Tracie's World

The parentals were in town this week to see my new house and to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Even though the house is in mostly good shape, and I'd done what I could to make it all presentable, there were definitely some cosmetic things it needed to spruce it up a bit.  And seeing as the folks were coming all this way, I figured I'd take advantage of the free labor and have them help me with a "few" home improvement projects.  They arrived on Tuesday, and I showed them the list of things that needed doing.  We had a quick lunch, and shortly after that, it was off to the races.  And by the time we were done, a "few" projects had somehow morphed into "many" projects, and all three of us were ready to collapse. There were three trips to Home Depot, three light fixtures replaced, three GFI outlets installed, one bathroom faucet replaced, holes spackled and painted in almost every room, one deadbolt installed, one sink sprayer fixed, one curtain rod insta

One thing I always try to appreciate when I see it, is hard work.  Someone who goes out, does their job, and works hard at it consistently, with no fanfare.  And someone who can manage to do this in a job that I would consider to be menial, and stay happy and enthusiastic about it.  One of my favorite examples of this is someone I don't even know.  Several years ago, Salt Lake opened The Gateway outdoor mall.  I don't shop there much, but I'm there pretty frequently for dinner or to see a movie.  Since there's usually a lack of available free parking in the neighborhood, and because even if there is, I don't like walking back to my car alone in the dark, I typically park in the underground parking structure.  It's a bit of a hassle to get in and out, but I feel relatively safe there.   As long as I've been parking at The Gateway, I've also noticed a man who directs the flow of traffic in and out.  I would say he's probably a middle-aged gentleman,

The other night my ward had a chili cook-off.  Considering myself a chili connoisseur, that was one activity I wanted to attend.  For years, my Dad won the annual Hermiston Ward chili cook-off.  That's a big legacy to try and live up to.  I don't think he really ever had a particular recipe though, and knowing that he and mom were off in Wyoming waiting for a new grandbaby, and not having a chili recipe of my own, I decided to do my own thing and looked some up online. I finally found a recipe for "Wasatch Mountain Chili".  Even though it was a white chili, I thought it sounded interesting - and heck, I live in the Wasatch Mountains, so it seemed somehow appropriate. The day arrived, and I made my chili - white beans, hominy, chicken, chicken broth, lime juice, and spices.  How this ever came to be called chili, I'll never know.  Because it turned out to be more the consistency of a tangy chicken soup.  Something to be eaten when you have a cold, but nothing to g

For years now, I've been looking for a cool picture of the Salt Lake Temple to hang up on one of my walls.  I've lived in Salt Lake long enough that it's kind of my temple now.  And really, every Mormon should have a picture of their temple in their home.  But I never found anything I really liked, until now.  The Conference issue of the Ensign arrived yesterday - and as soon as I saw this, I knew it was "The One".  I'm going to see if I can get it blown up and framed, but until then, here it is.

For Halloween I tried a couple of different outfits.  The first one is Cowgirl Tracie, a few days before, with some of the gal pals at the Magna Senior Center's annual Halloween Bash (Marianne works there, so we went to help).  Had a great time, and frankly, probably more fun than the Tri-Ward Singles Dance would have been.  We even did a cake walk - I honestly can't remember the last time I did one of those.  Of course, out of our group, only two of us did not win cakes.  Guess which ones didn't?  If you guessed me - yep, you'd be right. One of the things my work does really well is Halloween - there's a costume contest, and everyone's kids come and go trick-or-treating through the office.  A fun day all around.  Here I am dressed as a Biker Chick (which I'm convinced I was in a past life).  I thought I looked pretty good, but one of the Directors said I couldn't really pull it off. I was just too wholesome (which when you think about it is not necess