good morning, everyone!
i'm up a little before i need to be so i thought i'd blog for once...

the weather is getting cool and crisp here, well as much as it can be, but enough for me to wear long sleeves comfortably all day long. which i love. so i've been making lots of soup, drinking tea, and just chilling out reading some good Word and listening to coltrane. and also my shuffle, which contains denison witmer, bettie seveert, otr, aquaduct, u2, arcade fire, innocence mission, poole, band of horses, saves the day, pinback, sloan, minus the bear, rainer maria, the go team, rilo kiley, stars, the national, spoon, the hold steady, clap your hands say yeah, moonbabies, and oh so much more.
ahhhhhh...

it's been a long time since i have listened to new music, or much music at all. i connect music to certain times of my life and whenever i hear it, i get a feeling/visual/etc that reminds me. so i didn't get into a lot of stuff these past 6 months because i didn't want to hear an album and instantly think, "this was from when my dad had brain cancer". now i finally feel like i can get into things without associating everything with the actual disease. now for lots of healing.

when someone you love dies
you never question where they've gone
like landscapes on the snow
they're blocks you build more life upon
they're the corner of your eyes
their quiet arms still comfort you
-denison witmer
i tried to make you smile

a new post, finally!
i wonder if anyone even checks this thing anymore.

you may have heard about the southern california wildfires on the news.
we were driving back from justin's place in santa monica when the first malibu fires broke out.
i'm not sure about the timing, but san diego county also developed many more fires throughout the day and night.

some of my friends have been evacuated, about 50% of my co-workers didn't show up today--also, we did have school/work today. hard to believe since the air quality was so poor. even matt got sent home from work at 10:30 am! let's just say that i made a few calls to the superintendent's office (as well as to the san diego county office of air quality) as a "concerned parent". my first phone call started out with me having one child and then my story gradually evolved to me having "several children"--which, i'm sure convinced them of my actual parenthood--who uses a vague term for the number of children they have??? ha!!!

i'm sure i wasn't the only "parent" who called, because around noon they cancelled school--except transportation would run as normal but parents were welcome to come pick up their children. teachers could leave as long as all of their students were picked up. which didn't happen because so many parents rely on school-provided transportation. anyhooooooo--i came home to matt and 4 episodes of dexter (i can't stop! it's terrible! why am i rooting for him???). now i have a giant headache and a sore throat (lovely, lovely smoke). but they actually did cancel school tomorrow so at least i don't have to be at my best. the fires are about 20 miles away from us but it doesn't look like they're coming towards us. but that's what thousands of displaced san diegans thought last night. i'm packing up our important papers and photos tonight just in case.
welp, better get to it!

so, 2007 already, is it?
really matt?
new pornographers only made it to #10 live?
oh well.
i guess i don't think i even saw 10 bands live this past year
(no thanks to migraine-triggering light shows--boooooooooooo!)
anyhoo:
top on my list=
1. the pipettes at HMV in london
2. new porngraphers at the bellyup tavern in encinitas

top songs i got stuck on in 2006 (mostly because of lyrics)

side note: 2005-2006 was the worst year of my professional life.
2006-2007 is turning out to be the most stress-free job of my life
good thing i go in school years instead of actual years. that way part of the year is still good!!! :)

therefore, i divide songs into 2 parts of this year...

***summer trip/after my (horrific)school year...***

1. track #12 on the worship track from dad edwards nothing but the blood of jesus-i think it is the guy from delirious...
what can wash away our sins?
what can make us whole again?
nothing but the blood
nothing but the blood of jesus

2. absinthe party at the fly honey warehouse--minus the bear
hey let's cross the sea
and get some culture
red wine with every meal
and absinthe after dinner

during my school year...

3. worship song-hungry
hungry i call to you
for i know you satisy
i am weary but i know
your touch restores my life
so i wait for you
and i wait for you
i'm falling on my knees
offering all of me
jesus you're all this heart is living for

4. the blankest year-nada surf
time don't move
we're the only ones who do
bending reason cause it's all we hold on to
i had the blankest year
i saw life turn into a tv show
the person i knew i didn't really know

5. africa-michael edwards
please let me know let me know
if you're going to africa
and i'll pack my bags pack my bags today
and stop what i'm doing sail through the sky

6. misfit-elefant
tell me your name
tell me your story
cause i'm into it
running through life
like a misfit

7. drive on to me-elliot
we move to fast to remember
drive on to me
we count the days from the hours...

8. in the mirror-elliot
i look in the mirror
to see what my hair is doing...
but that's not the real reason i'm looking
i need a reminder of what i'm doing
i need a reminder that i'm human

in my dreams i love you like
a snowstorm in the night
but do dreams ever do damage to life
when you need so much you can't get it right?

that's the first part of my year in review 2006...

every time i think i'm ready to blog, i sit here, staring at the screen, and nothing comes to mind...

so how about another update from my summer, then?

after italy, mare and i took the train through gorgeous switzerland, up a gondola to the swiss alps.
we stayed at an interesting hostel that was plopped right in the side of a mountain and our bunk beds (or shall i say, giant frame with plywood slopped across it and individual mattresses lined up next to each other-yikes!--mary had the end, lucky her! and i don't think anyone ended up sleeping on the other side of me) had a view of the swiss alps, complete with 4 waterfalls. and this was the view from laying down in bed---completely beautiful...

