Maxi Skirts

I have been sewing in the last week. Not just sewing, sewing maxi skirts. They are trendy, they are comfortable and they are perfect summer wear... so I figure it was a good thing to learn.

I ended up making two different skirts on two different days with two different friends. First, my friend Sarah helped me make one this last Friday. I went and picked out the fabric at Joanne's. I liked this green fabric. The rest of the evening... Sarah helped me sew this puppy. I think it turned out great. It is cute and comfy. In fact... I think I will wear it tomorrow. :)

The next maxi skirt I sewed with Monica. She had made one with some girls in her ward that were teaching how. It was so popular that they decided to do it the next week as well and Monica was nice enough to invite me along. Even though I had just made one... this one looks different and is different fabric... it was also made differently. Mostly it was just an excuse to hang out with Monica. We don't see each other enough these days. I love spending time with her. Always have.

Here we are with our finished skirts!

I love my maxi skirts and will be wearing them a lot this summer. :) 

Western Caribbean Video

This should work now because I didn't use YouTube.

This is the perfect summary of Steph and I's cruise to the Western Caribbean. I'm so glad I took video... it's like reliving the trip everytime I watch this. PS have I said how much I love my GoPro? Best birthday present I have ever given myself. :)  Enjoy! Hopefully it makes you feel like you went on the trip with us.


Cruisin the Western Caribbean from Tracy Mills on Vimeo.

Dating Problems...

Pretty much ever since I started dating, the guys I date get married to the girl they start dating AFTER me. I wish I were joking. It has happened so many times that I have lost track....

So does that say something about me? Am I good at preparing guys for marriage, but just not with me? Do they finally realize what they want because of dating me? Do they realize they are just not good enough for me so feel like they should just settle (that one was a joke). I don't know.... but I would love to figure it out.

It just happened again.... so it has been on my mind. How do I break the pattern? Do I need to date someone who has the same problem as me? So we will cancel each other out and marry each other? Or date a guy who dated a girl before me with the same problem?

Maybe it is all by chance and I just have really bad luck.... for the whole time I have been dating.....

Here's to hoping my bad luck streak will end someday. Until then, my neighbor Geoff and I have committed to not commit (to get married) and stay neighbors for life. :)

Goodbye Allyson

My dear Allyson moved to Texas a month ago. I am so glad that my BFF Nate dated her and that I had a space in my house that he could recommend to her. Crazy to think that was 4 years ago.  We have had so many good times in those 4 years. We have gone to a concert, some fun road trips and some hikes. So many good times with Allyson.

Although she moved to Texas... our good times are not over. Maybe not as often... but not over. I know she will come see me when she is ever in town PLUS I have already told her that I would come out to Texas and hang out with her. Just waiting for her to tell me when. I have never been to Texas... so this will give me the chance to explore a new place and see a new friend. That is what friends do right? 

Anyway, I miss her already. She was one of my favorite people to see. At church especially. Always so positive and made me feel so good about myself. Allyson is awesome. Can't wait to visit her in Texas.

These pictures were from her goodbye party.

Flashback Friday 114

Flashing back to August 2003, this was almost the last time I went to Dinkey Creek. I went back the next summer as well and that was the last time I was there. 9 years ago! I can't believe it has been almost 10 years since I have been there seeing as I grew up going there every year since I was a baby. This summer I hopefully will be going back.... I am going to try to make that happen.

Well... the second to last time I was there, Lolly came to visit for a day. She was in Fresno at the time which is right down the mountain. So great to have one of my best friends there with me. We always have fun together. Here are some pictures from that trip..... so glad we have nice digital cameras now... these pictures really aren't that great.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 167

Today is my parents anniversary! Happy Anniversary to them. I'm super glad they got married and decided to have 5 kids... especially #4 (that's me) :) They sure are great and I am blessed to be a part of the family.

I have had a ton of projects at work. I hate feeling like I can't get caught up on everything I have to do. Thank goodness I am boarder-line OCD and a great multi-tasker. I have been able to stay on top of things a lot better than some of the others.

