i just went out to water my plants and saw that my lime tree is blooming!
yay! hopefully that means we'll have limes by early fall!

i'm going up to meet matt for lunch at his new place of employment, so that should be fun.

and it was fun reading blogs from grammy, ryan, michelle and emily!!!

spring break is coming to a close, but that is okay with me. i ease back into it on monday, with an all-day training (every once in awhile it is so good to just receive from someone else instead of giving myself all day long) and then that friday off, to fly home for graig henry's wedding!
so my first week back from spring break is only a 3-day work week, which is not bad. then only 8 weeks left until summer break--yessssssss! can not wait!!!!

happy birthday mom edwards!!!
what a fun surprise present from dad!!
have fun on your camping trip.

oh yeah, i forgot to say that on our way home from mary and casey's we stopped in santa monica for some shopping and starbucks. which, that starbucks was so cool. a ton of (music) listening stations around and a cool bar up front where you could sit and make your own mix and then burn it on to a cd. very fun! i forgot for a second that we were actually in a starbucks.

yesterday, my first day home for spring break, i had a perfect day. first, i slept in until 9:15--yes!!! then i went for a great run on sunset cliffs and came home and tried to do some ab work, but very sadly, i was still sore from my workout with mare--ha! mary, please tell me you are too, so i don't feel quite so fat and lazy!!! then i went to encinitas for the afternoon and read my james michener book, hawaii. since it was the middle of the day on a tuesday, i nearly had the beach to myself. after a few hours, i went back up to the car and found that it wouldn't start so i called matt and he came to rescue me about an hour later. he instantly got the car to start, of course! then we decided to go into some surf shops around the area and got him some new shirts for work and some board shorts for me.

today i got up early with matt and we took the car back to the shop (a part was just loose, and no charge to fix it!). i had a great walk on sunset cliffs a little while ago and later i'll go to the farmer's market in OB. i probably should be cleaning this place (we always trash it when we get back from trips!) but i just don't feel like it, gosh darn it! maybe i'll get the bug later.

welp, i'm out!

wooo!
the slacker is back!

it's been awhile, but i suppose no one will accept the excuse that i've been busy.

i thought not.

welp, anyhoo, matt and i returned from a fun visit in chowchilla, with mary, casey, and mom and dad edwards!
(just and mikey, we missed you guys). i am very sore right now from a morning with mary involving running 3 miles and doing push-ups, crunches, soccer situps-ouch!, and walking lunges. hopefully, i'll be recovered enough tomorrow to do it all again. if i did that workout 3x/week for about 2 weeks, i bet i'd see a big difference! we'll see how the motivation goes, though...
let's see, highlights...
-an excellent dinner of freshly caught (thanks to casey!) salmon--so yummy.
-hilarious game of wiffle ball with a giant bat and ball-nonstop laughing (dad, matt, and bo whipped us girls!)
-cutie bo trying to run with a giant frisbee in his mouth
-just chatting and talking and shopping and eating with family...ahhh....

ryan! i'm so glad you had fun at the blackjack table--that is fun! sounds like you stayed in a sweet place, too!

yes! spring break time for me!!! hooray!
i'll spend as much time as possible at the beach, of course.
but also in the plans are: haircut, painting the kitchen, some spring cleaning, and boring finance stuff.

i'm looking forward to being in cleveland in a week and a half and seeing the good side of the family!

you're the only thing that i love
scares me more every day
on my knees i think clearer
--snow patrol

good morning.
i'm going to a class all day today to get a 1/2 of a graduate credit.
not too bad, eh? i don't have time or committment to do the "sit in class 3 times/week for an hour for 15 weeks" to get my credits so i'm slamming them out of the way like this. plus, it's only $15, which is not bad for college credit. yay! hopefully it will be an interesting class. if not, i'll cancel the other 2 that i'm signed up for by the end of this year.

the sun is shining already--i hope it doens't turn out to be a good beach day, or i'll be ticked!!!

matt got his first paycheck yesterday!!! hooray!!!
now we can breathe (and spend!) a little easier...

last night matt and i went out to walgreens, which was hoppin at 9 pm, surprisingly. anyways, we went to purchase a heating pad because unfortunately, i think i have a superficial blood clot in my leg again. so we brought it home and matt got it out of the wrapper for me and i picked it up without paying attention and then started gagging! ha! the material on the outside of it feels like the car ceiling interior (and the good family knows how they used to torment me by scratching their fingers on the ceilings of our cars and drive me crazy!!! i still have the emotional scars!). it was a rather funny scene, matt saying we could take it back and me saying i wanted to conquer it. i did end up conquering it, but not without squealing and gagging some more. we all have a little bit of sensory defensiveness, whether it be hearing nails on the chalkboard, touching cotton balls or cotton at the top of a vitamin jar (gag just thinking about), chewing yarn, chewing tin foil, hearing fork scrape on a plate (michelle good), etc. so in ryan style, i'm taking a survey of everyone's worst sensory overload nightmare.