we were in such a teeny town that we had to hike 40 minutes up the mountain to the nearest town to get food-breakfast? lunch? some sort of morning meal. purchases were made in the form of more nutella, peanut butter, bread, bananas, white chocolate and a random avacado. ha! it just looked good. did i mention that mary and i went vegetarian on this trip? not on purpose, but just sort of naturally. wierd, huh?

seeing the swiss alps for the first time literally brought tears to my eyes. it was absolutely amazing--my eyes/brain could not process the hugeness of the view all at once! i had to keep moving my eyes, looking at different sections at a time, in order for my brain to process it all: gigantic alps EVERYWHERE, numerous waterfalls, glaciers close by, and green and white everywhere with clear blue sky--absolute heaven. plus peaceful and quiet...

mare and i picnicked for what seemed like hours--nutella overdose-yeah! quote from my journal: "it was a perfect, perfect morning of slowness and just taking it all in". then in the afternoon we took a beautiful hike to the base of one of the glaciers. it required walking through the woods and different farmers' properties and grazing pastures. goats and sheep bleated and cows clanged their bells as they grazed on sloping fields. on our way, we sat on a bridge, under which flowed a river of glacier silt water (an odd, but pretty, gray color). we laughed and chatted and then found our way back to the hostel for a shower, homemade pizza, and hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps!

the next day we took a crazy hike to the schilthorn (some peak, also in some james bond movie). too much to write about in that experience. let's just say it stretched our faith and we had a fan club by the time we reached the gondola station at the top of the peak. we rode down the overpriced gondola (wait, have i mentioned that switzerland is extremely expensive in general? way more expensive than any other place we visited in europe), gathered our backpacks from our hostel, and hopped on a train to interlaken. a clean, dorm-like hostel awaited us, along with the coolest blue-green opaque colored lake view. we spent the next three days relaxing by the lake, laying in the sun, shopping in town, playing cards, laughing, talking, reading magazines, doing pilates, taking walks along the lake, eating chocolate, journaling, and eating great free breakfasts that were included in the price of our stay (of which we pilfered pieces of bread to make into sandwiches later on). ahh, relaxing recovery....

then we were on to ireland, which deserves a post of it's own!

in real life here, though, i had a fantastic week-long visit with my family (kevin and emily-i missed you guys--see you at christmas, though). caleb is such a chubster and hannah is a chatterbox--so fun to see them again and to chat with all the adult members of the fam! can't wait to go back for christmas + see the edwards clan and heidi and ken.

matt and i also took a super fun weekend trip to napa for a wine-tasting weekend in november. we had such an amazing time that we almost impulsively took an extra day off, but thankfully, matt brought us both back down to earth and said that wouldn't be a good idea. i was disappointed until partway home i remembered what i had to do at work the next day--could not be missed!!! ha! but that's how much fun we had! napa was beautiful, like fall in the midwest. perfect sweater weather and fall leaf colors everywhere (grapevines were mostly a beautiful yellow on the still-green fields). i would go back any day.

so how do i end this post?
goodbye.

so, after gentle but persistent nudging from mom edwards and mary edwards/sanford (depending on which form of id you look at: passport vs. drivers license), i am finally blogging!!!

and can i just say that i had a crazy summer???
it was amazing, life-changing, hilarious, stretching, so much fun, pricey, priceless, beautiful, peaceful, busy, relaxing, informative, awe-inspiring, and a million other things. it truly was the best summer of my life! here's a little snapshot of the trip...

my favorite things from italy:
(people in attendance: me and mare-woo!!!)

-drinking $2 bottles of wine in cinque terre

-swimming in the clear blue mediterranean sea

-enjoying one of the best lunches (of my life) of pesto pasta and cold white wine on a hot day in rome

-walking where paul walked (and millions of others! the history was overwhelming!) in rome

-waiting for our delayed train in cinque terre, intending to "buy groceries for dinner" in a little shop while we waited for the train but instead coming out with a bottle of limoncello (lemon-flavored liquer) and two matching shot glasses!!! ha!

-running for aforementioned delayed train and celebrating by singing the german national anthem with school group of 2 chaperones and 40 teenagers as we stood in a squished compartment-i got in their video-hilarious!
(quote from my journal: "all of the sudden, we saw a train (now over 3 hours late) going by on a track on the side of the mountain. we looked at each other in disbelief, gathered up our bottle and glasses and made a run for it--gradual incline, mind you-- back for the station, which was a good quarter mile away. mary took off like a running maniac while i flopped behind with my flinging backpack, trying not to break the limoncello bottle or shot glasses."

-nutella gelato-nothing in the world is better!!! this was our lunch on a couple of days...

-pompeii-ruined city (death by volcano) excavated--amazing!

-tiny town of riomaggiore in cinque terre, italy.
here's what i wrote in my journal "so beautiful and quaint. lots of old italian men and women sitting on benches, chatting and gossiping. clothes hanging out on clotheslines, people sweeping balconies and storefront steps, different colors of apartments all stacked on top of each other, stone steps going up, down, twisting around corners, archways, fishing boats lined up below our balcony on the street, teeny markets with fresh produce and wine, people constantly out on their balconies, arms folded on the railing, looking down on the street below, green shutters on the windows, a bell clanging in the distance (a church?), people stopping to talk to each other on the streets, and so on...
i feel God telling me to
slow down.
settle down."

