Tracey’s Year in Review
2003

January- Matt and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary!
I moved into my new speech room at Sunset View Elementary School-a whole new office with high ceilings and tons of natural sunlight.
We found out Michelle was pregnant with Hannah Banana!

February-Matt and I took a trip to San Francisco to stay with Joel, Astevens, and McCann—such an excellent time and an instant bond with new friends. Additionally, we started to really make some good friends in our own region of San Diego, with people in our Bible Study and people at Matt’s work.

March-I kidnapped Matt after a difficult couple of months at work and took him to our favorite places in San Diego—Encinitas, Cardiff-by-the-Sea (the area where we stayed when Matt, Mary and I came out here for a spontaneous vacation several years ago). Then we had fun visitors-first Michelle (and Hannah, in her belly!) and also Astevens, McCann, and Joel. We all went to Joshua Tree National Park and had an epic trip. Matt and I also went to see Cush, which was one of the best shows I’ve seen in my life.

April-Mom and Dad Good came to San Diego!!! We hiked to an oasis in the desert, went to the zoo, farmer’s market, sunset cliffs, and many other great places. Also watched “a mighty wind”, which I enjoyed thoroughly.
May- Our friend Chelsea was in LA on business so we drove up to meet her and spent the evening with her on the Santa Monica strip—excellent time with another lifelong friend! Also, I went to see Billy Graham, who was in San Diego (so beautiful and simple and honest). We finally made it up to Chowchilla to see Mary and Casey—quick visit to Yosemite and a glimpse into their new lives in central California.

June- Yay! School’s out!!! Ryan and Michelle (and Hannah still in the womb) came to visit us for 8 days! Unfortunately, we had probably the worst week of weather we’ve had since we’ve lived here. That didn’t stop us from having a great time, though. I was on the local news, laying out at the beach-ha! We also found a condo that we fell in love with and put a bid on (the waiting game began…)At the end of the month, I left Matt for a couple of weeks to spend time with family and friends in Cincinnati.

July- Cincinnati visit continued…whew! What a busy two weeks of visiting with Grammy and Granddad and Kevin in Columbus, Mom and Dad in Cincinnati, Ryan and Michelle in Lexington, Michelle’s shower in Cincy, and then a visit from Heidi over the 4th of July. The rest of the month involved me running at Sunset Cliffs, relaxing at the beach, and having fun!!! Also, inspection of the condo and more waiting…. Michael (and his friend) came to visit on their way through the country.

August-More waiting for the condo, a visit from Rachael, and one of the best vacations ever! Matt and I drove up the coast of California and camped at a different place each night—it was beautiful and peaceful—great to have time alone and with the Lord, enjoying His many creations. While on our vacation, we received a message that we could close on our condo! Yay! We finally joined the ranks of first-time homeowners! We moved in at the end of the month, with much help from good friends and a schedule that allowed me to move things over little by little. And we had fun painting our new walls with actual colors!

September-Our dear friends, Heidi and Ken, came to visit and we had such a fantastic time. A perfect ending to a perfect summer! And then, school started! It was a rude awakening at first, but I eased into it by the end of the month J. And then beautiful Hannah was finally born! We are now Aunt Tracey and Uncle Matt! And Michelle and Ryan are Mommy and Daddy!

October- Kevin and Emily got married! Yay! A new sister for me! Matt’s good friend Marni got laid off of word (at Scantron) and we kidnapped her and took her out with the friends that we run around with. Mary and Casey came down for a weekend and we had a great time! Unfortunately, they had to leave early due to the California wildfires. Mary and I started training for the San Diego Half Marathon.

November-Matt got laid off of work, which was sad, but we’re looking forward to the next adventure! We shared Thanksgiving with the entire Edwards family (except Gramps)—my first turkey-making experience! Such a great week of yummy food and visiting and a sunset vow renewal ceremony for Mom and Dad’s 30th anniversary.

December-A fun month of Christmas parties, more training for the half marathon (to take place Jan 18th), and a trip back to Ohio to visit family for Christmas break: first to BG (Edwards’), then to Cincinnati (Good’s), then to Youngstown (Heidi and Ken). This year we’re thankful for the family and friends with which God has blessed us.

Favorite movies this year…
-Catch me if you can
-Chicago
-Owning Mahoney
-Bruce Almighty
-Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
-Pirates of the Caribbean
-Seabiscuit
-Elf
-Love actually

Honorable mention
-Down with Love (set design, costumes, and style of banter only)
-Lost in Translation (for Tokyo scenes and Bill Murray’s hilariousness only)


Favorite music this year…
-The Strokes
-The White Stripes
-The New Pornographers
-Rooney
-Saves the Day
-Something Corporate
-Ash
-Denison Witmer
-Travoltas
-Cush, as usual

twas the night before christmas
and all through the house
every creature was stirring
especially grandpa and matt.

mare! i forgot about that awesome lazy quote of:
"(come on fog!) i didn't get this job to have to go to work every day!"
i laughed so hard when i read that, remembering the silliness of that statement (and also the anger behind it!)

best quotes from grandpa so far:
"it'll never work out with michael's girlfriend."
why not?
"because she's a redhead!"
(pause maybe 3 minutes)
"life never works out for redheads...unless they have lots of money and can pay their way through life."

lots of laughing at that funny guy!

we had sort of a ridiculous trip out here, which included our taxi being late to pick us up to take us to the airport, and two flights where we had CONSTANT screaming kids sitting the row in front of us, and then a lost suitcase--which of course contained all of our christmas presents. so anyways, it all worked out and we finally got the suitcase back today, so everyone will get their gifts this year! hopefully the trip home will be less eventful.

been having a fun time over here at 1040 village drive: eating, talking, laughing, playing cards, eating out at trotter's, etc.
last night matt and i went out with lots of old friends and had such a wonderful time.
it's hard for us to be back in BG for several reasons, but family and friends make it worth it.

tonight is christmas eve and we're going to do "the night before christmas" over the phone with mary and casey. and we're going to make cookies, too, since we haven't fatly eaten enough yet.
and then tomorrow christmas of opening presents, maybe a movie, and best of all, mom's chicken enchiladas!!!! yummy!

merry christmas everyone!
~tracey

here's a quickie blog
since i'm at school right now.
the kids are out of control!!!!
oh my gosh, the wildness is unbelievable!!

i gave myself a headache for lunch since i ate a cookie, a cupcake, and candy all before 11:00. there have been kids in the nurse's office with upset stomachs all day long...hmmm..wonder why...

when i went home for lunch, matt was cleaning the house (thanks sweetie!). we're having our friends marni and ed over tonight before we take them to the airport. then we'll have our friends sue and tom over on saturday to have a fun game night. that's why he's cleaning....

and then pack it up, pack it in, let me begin...
it's off to ohio for christmas! hooray!
arrive in BG on the 22nd
go to cincy on the 26th
lexington on the 29th maybe?
cleveland on the 30th

whew!
i'm tired just writing it!
it will be great to visit and relax and eat and laugh with everyone.

see you all soon!
love,
tracey

matt is setting up my new photo printer right now--yay!
so i'll come home with some pictures for all to see at christmas.

ryan, i was laughing so hard at your blog! i can't believe reeces howls along with hannah's cry! that is the sweetest thing!
your fireplace story reminded me of our own fireplace story...
which is that matt and i were having a christmasy kind of night last weekend. we had the tree on, and sparkley lights on our banister, and we were just playing cards and stuff... it wasn't actually cold but i thought, it's december: let's have a fire! so after about 52 matches, we finally got it lit. the fire was actually just 10 evenly spaced blue flames. and the sound of the gas coming out of the line (with and without the flames) was so LOUD we had to turn it way down low. ha! so it seems that we need someone to come out and look at our deal to see if anything can be done about the wierdo gas line. maybe our neighbor knows...
well, it was a nice try, at least...

we're listening to the strokes new album--very quality, for those interested.

one more cake day before break!
i plan to do no actual speech therapy
and instead make fun christmas cards
and "holiday glasses" that say "happy holidays" on the top of big googly paper glasses
and eat candy and cookies and cupcakes, etc.
sounds fun, eh?

then freedom.
and then when we go back to school we'll be halfway through the school year.
huh???
how did that happen???

welp, matt needs to get on to get this deal going!
~tracey

ahh, three more days until freedom!!!
this last week is busy, filled with lots of meetings that are being squeezed in before we go for break.
tomorrow i have the afternoon off, due to the fact that everyone else will be going to the christmas lunch deal for my one school.
i originally wasn't going because i had a meeting scheduled for my other school--but that got rescheduled, but i didn't get my rsvp turned in in time (besides, it's $16.50 WE have to pay. the social committee is sort of weird this year with all that stuff). so no tears here, i'll just have a nice run and relaxing afternoon with my husband!

matt is strumming the guitar in the next room-- i love it!

can't wait to see friends and family in less than a week!

i was playing the game "trouble" with 4 little boys this morning (you know, the game that has dice in a little plastic bubble that you pop in order to roll) so anyhoo, whatever number they roll is the number of speech cards they have to practice; and i was teasing a little boy because we ended on the word "girls". so i said, "oooh, girls--your favorite thing!" and he said, "ewww--yuck! girls are not my favorite thing!" and another little boy who was sitting next to me hugged me and said, "i don't like girls either, but YOU'RE my favorite girl!"
why do i have the best job in the world????

