Flashback Friday 32

When I was 20, my first niece was born. Everyone was excited because she was the first Grandchild on our side of the family. Even though she cried a lot, I would come home from work and first thing I would do is take Reanne and I would just hold her. My favorite was when we took naps together. She is now 8. Where did the time go?

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 85

Well I have been home from South Africa for a week now. It already feels like it has been forever since I have been there. It has been taking me forever to go through all of the pictures though. I have already heard from a Rugby player that we met there AND one of our tour guides. Fun. New friends in new countries.

I did not have a hard time with the time change on the way there. It is only 8 hours difference instead of 12 1/2 like India was. I didn't feel like I had time with the time change on the way back. I remember having a really hard time coming back from India. I have been able to go to bed and get up when I normally do this time, but I am totally exhuasted by like 10pm and I wake up at least an hour before my alarm goes off... and for anyone that knows me, that is NOT normal. In fact... one night, I was trying to catch up on my blog. I sat in my bed with my back against some pillows against the wall and my laptop open in my lap. I think I stared at the computer for maybe a minute trying to decide where to start on my blog and I fell asleep. I NEVER do this. I woke up an hour later with my lap top still there open and ready to go. I was feeling a little messed up. But I think I am back to normal now.

I went back to the gym everyday this week after not exercising for almost 2 weeks. Oh man... it was rough! My body was in pain all week long from doing pilates to running again to sports training to zumba (which was interesting this time because we had a guy subbing the class. It was hard to take him seriously in the beginning, but he actually had some great new dance moves) back to pilates. All I can say is.... I need a massage. I have not had one in MONTHS!!! It is time. That and I need to get back into shape. Amazing that it only takes 2 weeks to get out of shape. Sad.

One day while I was at work... my co-worker and I walked out into the hall to the bathroom and noticed that the elevators and everything was blocked off and the alarm was going off. We were like... what the... why did we not hear the alarm in our offices? Anyway.... we didn't know what happened. It wasn't a drill because they schedule those, so we just went down the stairs to the parking lot and waited around to see what happened. We still are not sure.

On Sunday I was at Ward Prayer and my BFF neighbor and his sister were there and she reminded him that he owed me money. He keeps forgetting. So he pulls out his wallet and only had like half of the amount that he owed me. This other guy in the ward that was chatting with us pulls out his wallet and gave him the rest of the money and said "Yeah, that just happened" and handed me the money. I didn't have anywhere to put the money since I didn't have my purse on me.... so I did what any normal girl would do, I stuck the money in my bra. Then that got us into a whole other topic. He was like... thank you for doing that. I wish I could do that. I just never know what girls are going to pull out of there. It keeps my interest. Then we decided that we should invent the pocket bra.

I brought my laptop into work today told a couple of my co-workers that I had my South Africa pictures with me in case anyone wanted to see them. All the sudden the manager of the department called a team meeting and invited everyone to go to a conference room around the corner. Not everyone knew what this team meeting was about, but I think they were happy once they found out. We tried to look it up to the projector, but I didn't have the right hooks ups. While going through all of my pictures, I was just flipping through them fast because I had so many and then came across a picture of me and Stacie with these two cute South African Rugby players that we met and hung out with for the day. So I got teased about that from everyone, but whatever. Then I kept flipping and then there was a picture of one of those boys with his shirt off and then everyone really started freaking out and teasing me. Asking me to explain the picture. Of course I am super embarrassed and put on the spot and my face is bright red and I know that anything that comes out of my mouth is not going to matter because I am going to get teased regardless, but they all got silent waiting for my explination and even though his shirt was just off and it was all innocent and I didn't even care for him to take his shirt off, I couldn't think of anything to say that would sound reasonable. Really he asked me to take the picture and so I did. He is an athlete and proud of his body. Then the shirt went back on. But now, because of that picture I am known as the floozy of the office. How embbarrassing.