-journaling and reading/laughing about entries with mare on an almost daily basis...

welp, there's a little taste for you all. i plan to write highlights of each leg of the trip, but you'll have to be patient!!! :)

see ya!
tracey

p.s. i started a new job within san diego city school district. i really like it and it is WAY less stressful than last year! yay!

hello everyone.
long time no blog.

i have been ridiculously busy lately.
first off, most of you probably know about our/my travel plans this summer, but i shall go into some detail on this blog.
this is going to be the craziest summer ever! mary is flying to LA and then taking the train to san diego on thursday, june 15th. then i'll skip out of school 3 and a half days early on june 16th and we'll fly to london together. we'll spend the night there and then fly down to rome, italy, where we'll take trains up the coast for about a week-ish, plus maybe a side trip to venice or florence. then we'll take a train into interlaken, switzerland and stay in the swiss alps at a cool little hostel in the mountains (you have to take a gondola--like a ski gondola, not a water gondola heehee- to get up there). we'll hike around for a week-ish and then take a flight from zurich (switz) to meet matt in dublin, ireland! that's july 1st, for those of you interested in actual dates. then we'll spend two weeks travelling around ireland's coast, staying in bed and breakfasts and hostels (some with ocean views). after that, we'll fly into edinburgh and do scotland for a few days, then on to london for a couple more days. whew!!! then matt and mary fly back to the us and i fly to AFRICA! what? yes, i can barely believe it myself.

that will be an epic trip in itself. my friend julie (the occupational therapist i work with) will be with me the whole time. in the mornings, julie and i will be working in a school for children with special needs (the first one in tanzania, i believe), helping to increase the children's communication skills, motor and sensory skills. then in the afternoons, we will be working on a project with adults who have disabilities. basically, it is a sheltered workshop as well as a training center for adults with disabilities, so they can get job skills training and learn to make a living for themselves. in tanzania, people with disabilities are not treated like people (mohamed, the man who created these projects, told me that these are the children who are locked in closets). we'll also be helping to work on some policies to support people with disabilities.

in addition, mohamed wants our advice in running a special education program, as well as parent outreach (getting parents to allow their children with disabilities to come to the school--there are still some in the area who do not want to let their children out into public). i also have some ideas related to early intervention so these children can start receiving help before the age of 5-this would require lots of help from the government and medical community, so i'm not sure how quickly it could be implemented, but at least a plan could be put into place. we'll be there volunteering for 2 weeks and then we'll take about 2 weeks to travel around zanzibar and tanzania (with the assistance of biggie, a friend of the edwards family!). i'll return home on august 20th (but then be in cleveland from aug 24-28th for one last summer fling!). our friends sue and tom will be volunteering for a week, helping to create a nature center and guided cave tours, to generate tourist dollars for the community. it should be an amazing trip with a very inspiring leader (mohamed), who has his hands in all different sorts of projects. if anyone is interested in other projects that are available, let me know.

so i've been doing quite a bit of research in my spare time to get prepared for this summer. i just can't wait!!!!

in other news, my dear friend heidi came to visit me over my spring break. we had such a fantastic time--it was so hard to part ways, as usual. oh-does anyone watch the next food network star? because heidi and i want to try out as a team. we made some silly demos when she was in town and one that was more serious and we're actually pretty good (if i do say so myself)! would you all vote for us if we tried out? :)

well, i need to get ready. matt and i are going camping in the middle of nowhere in the anza-borrego desert, which is about 2 hours away from here. the desert wildflowers are beautiful this time of year and we haven't been camping forever!

i miss you all and love you.

p.s. michelle-i loved the pictures of hannah--so CUTE!!!! i need to see those babies!!!!
p.p.s. i love seeing the edwards africans blogging--the pictures are amazing--it looks like you all are having a wonderful time!

we'll end with some lyrics from michael edwards's esteemed "family album"

please let me know, let me know if
you're going to africa
and i'll pack my bags, pack my bags
today
i'll stop what i'm doing
and sail through the sky

i won't be like, won't be like the others
who have gone to africa
i'll be slow to speak
and quick to hear the sound of life

cuz some things have to be done
and some things have to be seen
and not with pride
but with humility

(do the things that He has put on your heart)
You lifted me up and brought me down
here i go! to where? i don't know!

and i hear the song playing
my song for africa
where I cry for life
and live for hope with those who sing along

You lifted me up and brought me down
here i go, to where? i don't know
keep me safe oh dear Lord, i don't know where i'm going
airplanes fly across the sky
i want inside, i want inside

"i love travel. it's one of the few things in life you never regret."
--honeymoon with my brother

hello everyone and merry christmas!
i'm finally writing, but you should know it will be a short one because i have to get to work.

lots of things have happened since i last blogged:

1. first of all (and best of all), work got about 100 times better because the speech dept sent another slp to take my worst, most high-profile case (think 4-hour long meetingS, mom cussing us out, screaming, slamming her briefcase on the table, slamming the door, insulting us--constantly--etc.) ahhhhhhhhhhh...such relief! it was taking up so much time and mental space that i just wasn't myself. i feel like myself again!!!!

2. i turned 30! and i'm okay with it! i had a fun birthday celebration that went on and on: lunch at wahoo's with my girlfriends, game night and dinner at a fun little place in pacific beach, a visit with my dear friend heidi in cleveland, wine tasting in temecula, and lots of cards and phone calls from faraway friends and family.

