Birthday Countdown is On

"The man whose greatest weakness is love is the strongest man in the world."

Saturday is a Special Day

Dishes washed. Bills paid. Floors swept. Been to the post office and the pharmacy. Bought gas. Last load of laundry in the dryer. Am sitting in my reading chair with my iPad and a book by Maya Angelou. Whatever happens the rest of today, my Saturday morning has been a success.

The Jury Is Out On This Week

At the risk of sounding negative, let me just say that January has had its share of small disasters. For Exhibit A, I present this picture from last Saturday: 

At first glance, you may see two young girls enjoying a quiet Saturday with their aunt. You would be wrong. What began innocently enough became a disaster zone when the smoke detectors in my apartment malfunctioned and all went off at the same time. For what seemed like hours. While the girls screamed, I tried to get them to let me put them down so I could take the batteries out of the detectors, then I gave up and took all of us outside in our bare feet until I could find a neighbor to help us. The beeping, the screaming, the hypothermia, the ringing ears for the next 24 hours - I was in classic meltdown mode.

For Exhibit B, I draw your attention to this gem of a photo:

I wish I could blame the fact that I wore two different shoes to church the next day on my ringing ears. But I think it was my eyes and my feet that had the problem. At least I didn't have stake visitors in my primary class while I unknowingly taught a lesson in mis-matched shoes. Oh wait - I did.

But never fear. January has had some better moments. Like Neil Diamond's birthday. I took the opportunity to decorate my cubie and bring peanut butter bars to work. A full day of watching people try to figure out why I have Neil Diamond albums displayed at my desk and just how crazy that must make me - is always a good time.

My other favorite moment of the week is courtesy of Comic Con. I love walking around downtown dressed as a "boring employee of the LDS Church" while everyone else is dressed as Superman in a kilt or an inappropriate gladiator. I feel blissfully out of place in the Comic Con crowd and I love that. So at least something is going right for me.

Let's Talk About 2014

2014 is certain to go down in history as the year I brought Neil Diamond's Birthday Celebration to the Church Office Building. And sat on the front row of a Celine Dion concert in Vegas. And had a boyfriend. Which is why I never make New Year's Resolutions. I never could have predicted any of these strange happenings. It's much better to use the new year as a time to look back on the past 365 days and reflect on the things I didn't see coming but am grateful to have experienced than it would be to set unrealistic goals for the future. Right? Right? Of course right.

2014 Resolution #1: Speak at LDS General Conference

Just kidding. But I did introduce several speakers at the Church's annual safety conference. And my boss took the opportunity to snap this candid photo, which became one of my all-time favorites, particularly after my brother Taylor enhanced it like this:

2014 was my first full year as an employee of LDS Risk Management. I learned that when a stake president calls and says, "I have kind of a unique situation and I don't know if I'm in the right place," that Risk Management is ALWAYS the right place. I cried when we lost Boy Scouts and laughed when a Young Womens President wanted to know if she could do Girls Camp on a cruise to Cancun. I got angry when children were hurt and found some solace in being able to offer help. I served homemade glittery, diamond-shaped sugar cookies and played Neil Diamond trivia with a bunch of old guys in white shirts and ties in the conference room. I volunteered with United Way when my work gave me the opportunity. And I tried to follow the counsel of President Gordon B. Hinckley to "simply do what you can do in the best way you know."

 

2014 Resolution #2: Sit on the Front Row of a Celine Dion Concert at Caesar's Palace





 I can't tell you how satisfying it is to check this one off the list.

Biz and I were beyond lucky to be called from our seats in the balcony (where we were so excited to be!) to two empty seats on The Front Row. It was us, the security guard, and then our friend Celine. Best night ever.

2014 Resolution #3: Continue to Serve as Favorite Aunt Traci
Check.

 Easter Tea

 Boise River

 Rice Krispy Pumpkins

 Yellowstone!

 Polka Dot Cuteness

Halloweeners

 

2014 Resolution #4: Become an Online Dating Success Story

I defy any dating website to come up with better pictures than these for their home page.

 

 

 

 

Bonus points for Temple Square. But you get the idea....

