Hello? Is it me your looking for?

At my previous job, I worked with this awesome and very funny girl Tessa. We had so many great times together. We had many discussions of random subjects to pass the time as we worked. I'm not sure how it got brought up, but the topic we got on one particular day was songs with creepy lyrics. We talked about Shania Twain's "I'm Gonna Getcha Good" And The Police's "Every Breath You Take". They are popular and catchy songs... but if you really listen to the lyrics, they are quite stalker-ish and creepy. Once I started thinking about songs in this new light, a certain song came to mind. "Hello" by Lionel Richie. Don't get me wrong, I always liked the song, but have you ever listened to the lyrics? The more Tessa and I thought about this song, the more creeped out we were. It made us wonder what the music video was like, so we looked it up. Well, I would like to report to you that the music video is just as creepy (if not more) than the lyrics to the song. Please watch and then we shall discuss.



#1- Lionel Richie is a teacher at a High School and he is in love with / stalking his student. When did anybody think that was going to be a good idea for a music video with already creepy lyrics?
#2- The girl he is in love with / stalking in BLIND! The poor girl doesn't even know that she has a creepy teacher.
#3- He is constantly following her, lurking behind in the halls and behind the lockers and doors. How is it that none of the other students notice the creepy teacher?
#4- At lunch, when he comes behind her and almost touched her hair (in the sunlight) and then the blind girl's friends come over. How guilty does he look right there for almost getting caught? Pretty guilty if you ask me.
#5- In the end the blind girl sculpts his face? Maybe she is just as creepy as he is?
#6- This is not about creepiness, but my sister Jamie noticed also that this blind girl has a RIDICULOUS amount of electives for being in High School.
Class 1- Theater
Class 2 - Music (flute)
Class 3- sculpting
Class4- Dance
Lunch Break... etc..

I would love to hear all of your input on this. Maybe its just me?

On the other hand, despite the songs creepy nature... it is quite popular. In fact... I was reminded of this experience at work with Tessa when I watched an episode of Glee a few weeks ago. The theme for the episode was singing songs about "Hello". So they sang this song. I actually really liked the arrangement too. You can watch it here. Then there was the Cookster. David Cook (American Idol Season 7 Winner- the last season that I loved and was devoted to) became a favorite with everyone (including me, except I loved Archie just as much) when he did his own rendition of this song. It became his signature song. That is the song he also opened with in concert (with the AI Tour). It is also the song that I sang to him when I met him. Don't judge me, I just wanted to get his attention and it worked! If you don't know what I am talking about, you can read about it here. Oh and watch David Cook sing it here.

Hello? Is it me your looking for?

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 11

"I could write a blog. I have thoughts."
"You're not a writer unless someone publishes you."
"See, that's what's so great about blogs. You don't have
to be published.You can just go online, press enter and
there it is, out there."
- from the movie Julie & Julia

Here are some random thoughts that I have had in the last week....

#1-I know that we had a pretty mild winter this year.... but now that it is almost May, it would be really great if it could warm up and stay warm. I'm done with the teasers.

#2-This weekend, my ward did two service projects. The first one, we got together with the kids that our ward tutors and we made cards. There were way more adults then there were kids... but the kids that did come had fun. I was helping 3 kids write messages inside the cards and helping them decorate and I had a blast. I also made a couple of cards. All together everyone made 75 cards. For a service activity... it was a pretty good turn out from our ward.

On Sunday, we got back together for the second part of the service activity. We took all the cards that were made to "Medallion Manner" which is a home for Mentally challenged patients of all ages. They were SO excited to get the cards. We even had some that were personally addressed to the patents there. It totally made their day. I was sad that this activity, the turn out from our ward was not so good. There were only a handful of people that went, but I am happy that my roommates and I went. They were so happy that we came, they just wanted to shake our hands and talk to us. One of the guys even started flirting with me. Told me I was cute and would wink at me and wouldn't let go of my hand when he would shake it. It was very funny. But my favorite part of our time there was when one of the patients played "Sweet Caroline" on his tape player and everyone in the room sang a long and Ashlee and I started dancing and some of the patients joined us. Maybe you had to be there, but I thought it was awesome.

Doing service just makes me happy. Helping people, giving of yourself and your time. Seeing people in these hard circumstances makes me realize how blessed I am and that I should give more. Both service projects were great experiences.

#3- I love my job environment. It is not just because I have my own office, but I love my co-workers. I have worked at a handful of different jobs and this is the first where there is NO DRAMA! It is SO nice. I even expressed to my some of my co-workers how nice it has been and how much I appreciate them. I don't think it is just the fact that everyone is older than me by almost 10 years (some more some a little less) but it is the kind of people that they are. Everyone makes a special effort to be nice and friendly and not talk behind each others backs, to stick up for each other. I used to just think it was age that made someone mature.... but its really not. I wish I could say all of the departments at Novell are like my department (Contracts) but I don't see it in all other departments. I must say it is refreshing and it makes work enjoyable. I never dread going to work, I enjoy my co-workers company. It's nice.

