A Halloween Treat

My brother Taylor put together this video. It's my Halloween nightmare, starring me and all of my LEAST favorite celebrities. (If you can even call them celebrities.) Thanks Tay! This is awesome.

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/PPOspvcjlvhVTDAw

Happy Halloween!

This year I decided to dress up as a Boise State football fan. Not a huge stretch for me, really. Keep in mind that I strategically plan my Halloween costume so that I can wear jeans to work one day each year. That was part of the reason behind my Hannah Montana costume last year. (If you haven’t seen photos of me in my teeny bopper clothes and Hannah Montana wig, sorry, I won’t be posting them here. I am still trying to deny that such photos exist.)

I also picked my costume this year specifically to upset the local University of Utah fans whose Utes (#19) are not doing nearly as well as my Broncos (#6) this year. Note: Please don’t leave me comments about last year’s teams. That was then. This is now. Happy Halloween!!! Enjoy the pics of me and super-cool-Jazz-fan-Breanne.

Slam It

It’s been a good weekend. Friday night was “Girls Night” with some girls from work. We had dinner at El Matador and watched The Proposal. For any individuals of the male persuasion who may be reading this blog, let me explain. Mexican Food + Quality Chick Flick + Fun Friends = Super Successful Girls Night.

Saturday I got my haircut and ran a few errands. I also had the luxury of a Saturday afternoon nap. Yeah for me! This weekend was also my Stake Conference, so Sunday I got to sleep in a bit and didn’t have to worry about Relief Society lessons or choir practice. Yeah again!

Had a yummy Sunday dinner with Dad and Biz. I also won our game of Dutch Blitz. I don’t think I’ve ever beat Biz at Dutch Blitz before so that is definitely worth mentioning here.

Sunday afternoon, I went with my friend Carole and her two young kids to Temple Square. After we wore the kids out downtown, we went back to my house. I pulled out “Aunt Traci’s Toy Box” and Carole’s daughter invented a game called Slam It. Slam It involves an inflatable plastic ball and a flip-flop shaped fly swatter. (I should probably clarify that this particular fly swatter has always been in the toy box and has never been used to swat flies.) The rules are pretty much what you would expect from a game called Slam It. It was a fun end to a fun weekend.

Uh Oh

I had my organ class last night. I am taking organ lessons up at the University of Utah this semester. The class was great - except for the part where one of the other students asked about our upcoming recital. NOBODY TOLD ME WE HAD TO PLAY IN A RECITAL. I didn't sign up for that.

Pictures

Home Sweet Home

This post is for my good friend and adopted niece, Izzy. Izzy wanted to send me a package recently, but she was concerned that she might need to send it to my Dad’s house because he has a mailbox and Izzy wasn’t sure that I did. When Izzy’s Mom was able to convince her that Aunt Traci does, in fact, have her own mailbox, Izzy replied “Oh, cuz she is an adult.” I guess it’s official. I have arrived!

Besides having my own mailbox, some of the things I like about having an apartment/being an adult are that I have my own washer and dryer, my very own garage, my own Bosch mixer, and a subscription in my name to the Ensign and the Salt Lake Tribune. (I guess I also have my own account with Questar Gas and Bountiful City Power, but those ones aren’t nearly as exciting.)

Here are a couple of pictures of my new place. I will hopefully be able to post pictures of my cute living room soon. Unfortunately, I have just learned that an estimated delivery date of three weeks out at Furniture Warehouse (on Road Redwood, for those of you in the Salt Lake valley who have seen the annoying ads) really translates to a six week wait time. And that’s just an estimate. Stay tuned.

Creative Navigation

Last night I decided to go to the Draper Temple. I like to do sessions in temples that I haven't been to before. I printed my mapquest directions and drove straight to the temple from work in about half an hour. Not a single wrong turn! However, and this will not come as a surprise to anyone who has ever been a passenger in my car, I was not so lucky on the way home. I got a little turned around leaving the temple. And by "a little turned around" I mean that I spent the next 30 or 45 minutes on a scenic night-lights tour of Draper, Sandy and possibly South Jordan. At one point, I was waiting to enter a round-a-bout and I just started laughing. I had no idea where I was, or what direction I wanted to be going. Any one of my six options in the round-a-bout was absolutely the same to me. North, south, east, west - I didn't have an idea what was what by that point.

So I was a little frustrated by my infamous "creative navigation" driving technique last night, but I did manage to (eventually) find the freeway. I didn't even have to use a lifeline to phone a friend and make a panicky phone call to get directions from my Dad. I'll count that as a small victory.

Help

Does anyone know how I can move the "Cutest Blog on the Block" icon so it isn't directly over the title of my most recent post? I really like the plaid background I found on their website, but I'm so new to this blog thing that I can't figure out how to move the logo. The only thing I've been successful at so far was setting a huge version of the logo as the background for my entire desktop. That was great, but not really the look I was going for. Suggestions?

You Gotta Love It, Baby

Well, the Utah Jazz have officially entered pre-season play. I’m very excited about this. Mostly because it significantly increases the chances that I will be able to see Kyle Korver whenever I turn on KJZZ Channel 14 or pick up the newspaper. Yeah, I love the Jazz!!!

In other basketball related news, did anyone read the article in the Salt Lake Tribune when John Stockton was inducted into the Hall of Fame? The media asked him what he missed most and he said, "The game." Well said, John. I don't think we'll ever see another player like him in the NBA.

My Picture is Here!!!

I have had my eye on this print from a Park City gallery for about seven years now. When I decided to get my own apartment and experiment with living alone before I committed to buying a house, I also thought it was time for me to own this picture. Don’t you just want to eat lunch at this café in Italy? I’m having a grilled chicken and spinach salad, fresh lemonade, and a berry pastry for dessert. But I think you should get something chocolate so I can try a bite of that too.

But October Is Much Better

October has been a great month so far. I have yet to set foot in a hospital. I have been having fun decorating my new apartment. I have been well enough to enjoy the fall weather and changing leaves. My nephews came to visit last weekend and we had such a fun time playing basketball and eating cookies. So far, I really, really like October.

September Was Not My Best Month

7 Kidney Stones
3 Vacation Days (and ALL my sick time) Used Up at Work
2 Friday Night Visits to the ER
1 Minor Surgery
1 Cancelled Vacation to New York City
1 Million Trips to the Pharmacy for Lortab and Percocet (More Please!)

I think that’s enough said.