-four-feet technique. It seemed to be working...

It's hard to see, but yes, those are all X's and the final scores were like 240 something. Ridiculous.

Hey Brother

2009-11-06T13:18:00.000-08:00

So this last weekend my brother, Trevor, came to visit me! He very rarely makes it this far north, even though I am in Provo ALL THE TIME. Not bitter...
Anywho, all my cool cousins, namely Andrew and Melissa, go to Utah State, so Trevor brought their younger brother Blake with him. We played a little GHWT...
And had some sink at Angies...
and CLEANED the Sink at Angies...see we got the bumber sticker to prove it
And contrary to what Blake will tell you, he did NOT eat the whole thing himself.

Organization is coo-lll

2009-10-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

A trip to IKEA has been made and oh, boy did I have fun! I've had my eye on their super organized storage solutions for awhile now. We made some purchases, obviously, but this is the thing I am the most excited about...

It is a free-standing wardrobe with our personal storage combination. It holds 32 pairs of shoes and 14 pairs of pants AND...
a pull-out jewelry rack! It's so organized! I just love it! It took us a little while to assemble last night, but luckily we have assembled IKEA furniture before :) and Brody is just super handy.

Which do you prefer?

2009-09-25T12:13:00.001-07:00

So everything has gone pretty smooth in the housebuilding process, except for...the rock. It's kind of a long story, but this is what I saw one night after work...
Needless to say, I had a little bit of a breakdown. The swatch I picked was definitely not that brown. Anyway, Brody and his wonderful, wonderful friend ripped it all off and put up some pretty gray rock...
We also replace the icky cream dentil molding with white. I am SO SO SO much happier with the result. And now the house is officially done - the rock is fixed, the blinds are installed, and we're moving in!

The house is done!

2009-09-22T12:16:00.001-07:00

Master bath

Master bedroom

Kitchen

Upstairs family room

The house is officially done! These are just a few pictures - more are posted on the facebook. We are closing today and will start to move stuff this week!

House Update

2009-08-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

Little bit o' sheetrock

Tyvek wrapped and the roof is done

Paint

siding and shutters

So the house is coming along great! I've been told that everything is still on schedule for Sept. 22. I'm finding that I often can't go to sleep at night because I'm arranging furniture in my head. How do I turn that off?

SHVEEDEN

2009-08-20T14:21:00.001-07:00

So I just spent the last week getting pictures of our trip up on facebook, so I'm not gonna lie, the blog will suffer. I would like to refer you all to my facebook page for amazing pictures of our 2-week trip to Sweden, Estonia, Russia, and Denmark - captions included! Here are just a few highlights:

Cruising the Baltic
Cruise ship food
Way too many old and overweight Swedes in bikinis (not a highlight)
Being able to say we've been to Estonia
Old Estonian churches
Seeing St. Petersburg via two guided tours (to protect us from the Russian mafia)
Old Russian churches
Driving through beautiful Swedish country-side
Having to sit in the backseat between my long-legged brother and broad-shouldered husband...
Viking ships
Visiting family members and having them feed us
Eating the exact same meal at all four family member's houses
Going to 8 different H&Ms
Finding a really cute owl shirt at the very first H&M and then searching the following 7 trying to find it again...and finding the owl shirt the day before we flew home!
Old Swedish churches
World's largest Dala Horse, World's longest bench, Sweden's oldest Church
Hot dogs with mashed potatoes
Pear-flavored anything
Swedish candy
Going to a Medieval festival and jousting tournament
Riding bikes along the ocean
Getting to visit Jonkoping again and show the fam where I used to hang out
Canal tours
Nutella and banana crepes
Changing of the guards
Climbing to the top of old churches

It was such a fun and exhausting trip. We had a great time, but are also glad to be home. Though I do miss the candy...

Framing...

2009-07-19T19:03:00.001-07:00

Yard Sale!

2009-07-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

Everyone come to our Yard Sale this Saturday, July 18th, from 8 am to noon. I will be joining forces with a couple other friends so the selection will be spectacular! Here is a brief list of the awesomeness that this yard sale will have:
-Bar stools
-LOTS of home decor
-Women's clothing that has mostly likely been worn only once
-VHS movies (wahoo!)
-George Foreman grills
-Dutch Oven
-Computer desk(s)
If you don't know where I live, then maybe you shouldn't be reading this blog...kidding, just let me know and I'll hook you up with the address.