My new calling is that I am the Relief Society Meetings Chair. An activity that I felt strongly about was how us women feel about out appearance and how we present ourselves. My friend Allyson got this speaker for us about dressing for your body type. I thought it was so great for the girls to hear. She was a wonderful speaker and I felt like she was our own personal "What Not to Wear" show. Sadly we didn't get a $5000 shopping spree in NYC. Anyway, she was great and I think everyone left feeling really good about it and knowing what they needed to do to dress for their body type and be their best selves.

Photo of the Week 83

Our 3rd night in Cape Town South Africa. We just walked down to the beach from our hotel room. One of the most beautiful sunsets that I have ever seen. During the sunset this pirate-ish ship sailed by.

African Safari

I have always had a love for animals. A lot of the things on my bucket list have to do with traveling and animals (example: Ride an elephant, Ride a Camel to the Pyramids, swim with dolphins, etc..).  Ever since I knew what a safari was, I have wanted to go on an African Safari. I figured it would be far in the future when I was much older. I never imagined going on one in my 20's. I figured Africa is so far away and super expensive to take a trip like that, but here I am at 28 years old... going to South Africa.  *Be prepared for A LOT of pictures. I had bought a 300 mm zoom lens and a safari was such a fun photo opportunity*

I was SO excited to go on an African Safari! We had to get up at 4:30am to start our Safari at 5:30am (the animals are more active in the early hours) and although I am not a morning person, I was SO happy and excited that I couldn't get the smile off of my face. It was cold too, but I still loved every minute of it.  Stacie even dressed up for the Safari. I was pretty bummed that I didn't know she was going to do that, otherwise I would have joined her. Oh well, I will for the next Safari, because there WILL BE another Safari in my future.

Our tour group split up into 4 different open vehicles and we were on our way. It was like a treasure hunt. We were driving around Kruger Park... everyones eyes searching the brush, bushes and trees looking for animals. When the driver or someone else would find something, we would stop the car and everyone would be quite and take lots of pictures and watch the animals for a while and then we would move on to find the next email. We did this all day long. Drove around for 3 hours, then took a break. Drove around for another 2 1/2 hours then took a lunch break.

On my lunch break, I took notice to these beautiful bluish green birds. I threw out one bread crumb to one of them and then a whole flock came at my feet. I wondered if they would eat out of my hand, so I tried it and they did! So I hand fed them for a while... other people started taking pictures of me. One of the birds that came was deformed (his beak & foot) it was so sad so I think I fed him a little more than the rest.

Then we were back driving around the park again for another 3 1/2 hours and then we were done. I never got tired of driving around and looking for and seeing the animals. What did we see? Springbuck (South Africa's Rugby mascot), Waterbuck, Kudu, Hyenas, Warthogs, Crocodiles, Hippos, Rhino's Baboons, another kind of monkey, lots of different types of birds, Elephants, Giraffes, Buffalo, and ZEBRA!!

Funny story about the Zebra... my roommates had told me before I left that I had to get a good picture of a Zebra so that we could blow it up and hang it in our downstairs bathroom which is now Zebra theme. I told them... well, what if I don't see one. They told me I HAD to and when I did, I had to get a great picture. In the beginning I was seeing them but they were covered by bushes and I could only see their stripped butts. I told Stacie that my roommates were going to be so disappointed. I just HAD to get a good picture. Then a little later we came across these 3 beautiful Zebras and they totally let me do a photoshoot of them. I was so happy. I ended up getting some great pictures of them.

We were in South Africa during their Spring which was not only fun because it was Whale season, everything was blooming and the weather was great, but also because there was lots of baby animals. They were very cute to watch. I think the baby Elephants & baby Giraffes were my favorite to watch.