3. i've been working around 20-25 hours a month doing early intervention speech therapy and i love it! it doesn't feel like work and i look forward to going to my client's homes each time. i see 3 little girls, which is really fun-and unusual-because boys outnumber girls 3:1 for speech/language disorders. yay! i have a 17 month-old, a 2-year old, and one girl who will turn 3 in a couple of weeks. at that point, she will be off of my caseload but mom is paying me privately to see their 5 year-old son and may do the same for her little girl if she's not happy with the therapy offered by the school system.

welp, we have a few holiday parties this weekend and then we'll be off to ohio to see loved ones on tuesday (BG first, then cincy, then cleveland). can't wait to see you all!

p.s. hi michelle cho! thanks for your message--i'm so glad you still read this! i miss you and hope to get a picture of your sweet family this christmas! :)

here was what i wrote on nov.6th but had problems posting it, you jerks! ;)

i wasn't going to write until i read michelle's blog about wanting to travel (and retire). i have a response. surprise, surprise!

first of all, God puts desires in our hearts because He wants to fulfill them, including the desire to travel and have leisure time and experience things outside of ourselves. and in response to what you've heard about christian speakers talking about working their entire lives, come on. remember how God has different plans for each person? no lumping everyone into the same category--especially not the category of church leaders--infamous for being used and abused and worn out because of unrealistic and arbitrary rules created by humans.

of course we are supposed to work hard and make a living and be responsible for our families, but God also gave us brains so we could make money and do what we dream of doing (in our vocations AND our avocations)!

so dream on, michelle! and more importantly, plan on!!!

we had a great weekend in vegas-the U2 show was amazing. i have to say the first time we saw them it was better, only because we were so much closer and the crowd control at the MGM was poor and matt and i were both on edge. the set list was fantastic, though and they played "with our without you", which is the first song i really LOVED on the radio when i was in 6th grade (from the album, joshua tree--first album i ever bought (mary, stop laughing!!!

we didn't end up gambling until 1:30 am on saturday night, though. people think (and i used to also) that you only gamble in vegas but not so. we were busy all the night before and all day just walking around, enjoying the amazing casino hotels--there are so many fun things to look at in all these themed places! we stayed at the flamingo, which i thought would be shady, but it was absolutely beautiful and we had a large room (2 queen beds, an air mattress on the floor and still plenty of room to move around. they had a huge courtyard/habitat for different species of birds (including penguins!) with waterfalls and beautiful plants. there were also several pools and even 3 waterslides (waterslides were closed--it is november, after all). so we hung out by the pool all day long and walked around the nice area of vegas quite a bit. when we finally did get around to gambling, i doubled my money and came out $46 ahead!!!! yeah!!! oh my gosh, i had so much fun playing craps. we played for about an hour before we called it quits (i think i was the only one who quit while i was ahead, though). everyone was high-fiving and yelling and we made a bunch of new friends at our table.

we also had a fun "dinner bet", in which everyone in the group takes the amount of money they would spend on dinner ($20/couple) and plays roulette and bets it all on red or all on black. if you win, you double your money and eat a great meal. if you lose, you spend your money and eat at mcdonald's--ha! so we put $60 on black and doubled it!!!! such a great feeling!!!! and we ate very well, indeed.

but we're glad to be out of las vegas. it is fun in small units of time, but the atmosphere of excess gets to you. maybe we'll go next summer when ryan has a conference out there :)

welp, matt ordered pizza and got a movie so we're going to relax and wind down from our long day of driving and go to bed early (7, maybe 8 hours of sleep total this weekend! :) oh well, we won't have energy to do this when we're older, might as well get it in while we can!

we had a wonderful time in fresno with dad edwards this weekend.
i was immersed in cs lewis a few times, who i realize is one of my favorite writers.
every time i read even a quote of his, a feeling comes over me--like listening to a familiar song or a new song from a familiar band... and it's even better to hear dad talking so fluently about him, as if he knows lewis as a personal friend. it was fun to see dad functioning in his gift and passion at his talk at borders and at the church the next day.

i think i'm going to start my birthday/christmas list with some lewis books, actually:
-letters to children
-mere christianity
-surprised by joy

man! i am craving either sushi or wahoo's rice. matt's not home yet, so i guess i'll wait for him (and his vote will be for wahoo's, i'm sure!). either way, i don't think i'm making anything because we have no food in our house! i need to go shopping. i wish i could have been at your tmnt pizza party, justin. yum.

this is going to be a rough week at work (especially friday), so if you think about it, please pray for me.

thanks to mary, i've broken my rule of "no celebrating christmas until november 1st". she just sent me a cd of nat king cole's christmas songs. so naturally i HAD to listen to it to make sure that it worked, and darned if i wasn't listening to the whole thing. twice. and i'm listening to it now. i'm not going hardcore celebrating until a week from now, though. but once halloween is over, i'm all over it!!! i also have a rule of "no setting up the christmas tree until the day after thanksgiving". why these rules, you may ask? because i am out of control!!! and i love christmas so much that i get all christmasy-head all season, and it truthfully drives matt a little bit nuts. i don't think my rules are unfair to either of us!!! heehee!

well, i have to eat a snack, i am ravenous. too ravenous to continue writing, that is!

