Utah Dining - Take 8 Santa Barbara Style

I had to do this special Utah Dining post because there are two food joints that started in my hometown of Goleta/Santa Barbara and they are RIGHT next to each other in Sandy. WHAT??!! I asked them if that was on purpose.. and they gave me a clueless look and said no.

The Habit

Just some of the best burgers. People made such a big deal about In & Out and how lucky I was to grow up with it. Sure.. I grew up with it and it was ok, but we would ALWAYS choose the Habit over In & Out. Fresh and delicious. They do it right.

Freebirds

Awesome burritos. I don't know what else to say except that they are delicious. Fresh, flavorful and amazing.

I'm proud that these little places from Goleta have turned out to be such a big success. All I have to do is drive to Sandy to feel like I'm back home in Goleta/Santa Barbara California. It makes me happy. If only they were in Provo... well, it's probably a good thing that they are not. It will stop me from eating there often.

Mr. Flake

Like MANY others... I met Mr. Flake online. We chatted back and forth for a few days and it seemed to go pretty well so he asked me for my number and then asked me if he could "have the honor of taking me on a date". Well, how do you say no when someone asks you like that? 

Looking through each others schedules (especially mine this week) we decided to meet on Wednesday. Home boy doesn't have a car, so I agreed to meet him in Salt Lake after work. Typically I like to meet in the middle, but I was feeling nice. He asked me to meet him at a Tea place. I agreed. 

Wednesday came and I ended up being at work until after 6. He called me right around the time I was about to leave. He called me to make sure we were still on and to set up a time. I still needed to go home and change because it started raining and I also needed to fill up on gas before heading up to Salt Lake. We decided that 7:30 would give me enough time to do that and drive up and give him plenty of time to get dinner. He told me his phone was about to die, so that is why he wanted to set the time. It was all set.

I run home, change and fill up on gas and start my drive to Salt Lake. It was raining. I hate driving in the rain. You can't see as well, people drive like idiots... I just didn't want to drive to Salt Lake in the rain... on top of that, I was tired from a hard workout and a long day at work.... but on I went because I am a woman of my word. 

I get to the tea place right on time. I drove 40 minutes and I got there on time. Mr. Flake lives in the area and he was not there. So I waited outside for a few minutes looking around, waiting for him to walk up at any minute. I felt awkward waiting outside by myself... so I went inside. It was awkward waiting inside by myself too... but at least it was the type of place where you could sit and hang out or study or whatever... so I sat at a table by myself and played on my phone... trying to act busy and not awkwardly waiting for a guy that I have never met before. I sat there... waiting by myself for a HALF HOUR. I hadn't heard anything from him, so I was irritated and I didn't feel like waiting any longer. So I walked out and I went to my car. 

As soon as I sat down in my car, he called me. I almost didn't answer, but I was so curious of what he was going to say. I pick up. I'm annoyed so I know this conversation isn't going to go well. He tells me he is so sorry. He just plugged in his phone and saw what time it was. He thought he was early... he had lost track of time because his phone died. He told me to drive back and to let him make it up to me. Even though I was still there, just in my car, I told him that I had already left and I didn't want to drive back. I drove 40 minutes, waited for him for another 30 and then had another 40 minute drive home... I didn't want to waste anymore time on him. Also, I was already mad at him before I met him, I don't think it would have gone well anyway... that isn't a good way to meet someone. So I drove home.... in the pouring rain which made me even more mad. 

While driving home there were things that went through my mind that made me more mad at him. He called me knowing his phone was dying... so don't you think he would have prepared for that? Bring a watch, look at the clock at the place that you got dinner, charge your phone enough to get by for the night before you leave. He plugged his phone in at the place that we were supposed to meet and started talking to me then. So.... why couldn't he plug it in while he was at dinner... or somewhere else? So much that didn't make sense to me. 

He begged me to give him another try. I said I wouldn't go all the way to Salt Lake just the meet him again. He reminds me he doesn't have a car. I tell him, well.... next time I'm in Salt Lake for another reason, I would let him know and maybe it would work out. Honestly, I have no interest in doing that.  We haven't spoken since and I'm fine with that. 

This is the first time I have EVER been stood up on a date. I hope it is my last.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 321

It has been SO rainy! I don't mind the rain, but I am READY for the sunshine.

