022810 Disney Pins

022710 Stamp Camp

022610 A Compendium of Curiosities

022510 Hannah's Headband

022410 Tracy Historical Museum

022310 Mini Albums 2010

022210 Perfect (?) Chocolate Chip Cookies

The recipe is called Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies. These were really good, but not sure if they were "perfect"! (America's Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated) Do you like my pink Depression glass serving plate?!

022110 Found more family!

022010 Mike Wazowski

My Mike Wazowzki St. Patrick's Day antenna ball that I got at Disney World.

021910 Taqueria Las Comadres--a different one!

My favorite taqueria in Tracy (and there are a LOT of them!) is Taqueria Las Comadres. One day when I was in Montclair (Oakland Hills), I found another one! They are not owned by the same family, and the food is pretty good at this one too!

021810 The *Bling*

The *Bling* side of my bebe Peekaboo Crimson Tiger glasses.

021710 Finally!!!

Donny FINALLY took this mailbox post out that has needed to be removed from our front lawn for a VERY long time! When we had our scruffy dog Buffy, she would sometimes escape and chase Joe the mailman. She was definitely all bark and no bite, but the mailman was apparently scared enough of her that he filed a formal complaint! He was no longer required to deliver the mail to the box by our front door so we had to put up a mailbox on a post by the sidewalk. My brother Steve was into woodworking at the time, so he drew up the designs for all the cow parts so I could make a cow mailbox that was popular way back then. But today, the udder is all that's left! I painted the mailbox to look like a black and white Holstein and we attached it to the platform pre-fitted with the udder. Unfortunately I never finished painting or attaching the other cow parts. When I would tell people how to get to our house, I would tell them to look for the half-a-cow-mailbox! One morning we came out and some kids or someone had come by in the middle of the night and knocked the poor half-a-cow-mailbox off the post. It looked like they'd hit it with a baseball bat! Since Joe the mailman had long since retired we got a new mailbox and attached it to the house near the front door...but the post remained by the sidewalk...WAY too long! Thanks Donny for finally digging it out!

021610 Tracy Post Office

I go here alot! When Donny was at Boot Camp and then again at Ranger School, I was here pretty much every day, and I even wrote quite a few letters at the counter in the lobby! When Donny was in Iraq I came here frequently to send him Flat Rate boxes, but now I only usually go to mail packages to the grandkids, or to check the P.O. Box that Steve and I have here together.

021510 Scripture Challenge!

On February 8th our ward's Relief Society started a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days. I was NOT going to participate and was being really rebellious about it! I'd had a hard enough time getting through it when President Hinckley challenged us to read it in a year, and right after that when Bishop Maxfield challenged us to read it in 6 months. But for some reason I felt like I needed to do this, and so far so good. I've been trying to read in the morning before getting online or doing anything else, and even though it's only been a week, I've been keeping up!

021410 Winter Olympics

I've been watching the Winter Olympics, but am still frustrated that we have to see so many of the events tape-delayed! We are in the same time zone as Vacouver, British Columbia, but are seeing very few events live. And you'd think that Canada would be the perfect place to hold the games in the middle of winter, but the weather doesn't seem to be cooperating like it's supposed to! And then there was the tragedy on Opening Day during his final practice run when the luger from the Republic of Georgia lost control of his sled and flew out of the track, hitting a steel support pole. He later died in the hospital. Many tributes have been given in his honor, but his death has left an undeniable sadness over all the events.

021310 Free Photo Collage

I found out yesterday that Walgreens was offering a free photo collage for one day only, so I went online and created this one from some of my Disney World character photos! It was ready for pick-up this morning, and I think it actually turned out pretty well for a very quick attempt! You upload the photos to the website which are then randomly placed in the layout, but you can click numerous times to reorient the photos until you get them where you want them. Though I like *FREE*, the regular price isn't too bad either--$3.99 for the 8x10 size.