#4- I had a record breaking visiting teaching appointment on Tuesday. My visiting teacher and I visited for 4 hours. It was awesome. If you want to count the hour that we went tutoring together... that makes 5. My visiting teacher has become a very good friend, and for that... I think visiting teaching is great. I may not have gotten to know her as well otherwise.

#5- Speaking of tutoring.... story for this week happened during play time. Seeing kids cheat during the games they are playing is normal. What was not so normal to see were 3 little girls drawing pictures on the white board. Rob from the ward drew a Pirate Ship, so he left and the girls continued to draw haunted trees, skeletons, and many other creepy things. When they were done they wrote on the board "Please don't erase Haunted Dead Island Hell". Um What? What happened to little girls wanting to draw princesses and Fairytale things? Again, should I be worried?

#6- I'm not a big TV watcher. I don't like being addicted to shows to the point where I plan my life around them, plus that... I just don't think there are a lot of great shows on TV anyway. I used to be huge into American Idol, but I have even stopped watching that. When I don't have anything to do and want to relax in front of the TV, I usually watch the Food Network or HGTV, "What Not to Wear" or "Project Runway". I must admit though that I am one of the many that have been sucked into "Glee". I love all of the characters, I think it is very cleaver.... and lets be honest, I love musicals and I have been waiting a long time for there to be a musical TV show. I love the variety of songs they choose. New, Old, Broadway, etc... this week Rob and I watched "The Wiz" because he had never seen it. On Glee this week, the closing number was "Home" from the Wiz. How awesome is that? Anyway... the show has its unnecessary moments, but it mostly has good moral lessons and is a feel good show that a lot of the times gets me emotional because its so sweet AND its funny. Plus, I don't have to watch it on TV in order to watch it. They have all the episodes on Hulu (online) for free so I can watch anytime. Anywho... I heart Glee. The end.

Photo of the Week 9

I'm not exactly sure why I like this picture so much. Maybe the contrast & texture? I just love how those white flowers pop next to the stone wall. This was taken at Thanksgiving Point, the entrance to the Gardens when I went to see the Tulip Festival.

Lunch Dates

I love my friends. I love making new friends and I love keeping in touch with old friends... even when they get married or move out of my direct social circle. A great way that I have discovered to do this is lunch dates. My job is really flexible and easy going about my time off and lunch hours... so I am able to go anywhere in town and spend as much time chatting as I want with no worries about time. I have found this to not only be a great break from work and opportunity to eat yummy food, but it is also a great time to chat one on one (sometimes more) and really see how my friends are doing... you know, instead of trying to facebook or blog stalk them. I still like that too... but I like having personal contact even more. I wish that I had gotten a picture with Liisa when we went out to eat at the Indian place on Center.... but besides that lunch date (which we will need to do a repeat of) here are some pictures from my recent lunch dates.

Sara and I love to eat at the Trolley in Springville (its between both of our jobs). Sara and I met in the BYU 198th Ward and became instant friends and did SO many fun things together. We were the party planners of the ward. We had a blast and I love getting together with her and catching up.

These are some fun ladies! I was just going to get together with Holly (who was on the activities committee with me in my current ward and who recently just got married) but then we though we might as well make it a party! So Nicole came along (who I also met in that ward... but actually met through my good friend Veda in Santa Barbara but we didn't really remember) and Aileen came (I met her through Nicole) and Jayna (I met her through Aileen). All these girls are SO funny and I love getting together with them. I hope we do this again soon. And maybe next time I will show up at the correct Bajio's.

Then there are my good friends Desiree and Andrea, who I have blogged about before. I also met them in my current ward (but years ago) because Desiree got married and Andrea moved back to California. Andrea was in town, so we got together for lunch at my house! It was so fun! Love these girls.

So as you can see... I love my lunch dates! So please let me know if you want to schedule one with me. I look forward to them. :o)

Sock Puppets

I love my FHE family. Why? Not only are they cool.... but they are up for any activity that is thrown their way, like making sock puppets! In the future... there may be some sock puppet music video's. I'm just sayin.

Tonight was the last night for General Mills. Sad huh? I will miss this group.

Chili

Since I had those two cans of beans that didn't seal, I thought I would make chili today. It was nice because it was kind of a windy day... so it really hit the spot. Plus, crock pot meals are the best on Sunday. You throw it all in the pot in the beginning of the day and when you get back from church and don't feel like making anything and you are hungry... well... your meal is smelling good and waiting for you to eat. Chili is great too because it is pretty hard to mess up. You just throw in a bunch of cans of this and that and you have yourself some yummy chili. Today's Chili turned out really good and my roommates really loved it too. Here is what I put in this time.

