Tracie's World

Watched the food documentary "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" this week. It's the story of a man who was severely overweight and had many health issues, who turned it all around as he started making and eating homemade fruit and vegetable juice smoothies. I was so inspired, I immediately went and made myself a fabulous fruit and walnut smoothie for breakfast. After guzzling it down, I felt totally great! I even sent a tweet to the guy in the movie and told him about it. Since I began my mostly veggie diet a few years ago, I've had times when it's easier to do, and times when it isn't. Some days I still don't get as many veggies as I should. And even with focusing on the veggies, I haven't always done the same with fruit. So since I felt so good that morning, I thought that doing some smoothies might be the way to go. I went throughout my work day, having a very healthy lunch and dinner - with lots of veggies. I even went without an afternoon sudafed, or ...

Got to kick off my birthday week a little early, by taking in dinner and a movie with my pals Julie and Janeen. First off was dinner at Hires, a legendary local burger joint. I hadn't been there in what felt like forever, and it was nice to kick back with my favorite combo - a Golden H (basically a cheese sandwich with all the veggie fixings), fries, and a banana shake. Yum! After that, we went for a walk around The Gateway, and then caught the new movie "Tomorrowland", which was a lot of fun. The big bonus was that it starred George Clooney, and what's not fun about that. We had a terrific time!

Went for an evening walk with my Visiting Teachers the other night. It was a beautiful night for a walk, and I discovered spots in the neighborhood that I'd never taken the time to see before. Case in point was the Holladay Memorial Park and Cemetery. While we were out, we were attracted by a field of American flags that we could see from behind the Park. So we snuck in the back way to take a look, and discovered what they were calling the "Field of Honor", where a flag and photo had been placed for every Utah service member killed during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It was incredibly moving. What a great reminder of the meaning of Memorial Day. Usually Memorial Day falls near my birthday, so it's mostly about a birthday celebration of some kind. Of course that means that I often forget to take the time to show gratitude for those who have sacrificed their lives in service to our country. This week I was grateful to be reminded of it.

Finished the Book of Mormon again this week. I've read it many, many times, and I've lost count now. Nowadays I read it mostly from my tablet, and a friend recently showed me how to highlight there. But whether on my tablet or in actual scripture hard copy, it never ceases to amaze me how much I learn and how much comfort I get from it.  I've pondered and prayed about it, and I know by the power of the Holy Ghost, that it's true. I invite everyone else to do the same. It will change your life.

I'm not much of a bread maker. Frankly, it kind of scares me a little bit, so I avoid it. I have a breadmaker, but I don't like using it for baking - the square loaves are not real conducive to sandwiches. But I hate mixing and rolling out the dough myself, letting it rise, and shaping it in to a loaf. It makes me feel very unsure of myself, and it never turns out very good. I was talking to Awesome Sister-in-law #1 about this, and she told me about a recipe she used that was pretty easy, to the point you couldn't do much to mess it up. So last night, I broke out the recipe to give it a try. I wasn't sure how it would do - it's been so long since I've made bread that my yeast is several years old. But I mixed some up in water to see if it was still good (it was), so I went on ahead with the recipe. The final product looks pretty good, although it didn't rise super high, so it's a little dense.. I also didn't have a second loaf pan, so I improvise...

I've lived in Utah long enough to know that you don't try to plant anything before Mother's Day. Any earlier than that, and either frost or snow or both will come back to bite you. Last weekend was Mother's Day, and the Wasatch Community Garden plant sale. Normally I start my morning at the plant sale, then come home and get my garden in. But it rained all last weekend, and I just didn't have the energy for it. I figured that I'd wait and do it this weekend instead, and get my plants from one of the nurseries. However, yesterday morning dawned no different. We have had rain for days now, with no let-up expected for several more. But I reasoned that if I waited much longer, then I wouldn't get enough blooms before the summer was over. So I dutifully went down to the nursery, and bought some perennials and some basil, then it was off to Wal-Mart to get my Miracle-Gro soil. After that, I came home and spent the afternoon putting in my few plants and cleaning ...

The HOA approved a new tree for me, to replace the previous one which the old lady neighbor had chopped down a few years ago (without HOA approval), and which I've been bitter about ever since. Frankly, this is the main reason why I don't really associate with neighbor lady. She's old, and cranky, and a stirrer of the neighborhood pot, and she chopped down my tree. There aren't many things that could be more unneighborly. That said - I believe that ill-will between neighbors is wrong. The Lord himself said that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. And I've made some half-hearted attempts to pray to let go of my bitterness.  But I haven't worked very hard at it. Instead, I've brought it up regularly at HOA meetings and made sure it gets mentioned in the meeting minutes. So I really cannot cast any stones. My "sin" has been just as great, if not more so. But,  I came home the other night to find that my new tree had been planted. Hallel...

As I was sitting and listening in the temple session yesterday, an idea struck me, that I'd never really thought about before. The thought was this - there are two trees in the garden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Tree of Life. Adam and Eve choose to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, despite being commanded not to. Upon being cast out, to prevent them from partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Life without sufficiently repenting, the Lord sends angels to protect the tree and keep them from it. But - the Lord does nothing to prevent them from partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil again. They are not given any physical barrier to prevent them from doing so again and again if they choose to. It may be a simplistic thought, but it was just a reminder to me that the Lord gives us commandments, but he also allows us to choose if we will keep them. And he considers this so important, that despite his sorrow when...

Yesterday, the Polynesian Texans all went to the Houston Temple together, and my four gorgeous nieces all did proxy baptisms for some of our deceased ancestors.  I also got to the temple yesterday, doing an endowment session at the Salt Lake Temple.  It was nice to know that we were all spending the day at the temple, and helped me to feel close to them, despite the physical distance that separates us. #familiesareforever

The Brother and the fam live across the street from a cool place called Conservation Garden Park. It's a lot like our beloved Red Butte Garden, but smaller, and free. They've got quite a few walking pathways, and those guys love to go walking there. The landscaping is all water-wise, and is absolutely beautiful.  They also do guided tours, and as I was trying to get some ideas for water-wise landscaping for the HOA, the other night, Awesome Sister-in-law #1 and I went and joined one. We had a lovely walk around the park in the rain, and I got lots of great ideas to take back to the next Board Meeting. One thing I discovered is that "water-wise" doesn't have to mean "xeriscaping", or "plain". Mostly it just means using other varieties of plants that require less water usage.  Here's a few pics I took that I particularly like