There was one thing that I was a little bitter about with the Safari. We didn't see a Lion or a Leopard. They tell you when you go to the park that you just never know what you are going to see when you are there, it is the luck of the day. I wouldn't have been to mad about us not seeing these animals if it was just the luck of the day... but everyone else on our tour saw them except for our car. WHAT?! Yeah... its because for some reason our driver decided to not stay with everyone else. And even though he was being called on the radio and told where these animals were... he didn't take us there. We were also the first ones back and had to wait 45 minutes for everyone else that got to see the animals we didn't get to see. Ya... we were a little bitter. What did we get instead? A flat tire...

I was a little bitter about it for a while, but we made some good friends on our safari and we still got to see a lot... and I totally plan on going on another safari... so... next time right? I still loved it and recommend the experience to anyone that is able to do it.

Sushi for Sara

It is my tutoring and temple and Institute BFF's birthday coming up here, so we decided to go eat Sushi at "Happy Sumo" to celebrate. I love that I have found more friends that love sushi like me! :)

It was great food and a great time with great company. Happy Early Birthday to Sara. Thank you for being such a good friend to me these last couple of years. You have helped me be a better person. You are awesome and I really love having you in my life. Hope you have a great Birthday!

*not sure what happened to our flower on our table*

Adventure with the Great White Sharks!

My first full day in South Africa, I did something that I never thought I would do. In fact, if Stacie didn't want to sign up for it, I don't think I would have. I'm so glad that she did though because it is easily one of the coolest things that I have done so far in my life.

The Day started very early. We were picked up from our hotel at a quarter to 6am and drove 2 hours until we reached Gansbaai. There we met our skipper & shark expert and met everyone else that was going to be going on the dive with us. We also had some breakfast. They then gave us instructions and we were on the boat and on our way.

They gave us big rain coats to block the wind and the waves. I still got wet, and was still a little cold (because it was still pretty early in the morning) but that jacket helped a lot.

On the way we saw the Seal Island (nice food supply for the Great White Sharks). When we sailed by it, it smelled like death. Seals smell bad... seriously they do. Why? If you have ever been around them you know what I'm talking about... so imagine an entire island of them. eeewww!!! Regardless they were still cool to see. P.S. On another day I got to feed a big Seal... which was cool.

Also while we were on the boat, there is this Seagull that always follows their boat when it goes out because it knows they will give him bread... so one person held out a piece of bread and the bird came and ate it out of their hand while the boat was going. A little entertainment on our 15 minute boat ride.

I took a motion sickness pill just in case like an hour before we left... but I don't think it worked. I was fine while the boat was moving, but as soon as we stopped the boat to try and attract the sharks, it hit me and it hit me hard. It took a while to attract the sharks. What did they use? Chum!!

While they were trying to attract the sharks, the boat rocked back and forth alot. The water was REALLY choppy... but there is nothing else you can do, that is where the sharks are. So I laid down on the bench seat and closed my eyes and breathed in and out real deep. It worked for a while, but then the sharks came and everyone started taking pictures. I had to get up! This is what I paid for. No matter how crappy I was feeling, I needed to get up and grab my camera and start taking pictures of these awesome Great white Sharks. So I did. This was NOT okay with my stomach, but I tried to tuff my way through it. That didn't last very long. I got a couple pictures and then needed to go lay back down. It's okay, they are not as cool to watch from the top anyway. Here is what you see from the boat. Just pretty cool.

I started to lay back down but it was too late... my stomach was upset at me. I almost threw up so I sat back up and just tried to breathe deep again. One of the crew members looked at me and asked me if I was okay. I said I was okay and he looked at me and said, no your not, get down to the bottom of the boat, it will help. So I did what he said.... even though it was hard for me to move. When I got down there, all of the sudden the first group was done in the cage and it was me and Stacie's turn to get in. Before I could get nervous or think about still needing to throw up, the crew members were putting a wetsuit, booties and goggles on me. Then a weighted belt around my waist. Then they told me to get in the cage while the top was still open. So I sat at the edge of the boat and hopped into the cage and they closed the top. The water was very cold... I couldn't imagine what it would be like without the wetsuit on. I still wasn't feeling good although it felt better to be in the water. So I handed the camera to Stacie to take pictures. She was about to take a picture of me and I told her to wait. With a little bit of salt water getting in my mouth and the weighted belt pushing against my stomach, it didn't take long before I threw up my breakfast. My automatic reaction was to apologize. It was gross, I felt sorry for the people next to me in the cage. The crew members told me it was okay (I guess a girl from the first group on our boat did the same thing and many others got sick and were throwing up on the boat) and to just let it float away. People were nice and kept asking me if I was okay. As soon as I threw up I felt better and told Stacie it was now okay to take my picture. ha ha.