~tracey

my shoulders are sore this morning. i think from my bike ride yesterday. i upped the mileage/minutes and by the last 10 minutes i was feeling it in my lower back (for mary's info: i measured most of it and i think it was approximately 13-14 miles in 60-65 minutes--most triaths i've checked out have a 9 mile bike section--so even if we stayed at this speed it would be at least less than a 45minute ride). love it, though, it makes training much more interesting and biking is easier to control speed than in running. mare, do you concur? mom and dad, do you still have your exercise bike set up in the basement? if so, i will probably need to be using that on one of the days we are visiting. i will definitely be using the treadmill (don't worrry, mom, i won't do it when your quilt shows are on:) if it is too cold to run outside.

i was walking down the hall in school the other day, alone, and i hear a little child's voice say, "hey baby." so my eyes get all mean-teacher-squinty, and i say, "who said that?" and i hear, "hey baby," again. i can't really identify where the voice is coming from so i just stop and sort of look in all directions. all of the sudden, one of my little girls comes around the corner and i hear the voice again (not coming from her) give a scream and a laugh. and i ask her, "who is that? who is laughing?" and she points to a random brown wooden box in the hallway that has holes drilled into it--"it's a bird". so we go over and there is about a 3 inch diameter hole with a circle of white feathers and a silly bird eye, checking me out. i started cracking up. (apparently there were people from the zoo at our school, bringing around different animals--this little guy was just on a break). maybe this bird was a friend of bocifus?

i sent out christmas cards yesterday morning. yay.
last night we went to the festival of lights at the wild animal park.
the lights actually weren't that impressive, but we did get to see some sweet baby warthogs (they looked adult size, though), who were acting like dogs. one of the zoo workers came in to fix something and they ran over to her and nuzzled against her and she petted and scratched them. she said that sometimes when she scratches them, they roll over onto their backs! then when she was leaving, one of them sat his little bottom down by the door and she said, "oh good boy! you're sitting! oh no, you want a grape--i don't have a grape." SO CUTE! now i want a pet warthog!

long, slow run today, too:)
~tracey

saturday morning!
and i finally slept past 7:00 (7:15, to be exact)!!!
yay! this really is reason to celebrate!
i love coming back to ohio for family and friends, of course, but another reason is that i can actually stay up until 2:00 am and i can sleep in until 10:00 am!!!! (nevermind that it is my usual 11:00pm-7:00am schedule disguised as eastern standard time).

dad, how about the 23rd for a trotter's dinner?--yummmy............. i can't wait for one of my favorite meals in the world!!!
and mary, you get those pictures of bocifus up on your blog or i will come visit unexpectedly next weekend!
he sounds so completely cute and such a great pet!!! i'm so happy for you guys!

tonight we're going to the festival of lights at the wild animal park, since i took too long of a walk last night (it wasn't actually long in miles, rather, minutes, since the person i was walking with was s-l-o-w) and got home too late. but i made a great dinner of carne asada tacos and matt and i played uno and watched tv for awhile. i started falling asleep at 8:30 but matt forced me to get up, thankfully!

mom, cool bag. is that an exchange gift for the quilter's guild? i wonder what you received/will receive. hopefully you don't get a ceramic box that holds a smelly piece of soap!
well, i'm going to make some christmas cookies today, so i need to go shopping.
farewell people.
~tracey

hello there.
fun day yesterday, i had a day of rest from all exercise so my body can get schtrong and build up!

nice long talks with mare and our good friends chelsea and connell. so good to catch up with everyone. and we haven't talked to chels and connell for months, but it really seems like yesterday. they're low maintenance friends where you can pick up where you left off and it seems as if no time has passed at all. and they've been such great, encouraging, life-giving friends--truly a gift from God.

yesterday i had to do a training for my supervisor and some other teachers and teach them all how to give a certain test. that was fine, that's not really the point of the story, though. my supervisor, guy, gave me a gift for doing it. and that was a ceramic box type thing with a lid and a yucky smelling soap inside. it was a nice gesture, though. and then later he explains how we're going to do a "trash for treasure" gift exchange. so let's say you bring in three items you got for christmas that you didn't want and you get to choose 3 items that other people have brought--fun, eh? except i want to bring that ceramic thing already!!! darn! i know i can't get away with that one--that would be so chacho!!!

it's friday.
i'm listening to norah jones and getting mentally prepared for the day.
i don't feel like working, but i know it will go by quickly.
plus, i have the last hour and a half of the day to do paperwork and that kind of stuff. so i don't have to be "on" for that.
so as long as i can make it to 2:00 today, i'm fine. so minus lunch and recess, that makes 5 hours of performing for children! i can totally handle that!!!
then tonight matt and i are going to the wild animal park to see the festival of lights.
yay!
my two favorite things in one place: animals and christmas!

justin, if you like lemony snicket, you might get into the spiderwick books, too. unless you already are, that is...

well, i must be going.
have a great friday, everyone!
tracey

last night i ran 5 miles while matt played bball in la jolla with friends
(mare, you may notice i'm off of our schedule--because i stayed up too late sat and skipped sunday--i'm doing everything a day ahead or something).
then i went to henry's to get some groceries
then i came home and made a fantastic cheese fondue, if i do say so myself!
matt also had a steak, since he doesn't think bread, cheese, and vegetables are a full meal :)
then we went in the hot tub and relaxed our tired muscles.
ahhhhh..... what a perfect night!

i can't wait to see bocifus!
have a great day, people!
tracey

yay dreams!
it's been fun to read the dream-themed blogs lately.

"if nothing else, i can dream..."
over the rhine

i was just driving to work the other day and i could see the mountains, the ocean, and the city all in one shot, and it finally hit me that this is real! we really LIVE here! i am a californian! up until now, i have been in almost a state of disbelief, like, is this real? but it is and i finally realized that in fullness. we made it, we're realizing our dream! and justin, like you, i remember the dream stealers and crushers, who said, "yeah right. you always talk about california but you won't really move there." or even just the looks or idiotic questions (why would you want to live out there? you're going to fall into the ocean...) or silent disapproval of folks. all lies! and why? just to squish you and make themselves feel better about their own insecurities and fears?

anyhoo, it's real. and with God in control of your desires and dreams, anything can happen.
ahhhhhh...

i'm excited for christmas, to see family and friends!
we're almost done with our christmas shopping--it's much less this year (whew!) since we drew names with the siblings in BOTH families. thank goodness--it was getting out of control! but it is still fun to buy things and wrap them-heehee!
welp, i'm going to go running now.
dream on!
-tracey

saturday morning and i'm up as if i need to go to work.
sort of sad that i'm not to be able to sleep in anymore!
it has been so long--at least since summer--since i have slept in past 8:00.
ah well, that just means i get more things accomplished in the morning!

last night we went to a friend of a friend's house (who we didn't know:) and hung out.
it actually was pretty fun. these people have such a cool house and backyard (a giant jacuzzi with a cool wooden half shelter, surrounded by plants and white christmas lights). it was so serene and festive! we didn't get in the jacuzzi but some other people did. and then we played ping pong. the guys played each other, then the girls played each other, and winners from guys and girls played each other. so matt and i were both on teams that won and we played each other for the championship. it was 19-19 and we threw away the last two points--so sad! but the guys were pretty impressed that we held our own for that long!

where is bocifus???? :)

a 50-minute bike ride today for me and mary (or cross training of your choice!)

our house is all decorated for christmas---we have our tree up and our banister is decorated with ribbons and lights.
also, mom, the wall hanging you made for us is above the fireplace--it looks so great! grammy, the wall hanging YOU made for us is in our guest room--it also looks great! we have a little baby tree in our guest room and our room, so each room has it's own christmas spirit! i know, i'm a nerd! but i don't care, there are only 19 days left until christmas--i need to totally celebrate! that's why i'm listening to frank sinatra's christmas songs. so there!

tonight our friends marni and eddie are having a dinner party so we're going to that tonight.

i'll probably do some christmas shopping today.
also, there is a christmas marathon of old clay-mation/stop animation shows, like rudolph and all those fun old christmas shows we used to watch when we were little. so i may catch some of those for fun memories later!

welp,
i'm out.
-tracey

welp, i am getting annoyed with seeing my old blog, so i have to write at least SOMETHING before i go to work today!
it's foggy out this morning-just like that past two mornings. when i was driving to school yesterday i was thinking that if i was still working for wauseon, it would have definately been a fog day. and then i laughed at myself when i remembered the first foggy day we had here last year: i turned on the tv, looking for the school listing of 2 hour fog delay. and of course there was nothing. because the fog actually clears here! and there are no cornfields/country roads to retain the fog all day. sort of disappointing then, but funny now.

yesterday i told a little boy that he was going to be graduating from speech soon and he said, "but i'll miss you!" so i explained that i would miss him too, but he was getting all better and didn't need my help anymore. so he started crying and threw his arms around my neck and hugged me so tight. it was hard to keep myself from crying, actually, he was so sweet.

mom, what a beautiful quilt you made for the church--it does look like stained glass!

random dinner last night: a bowl of soup, a whole bag of microwave popcorn, and half of an orange.

well, i have to get going to work now.
tracey

thursday again!
how did that happen?

congratulations mom! did you change your mind about the presidency, then?

since everyone else is giving their running reports today, i'm going to join in as well: i ran 4 miles yesterday (without walking! yeah!) in 40 minutes. man that feels good! today will be biking, due to some shin splints that i'm trying to recover from. apparently, i'm supposed to cut my mileage 30-50%. by the way, mare-core, i know i should rest next weds, but i think i'll do an easy 2miler on tues--just to remind my legs of what they're supposed to do. :)

i LOVE and am ADDICTED to running. i finally figured out that i run best at a certain pace (breathe in 2 paces, breathe out 2 paces) and it is getting easier to get into that pace and just be machine-like. and best is when the endorphins kick in and i'm running and thinking in my head and i look down and my body and i think, "huh! my body is moving but i don't really feel it." a fake out of body experience.

i'm listening to old juliana theory and matt's going to play basketball.
he applied for 4 more jobs today--it's good that there's something out there at least!

and now for some personal messages:
rydogg, are you ever going to update your blog? come on guy, you've had a month off!:)
michael, are you going to run the thanksgiving day race with us?
emily, read matt's mom's blog.
grammy, your blog made me hungry!

