Tracie's World

Arrived home very late last night to find an unexpected package in the mail from my Aunt and my Gramma in Iowa, filled with some neat family history things. There was a tortoiseshell comb and a tiny beaded choker that had belonged to my Great-Great-Grandmother Eastman. I'm told that she used to pin her hair up with the comb, and that the choker had been made for her by her sister, my Great-Great-Great-Aunt Addie. Lastly was a string of black beads that had belonged to my Great-Aunt Gleeda (her real name was Lilliath, but that was hard to pronounce, so it became Gleeda). I remember her very well, and she was so much fun. Us kids just loved her. Such a thoughtful gift and so neat to have these items, and to get a small idea of what my family members were like.  

Last night my pals Cyndee and Rebekah and I met up for a show at Pioneer Theater. I've lived here long enough to have realized that the UofU has two things going for it - Pioneer Theater being one of them (and Red Butte Garden being the other). Cyndee and Rebekah got "Rush" passes for the several shows throughout the season. The idea is that you get discounted tickets for 5 shows, and can choose what nights you want to attend. The only kicker is that you have to wait until an hour before the show starts to see if you can get tickets for that night. But it usually works out, and you end up seeing some good shows. I think I'm going to do that for next year. Anyhoo, we saw a new show, a musical version of The Count of Monte Cristo, with music by Frank Wildhorn (he also did popular musical versions of Jekyll and Hyde, and The Scarlet Pimpernel). It was a fun show, if not necessarily memorable. But it gave us a chance to get out and have a night at the theater together.

When I met with my Doctor a couple of weeks ago, she specifically prescribed to me that I have more fun and enjoy life. What with my work and temple schedule, that is something that has been in somewhat short supply for me recently. But this past Friday I took the day off and took her up on it. Among other things that day, I went for a morning walk around Holladay with my good friend Stephanie, and later that evening, I met up with my friend Robin for dinner at the local Soho Food Truck Park. It's a great spot in Holladay that brings in 5 or 6 different trucks all at once, and folks can come eat and sit and visit. We ordered Quinoa Salads and bottles of water from a Peruvian truck that I really like, and sat on the lawn while we ate.  After dinner we walked down to the local discount movie theater for another showing of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2". Then to finish things off, we grabbed a sundae from the DQ before walking home.  (On a side note: Can I just tell

Last week my Uncle and Aunt were in town for a brief visit, while passing through on their vacation. We hadn't seen each other since my Gramma's funeral, which was I think in 2009, so it was really great to visit and catch up with them. I took them on a little tour of Temple Square, and after that we met up with my Brother's family for dinner at one of my favorite hangouts, Gourmandise Bakery. Such a fun evening and so great to see them! Here's hoping it's not another 7 years before we can get together again!

Had an "interesting" experience today, my first ever "internet troll". For those unfamiliar with the ways of the internet and social media, an internet troll is someone who basically likes to pick a fight with people they don't know, and they do it on social media.  Seems I tweeted something a couple of weeks ago, a spiritual thought along the lines of "don't be afraid and don't be ashamed of the gospel", and I used the hashtags #truth and #sharegoodness. To my surprise, it got retweeted a couple of times (I have followers, but it's not like I'm top on anyone's list) and some meanspirited, anti-LDS person found his way to it. This person, knowing absolutely about me, and who I don'tknow from Adam, replied back with something along the lines of "yes you should be ashamed..." I'll spare you the full details. But it was unexpected, and unpleasant, to say the least. For several years now, the church has encouraged

Tried another recipe over the weekend from my PlantPure Nation cookbook, buffalo tofu hoagies, and they turned out really good, I must say. The idea is you drain and slice a block of tofu, then you cover the slices in spicy buffalo sauce, and bake them until the edges are crisp. Slap them on a hoagies roll with some strir-fried mushrooms and peppers, and a few tomato slices, and voila! The one gotcha in all this is that I'm not a huge fan of tofu (it's a texture thing). And although the Campbell clan would probably be disappointed, I covered the tofu slices in cheese (because let's face it, the "no cheese and eggs" rule is really what prevents me from going totally vegan). But I have to say that despite (or because of) the cheese, the sandwich turned out divine, more like a Philly Cheese Tofu Steak. I will totally make it again, although next time I might just try stir-frying the tofu slices instead.