Now that was out of the way... it was show time. I was so busy trying not to throw up before to be nervous and now it was too late to turn back, I was IN THE CAGE!! I couldn't pee my pants because they told us specifically not to pee in the wetsuits. Turns out I wouldn't have anyway. As soon as I was in the cage I just thought how cool it all was and I wasn't nervous at all. Basically how it worked was the crew members were on the boat and throwing out the chum to the sharks (we had 10 different Great White sharks that day) when they would see one coming, they would yell that the shark was on the left or right and we would all take a deep breath and hold it and push ourselves down in the cage and hold ourselves there to watch the sharks until we ran out of breath and do the same thing all over again. Having just gotten scuba certified... I wished that we had scuba gear on and could just stay down there and watch.... but that was not how it worked. Regardless, it was still AWESOME!!!

So much better than watching from the boat. I was amazing how close they would come to the cage. They would swim RIGHT by us and they were SO big. Nothing on the discovery channel or Shark week can compare to seeing them for yourself that close. It was awesome! I ended up throwing up one more time ( I probably just helped attract more sharks) but it was still TOTALLY worth it. Pretty sure you can't say throwing up was worth it in too many situations. The only exception I can think of besides this one is having a baby. It was awesome because since we were the last ones in the cage and nobody else wanted to get back in AND we had a smaller group to begin with, so they let Stacie and I stay in the cage as long as we wanted. I think we were in there for about a half hour. That is a lot of Shark time. We even saw a group of dolphins go by when we were in the cage. So awesome.

*This is a great picture to show how close we were to these sharks! You can see the hand on the cage and then the shark RIGHT THERE*

After we got out of the cage and out of our wetsuits, we rode back to shore (which I have never been so happy to get off a boat) and we watched the DVD that they made of our dive that I almost bought but didn't because we got so many awesome pictures and then it was a 2 hour drive back to our hotel. You better believe we both showered and crashed when we got home because we were so tired. What an awesome day though. I am SO glad that Stacie wanted to do it and pushed me to do it too. I totally recommend this experience if you ever get the chance to do it. I know it is not for everyone, but it is really not as scary as it sounds. Turns out most people have the wrong idea about Jaws. He is a lot nicer than people make him out to be. ;)

*Here is a video I found online of the same type of dive that I did. Here is pretty much what I saw*

Monte Cristo Sandwhich

If you have ever been to Disneyland and eaten at the Blue Bayou.. most likely you have tried the Monte Cristo Sandwhich... and most likely you love it as much as I do. :) Seriously, I have a hard time ordering anything else when I am there. (Yes, I have eaten there several times).

Now you don't have to go to the Blue Bayou to get yourself a Monte Cristo Sandwhich, although I would rather be eating there hands down. That place is magical. Now you can make your own. Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

CURRANT JELLY SAUCE

• 12 ounces red currant jelly
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon half-and-half

FRUIT COMPOTE

• 1 (12 ounce) jar red currant jelly
• 1 (15 ounce) can peaches (or your choice of canned fruit. I like peaches

BATTER

• 2/3 cup water
• 1 small egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

SANDWICHES

• 8 slices white bread
• 4 slices roasted cooked turkey (1 ounce each sandwich)
• 4 slices tillamook swiss cheese (1 ounce each sandwich)
• 4 slices smoked ham (1 ounce each sandwich)
• vegetable oil, for frying