Over the weekend.... I did NOTHING. I hate that. I sat on the couch all weekend because it was cold and rainy and didn't have anything to do. I don't want another repeat of that. I also woke up Saturday morning with a sore throat. I went from bad allergies to cold. However, I told that cold where to go because I took some ongaurd and got a lot of sleep and drank lots of water and it went away that night. Thank goodness for that. My allergies have also pretty much gone away now... probably because pretty much all the blossoms have fallen off of the trees.

Tuesday I was asked to give a class about massage for our relief society spa night activity. It went really well. Everyone really took in everything that I had to say. It was better than I expected it to be. Everyone understood the important of massage and was inspired to get them more often and take better care of their bodies... which was the whole point. I also taught the girls a few techniques that they could try on each other and lectured about having a foam roller. I have a love hate relationship with my foam roller... I recommend it to everyone. Anyway... great class.

My diet is going down hill fast. I am back on sugar and sticking less and less to my diet. To make things worse, Friday we had "Fun Food Day" and I made my Lemon Lavender cake and I ate crap all day and this week is quarter end, so they give us a bunch of treats and give us lunch and breakfast... It's sad. Anyway... I feel fat and crappy again. I have been going to the gym and working pretty hard at the gym and the days that I'm not busy, MacKenzie and I have been walking after work and my co-worker Joe and I sometimes walk around the campus for a break. It's not enough though. So that leads me to what else happened this week...

Tonight I met with a personal trainer. I have done the personal trainer thing before through 24 hour fitness. It's expensive I know, but I think I have gotten desperate for a change. Last time I did it... It was only for 5 weeks I think maybe a little longer, and we only met together twice a week. We talked about diet, but he didn't really make a plan for me in that area. This time... I think it will be different. From what we talked about tonight anyway. I will be going to Orem to this guy's personal gym. I will be working out with him Monday-Friday for an hour every day. He will put me on a detox diet for the first 14 days... after that he will give me shopping lists and meal plans of what I will eat along with working out with him everyday. It is going to be hard and it will suck... I'm not sure it will get any easier... but I need to do this. I want to be in good shape. I want the transformation. So... I'm hopeful. I am strong and I work hard... so I think I can do this. I start Monday.

I FINALLY finished Ally McBeal. It took a long time to get through 5 seasons. That show was weird and a half. There were SO many different guest stars. So many of the main characters left with no explanation. I was glad when I finally got to the end. So now I am catching up on my other shows. Blacklist, New Girl, Agents of Shield, Blindspot, Mindy Project, Nashville, etc... I started watching Dance with the Stars because of Nile... he is the deaf guy that won America's next top model. He is SO GOOD. It is amazing to me that someone who can't hear music can dance so well. He is also VERY nice to look at. Just saying. At night I have been watching Catfish. I have now gotten two of my roommates hooked on it as well. (I didn't even mean to make a pun there... just happened). It's hard not to fall in love with Nev and Max. Such a fun show. I am in the 3rd season now. So good.

I had a date set up for Wednesday...... I was going to write about it... however, I think it deserves it's own post. So I will write one tomorrow.

Still practicing the Ukulele and Guitar. I put a new battery in my tuner so now both are perfectly in tune. It is amazing how long I played my guitar out of tune. I knew it was, but I didn't think it was as bad as it was. Anyway... still trying to decide if I am going to start recording myself sing and play. That has always been hard for me to sing and play at the same time, so maybe that would be good practice for me.

 Getting close to setting my patio back up. As soon as I feel like it is going to stop raining, I'll get the patio ready. I'm excited. Nothing better than having my patio back (back to pretty and being a hang out space) and spring cleaning. Still getting going through stuff to get rid of stuff. I love having a clean and non-cluttered space. I know... so weird. I thought that was normal, but I don't think it is because the majority of the people that I have lived with have not been like that. One day... I will have more control over my house. I dream of having my own place once day and what it will look like. Anyway....

I guess that is all for this week. Peace.

Photo of the Week 319

You know how I love sunsets... this was taken just up the street from where I live. Just have to walk up a little hill and then I have a pretty nice view over Provo.

Rainy Day's and Monday's

I guess Rainy Days and Monday's DO get people down. I was the only one at the gym today.



Not mad about it....