1 Can Tomato Sauce

1 Can Diced Tomatoes

1 Can Black Beans

1 Can Sweet Corn

Handful of Grated Cheddar Cheese

1 Can Chili Beans

1 Can Pinto Beans (I put in my canned beans)

Italian Sausage

1 Chopped Onion

1 Tbsp Cumin

2 Tbsp Chili Powder

1 Tbsp Minced Garlic

1 tsp Bay Leaves

1 tsp Oregano

Salt & Pepper

1 Chopped Bell Pepper

Easy and Delicious = my favorite. Loved the flavor of it... and what I love even more is that I have left overs for the rest of the week!

Canning

Wednesday night, my sister Kristy came over to help me with my first canning experience. I'm so thankful to have my big sister close by. She is a great example to me and teaches me so much and helps me with any project that I want to take on and encourages me to learn these good new skills. So, she told me everything I needed to buy and she brought over the pressure canner and all the other things we needed. We first canned beans (since I bought a huge bag of dried beans). I soaked them over night, put it in the jars and then added onion, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Then they went in the pressure canner. I didn't realize how long it takes for this process. Two of the cans never sealed shut, so I have to use them and I can't store them with my food storage. But I am kind of excited because it smelled SO good I LOVE beans a rice. I really could live off of it. I did in Costa Rica for two months and was pretty happy about it.

While we were waiting on the beans, we made jam! Strawberry jam. The jars I got were too little, so I had a bit left over to keep in the fridge (rest went in my food storage). It is SO delicious! Home made jam is WAY better than store bought. Just sayin.

I'm so excited to add to my food storage and so glad that I have my sister here to help me be a better home maker and more self reliant. This is just the beginning. There will be more canning to come in later months.

If You Liked It, Then You Shoulda Put A Ring On It!

All the single ladies put your hands up!

Like I said in one of my confession posts, I learned the "Single Ladies" dance. Because our ward is pretty much all girls, we decided it would be funny to learn the dance, video tape it and then show it at the FHE movie awards as a surprise along with the rest of the videos. Well... that didn't end up happening. Turns out in order to have a video shown, it had to be approved the night before. Plus that, there were certain girls in this group that were too embarrassed to have it shown when it came down to it. I on the other hand obviously have NO SHAME as you have seen in my previous posts (like what I wore to the 70's party). Nevertheless, we learned the dance (somewhat) and we dressed up and embarrassed ourselves on campus filming it while weird creeper guy watched our every move.... so it must be posted on my blog.

This music video was one of the most popular music video's of 2009. It's catchy... and I believe it has a good message. If you have not seen the original music video, watch it here. It was such a popular music video, that everyone started to copy it. Saturday Night Live did it. Watch that video here. Then the new hit musical TV Show "Glee" did it. I thought that was Hilarious! Watch those here and here. Then of course, when we were filming, we felt like the Jonas brother here. These are just a few of the MANY video's on YouTube of this music video.

Then there is our video. Please remember that we were only a little bit serious, so its okay to laugh at us. We only got together two nights to learn this dance and we know we will never have moves like Beyonce... after all, I don't have insurance on MY hips! And yes, those are ring pops we are wearing on our ring finger. Happy Friday. Enjoy!

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 10

I believe I think about things too much. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Sometimes I feel like almost everyone around me is crazy, but then maybe that makes me the crazy one. The topic I have had on my mind lately? Dating/Marriage/Love. Living in Provo, I feel like things are so extreme either one way or the other. People get married really fast, or they date forever and can't seem to commit to marriage and blame it on commitment issues. We have people that get married SO young, and then we have people (mostly guys) that are well into their 30's and still just going along in their single life not putting an effort into even caring about getting married.

I realize that relationships are all different and that they are complicated and by no means am I claiming to know anything. I am still single, so I obviously have not figured it out. I guess what I am trying to say is... why does it have to be so complicated? Does it seem like this to anyone else?

Recently I got a phone call from one of my best friends. He called to tell me that he was engaged. I always thought that when the day came for him to get engaged, I would be so excited for him. But I wasn't as happy for him as I should have been. Why? Because he had only spent two weekends with this girl which was approximately 3 dates AND they are long distance. I don't care how much you have talked on the phone with this person, THEY DON'T KNOW EACH OTHER! Because I am one of his best friends I felt like I had the obligation to tell him he is insane and that I don't think it is smart. After that is said, he has my love and support. But I have to say something. I realize there are exceptions and that some people really do know after such a short period of time and it turns out fine, but it if the answer is right now, it will be right in another 6 months right? What do you have to lose by waiting? You will either find out that you really are not right for each other OR you will grow to love each other even more deeply because of what you have experienced together, but why take that chance? Why make a HUGE life decision on knowing a person for a few weeks? I just know that I dated someone for over a year and found out that he was a very different person than who I thought I fell in love with. I understand that anyone you marry, it is going to be a risk, but I think you can make it less of a risk by really getting to know someone before you marry them.