This Clock Rocks my Socks

2009-07-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

So a couple months ago, I found this clock online...
It is made by Steve Cambronne - a metal sculptor. He has amazing stuff - check it out here.
So instead of paying the $250 for it, Brody and I embraced our inner craftiness and total ripped off his design.
I started by drawing the shapes and tracing them on to a piece of wood.
Brody cut out the shapes with some fancy wood-cutting tools and then I painted all the pieces...
We glued the pieces together using some super-sticky wood glue...
and Voila!
I'm so in love with it! You can't tell from the picture, but it is very 3-D. Coolest. Clock. Ever.

Foundation!

2009-06-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

REAL and Archie

2009-06-16T14:53:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago we went to the Real Salt Lake vs. Colorado Rapids game with my family. It was an event - before the game even started! Some parachuters dropped into the stadium from the sky...Then David Archuleta walked out to sing the national anthem and, no joke, the old woman in front of us ripped open her blouse to reveal an Archuleta t-shirt...

Then because they were dedicating the stadium, they had a member of the seventy say the dedicatory prayer. Before he prayed he said a few words in Spanish (Brody translated), including "we are here to watch this beautiful game of soccer, the king of all sports" or something to that affect. I would just like to formally agree.
Then the actual game was played. It was a pretty good game but ended with a stupid goal by the Rapids resulting in a 1-1 tie. Blurg. Then, the highlight of my evening....
No, not the "mini concert" by David Archuleta, but watching teenage girls try to storm the field to get closer to Archie, only to be chased around by security guards. HILARIOUS!

Crazy Chair

2009-06-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

So for some reason, I think I'm crafty and get these crazy ideas to repaint and reupholster stuff. A couple weeks ago I got on a garage sale kick and we found an arm chair for $5 - and I snagged it because it had such a great shape. But clearly it needed some new fabric, see below...
So one evening, Brody and I start to rip all on the fabric off...
And and entire week and one tired husband later, we came up with this... I don't know why I put Brody through this kind of torture, but he was such a trooper! And man is he good with a staple gun! I am so so pleased with the result...but I really don't think we will reupholster something this complex ever again. I should really come to terms with my actual level of craftiness.

Yes we can!

2009-05-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

So it's official. We're going to build a house! Not ourselves, but by some people who actually know how to build houses...like this guy
To all my neighbors who love us, don't worry - we're just building across the street. I am looking forward to this because we can literally watch it go up and because moving will consist of throwing things haphazardly into our cars.
This is what our house looks like right now...

but without what appears to be a cliff on the other side of the fence. But in a few months it will look like this - ta da!
Or something similar.
Anyway, I'm thinking about having a yard sale to get rid of stuff and make money to buy new furniture :) If anyone is interested in getting in on the fun and combining forces - let me know!

Back to Normal

2009-04-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

So as most of you know, I lost my job back in January, and I feel like I have been really off my groove the last couple months. I have learned valuable lessons about being grateful for what I have and being better about saving money. And though I've complained about it a lot, sorry Brody, I am grateful that I was able to find work in this economy. I've been doing a lot of this...

and working for a man like this....
AND NOW...dun dun dun...I'm back at ICON where I'll be doing a lot of this...
A friend of mine (Hollah Michelle!) is having a baby in May and I was lucky enough to get her job - thanks to some great recommendations from her and my old boss and coworkers. I am so excited to be back working with a lot of the same people and working in an industry I am interested in (no, stream restoration was not it).

Thanks everyone!

2009-04-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

What a fun accidental-experiment that was! I didn't even know half of you were stalking me! Thanks everyone for your addresses...I'm not going to make promises now that I'll blog more because then I'd be lying.

Blog addresses

2009-03-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

So I have no idea how this happened, but I lost all my links to everyone's blogs. I'm kind of a computer geek too, so I'm completely baffled. Anyway, if you would like me to continue to blog-stalk you, please leave a comment with your blog address for me and I'll re-link ya. Thanks!!

Island Park and Yellowstone

2009-01-09T18:33:00.000-08:00

Waterfall

Old Faithful

This Cadillac of snowmobiles - back rest, heated seats, and hand-warmers

The whole gang. Guess which ones we are!

I Stole This

2008-12-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

I saw this picture on a friends blog (thanks Whit!) and thought it was so funny! It reminded me of my favorite play of the whole season when little Austin Collie stiff-armed his way into the end zone against Utah State. I just had to share!

Real Salt Lake Games

2008-11-18T20:47:00.000-08:00

The new stadium and some guy's head

Me and Trev at the game vs. FC Dallas
They won 3-1!!

At the cold game vs. New York Red Bulls

After a like a gazillion shots on goal, they ended the game with no goals and lost 1-0. Bummer, but still exciting to watch.