Redecorating the Living Room

My living room in the basement has been decorated the same for the last 5 years or so. It was inspired by my trip to India. I loved it... especially loved how unique it was... but I was ready for a change. Side note, while searching for my old images of my living room online... expecting to just come across my blog in the image search I found that pictures of my living room are posted on a  few different websites and I had no idea until just now. I guess people don't need your permission to do that? One of them sited my blog but the others didn't. Whatever. Here is what the living room used to look like.

Now I'm not doing a FULL makeover to the room, a lot of the main stuff is staying the same, but I have been switching things out here and there. I'm not going to give you a picture of the entire room because it isn't done, but I wanted to show you bits and pieces so far.  I have obviously changed the look by going more neutral and taking out a lot of the colors. Question now is... do I get a new couch? I was looking at a charcoal grey one. Do I take the decals off of the wall? Do I get any additional seating? Or will that look too crowded? When I feel like the room is complete, I will post a final picture... so far I like the changes I have made but I do feel a little bit stuck of how I want to complete the look.

Got rid of my old book shelf and got this one. I love the look of this one even though it doesn't hold as much as my old bookshelf did.

Did away with the colored pillows (well, they are all still there, just covered with these new cases... except for the fur one) and went neutral.

Got a coffee table. Not 100% sure on the table runner... just testing it out, might just like the plain wood better. Oh and a new rug... which I am in love with. Thank you RugsUSA for my 80% discount on Cyber Monday.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 320

So Prince died today. So weird that all of these big celebrities have been dying lately. Also weird that my fish, Purple Rain, died so soon before Prince did. Coincidence? You can decide.

Today I was coming back from the gym on my lunch break and about to get on the elevator. The door opened and there was a guy inside. He wasn't coming off the elevator... just stalling there. I started to wonder what was going on. He started to slowly back out of the elevator and I looked at his face and he seemed to have a weird look on his face... confused? Unsure about something? I don't know. He finally gets all the way out and starts to walk away and I walk in feeling very suspicious of what was happening. As soon as I walked in the elevator and the doors closed I should have guessed what happened. He farted in the elevator and now the smell was trapped in there and so was I. Gross! I don't know why people haven't caught on at work yet that smells stay trapped in the elevator for a VERY long time. If a smoker just came back from their smoke break, that smell lingers for a long time. If someone has bad body oder THAT smell lingers for a long time... so if you decide to fart in the elevator, that too is going to linger for a long time. Aren't they embarrassed by that? I would be, but I would never do that in public... like ever. Yuck. Hopefully the people that got on after me didn't think that I did it.

I have been walking (and a little bit of jogging) after work everyday to get my 10,000 steps in. Usually my roommate MacKenzie has been going with me, which has been nice. Makes the 3 miles go by faster when you have someone to talk to. Today she couldn't, but on my way out I ran into my friend Daniel who I hadn't talk to or hung out with in a while and asked him if he wanted to come, so he did. That was nice. He has been such a dear friend over the last few years. I mean... we don't hang out or talk that much, but he is one that I know always cares and I could go to him for anything if I wanted to and he would be there. If only I could convince him to go on another trip with me... we shall see. I'm working on him. He isn't opposed, I just have to get him to commit. :)

I learned another new song... this time on the guitar and not the ukulele. It is a song called "5 foot 3" and it is my favorite song by the band Flannel Graph... the ones that I saw at the BYU radio station with Stacey. Anyway... I learned it on the guitar and I can play and sing at the same time which is really hard for me to do, so even though it's an easy song, I am going to pat myself on the back for it. Maybe I will record it and post it on here. I don't really do that... but maybe I will start. We will see.

I'm still watching Ally McBeal. That show is weird and a half. I'm pretty over it... but you know how I am... I have to see it through until the end (if I know there is an end) I'm on season 4 so I just have to finish this season and I have one more season to go.  Meanwhile... I am still keeping up on all of my other shows, but the one I am still super hooked on is "Catfish". Not only that but I got my roommates hooked on it too. It is just so interesting...plus I just love the guys that do the show. MacKenzie and I are getting a big crush on Nev. Not ashamed to admit my TV crushes. I became social media friends /pen pals with Morgan from "The Travel Bug" maybe I will reach out to Nev too. ha ha. We shall see. I did start following his page on Facebook though and it made me like him even more because he puts out a lot of positive messages... especially to women to love themselves for who they are and not get caught up on outward appearances. What a great guy. Just trying to be a positive influence on the world. It's respectable.

