Flashback Friday 11

Today we are going back to January 2004. I had been living in Utah for almost 5 months. I had become really good friends with my roommate Stacie and Super good friends with our neighbors. We had so much fun together. This was right after Monica moved in with them and when I started becoming good friends with her... and we have remained good friends since (7 years). Our stake was having a "Snowflake Ball" which was really just a nice name for a Stake dance that you dress up for.

The guy with me is John Tracy. He served his mission in the California Ventura Mission.... specifically my singles ward back home. People used to tease us all of the time that we should get married so that I would become Tracy Tracy. People thought that was the greatest thing ever. We hung out and became good friends when I moved to Utah but shortly after (a year or so) he moved back to Idaho. We still keep in touch from time to time. We joke that we are going to get married when I turn 30 (which a couple years after he turns 30). He tells me here and there that I need to get on it or I am going to be stuck with him.

Here are pictures of me with my Heather Cover Girls (that is where we lived) ready for the Snowflake Ball. Love these girls.

Tracy & Stacie (roommates)

with Abby

Me & Mo

The whole gang (including Kirsten & Amy)

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 64

What a week it has been. It went from busy work at quarter end to saying goodbye to my ward the way it was (Friday we had one last ward activity together) and saying hello to the way the ward is now (on Sunday) to a lot of people getting laid off at work to partying it up for Cinco de Mayo. What an emotional roller coaster of a week. So glad it is coming to an end.

Remember when I told you about playing "Just Dance 2" on the Wii. Well, they came out with a game very similar to that called "The Michael Jackson Experience" or something like that. Same concept but you get more Michael Jackson moves and you get to be MJ... or his backup dancers. Its pretty fun. I like it even more than Just Dance 2. The game even comes with a white sparkly glove that you can wear. Awesome game.

I think there is something wrong with me. For the past week I will randomly get pains in my mouth. At first people just tell me that I need to go to the dentist because I probably just have a cavity. First off, I went in January and he said my teeth looked awesome. Second... its not a pain in the tooth... its more in the gums or jaw... and each time it aches, its in a different spot. So explain that? What is wrong with me? Its so weird. It hurts but I always just deal with the pain and wait for it to go away. I just keep getting surprised that it comes back. I am wondering if I am having an allergic reaction to something or... i don't know.

I now have church at 10 instead of 1. Even though I love sleeping in... I love taking Sunday naps more. I'm excited that I get to get home earlier and spend more time with my family and take a Sunday nap. This last Sunday my dad told me to bring friends.... this is not a hard task because word is spreading fast that my family is awesome and they serve the best Sunday dinners ever. Outcome, I brought 4 friends to Sunday dinner this last week. Tina, BFF neighbor, and two of the FHE boys who I should probably think of a better nick name for because not only are we not in the same FHE group anymore, we are no longer in the same ward anymore. Oh well. It was a great Sunday Evening. I later went to FHE boys house and sat around with no furniture (because they were in the middle of the move) and watched Ninja Warriors. Ever seen that show? Its pretty awesome.

Tuesday I helped my singing BFF record a couple of songs for a CD that he is making for his girlfriend before he leaves for the summer for his internship. We recorded Simon & Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound" (you can tell we really love S & G ) and we recorded "More than Words". I'm just his backup harmony. I love it though. I think it is super sweet that he is recording a CD for his girlfriend. I would love that if a guy did that for me. Maybe one day...

I was doing a photoshoot yesterday with Mo - Trash... which I need to edit and hopefully come out with a few pictures I love and then you will see them. Anyway... I had this vision of her in the beautifulness of Spring that we have been waiting for, but I was so disappointed everywhere we drove. Utah was not working with my vision. Either things were already done blooming or not bloomed yet. I think that snow messed things up. Oh well. I am hoping I got at least a couple of shots that I love.