I am on week two of my diet. I'm not hungry, I have energy and I don't feel gross. I think this diet is going to be good for me. After 1 week on the diet I lost 5 pounds and 2 inches. I thought that was a great start. I don't think it will continue at that pace.... but it is progress in the right direction. I might have a friend that wants to do it with me. I hope she does, it would be great to have someone going through it with me.... support system.

We went to the movies for work. We saw "42" which was about Jackie Robinson, the first black baseball player to join a white team. It was a great movie... even though I feel like so many of those movies have been done before.

One of my best friends, Steve just got engaged. I'm happy for him. His fiance is nice... met her while I was visiting him in Boston. I am happy for Steve... but I'm sad that I am the last one out of our gang to get married... when at one point I was going to be the first. What happened...? Steve and I always had each other to talk about our single problems. Not anymore.... hopefully it won't be too much longer for me either. Maybe 30 is the lucky age for Steve and I. Let's hope.

Saturday I painted the living room wall with two girls that are going to become my roommates in two days. I thought it was really sweet that they wanted to get a head start on bonding and help me paint. They are sweet girls and I'm glad I will have them as roommates. It has been sad to watch Sarah and Megan moving all of their stuff out though. The house is cleaned and all of their stuff is gone. Sarah is gone tomorrow, Megan will be gone on Saturday.... holding back the tears. We got some last minute bonding in tonight. Sarah and I went to cheer Megan on at her softball game.

All of the cleaning and moving out that has been going on... makes me want to clean and go through my stuff and reorganize and get rid of stuff. I should... spring cleaning, it's time.

So I know I haven't even been back from my cruise for a month yet, but I am already wanting to plan my next trip. Is that bad? Can you be addicted to traveling?

Oh! One of my next projects is planting in my patio garden. Love that time of year. I am actually surprised with some of my plants that survived the harsh winter. I love summer. It's such a happy time of year.

Today I was surprised by a random text from a high school friend that I rarely see or talk to, but that I love dearly and was one of my closest friends in high school. Catherine. She just text me these OLD pictures of us together. My photobooth days. I was obsessed with those things. I should find something cute to do with all of them. Looks like Catherine put them all on a ring. Cute idea. Anyway... it was as simple as sending me pictures in a text... but it made my day. I love and miss her. I imagine that if I lived in Santa Barbara still... we would hang out a lot. She is great.

Photo of the Week 165

So happy it is finally Spring. I love Spring.  Seeing the blossoms... makes me happy.

Plastic Bottle Flowers

I have been meaning to do this craft for a few years. Sad that I am just now doing it huh? Oh well. I got this idea from my sister Jamie in 2010. She is so cleaver. I went to visit her and she was making them and I thought they were so cute. I finally had a place to put them, so I finished the project.  Always feels good to complete another project.

How do you make them? Well... first you take a plastic bottle. 

Then you cut the bottle towards the cap end.

Cut lines for the pedals....

Then fold them over. 

Paint them. I painted mine to match my living room. 

Poke thumb tacks through the cap and stick them on the wall.

So glad I finally finished this project and found a place for it! Not the best lighting, but I love the way it looks on my newly painted grey wall. Thanks Jamie for the super cute idea!

Roommate Love

I'm feeling really sad today.... my roommates are packing up. Yesterday we had our last Sunday together. We have been trying to fit in all this last roommate bonding in before they leave... like watching all of the Harry Potter movies.

I of course support their decisions to move on and do what is best for them. I know we are still going to be friends and that we will still see each other, but it won't be everyday like I'm used to. It won't be the same. Megan and Sarah are the best roommates one could ask for. Our 8 months together flew by... but I think we made the most of it. We had a lot of great times together. Although I am getting great new roommates, I'm going to miss these girls dearly.

On our roommate to do list before they moved out, I suggested a mini photoshoot. I thought we were all looking nice for church yesterday, so we snapped a few pictures yesterday. So glad we did.

Thanks for the good times! Love you Meg and Sar!

Mr. Internet Part 3

I have gotten some interesting emails lately, so I thought I would share, like I have in the past.