have a great week everyone!

okay, okay...
mama joan gave me the nudge that i needed to write again! (and realized that i was, in fact, referring to myself as the SOMEone who was slacking!!!! you sillies who thought i was talking about you!)

i guess i thought that i haven't had much to say lately.

but now that i think about it, i suppose some things have been going on. first off, i've been dealing with a very high-profile case at my school and was going to have to testify in court (as an expert witness-ha!-while their attorney would rip apart my credentials--talk about losing sleep and heart palpitations and headaches, etc!--i was a mess) this wednesday, but i received the fantastic news yesterday that they settled out of court!!! hooray!!! but now a new chapter begins with this family. but at least our special education team doesn't have to go to court. ahhhh.... such relief......

we've had some nice, warm summery days lately. but when i woke up this morning, there was the perfect crisp smell of fall in the air. it makes me want to go school clothes shopping!! talk about a pavlovian response!

matt and i also went to virginia beach to see our friend, amanda henry, get married. for those of you who don't know, amanda is my mom's best friend's daughter. and mary henry passed away a few years ago so the wedding was a little bit melancholy in some respects. mary's brother performed the ceremony and said it so perfectly: "the one element missing from this beautiful day is mary henry. and we all miss her." he said a few other things after that, but the first part was so honest and so simple and it acknowleged what everyone in the congregation was feeling.

we also got to meet our new baby nephew, caleb!!! such a cutie looking like his uncle joey (michelle's brother). i held him for a long time and he was so warm and snuggly and sweet!!! and hannah was as talkative and cute as ever! matt and i had such a fantastic time with mom, dad, ryan and michelle, too (but they take the back seat to the cutie babies--sorry guys!). actually, it was one of the most fun receptions because we all danced for hours!!!! ry, michelle, matt and i did a rock circle during "pour some sugar on me", dad chest-slammed, milli vanilli-style with graig, the bride's brother, and we took a ridiculous walk on the beach--good idea inspired by mom, but unfortunately lead by ryan-- through tall beach grasses and soft sand in high heels at 1 am--it was quite an epic evening! it was way too short of a visit, but wonderful to be on a vacation with family for two days!

matt and i are going to home depot and lowes today to see if we can figure out something for our back patio area. the one goal we have for out there is to be able to have little campfires, so the ground covering needs to be nonflammable. we're setting a timeline of having it done by christmas. i know, that seems far away, but all november weekends are already booked. in fact, ryan is going to be coming out here for a long weekend in november!!!

we also have our plane tickets booked for christmas-hooray! and thanks to matt's bosses who gave the whole company an extra four days off. so now we can have a longer trip and not be so rushed.

well, does this blog at least tide you all over? well, it's going to have to! :)
p.s. justin-HILARIOUS video of that little girl escaping from church!

well i'm not going to name any names, but SOMEone's been a blog slacker!

back to life
back to reality!
yes, back to school--i've conked out at 9:30 these past two friday nights--can you believe it?? what a grown up/nerd!!! hopefully this year will be better than last year. it's starting out to be going pretty well so far, though, so hopefully it will be just fine. big shocker, the speech person who promised me help last year is not the one who has the authority to do so. the person who CAN help me, however, is not happy to and is giving me a bad time. i guess i can always threaten to leave :)
anyhoo, enough of that life-consuming business!

mare and i are having fun planning for ireland, sending a million emails back and forth--yes!!!! can not wait for western and northern ireland, especially! it's crazy that this is finally happening! i remember driving home from cornerstone music festival with mare, michelle, and emily and talking about our top ten places we wanted to visit (i remember also on my list were san francisco and seattle, which i have now achieved!) and ireland being on my list. also remaining on the list are: australia/new zealand, europe including (but not limited to): switzerland, austria, italy, germany; africa again, and the grand canyon. new additions to the list are: alaska, fiji/bali/etc--you know, the ultra-tropical kind of island i'm talking about. those will do me for now! i do have plans to do the europe trip by age 40 (michelle, are you still game? since we didn't get to do the "amazing race", this can be our consolation prize, remember? maybe we'll work in an adventure race there as well!). also, someday i want to buy an around-the-world airline ticket!!! you know, one of those open-ended tickets you buy for a base price and then you have a year to hop around the world with a certain number of stops (like 5-10, or something). any takers??? man, i love travelling! i would rather spend my (extra) money on travel than anything else in the world!

but before we get to ireland, matt and i have a few other trips to take-- the first one being virginia beach in just 3 weeks. our family friend, amanda henry, is getting married and we'll fly out to see that happen. and we'll get to hook up with mom, dad, ryan, michelle, hannah, and caleb. AND we'll get to meet caleb for the first time!!!! yay! what a chubby-cheeked cutie!!!

other fun stuff happening:
-we had a crab bake on labor day with our friends-so fun!
-we've been enjoying the beach before the fall really comes
-listening to new music by justin edwards--very impressive--some of the harmonies remind me of they might be giants!!!
-reading more books, mostly fiction
-just being lazy and enjoying our days here

have a great sunday everyone!

how in the world is it august 18th already??? i start back with teachers on august 29th and then the kids come back sept 6. time is going too fast!

dad edwards, we received your book in the mail and i am about 3/4 of the way through it (everyone should read it--but read the chronicles of narnia first, if you haven't already. or even if you haven't read them recently). i love it! and i'm proud of you--you're awesome. we'll talk about the contents soon, i hope...

