Tracie's World

I don't usually participate much in the big ward activities anymore.  I just kind of feel like I've been doing these things for so long now, and they don't excite me much anymore. But for some reason last night, I decided I'd go to the Tri-Ward dance. It had been awhile since I'd been to anything, and I kind of wanted to go.  So I came up with a costume and got dressed and off I went. Now everyone knows the thing to do is to not get there right when the dance starts.  The dance started at 9:00, so I figured I'd get there around 10:00. Along the way I prayed out loud that I would be able to find a friend there, and I also told myself that I would give it a chance and stay at least an hour. When I got there, things weren't looking too good at first.  But a few minutes into it, I found some of my old pals from my former Singles Ward, so I hung out with them.  We had a pretty good time as these things go - we danced in groups for the fast songs, and lef

Last week the County put a notice in the local paper that they were in need of more Poll Worker volunteers to assist at the general election. I've had a couple of friends who have done this and enjoyed it, and I figured what the heck? It's about time I tried to get involved in some civic activity.  So I volunteered. This week I received a notice that I have been selected as an Alternate.  This means that I have to remain available from crack of dawn on Election Day until the bitter end, and if they need me, I will get called to any one of hundreds of polling locations in the County.  For which if they don't call me I will receive a small stipend. However, if they do call me, and I work the whole day, I'll receive a larger stipend. That and the privilege of serving my community and visiting with lots of interesting people throughout the day. Today I went to the County office complex and went through a 2-hour training session. In a couple of weeks I'll attend

Something else I've been doing some research on is Dairy.  I struggle so much with allergies, and even though I'm not allergic to any foods, I wondered if making some small change to the diet could help with the effects of the allergies.  It's well-known that I'm a dairy fanatic, at least when it comes to cheese and ice cream, and even though I love it, I wondered if I'd feel better if I cut back on that a bit.  I've also read about various varieties of milk products - Goat milk (supposed to not generate as much mucous), Coconut Milk, Almond Milk and Soy milk.  Since goat milk is hard to find, and is majorly expensive when you can find it, I ix-nayed that. The Soy Milk never grew on me when I tried it, so I ix-nayed that, too.  But I decided I'd try the coconut and the almond milk.  My brother's family drank Almond Milk this summer, and the kids didn't notice a difference.   So this week, I made a few changes.  I decided to at least cut back on

Part of my healthy journey this year has been to understand more of the "do's" of the Word of Wisdom, and incorporate more of those things into my diet.  Eating all the veggies and cutting back on the meat has certainly helped with that.  While I was in Tucson this last weekend, I was having a conversation with my Brother and his in-laws about this. They mentioned the passage about Barley being for mild drinks. "All grain is good for the food of man; as also the fruit of the vine; that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground— " Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain." (Doctrine and Covenants 89:16-17) After I got home this week, I did a little research on Barley and drinks made from it.  Turns out it is supposed to be very soothing, esp

Ok, so those fajitas I was going to make tonight? Well, it was so cold all day long that the fajitas turned into a huge pot of vegetarian chili.  I used several of the peppers though, in addition to some of the frozen jalapenos. And I have to say - it made some pretty awesome chili.  I also cut up the remaining corn tortillas, sprayed them with Pam, seasoned them, and turned them into baked tortilla chips, which I served with said chili.  All things considered, it was a pretty healthy dinner.  (Word to the wise though - probably best not to come see Aunt Tracie right now. At least not until said chili has been digested. Just sayin'.) There's plenty of peppers left, so those fajitas may indeed happen sometime this week. And I just have to say - I really love fall foods. Tracie's Vegetarian Chili Chopped peppers - I used a combination of red, green, yellow, and jalapenos Chopped onion 2 cans of diced tomatoes 1 can of hominy 2 cans of pork and beans 2

Speaking of the last of the summer plants - remember those peppers of mine that never turned color?  Well guess what? The week before I finally pulled them out, they decided to start changing color.  I ended up with one chocolate pepper, several red peppers, and some yellow peppers.  I picked the rest of them, and they are now ripening and completing the color change on the kitchen counter. I think tonight sounds like a good night to use some of the peppers and make some colorful fajitas.  The rest of them I will cut up and keep in the freezer, where they can get to know all of last year's jalapenos that are still in there.

So in the midst of Saturday Conference, yesterday was a pretty busy day for me.  Because there's all these things you're supposed to do every 6 months or so to get ready for the upcoming season, etc.  So I made myself a checklist, and boy, did I get plenty done. 1. I changed the furnace filter.  This is something I try to do every month anyway, but since it's been 60 degrees the last few days, it's a good thing to do for getting ready to turn on the heater. 2. Pulled up the last of the summer plants (which really the only ones left were the pepper plants), and brought the flowers and world's most humongous aloe vera inside to winter over. 3. Mostly cleaned the house - 2 toilets, 2 bathroom sinks and mirrors, and all the glass table tops. I even cleaned the upstairs windows and casings. 4. Refreshed the water storage, and brought it all inside. This meant lugging umpteen 2-liter bottles of water up to the kitchen, then emptying it all and refilling i

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