Also recently, I have found out that there are 3 women that used to work with at my previous job that have gotten a divorce within the last year. One of them was married for 4 years and has a daughter, one of them was married for a 2 years or so and has a daughter and the last one was just barely married a year (had only dated a couple months before getting married) and is pregnant. Knowing this, would it not make you a little more cautious when choosing your marriage partner? I know there are good reasons to get out of a marriage, but I feel like at the same time a lot of it could have been avoided by really getting to know someone before getting married. I also realize people can change, but usually you see signs (if you date long enough). I also believe that A LOT of marriages fail because of selfishness and lack of trying. Do people enter into marriage thinking that it is going to be a fairy tail Happily Ever After? Do people think that if the marriage requires work then it is not a good marriage? Is it because people are lazy? I don't understand it, but I wish I did. These couples were once in love enough to want to spend the rest of their lives and eternity together. What changed? Why did they stop trying? One of my biggest fears is that I can try everything I can to make a relationship work, but in the end... the other person still has their agency and can give up on me and the relationship will still fail.

On the other hand, I am surrounded by older guys (in their 30's) that don't even date. I realize that these are complicated times. By this age, you have seen friends and family go through divorce, bad marriages, and a lot of other heartache. It becomes easier to just be single than want to risk going through that. A part of this makes sense to me, it is fun and sometimes easy to be single, but I still long to have someone to love and to have that loved returned. I have a desire to start a family, we are social creatures and are not meant to be a lone. It is a proven fact that men are happier and live longer when they are married. So then why is it such a challenge to get these guys to want to get married? I know personally that when I was in love, it was worth every sacrifice to me. I was so much happier in a relationship, even when things were not perfect, it was still worth being in a fight to be with someone that I really loved and loved me back. And with every struggle we had it made me understand him more and learn and grow to have a better relationship and be a better and less selfish person. Marriage is hard work, but I also believe it brings the greatest blessings and happiness. My parents and siblings are good examples of this. They all have great marriages. Not perfect, but great... because they work to make it that way (my siblings AND their spouses). It takes two! Because of their work in their marriage, each have great kids that are being raised in stable, healthy and loving homes. That is a lot more than most kids get now (which I am really seeing in the tutoring program).

A conversation was overheard on Sunday. One guy (35) was talking to one of the new guys in our ward. He was explaining that the ratio in the ward was so bad that the guys were really feeling sorry for the girls and even started to pray for the girls. He explained how this ward change was an answer to prayer because it brought more guys into the ward. This would be a nice thought, if he wasn't making us girl sound desperate to the new guy AND if the guy (35) actually dated any of the girls himself. But he doesn't. (Am I missing something here?)

I realize that I am just rambling, and I don't know if there will ever be an easy answer for any of this... but, I just hope that I find a man that will love me for exactly who I am and won't ever want to give up on me, that will want to work hard on marriage with me and because of that we will have a happy, fun and successful marriage. If not.... I guess I will continue to dream about Mr. Darcy.

Photo of the Week 8

FINALLY!! I am seeing lots of this! I love it, its beautiful. Fall and Spring are my favorite Seasons. Wish they lasted as long as Winter! I must enjoy it while it lasts. Maybe another photo shoot with the Roommates?

70's Birthday Bash

Saturday night was the final celebration of Lorelie's birthday week (and her actual birthday). She decided to have it be 70's theme and asked people to dress up if they wanted. I told her I would... although I didn't know where I was going to get something to wear. Well... it came up in conversation at work and my co-worker said she had something I could wear. Great! Problem solved, I didn't even have to think about it now. My co-worker brought it to work on Friday and when she was showing me the outfit I thought to myself.... I really don't know if I can wear this. Well, Saturday night came and I promised Lorelie that I would dress up... so I did just that and walked over to her house a little bit embarrassed, but felt a little bit better knowing under the wig and sunglasses that people probably wouldn't know it was me if I ran into anyone. I was for sure the most dressed up one there and every time someone new walked in the door, their eyes went straight at me and all they could say is "wow" or laugh, but most everyone thought it was awesome and after a while I just got over it and had fun. The things I do for my friends (and my own amusement). She also asked me to make a cake... its not my best creation, mostly because the colored frosting that I bought was all melty and so I couldn't do anything with it... but since it was 70's theme... it actually went well like that and people thought I decorated it that way on purpose. The rest of the night was dedicated to karaoke (she has a machine). I heart karaoke and NEVER get sick of it. Plus I felt like we had to make up for the karaoke we DIDN'T do at Pirate Island a few nights before. My favorite karaoke moment was singing "Endless Love" duet with my friend Matt Hansen (picture below) and how into it we were. He loves karaoke as much as I do. It was a fun night. Happy Birthday to Lorelie! Thanks for planning such a fun week and letting me participate in all of the events! It was a blast!