Elk Hunt

2008-10-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

Riley and I

It rained so we tried to dry off.

I drew a Meadowville elk tag here in Utah that was ten days long and tons of fun, we saw lots of elk and quite a few nice bulls. On the second to last night this bull came down to a wallow just before dark and I figured it was time to get serious, so I handed him one and put an end to a great hunt.

Dove Hunt

2008-10-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

End of the day

The fun stuff

September 1st is always a day that we look forward to around here, that's when hunting season begins. It was raining for most of the morning but we still found quite a few birds, then evening rolled around and there were so many doves bombing into our spot we just figured we had to defend ourselves. What are you gonna do?

Tag #2

2008-10-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

GOOGLE GAME

This is how the game works: Use Google image search to answer each question. Then, out of ONLY the first page of results, choose your favorite or most random image. Then tag some people to do it!! :)

MY AGE

PLACE I'VE BEEN TO:

PLACE I WANT TO VISIT:

FAVORITE PLACE

FAVORITE OBJECT

FAVORITE FOOD

FAVORITE ANIMAL

FAVORITE COLOR

BIRTH PLACE

CURRENT PLACE OF RESIDENCE

PETS

PAST LOVE

BEST FRIEND

NICKNAME

FIRST NAME (advice, some slutty girl is named “Traci,” wouldn’t google it if I were you)

MIDDLE NAME

LAST NAME

BAD HABIT

FIRST JOB

GRANDMOTHER'S NAME (all it pulled up were gravestones! How sad)

COLLEGE DEGREE

WHAT I'M DOING RIGHT NOW

I tag Amy, Brittney, and Tana!

I was tagged TWICE!

2008-10-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

I wonder if that is a sign that I should check my blog more often...

TAG NUMBER ONE:

What are the last three things you purchased?
Well I just went shopping...so a cropped sweater, aviator sunglasses, and a houndstooth scarf.

What are the last three songs you downloaded for your ipod? I haven't downloaded new music for months...my husband made me download Taylor Swift for him...I could live without it.

What are your three favorite movies? This is too hard, but three movies I never get tired of watching are... Shanghai Noon, Miss Congeniality, and cough Clueless cough

What are three things you have not done yet? eaten Sushi, gone skydiving, and completed my second tag

What are three things you cannot live without?(excluding people) Chocolate, TV, the internet

What are your three favorite dishes? Firehouse's BBQ chicken pizza and foccacia bread, my mom's cheese soup, stir fry

What are your three favorite T.V. shows? 30 Rock, Friends, Project Runway

What are the last three places you traveled to that were more then one hundred miles away? Provo, Sacramento CA (Sacramendi), Las Vegas

What are your three favorite desserts? Brownies, candy bars, fudge

What are three things you would buy if money were not an issue? a house, a baby grand piano, more shoes to fill the room in my new house dedicated to my shoes

I tag Kristy, Missy, and Jacque!

Couple Tag

2008-08-29T16:37:00.000-07:00

What is his name: Brody
What is her name: Traci
How long have you been together: We've been together for 2.5 years and married for one.
How long did you date: 1.5 years
How old is he: 24
Who eats more: Brody by a long shot
Who said I love you first: Technically he did....I said "I heart you" first :)
Who is taller: Brody by enough to wear 6 inch heels...but who would do that??
Who sings better: According to Singstar - me.
Who is smarter: According to our grades - me. But Brody knows more about animals and plants and guns.
Who does the laundry: Whoever needs clean clothes the worst.
Who pays the bills: We both do! Brody pays the big ones though. :)
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: My right or your right?
Who mows the lawn: Our landlord's granddaughter.
Who cooks the dinner: We often cook together, but Brody does the hard stuff. I'm good at stirring.
Who drives: Always Brody.
Who is more stubborn: Oh definitely me.
Who kissed who first: He kissed me.
Who proposed: What kind of question is that? Of course Brody proposed.
Who has more friends: According to Facebook, he does...but he's "friends" with people he doesn't even know.
Who is more sensitive: Um...Brody is more sensitive to peoples feelings, but I cry more.
Who has more siblings: Ha! Brody - 3 to my 1.
I tag AMY and CELESTE!

Hollah Sacramendi

2008-08-22T15:57:00.000-07:00

So it's been a busy week and I haven't been able to post yet about my wonderful weekend in Sacramento with Missy and her adorable baby! Jacque and I flew out Friday morning and when we arrived in Sacramento we saw this...
Apparently it was some sort of luggage sculpture. Way cool. Then lovely Missy picked us up and we set out shopping, pretty much the entire weekend. Perfect. And we got to go to one of my favorite places in the entire world... (And FYI, I'm not model-posing in this picture, I'm holding my hair down because it was windy.) Saturday night we had dinner at PF Changs where we convinced the waiter to let us steal the really cool plastic soup spoons (its not stealing if you get permission). We really had such a great time and I'm so happy that Missy is in Logan again - although the shopping in California is a gazillion times better.