1 week until the best meal of the year!!!
-tracey

yum.
i just had my favorite dinner: salad and bread with cheese and white wine.

yeah, mare, i'm getting there for the race but i'm annoyed by the shin splints--i'm icing them every night, though, so hopefully won't be too bad in a week and a half. i seem to be averaging between 28-29 minutes for the 5ks i run in practice. we'll see how thanksgiving day goes.
i, too, am exhausted on sundays after the long runs--my last 5 miler was rough-mentally and physically.

i just got some fun christmas ornaments in the mail from kevin and emily-yay! thanks guys! they made me so happy!

i had sort of an annoying day of meetings with a counselor who is rude, condescending, and has no social skills. how is she a counselor??? i was glad to get away from work for the first time in a long time. and at 3:20, in the middle of one of my meetings, i just happened to look at my planner and notice that i had a 2:30 meeting at my other school. heart attack time! i called over there and everyone was just finishing talking about their findings so i flew over there, just in time to present my findings. whew! thankfully, both the teacher and parents were so cool about me being late (and i didn't really need to be there for the rest of it anyways). but still, it left me sort of discumbobulated (i love that word but i don't know if i'm spelling it right!) for the evening. surprisingly, i calmed down after some grocery shopping and "friends" watching. now i'm in my jammies and i'm just going to veg out for the night.

we bought our christmas tickets!
can't wait to see everyone!

tracey

hello there.
welp, if you've read matt's blog you know that he has been laid off from his job.
sort of a surprise but sort of not, considering all the people who have been laid off since spring.
we kind of thought he was safe, being the only technical writer, but apparently not.

but just like matt said, God has a plan, he always has a plan.
when we first moved out here and matt got his job, it was such a miracle and such a crazy way that it worked out.
we're expecting something wonderful again. we've seen God do too much NOT to trust him with this.
and sort of sickly, it's almost an answer to prayer because i've been praying that matt would LOVE his job, that he would have
FUN doing his job, (which, in case you didn't know, scantron was pretty boring work). so this just sort of forces him to move on to that job that God already has prepared.
and already people have been so wonderful with offering financial support--we feel so blessed. thank you all so much.

last night was the first of my birth-weekend! matt has a fun weekend planned for us (and thanks to dad, we still get to do it!): last night we went to eat at ortega's for dinner and then to java jungle, to get my milky way mocha (decaf, of course!), and then to starbucks so matt could get his hot chai. then we just hung out in comfy chairs and chatted for a nice long time. apparently a little too long, because then we went to see "hot rod circuit" and "brand new" and we missed half of hot rod circuit's set. WHICH WAS TIGHT, by the way. they were so great live, and nice guys, too--really humble and genuine and always thanking the crowd and looking almost amazed that people knew their lyrics. i can't say as much for the boring brand new stage presence, which they tried to detract from by using obnoxious stage lights, which flashed and shined (shone? a little help, engish majors?) directly into the audience, which began to trigger a migraine. so i had to go sit down in a little alcove for the rest of their droning, victory-established way-too-long-type of songs. disappointing. matt said they weren't as bad as i'm describing, so maybe it was just the nausea overriding all of it. :) justin, in addition to your EMOKID, who permeated the place, of course, since it was all ages, i need to add a new showgoer. the kelly osborne wannabe. chunky girls in lowrider pants and skintight shirts that show their belly, and a huge thick rockstar belt, which draws further attention to the belly overhang. pair this with flinging arms and loud talking.
regardless of all that, i'd pay to see hot rod circuit again any day!
when we came home i started watching "the grinch", but fell asleep about halfway through.
and now i'm up!
somehow matt has a surprise for me today--so i can't wait!

and mare, i know you want me to get into tennis, but have you seen my hand-eye coordination??
why do you think the only sports i like are those that can be performed in a relatively straight line?: running, swimming, biking, hiking-notice a pattern there? i'll try it but you'll be sorry that you asked when you're chasing balls everywhere (or i am, because i can't hit even a normal serve).

i wore my red snowflake shirt yesterday and my snowman socks! and listened to christmas music before i went to work! yay!

have a great day everyone!
-tracey

and now for some words from frank sinatra:
and life gets more exciting
with each passing day
and love is either in your heart
or on it's way

today will be a day of random rambling thoughts, okay?

alright grammy! 2 blogs in one week!
(ryan and michelle--you could learn a lesson or two from her, you blog slackers! we know you have nothing better to do! speaking of which, i had another dream about hannah--she was bigger and looked like a girl! and so sweet!)

i'm home from work early, just because i can flex my time if i want. and i want.

justin, you're in luck--captain crunch is on sale :).

i'm sick of this layered haircut i've had in varying lengths for the past few years.
it's time to move on! any ideas, people?

today i had recess duty, annoyingly, and i was busy doing my usual deal of yelling at a kid who was acting in a dangerous manner, when i stopped, mid-yell, as soon as i walked into the view of the ocean. ahhhhhhh.... forget it kid, slide down the firefighter's pole upside down, i don't have a care in the world! and in my head i said, "what? is this where i WORK??? is this real?".

i'm listening to the new pornographers (by the way, nothing to do with actual pornography--just a stupid band name) and remembering summertime: running along sunset cliffs, early morning walks, milky way coffee from the java hut, climbing down the cliffs, discovering tiny beaches, hanging out on dog beach and checking out the pups, not thinking about anything...

-tracey

all hail what will be revealed today
-the new pornographers

awww yeah!
matt gave me my first birthday present : the new strokes album--QUALITY. i'm listening to it as i rip it to the computer.
got to talk to dad edwards tonight on his way home from lexington (for a few minutes before he cut out, that is!). michelle, a girl named maureen from your prayer group (is that the woman who called you to help with parenting issues?) hosted the cs lewis deal--what a small world, eh? dad, to finish our convo--i assume that we get the shirts after we race, that's how it has been done at the races i've been in, but it's been awhile for me so they may do it differently now. additionally, i'd say bring a couple of layers (tshirt, long sleeved tshirt) and see how it goes temperature wise. i've been wearing a tank top for the past few weeks but who knows, it could be extra cold that morning.
as far as the course goes, i don't know about terrain. i'm assuming fairly flat since it is down by the harbor--but i haven't been able to get a course map anywhere, so who knows? and mare--you will so break 30 minutes--if you ran 2 miles in 17:00, you are so set for under 27:00 (wow!!!). we'll all just go the pace we're comfortable with and have fun!

i stood up to a rude parent today and it felt so good. he was being a complete jerk and nitpicking about the stupidest things. it wasn't enough that he told me i was only qualifying his son so i would have a job. no, then he had to complain about a tiny detail with the computer system that we have that formats our IEPs. i finally had enough so i said firmly, "you know what? maybe YOU could call the tech department and have them fix it. (slight uncomfortable pause) it sure would make my job easier." and i smiled. and he looked up, with a sort of shocked look on his face, and gave a weak smile. no more mr. nice guy from me!
but tomorrow will be great because i love thursdays--such a blob day. tomorrow i need to do report cards, though. but i think i'll take off early to get those running shoes :). i still haven't purchased those guys yet. but i've been biking instead to give my knees and feet a break, so it hasn't been essential for the new shoes immediately.

i'm going to buy a turkey tomorrow-- i think a 20-pound one, so i can make tortilla soup later on and we can enjoy leftovers as well.
is this what my life has been reduced to? being excited about buying a turkey? heehee!

i'm pumped for this weekend! we're going to see hot rod circuit and brand new on friday night, matt has a surprise for me on saturday, and then on sunday we're going out to dinner with our friends. yay!

welp, i must be going now.
i leave you with some words of wisdom from the strokes:

the end has no end the end has no end

-tracey

tuesday morning and no work today, thanks to our country's veterans!
mike-sweet song! i'm really into it!

today we're getting me some new running shoes.
mine are totally worn out and i'm having some foot and knee pain.
therefore, this will hopefully solve the problem.

matt's taking the day off with me! he has allergies/infection from them and stayed home yesterday so he's taking an extra day off to really recover :) yay! i think i want to rent "the grinch" and maybe some old claymation christmas movies (oh, also funny part of elf was a few clips of random claymation characters from old christmas movies--very amusing).

welcome back from your honeymoon, kevin and emily GOOD!
and where are more pictures of my hannah girl? michelle, sorry to hear about your dillema with the blog losing. i, for one, have no idea where that deal could have gone--maybe on a word document somewhere in your computer?

can not wait to get the new strokes album--apparently we're waiting for someone to burn it for us, but i'm starting to lose it. it's so catchy and fun--matt and i were listening yesterday and just talking about how their music always has the vibe of going out at night (like in the summer when nights seem so long and responsibilities seem far away) in the city.
this summer = oregon coast/olympic national park/seattle with mary and casey
next summer = NYC

by the way, mare, i don't know if you guys made reservations yet or not, but our friends used to live there and said that june is the grossest month there (in the way of grayness, coldness, and rain, rain, rain). they suggested pushing back to late july or august, which is apparently the best month. (sounds like here, almost). would that be a possibility for you guys?

