Tracie's World

I spent far too much time yesterday being bummed about not having tickets to the MoTab Christmas concert, so I tried various ways to keep myself occupied and in the Christmas spirit anyway. I sent some Christmas cards, and made some visiting teaching and neighbor deliveries. I also put up the tree, which I'd been avoiding doing because of how his royal highness is bigger than the tree.  Unfortunately, as soon as it was up, he started eating it and licking the lights, so although it is up, it's in my bedroom instead of the living room as normal.   (The tree in the bedroom) (Toby moping because I moved the tree) I also spent a few hours making our traditional family recipe molasses cookies and homemade vanilla frosting.  And I had a mini Christmas movie marathon - introducing Toby to "Christmas in Connecticut", "The Santa Clause", and "Home Alone". I'm still bummed I didn't get to see the MoTab, but it ended up being a p...

Had a fabulous evening Friday night with my friends Angel and Laura at the Utah Symhony! The guest performer was Brian Stokes Mitchell, who we love, and who put on an incredible performance. Such a fun Christmas activity!

Took my last final for the semester this week, and despite my best efforts to study and prepare, I received my worst score ever. I knew I had struggled in the class, and that I wouldn't do great, but the score was unexpected, and very deflating. Toby must have sensed it, because shortly after I got my results, he climbed up on my lap for a cuddle. What a sweet, albeit hefty, and spoiled, kitty.

The LDS Church has been doing it's annual "Light the World" campaign, encouraging us to share our light in various ways over the Holidays. Although my efforts haven't necessarily coincided with the daily tips, I've been fortunate to have some opportunities to serve and to share, and to express gratitude for the miracles in my life. These opportunities have drawn my mind to the Savior, and to stories about how he served, healing the lame and the blind, and mourning with those who mourn, among others. It has been a blessing for me to think about and participate in. I love the story of "A Christmas Carol", and I think this sentiment from Tiny Tim and his father Bob Cratchit expresses best how I've been feeling: " He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to  them to remember upon Christmas-day who made lame beggars walk and blind men see."   I hope we can all...

Attended a funeral the other night for a friend of mine, Stephanie Burton, who was killed last week in a tragic accident. She was apparently on her way to see the Festival of Trees, and was killed while crossing the street in the crosswalk. A young man was driving along and failed to stop for the pedestrians. My friend was unfortunately one of the victims. We weren't super close - she had a large group of girlfriends known as "The Posse", and it was often hard to get past all of them. But we were friends, and she was a great gal. She was my Relief Society President for a time in one of the singles wards, and later on, my visiting teacher in another ward. Not only did she faithfully serve me and many others, she was also vivacious and fun and the life of every party. She lived life to the fullest. We are all completely stunned that she is not in our world anymore. It seems sometimes that those that are the best of the best are the ones who are taken from us, and it alw...

This past Monday found several of us at Pioneer Theater for "Newsies: The Musical". If you remember the old movie, it's basically now in musical form. Some of the plot and characters have been changed - although what didn't work in the movie still doesn't work, despite the changes. But the songs and dances you loved in the movie are still there, and were incredible. All in all, a very fun evening at the theater.

The Saturday following Thanksgiving, Angel and I made our way to Brigham City, to attend the temple. It was a delightful day. Not only did we get to do a session there, but they were slow enough that we got to do some initiatory beforehand, which was a first for me, doing both in the same day. The temple is gorgeous, and such a great addition to that town. (Brigham City Historic Tabernacle, directly across the street) (Temple Spire - Holiness to the Lord) Afterwards, we stopped off at Maddox steakhouse for lunch (a tradition for anyone going to Brigham City). The salmon was amazing. A perfect end to a perfect day.

One of my nephew's spent some time at Shriner's this year. All Shriner's services are free for the patients and their families, so ever since his experience, I've wanted to do something to give back to them. A week or so before Thanksgiving, I happened to be looking around on justserve.org, and found the Giving Thanks, Giving Hope event, which is a 2k/5k/10k run/walk that's held annually on Thanksgiving, and all proceeds go to benefit Shriner's. It seemed like just the thing. Thanksgiving morning dawned bright and early, and beautiful. I met up with the good brother and awesome sister-in-law # 1 and their kids, and spent an hour or so walking along the Jordan River Trail, giving back to Shriner's. It was a ton of fun for a good cause, and I hope to make it an annual tradition.