So I wrote all about my adventure to the Sun Tunnels. I had so much fun making new friends. What a fun group. I was most festinated by John, the Deaf guy that came. He is the sweetest. I was also SUPER impressed by him. He has been deaf since he was 2 because of getting sick and being allergic to the medication the doctors gave him but not knowing. However... he didn't learn sign language until his mission his friends told me. That blew me away. How do you go through life with no language. He was AMAZING at reading lips and could talk a little bit. He told me that he read a lot of books. Anyway... super cool guy, I am excited to hang out with him again and in the meantime, I have been learning basic sign language on YouTube so that I can hopefully communicate with him a little better next time we hang out. Hopefully I can learn from him too, but he mostly just reads lips with people he hangs out with. Although these friends... were really good about learning sign and including him in all the conversation. Really cool. I hope to be spending more time with all of them. I always wanted to learn sign language too, so maybe this is now my excuse.

I had a date on Monday with a guy that I met online. He lives in Sandy, so we met for dinner in the middle. We talked for 3 hours... so I would call that a good date. I told him after that I had fun and he wrote back telling me he had fun too... but then I haven't heard anything since. I wish I could tell what people were thinking sometimes. This is why I don't put stalk into anyone until not only we have met in person... but gone on a few dates at least... then I can start thinking of them as potential. Until then, I don't assume anyone is going to stick around. It's sad, but true. Who knows... maybe I will hear from him again and we will hang out, but I'm not holding my breathe. It's fine, I had fun, but it's not like he was amazing.

Tonight after my walk, I went to the Food Truck Roundup by myself. I just didn't feel like eating another salad. That is all I eat for lunch and dinner every day. It was time for a change. Plus I love the roundup. I just try not to go anymore because it's expensive and not healthy. It's ok every once in a while though. So I went. It was so nice outside, it seemed like a good activity to do. No regrets.

Other than that... I have just been working and exercising every day. Nothing too exciting. That and enjoying all of the blossoms. My favorite trees are all in bloom right now, they are always the last ones to bloom, but they are beautiful and they smell the best. I just want to hammock under them and take in the smell. Thankfully my allergies are dying down as well. those are a pain. That was me week. Until next week!

Photo of the Week 318

These are some of my favorite trees during Spring. They look beautiful and smell just as great.

I LOVE Spring!

All of the trees are in bloom, including my favorite orchard in Provo. So I decided to try and take some hammock pictures for Nod Hammocks since I have been slacking on hammock pictures for them lately. It was a little hard to get pictures in the hammock by myself... but I managed to get a couple.

Sun Tunnels

I have a long list of places in Utah that I want to see. A lot of them I wouldn't know about if I didn't follow different Utah accounts. One of the places that have been on my list for a little while is The Sun Tunnels. I have seen cool pictures of them and all I knew is that they were in the middle of nowhere out kind of by the Salt Flats.

My friend Kyle and I both love photography. He does more portraits and I do more nature, but we both dangle in the other's specialty. We have talked about collaborating and doing more photoshoots together... but so far we only did Bridal Veil Falls shoot together, until this last weekend.

I asked Kyle if he would want to go to the Sun Tunnels with me to take pictures. He said yes and in true Kyle fashion invited other friends to come with. He has a lot more friends than I do... it's fine. I didn't realize that he invited 3 people, but I didn't have any expectations. I go to pick him up at his house... he first grabs a friend that was over at his house already. This friend was deaf. Then he told me we were going somewhere else to pick up his next friend.... so we did that. Then we drove to Draper to meet up with his next friend that was going to drive the rest of the way there. The two guys seemed friendly enough... when we got to Draper to meet the girl, right off the bat I didn't think I was going to like her. I thought she was going to be loud and annoying and our personalities were not going to mesh. Kyle decided I was going to sit up front with this girl and the boys were all going to sit in the back... although I was kind of bummed because I was looking forward to learning some sign language in the back seat... I embraced the front seat with this girl. As I often am... I was wrong about this girl and we had a ton in common and we laughed and sang and danced on our little road trip to the middle of nowhere. We chatted away and started making plans for the rest of the summer. It was amazing how, like me, she is super open to new friendships with people that are like minded and want to do the same type of things. She ended up being super genuine and took me into the group... in fact, they all did. They were all super good friends that have hung out plenty. I was the odd one out, but I didn't feel that way at all, which was really awesome. I think that says a lot about a group.