2 weeks until the edwards family descends upon san diego!
-tracey

we had such a great night last night with our friends.
and even better than normal because we had the sweet presence of the Lord and good conversation.

mare, about the food preparation at Thanskgiving: i'm thinking (and i hope this is okay with everyone else) that i'll probably get a few things prepared in advance--nothing major, though, and on thursday after our race (it starts at 8, we'll probably run for a half hour, we'll most likely be home at 9 or 9:30 at the latest) we start doing the real cooking and we eat when we're done cooking the turkey. no time pressure or set schedule, but just munch on stuff and have the big meal when we have it. so don't freak about the wednesday night food preparation--let's just have fun on thursday and chat and make the majority of the food then. and THANK YOU on the excessive and awesome amount of pies!!! can i also request cherry if it's an option? heehee!

i got a suitcase stand for our guest room yesterday. actually, it is just a little stool thing from ikea that i got mom a couple of years ago that is on the porch. a cute and inexpensive alternative to a "real" suitcase holder.

poor matt is having some allergy issues this weekend so neither of us have been sleeping well with all the tossing and turning and throat itching happening in this house! fall seems to be his worst season for allergies, with all the mold kicked up in the air. on my way to ikea yesterday i saw some actual proof of fall: red and gold trees on the side of the road--so pretty.

welp, i'm going to get ready for my 5 mile run.
have a great day!
tracey

i decided that november is my favorite month here.
the weather is perfect--warm during the day (tank top weather) and cool and crisp at night (sweater time!) so i get the best of both worlds.
additionally, the sun is always out every morning at 7 or so and stays out all day--none of this waiting-around-for-the-summer-marine-layer-to-burn-off business.

last night matt and i went to the field, our favorite irish restaurant--so good! then we went to see "elf", which was sweet and innocent and very funny. it, of course, got me even more in the mood for christmas! alright mare, for putting up those christmas lights!! this morning i went shopping and got a few more christmas decorations, myself. i may decorate a little bit but i'll save most of it for when you all come out here for thanksgiving. and yes on all the food!!! mom, what are you talking about with not eating as much??? it's the best day of the year to be a pig! :) i like mare's scenario in front of the fireplace, too--but you forgot to include the grasshoppers and mudslides!

justin, nice post on the emokid--yeah, they make me feel so OLD because i get so grumpy with them. glad to see it's not just me! and when i was that age (with a similar attitude and behavior, i might add) i remember looking at late twenty-something people and being like, "huh. how strange that they would like this kind of music. this is not their scene." and now i'm the old twenty-something person that doesn't fit but just wants to hear great live music in a smoke-free environment. and they have to scream and randomly dance (i was laughing at that because at the rooney show there was this weird emokid dancing randomly like a freak and running into his group of friends and us) and annoy me. so i feel your pain. and also appreciate their need for attention as a natural part of growing up. :)

matt and i are going to our friends house (marni and ed) for dinner. he has just informed me that we need to leave soon so i'm going to get ready. have a great night all of you!
tracey

my principal sent me home (with pay, and without having to take sick time!) because he saw that i looked horrible! ha! i love my job!
so i'm home early and i'm going to take a nap now.
goodnight!

friday morning before school.
i ran my 3.5 miles yesterday. with about a mile left to go i was doing my usual eye contact with the other runners i passed--some sort of bonding thing where you're friends with every runner you pass--because they've felt what you've felt at one point or another: the extreme exhaustion and runner's highs--mare and dad, can you relate? well anyways, i remember thinking, "hmm. why can i only see half of her face?" then i realized i was having an aura before a migraine. i made it home finally and was tricked because the aura disappeared for about 5 minutes before the pain kicked in. it was the worst one i've had in a long time. i ended up throwing up at one point. but thankfully, i have the best husband in the world who brought me ice, rubbed my head, scratched my back, and let me fall asleep in his arms! now i'm feeling better with just a regular headache and that fuzzy brain trauma feeling. i could go into work right now, but i'm going to take it easy for the next half hour and go in at my regularly scheduled time at 8:15.

we're going to see "elf" tonight and i'm pumped. mom and dad gave a good report and the previews have been hilarious! then on saturday we might go to our friends marni and eddie's for dinner. and i do my 5 mile run on sunday. mare, i might do this week over again, training-wise, just because last week i couldn't get out with the fires and all. i don't want to increase mileage too fast and risk injury. by the way, i hope that girl at your school is okay---what a strange day.

on monday we have a staff development day and tuesday is veteran's day so no school at all. yay! maybe matt can work from home:). it's november 7th already! yikes! how did that happen? we'll be seeing the edwards family soon. hey, do you guys want to help us decorate for christmas after thanksgiving? well, i guess mary and mom, do YOU want to help--i know the guys all just do it to humor us.

welp, i'm going to head off to work now.
have a great day everyone!
p.s. ryan and michelle--let's get some more pictures of hannah banana up online!!! :)

welp, we're back from a very fun weekend in ohio.
we arrived just in time for the rehearsal on thursday night and then went to the spaghetti warehouse for dinner-yum!
lots of fun chatting with my family--and i finally got to hold my niece, hannah!
SO CUTE!!! i can not even put into words how wonderful she is--matt and i are definately proud to be "aunt tracey and uncle matt". how is it that i could just stare at her and be totally facinated at an arm moving, a lip pursing, or even cute breathing???? plus the softest, smoothest little round head that i kissed a million times! we both miss her now that we're home! (oh yeah, and the rest of you people, too ;)

then friday we took our time getting ready for the 7:00 wedding. i went running on a perfect fall day--it was rather warm actually, about 75 degrees. the leaves were falling like rain and it was so fun to run through them. michelle and i drove up to dayton and checked in the hotel, where we met up with the burns family and grammy and granddad. we headed over to the church and got ready for the big event! the wedding was beautiful--the pastor had so many wonderful things to say about kevin and emily. emily looked like a beautiful princess walking down the aisle (absolutely breathtaking) and kevin looked like such a man (he touched me with his tears and deep love for emily). they made their grand exit under a pathway of giant sparklers, which the bridal party held up on either side of the church steps--it was like a fairy tale!
the reception was fun-- i didn't get to chat with nearly as many people as i would have liked to, and i wasn't even the bride or groom!!! we did get to see mom and dad edwards for a little while (oh yeah, dad, vic kapoor, who was president of UT, is the father of mark, the guy who gave the toast speech). after the reception, we had family and friends over to our hotel room for a fun party. we finally went to bed around 3:15 am and awoke the next morning to spend more time with family and friends at 8:30am.

ryan and matt decided to go to the BG/miami hockey game, where my cousin brian was playing that night--in BG (crazy guys! i think the main motivator was pollyeye's breadsticks and dairy queen blizzards). michelle, hannah, me, mom, and dad went home for long naps and a relaxing night of chatting. we ordered chinese in and just spent time talking and watching a video of hannah while i fed that peanut a bottle (can you tell we just can't get enough?). the guys finally arrived home around 1:15 am and i was still up, due to the nap i had taken. the next morning we spent some time with the burns family and headed up to columbus around noon. pretty uneventful flight, except our connection in chicago was delayed about an hour. so we got home at 8:15pm instead of 7:35pm--we survived!

going back to work today was sort of a rude awakening. it's hard to be off for more than a weekend! well, it's not hard to be OFF; it's hard to GO BACK and get into the swing of things again.

one last thought:
now that november is here
it's beginning to look a lot like christmas....
and i'm going to be out of control!!!!

-tracey

welp, the third day off school this week so i'm home watching tv, painting my toenails, packing for the trip back to ohio tomorrow.
yesterday i went to one of the red cross evacuation centers to drop off some pillows and blankets and stuff and i tried to volunteer but they actually turned me away! apparently, they've had tons of volunteers--so that's neat to see.
the sun is out because we're on the coast and we just got a wind from the west, so it makes it feel more normal (it's not orange out here anymore) but it's such a sick trick, because the fire is blazing east of us (now over 300,000 acres have been burned through). i don't know if they'll call off school tomorrow or not, but i won't be there either way!

mare (and anyone else), you wanted some christmas ideas:
-dension witmer cd "philedelphia"
--christopher guest dvd collection (about $46-48 online)
-2 wearever beach chairs ($18.44 each at walmart.com on my registry:)
-photo printer
-gift certificates to home depot for plants for our backyard
-gift certificate to express for new clothes
-silver necklaces or earrings

1 day until i see my hannah banana niece!!!
-tracey

hello everyone.
thanks for all the calls from our family and friends--we feel loved!
thankfully, the fires haven't moved closer to us (the closest one is still about 20 miles away) and the winds have died down, so it will be easier to actually fight the fires. some idiots here are complaining that action wasn't taken soon enough to get more reinforcements and are of course blaming the current governor (gray davis). the fire chief finally came on the news and said that even if we had a ton of back up, it still wouldn't have mattered--the conditions were such that the fires were totally unpredictable and quick spreading.

nothing is contained yet, over 150,000 acres have burned.
they're predicting another 5 days at least.
communities are still being evacuated.
and still no school, due mostly to poor air quality.
therefore, matt and i are still trapped at home in our smoke-scented house, bored out of our minds.
definately not as devastating as 9-11, but feeling some similar helplessness and weirdness.
check out the pictures matt posted of the strange scene at our house (go to his blog)--freakish orange sky and snowing ash is so disturbing.

obviously there is nothing else going on here.
matt's calling me to play nurtz, so i must go beat him for the 4th time!
-tracey

we had a fun time with mary and casey this weekend.
at our bar-lympics, mary and i were a team, "the pirates"--we had eye patches and pirate hats and kept yelling "aargh!". so much fun! we ended up going to 4 different bars and playing darts, foosball, pool, and shuffleboard. mary and i won darts, but it was downhill after that. either way, it was such a fun time.

however, we had a strange day today.
it began with me waking mary up to go for a run.
then i went out on our deck to see how cold/warm it was, and what i needed to wear.
there were ashes covering our deck and falling from the sky (which was yellow looking). it smelled like a campfire, too.
all the tv stations were covering the fires that were in our county and they were talking about closing interstate 15, so mary and casey hit the road. it has been such a surreal day, just seeing the fires consuming the land and vegetation and homes.

then my principal called (had to evacuate his home, along with several other teacher friends--everyone is okay) and said that san diego school district is closed tomorrow. it's not a satisfying day off, like a snow day is, because people are still in danger and without homes. the airport is on temporary shut down and was messed up already because of the fires in LA, so hopefully everything will be okay by thursday at 6:20 am so we can go home and be part of kevin and emily's wedding. but it is hard to say at this point. the closest fire is only 20 miles away and it is unpredictable, so who is to say what will happen...

we can just pray for everyone's safety and that the firefighters are able to contain the fires as quickly as possible.

welp, matt and i are going to try to distract ourselves with a movie or something.
-tracey

hello people.
i just finished hanging the curtains in our living room.
matt was drilling holes in the wall and i touched the drill bit,
which burned me.
apparently, that thing gets hot.
my finger still hurts.

anyhoo...
i went running with another teacher friend today.
it was 81 degrees today and so beautiful!
the water looked so blue and the breeze was so fresh
am i dreaming?
is this really my life?
nothing is better than knowing i haven't worn actual shoes since last winter/spring.
it's been flip flops and sandals this whole time--WOOOHOOOOO!!!! ahh, the little things in life...
why does this make me happy? i'm simple, apparently.

looking forward to mary and casey's visit this weekend.
our friend sue organizes this game day called "bar-lympics",
where teams play games that are typically located in bars.
this year's agenda includes: foosball, darts, shuffleboard, pool, and something else i can't remember--maybe air hockey?
this girl goes all out and has her little clipboard and keeps close score and the winners get a $50 gift certificate for somewhere.
anyways, mare and i are on a team and we're going to kick everyone's patooties!!!! anyone have a creative name for our team?
we're going to make team tshirts and be festive--but we can't think of anything good...

rydogg, such great news that hannah is gaining weight--that just means chubbier cheeks for me to kiss!
mom edwards-it sounds like you had a wonderful weekend--you should feel honored-you deserve the praise and you are an inspiration!
time for dad and matt to update, otherwise you're going to get harrassed for having the annoying opening lines:)
well, i'm going to straighten up the house.
have a great wednesday everyone!