have a good day everyone, i must be going!
tracey

yes!
it's wednesday!
seven more days until spring break, people!!!!
and we'll be seeing the sanford part of the family, as well as babu and mama matthew.
quality time will be spent (at sonic, i'm sure).
dad, make sure you bring all the stuff for your tanzania deal--i can't believe you haven't blogged about it yet!
we want details!!!!

i finally got to see new videos of sweet hannah! she is sitting up and being bald and cute!
i can't wait to see that girl in a few weeks!

nothing much new here, really.
just doing the norm things.
actually, i'm taking a "class" for graduate credit, which is a cool program for educators to research and implement new materials/techniques, etc. it requires 15 hours of out of work preparation, which is nothing, really. i have 5.5 hours logged already for this week, and it's something i've been wanting to do forever, but haven't been motivated. my project involves creating activities for children with language disorders based on children's literature (that corresponds with california literacy standards). i'm pretty pumped! plus, it adds up for salary advancement (which is a ways off, since i need 14 more credits to hop up to the next level). but either way, it feels good to be researching and being creative and using my brain instead of doing the same old same old.

i'm going to paint our kitchen this weekend. i've been wanting to forever, but haven't been able to decide on a color. i think i've finally settled on a deep red color (cherry cobbler, to paint freaks)--it was between that and purple, and matt preferred the red. it seems like it will be pretty bold, but the amount of wall actually being covered is not that much, with cupboards and appliances and all.

matt is out returning a video and picking up postage stamps (and hopefully some cookie dough!). and i'm listening to the song matt and i danced to at our wedding, which i loved, because everyone was silent (and doesn't it seem like people rudely chat throughout the dances at weddings nowadays?) and the world stopped and the best lyrics of all (which have nearly been fulfilled) filled the place:

we don't need a lot of money
we'll be sleeping on the beach
keeping oceans within reach
(whatever private oceans conjure up for free)
i will stumble there with you
and you'll be laughing close with me
trying not to make a scene
etcetera whatever
i guess all i really mean
is we're gonna be alright
yeah, we're gonna be alright
you can close your eyes tonight
cause we're gonna be alright...

-over the rhine

and God is always good, because we are alright! :)

yay! lots of blogs to read today!

i stayed late at work (5:00) so i could get my office rearranged. i forgot how heavy office furniture is. hmm. no matter, i'm a professional heavy item lifter after our riduculous concrete-moving weekend! it felt really good to get it all done and have the space look bigger and more organized.

matt is a basketball zombie now. but he made skyline dip, so i'm going to go invade his space!

some messages to fellow bloggers:
michelle-i too, am watching american idol. however, i have nothing to compare it to, since i only caught about 2 total episodes before. i also like the pen salesman kid. a lot of them of pretty good! i agree, leah is horrible--i'm so glad she got voted off last night--she never should have made it as far as she did. i like fantasia's personality more than her voice (although her voice is good, it's not my personal favorite style--but most of them aren't!). i love that redhead's voice but there's no way he's going to win... unless the only people voting are middle-aged women!!! anyhoo, it should be interesting.
mike- you go ahead and grow that hair out, girlfriend!
mare-such a great picture of casey and his doggy friend bo in front of that lake! that's a frame-it-and-put-it-on-your-desk type of picture. i can't wait to get a real dog (funny enough, we also have an ipod dog!).

i would write more but i'm hungry.
so farewell people!

why must we clean every single day???
that's one of the major things i am looking forward to in heaven--never having to clean again! also, seeing jesus is going to be good, too. :)

i enjoyed reading the new blogs today--michelle-nice one!
i wish i could hear baby hannah sqealing as she puts herself to sleep!
i'll get to see her soon enough. hopefully uncle matt will, too!

matt and i have been researching wood floors, since his allergist recommended them. i think we would have installed them someday anyways (they look so nice and they increase the resale value of your house), but it's more motivating to do something about it now. well, not now. but as soon as we have some cash saved up and as soon as we have a more permanent status for matt's job. so apparently i've had wood floors on the brain because i had a dream about them last night. such a weirdo!!!

