The Girls Are Back!!

In case you missed it!! Check out the Sex and The City 2 trailer. It looks great, but gives nothing away! OH, I CANNOT WAIT!

Sex and the City 2 in HD

Trailer Park | MySpace Video

What are your predictions for the second SATC movie??

Christmas Favorites

I love everything about Christmas! Here are a few things I get excited about each and every year.

1. White Christmas is classic and a tradition in my family. Bing Crosby is another favorite of mine around Christmas and of course, he stars in this 1954 film. Here is one of my favorite songs from the movie.


2. My second favorite Christmas movie, Elf. I could go on and on about this movie, but this video pretty much sums it up!


3. I LOVE our family Christmas tree. My mom bought it years ago after having real tree troubles year after year. We did not like the idea of a fake tree at first, but grew to love all 10 ft. of it. The first year it took 3 days to get it finished. I can't imagine our house without this tree and my mom always jokes that when they finally sell the house they are going to include the tree. Sorry this picture is such poor quality. I took it with my laptop. As you can see, Tucker likes to help too. :)


4. For as long as I can remember my dad has read The Night Before Christmas before going to bed on Christmas Eve. I don't think I will ever be to old for this tradition.

5. Christmas music! I am not one of those people constantly listening to Christmas music after Thanksgiving, but you just can't beat Christmas tunes while mingling with friends and family, cooking or working. Before doing anything on Christmas morning we turn on the music. I was going to list a few of my favorites from our LARGE (thanks Mom) CD collection, but I am having a hard time deciding. ha

6. Christmas cards. I get a few from friends each year but I love coming home to my parents house to find a stack of cards to read. Good or bad, they always bring a smile to my face.

"Wishing you the joy and love of the season, and the time to share with friends and family."

There is so much to love about Christmas. Only 10 more days until the big day!
Merry Christmas!

T

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Time to show off some of our Christmas decor and some new additions to the condo.

Our tree is just a little guy but it works for us. Unfortunately, I think it has a bit of a lean because of the uneven floors in this place.
I finally got around to printing some pictures (one year later...) that I took with my camera. This one of the lake is going over the bookcase in the living room.
This one is pretty simple but I love it. I think it looks great all by itself.
Getting these lined up was quite a task. Like I said with the Christmas tree, our place is a little off when it comes to the foundation. Dylan did a great job!
New Christmas stockings!! Cute, huh? Target. :)
PS. Mine already has a surprise in it!

So far no major problems with the winter weather in Cincinnati. People do not know how to drive in any kind of inclement weather though. Those of you that visited us already know that the drive up to the back parking lot is quite steep. I am not looking forward to our first big snow fall and driving down it into the street. Dylan will have that privilege since he has all-wheel drive.

Our Christmas party is next weekend. I think we will have a good group of people. I think Dylan is excited to put his new speakers to good use. I know I am! We are expecting a few friends from Indy to come out and lots of work friends.

That is all for now. I can't wait to spend some time at home for Christmas. As most of you know, Girl Scouts is closing the office between Christmas and New Years. I have the whole week off!! Only a week and half left! If I do not get to see you this holiday season (Randi, Jenna, Sarah, and Molly and anyone else I am missing) have a wonderful Christmas. I miss all of you so much!

Happy Holidays.
XOXO,

T

Happy Holidays!!

I think this is a record. Two blog posts in one month.... Nov. 1 and Nov. 30! ha

Still loving Cincinnati! We spent two weekends of November back in Indianapolis, both for very important reason. The morning of Lauren's birthday, while packing and getting ready for work, I got a call inviting us to the Colts vs. Patriots game! James gave Lauren two extra tickets for her birthday and we were the lucky guests! WHAT A GAME! It was such an amazing experience being in the stadium. The streets were crazy as everyone headed back to the tailgates to open one last celebratory beer. Unfortunately, I had to go back to work the next day. Dylan took the day off, but he was nice enough to get up early and drive back. Here are two photos of us celebrating!

Thank you Lauren and James! So excited after the big win!