-tracey

time to end the day with a fitting song lyric from ash...

yeah we've been walking barefoot all summer
why can't we just decide
to live like this all the time?
-ash

alright dad edwards!
running the 5k with me and mare on thanksgiving!
any other takers--boys, mom?
you get a long sleeved tshirt, which, by itself is motivation, i think.

matt and i have a homeowner's association meeting tonight, which i hope is not boring.
but i think it will be.
oh well, at least we'll be able to meet some of our neighbors.

i'm typing and matt is going through a box of miscellaneous items that we packed up when we moved but haven't gone through yet.
all sorts of fun things being found--it's like a toy box of fun!
razors, matt's usher pin from cornerstone, our old cell phone, which is huge and heavy, tiny little paints in plastic bottles, nurtz card game, and other random weird things--
currently matt is freaking me out by swinging a butterfly knife around.
i'm nervous but he assures me that he has control.


welp, we're supposed to be at our meeting right now so i'm cutting this deal short!
thank god monday is over. even though i love my job, mondays are still hard to get through sometimes, especially after a lazy weekend!
tracey

hello again.
i love the feeling of waking up on the weekend, being groggy and thinking, "what time is it? i have to get up for work."
and then realizing, "yay! it's saturday!"

last night we went to a dinner party put on a by a guy from matt's work. he and his wife have these two cutie kids (3 yrs and 4 months--matt looked so cute holding the 4 month old!) and they live in a condo smaller than ours--whoa!!! they have this great little backyard though, which is beautifully landscaped and gives the illusion that a creek is running through it, has a tiny little bridge, lots of plants, cool rock formations, etc. apparently, they're going to come over and give us some tips on what to do with our backyard deck area! our friends marni and eddie went as well and so did our realtor dan and his wife debbie. we all have bought homes from dan and ended up having sort of a neat friendship. anyhoo, we had fun just chatting and then john asked us to play cranium, which brought back hilarious memories of matt acting out the category "star performer" instead of the actual item on the card, and of justin/michael tossing the cranium clay back and forth to each other and it landing in the half-empty oreo pie plate! don't worry, we got some more good ones from last night--especially from matt.:)

matt is going to L.A. today so i'm going to get some more home stuff done :). just little things now, like painting our wine nook purple, getting a picture frame for our bathroom, finishing the spray paint job on our mirrored closet doors, etc. and i'll go for a bike ride as part of my cross training program. mare, you may be doing the same today if you're following that training schedule :).

welp, i must get on with the day.
i love you all!
tracey

yeah! mare and i are running a 5k on thanksgiving day at 8:00 am.
so those of you who wish to cheer us on, feel free, whether it be there, at seaport village, or from your cozy beds at home.
we figure then we can eat all day long after that!!!

funny quote from a kid:
it was picture day yesterday and one of my 4th grade girls was all dressed up
and excited about it-- i made some sort of comment like: "you look so nice today!"
and she went a thousand miles a minute trying to explain why: "thank you, last night my mom washed my hair and put grown up shampoo in it. and then she put grown up hair gel in it to make is soft--you wanna feel how soft it is? and then she put more grown up gel in it to make it smell good-you wanna smell it?" and of course, i had to touch and smell her hair (soft and good, respectively). then when we got back to her room she showed me the "grown up" hand lotion in her backpack and made me put some on. such excitement of picture day! remember getting those little black plastic combs that everyone would be using in line right before you went in the gym to get your picture taken. and then there was always that one kid who had their eyes closed in the class picture that you would laugh at for the rest of the year... ah, elementary school memories...

happy birthday to kevin (yesterday)!
only 15 more days until kev's wedding!
only 14 more days until i see my niece!

welp, i'm outta here.
tracey

yum yum yum
thanksgiving food, the best meal of the year.
a menu item that i will add to the potato frenzy (although we can pretend like sweet potatoes are a dessert!) are my mom's cheesy potatoes, as requested by matt. maybe we can snack on fruit and veggies and dip during the day and stuff since we're going to be so FAT that evening!!!!

mare, can you bring your christmas music down here (if you're able to make a cd or so...:)?
welp, it is picture day at school today, so apparently i must make some sort of effort with my appearance--therefore, i am off!
tracey

hello everyone.
another weekend gone. how did that happen so fast??

on friday night, matt and i went out to one of our favorite mexican places, ortega's.
OH MY SUCH FANTASTIC FOOD! you know how sometimes you're eating something and the first few bites are like, "yum this is so good" and then the rest of it is just normal? this place has food that EVERY SINGLE BITE makes you feel like yelling about how great it is!!!!
so we fatly went home and could barely move for 2 hours afterwards.
so embarrassing. just rolling around, all fat and full.
we managed to clean up our apartment for our visitors on saturday.
and we also managed to take some pictures of it for those of you who have been requesting!!!

one of matt's friends from work, marni, got laid off this past week. so to cheer her up, they decided to kidnap her and take her out for a fun night! we drove to her house, dressed in black and wearing pantyhose over our faces, hats on our heads, and matt had a creepy bandana covering his whole face. we busted in the front door (she knew it was us pretty immediately, thankfully), tied up her hands, put a bag over her head, and carried her out to the trunk of the car. her husband, who helped set it up, gave a funny weak protest of "stop! i will defend my wife's honor!" as he stood there watching. we were laughing the entire time--it was so much fun!

we drove back to our apartment and had some appetizers and drinks and then walked over to oktoberfest, which is the festival going on right across the street from us. we had some food and then found out an 80s band was playing. they ended up being so much fun and we danced the entire time!! it brought back such fun memories of being at junior high dances and just flinging around. plus, those guys played such a great mix of songs!!!! i haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

today matt went to watch the football games at sports city and i spray painted our mirrored closet door trim (which used to be ugly brass/bronze stuff) a silver/pewter color. it looks really sharp. unfortunately, i couldn't tell where all the paint was going and got some on the wall (which i can touch up with our extra paint) and carpet ( i have no idea what i'm going to do with that!).

hey just, would you be able to burn those other innocence albums for me?
and does anyone have christmas ideas yet?
i know it is early, but you know how i love christmas!

i'm out people, time for some chow!
and maybe a movie tonight: "mambo italiano"
-tracey

did i mention we had an earthquake the other day? matt did, i think. and we have casey to thank for it!!!
i didn't feel it because i was trying to control three rowdy boys at the time, but another teacher came into my room and said, "did you feel the earthquake?" and of course i said no, and she said, "oh. maybe it was just an airplane flying low." (because they really can make the place vibrate if they are really close). so now everyone's warnings have paid off--we've actually had an earthquake!!!! and darn, if only i could have felt it!
this triggers a funny memory of when cincinnati was supposed to get an earthquake.
everyone freaked out and bought earthquake insurance.
and we even had earthquake drills at our high school--ry and kevin, do you remember that? ha!
we all had to get under our desks and mr. hall, our principal, got on the loudspeaker and was trying to create a scene for us...
"...it may feel like a train is hitting the building, you may hear dogs barking..."
at that point i could no longer control my laughter and it burst right out.
i was in calculus. incidentally, i was not a favorite student of his, being a girl and all...
therefore, i was issued a detention for laughing!!
oh well! it was worth it--because, come on, DOGS BARKING!!!! who cares???
and after all that we didn't even have the earthquake... huge surprise.

mom--your ring is beautiful! good work, dad!

i've been running again. i got out of it when school started and i was too exhausted when i got home.
but i think it is just a strange cycle, because now that i'm exercising again, i have much more energy!
there is a cool running club for students at our school (some kids get there early and run 2-3 miles each morning!!!).
so another teacher and i are starting a running club for teachers! yay!

i'm pumped for mary and casey's visit!!!
i hope you guys are practicing your foosball, shuffleboard, and darts!
anything else you want to do while you're here?
maybe go downtown and get something to eat for a late dinner when you get in on friday night?
and of course bar-lympics on saturday.
did you want to go for a hike or anything? or whatever you wanto................
i guess we will give you your bday gift when you come (oops. it's all packaged up, it just hasn't made it to the post office!)

ry, nice blog--very sweet! you have a DAUGHTER!!! unbelievable.
grammy, mom, and aunt deedee-have fun visiting hannah this weekend!

i feel like there's more to say
but i'm drawing
a blank.
therefore, i'm signing off!
tracey

just over here, relaxing, totally into "innocence mission", thanks to justy.
yeah, definitely a new one to put on my frequently played albums.
no comment even necessary for that AMAZING VOICE and i love the hawaii-ish guitars, subtle but present tambourine, and--best of all, music that takes me to another place. thanks justin--perfect pick for moi!