anyhoo, i've been running again. i've been working it in slowly, a couple of miles, 2x/week. and i feel really good! i'm still going to my physical therapy appt on march 30th, though. but my next goal is the mission bay triathlon (500meter swim, 15k bike, 5k run) in october--anyone else want to join in on that one??? i thought about doing something in cincy this summer, michelle, if you want to get in on that. i'll do some more research.

i think we're going camping in joshua tree this weekend, so that should be great. we went about this time last year with joel and the andy's and had such a fun time. joshua tree was pretty desolate, but it had some amazing rock formations that i'm looking forward to climbing on (not hardcore, though). oh yeah, i had a graduation party for one of my girls today (when i met her last year, she couldn't say her "r" sounds so she said, "my name is tewwa nova (terra nova). my mommy says it's special because it means 'new ewth' (new earth)." ha! total drama queen in a way that entertains me every time!!! anyways, her parents came to her graduation party and we started chatting about things and they were saying that they bought property up in joshua tree. very cool. but even better is that they have a buffalo that lives there, too! apparently, he is wild but he just hangs around their yard, chewing on plants and staring at them with giant eyes! i hope i see him when we go!

welp, i must get back to the neverending lifelong job of housework.
have a great rest of the week everyone!

hello gang!
and happy belated birthday to justin!!!

somehow i have mustard on my shirt and i know i didn't eat mustard today. hmmm... maybe it was transferred in a messy child hug!

anyhoo, glad to see that mary is not joining the ranks of ryan good- blogwise, i mean!
also, i must know how the clay aiken concert was! ha! that's got to be worse than hootie, seriously!!!

this past weekend matt and i helped our friends transfer concrete from their back yard to a uhaul. we were machines!!! by the time we were done loading, the uhaul was seriously lowered and the top portion of the tires were nowhere to be seen. so the four of us hopped in the front of the uhaul, ready to ride to the city dump. as we were driving away, we heard a horrible sound of tires scraping on the bottom of the truck. this would be our background noise for the rest of the trip. our excursion also involved hitting a giant pothole, having a guy pull up and tell us that our axle was about to snap, and having the lady at the dump weigh our vehicle and say, "oh my god!" apparently, we had 6 thousand pounds of concrete in that deal! we really were praying the whole way that we would make it unharmed and that the truck would be unharmed. which was what happened, thankfully. after burning the brakes and the tires, of course!

we're still so sore!!!! i've got to get a workout like that in more often!

welp, i have a dentist appt to pick up my nightguard so i don't grind my teeth into oblivion. farewell.

14 more days of work until spring break!
(let the school countdowns begin, mare...)
tracey

hello there everyone!
it's been a good week.
first of all, we made it through the 2nd week in march!
only 3 weeks to go until spring break-yeah!
hopefully up to chow town by then. but we sorta have to wait and see how flexible matt's job will be about letting him have a day off only 3 weeks into his employment.

this week was full.
the other night we watched "american splendor", which i loved.
definitely on my top 10 in my year in review.
great acting, very witty, different, interesting, and so weird that it was true!

i got to talk to rydogg also, since his family left him for clay aiken! :)

then on thursday night, matt got the fever for shuffleboard (bar shuffleboard, that is!) so we called up our friends sue and tom and asked if they wanted to join us. which, of course, they did. so we grabbed a bite to eat at this mexican restaurant that they just fixed up in OB--yummy and cheap! and then we just walked across the street to a place called bullfrogs, where we played shuffleboard. unfortunately, my teams lost both games. mostly due to me. darn it!

then last night, matt and i were able to do what we've been wanting to do since he was laid off in november!
we went out to dinner at ortega's and then went to a real movie in a theater! :)
we finally saw mystic river, by which i was unfortunately depressed and disappointed.
only in the story line and expansion of some events, though---the acting was fantastic.

so today we're going to help our friends marni and ed with their backyard. apparently, they had a huge concrete slab in part of their backyard, where the former owners parked their boat. so our friends rented a jackhammer and went to town on it. and today we're going to help them clean up the thousands of pounds of concrete--yikes!

we had a nice 80 degree day today so we went to the beach and relaxed!
everyone was out, all pumped up that it was so warm...
there was such a great, summer-carefree-feeling all day long.
supposedly it is going to be in the 80s this week so now i'm really going to feel like working!!!
oh well. poor me. ha!!!

last night we went to our friends house and made homemade pizzas and played games (scene it and catch phrase). we now have our own version of catchphrase, which started after matt began yelling, "monkey" for his answer every time. so now we have monkey catchphrase, where you have to make up a scenario involving a monkey for each of your clues. it's quite hilarious, actually.