GARNISH

• confectioners' sugar, for dusting
• fruit, compote
• currant jelly, sauce

Directions:

1. 1
   CURRANT JELLY SAUCE: Combine jelly, water and half and half in blender and mix until smooth. Makes about 3/4 cup.
2. 2
   FRUIT COMPOTE: Combine your favorite fresh and canned fruits and chill well. Yield is about 1/2 cup per person.
3. 3
   BATTER: Place water, egg, salt, and pepper in a bowl and using an electric mixer, mix well at low speed. Add flour and baking powder and mix until batter is smooth. Chill.
4. 4
   SANDWICHES: Make 4 sandwiches, putting cheese between ham and turkey. Cut into fourths and put a toothpick through each quarter.
5. 5
   Heat about 6" of oil to 340 degrees in a fryer. Dip sandwiches in batter to cover all surfaces. Deep fry sandwiches until golden brown, turning as needed. An alternate way of frying it to put approximately 1/4" oil in a large pan and fry the sandwiches on both sides until crispy and brown.
6. 6
   Remove from oil and take out toothpicks. Drain on paper towel to remove excess oil. Sprinkle sandwiches with confectioners' sugar. Serve with fruit compote and currant jelly sauce.
   
   
   
   
   

Flashback Friday 31

I guess I am on a kick for the family photo's. This family photo was taken while I was in High School (97 or 98?) for our family Christmas Card. We are in front of our house made of steel. P.S. Check out how awesome my dad's tie is!

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 84

So I got home from South Africa today.... it was awesome but required A LOT of traveling. I was traveling for the past 25 hours. I went from my hotel, to a bus for 5 hours to the airport then on a plane for 16 hours then on another plane for another 4 1/2 hours then in the car for another hour. It was intense. I'm pretty tired. I looked and felt like a homeless person. Seriously... it was a little scary. I felt sorry for people that had to be by me. ha ha.

While I was on the plane from New York to Salt Lake, there was a point where I looked around me and saw two different people playing Angry Birds. It made me laugh... I mean... this was just what I could see from my seat. Imagine how many people on that whole plane were playing Angry Birds. How many do you think there were? My guess? 10.

It was nice to have a break from technology for 10 days. No phone, I didn't take my computer... I just wrote in my journal every night and enjoyed South Africa. It was nice. When I got to New York I turned on my phone for the first time in 10 days.  Waiting for me I had 3 voice mails, 14 text messages and 100 emails.... just in my gmail account. It was a lot... but I felt loved. It was nice. There is nothing like coming home from a trip and feeling like you were missed.

Speaking of feeling special... my friend Ashley that I met on the Lake Powell trip, we became instant friends, and we have pretty much been in touch everyday since Lake Powell... when I was going to leave she asked what she was going to do with me gone (even though we never see each other because she is in AZ and I am in UT) and I told her to write me an email every time she wanted to talk to me. Guess what? She did! It was fun to come home and read all of her messages. One of them was just a message full of random facts. I loved it. She is so funny and always making me laugh.

Well... I would like to report that I didn't get any shots before I went to South Africa and I was fine. I even drank out of the tap... like all of the time. I took Malaria pills.... but I should still be taking them and I'm not. I didn't even see any bugs there... so I'm not too worried about it. It is totally safe there. Another girl from my tour told me that she stopped taking her pills half way through the trip because they were giving her crazy dreams. ha ha. Anyway... just didn't want anyone to worry. ha ha. I'm back and healthy and well.

Well... I have 1,000 pictures to go through. So, I'm going to get to that, but I will leave you with one picture from my trip. Look forward to more to come. :)

Photo of the Week 82

Botanical Gardens in South Africa

A Typical Provo Outing.

Six or Seven girls to every guy.... yep, that sounds about right.

*Click on image to see it bigger*

I'm calling about a rainbow...

My good friend Ashley sent me this video and it really made me laugh.