We didn't get to the Sun Tunnels in time (too many stops) and it was dark and cold and windy by the time we got there. We still hung out for a while anyway and then headed home determined to go back again in time for sunset. We had a blast together, which made it so I wasn't so disappointed in not getting there in time, because I made 3 new friends... which was more important to me. I became better friends with Kyle... I mean, we don't know each other that well  anyway. We met in the Shake is Off Video and did one photoshoot together. However, on the way home we decided that we must have many more adventures this summer. We started a Summer Adventure club. I hope it pans out, because it if does... I have a fun new crew. And maybe some new travel buddies. We shall see. What a random and fun new adventure. I'm excited about my new friends.

My friend Kyle took this picture of the Sun Tunnels that night. Turned out pretty cool.

Teddy Ruxpin

After my Grandma passed away, I requested getting to keep Teddy Ruxpin if my aunt or uncle didn't claim him. He was my favorite toy growing up at my grandparents house. Besides the blocks. Anyway... Teddy Ruxpin and I reunited. I got to keep him and was pretty excited about it. I put some new batteries in him and he still works! 

10 Reasons why Provo Rocks

When I first moved to Provo, I only associated Provo with BYU... which most people do. I get asked all of the time... "why do you still live in Provo, aren't you too old to be living there? There is not a lot to do there if you don't go to BYU". I used to agree with that... but that was before I became more educated about what was around me. As it turns out there are a lot of things I love about living in Provo.

Whenever I have had couch surfers stay with me, if I have time, I show them around Provo and take them to a few local spots. I always wondered why out of towners would want to stop and stay in Provo, but when I have take them around... they all LOVE Provo. It has some hipster qualities to it for sure... that is all the rage these days. It's more than that though.

Let's start with the fact that it is beautiful here. There is very little traffic compared to Salt Lake... I mean, I'm extremely lucky to have a 5 minute commute to work. And yes, living next to BYU does bring more opportunities of activities to do here because there is so much talent at that school... you could go to concerts, plays, sports events, education week, time out for women, comedy shows, dance competitions... the list goes on, but this post isn't about that. I wanted to list 10 things that I love about living in Provo that have NOTHING to do with BYU.

*Note, all of these photo's were taken from Google Images - except the Disney Shake it off pic is mine*


#1 - We have the Freedom Festival. It's kind of a big deal. Just Stadium of Fire gets people from all over to Provo to go to the big show and see the headliner in concert. Along with the Stadium of Fire, we have quite the firework show, a 5k & 10k race, a parade and even a hot air balloon festival that all goes along with the event. It's a party.

#2 - We are the only city that now has 2 temples! Crazy right? They even have a race that starts at one temple and ends at the other temple. They are a few miles away from each other. Pretty cool.

#3 - Something that a lot of people don't know about is something called Creative Collaborative. It is a meeting once a month where they invite artists, musicians, successful business owners and other creative successful people to come speak to whoever wants to listen... in hopes to uplift and inspire the people that have come to listen. It's the second Tuesday of every month at the Provo Rec Center (Used to be at the Startup Building) and the best part? It's free!

#4 - YouTube Hopefuls. That is what my friend and I call them. There is a lot of talent in Provo. Everyone is trying to make it big with their own YouTube Channels. If you ever want a chance to be in a YouTube video that will probably go Viral... you will most likely find it in Provo. I can't tell you how many people I know that have YouTube video's that have gone viral. I have been in one! Shake it off - Disney Style. Stewart Edge is another big one in town. He lives near me and we have hung out in groups a couple of times. Studio C... one of them is a good friend of mine. The list goes on... I'm not even surprised anymore when I know someone else who makes a video that goes viral. It's normal here... and not hard to get in on.

#5 - Every summer for the entire month of August, Monday night's after dark you can go to Rock Canyon Park to see free outdoor movies. It's one of my favorite things to do in summer. Something about watching movies outdoors on a blanket in the grass under the stars with a ton of people. It's great...and even more great that it is free.