Never a dull moment with online dating websites. Ok, here we go...

#1 - "Hey Girly, I'm Andy. Just a good boy with a naughty side. Just lookin for some fun, wanna play?"

#2 - "IM going to steal your random red chair in the middle of no where pic"

#3 - "How are you?.

First of all, I want to thank heavenly father because I was able to find you today.

Hmmm, besides being terrible at pick up lines,
I am also formal, and wild per needed as all good leading movie characters. I work, no vices, I am not crazy, and I can twist the harm of any authority to get a good recommend, -last one was a half joke-. I believe in finding my half orange and I think I will be grateful if such a thing is possible, it would be like a blessing I do not deserve, but who deserves any thing at all?.

I do not want to write a treatise, but hey, help me out a little bit.

Me "

#4 - "Just sending an awkward howdy doo"

#5 - "Hey you !!! why you don't answered me, do I am too hot for you so that's why you got scared of me..... Or something I just want to be your friend for now, I'm a real man though, I don't know what are you looking for, don't be shy send me a message, I'm a really nice guy..........!!!  "

#6 - "Well, I don't really know where to start, but, I guess if I were to begin anywhere. I'm currently a Humanities major with a minor in music, I'm learning to play the cello, and piano. Also... I've snuck into a construction site with some friends and played ninja on the roof where we hid from cars and people that weren't even looking for us. I know I know I'm awesome. Try and contain yourself! "

#7 - "Do you collect action heroes?"

#8 - "So I'm thinking about Friday... Can I have your number?"

#9 - "well, i hope youre having alot of success at catching those new boys...your inbox should have been overflowing with the potato chip duck lips, but maybe you were attracting the wrong brothers that way. i do like your new picture too though...you are very very very...i dunno, uhm...great. you are just great!! kidding...you are very attractive, i dont want to sound like a stalker but i have looked through your pics more than once. anyway...im blushing and, i gotta go. write me anytime."

I could put many more on here, but I will end with this...

#10 - This one I will tell a Tinder story... since Tinder is just another form of online dating. I was talking with this guy. His profile picture is of him with his shirt off... taking a picture of himself in the bathroom mirror (the classic). Typically there are stereotypes that go along with this type of dude. I ask him what he does for a living. He says he builds and market's websites... and breeds teacup pigs. I'm like... say what? You breed pigs? Then he sends me this super girly website in which he sells teacup pigs. Turns out they are wicked expensive. I asked him how he got into that.... expecting him to say it was a family business or something. He says... "because I thought they were cute". So much for the macho guy with his shirt off in the mirror. I was cracking up. I immediately started gchatting with Megan, since we were both at work and sent her the link. We decided we wanted to go in together to buy a teacup pig and we would have joint custody of it after she moves. The guy said he would get me a deal. I asked him if I married him if he came with a pig. His response... "some girls marry for money, some for teacup pigs". 

Cat Lady

This is going to be totally random... but how does one become a cat lady? It is a total stereotype... and I think everyone knows that... however, people still do it and they have to know.... I mean, they even make fun of cat ladies on tv and in the movies. So how does one let themselves get to that point?

So the reason why this thought crossed my mind... is because there is a lady on my floor... I walked by her office one day on my way to the break room and I noticed first that her office is the only one occupied in the entire hall. Second, that she keeps the lights off except for a lamp. I couldn't imagine sitting in the dark all day long. Third, she has a cat picture hanging in the window to her office and a big stuffed animal cat by her computer... this is all at a glance while I was walking by, there could be more.

Here's the thing... I could totally see being a lone and needing companionship of a pet. I understand loving animals. I love animals. I don't love cats, but maybe you love cats... that is fine. However, when does it cross over into loving them so much that you have pictures of cats everywhere and clothes with cats on them and you decorate you office with them?

I was talking to my co-worker about this. We came to the conclusion that maybe it is a generational thing and that our generation won't have cat ladies. Maybe? Who knows. Even if I stay single for the rest of my life... I will never become a cat lady. End of story.