mare, your account of your hike was amazing! i felt like i was reading an article in and adventure magazine (except you were way more funny). my question is: will you do it again?

please tell me you all will get the new pornographers new album-twin cinema (and don't be too offended by the name of the band, the music is fantastic)!!! i'm sad that i have to miss the show with matt, especially since they're playing with lassie! man!! but i'll see them in LA at the end of september, at least.

i've been reading my face off and i love it!!! just mixing it up with a little bruce edwards, dan brown, emma mclaughlin, c.s. lewis, j.k. rowling, maeve binchy, steve martin, oswald chambers, rosamunde pilcher, and the LORD! anyhoo, matt and i have been pulling a mike and carol brady lately by getting in bed with our books and reading for an hour or so before we go to sleep every night! ha! if only matt and i had the mike brady fro and carol brady flip, respectively...

if you've got will
and a little time
use it tonight
-new pornographers

mare, i like your new blog template.

what?
oh, hello people.
i'm back.

i woke up at 3:00 am and then again at 4:00 am so i give up. i'll blog and then i'll clean until i get tired again. why do i randomly wake up like this? i'm not sick and there's very little stress going on here, so the usual reasons aren't working. who knows? and furthermore, who of you, dear blog readers, actually care? moving on...

it has been awhile, hasn't it?
let's see, what has happened since i've written last?

we have a sweet new nephew (with completely chubby cheeks, which i shall kiss to no end!), who i can't wait to meet (hopefully in october!!!).

and we've been to colorado (for matt's cousin carlena's wedding) thanks to justin and mom and dad edwards. what a fun trip! good visiting with family and chatting and eating and jumping on a trampoline (or rather, sitting on a trampoline and being bounced around while someone else jumped--hilarious!!!).

i've been working quite a bit. more than i planned, actually, but it is really fun and i think it will make the transition back to work in 2 and a half weeks (what???) a little bit easier. usually, i'm off all summer and then my body and brain go into shock for the first month or two of school. i hope this helps me ease back into it. and i hope i'm not tricking myself :) heehee! i did get a full time job offer at my part time place of employment, which i entertained but will not be taking.

i finally got my hair trimmed (first time since december-ridiculously lazy!), so i feel much better about myself and my hair isn't all wild and flinging out all big everywhere.

matt and i celebrated our 3 year anniversary of living in san diego! the other night (august 10th) we took some bread and cheese and a bottle of champagne to sunset cliffs and recounted the highlights of the past three years--there are so many amazing things that have happened--and thanked God for fulfilling our dreams. it was so much fun! tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary of being in our condo!!! the time has gone so fast!!! and we love living in this home--i say it at least once/week and more than that when we come home from a trip!

oh! exciting news! we never could decide on a summer vacation place so matt and i are planning a trip to ireland in late june/early july 2006. anyone is welcome to join us. we'll be doing some backpacking and staying in hostels and bed and breakfasts. we'll have a general itinerary planned out, but we're going to be playing some things by ear, so you can either be flexible with us, or we can meet up with you for a more structured part of the trip! we can't wait!!! i'm starting our ireland savings account today, with my first paycheck (which is for 1.5 hours of work-ha!). any recommendations from people who have been there? we want to go the the aran islands, ride bikes around the dingle peninsula (teehee), and see the giant's causeway.

hilarious conversation overheard:
matt's old college friend gabe is getting married this weekend so somehow he and matt were talking last night.

gabe: so when are you and tracey having kids?
matt: uh, we don't know, we're having too much fun right now.
gabe: (long pause)
gabe: seriously???
matt: yeah.
gabe: (longer pause)...oh!

ha! so funny that he thought matt was joking! matt thinks it is because he can't comprehend having that much fun! heehee!
by the way, a little lesson for those of you who don't know the etiquette: don't ask someone when they are having kids--it is just bad manners! #1, you don't know if someone has been trying and you are going to hurt their feelings by asking (this happened to my mom and several friends), and #2, it is none of your business! sorry, just have to get that out there--we've been asked too many times lately--and not really by you readers, but in case you readers were thinking of asking us or anyone else, there is my opinion! ha!

by the way mare, i like your weather and other random alaska updates--i want to know everything that is going on up there with your new life--nothing is boring or insignificant, so quit saying that! and yes, i do have the new over the rhine, and i really like it. in fact, i will end this blog with a lyric from said album.

like an ocean without waves
You're the movement that i crave
and in that motion
i long to drown
and to be lost
not to be found

back from my blog vacation!
and my physical vacation, too...

i had such a fun time in hilton head with my family (though i missed matt and kevin and emily). the weather was unbelievably humid and hot, but we had a wonderful pool and, of course, the ocean just a short walk away.
in summary:
-ate a ton of good food
-enjoyed the luxury home we were staying in
-watched the ocean (it was flat and lake-like except for one day!)
-swam in the pool/ocean
-tamed the beast (a.k.a. inflatable alligator) by leaping on to it from outside the pool and maintaining position until at least the count of three (funniest moment was when 8 months pregnant michelle attempted this and instantly flipped over. her back didn't feel great that evening "i'm trying to think of what i did differently today...." hmmm...)
-went on a turtle walk and talk (the next day, mom spotted loggerhead turtle tracks and then saw caretakers moving the nearby turtle nest (129 eggs!) to a safer location--pretty awesome!)
-ran a 5k (ry and i got our personal records of 24:58--that's 8:03 minutes/mile-yeah! goal achieved!) while mom and aunt deedee were power walkers and dad, michelle, and hannah were our cheering section
-played yahtzee and cranium
-played a sweltering game of mulligan putt-putt, in which anytime all 4 of us got a penalty stroke (or, uh, strokes), none of us counted it! yeah! with these rules we beat uncle bob and jonathan and had so much more fun-heehee!
-chatted and talked and caught up with everyone i've been missing
-listening to silly hannah talk and squeal and do a million other cutie things. she looks so much like ryan, it's unbelievable. maybe caleb will look like michelle!