In 2014, I validated my theory that online dating is actually a decent way for normal, busy people over the age of 22 to meet other normal, busy people over the age of 22. (This has been my theory for quite some time but I didn't have any concrete proof until now.) You have to be smart and you have to be careful. But you can meet someone wonderful and build an 8-months-and-counting relationship with someone who just plain makes your life better. I'm grateful for late night texting and concerts and road trips and flowers and lots of fun times. My relationship with Jason and his cute kids is definitely my most notable accomplishment this year.

2014 Resolution #5: Live in the Joy of Annie

This year I experienced a beautiful little miracle named Annie. How grateful I was to spend ten inspirational days with my dear niece.

Her Mom and Dad got to bring her home and take family pictures all together. We got to hold her and cherish her and hold her some more.

I played the piano at her funeral service and, later in the year, at her brother Tyler's baptism. Which seems fitting.

  

 

As always, in 2014 I enjoyed spending time with my forever family. We were able to attend the temple together in November and what a great day that was.

 

 

 

Finally, in 2014 I tried to keep the attention of the 9 year olds in my Primary class long enough to remind them each week that their Heavenly Father loves them and they need to make good decisions so they can do all the good things He wants them to do. (I did not always succeed.) And I tried to make good decisions myself so I can do the good things He wants me to do. (Again, I did not always succeed.) But here's to 2015.





Seattle Trip

Spent a quick weekend in Seattle in early December to visit the family. When I asked Jason what was on his "must do" list in Seattle, his only item was to go by the stadium. So here we are at Seahawk Stadium. As a side note, I successfully navigated from the airport, to the train, to the stadium, to the waterfront, to the train, and back to the airport without any problem. Which was a major victory for me. And Jason - and Biz - who were both justifiably worried about my ability to get around in a big city.

 

For months, I had been telling Jason about the waterfront and Ivar's and Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. I had really set this trip up as a visit to my childhood. So you can imagine my dismay (followed by my hysterical laughter) when we got to the waterfront and it was.... completely closed. Silly me. I didn't think to google "the Seattle waterfront" and see if it was closed for construction. Can you close the waterfront? Apparently you can. At least we got to walk over to Pike's Place and watch the guys throw the fish.

And it was still a beautiful night in Seattle. Even if we had to eat hamburgers in the one place that wasn't completely shut down.

Apparently I don't have any pictures from the family gathering on Saturday. We all look pretty much the same as the last few times we've been together.

Finally, we went to the airport plenty early so we could eat at Ivar's. It's not the same as being on the water surrounded by overfed seagulls. But it's still the best fish you'll ever eat.

Until next time, Seattle!!!

Muppets and MoTab



The thing I love best about Temple Square at Christmastime is that it's subtle. Never glitzy or overdone. Like this tastefully decorated tree at the Joseph Smith Building. You can see that less is definitely more.

 

In all seriousness, however, the Tabernacle Choir's Christmas Concert was magical this year. I don't know who came up with the idea to have the Muppets as the special guests, but it was brilliant. Bird Bird directing the choir, Elmo reporting live from Temple Square - it was a really fun show. The only thing we needed was Linda to sign during "Keep Christmas With You All Through the Year."

Giving Thanks

I was having a hard time deciding when I should travel to Idaho over Thanksgiving weekend, until Ashlee told me that her girls were dancing in the Festival of Trees on Friday afternoon. And then I knew that I needed to be in Boise by 2:30 in the afternoon on Friday. Decision made. I danced at the Boise Festival of Trees a time or two myself back in the day, so I had a really good time watching the girls perform with their Irish dance group. Note: I really want to do Irish dancing. Like really bad.

 

Another highlight of the Idaho trip was getting these two ready to go swimming in the hotel pool. Neither wanted to wear the swimsuit that actually fit them so we switched it up and Lauren wore a suit that was too small and Carly wore a suit that was too big. They were pleased as punch. You can't argue with those smiles. Or I can't anyway.

You can always tell when Uncle Aaron is in town because Bryce is sporting a mohawk. I really don't know who put Aaron in charge of hair.

Tyler's baptism day was Saturday!!! Can't believe he's so big. He loved his new white towel with his name on it.

 Happy day all around.