it's been fun catching up on the bloggies. you know, i was thinking what perfect timing the blogs have been, with the family being spread out across the nation and all. i feel like i haven't really missed too much of life's events with all of you peeple.

mare and casey--first of all, congrats on being out of credit card debt--doesn't it feel SO GREAT!!!? such freedom!!! matt and i made some bad financial choices early in our marraige but have been debt free for almost 3 years now. everyone is different, so i'm not giving advice, just sharing a personal experience--what has kept us out of debt was the promise we made to God after we were finally credit card debt-free (obviously we still have car debt and a student loan). we promised that we would pay our credit card balance every month in full. and the FIRST time we would have month where we couldn't pay the full, we agreed to tear up the credit card and not get a new one until it was paid off. and so far we haven't had to! it is such a great incentive for not overspending because we always think, "wait, is this worth cutting up the card and/or breaking my promise to God?" and the answer is always no. just a fun story there for ya!
it was also fun to read mom and dad edwards accounts of their trip--sounds like such a fun trip. and i can't wait to see your ring mom!!!

i spent the whole weekend painting our living room.
matt helped me lay down the base coat (arizona tan, if you really must know), which he said looked pumpkinish.
then i colorwashed the whole deal by diluting a lighter shade (honey butter) and a darker shade (campground) with water. i used paintbrushes to blend the deal to our walls --- and that literally is the last time i will paint that room. it took 3 gallons of the base coat just to cover the walls if that tells you how large the room is. anyhoo, it was totally worth it! it looks cool and watercolored-almost, most definitely italian/venetian looking.

it's not really cold out, but i'm dying to wear my new striped skinny scarf from the gap
so i'm taking it out on a date to buy some household cleaning products at target!!!
is this really what my life has come to??? yes. i think emily would understand and even appreciate something like this...

my scarf and i must go.
farewell
tracey

it's me for you
and you for me
-innocence mission

hello people!
the end of another week that flew!
i enjoyed checking out all the blogs this morning as i ridiculously woke up at 6 am.
mare, i'm with you on playing santa at thanksgiving--at least to you and casey.
so where are your (and casey's!) christmas ideas?
here's another idea from me: denison witmer's cd "philedelphia"

i saw a picture of our new niece, hannah, on the hospital's website---SO CUTE AND PERFECT!!! and so looking like ryan!!!
much to my dismay, michelle's pic link isn't working (neither is mary's, so it's villagephotos or whatever), so i can't see all the other pictures of her. but go check out that cutie on michelle's link! just knowing about hannah made me love her instantly, but now that i've seen a picture of her, i feel even more love and complete excitement at getting to see her in 26 days!!!

let's see, what else...
well, i had jury duty on wednesday.
i was dreading it, but
it was actually fun, if you can believe that!
you know how anything run by the govt usually has really rude people working (example: the bmv rudeness and condescending tone) who make you feel stupid? well, totally different scene at the courthouse, we (and by we i mean 500 jurors who had been called that morning) had an hour long orientation, which was amusing because the guy was funny. and they were UNDERSTANDING about things, like "if you forgot your juror ticket that was mailed to you, don't worry." etc. i sat around and read until about 11:00,when i got called to a courtroom with 50 other people. they started the selection process and then we had a 90minute break for lunch. i met matt, who is only 3 blocks away from the courthouse, and we went to horton plaza to eat and browse around. it was so fun--it's the first time i've met him for lunch downtown! then i went back and the jury selection continued (one of the potential jurors reminded me of mike serratto, saying strange things and making me crack up--he got the boot, of course). i really wanted to be picked by the end! but alas, i wasn't even called up to be questioned, which is actually okay, since it was going to be a 5 day trial.

today we're going to attempt to paint our living room.
i think we'll have to rent a ladder at home depot in order to do that, though.
the color is difficult to describe, but i'll try: it's sort of a creamy tan/caramel/honey color. it's called arizona tan, but i'm going to do a little bit lighter color wash over it to give it some depth and texture. if anyone comes here and can describe the color, be my guest!
our neighbor, artie, just told us that he's putting pergo flooring on his whole bottom floor--so jealous!!! i want to do that with our upstairs so bad! but i don't have $2000 just sitting around.

i think we're going to see a school of rock matinee tomorrow.
glad to hear that dad and justin liked it!
welp,
i'm going to prep our room for painting!
tracey

yay! hannah michelle good came into this world at 9:50 am, weighing in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces.
ryan and michelle are now PARENTS for the rest of their lives--wow!
i can't wait to hear every detail about your beautiful daughter!!!
i can't wait to kiss my NIECE on her sweet chubby cheeks in one month!!!

my husband is home and i'm happy.
i went to such a beautiful wedding yesterday.
my girlfriend, janice, got married in mexico (about an hour away from here)
at a resort on a cliff overlooking the ocean. it was so beautiful.
and the food was so yummy!
and right after the ceremony (i'm talking 60 seconds), waiters came by the aisles with
big trays of tropical drinks in tall glasses--so fun!!!
the reception was in a big white tent right next to the ceremony so it was fun to just
sit around and chat and look at the ocean while we waited for all the pictures to be taken.
it was the best time i've had in between the ceremony and reception of any wedding i've ever been to!

i'm getting excited for christmas (emily, you're probably the only one who gets ready before i do!)
but i won't allow myself to decorate or play music or wrap presents or anything until november 1st.
that gives me a good 2 months to celebrate!!!
but what i can do now is start MAKING PLANS about which presents i'm going to buy,
how i want to decorate, the mixes i'm going to make, etc... so i can still start to get excited without
having matt make too much fun of me for being out of control!!!

welp, i'm taking off now.
have a great night!
tracey

yay!
it's friday!
and it's the first cloudy day in a long time. so strange. but very cool this morning as i pulled up to school and a giant cloud was just covering the place. it was all misty to walk through, and then normal on the other side!
justin, i'm pumped for the cd--i looked at them for a sec online, does the girl sing? i hope so.
i plan on getting a lot of things done this weekend, but right now i just want to blob out around this house, maybe even in bed.
i miss my husband!!! but now i can make salmon for dinner. and other stuff matt won't eat. :)
matt, i hope you're having a great time!
michelle, i'm so sorry about alpha--that does seem ridiculous, i hope those people find other groups to get plugged into. can YOU just continue with them on your own? i mean, you don't have anything else going on, like having a daughter or anything!!!

happy anniversary mom and dad, in case i don't get to the computer on your actual day!

well, i'm going to watch trading spaces now!
but i'll end with a
funny quote from a kid (i've heard this many times!!!):
peanut kindergartener looking around my room: is this your room?
me: yes, it is! what do you think, do you like it?
him: where is your bed?
me: oh, i don't live here.
him: why?
me: because i live in my own house.
him: why?
me: alright, moving on....

-tracey

some nice posts, people.
matt, yours was so sweet. i love you.
and i, like mary and michael, love the part about the music (no need to record the quote for a fourth time, agreed?)
mare, i'm so like you with being able to connect with God in music that doesn't necessarily have godly lyrics--so many times i'm worshipful when listening to ben folds, over the rhine, norah jones, cush, dashboard, jimmy, elliott, etc etc. etc!

matt left me this morning for bg
i'm excited for him to visit with everyone
and eat pollyeyes and dairy queen (and trotters?)

i took him to the airport around 6:00, and don't really have to be at work until 8:00, so i'm actually doing a load of laundry and some other random chores.
i'm pretty proud of myself--this is the first time i've been able to keep a place really neat and clean. i think i'm much more motivated now that we own this place and have started to decorate it in our style. it makes me want to keep it nice and uncluttered. a first!

last night we went to hodad's since i had a buy 1, get 1 free deal. we ate in the window seat so we could look out at everyone walking by and smell the ocean air. then we went to the farmer's market and bought 3 little cacti (spelling of plural cactus--i've never had to do that before!). matt has been wanting some since we moved here. (actually i did buy him one a while ago, but he put it on top of the entertainment center and knocked it behind it within one day of having it. therefore, we didn't see it again until we moved at the end of august!). so we put these new guys in our kitchen window. yay!

had nice long conversations with michelle and emily in the past few days. it was good to chat with both of you!

things are clearing up at school.
it's not really appropriate to post on a blog
but i can say that i haven't felt safe at one of my schools.
we had a team meeting and thankfully everyone agreed that the child will be going to another school
where his needs will be met by actual trained professionals.
hopefully that will go through as soon as possible, too.

i have some stuff on my to do list while matt is gone.
get important papers in order, MAIL some birthday presents!, hem some curtains, etc.
matt made me promise that i wouldn't paint our family room while he was gone. i told him there's no way i could do it by myself, anyways. and he said, "well i never know with you if you're going to pull a trading spaces on me." (actually, it's "while you were out"--and that's michelle's job next year for their great room!)
well everyone, i suppose i must get going to work.
it's strange to be productive this early in the morning before i even go to my job!

have a great day!
tracey
p.s. i love how God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow
no matter what we are going through...
what an UNBELIEVABLE comfort!!!

in this cyclical pattern i feel you
the back and forth
and up and down
You stay where You are
--sixpence--

weird days at work
and sleepless nights

i think it is getting better though.
i just have a situation at one school
with a child and his behavior issue
(or possession, really).
just praying that it gets cleared up and that no one gets hurt.

on to better things, though.
YES, mary--we are getting a dog someday!
but not until we are strapped down with kids :)
we like to travel too much right now!
not only that, our condo does not allow us to have dogs--so even if we were ready for a dog, it would be a no go.
but we get our fix every now and again at dog beach right down the road from us.
in fact, we went there yesterday and saw all those crazies running around, playing, and swimming in the ocean--so cute and fun!
p.s. we're finally sending your birthday present mare--we had it with us in san fran this summer, but since we didn't get to see you, it sort of got lost in the shuffle of moving. i'm planning a trip to the post office either tomorrow or weds!!!! have no fear!!!