so now i'm home and loving it as well. matt and i are taking this whole weekend to ourselves. i've actually hardly seen him this week since he has had deadlines and has been working 10-12 hour days. so we're going to take a bike ride and chill at the beach today.

matt and i decided to do an adventure race in tahoe on september 24th! it involves kayaking, mountain biking, and trail running/orienteering, and "special tasks" (maybe a mud pit of some kind? heehee). training for it may be a challenge, especially with the orienteering (huh? how do you do that?) and kayaking (a little expensive to rent on a regular basis).

check out the website: http://www.bigblueadventure.com/pub/main2.asp?daEvent=25&daPageName=DISCIPLINES

mare, i love reading about your fun alaska adventures. can't wait to visit you someday (but not before one year is up, don't worry! :) and dad edwards, i love the africa adventures, justy-ditto in video/slideshow form.

can't wait to see the edwards family in colorado august 6-8th!

i'm out. have a great weekend, everybody!

by the way, the new ben folds album is great. the song about elliott smith is too sad to listen to most of the time, though. i can't wait to see him live in august.

SCHOOL'S
OUT
FOR
SUMMER!
i've been singing that since friday!!!!

it was a hectic but great day, too! a senior speech therapist came out to "see what my schedule was really like" since i've been writing them letters since september. after showing her my caseload and schedule and talking to her for 2 hours, she said, "yeah, you're going to need at least an extra day at each school next year. this is a 7-day-a-week job that you've been doing in 5 days." i feel so vindicated and relieved!!! now i don't feel like such a bad speech therapist-- i just couldn't physically do it all. and now i'm getting some help. this either means i will get an assistant (SLPA) who will help me at each school one day/week OR they will change the allocation of the schools (3 days for one, 4 days for the other) and i will have to choose one or the other and pick up and extra day or two at another school. either way, i don't care, i'm just relieved.

so after school on friday a couple of us ladies decided to go to happy hour at this new wine bar in ocean beach called "the vine". it was such a nice little place and it was a great way to end the school year! matt showed up at the end of our evening and we went out to ortega's, our favorite mexican restaurant, which was right across the street. then we came home and got in the hot tub and just relaxed. one of the most perfect days ever....

sunday we went up to see ryan in pasadena! he was staying at the ritz-carlton--it was sooooo nice! i've never stayed in a place that nice before! everyone was so nice and friendly and there were so many extra touches that i just felt rich! ha! ry and i had a great time together, too. while he was in his workshops all day monday, i went for a run (the concierge had a little laminated card that had routes and distances! and when i got back there was a huge silver chalice/bowl filled with ice and gatorade/water in the entryway, along with towels and a sign that said, "welcome back runners"!!!), got some snacks at the store, then hung out by the pool all day. it was pretty hot (maybe 90?) but it was nice under my umbrella. i just read magazines like "people" and "in touch", you know, silly ones that i would never read/believe in real life! and i hopped in the pool and swam around every half hour or so because it felt so good! ryan and his two friends joined me around 3:30 and we hung out for a couple hours. then we went to dinner with his work people (who, i think, were a little bit overwhelmed by me. they didn't quite know how to take me. a response i get usuallly in public places in the midwest.) for example, just making what i consider to be normal conversation, "are you all excited to be here?" or "oh my gosh, this place is so great, isn't it?" was evoking stares and confused silences from his crew. anyway, ryan and i were cracking up!

by the way, has anyone ever eaten "cake batter" ice cream from coldstone? well, if you love yellow/vanilla cake batter, you should--because it tastes EXACTLY like it!!! so yummy!

anyhoo, now i'm back and i've been enjoying the beautiful weather and the ocean.
oh yeah! i also got that job to do speech therapy with babies and toddlers! i had a really good interview (where the guy tried to recruit me to be full time-ha!). he said, "not only can we compete with the school system, i think we're better than the school system!" i said, "well, we shall find out..." and he said, "yes, we will!". it was fun banter--this was the first time i've ever walked into an interview feeling confident (probably because of 6 years of experience now but also because i don't NEED the job). i even asked for more money and he gave me $5 per hour more! i was already more than happy with the amount he was offering, but thought, what can i lose? this place just opened in san diego in march, got its first families about a month ago, so i feel pretty fortunate to be on the ground level. anyhoo, i'll only be working 5-10 hours/week, so it will keep me going this summer. when school starts, i'll go down to no more 5 hours/week.

welp, i really must get my day started!
have fun, africans!
have fun, alaskans!
have fun, ohioans!
what do you call people from kentucky? kentuckians? no, that doesn't sound right.
how about have fun, hillbillies! ha!

tracey :)

3 more days of school!!!!

i had my famous speech parties today and the kids were in heaven. and i was highly annoyed because of too much noise in my ears! however, i had to pretend i was okay because i'd hate for those kids' last memories of me to be of "mrs. grump". i do it all over again tomorrow at my other school and then i have two days of pure paperwork and meetings.

i have an interview scheduled next week for that early intervention organization, so we shall see what happens with that!

not too much else that is new, except that i am unnaturally tired! and i'm getting enough sleep, i think. just stress probably (or depression, says a co-worker-ha!).

my real reason for writing is to tell you all to check out matt's blog, it has a fun picture of us with the waterfall that we found on a recent hike in pasadena--so fun! yet oh-so-cold!

i'm outie--i'll check you all after june 17th!!!!