I try to go to Institute every week. Our Institute is super awesome. There are 3 different guys that switch off teaching class on different weeks. I think they are all great, but I have one that has always been my favorite teacher. He has been teaching Institute for over a year now. I always leave class wanting to make a change in my life. Having felt the spirit... but he also is very quick on come backs and funny comments. He brings in the perfect amount of humor to keep everyone interested. Anyway.... I have been watching him teach for a long time. I have never talked to him before.... ever. I am the type of person that if you feel like someone did a good job at something or if you admire or appreciate someone, you should tell them. People like validation and they like to be recognized and appreciated (at least that is how I feel). So I finally decided that I was going to talk to him and tell him I appreciated his lesson. I don't know why this was such a hard thing for me. He is like a celebrity or something. Everyone knows who he is... there were always lots of people around wanting to talk to him. Anyway... I stopped him as he was walking by me and I introduced myself. Told him my name is Tracy and he says "Yeah, I know"  He apologized if that came across as creepy and I was thinking... we have never talked before, how does he know who I am? I felt all special all of the sudden. Anyway... we both have been in the stake for a long time. I have been in the stake for 5 years and he has been in the stake for 8 years and we both work on Novell campus and turns out he is a real genuine and nice guy. We had a great little chat. Why was that so hard? It shouldn't have taken me so long to talk to him. Sometimes I get a little intimidated to talk to new people at Institute, so I never meet anyone knew. I changed that this week. I met some new people AND talked to the Institute teacher and not only told him that I appreciated his lesson, but that he was my favorite Institute teacher. I think I am going to try and meet 1 new person every week. Its a good thing to get out of the comfort zone and be friendly and talk with people.

I think the distribution center hates me. Every time I go there to buy stuff that I need... they don't have it, or they have it but just not in my size. Either super small or super big. Throw me a bone. I will have to go back now and see if they have what I need next week.

Today at tutoring the kids were watching "Rugrats" for play time.My nieces are also obsessed with this show. It is SO weird for me to see this when I myself as a kid watched the show. Don't get me wrong... I think its a great show for the kids to be watching compared to a lot of the garbage that is on tv that they could be watching. All I want to know is Who brought it back and made it popular again? What about "Doug"?

Happy Cinco de Mayo. At work we all went down to the cafe where they decorated (they decorate for all of the holidays which is awesome) and they were playing Spanish fiesta music and were serving Mexican food... including the authentic tacos that you buy in those hole of the wall places in Latin countries. Just a little less greasy. They even had churros and the imported Coke Bottles. The best part is that the tacos were 2 for $1.25 or something like that. Hooray for Cinco de Mayo. Then we all came back to the office and had my Tres Leches that I had made... which was pretty much all gone pretty quickly after we cut into it. I love celebrating this holiday. :o)

Tres Leches

Happy Cinco de Mayo. We love to celebrate at work.... so I brought Tres Leches. My co-workers pretty much love me. My co-worker that is from Mexico gave me this recipe... so its pretty legit. If you like Tres Leches you will love this.

Pastel de Tres Leches (Tres leches Cake)

Ingredients

1 yellow cake mix

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk

1 can media crema (found in the Mexican section of most supermarkets) or half and half.

Bake cake following box directions. Let it cool. Mix the three cans of milk. Poke holes throughout the whole cake and pour milk mixture over the cake.

Frosting: 12 oz. cool whip

8 oz. cream cheese

1 C. powdered sugar

Directions

Blend the cool whip, cream cheese, and powdered sugar and carefully frost cake. Chill for at least 4 hours. (If you don’t have time to chill, don’t bother making this recipe).

*Optional: Place sliced strawberries or peaches over the frosting.

Photo of the Week 62

I LOVE the color purple. You probably already know this if you have been to my house.

What Would You Do?

If you crossed paths with a Gator, what would you do? This is a legit question while you are in Florida. At least Kirsten liked to think that there were gator's in every pond that we would drive by (which was a lot). We did end up seeing two in the wild (which was pretty awesome) but never got close to one in the wild.

But what if we had. Take the Steve Irwin approach? Or run scared? We got to pretend on this cut out Gator at the Space Center.

Then we got to do it on a REAL Gator!!!

Whats up now Gator!

Change

Recently I have experienced a lot of change. I realize that change is a big part of life. Change is necessary. There are different types of change though. There is good change and bad change. Although no matter what happens in life, I think we need to take it for what it is and learn from it and have a good attitude about it... but sometimes that is really hard. I guess what I am referring to is the change that happens by choice because you want to move on to bigger and better things vs the change that you didn't choose that was forced upon you because of others decisions.