i think our pilot light went out because we have no hot water, so matt's trying to wrangle with it upstairs.
we both need to take showers before we go to church tonight, which starts in 40 minutes. hmmmm...
and then we're having dinner (italian, of course!) at our friend desiree's house while we watch the season premiere of "the sopranos".
so it should be a great evening...
have a great week everybody!

wow, what a week!
God had the perfect job waiting for matt this month!
he went in for an interview on monday and was hired on tuesday!
hooray! it's a 3-month contract, with possibility for permanent, depending on the higher-ups.
whatever it ends up being, it's a very prestigious company that will look great on his resume.

look it up here at: www.illumina.com

and then he has two more interviews this week, that he's going to for the practice/for if this really is temporary and he can look these companies after the contract is over.

so God is good, as usual!!!

march is always my most difficult month at school, mostly because there are no days off or holidays to look forward to (unless you count st. patrick's day, which i don't, because it's in the middle of the week and we don't even get a day off school--waaaah!!!!).
but i've made it through the first week, so that's not so bad!

so i'm going to graig henry's wedding in cleveland on april 17th! yay!
matt made me get the ticket, because even though we're broke, it is a really important event to me.
graig is like family. for those of you who don't know, his mom, mary, was my mom's best friend. and she went to be with the Lord a few years ago.
and i've grown up with the henry family and considered them family, and i have a personal day yet to take, so i'm going, gosh darn it!
and it is going to be such a PAR-TAY! i really am excited. plus, i get to see my baby hannah, too!!!!

welp, i'd better get going to school.
have a great day, people!!!

i just won a free lunch at fred's mexican restaurant!
yay! i entered a contest a long time ago and i actually won.
now i'm going to try to win TLC's home sweep, where one winner will get their whole mortgage paid off--yeah!!!

i had an insane day of cleaning and laundry. one nice thing about having kids is that someday they will be old enough to have chores and they can help me...

matt and i went to the beach today to relax and read. we do that all the time but hardly ever end up reading. we just start chatting and looking at people and watching the ocean. the ocean never gets old! no matter how many times i've seen it, it still draws me in.

we also ended up looking at all the pups at dog beach, like we usually do when we're down that way. i get pumped up for when we have a dog someday and can take him there to swim and play. we saw a dog who looked like reeces but was black and had a little more of a beard! we always see bo bear dogs there (and i'm now noticing them in a ton of commercials, too!). someday. me. doggie. happy.

we're going to rancho's tonight (my favorite: lentil, avacado, and cheese burrito) with some friends and then back to our house to play some games. we may try to bust out catan, but we'll see what the mood is like. if everyone is horsing around, it's not really the game to be learning or explaining, eh?

matt has an interview on monday, so that's good news. he had a phone interview last week and now they want him for a face-to-face. everyone keep him in your prayers!!! it's a temporary position but temporary $ is better than unemployment $. plus, scantron started out as just contract work as well, and that turned to permanent. apparently a normal practice of hiring in the tech writing field.

it's march on monday--how did that happen??? march is not my favorite month, mostly because we have zero school holidays during those 4 1/2 weeks. today i found an old calendar (2002) and was laughing because it was when i worked at wauseon and i had recorded every day that we had a 2-hour delay or snow day! so fun, waking up in the morning and turning on that TV to see wauseon and evergreen (for mare!) were cancelled! this past week we had quite a bit of rain for several days in a row. one morning it was particularly heavy rain and one of the teachers said to the secretaries, "shouldn't school be cancelled by now?" ha! she was joking, but i was thinking the same thing as i was driving in...

welp, i've got to get ready for our night out on the town!

yes, i know i love little people, but that guy who was the littlest groom was, in true form to all other reality tv bachelors, not the brightest penny in the bank. oh well. matt explained that those are the only kind of people they can get to do those shows, anyways...

well, we had our first "winter storm" of the year! we went to bed sat night and it was pouring and it continued off and on through monday afternoon. so of course, it has been all over the news. but now everything is nice and green and pretty! always amazing how that happens!

here's the so simple recipe for fruit pizza:
1. get a pkg of pillsbury sugar cookie dough and roll it out to about 1/4 inch thickness on a cookie sheet (sprinkle flour on the cookie sheet and the dough, so it doesn't stick to the rolling pin--or sometimes, i just push it out with a big spoon or my hands). it will most likely take the shape of a large oval or tapered rectangle, so don't stress if it doesn't look like a perfectly squared off rectangle.
2. bake as directed
3. stir together 8 oz of cream cheese (softened) and 1/2 cup of sugar. then spread it evenly on the cooled cookie.
4. top with any kind of fruit you want.
5. snarf it down wildly!