ONLY 5 MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL!!!
and this week should be a little less jam-packed with meetings. i just need to do a lot of paperwork and stuff and, of course, have my famous speech parties!!!

last night matt and i went to see the new star wars movie. we used our movie gift certificates, so i'm glad we didn't pay real money for the show. the certificates also allowed us to purchase popcorn and a giant coke, which neither of us needed and both regretted after having racing hearts a couple hours later. back to the movie, though: although this one wasn't QUITE as boring as the other two, the acting was horrible! the special effects were pretty cool, i must say. i wanted to see more wookies, personally. the best part of the movie was that we saw a "the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe" full preview. it looks AMAZING!!! i can't wait for december 9th!!!!

next sunday matt and i will be going up to pasadena to see rydogg. matt will have to go back sunday night, of course, since he has to work on monday. but i'll stay there on sunday night and monday night and hang with him. then i'll come home and continue my relaxation for the next 9 weeks!!! i plan to NOT think about work the entire time! ha! i actually may have an opportunity for really part time work (per diem) with kids ages birth-3. i'm playing phone tag with the guy right now, but i was referred to this agency by my friend who is an occupational therapist. she works 2 1/2 hours/week for the agency and loves it. we shall see...

then on to cincinnati on june 30, then on to hilton head with the good/byrd side of the family on july 2. i can't wait to see silly hannah at the beach! i wonder if she'll be dining on as much sand as she was this time last year... the only thing missing will be kevin and emily--we wish you guys were coming!

i'm listening to nada surf--how did i miss them in the mid-late 90s? they're pretty good.
oh yeah, upcoming shows i'm excited about include (but are not limited to):

-street scene festival (including the killers, pixies, white stripes, hot hot heat, deathcab for cutie, snoopdog (wha?), dashboard, flogging molly, flaming lips, kasabian, international noise conspiracy, von bondies, and more)
-ben folds (yay! i've been waiting forever to see him in a smoke-free environment!!!)

i really must get my hair cut. it has been since christmas and i must say my head is beginning to look like a triangle when i actually do wear my hair down. it's not a pretty picture, people!!!

welp, enough of my ramblings!

back from mexico!
we had such a fun, relaxing trip--it was even better this year than it was last year!!!!
we arrived friday around 6:00 pm, we unpacked, took a walk on the beach, and watched the sunset as we made burgers and hotdogs and a million other snacky type foods. after we ate, we played some games and competed for the master bedroom. the place has 3 bedrooms and we trade rooms each night, just so everything is even. plus, everyone wants the master bedroom with the huge bed! so matt and i won first choice and we chose the last night--save the best for last, eh?

anyhoo, i was up the balcony, watching the ocean, when i thought, "hm. the waves look like they're just glowing in the moonlight." then i realized the moon wasn't out--it was totally overcast. so i yelled down to our friend suzanne, a scientist who first told us about "bioluminescence"--she came up and confirmed that it was so. we all went tearing down to the ocean (tide was pretty low) to get a closer look!

mini science lesson here: a red tide happens when a certain type of plankton (or red algae) blooms out of control. during the day, it makes the ocean look brownish red. at night, when the plankton are agitated by the crashing waves, they illuminate and glow a light, bright blue.

it was AMAZING! i have never in my life seen anything like it! we didn't know how long it would last, so we all dropped trou (not entirely, mind you!) and went running into the ocean, glowing as we swam! you could put your hands in the water, lift them out and see teeny tiny glowing bits sparkling on your hands before they went out. when we swam, our hands and feet especially (most movement there, i assume) glowed. in some places where the algae was thick (but microscopic and teeny, so it didn't feel like much), we all just stood and the whole area around us lit up--it illuminated enough to see teeny fish swimming around as well. it was absolutely magical.

definitely one of the best moments of my life.

the rest of the weekend included laying out in the perfect warm weather, reading magazines, chatting, laughing so hard, taking walks (and one run) on the beach, eating and eating and more eating! the most perfect thing was that there was NOTHING we had to do. nothing on a list, no errands to run, no phone to answer--nada!

and now we're home, where our bodies went into shock at the amount of work there is to do back here. what? i'm still on vacation in my head!! but there are only 13 days left of school. yay! and then aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

oh yeah!
congratulations to kevin and emily, on your new home!!!!! how exciting!!! i can't wait to see it--it sounds so cute and fun! by the way, we did get your moving announcement--so clever! and mare and casey, congratulations on your job in houston, AK--and have fun house hunting!!!

welp, i'm outie!
and sleepy.
and i'm listening to the new oasis album, which is solid.
byebye