Last year this time my stake changed its entire boundaries. A lot of people had a hard time with this... I was excited for it and thought it was a good thing. However... I still feel like it took us a year to adjust to that change and now... it changed again. A lot of new people. A lot of people not wanting the change. I was a little sad about it... but at this point I am not that attached to singles wards and people in them. Sad, but true.  I just go with the flow with what is in front of me. Its not always fun and easy... but it is what it is.  This was a pretty big change, but I feel it was inspired and I was okay with it and am hoping for the best. However today I was having a harder time with another change...

Today was probably the worst Monday ever. A few different times I have talked about my work and the merger that was going on. It has been dragged out for almost a year. A year of people on the edge of their seat wondering what was going to happen and if they were going to keep their job once the new company signed and took over Novell. When I got back from my trip they had officially signed and took over and the first people to go were the top management. It was kind of sad... but at the same time they knew they were going as soon as the papers were signed and it was final. They had time to look for new jobs. I knew there would be more lay off's... I just didn't know how many. We figured they would wait until after quarter end, which they did. Today was the execution date. I came into work today and there was a different feeling in the air. I could tell something was happening.

About a half hour after I got there or so, my boss came into my office and shut the door. Time for bad news. I was safe, as I thought I most likely would be... but as tears filled my boss's eyes, he told me not everyone on our team was so lucky. Out of the 11 people on our team, 3 people were let go. When he told me who I was in shock and didn't know what to say. The ones that were let go were good sports of course. The whole morning was spent talking to each other in disbelief and people saying goodbye. The 3 on my team were not the only ones to be let go today. World Wide there was close to 800 that were laid off. Lots of people that I correspond with via email were gone, 40% of the legal group was gone, most of pricing (the ones we do the brisket pot luck with) were gone. It was VERY depressing. Even though I made the cut... I almost wanted to throw in the towel myself and not come back. It just wasn't fair. Why them? On another note... it was finally over. No more waiting and wondering.

For those of you who read my blog regularly you know I am very close with my co-workers. Some people find it strange because there is such an age gap between me and the rest of the group. Its true though, we are a very tight group. We have so much fun together. Knowing for a while that at least one person would be leaving the team just broke my heart. I couldn't choose one person that I wouldn't miss if they left. We had a meeting with a manager with the new company and she could tell we were all really down so she told us to all go home early. I had held myself together pretty well most of the day, but when I was leaving for the day and had to hug Paul and Les goodbye knowing that I would leave and when I came back the next day their offices would be empty and they would be gone, I started to cry. They probably thought it was silly because I have hardly worked with them compared the others. I have only worked with them 2 + years... the rest have been working together 6 + years, but I honestly really care about these guys. It was so hard to say goodbye.

I guess that is what I mean about the good change vs bad change. Had they been leaving because they had better jobs lined up and we were throwing them a party... it would have not been such a sad occasion. Leaving this way is just depressing.

Laura is the other one that got let go. She is the one that was just here visiting and brought me the Maple Syrup from Vermont. She works from home there. I'm glad she came so I could see her one last time and say goodbye. I didn't get to know her as well because she was on the other side of the country... but I supported her area and we had many opportunities to chat on the phone and online as we worked together. She is such a genuine and sweet person that brought a lot of humor to the team. Especially at Quarter End where she would usually start a work related Haiku that would start a long chain of Haiku's from the rest of the group.

Les and I had so many great chats. He is also a very genuine and sweet person. He always complimented my hats and scarves and told me I reminded him of the little boy from mr. magorium's wonder emporium because of all of the hats I wore. He used to be a Bishop so he was always concerned with how I was doing. When I went through my broken engagement, he had many chats with me about relationship's and marriage and was really sympathetic and caring and gave me a lot of wise advice. He truly cared and I truly appreciated it.

Paul was the health nut of the group. The one person that had the will power to not eat any of the bazillions of treats that we always have. He does Sprint Triathlons for fun at the last minute and does it in like a half hour. He will ride his bike to work and is just in the most amazing shape. He even got some of the other guys to work out with him on their lunch break. He talked to me a lot and prepped me for when I did my Sprint Triathlon. He was also the mellow one of the group, very laid back and so positive about everything and everyone. I think he is the main reason why our department is the way it is. He makes sure we are positive and supportive and there for each other... that we have each other's backs. Makes sure everyone is invited and feels included. He is the one all of the negotiators would go to for answers because he is the most organized guy that I know.  Paul brought a lot of humor to our meetings. Both Les and Paul and all of the guys in the group are great husbands and fathers and good examples to me and everyone around them.