have a great day everyone!!!

just a quick one to vote on my favorite pics of hannah for the contest:
i like the one of her in the basket and the one of her on the counter the best (where she has that little toy in her hand). (but it's hard to choose, they're all so cute!)

have a great day everyone!!!

yay!
grammy and ryan and michelle ALL blogged! congratulations ryan, on becoming VICE PRESIDENT! wow, and way before the age of 30, too--that is so fantastic!!!! and new pictures of hannah on michelle's page made me laugh! and in answer to ryan's question, my favorite dessert is fruit pizza (which i tend to only make for parties or on hilton head vacations!). i made this dessert for valentine's day that was actually a parfait of layers of chocolate cake, chocolate syrup, vanilla pudding, cool whip, and oreos and matt was really into it. in fact, we had a funny incident where he really wanted to eat it while he watched a show on TV, and somehow i was (unknowingly) inhibiting this from happening so it became a funny fight, where matt later apologized for "becoming obsessed with his dessert". HA!!! i don't think i know anyone more passionate about food than matt.

tonight we're having a few friends over for dinner, so i'm going to go prepare for that! thankfully, we've kept this place pretty darn clean for the past couple of weeks (i'd even say since christmas, we've been good), so there's not much work to do in that respect. i'm going to start a new project soon that may ruin the nice, decluttered space we've been living in! i've been wanting to do it since we moved out here but i just haven't been on the ball. i've been wanting to have a guest book in our guest room that each person signs/writes a message as they come to visit. since i've been late and we've had a ton of visitors, i'm just going to print out a picture of each visitor and write the dates of their visit. sounds simple, but once i get going, who knows what that could turn into???

welp, i'm off! enjoy your weekends, everyone!

in response to matt's comment about me watching "the littlest groom":
what can i say? i'm obsessed with little people.

it's monday and i'm not working!
hooray!
it's beautiful, so i'm going to take a hike pretty soon.
maybe by the time i get back, matt will be up.
this is the fun part of his unemployment: when he's home on my vacation days!

summer plans are filling up fast--
i'm doing a cincy/lexington/maybe columbus circuit from june 15-july 4.
then my parents are coming out aug 7-14ish, and ryan, michelle, and hannah will be out for a week sometime, and mare sometime as well! by the way mary--can you believe our campsite is booked for every day in august? i checked awhile ago (when we were emailing about it) and not one day in the whole month was open. ridiculous! it makes me feel like booking for next summer right now! so anyhoo, the summer is filling up! and happily! i love having people here anytime, but especially in the summer when i'm not working!

dad edwards, i loved the crab audio quote on your blog!
and mary, those pictures of bo are so cute! what a silly, sweet dog, with silly, sweet ears!
i can't wait to meet him in person!

i think i might go to our borders to see if their calendars are $1.00 as well, seeing as it is mid-february and we are still without one.
i was lazy all day yesterday, reading and lounging around... so today i want to get out and get moving!
so i'm off!

happy valentine's day everyone!!!

ah, saturday morning after a friday off!
it feels so good!
nevermind that i've woken up at 6:45 (the exact time my alarm goes off on weekdays) today and yesterday.
welcome to the world of being an adult, eh?
it's not that i don't get enough sleep when i get up this early, it's just sort of depressing---you know, saying goodbye to an era (of consistent staying up late, sleeping in late, being younger).

i'm listening to belle and sebastian and getting partly excited for coachella music festival (and partly not, because what if matt doesn't have a job by then..) but it would be so great to see ash, deathcab, flaming lips (i need to see what has matt so excited, but i could give or take the actual music--sorry), basement jaxx (just for where's your head at--the ultimate pump up song for me a few years ago), you will know us by the trail of dead, the pixies (of course), the cure (yes!), and belle and sebastian.

but thanks to grandpa's christmas money, that i actually carried around in my purse until now (aren't you proud of me??? 2 months almost, without spending it!), we're going to see the strokes! you can read in matt's blog how the deal went down. it's one of those shows that we would regret missing. like U2, i know we were poor, but i wish we could have scraped together the money somehow to see that epic performance.