Sorry... random rant of the day.... Moral of the story, don't become a cat lady. It's just sad.

Flashback Friday 113

Today I'm flashing back to January 2006. Sara and I did everything together. We threw awesome parties too by the way. This party we did not throw... but we attended. It was an 80's dance party. Sara let me borrow her leg warmers. Sara and I always had a good time together.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 166

Friday night, I started Megan on a Harry Potter Journey. She has never read any of the books or seen any of the movies. Can you believe that? Ya... me neither. This is why I told her before she moved out, she had to watch all of the Harry Potters. We are on the 5th one now as I type. Just to report... she is loving them. Not sure if we could be friends if she didn't. ;)

Sunday, my niece, Reanne, made me my very own magazine. She drew a picture of me on the top and then wrote an article on page two the rest was a bunch of pictures she took of me right then with my mom's ipad. She is so funny... and clever and thoughtful. I gave her a hug and thanked her for my fashionista magazine and she told me I needed to show all of my friends. I must say... between Reanne and Sierra... I have lots of cute stuff they have made me to show my friends. :) I love it.

Monday I started a new diet. I am yet again on a new diet journey... but I am hoping this time will end my yo yo dieting life. I am doing medifast. Supposed to be pretty full proof. All the meals are there for you. Anyway.... today is day 4. First couple days I was SUPER hungry, but yesterday and today I have been fine and even exercised and felt fine.... so I think this is going to work for me. I hope so. I mean... I hate grocery shopping and I like things that I can grab on the go... so this is that. Plus, I have a health coach that checks up on me all the time. I will let you know how it goes.

Wednesday Jeannie (my favorite pilates instructor) came back. It was such a good work out. I miss doing pilates... but I hate every other class I have gone to besides hers. She just has a gift. I just wish I could have her back for good. I would be in better shape and I would have a strong core again. For now... I'm super sore.

Today there were a bunch of lay off's at work. Thankfully our department wasn't involved, but there is always a sad atmosphere when that happens. We also found out in our meeting this morning that we are probably not going to get a bonus this year. Our last quarter end, we were mostly terminating contracts. Yeah... I wonder how long the company is going to last. Sad, but true.

So I have joined this new dating app. I know... another form of online dating. Turns out this dating app is SUPER popular. I have seen tons of people on there that I know. It is called Tinder, and you log in through your facebook. It pulls guys in your area that also have Tinder and you just see their picture. If you think they are cute you say yes, and if you don't you say no. If you say no, they don't know... if you say yes and they also said yes to you... then it tells you it's a match and then you are able to chat with them if you want. Currently I have 80 matches since I joined a couple of weeks ago. It has done more for me than LDS singles has. Lots of guys wanting to take me out. LDS singles is getting canceled. Anywho, I have been talking to several guys, but I went on my first Tinder date last night. We just went to the BYU Art Museum and talked. He was fun. The best part though was when my blog got brought up. I told him I liked blogging and I told him that my dream job would be to get paid to travel and blog about it. He told me I could. He makes a living off of marketing from blogs. He told me I should go for my dream job and he would help me do it if I want. I may just be doing that. I have some great ideas for it and I really want to go for it now. What is there to lose? If it was popular, I could make some great money. With how my work is going.... I may need to find another income. I'm excited about it.... I will let you know how it goes.

Photo of the Week 164

Exploring Bryce Canyon... and phone filters.

Cruisin the Western Caribbean

Steph and I had talked about taking a trip together since December. First I tried to convince her to go to Iceland with me... but it just wasn't meant to be. THEN she asked me to go on a trip with her for her spring break (first week of April) which is when I went on my last cruise 5 years ago. Anyway, when someone says they want to take an awesome trip with me, it is music to my ears. Of course I said yes. We decided on a cruise to the Western Caribbean. I wondered how it would be on the cruise with just the two of us since my first experience was with 7 other girls, but we were an awesome duo. We had a blast and we were well known on the ship. Anyway, we had such an amazing trip I don't know where to start! I guess... let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start...