I am REALLY going to miss them. I feel like our team will not be the same without them. It makes me sad to even think about this right now. However, I also believe that things happen for a reason. Just like when I was laid off from Apx, I was so mad and hurt but right after that I got my job at Novell which has been so great for me for so many different reasons. Getting laid off ended up being a blessing. I hope the same thing holds true for them. I wish them the best. They were very appreciated in our department and I know I speak for everyone when I say they will be missed. Doing a tribute to them on my blog is the best way I know how to let people know I appreciate them. Good luck and farewell.

Epcot

As you know from the "Flower & Garden Festival" post, I went to Walt Disney's Epcot Center with Kirsten a week ago. It was both of our first time there. We are both HUGE Disney fans and have been to Disneyland California so many times that we can't count. Because of this we had no interest in seeing their Disnyland part of Disney World. We would just compare the two and most likely be disappointed. However, we both heard many great things about Epcot, so we were excited and ready to explore.

For those of you who have never been to Epcot, its like Disneyland for adults. Not a lot of rides... more of looking and eating. Its a HUGE park that is set up into different parts that represent different countries. We visited them all! It actually takes up most of your day to just go through all of the countries... even if you are just looking around.

In the first country we visited, Mexico, I got really excited over the idea that we should take pictures in clothes from that country in the gift shops. I think we did that in 5 countries before we lost motivation. A couple of the countries had little rides to go on, but the majority of them had 360 degree movies about that country... which was pretty awesome too.

Here is a quick summary of all the countries at Epcot.

First is Mexico. This is one of the counties that had a little ride. Kind of like  the ride "Small World" at Disneyland. We also had lunch here in a restaurant that was candlelit by the water where the ride went by.... kind of like "The Blue Bayou" except not as awesome.

Then came Norway. Loved all the Vikings. This country also had a ride... which we actually really liked a lot. You get to be in an awesome boat and part of the ride you are cruising backwards.

Next up, China. This was the first country that we experienced the 360 degree movie about China. It was beautiful and made me want to go there. Big surprise. By the way... took the picture of the dog made out of plants because I was born the year of the dog.

Germany we went through pretty quickly.... but managed to get some pictures.

Sadly we didn't spend a lot of time in Italy ( I want to go to for reals Italy really bad) but we did catch this juggler as we were passing by.

After this we took a little break and we went to the car testing ride (which we both loved) and then to the Space portion of the park where we went on an intense mission to Mars. It was actually an awesome ride that I would have never gone on had I known it would spin like the Gravitron at the fair. They would spin you though as you went up into space so that you could feel that pressure... but because you are watching a screen of you going into space, you don't realize you are spinning. It was an interactive flight team game. I enjoyed it but I'm not going to lie.... we both had to lay down for a little bit after from the motion sickness.

Back to the countries. We started at the other end and decided to make our way to the middle. Where did this put us? Canada... where we watched another beautiful 360 degree film.

On to the United Kingdom next. We didn't really do much here... except later we bought Fish n Chips from there. Another place I would love to go. They had this garden that had mini fruit trees planted in tea pots throughout the garden. LOVE IT.

Next in line was France. Beautiful gardens.... looked like amazing food, sadly I didn't try any.

Morocco came next. Morocco was not only beautiful, but they also had a live Moroccan band and dancer. It was awesome, we stayed and watched the whole thing.

Then we went to Japan. Loved it there!!! I even got to try on a Kimono! I think Japanese Gardens are one of my most favorite things ever... so Japan was right up my alley.

Last but not least was America in the middle of all of the counties. What type of entertainment did we have? Teaching kids to dance to pop songs. It was actually pretty fun and we maybe got a snack and sat down and watched / danced with the kids. :)

After hanging out in all of the counties we went and found a good spot to watch the firework show... which was good, but not as good as Disneyland. Then they shut down the park.... which is at 9pm. WHAT? I was a little disappointed. There was still so much more we could have done. I guess we were pretty tired anyway.....

Epcot rocks. Hope I make it back again someday.