I love me some CALI!!!

Huntington Beach. Beautiful. Perfect.Tracie's bruise on the bottom of her foot from her sprained ankle. She was a champ the whole trip.
This lucky bucky survived the ocean in Tracie's mizuno shorts. It was a miracle.

I really love this picture, it really shows T's personality. And orange knees.
I personally believe that this bird was super glued to the rail because it did not move. Creepy.

Best onion rings I've ever had. And I don't even like onions. Six Flags on Sunday. It was a lot of fun, a lot of lines, a lot of ghetto lovin' and a few bum cracks.
Nothin' like a real fly pose in the "O" at California adventures. What a treat.

I think we might be related.
Brayden asked, "are you really kissing Woody?" Almost. Didn't want to get Bo Peep jealous though.

Ha ha ha. So Tracie and I had just gotten off the Jungle Cruise and saw that to our left, Jasmine and Aladdin were signing autographs. We hung out and watched them for a little bit. Or a lot a bit. It was funny. Brando, our new friend, came over and said, "It's almost like watching tv isn't it?" Then we sang a little, laughed a little, and then we had to take a picture. Tracie had a bit of a time with the telefoto button.Nothing beats Disneyland fireworks. Nothing.
We really really loved posing for the pictures. We even bought one from Splash Mountain that I need to scan and post. Hilarious.

Lunch at the Blue Bayou. I was so so excited. It had been about 13 years since I last had the Monte Cristo sandwich and believe me, it did not disappoint. Neither did the gumbo. Amazing.
How did we not know about the Blessed Dole Whip? Tracie probably would have swam in it.

Good times. Good times.

Where have I been all your life?

It's been a while. Enjoy!

MUSE-ings

For Christmas, I gave Tracie a ticket to the Muse concert at the E-center. Back then, it seemed forever away! April came so so fast this year, and the day finally came! We started out the day going on a USU campus tour with Mom and Dad, which was fun. I love road trips, even though we both slept most of the way.
We headed out to the concert and the weather was insane! Slushy snow and wind made the traffic jam more exciting. Next time, I think I need to re-think our arrival strategy. We missed most of the opening act, Silver Sun Pickups, and what we heard was pretty good! We had some great seats, in that nobody was sitting in front of us! We had a great view of the stage and even though the people on it were itty bitty, it didn't matter!
Muse finally came on and blew us both away. It was phenomenal. You know how there are some bands who sound really great on CD but live they are not good at all? Not these dudes. It was amazing. And LOUD. Great performers, great company, great concert!!

Tracie's 1/6 Birthday Party

It was a SURPRISE! We've been wanting to have a party for Tracie for the past three birthdays but wanted to do it when it was warmer. . . anyway, it was only a little warmer than February, but we had Tracie's party last Friday night. The events leading up to that night were pretty priceless. I was in charge of getting T's friends there. I sent a bunch of texts and called a lot of her friends to spread the word. I asked her friend KT to send the following text to the girls on dance co: "Don't forget to tell everyone but Tracie about her surprise party Friday night at 6! Park in the back of the church...Food and fun! Don't forget!"
A few minutes later, I got a text back from KT: "Ahhhh I sent it to all of dance co, but I'm so stupid and tracie was in the list that I sent it to! But don't worry I'm covering it up. Don't worry!"
Well, I laughed and thought the gig was up, I didn't know how she'd cover that up, but I couldn't say anything to Tracie, just in case. Anyway. The next day was April Fools day. Apparently, KT had told Tracie that her "cousin" had sent that text to a bunch of people as a joke. Tracie thought that was so funny, so she sent it to soo many of her friends, including Laura, me, and even Mom. Laura called her and Tracie was like, "april fools!" and Laura laughed so hard she was crying. Poor Tracie thought it was all her doing. She was so proud. I got the text as I was going in to a wedding reception to take pictures. I sent a text back saying, "Is someone going to be mad you sent this to me? Really??" I got a text back, April fools! Again, T thought she'd outdone everything. I got a few texts back from her friends who had also received texts about their own surprise party wondering if something was really happening. . . . .ha ha ha.
Well, Friday came and Tracie went to school with me. It was a laid back day full of reading reward parties, so it was a good time. My students loved to meet her and we had fun pretending she was the substitute.
After school we came back to my house and watched "Glee" for a few hours. I asked T if she wanted to go see a movie so we planned on leaving at 6. I sent mom a text to call me at 6:05 and ask us to meet her at the church to help her move some boxes. When she did, Tracie was like, the church? Now? I thought for sure she was onto us.
We walked into the church and T opened the "party room" door and there were, I think, 3 friends and our family. Luckily more showed up soon. It was a lot of fun, we had bought waaay too much food, but Laura had borrowed a karaoke machine from a guy she works with. It was so so fun! The kids especially loved it. I won't lie, I loved it too. It was a great party, and Tracie swears she had no idea!!! Joke was on her!
Maybe sometime I'll figure out how to trim videos and post one. It'll be like one big vid post.

Audrey hijacks the camera

And then we got a few of her. Audrey LOVES Lucy, or "ducy."

Valentine's Day Entertainment

Tracie and I were asked to perform a special musical number for the Stake Valentine's dinner, and of course, we cannot deny our public. We are, by nature, slackers, so we didn't actually write down the song until that day (the 13th) but don't worry, it worked out. We are not ashamed to use notes. We made a medley of love songs, a la Moulin Rouge. The file is too big so I'm going to have to cut it up before I can post it. Or maybe you could request a live performance the next time we see you.

Not my will. . . .

Remember how the Lord works in mysterious ways? I don't always understand. I don't always like it, but I can't deny that I see that He provides opportunities, easy and hard, that help me learn and grow.
I found out this morning that there is probably not a position for me next school year. I don't have a reading endorsement and technically should have one for what I'm doing now, and the job I wanted to apply for will go to someone with more seniority than me. It may not seem fair, but I am thankful that I felt really calm today. I'm not worried, I'm not scared, I'm not mad or frustrated. I am intrigued. I know that there is something else that Heavenly Father will send my way, it is just up to me to seek it out and work for it. I won't lie, I'm not looking forward to the interviewing process, but I know that my needs will be met and everything will be ok. I'll keep you posted, because I know you all will be sitting on the edges of your seats.