Friends Quote:
Chandler: Woah, woah, woah. I don't need a roommate either, OK? I can afford to live here by myself. Ya know, I may have to bring in somebody once a week to lick the silverware.
Joey: What're you gettin' so bent out of shape for, huh? It's not like we agreed to live together forever. We're not Bert and Ernie.
Chandler: Look, you know what? If this is the way you feel, then maybe you should take it.
Joey: Well that's how I feel.
Chandler: Well then maybe you should take it.
Joey: Well then maybe I will.
Chandler: Fine with me.
Joey: Great. Then you'll be able to spend more quality time with your real friends, the spoons.

Tootle-ooo USU

2008-08-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

So I FINALLY got a job!! I am going to be the Marketing Department Coordinator at ICON Health and Fitness. I feel so lucky to have gotten the one job, after many many applications and interviews, that I actually wanted and thought I would enjoy. Today was my last day at the FACT center on campus because I start my new job tomorrow! It has been such a good place to work while going to school and during these last few months of awful awful job-hunting. My coworkers gathered for some ice cream in my honor and gave me some silly going-away gifts like a USU pendant for my new cubicle and an office voodoo kit. I am really going to miss working with them and getting paid to watch tv online. On a sentimental note, I realized today as I walked away from campus, that I will never NEED to go back there again. After four years, two degrees, and a job for the last 2 years, I'm finally done with USU. Weird.

Friends quote:
Rachel: Guess what?
Ross: You got a job?
Rachel: Are you kidding? I'm trained for nothing! I was laughed at 12 interviews today
Chandler: And yet you're surprisingly upbeat!
Rachel: Well you would be too if you got new boots 50% off
Chandler: Oh how well you know me

Traci and Rosie's Day of Fun!

2008-08-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

Saturday I was able to spend a good chunk of the afternoon with my gal-pal Rosie. We had a late lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (about 3:00) in order to avoid a long wait - which was successful - only 15 minutes! I ordered Thai Chicken Pasta (see below) and was soooooo pleased. It was delicious. This was followed by Chocolate peanut butter cookie dough cheesecake...perfect.
Then we had some time to kill and walked into Fashion Place mall next door. We saw a Build-a-Bear Workshop which Rosie had never been in before, and of course then HAD to build an elephant named Bruce. I'm not going to lie, he was very cute.
Friends quote
Janice: Okay. All right. This is what we're gonna call it: 'Joey and Janice's DAY OF FUN!'
Joey: Does it have to be a whole day?
Janice: Yes, because that's how long it takes to love me.

Women with Power Tools

2008-08-04T11:17:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, my mom and I went IKEA shopping for all kinds of fun things for her new office. This weekend...it was assembling time. Brody, the ultimate assembler-builder-man, unfortunately could not accompany me, and my mom and I were on our own. Our first amazing feat was carrying the box from the car, while opening the door, into the building, and into the office. After about an hour of grunting and pushing and sweating...we did it! See above picture - a beautiful shelving unit, assembled all by ourselves. It was then that we realized that we had left the car illegally parked, with the trunk open.

So I've decided that I can relate almost all instances in my life to a quote from the TV show "Friends." Therefore, I will include a quote on all future posts for your enjoyment.

Friends quote
Chandler: Yes, and I get my ya-yas from IKEA. You have to put them together yourself, but they cost a little less.

Brian Head and Bear Lake

2008-07-31T13:04:00.001-07:00

This weekend we hit both ends of the state with two family reunions and were able to enjoy the scenic drive through central Utah twice! My family gathered in Brian Head for some Shakespeare, hiking, and pool-playing at the ginormous cabin we stayed in. We saw "Two Gentlemen of Verona" in Cedar City, which was entertaining, but didn't make my Shakespeare-favorites list, and Brody stayed awake through the whole thing - I was so proud! Then we were off Bear Lake with Brody's family (for some reason we didn't take any pictures of that, so you'll have to take my word for it). The water was surprisingly pleasant and the jet-skis were so fun! And of course we played some rousing card games. Overall, it was a LONG, but fun weekend.

311 at Usana

2008-07-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

Snoop Dogg (notice the marijuana leaf?)

This girl was wearing booty shorts over her jeans???