i agree with mom edwards, i love hearing about the little everyday things that people are doing-- i love picturing mom making bread in her bread machine, mary sitting at her desk in her classroom with her journal open in front of her, casey chasing after silly bo, mike and justin in the basement recording, dad with headphones in, listening to the bros music. it makes me feel like i don't miss much between the times that we all see each other. when i go home and catch up with family and friends, i'll start telling a story and someone will say, "oh yeah, i read that on your blog." huh? oh. then i don't need to talk....:)

by the way, dad, are you giving any cs lewis talks in ohio/BG/cleveland/or pittsburgh areas anytime in the future (because ken wants to see you talk sometime)? i looked on your website and didn't see any ohio engagements, but--man! you are a famous speaker, eh? nationally and internationally known! when you first started reading cs lewis works, did you ever imagine yourself in this position?

oh yeah, dad! yesterday i got a letter from my grammy, who has a friend who lives in the assisted living home where you spoke at in columbus. apparently, this woman is 90 years old and also an accomplished quilter. grammy told her that mom edwards was also a quilter and the lady said she knew and that she had her picture taken with mom. do you all remember that??? what a fun, small world!

welp, i must be going-- pilates is calling my name!
have a fantastic weekend everyone!

hello everyone!
short week this week!
tomorrow is a cake day of a conference, so i get to just RECEIVE instead of giving!
then monday and friday we have off-hooray! this time last year we were on our way up to san fran to hang out with the andys and joel and have one of the most fun weekends of our lives! good memories.

oh michelle-i say ditto to what mary said about tossing/donating the wedding paraphanalia. it sounds like you nearly had yourself convinced anyways. plus, it always helps me when i visualize myself in a few months, a year, etc. down the road. will i miss that item because i have a need to use it? or can i make someone else happy with it (by donating it to charity)? because i buy good stuff, gosh darn it! :) plus, this almost seems like a no-brainer, since you surely already have a picture of your cake-topper (and everything else), if you need the memory of it, you can look at the photo. ooh, it makes me feel so good to think of even other people's clutter going!!!! i'm sick, i know! the end.

after 6 years of my harrassment, matt finally gave in and went to get allergy tested, so we could identify and avoid whatever is causing him to be so miserable. which will be nearly impossible, apparently. poor guy had welts all over his little arms!!! he's allergic to every kind of pollen in nearly every kind of tree, weed, or grass. but apparently by living on the coast we have the best possible location to avoid that, because no allergens blow in off the ocean. the only time it causes problems is if we get a santa ana wind from the desert, which kicks up everything. AND that poor guy is allergic to dust mites, which make him the most miserable. so we're doing the affordable accommodations first: covering mattresses and pillows and stuff with dust mite protectors, and washing bedding/curtains every two weeks. the allergist said that carpets are the worst place for housing dust mites, so we'll eventually get wood floors. but that is in the distant future. michelle and ry, can you believe matt is NOT allergic to dogs? the dr. said he's allergic to whatever dogs bring in from outside and spread inside. either way, the dude said that did not give us permission to get a dog. so i'm sad. but who knows? in a couple of years matt may get miraculously healed and we'll be able to get a pup!

last night i went to my kids' opera production of "rip van winkle". they were so cute and the production was so fantastic! people from the san diego opera came and directed and practiced with them every day for 2 hours. i would have loved to have had something like that when i was a kid. i think the best part was seeing some of the rougher kids or kids who have learning disabilities really get to tap into other gifts and talents that they have. also, i have a student who is a severe stutterer, who was able to participate because his part was all singing (stutterers typically do not stutter at all when they sing).

too much valentine's candy for me! i've been bouncing off the walls all day!
happy valentine's day to everyone! i love you all!
have fun in vegas, mare and casey! and bo!

man, it's been a fun week!
perfect weather (plus one day of rain that made the ocean wild and purpley)
so matt and i have been taking walks, hikes, and bike rides every day this week.

this morning i went on a cleaning/laundry rampage and it felt so good!!!
then i went over to sunset cliffs (near where we had mom and dad edwards' vow renewal ceremony) and hiked way back in over the sand cliffs.
there's a trail that goes all the way down to the ocean and i intended to take a walk on the sand, but it was high tide so there was no beach. so i perched up on some huge rocks and watched the surf (and surfers) come in. perfect blue/turquoise/clear water today... and i just sat there and enjoyed the LORD!!! matt said something funny when we were hiking the other day. we were just taking in all the beauty and i commented on how close i feel to God when i observe his creation (huge, oddly shaped cliffs, layers of rock and sand, beautiful flowers in feb, etc...) and matt's all, "yeah, it's easier to believe in God when you live in a place like this. but in ohio (sorry people, but you know it's true!), i can see why it is hard to believe in him or even see him, because everything's so ugly." ha! funny and exaggerating, but a hint of truth, nonetheless. there's beauty in ohio, you just have to look harder for it.