as far as other bday ideas for me: i know it is not as much fun to buy, but i really want to get some stuff from home depot for our deck area, so a gift certificate directed that way could be nice!
things on my wish list:
lemon tree ($17)
lime tree ($20)
bamboo fencing ($21)
fiscus plant ($12)
palm tree ($50-100)-ha!
other cool tropical plants ($5-15)

we saw lost in translation the other night and it was interesting.
bill murray had some hilarious moments, plot was a tad slow, and i had that feeling of "no, don't do it!" throughout.
the scenes from tokyo were worth it all, though, and they really captured that feeling of loneliness and culture shock that comes from visiting a different country. it really made me want to go visit there someday (when someone i know lives there and can take us around- i don't know if i could figure that deal out from travel books!).

welp, i'm going to spend time with my honey!
bye!

what a long week!
thank god tomorrow is friday!
over here listening to jack johnson and just trying to chill--the music is helping for sure.
michelle, thanks for posting your pictures of the nursery and my favorite friend, mr. reeces!!!!
it's fun to be able to picture hannah's living area and wow, you are popping out--so cute!!!!
can't wait to meet miss hannah banana-only a couple of weeks to go (approximately--hopefully sooner than later).
emily, thanks for the fun bridesmaid gift--i love all the goodies and can't wait to put them to good use this weekend!
mare, i've enjoyed the blogs--i hope you do that race--i want to, too! i want to catch a person in a giant banana suit!

fun quote from a kid:
i was evaluating a 3rd grade boy and he was looking at things i had in my room.
"do you see terra nova?" he said.
"i sure do! do you know her?" i said.
he closed his eyes for a few seconds, pursed his lips, nodded, and said in an adult-ish tone, "you could say that."
i said, "well, what's the story?"
and he became very sad-faced and sad-voiced and said, "well, we had a crush on each other in first grade and second grade. two years! and then all of the sudden ("all done" type of hand motion), it was over."
this kid is so serious and i'm trying my hardest not to laugh at this point.
so i said, "what happened? you just don't like her anymore?"
and he said, "no, she started liking charlie and now i don't even exist. two whole years...and then all of the sudden she's in a whole other dimension. i've tried talking to her, but brittany is like a bodyguard for her or something. i can't even get near her!"

ahhhh...love....

this weekend my honey is going back to bg for jeb's wedding, so i'll be all alone!
i am actually going to mexico because my girlfriend from work is getting married there.
but i think i'm going to try to work on our deck area, you know, get all the dead plants out of there and get some reed fencing to cover the brick wall with. we shall see, though.

just a thought:
isn't it too bad that people have to think twice about writing about what movie they saw (and maybe liked!)
or that dad edwards has to feel like his music selection is "uncool"?

-tracey

i'm listening to over the rhine's new 2 cd album, "ohio".
some of it has too much of a country twang-weird! but maybe they're going with the theme of ohio or something.
they do have a cool song titled ohio, though.

here are some lyrics (hitting home over here):
what in the world would make all this worthwhile?
and if i knew then (i was older then)
would i see regret to the last mile?
hello ohio
the back roads
i know ohio
like the back of my hand
alone ohio
where the river bends
and it's strange to see your story end

i started listening to over the rhine in 1989, when i first moved to cincinnati.
and thus, the obsession began.
i loved their song "jacksie".
i had no idea it was about cs lewis.
even if i would have been told, i still didn't know who cs lewis was.
and little did i know i would be learning about cs lewis from my HUSBAND's father 10 years later.

when i started listening to them it was the time in my life that i have felt the most alone.
my life had been completely uprooted and it was the Lord's doing.
it was that time in my life that i began my search for the Lord.
(7 years later i would make a commitment to follow Him).
it was the same time in my life i felt the desire to move to california
(nevermind that i had never been there).
how amazing that God would have put that in me
because of his plans that are just now starting to be revealed!

i know i'm getting a little emo here, but just thinking about His plans
to prosper us
and not to harm us
that He has determined our paths,
even though we make our own footprints.
and just how He reaches us in pain
and the most difficult times in my life
have been the times that i have grown and
learned how to know Him and draw near to him and love him.
and
just
be
still.
the worst times of my life have been the most beautiful times with Jesus.
those scars are precious.

-tracey

hmm...
interesting banter on the blogs.
especially the neverending crossbow comments.

i made a few of my own
and chuckled at myself.
(a paul runyan sort of chuckle, if you know what i mean).

i can not get off of the new outkast video/song.
we recorded the video and i keep watching it--so quality!
i'm usually not like this, but it's so fresh and strange and catchy, i can't get enough.
i feel like matt!

speaking of that guy, he was the hot topic in speech therapy today!
cutie kid: do you have a boyfriend?
me: no, but i do have a husband.
kid: MISTER edwards???

i began laughing hysterically since i've never heard anyone call matt "mr. edwards". so strange.
dad, do you remember when matt and i were just friends and i tried to call you dr. edwards? you laughed and told me to call you bruce. i'm glad i call you dad now!

speaking of titles, our weirdo chiropractor said the stupidest thing today and i pulled off the most perfect slam of my life (it probably doesn't seem like it in writing, but trust me, it was perfect!):
he was blabbering something about going by "dr. joe" and saying something like, "yeah, i like getting mail addressed to 'dr.' joe dzendzel. (pause) that's a little pretentious (laughs)." (side note: he is completely pretentious in all aspects!!!)
matt and i smile politely and inside have the usual million comments that we won't let out until we get in the car.
then he starts up again, "yeah, but it does tick me off when my aunt writes me letters and addresses them to "mr." joe dzendzel."
he looks at me to get my nod of agreement.
and i say, "now THAT'S pretentious!"
he laughed and i didn't feel horrible for letting the truth come flinging out of my mouth.
matt shook his head in utter disbelief (and admiration, i like to think-heehee!)
but come on, she's your AUNT, guy! NO ONE should have to call you dr. unless you ARE their doctor!!!
the end of that rant!

a fun thing is that my school has a brand new library and the librarian is getting rid of a ton of books--for free!
i picked out three big boxes. some stuff is really good, too! another narnia set, a bunch of madeline l'engle books, the pippi longstocking series (my childhood favorites), mrs. piggle wiggle, some roald dahl, tolkien, and some random things. but i was expecting it to just be like encyclopedias from the 70's, so such a great surprise and all for FREE!!! so i've been reading some fun books and laughing and remembering fun things. did anyone ever read "mr. popper's penguins"? such a great book! justy, you might recognize some of the stuff. i know i can't use a lot of this stuff right now, but i always am getting excited to read these things with my own kids someday. that's how i justify any book purchase i make for school--because i know i'm going to be keeping them for my own kids (and secretly, me--i get such a kick out of some of these things).

time for more top ten lists, people.
top ten things i'm listening to right now...
1. uh, outkast's "hey ya"
2. ken stringfellow
3. denison witmer
4. jack johnson (i wasn't into him at first, but i'm addicted now, mare!)
5. apples in stereo
6. rooney
7. saves the day's new one (it sounds like wheatus at first)
8. cush (as usual)
9. wayne everett
10. brand new

mare, that's so funny about the cardigans, right before you started posting about that i was in the custodian's supply room and he had the radio going. we started chatting about good 80s music and he brought up the cardigans--apparently a big fan. so if you get a chance could you burn me a copy of your faves or just bring at thanksgiving so we can rip it?

matt is totally knocked out right now.
he fell asleep right after dinner and was all disoriented.
he was all, "why am i so tired?"
i told him i put a sleeping pill in his carne asada quesadilla and he actually believed me!
what a grog!!!

michelle--yay! you're back, too! everyone seems to be back from their summer blogging vacations.
i can't believe hannah is going to be here in a couple of weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
she is going to be so beautiful!!!!!!!!
i wish we could be there right when she is born but thankfully it won't be too long after that we get to see her.
also, that is the best story about skyline--i was laughing so hard! besides, i have never had a deluxe burrito there, but skyline chili tastes good on everything (sickly i put it on zucchini the other day--and it was good of course!), so i'm sure it would be allllsome. we'll plan our next visit there around a tuesday, if matt has anything to say about it!

welp,
i'm off to read "pippi goes on board"--so hilarious.
-tracey

the end of a very long day of work.

i probably should have taken the whole day to work on paperwork and stupid stuff, but i NEEDED to see kids. first of all, i have to because they have legally binding documents mandating speech/language services; but most of all, because i finally feel normal when i'm doing that part of my job--the part that i love, the part that energizes me.
so the consequence for that was working on dumb stuff until 6:00 tonight. i know, to normal people, not a long day, but i could have left at 3:30 if i had no work to do.

enough of that blabber!!!

i have my first funny kid's quote of the school year.
drumroll please...

the kids were putting little shapes on paper to show the concepts "same" and "different".
one little (kindergarten) boy was putting little circles within big circles, little squares within big squares, etc.
when asked how those patterns were the same or different, he replied: "these all have babies in their tummies and the other ones have no babies in their tummies!"
yay!

welp, i'm going to make matt some broccoli to help counteract the 4 doughnuts consumed today :)
-tracey


it's getting hard to
breathe in this life
-denison witmer

also, if anyone was interested in hearing about christmas ideas early this year, number one on my list is the christopher guest dvd collection (has guffman, a mighty wind, best in show--around $46-48 online) and it comes out 9/23/03. walmart has an additional $10 mail-in rebate. just a fun fact!
-tracey

did i mention that on our vaca up the coast that everything smelled wonderful due to the thousands of eucalyptus trees planted everywhere? well it did, and everything seemed "so fresh and so clean, clean" --speaking of outkast, WHOA, how about their new sweet and catchy song!?? and hilarious video?? matt and i are so into it right now!!!