#6 - The Food Truck Roundup! It's a huge hit here. It goes almost the entire year every Thursday night at the Startup Building. Not only is it fun to go and try new food from the 20 trucks that are lined up there, but it's a fun social event as well. I always run into people that I know. Some Thursday's they even have live music as well. Obviously it is more hoppin in the warmer months, but people love their food trucks enough to go all year.

#7 - Speaking of all year long... I go to Utah Lake all year. It's so close, so I drive over there ALL the time just to watch the sunset. It's one of the best places to watch the sunset in my opinion. I never get tired of it.

#8 - Not all activities are in the Summer. They go all out for the New Year as well. They have a couple different parties. One big one is on Center Street and the Other at the Provo Towne Center. Either way... there is a big party (concerts, games, performers) and there are fireworks.

#9 - All Summer they have the Rooftop Concert Series. It's the first Friday of every month. It used to be on the roof of a parking garage, which was a pretty awesome setting.... but it got too big and they had to block off all of Center Street for the Concert/Party. It is getting big enough that they are getting better headliners too. Last summer's Rooftop Concert Series ended with Kaskade... which was a HUGE party. Have I mentioned how much I love Provo Center Street? It's so charming. Sorry, side note. The Rooftop Concerts have become a huge event that people come from all over for.

#10 - I saved the best for last. My favorite part of living in Provo is being close to Provo Canyon. I could create another list just of fun things to do IN Provo canyon... but I will just name a few. We have 2 beautiful waterfalls, Deer Creek, great fishing, you can go rafting down Provo River, go on some great hikes, it has skiing/snow boarding, at Sundance they have have the Full Moon Ski Lift Ride that you can take during every full moon in summer & fall) they even have a zip line. All in Provo Canyon.

So you see.... when people ask me why I live in Provo... or they tell me there is nothing to do here or Provo isn't that great. I laugh. They just don't know.... but I do. Provo is pretty cool.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 319

Another week. What happened in the life of Tracy. Probably not a whole lot. Let's see...

Friday My managers took me out to lunch and to shop at their favorite boutique "Busy Biddy" which I had never heard of. I love discovering new places though. This place is kind of fun because they have home decor and clothes and shoes. Just a mix match of stuff. I got a couple of things. It was nice to not worry about how long we were gone for the lunch hour because I was with my managers... so it didn't matter. :) It was nice of them to take me and spend time with me getting to know me outside of work.

Friday night... after the fashion show that I modeled in for my friend Josh, I went with my friends Becky and Lindsay to the Best of Humor U show at BYU which our friend Ian was performing in and this other guy in our ward, Drew. Drew actually was my favorite set that night. For being the best of show... I didn't think it was that funny... not as funny as the last show that I went to. It was ok... I mean, I get they are not professional's, but I wish they would think outside of the box with the jokes they tell. Outside of hating on themselves, provo being made up of mostly white people and Mormon jokes. I get that is their audience... but I think there are a lot of everyday stuff that you could joke about. It was still fun to get out and do something.

Saturday I went with Becky and Allison to a free class at REI in Salt Lake about backpacking and packing light. I thought it was pretty interesting and I learned a few things. The guy teaching the class was also pretty entertaining which made it nice. It got us all exciting for our trip to Havasupai this summer that I am organizing. Who knew that I would be the one to organize all of these fun outdoor adventures. If you would have asked me 5 years ago or so... I wouldn't have guessed I would be doing that. People now come to me for outdoor and travel adventures. It's really nice. Back to the class, we all enjoyed it and then spent time looking around at REI. That is a dangerous thing for me. I see all of the awesome new and improved outdoor/camping gear out there and I just want it all. I of course talk sense into myself and don't buy things just to buy things if the stuff I already have works great. I really do have great gear so far.... thanks to dating a mountain man and having him shop with me and help me pick things out. I have had something on my list for a while that I haven't bought because it hasn't been necessary to have so far, but I broke down and bought it while I was there because I will be needing it for backpacking this summer. A camping stove. A tiny compact camping stove. I got a jetboil which is awesome because not only does it boil your water in 3 minutes, but the side changes colors when it is boiled and it has a protective case on it so I won't burn myself... and it is so tiny! I'm excited to use it this summer. I also got some more travel bags to separate my stuff in my backpack and I got a new camping pillow because I never sleep great on mine... it was time to upgrade the pillow. So... I'm excited for my new stuff and I was glad that I went to that class with Becky and Allison. It is nice to have other adventure buddies.