Pride and Prejudice Tea Party

Friday, after getting back from the Tulip Festival, I threw a party. Oh how I love little parties, especially theme parties. This party, I have been wanting to do for a long time.... but needed the right crowd. I found them! It was a Pride and Prejudice Tea Party. I love Pride and Prejudice (the 5 hour one, not the newer one). It had been a while since I watched it, so I was talking to Ashlee and telling her of my idea... and since she loved it, well, I had to go for it. I found the cutest tea set at Ross & TJ Max for SUPER cheap. Then Ashlee and I prepared the food. Ashlee went out and bought crumpets (my first time eating crumpets. All I have to say is, why would anyone want an English Muffin again after trying a crumpet?) and cookies. I made cake balls, but this time I made them with lemon cake, cream cheese frosting dipped in chocolate. This might be my favorite combo so far. *Side note* I was thinking I should open up a cake ball shop I could try ALL kinds of flavors and sell them. How fun would that be? I also made the strawberry cheesecake trifle again. It was a big hit... again. Then of course we did not have tea, but we did have hot chocolate. Many flavors to choose from. Everyone loved it. SUCCESS!!

These cute girls (Christina & Kailey) made T-Shirts for the party. I LOVE them! I want one actually. And we all agree, that Collin Firth is the ONE AND ONLY Mr. Darcy for us!
Here is the group. Most everyone watched all 5 hours. It was a late night, but well worth it.

Ashlee, Lorelie and I dressed up for the party. I found my dress at DI. We just love to dress up so we will take any excuse. Plus, I can't imagine having a tea party and NOT dressing up. That would be a crime.

This was so fun! I loved that people came and played along with Ash and I. We just love to play and have a good time. I don't think this will be my last tea party. :o)

Tulip Festival

Another part of Lorelie's week birthday celebration, on Friday we went to Thanksgiving Point to the Tulip Festival. I had heard of this before, but had never gone. I was able to leave work a couple hours early (which is golden on a Friday because I am always antsy to leave by then anyway) and it was a beautiful and warm day. Not everything is completely green and in bloom yet, but most of the flowers were out and beautiful. The gardens at Thanksgiving Point are beautiful, I can't believe I had never been before. SO much to do in Utah County... it is amazing that I have lived here for 7 years and still do new fun things all of the time. It was a great day and I loved seeing all the beautiful flowers and enjoying God's creations. I took A LOT of pictures.... but don't want to bombard you on my blog.... so I will be posting on facebook (if you are interested in seeing them).

Pirate Island

On Thursday night, as part of Lorelie's week birthday celebration we went to Pirate Island. This was my first time to Pirate Island. I was always curious about it. All I knew it that it took the place of the old dollar theater. Naturally you want to dress up as a Pirate to go to Pirate Island, so that is exactly what Lorelie and I did. I guess not many people do... because we got a lot of strange looks from people and the only other people that were dressed up as Pirates were the people that worked there. Anyway... turns out it is a restaurant. I think most people get pizza there, but they serve other things too. They also have an arcade and a gift shop and the whole place is decked out. They kinda modeled the inside to look like Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland (Disneyland is obviously a lot cooler, but they tired). The whole purpose of us going on Thursday night is because every Thursday they have karaoke! I was excited because I love karaoke. Sadly, none of us ever got to go because SO many people were singed up and he let the same people go over and over again and some of the people in our group waited for an hour and were never called. Sadness. I just had to save all my karaoke singing for Lorelie's birthday party on Saturday night. We still had fun though, and now I have been to Pirate Island and know what it's all about.

General Mills

Happy Friday! I have a special treat for you! Every year, our ward FHE groups put together a movie. Last year, my group did "The Office" and everyone had to incorporate a phrase or something like that into their video. This year, we had to include music in our video. So my group did a musical! Since my group is called "General Mills" inspired by my last name since I am the FHE Mom, we played off of that. We even dressed up for the Movie Awards (we were the only group that did). We wore our tie dye shirts that we made back in January, and I wore....

This!

Here is our awesome group! We rocked the movie awards! Like I have said before, we may lack in numbers, but not in creativity and talent! We won Best Supporting Actress (Robyn) Best Actress (me) AND best Video! Go General Mills!

*Side Note* Whoever had the best video won the trophy. So we ended up getting the trophy back that we stole. Funny? I think it kind of is. :o)

Here is our AWESOME video! I hope you find it as funny as I do. Enjoy!



P.S. Just because I am curious... what was your favorite part?

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 9

Who Am I?

I Am…

A Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
A Daughter
A Granddaughter
A Sister
A Niece
A Cousin
An Aunt (to the cutest kids ever)
A Friend
A Roommate
A Novell Contract Specialist
A Massage Therapist
A Graduate
A Californian
A Utah Resident
A Co-Worker
Single
A Tutor
A Traveler
A Photographer
A Singer
A Dancer (mostly tap)
A Crafter
A Cook
A Writer
A Pianist (okay, so I mostly play by ear… but at least I can kind of play)
A Camper
A Blogger
Obsessed with Musicals
A Chocoholic
Honest
Creative
Sensitive (too much sometimes)
A Neat Freak
A Seasonal Disneyland Cast Member
Happy
Strong
Loyal
An HCG Success Story
An Animal Lover
Not a Morning Person
A Cake Decorator
A Fashion Consultant
An Interior Decorator
A Karaoke Diva
Obsessed with Music of all kinds
A Make-Up Artist
A Kid at Heart
An Expert Rock Band Player (this is where my inner nerd comes out)
Forgiving
Creative
A 5k Runner (I should probably work on becoming more than that. Ha ha)
Certified in First Aid & CPR
Goal Oriented
A Painter
A Mac User (barely converted)
A Gardener
Prepared
Festive
The Dress-Up Queen
A Giver
Not capable of getting tan (every time I try, I burn)
A Party Planner
A Brunette on the Internet