so now i'm listening to the strokes and waiting for matt to wake up (what a sleepy slacker!) so he can come out with me and enjoy the perfect day God has made (let us be glad and rejoice in it!).

and just, we're good with the fam in austin someday, as long as we're making enough money to maintain a home out here as well :)!
aw yeah backyard BBQ's!!!!! speaking of which, we still need to get a grill. and a million other things :).

every day i watch the mini videos that ryan and michelle sent of, who else?, HANNAH!!! she is rolling over, smiling, taking a bath, giving raspberries, squealing, flapping around, grabbing her toes, putting her hand in her mouth, and just being bald!!! why is she so darn cute??? so even though we don't live close, we get our fix every day with the videos :) (matt does, too :)

welp, time to get back out there!
have a great weekend, everyone!!!

i had a funny conversation with some kids a couple of weeks ago that i don't think i blogged about:
i have a fun group of 3 kindergarten boys who are full of energy. apparently, before christmas break i was reading "the grinch who stole christmas" to them and never finished. so somehow they remembered this in the middle of january and requested that i finish it immediately! of course i did. we got to the part where the grinch realizes, "maybe christmas wasn't about packages, boxes, and bows. maybe christmas was about something more..."

so i asked them, "do you think christmas is about something more than presents?"
and erik said, "yeah, it's God's birthday!"
me: yep!
ruben: what did he say?
kaloub: he said christmas is God's birthday.
ruben: my brother says that Jesus and God are the same person.
me: well, yeah...
erik: and He's KING!
me: yeah!!! He is!
erik: but he's not king of the dinosaurs: T-rex is!!!

ah, tuesday. i had a good day with my kids today. a total of 5 kids are graduating this month from speech! it may not seem like much, but that's quite a bit, actually. and some of them are my total cutie kids that i'm going to miss. but ethically, i can't keep them on my caseload anymore :(. oh well, i'm sure there are more cuties to take their places.

apparently my slacker blogger brother ryan is on the horn so i must be off for some real life chatting :)
-tracey

hello everybody!
superboring sunday.
how embarrassing for those teams, though.
it's the biggest moment their careers and everyone is talking about how boring it is going to be.
oh well. i'm just there for the food!
we're going to our friends marni and eddie's today to watch the game.
last night we had a presuperbowl game night at our friends sue and tom's, where we played games!
(michelle you may be interested in the following) and we played "scene it", a movie trivia game--very fun!!!
and the rest of the night we played catchphrase and laughed uncontrollably! at around 12:30 am, they got out cranium and i was starting to drift off on the couch. that is, until, i had a screaming monkey thrown at my face. and later in the night had the stereo turned way up for some crashing thunder noises (it shook the whole house). this guy, tom, apparently grew up being scared by and trying to scare his family; therefore, he continues to try to scare his wife and friends. the funniest one i have seen is when he gets on his hands and knees and waits outside the bathroom door and then when the person comes out he barks so loud and wierd like a dog--when matt received this treatment, he screamed like a girl!!! ha!

anyhoo, yesterday i got to talk my good old friend dyan and her 3 year old peanut, justus!
it's been a blast from the past lately with talking to old college friends out of the blue. so fun!

welp, i'm going to get some breakfast now.
it's so wierd that it is february already--how did that happen?

have a great day everyone!

hello everyone. one week has passed.
it was supposedly a short week, since we had monday off. but why do those four days seem to last so long?
i took the weekend totally easy--just chilled, watched y tu mama tambien, did some scrapbooking, cleaned, and laid around!

i made chicken tortilla soup tonight--so good. i actually put seasoning in it this time, unlike when i made it in cincy :).
i count it a good meal when i have matt moaning and rolling around in pain from being so full. or dozing off... he did all three tonight!

dad, we're glad you had fun in cleveland! can't wait to see all the pictures and hear the stories (maybe you'll do a mini blog journal!).

we haven't had guests since thanksgiving, so it feels sort of strange. i think this is the longest stretch we have gone without guests since we have lived here! it should pick back up in the spring when we have a couple friends scheduled to come out. and then summer, of course, will be out of control! mare-core, do you have any dates yet?

oh yeah, anyone who wants to see pictures from our half marathon, here's a link:
(it's for my number, so the pics are a little different from the ones mare sent around!)
http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=3954&PWD=&BIB=4802

have a great week!
-tracey

WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!
yesssssssssssssss!!!!!