Saturday night Allison and I went to our friend Dallin's wedding reception. I still can't believe how he changed his life and became a new man. He was really over weight, finally decided it was time to make a change and over a year and a half lost 150 lbs or something like that and started dating and fell in love and got married. I'm really proud of him and also really inspired by him. If he can do that, I should be able to be healthy and lose weight AGAIN too right? Right! I'll keep at it. I don't go to weddings much anymore, but Dallin has been a good friend over the last few years, so I went to his. My BFF neighbor (Darrell) was there and said the exact same thing... he doesn't go to weddings anymore either, but for Dallin, we made an exception.

Speaking of diet and exercise. I am gotten WAY too use to eating sugar again. I'm eating it every day again like I was before. Still eating pretty healthy day to day.... but I got to cut out that sugar again. Lisa and I are the same. We both started to struggle at the same time. We are both trying to find motivation to start fresh again. It is hard (for me) when it is so cold. It has been pretty cold this week. I'm going to try and refresh and start strict again on Monday. For some reason it always has to be on a Monday for me... start of a new week I guess. So wish me luck. Other than that... I am still eating healthy, still going to the gym everyday AND I signed up for the 10,000 step challenge at work. So I have been walking after work every day as well. My roommate MacKenzie has been going with me, which has been really nice. However, my jawbone isn't really working anymore which is stupid. I will have to call the company and see if there is a special reboot I can do or something. I don't know, but I have only had it for a little over a year. Seems too soon to be pooping out on me. Anyway... the extra walking has been good for me. I will work my way up to making that walk a run after work.

I have learned a couple of songs on my new ukulele. It's fun. SO much easier than learning the guitar... maybe it's good that I started with the guitar. Anyway... I have only learned a couple of easy songs... like the Lava song as my sister, Jamie suggested. :) Allison talked about bringing hers to Havasupai when we go this summer. Maybe I will bring mine too and we will have a jam session.

I got a new bookshelf off of Amazon. Used the last of my Amazon gift cards that I had from work. It was a $150 bookshelf that I got for $50 after using my gift card. It was easy to put together and I really like the way it looks. It goes well with my style change in the basement living room downstairs. It is a little smaller than my last one, but I think that is a good thing, it is forcing me to go through my stuff and get rid of stuff I really don't want of need anymore. Including books. I have a lot of silly books. I also have a lot of scrapbooks that I made when I was little. One of these days (who knows when) I want to take all of those scrapbooks and scan the pictures and make them all into digital books. It was take up WAY less space and preserve the pictures. Would be nicer too since my scrapbooks are silly. That is a HUGE project though, so who knows when I will actually go that. I still need to make a book from my Philippines trip AND my Brazil trip. I'm a little behind. Oops. Back to my book shelf... as soon as I set up my new one, I wanted to get rid of my old one because it was taking up space. This was at 11:30pm that I wanted it gone. I got on my ward Facebook page and posted that if anyone wanted a free bookshelf to let me know. Within seconds I had 3 people asking about it. So I said, whoever comes to get it first can have it. One of the girls came over right away and when she saw how big it was, realized she was going to need help carrying it so she went across the parking lot to a boys apartment with the lights on and asked them to help move it and they did. From the time I decided I wanted it gone at 11:20pm to 11:50pm it was gone and out of my house. Single living. I was surprised, but not that surprised. I was happy it was gone so fast. Made things easier for me.

Tuesday I went to Creative Collaborative. It has been a long time since I have been. I either have other stuff going on that night or I forget or it's not someone I really care to go see speak. It's once a month every second Tuesday. I get the emails about it every month. I haven't gone since they changed location from the Startup Building to the Provo Rec. It's still free, so that is the important part. Anyway... the reason why I put this one on my calendar and made sure to go is because Brooke White was speaking. A lot of people probably don't really know who she is anymore, but she was on American Idol the season that David Archuleta was on. I watched that season religiously and went to that concert after the show was over. I think I actually only watched one more season of American Idol after that season and then I didn't think it was that great anymore. ANYWAY... Brooke White spoke and it was free and she spoke on overcoming self doubt and insecurities and still being successful and creative. She talked about her own story and how many people doubted her and told her she couldn't do it and how much she doubted herself but she still went for it. She has like 5 albums out, but she doesn't really tour or promote herself... largely because of her insecurities. Anyway... it started late and went WAY long, but I went by myself and I was glad I went. It was inspiring and I always liked her, so it was fun to listen to her talk and sing.