Who am I?
I am Tracy Jean Mills

Tutoring Story

This week at Tutoring, there was like 5 tutors to every kid. They just keep coming and we waited for more kids to come… but they didn’t. Sara and I decided we just have to go each week no matter what, because some weeks there are not enough tutors for all the kids that come and sometimes… well, it’s like this week. Anywho, we were helping this little boy (10) with an English assignment. Homophones to be exact. He wasn’t even trying to understand at first. I think a lot of the kids try and make us do their homework for them. As soon as they figure out we won’t do that (I hope nobody else does that) then they try and actually get it just fine. Towards the end of his assignment this kid just starts talking… spilling the beans.

Boy: “Ya, my teacher gave me a note to give to my mom about me going to summer school, but I burned it and threw it in the gutter before I got home”

Us: “What? Why did you do that?”

Boy: “I don’t want to go to summer school”

Us: “Maybe we should write your teacher a note saying you burned it so she can send your mom another note”

Boy: “No way! I don’t want to go to summer school. I have no idea why the cop stopped me on my home from school today…”

Us: “Umm… did he think you were lost? Maybe he wanted to make sure you were getting home okay?”

Boy: “No, he searched my back pack. I mean… I didn’t have anything; I don’t know why he was searching my backpack”

Us: “What? Was it because you burned the note from your teacher and threw it in the gutter? Were you looking suspicious? Cops usually don’t stop you for no reason at all”

Boy: “No, this was not the same day I burned the note. He didn’t find anything in my backpack. He pulled out pens, paper, candy, a gun…..”

Us: “WHAT? A gun? Why do you have a gun in your backpack?”

Boy” “Ya, a bee bee gun. We were shooting each other with them. I actually got hit in the face.”

Us: “Wow, this story just gets more and more interesting now doesn’t it? Even if it is a bee bee gun, you should not have it in your backpack and you should not be shooting each other with them, so I can see why the cop stopped you.”

Boy: “Well, we had helmets on”

Us: “But you just told us you got shot in the face, so obviously… still dangerous. You shouldn't be doing this.”

Boy: “Ya, the cop only got half way to hand cuffing me…”

Me: “How much of this story is true?”

Boy: “Mostly all of it”

HA! What the heck? I was really starting to get worried about these kids getting into so much trouble at such a young age. First we had to stop a gang fight last week and this week we are hearing these stories? I wonder how much of what he said was really true and what he said for attention. I can’t quite tell. Either way… I feel bad for these kids. I obviously had never been to this part of Provo before I started volunteering for this Outreach program. Wow… that is all I have to say.

Photo of the Week 7

Arizona. I like it there. They don't have snow. I have visited 3 times in the past 6 months. I want to go again soon.

Laser Tag

On Saturday, it is my friend Lorelie's Birthday. Instead of just having a party on that day... she decided to celebrate ALL week long! I think this is a brilliant idea. Fit as many fun things in that you want to do in one week and get a chance to see as many of your friends as you can. Too bad this would NEVER work for my birthday since it is the week before Christmas.... but whatever, I am happy to celebrate this way for Lorelie's birthday. She has set up something everyday this week. Some of the things just happen to be going on this week like yesterday's activity, which was our FHE movie awards. I will post about this when our movie is put online so I can post the video to the blog. Today's activity was Laser Tag and then Cold Stone after. The rest of the week... well... you are just going to have to wait and find out. :o)

Laser Tag was a blast. It was a close game, but my team (Green Team) lost. And we won't talk about how I did individually because honestly it is a little embarrassing. I had also not played in like six years. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun. I can't wait for the rest of the week's celebration activities!

Cup Cakes

I had no idea that Provo was all about the Cup Cakes until recently. First I heard about this amazingly delicious place called The Sweet Tooth Fairy. We had got some cup cakes from them at work and they were YUMMY! They also make cake bites which are JUST like my cake balls that I have blogged about. Then when I went to this burger place in Provo called Sammy's after the Festival of Colors, I had one of their shakes, which they actually make out of the cupcakes from The Sweet Tooth Fairy! Then after Saturday Session of Stake Conference this last weekend, I learned of another Cup Cake place in town called The Cocoa Bean. We went here after Conference as a group and it was SO good. I got the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cup Cake. It was so good, but they all looked super good. I may have to go back. I love finding new tasty treats! Just makes life good.