today we went to the beach and chilled. i was craving a fountain coke so matt got me one and nothing tastes better than a good fountain coke on the beach!! when we came home i talked to heidi on the phone (michelle and ryan, i can't wait to talk to you about God's blessing for heidi through you guys!!) and made some dinner.

now we just arrived home from the padres/astros game, which was entertaining mostly because of the people sitting around us. number one was these two guys and a girl (and i'm sorry to label them, but they were pretty nerdy) and one of the guys just started unravelling TOILET PAPER from his backpack! we were cracking up! he just unravelled it and then folded it back up--why, guy? if only we could have reached our camera in time. but alas, it was not meant to be.

i'm sorry if this next part offends anyone, but if it does, pretend that you didn't read it. either way, i was inspired by something i saw tonight at the game and have a product idean that could make us rich someday. you know those huge foam fingers that people wave at sporting events? i was thinking about marketing one that people could use in their cars, for when they get angry at other drivers--only you know which finger would be pointing up on these new foam hands... wouldn't that really just put an extra punch in the message??? plus, it would be hilarious to see people using them. anyways, i'm thinking my first seller will be spencer's at the mall...

well, enough of that.
justin, grandpa said that you needed a peace pipe for your new movie--HA! hilarious either way (i mean whether it is true or whether gramps made it up--which is probably the case).
well gang, matt and i are going to watch a movie on the NEW tv in our bedroom--hopefully i can stay awake.
goodnight.
-tracey

happy birthday dad edwards!!!
we love you!!!

two days in a row, people!!!
how's that?

i enjoyed everyone's blogs, mom, mare, justy, matt's new pics...
yeah, justin on the list for your wife, funny but touching, too.
that astros dress is sweet! i can almost picture the kind of girl who would be wearing it!
i can't wait until your wife joins our fun edwards family--every year gets better and better with more people being added to the fam!

i just made a delicious dinner, if i do say so myself!
grilled steak, red potatoes, and broccoli and red wine--so good!
now we're fatly going to circuit city to find a TV for our bedroom.

we have to do it before i fall asleep.
apparently, i'm having difficulty getting acclamated (spelling?) to this new disruption in my previous summer lazy schedule.
i ridiculously conked out last night at 9:30!!!
i haven't gone to bed that early for years!!! maybe even before 5th grade. except for random jet lag type of nights...

also, all of you who are into knowing God, check out oswald chambers "my utmost for his highest".
mare, of course you already do.
that dude has some weird wordage, but concepts are so simple/profound they knock you over sometimes.
one that i love is about hearing only the voice of God when you are surrounded by voices of the world or even well-meaning christians with their own motives. it states, "to discuss spiritual matters with anyone else, WHEN GOD HAS ALREADY SPOKEN, is an impertinence to the Lord."
yikes.

welp, we're off!
love you all and miss you all
-tracey

believe it or not, i'm blogging.
i know half of you have probably stopped checking, since when i actually DO update, it is short and boring.
well, not today.
today i finally have a little bit of time to actually sit down and breathe (or breath, as mare likes to say) for a minute.
august and these few days of september have been so busy!
let's see here,
we had visitors:
-michael and wes
-rachael
-brundage and pals
-heidi and ken
(whew!)
it's getting to the point where matt and i are having to make our own rules about when we can have visitors!!!

it's fun and all, for sure, but it gets to be overwhelming after awhile (thanksgiving visitors, don't be discouraged, we'll be all revved up again by november which will be so fun!). it may be a little crowded in this place, though, and i've never made a turkey before! i'm sort of excited to do that--thankfully, i'll have mom edwards' professional help!

we also bought a condo.
OH MY.
it sounds weird to say that.
the transition has been smooth and this place feels like home already.
we've painted a few rooms and have it set up for the most part.
i'm sure it will feel even more like home after our first mortgage payment...

our vacation was awesome. some of you have probably read matt's blogs about it or seen the pictures.
i wanted to include an amusing story, though...

we were driving up highway 1, (which, for those of you who don't know, snakes up california right along the coast) and it was breathtaking and beautiful. well, we came to some construction signs and saw some workers up ahead. a lady construction worker with a WHITE, PLASTIC COWBOY HAT on was holding a stop sign in our lane, so we stopped. she then proceeded to come over to our window and give us a lecture on what was going to be happening: "you're going to be waiting here while the traffic comes through (sidenote: oh, which turned out to be one car), then i will remove the cones from this lane, then i will motion you through and you will drive slowly to the other side." pretty unneccessary (are there too many letters in that word?).

after we were through the scene, matt and i started saying things like, "then you will put your hand on the stick shift and your left foot on the clutch..." "your hands will be on the steering wheel as your foot presses the gas pedal"
"then you will inhale..."
so amusing and we had a chuckle. and now you can. or maybe you had to be there.

the vacation was so relaxing but also some work of hiking and lugging our gear to different sites (well worth the pain)!
matt was absolutely a psycho about his masterpieces, the campfires.
which were perfect, by the way.
the obsession level was just a smidge high, though.
san francisco was great, as usual, and i got over the rhine's new cd from amoeba records.
we were sort of in a culture shock when we got to san fran and amoeba was one of the first places we went. and even matt had to say, "let's get out of here, there are too many people in here!". we were just so used to seeing only each other and maybe a few other people for the past week. so needless to say, we were totally overstimulated and freaked out. maybe a little something like casey was feeling after alaska...

oh yeah, school started, too. the night before i was like, "i can't believe i have to get up and go to WORK tomorrow!" but as soon as i got there, i thought, "oh yeah! i forgot how much i love my job!" so i'm okay with it. but there is a huge transition period of being a tired face all the time! but my quotes from kids will now be back up and running, so hopefully we'll get some entertaining ones this year...

oh, and ha ha about the ben/brad blog you jerks! i was saying how funny i thought ben's was, and matt acted like i was an idiot, and then had to post it for the public to see. and mary made the mistake of commenting on it, so i feel the strong need to remind her of her statement about the justinabambina blog: "it's so crazy that there's actually a girl out there who is like justin!" yeah, thought we all forgot about that one, huh? :)

also, why in the world is your car registration so expensive, mare? that stinks! ours was $73, and i thought THAT was annoying.

dad, your birthday is in 2 days! yay! what are you going to do?

also, i'm a little weirded out by this talk of cleveland, matt edwards. folks, please know that is in the DISTANT future, if at all. nothing is more depressing than thinking about having to leave the place of our dreams.
it's just that we had such a great time with some of our best friends in the world, heidi and ken (who want to live in cleveland). and heid and i always daydream about living near each other and being able to be at each other's houses every day. the boys are gamers for it, too, which is so great. i think that was one of the best parts of our visit with those peeps, was that heidi and i were in our own world, just chatting and talking and laughing, and the boys were doing the same, without us having to pay attention to them or make sure they were okay. just like me and heid, our husbands became instant friends in a way that only God could arrange.

welp, i must be moving on.
matt and i have an appointment at the chiroblabber's.
then to the farmer's market.
then a relaxing time in the jacuzzi (the complex's jacuzzi, we haven't had time to figure ours out yet), hopefully.
and maybe some ice cream.
sounds like a good night.

it's been real, people!
-tracey

lately i've been feeling
like you'll never know
if you don't mark the way back
the further you'll go
-denison witmer

we're back from a perfect vacation!
we had so much fun and saw such incredible beauty.
and now we're glad to be home.

it's official, the condo is ours!
so now i can finally celebrate and get excited and emotionally attached!!!!
we're going over there tonight with a bottle of champagne so we can toast to our very first house...

and now i'm going to have home depot on the brain (all that watching of trading spaces gets me so excited to make some inexpensive renovations to our new place).
bye
tracey

man, it's been awhile!
here i am again--a lot has happened since i last blogged.
rachael was supposed to be in san diego last weekend but due to a fire in one of the detroit airport terminals, she missed her flight. she was able to make it in on tuesday and we packed a lot of stuff in and had a lot of fun. matt and i had a great, relaxing weekend alone, which we spent up in encinitas, at our favorite san elijo state beach.

i picked up my bridesmaid dress for kevin and emily's wedding! yay! i can't remember if i told you which one i ended up getting, em, but it's the one that is sleeveless, fitted and has a high neckline. it also came with an organza wrap--do you want me to wear it or no?
congratulations kevin, on your first teaching job--you will be such an excellent teacher!!!

and it is official--we just purchased airline tickets with vouchers (compliments of ryan and michelle!) for our friends heidi and ken, who will be coming to visit over labor day weekend.

speaking of official--well, this is almost official, i guess. we had our final walk-through for our house and will be closing on it either tonight or tomorrow--yay! so if all goes well, we will be proud homeowners within 30 hours. i took a stroll through home depot today--man, they have everything! it got me really excited for making fun home improvements--which we don't really need to do with this place, it really is actually quite nice. but it will be fun to finally have some COLOR on the walls! i've been watching "trading spaces" and "while you were out" to get some good ideas. dad good, i'll also need to get some carpentry and light fixture tips from you! this house finding process has been so fun and really not stressful at all (thanks to the Lord). we had such a great realtor, who we really trusted and who was agressive in getting what we wanted and went above and beyond what he had to do. we probably won't actually move in until the weekend of august 22nd, just due to our vacation and more visitors (whew!). but that gives me time to get in there and paint some walls without having to move or cover any furniture, so it works out.

we'll be leaving for our vacation on sunday (matt deserves a break--he's been working so hard!)
mare, you requested our itinerary, so here goes (the rest of you may or may not be interested):

sunday, aug 10th--point mugu state park (just north of malibu)
monday, aug 11th--montana de oro state park, (west of san luis obispo)
tuesday, aug 12th--andrew molera state park, big sur
wednesday, aug 13th--big sur again
thursday, aug 14th--manresa state beach, santa cruz
fri and sat--san francisco
drive home sunday or monday
yay!
the end

tracey