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Showing posts from November, 2015

SlingTV

For the last couple of years, I've gone way down on my cable subscription. Comcast is just getting so expensive and the prices keep going up. But let's face it, I miss my sports and my old movies.  Last week I joined a streaming service called SlingTV. For $20 a month you can get ESPN, and several other channels. And for an additional $5 a month, you can get TCM and some other movie channels. If I add up my cable bill, with my Netflix subscription, and throw in SlingTV, it still ends up being a cheaper monthly alternative than a premium Comcast package.  You get fewer channels, but ones that I'm more likely to watch. So I purchased a 3 month subscription, which also got me a free Roku streaming stick.  I plugged the streaming stick in to the TV downstairs, and the idea is that you launch the SlingTV app using the Roku remote, and then you can browse and watch your purchased channels. Unfortunately, my streaming DVD player upstairs doesn't have the SlingTV app. But I

Tracie Meets Al Fox Carraway

After getting home from the temple, I decided I had better head down to the Distribution Center and see about getting some temple shoes. They tell me that standing and walking all day in my temple slippers just won't do. The Distribution Center gives a 50% discount on shoes for new ordinance workers, so that seemed to be the thing to do. While I was there I also bought a pretty new temple bag, so I'm all set for my first day. The Distribution Center I go to is combined with Deseret Book, and turns out that Al Fox Carraway was there yesterday doing a book signing. I follow her on Twitter, and love her comments. She's a pretty popular youth speaker, and now author. I bought a signed copy of her book, and was able to get a picture with her. How cool was that?!

Temple Worker Update

Yesterday I went to the temple and met with one of the counselors in the Temple Presidency and his wife to review my ordinance application and select a schedule. It was a brief conversation, and they were most adamant that the schedule be every week, and the same shift. There are three shifts to choose from. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to handle getting up at 3:30 every Saturday morning, and that I still wanted to enjoy some social life, I chose the mid-day Saturday shift, which goes from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. I start on Saturday January 2nd. He immediately set me apart, we completed some paperwork, and then I was whisked out of his office for a photo, and a brief tour of some of the ordinance worker facilities (locker rooms, prayer meeting rooms, study room, etc.). The sisters on the mid-day shift were delighted to know I'm coming - It's the busiest shift of the entire week and I guess is a bit difficult to fill. It was quite a whirlwind, but thankfully my friend Re

New Carpet!

The long-awaited new carpet finally arrived on Friday. Hooray!  The installers did a terrific job, and I couldn't be more pleased. Especially since it looks so good with the new laminate in the dining room. The only problem is that now every time I go downstairs, I can't stand the old carpet that's still down there. 

The Senoritas Love Him!

Awesome Sister-in-law #2 sent me this cute photo of my newest nephew wearing the onesie I gave him when he was born. I think it's safe to say that the statement on the outfit is most definitely true!

More Temple Time

Last Sunday, I worked with the Bishop, and submitted my application to serve as an Ordinance Worker in the Salt Lake Temple. I have several friends that are ordinance workers, and they've been really working on me to get me to do it. And now that I have an extra day off every other week, I have a little more free time, and no more excuses. This will be something useful to fill that extra time with, and bring some extra peace to my often anxiety-riddled life. I'm very excited, although a little nervous. The temple called me a few days later, and I have an appointment this next weekend to meet with one of the temple presidency members and his wife for a final review, and scheduling. I'm hoping to start there after the first of the year.

New Flooring

Had new laminate flooring installed in my dining room on Friday. Luckily I was able to work from home that day so I could oversee the work effort. The installers did a great job, and finished the job in around 2 1/2 hours. It looks awesome, and I love it (although it's not quite a match with my existing cabinets, but that will be rectified one day when I finally tear them down and remodel the kitchen).

ITIL Certification

Spent three days this week in ITIL training. ITIL is an international standard for managing technology services, and all Intermountain Information Systems employees (SelectHealth is part of Intermountain) are required to complete the training. And not just get the training, but to take and pass the accompanying certification exam, And it all has to be done within their first year of employment. I've been at SelectHealth for almost 9 months now, so there was additional pressure involved to make sure I could get the training in time. Thankfully, an opportunity finally opened up, and I was able to get in one. The training was mind-numbing. By the end of each day, I was just about ready to gouge my eyes out. Despite the difficulty of the exam, I passed (barely), and I live to work another day for SelectHealth. Plus, I get a little extra padding on my resume and LinkedIn profile. Go me!