Be Prepared

At church we are told to be prepared in case of an emergency. My first step towards this goal was getting an Emergency Car Kit. I bought it a few years ago. As you can see it has a first aid kit, a tool kit. It also has jumper cables, a fleece blanket, a flash light, rope and lots more. If anything ever happened while I was in the car... I would be set. It puts me at ease when I am driving anywhere.

I have been told for years that I should have food storage. It is not that I don't agree... I just didn't want to start it until I got married. Not sure why, its not like I am immune to emergencies until I am married. Maybe it was just an excuse. Maybe I just didn't want to carry it around from move to move. Well, I am happy to report that on Saturday, I started my food storage. They ask us to have 3 gallons of water. I now have 15. I now have a huge container of rice, one of beans and one of flour. Plus that I got dry milk, and many cans of different things. When I went to stake conference and they talked about emergency preparedness, I did NOT feel guilty! Hooray! I finally did it. I must give a big thank you to my sister Kristy for taking me with her to the store and helping me get started. See that empty shelf on the bottom? Next Kristy is going to teach me how to can foods! That will go there... and I will continue to build up my food storage, which will be a lot easier now that I have started. Do I feel more at ease in case anything ever happens? Yes, yes I do!

Next on the list... putting together my 72 hour kit. I have a few things... but I have a bag to fill. I will keep you updated on my preparedness. Are you prepared?

Avatarded

Friday is always hard for me. I AM READY FOR THE WEEKEND! How do you work all day when all you can think about it going home? Doesn't help when last Friday my boss let me leave at 3:30 after getting back from a 2 hour lunch with my friend. It makes me want to leave early EVERY Friday! ha ha. So what do I do to entertain myself at work when the work load slows down? I see what I look like as an Avatar (from the movie).

I have to admit when this movie came out (on my birthday) I wasn't really pumped to see it at all. I actually thought it looked retarded. When my friend Monica told me that she not only loved it, but wanted to see it again, I wanted to be there to witness it. I only say this because Monica is A.D.D. and can't sit through movies unless it is Joe "Dirt" or "Miracle". Knowing Avatar was 3 hours long, if Monica liked it, I was willing to give it a chance. So I left work early on a Friday and went with Mo & her hubby to the IMAX theater to see it in 3D. It wasn't the best story line by any means.... but the visual affects were stunning. For that a lone I recommend the movie. They do create a beautiful wold in this movie and the Avatar's are interesting. We know that each Avatar was modeled after the actor behind the voice... so who would not be curious of what YOUR Avatar would look like? I know I was. I uploaded a picture of me, and this is what I got. What do you think? Would you be able to recognize my Avatar as me?


Just in case you want to try for yourself... you know, to see what you look like as an Avatar, I went here.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 8

I am really excited for tonight. Why you ask? Because I am getting a full body massage. One of the great things about being a Massage Therapist is Trade. I have traded a massage in exchange for a friend doing my hair and my good friend Cheryl and I have been trading massages, since she is also a massage therapist. My massage teacher in school used to trade for all sorts of things... repairs, even furniture... but so far I have only traded for getting my hair done and massages. Cheryl and I decided in January to pick a Thursday once a month to trade. We missed last month (boy did I miss it) but other than that, we have done it. I can't tell you how great it is to get a massage once a month. I feel so much better after. When I was in school and getting them regularly, I could tell a world of difference on my body. Anyway, I'm excited for Cheryl to come over tonight!

Today I went to the court house to try and file for small claims court. I had NO idea how much paperwork is involved! It is kind of crazy. It is also kind of expensive, but worth it to get your money back. I guess it is good to learn how it all works, but I sure hope I never have to file small claims court on someone again.

I have really been able to tell this week that it is Spring Break. The Novell parking lot has been pretty empty... some of my co-workers have been gone spending time with their kids, and ALL the teachers (and there are a lot) in my ward are vacationing. Makes me wish that I had a Spring Break... but alas, I do not. Instead I can go wherever I want whenever I want as long as I have the Paid Time Off for it... which currently, I have TONS! Believe me, I am saving it for something AWESOME!

Last Friday I had lunch with my friend Liisa. We had Indian food, it was YUMMY! We ended up talking for 2 hours. She has become such a great friend and I really appreciate her. I had a great time. Hopefully we will be hanging out again soon. I love my lunch dates with friends. Such a great break for me from work and a perfect time to catch up one on one with people that I really care about.

Every week when Sara B and I go to tutoring, we never really know how it is going to go down. Some weeks there are tons of kids, other weeks, hardly any. There are hardly any consistent people that go to help, some weeks the kids are good, some weeks you can't get them to sit down and read to save your life. This week Sara and I were the first people (to help) there... this is pretty normal. We brought a veggie tray thinking... maybe they would eat some. They all crowded that tray and devoured the veggies like they had not eaten anything all day. Maybe they didn't. Even when we were going to take the left overs and toss them, the kids were stuffing their pockets with pea pods and carrots so they would have food for later and one kid took the rest of the tray. You would think we had candy or something. After spending a long time trying to get them to settle down, we finally got to some reading and on our way out had to break up a fight outside with some other kids. It was kind of intense for how young these kids are. Do gangs really start that young? You just never know what is going to happen when you go to tutor those kids.