Our adventure began Saturday night of March 31st. It had been a long busy day and Steph and I ended up meeting at the airport at 7pm to get on our flight at 8. We got on our plane, had a lay over in Arizona and stuffed our faces on our lay over in hopes for food coma which would help us sleep on our next flight to Miami. Unfortunately it didn't work. I was in the middle seat... next to a guy that was passing gas. Let's just say it was a long 4 hour flight and I didn't sleep at all. We got to Miami at 5:30 am. We couldn't check in at the airport for our cruise until 9:30. We were sleep deprived. We found some chairs by the Carnival check in and decided to try and take a nap until it opened. When we woke up we were surrounded by people... and they were looking at us funny.

We checked in, got on a bus that took us to the cruise and were on the ship, the Carnival Glory by noon where we could enjoy our first meal. Steph couldn't believe she could just go ask for food and then not have to pay for it. Cruise life is good. We toured around the ship, but mostly just stayed on the top deck and enjoyed the music, food and beautiful view of Miami (where I had never been before) and waited for everyone to board the ship before we took off at 4pm.

That night we got settled in and went to the diner and the opening show where we were introduced to the cruise director and assistant cruise director. We tried to be fun and social that night... but we were just too tired from the lack of sleep the night before and felt like bums so we went to bed early. The next day was a sea day. We actually went running on the track on the top of the ship. Had breakfast and then laid out for a couple of hours. Although I put on lots of sunblock, this is when we would get our big sunburns. First burn of the spring/summer. We then decided to check out different activities on the ship. Steph started her detective work in the Murder Mystery and I won my first medal in 70's name that tune.

We got all fancied up for the Captain's welcome aboard dinner and took pictures with the crew. Later that night we went to the 18+ club to go dancing. Steph and I love to dance. This is where we met our new friend Tyler. We knew he was from Utah because of the way he danced. We were right. He decided he wanted to meet up with us the next day.

Adventures in Cozumel, Mexico

We started our day swimming with dolphins. How awesome is that? I can't think of a better way to start the day. What an amazing and fun experience. Lunch was provided.

After playing with the dolphins, Tyler found us and we rented mopeds and spent the whole afternoon exploring the island. We went around the the whole island! It was so awesome to just explore. The beaches were picture perfect. We even found some Mayan ruins to check out. Small one.

Adventures in Roatan, Honduras 

Roatan is beautiful! I felt so at home there because it is so similar to the rest of Central America that I have traveled to. The rain forrest is beautiful. I never get tired of seeing it. We really didn't get enough time there... but while we were there, we went kayaking with a clear bottom kayak. Then we went snorkeling. The water was beautiful and clear and we saw lots of awesome fish. I could spend all day in the ocean observing sea life.

After playing in the water we went to play with parrots and monkey's and iguana's. I LOVE the tropics!

Adventures in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

This is the stop that we had the least amount of time... which made me sad because it was the place I was most excited for. I wanted to scuba dive here, but we only had enough time for our trip to the sting rays and that is about it. I will just have to go back some day. We did get to snorkel though which was great. That water is so clear that it is like you are in a pool. It is unreal. LOVED playing with the sting rays. So smooth and so friendly like playful puppy dogs!

Back to the ship.... After all of our stops, we had one more sea day to soak in the last bit of our cruise. Steph and I took advantage. We slept in, we ate, we laid out, won more music trivia games, danced and  dined. We loved being known by the crew and becoming their friends and when able, getting to hang out with them. Our favorites were Cruise Director Josh aka Big Sexy, Assistant Cruise Director Eversen aka The good Rev Doctor E and Dottie!

We loved eating at the diner every night. The food was so amazing. I had SO much sea food... every day. I was in heaven. I ate shark, alligator, frog legs, etc.. always fun to try new things when you have the opportunity. And although since it was just the two of us we always felt like we were crashing dates... we made some good friends. These two couples were the ones that we sat by the most during the week.

You know what the sign of a good vacation is? If you leave your vacation like this...

And come home to this... :)

Thanks Steph for an amazing vacation. Here's to more adventures to come!