Tonight I went up to Salt Lake to my friend Sarah's shop. I wanted to order a new purse because I LOVE her purses. They are my style...so cute, so original. She is a pretty talented lady. I have amazingly talented friends. It was fun to catch up with her.

Yesterday I went to dance fitness which I have had her just warm up with dance and then we get into weights... anyway, this week I wasn't the only one in class! Hooray. Some guy came. I think he might start coming every week. He seems nice and pretty cool, so that will be a nice change not to be the only one in class.

Remember Mr. Mystery? We never met... and he pretty much broke up with me over text. ha ha. It was one of the weirdest conversation I have had with someone I have never met before. He told me how much he liked me and how attached to me he was and how sad he was to have to say goodbye to me, but I was going to find someone so much better and things got worse with his health and with his grandma and his ex is back in the picture full time now... so he was back with her and deleted his Tinder account. Mmmk.... goodbye mystery man. Who knows if you were ever a real person to begin with. Guess I will never know, but whoever that person was, we did seem to have a lot in common. If only I could find that in real life now.

So from that experience... it inspired me to start watching "Catfish" on Hulu. It's a tv show. This guy was catflished online. He fell in love with this girl online but come to find out she was a totally different person than who she said she was. His brother and friend filmed the entire thing and made a documentary out of it that did really well and tons of people started writing him with their own online stories, so he decided to do a tv show out of it. So each episode he meets up with someone who hasn't met the person they have fallen in love with online and has them meet them. I have watched like 9 episodes so far I think and so far only one person was who they said they were... they just didn't want to meet because they had gained so much weight. Every other person has been pretending to be someone else. The show is SO interesting. It's sad that people are out there doing this, but at the same time, the show is very uplifting because the guys that are making the show are SO positive and are trying to give people on both sides a positive outlook on the experience and kind of play therapist on why they are doing what they are doing and helping them change and grow from the experience. So far... I am totally hooked on the show. I'm still also watching Ally McBeal. I am on the 3rd season. The show is TOTALLY weird. But I'm committed. It's interesting, but I wouldn't say I love it. I'm still trying to figure out why it won awards. Maybe because it was an edgy show at the time? Probably. Pushing the edge seems to win awards. Whatever. I'm more excited about the Catfish show... and staying caught up on all of my other shows. ha ha. There are so many now.

Stacey bailed on Dancing through Utah. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since we don't hang out unless I reach out to him. I can only keep that up for so long. I hate feeling like I am bugging people and I always feel like I'm an inconvenience to him. So now I am trying to figure out if I still do the video and have different people dance with me every place? Or if I do it by myself... which I feel like would be stupid... or I just quite and don't do it even though I was super excited about it. I don't know.

I guess that's it. Another week in the life of Tracy.

Photo of the Week 317

This was one of the sunsets from last week. It's awesome when the colors affect the entire sky instead of just the west. I took this from my back patio. These are the mountains that I get to look at everyday... and I'm pretty happy about the view and living so close to the mountains.

Happy 4th Birthday to Irelyn

Keeping the birthday tradition alive, I drove up to Salt Lake to take Irelyn out for her birthday treat with Aunt Tracy. Just like Reanne, I was a couple of weeks late, but that mostly had to do with her Grandma Di Di being in town. 

Last year, Irelyn wanted frozen yogurt for her birthday treat. This year... she wanted a pink cupcake. She has turned into all things girly. Most Sunday's she comes to my parents house in some princess dress. It's pretty cute.  So I took her to "The Chocolate" to pick out a cupcake. Thank goodness they had a pink cupcake (vanilla with strawberry frosting) otherwise she might have been pretty disappointed. 

She was chatting and climbing everywhere she could find in between taking little bites out of her little cupcake. It's pretty cute to listen to her talk about life and all of her many facial expressions that go along with all of her thoughts and feelings about different things. We had a fun little outing. Happy Birthday Irelyn. You are growing up too fast and I sure love you a lot.