my first half marathon, completed!!!!
mare and i had so much fun and we ran it in 2 hours, 15 minutes!!!!!!!
here's the breakdown:
first 2miles--just fun, everyone chatting and really thick with people, just a blur--did we just run 2 miles without even noticing?
between mile 2 and 3-okay, i'm working a little, we're running with the ocean, my knee is killing, mare and i are still talking pretty consistently.
miles 3-10: delirious time for tracey, focused, in my head, runner's high (at one point i became so out of it that a guy was holding out some clear gel stuff on tongue depressor sticks and i grabbed one, thinking it was energy gel and i almost ate it!!! thank God the guy said, "vaseline" (for blisters) and it registered before i put it in my mouth. mare and ladies running next to us were laughing and making fun of me...)
matt was waiting for us at mile 5 and mile 8 with the videocamera!!!!
mile 10-12: ouch, major knee pain, mary helped talk me through it and even let me lean on her shoulder on a rough downhill, but my body was a machine, limbs moving without trying, trance-like rhythm, a little light-headed (seeing a few spots at times) so really needing that water and energy gel (which we finally did obtain around mile 10--no vaseline!!!). once we got to mile 10, we were feeling it, but the mental, "3 miles left, we can do it" definitely got us through. lots of verbal encouragement to each other for these last 3.
mile 13.1: uh, the longest mile ever, because no one was there cheering us on so it was quiet, just footsteps and breathing. pretty soon we saw matt and the videocamera with less than 1/10th of a mile to go. mare and i crossed the finish line holding hands in the air. and we thanked the Lord instantly.
then we got medals and water and food and we stretched and made the trek home.
getting out of the car and into the house = walking like very old women, creaky, barely moving legs.
then the hot tub--ahhhh
then a nap- zzzzzz

and i'm still high!!!!!!
thanks mare, for training with and being there with on one of the best days of my life.
and thank you jesus!!!!

~tracey

hello everyone.
just a quick post and then someday i'll write a real blog again!

in less than 24 hours, mare and i will be running our first half marathon (for those of you who don't know, that's 13.1 miles).
please, Lord, keep us injury-free!
yeah!!!! wooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
so much nervous excited energy!!!!!

~tracey

happy 29th birthday to the best husband in the world!!!
i love you so much!!!!

well, we're finally home!
for those of you who don't know, we've had quite an adventure getting back here to san diego.
we were supposed to fly back on friday, jan2, so we would be home on our anniversary for the first time in 5 years.
but alas, it was not to be.
as soon as we checked in at the airport, the lady at the counter told us that all flights to chicago (our 1st of 2 layovers) were delayed until later in the evening. she said that they would most likely be cancelled, but that there was a chance that she could get us to chicago late that night (where we would have to get a hotel room or spend the night in the airport). so we decided to rent our car back for one more day (much less expensive than a hotel in chi-town) and drive back to heidi and ken's, where our towels were still hanging in the bathroom and our bed was still made! we ended up having a fantastic extra night!
long story short, saturday we went to the airport again, went in a TINY plane from cleveland to washington dc, and then dc to los angeles. the flight from dc took forever, due to some wierd winds, so we had to run to our connection in another terminal in LA. of course, we missed our flight. and the girl at that desk said, "okay, i can get you on the 6:45 flight" and i'm thinking, "jeesh, we could drive home and get there faster", and then she says "that's tomorrow morning." at this point, matt turned funny and mean and started huffing and puffing. thank God she got us on the next flight out (just an hour later, not too bad at all).
and we finally got home around 7:30. whew!
happy 6th anniversary to us! :)

we had a great time visiting family and friends this christmas and new years.
i wish people weren't sick, though! michael, justin, dad at the edwards household (gramps later...)
ryan, michelle, and matt at the good household...(hannah later...)
i felt good, though.
(michelle--don't beat yourself up over not getting the flu shot--there are MANY flu strains going around--remember you were also exposed to columbus, cincy, and BG germs as well--and it is MOST LIKELY that the flu shot you would have received in lexington would not have been the flu virus that you caught).

highlights from our visit with heidi and ken:
-matt and isaac, their german schnauzer, became best buddies--finally! a dog that matt is not allergic to (i had done some research a few months ago and found out that shnauzers and poodles usually don't give people allergic reactions. poodles = no-no ever.)
-at midnight, we went running outside, armed with confetti, horns, party hats, etc. from emily and kevin's gift to matt. matt and ken each had a can of silly string and proceded to spray me and heidi each with an entire can! i was laughing so hard i couldn't even stand up!
-yummy fondue--2 types of cheese fondue and a meat fondue, and a chocolate fondue.

welp,
i'm trying to recover from a migraineish type incident that i caught before it blew up.
but i still have residual head trauma, so i need to stop looking at this computer screen.
have a great day back to work everyone!
tracey

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