021210 Sharks Tickets!

Our Sharks tickets arrived! I hope Donny will still be here to go to this game with me....When he opened the envelope, he noted that Shelley, the player pictured on the tickets had been traded by the Sharks just a day or so earlier....

021110 My Shamrock!

Since my Shamrock has all but died off, I thought maybe it was in some sort of hibernation mode. That's why I was surprised to see this tiny little sprout today! The only other two stems and their leaves that are left are pretty sorry looking! This was taken with my cell phone and not as clear as it looked on the screen....part of the purpose of this project is to improve your picture taking skills....not sure if I'm learning anything significant, but I am noticing things I haven't in the past! Oh, and it should be noted that I am a total *purple thumb* when it comes to plants, so it's somewhat of a miracle that I even still have this plant! It was given to me by my teacher's aide/paraprofessional for St. Patrick's Day over 5 years ago!

021010 Planner

This is my 2010 Calendar/Planner. I switched over to the 8 1/2 X 11 size last year and though I don't like this one as much as the black and white one I had last year, I like it better than the previous style I had that started the weeks with Monday instead of Sunday!...that was sooooo confusing at times! I like having things documented in these since I'm not very good at writing in my journal. The thought is that if I at least write things down in the planner it will be documented somewhere! ....and just wondering....is pink and brown still "in"?!

020910 USAR

Today Donny joined the United States Army Reserve! My Army Mom status has changed and we'll have to wait to see what all this will entail! He doesn't have all the details yet, but from what he's researched on his own, it sounds like he'll be attending a 19 week training school for his new MOS!

020810 Hannah Grace

Jenn asked me to go over to her house this afternoon to take care of Hannah while she went to the dentist. I thought I was just going to be watching Hannah, but ended up watching all 3 of the kids instead. It was "all good" and I was even able to take a few photos! Here's one of Hannah--5 weeks and 1 day old!

020710 YandR

So I guess using this symbol...&...is not allowed in the Title or Post Labels on this blog! Anyway....though not a totally appropriate Sunday activity, I did some "Young and the Restless" (aka Y&R) catching up this evening!

020610 Eyeglasses

So, I decided I needed to 'document' my glasses! The only problem is that I couldn't get a good photo to include the *bling* on the temples....("Temples: Parts of the frame that extend over and/or behind the ears to help hold the frame in place.) ....I may have to take another photo on another day to capture that *bling*!

020510 Abi Brat Cat

When I got up this morning I found Abi Cat sleeping on the blanket inside this basket. Since no one put this laundry away while I was gone, Abi (the brat cat!) has apparently decided this is her new 'perch', or throne, or whatever!

020410 Heading Home

Today I'm heading home to California. It's been an awesome trip to Florida and I'm so thankful that Debbie allowed me to stay a few extra days to be able to go to Disney World! Since my flight was later in the afternoon, I was planning to go to a session at the temple, but I got lost and didn't have enough time! I did go inside though, and was able to look around and get something to eat in the cafeteria. It was beautiful both inside and out, as was to be expected!!

020310 Epcot >>> World Showcase >>> France

This is France at World Showcase, which is part of Epcot at Disney World. I arrived here late in the day on my last day, so I had to hustle to see as much of World Showcase as I could before they closed at 9:00pm! Although I wasn't able to see all of Epcot, I'm glad I was able to see what I did!

020210 Me and the Characters!

This is just one of the many photos I took with the characters at Hollywood Studios! Again, I did not take this 'photo of the day', but I seriously doubt anyone reading this blog wants to see the 579 photos I DID take while at Disney World!! And yes, I stood in line--by myself!--to get my picture taken with the characters! I'm pretty sure I would have never had the courage to do so if I hadn't had prior experience with Natalie and with Ashley and her family at Disneyland!!

020110 Magic Kingdom!

Vicki and I are waiting to get on the Monorail which will take us to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World! Thank you nice man for taking my photo of the day today! We are both wearing our 1st Visit buttons. It rained alot while we were here today, but it was still alot of fun! I'm glad Vicki and I were able to spend the day together in this *magical* place!