Yeah... can you bring some by my place too? Thanks. :)

R.I.P.

I am staring at an empty bowl. It makes me sad. Poor Pepe... I am not really sure where I went wrong. Things started off so positive (Hot Rod Quote) and then he started to... well... he started to struggle with anorexia. I thought getting him a different type of food to eat would help, but he still wouldn't eat. In fact, he went weeks without eating. I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did. I cleaned his bowl and put fresh water in, I continued to try and feed him... but he eventually just withered away. Today I had to flush him down the toilet.

I wish I knew what I did wrong. Maybe he was already sick when I bought him? Maybe he was depressed? I know it is not because he doesn't like his bowl, because it is a pretty legit bowl. Maybe I suck at taking care of Beta Fish? Maybe I was gone too much and he missed me too much that he couldn't handle it? Maybe he didn't like his name?

I don't know the reason, but I think I will give the Beta Fish Business another go. I mean... they are supposed to be easy to take care of. Maybe I will go and try and find his brother and hope that he is just as pretty.

Rest in peace Pepe

S'more Pizza

About a month or so ago I went to this new pizza place in town. The first time that I went, I tried one of their dessert pizza's. I fell in love after one bite. I decided that I was going to go home and make that pizza. It was a S'more Pizza... so when we decided to have a S'more Party, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to see if I could recreate the pizza. I think it turned out quite close to the original. It was just as good. 

S'more Pizza

First you make the pizza dough. I use this recipe for the dough.

First bake the dough for 5-8 minutes.

Then Spread Nutella all over crust.

Scatter little chunks of Peanut Butter on top of that.

Cover the top with Marshmallows.

Broil in the oven on low. Watch closely and take out of the oven when the marshmallows get golden brown.

Drizzle Chocolate Syrup on top and a  little powdered sugar. 

Serve. Delicious!!

Flashback Friday 30

I think I was 6 in this picture. I love the purple theme. I wonder if my mom did that on purpose? I think we were such cute kids. I love our old family photo's.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 83

Another true confession coming up. A little venting session if you will. There have been many occasions where I see people that I have not seen in a long time... such as old ward members or cousins. You know, the people that have expected me to be married by now, or the ones that knew I was going to get married before and it didn't work out. Instead of having a great conversation and catching up on each others lives and what is knew since we saw each other last ... I end up having a short conversation. They ask me if I am dating anyone. The answer is no. They then ask me if I am working or in school, I tell them I am working. They ask me what I do, I tell them I work at Novell. Then the conversation ends and they move on to the next person in the room, and I am pretty disappointed. Well... here is what I have to say.

My name is Tracy Mills. I am 28 years old. No, I'm not married. No, I don't have a boyfriend. Yes, I do date. No, there is nothing wrong with me. No, it's not my fault that I am still single, no... I'm not doing anything wrong. Yes, I have tried Internet dating. Yes, I am completely happy even though I am not married. Yes, my life consists of more than work. In fact, I don't usually even talk about work outside of work. Even though I am not married or dating anyone seriously, I still have a lot of interesting things to talk about. I do a lot of traveling and other fun things. Yes, I would give it up to be married and have a family (not that I think you need to give it all up just because you get married) Even though I am the only one in my family that is not married and doesn't have children (or children on the way) I should not be treated like an outcast that has nothing to contribute to conversation.  My life is awesome, and I can even be funny sometimes. So.... don't be afraid to talk to me... just because I'm single.

The End.

Photo of the Week 81

S'more Party

To end the summer right, we thought we needed to throw a little party at our house. What treat do you think of when you think of summer? S'mores right? So we did a S'more themed party and I think it turned out great.

Lot's of people came and had a great time. We had S'more cupcakes, S'more Pizza and lots of different options to make your own S'more's. It was awesome. We also had milk, chocolate milk and strawberry milk.

My friend Rachel made the S'more cupcakes. They were awesome. You can get the recipe from here.

You can also find the recipe for the S'more Pizza here.