Pizza Bender

On a lighter note, my friend Stephanie and I met up for lunch on Friday, and went to a little Italian joint called Italian Village. They have a lunch special there that they call a "Pizza Bender", which is basically a large calzone, stuffed with your choice of toppings. If you get the special, for about $10 the Bender comes with a salad, garlic bread, and a drink. It's fun, and tasty, and has plenty of cheesy goodness. Yum!

Choosing to Believe

There's been a lot of controversy going on this weekend about some recent church policy announcements. There's been plenty of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth on both sides, some from LDS and some from not. Times like this are uncomfortable, and often hurtful. Like many, I've been praying and pondering, reading scriptures and conference talks, and spending time in the temple to make sense of it all. This morning I woke up with a song from "The Prince of Egypt" going through my head. It seems to go along very well with the scripture our family has been ponderizing this week, as well as what I've been trying to do in particular this weekend. For any of my LDS friends who are disturbed by any of this, I invite you to ponderize this verse, and the song lyrics, and choose to believe. "For if there be no  faith  among the children of men God can do no  miracle  among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith." (Ether 12:12

Temple Devotional

Last Sunday, I was fortunate to be a guest at a devotional held for Salt Lake Temple workers. I don't work at the temple (yet), but got to tag along with Angel. The devotional was held in the Assembly room, which I had never been in before. It's a lovely large room, with a balcony, and several rostrums in front and back, representing the priesthood offices. The idea being that those presiding or participating, sit at their level of priesthood office, and conduct the meeting from there. It was fascinating. We were fortunate to have Elder Quentin L. Cook presiding at the devotional, so he sat at different rostrum level than some of the other officers. It was a wonderful meeting (although stifling - there's no a/c in that room). It was conducted by Elder Cecil O. Samuelson, who is the current President of the temple. Several former General Authorities, and Temple Presidents were also in attendance. There was also a choir comprised of some of the temple workers. We heard from

House Prep

Finally got around to taking care of a small home project yesterday. It may not seem like much, but I got out the epoxy, and repaired the broken tile on one of the kitchen cabinets. I think the work looks pretty good, despite me getting a little of the epoxy on the cabinet.  One day, all of the kitchen cabinets will come down anyway, but for now, it's nice to have it all back in one piece. Also, in preparation for the new flooring that's coming, I moved all the dining room furniture downstairs, along with some of the living room and bedroom furniture. The laminate gets installed this Friday the 13th, and the new carpet on Friday the 20th. So the upstairs will look a little less than inviting for a couple of weeks. But after that it'll all be back in one piece. Can't wait!

Temple Friday

Friday was my flex day, and knowing that the next day would be pretty busy, I headed down to the Salt Lake Temple that morning to do some initiatory. It was a cold and a gray day, but as always, the temple was lovely, and a great way to take away the gloomy day.

Outside Mullingar

Monday evening, I got together with my pals Cyndee, Rebekah, and Robin for Family Home Evening at the Pioneer Theater. We saw a play called "Outside Mullingar", and Irish play about a couple of middle-aged singles trying to come together over the period of several years. It was very funny, very Irish, and very enjoyable. We had a great time!

New Calling

Last week I was asked to meet with one of the Bishopric Counselors, who called me to be a Sunday School Teacher, specifically to the 13-year-olds. To say I was a little shocked and nervous is an understatement. I don't know a lot of teens anymore, and I don't know any of the kids in the neighborhood. Thankfully I'll have a co-teacher, and hopefully she and I will get along. Lessons apparently are done differently now, with the "Come Follow Me" guide, so that may take some getting used to. The first thing I did afterwards was send a text to my teenage nieces, asking for their advice. The almost 16-year-old replied back and suggested that I take the first 10 minutes of class to talk about what's going on in their lives and how their week went, to get the energy and chattiness out. The 17-year-old suggested to get to know the kids, allow for discussions, and ask the kids to do presentations, or summarize, or apply it to their lives. Such great advice from both

Halloween 2015

Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, but for those of us that work during the week, the celebration came a little earlier than normal and arrived on Friday. My previous employer really went all out for the occasion, but I wasn't sure what to expect for my first SelectHealth Halloween. I needn't have worried though. Folks dressed up, a party was held, kids and parents came trick-or-treating, and fun was had by all. And similar to my last job, not a lot of work got done. (Yours truly, dressed as Rosie the Riveter) (With members of our Reporting team, Rachel, Leila,  and Leila's daughter) After work, the family came over for dinner. I made taco soup, and then the niece and nephew helped me make a bowl of Grandma Edwards's monster mash, which we chowed on while watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Halloween hijinks indeed!