311 doin their thang

So it finally arrived...the 311 concert which I had been waiting for since I bought tickets months ago. I went with my good friend Emma and we had a great time. I was surprised that Snoop Dogg was the other artist (I thought the music genres were pretty different) but I've always loved "Drop it Like its Hot!" I really did NOT like his part of the show though...he kept yelling obscenities and stuff about weed. So basically Emma and I just sat for a couple hours feeling uncomfortable and observing the weirdos around us (see picture above). 311 was AMAZING however. They sound EXACTLY the same live and played most of my favorite songs! We were having a great time singing along and dancing around, but I must've been dancing a little to wildly because I kept hitting my knees on the cup holders in front of me! I seriously have bruises now - my first concert wound.

Camping

2008-06-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

Chillin' by the fire

Horseshoes (they're a lot heavier than I imagined)

Cheese balls by the cheese balls.

So this weekend we went camping with the Maughan family. I haven't been camping since I was in Young Womens so I guess it was time. We played horseshoes, went for a jaunt on the 4-wheeler and ate some really good food (bravo to the chefs). And of course, there were smores! The mosquitoes were pretty ridiculous and I got a bit of a sunburn (dang thin mountain air), but overall we had a good time.

Chuck the Duck

2008-06-25T14:05:00.000-07:00

So my good friend Jacque has moved to town and boy do I love her face! She and I went to First Dam last week to see if we could get a little sun. Two observations: the First Dam ducks are not afraid of you, and coconut tanning oil does not taste like coconuts. One particular duck , let's call him Chuck, was a little too close for comfort, so Jacque, being the good friend she is, chased it away. It was hilarious. We attempted to recreate the situation so that I could take a picture...but she must've scared Chuck pretty good and he stayed in the water after that (see above, doesn't he look terrified?)

That's right, we ROCK!

2008-06-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

So it finally happened. We bought Guitar Hero!! So here's the story...thanks to Matthew Grant Flamm I learned that internet sites offering free iPods and other junk are not all scams. I set my sights on a free Wii several months ago and finally got a check in the mail for $300...which is not a Wii, but I figured I'd just buy one. HA! After calling certain stores every morning to ask if they got a Wii in their shipment that day, and deciding that wasn't worth it, we bought a Playstation 2 with Singstar and Guitar Hero 3 and an extra guitar (see my RAD guitar above). And now its confirmed, we are rockstars.

Mysteriously Entertaining

2008-05-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

Since I can't think of a single other thing to blog about...and people are harassing me...I will blogout ("blog-about" - I just made it up) the book I just finished. I have never read a Mary Higgins Clark book before (I have a hard time betraying my obsession with John Grisham), but was told by my dear friend Rosie that they were good. So after joining a book club and having to choose 8 books (for $0.49 each!) I finally managed to read one. Now, if you're into the murder-mystery-whodunnit kind of books, I would highly recommend this one. Its got it ALL...murder...mystery...well thats about it. But, I WAS surprised by the ending and therefore found the whole experience to be successful. Stay tuned for further book reviews (...unlikely).

Chair!

2008-05-10T09:38:00.001-07:00

Before and after pictures of my $12 chair!

Graduation!

2008-05-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

We had a very eventful weekend with both of our graduations on Friday and Saturday. Brody got his BS in Wildlife Science (and a much shorter commencement ceremony) and I got an MBA (and sore feet from walking across campus in heels). We after-partied at Firehouse and I ate my weight in focaccia bread. After Brody's graduation, the College of Natural Resources catered a delicious luncheon. Most surprising element: the lack of Teva sandals from the natural resource grads.

This is for Missy

2008-04-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

In honor of Missy, who is being stupid and moving to California, I am posting a message, as hard as it is.
So there are only two things going on in my life right now (besides obsessive American Idol watching of course) and they are: the end of school, and my chair. I took my only final yesterday, and as a prize for being the first one finished, my teacher gave me a bag of Fritos. True story. And now I get the long, long break from school of one whole week! Yahoo!
And now my chair. I recently made my first furniture purchase at the DI (and possibly first ever purchase of anything at the DI). I was feeling the need for a crafty project! It was an ugly chair with great potential. I believe that with a little black paint and some style from IKEA, it will be a beautiful chair. The painting began yesterday and I have pictures to prove it. The only problem now is that there is no room in the house for it!!

Eve 6 Wahoo!

2008-04-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

The activity of choice this last week was the Eve 6 concert. I did, of course, crowd surf and dance on stage with the band (see picture). It was really loud and I got all sweaty, and it was so fun! Next stop, 311 and Snoop Dog!