Photo of the Week 6

This was taken from the top of the Empire State Building. I am glad I went up at night because there is something quite beautiful about city lights.

Survivor - Provo

Monica was one of my first friends when I moved to Utah and we have remained good friends in the past 7 years. In that 1st year where we did almost everything together... she really loved going to hot pots (aka hot springs). I am always up for just about anything, so I would always go. Not sure why I would continue to go because out of the 4 hot pots experiences we adventured on, only one of them was good. The first time, we went to these hot pots in Spanish Fork Canyon. We had a big group of people and took 2 or 3 cars. I think we tried to go in early April... the sun was starting to come out and people were ready to play outside. We forgot that even though the snow was melted in the city... up in the mountains it is not. So we didn't make it to the hot pots, all of the cars made it only so far up into the mountain, we got stuck in the snow and had to turn back. The 2nd time, Mo and I just went by ourselves because we couldn't get anyone to come with us... we made it there that time. The 3rd time we went to hot pots in Midvale which is up Provo canyon kind of in the middle of nowhere. We got there, had a good time... although it was a little crowded. As we were getting ready to leave, the keys got locked in the trunk of Mo's car. This would not be a big deal if you could have gotten to her trunk without the keys... but you could not. It was cold and we had fit 6 or 7 people in that car. We waited in the car (all of us) until 3 or so in the morning until someone could bring us a spare key to get to the keys in the trunk so we could drive home. It took them a while to drive there and then to find the random hot pots in the middle of nowhere.

So after all of this, you wouldn't think I would go again when Monica tells me she found out about another hot pot we could go to. But... I agree after she tells me it is just by Utah Lake and it is easy to get there. So I gather a group and get them excited and off we go to the random hot pot somewhere along the edge of Utah Lake...

Here is the group of us that went. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into at this point. Look how happy we all are. We thought we would wonder down a little path to the hot pots... so most of us left our shoes behind.

The path turned into this... long weeds, taller than us. We are still pretty happy. On our merry little way to the hot pots. It is starting to get darker, but we are almost there right? No big deal. P.S. those weeds are NOT fun to walk on.
Then all the sudden the path ends... and it is just water. We then learn that we need to swim there. So... we all get in the water and start swimming. We swam in nasty Utah Lake for 30-40 minutes before we got there. As it got darker.... the mosquito's started to come out.
We FINALLY reached the hot pots, but the mosquito's were even worse there! We were getting eaten alive. We didn't know what else to do except to cover ourselves in the nasty smelly mud! It worked for the most part. The hot pots were not that great, so I don't remember staying too long. Thinking about swimming back was a sad thought. It had taken us SO long to get there. There had to be an easier way back. Someone suggested going through the weeds as a shortcut back. We all agreed and started on our way, not quite as merry as we were on the way there.

This is pretty much what you heard for the next half hour *Slap* OWW!! "Are we close yet?". The slapping was for the mosquito's and the ow's were stepping on twigs while we were barefoot. After a long slow walk through the weeds we finally heard cars! We were close to a road. We saw the road, and then we saw a HUGE wire fence in front of it. I don't think I had the strength to climb and lift myself over a big fence. Thankfully we had plenty of guys there, so we had them on both sides of the fence helping those that didn't have anything left in them to do it themselves.
When we got to the other side of the fence we ran to nearby grass just to walk on something soft before the trek back to our cars... wherever they were. We had no idea how far away we were. We did eventually get home, but it was no short easy trip to some nice hot pots. We seriously felt like we were in survivor. We were dirty, we smelled BAD, we were barefoot and after this I am pretty sure my feet were bleeding and we had bites all over from the mosquito attack. I think all my friends that I invited also told me they were never coming to anything I invited them to again. Don't worry, they were still willing to be my friend though. It was intense, and I retired from going to hot pots after this trip. I can look back on the pictures now and laugh though right?

Speaking of pictures, I had a disposable camera on this trip. When I went to WalMart to pick up my pictures I told the guy that the pictures were under Mills. He grabbed the envelope of pictures and as he handed them over to me paused and gave me a strange look and said "Tracy? Where in the world did you go?" I just kind of embarrassingly laughed and said "oh, uh, you looked at the pictures?" he says "Ya, well, we have to make sure they are all there". Anyway... I told him and he looked at me like I was crazy. Ha ha Never a dull moment with Monica. Probably one of the reasons why I love hanging out with her. We did a lot of crazy things in the years we have known each other.

Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle

YUM! That is all I have to say about this. I went to my sister's house for Easter dinner yesterday and was asked to bring the dessert. I found this recipe online and I will being using it again NO DOUBT! Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle

Filling:
2-8 oz. packages cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 pint whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

You also need 1 pound cake and 2 quarts of fresh strawberries.

Layer the strawberries, pound cake and filling in a glass bowl. Top with the strawberries and Serve.