In mid-November we were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner with another couple in Cincinnati. We had great time meeting new people in the area. We also tried our first deep fried turkey. YUMM! I know it sounds unhealthy, but it is so delicious. Dylan always likes a good challenge so we will probably end up buying a deep fryer sometime in the future.

Thanksgiving came and went way too fast. As always we hit up Mi Pueblo and the local bars for a good time on Wednesday night. Unfortunately, Lauren went up to Michigan and missed out on all the fun. It was not the same without her. Thankfully I felt good enough on Thursday to contribute my first apple pie to our Thanksgiving meal! Either everyone was lying or it really was delicious! :)

Looks good, huh? Thank Martha. (I only used 6 apples and added some brown sugar.)

On Friday, Dad and I went down to the lake to check on the progress of the new house. It looks AMAZING! Special thanks to my family for working so hard to make this happen. I can't wait until next summer. As my mom said, "I can't believe it is already December, but that just means summer will be here before we know it!"

View of the new house.

Inside the new house.

That's all for now. We are having a holiday party at our place on Saturday, Dec. 19. If anyone is in town, feel free to stop by! My mom has prepared me with Christmas plates, napkins, serving dishes, etc. We also have a new speaker system (thanks to Dylan), so it is time to throw our first big party! Hopefully we will have a decent turnout through work friends, Indy friends and new Cinci friends.

See you all at Christmas!
XOXO, T

Cinci Update (11/12)

Hi friends! Wow, it has been a while since my last post. Life is VERY busy these days. The job great. I am working a lot. Slowly things are coming together but it seems like everyday I learn something new. I feel a little stressed at times but it seems like everyone else is too! I really enjoy everyone I work with at Girl Scouts. They are all very helpful which is great because I'm full of questions! Typically I work 2-3 nights a week. Thankfully I don't have to work weekends.

We were home for Halloween to attend Abby's big party. It was a lot of fun and I thought I should share a few photos. I went as Nancy Botwin from Weeds and Dylan was Dexter Morgan from Dexter. ha We kept the costumes simple. Abby definitely wins best costume! (Click on the image to enlarge)

Peg Bundy, Nancy, Miss. Piggy and a Gymnast

Me and Lo

We had dinner last week with a friend of my from Indy. I worked with Jessica at the Music Mill back in 2007. She moved to Cincinnati that summer to be with her then boyfriend, now husband. They are only a year older than us. We had a great time at dinner and can't wait to get together again. I think D wants Colin to be his new best friend. We hope to get together again soon.

Now we are just looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas! We put our little pumpkin away after Halloween, Dylan asked "Can we get out Christmas yet?" I laughed, but everyday I get more and more excited to put up the tree and bust out the Christmas music. I'm hoping Mom lets me barrow some Christmas decor. We all know she could spare a few things! I'll be sure to share photos when the time comes.

We are heading home this weekend for another fun weekend with family. Lo's birthday is tomorrow so we are celebrating in BR on Saturday night! (Happy Early Birthday Sis!) Dylan is visiting his brother at Wabash for the Monon Bell game. If I don't see you this weekend, Thanksgiving is just around the corner! YUM YUM YUM!!

XOXO,

T

First Day & New Friends

Today I started my job at Girl Scouts. I was totally overwhelm with information but so excited to dig into everything! The office is pretty big. There are 3 or 4 (I'm not totally sure) different teams of Membership Recruiters. I work with two other girls around my age on the Blue Team. No more big office, just a little cubicle that I share with my team. :) I have three different Service Units in the Cincinnati area. That's all I really know at this point. The other Membership Recruiters are fairly new as well so we are all learning together. I'm really excited about it and I'll have more to share later.

Tonight I also went to Happy Hour at a bar called Mulligan's in Hyde Park with some Kappa alums in the area. They call the group Night Owls. About 12 young woman showed up and they were all very nice. I exchanged contact information with a couple girls that I really liked. Most of them are pretty familiar with the area, so they gave me some great ideas of places to party, etc. Hopefully some of us will get together again soon.

Here are some pictures that I took the other day of Eden Park. They are the best but I'm still working on my camera skills. Plus it was a crummy day. Anyway, more information about the job soon! Miss you!

Outside view of the condo.

When you visit, this is the sign you are looking for! ;)

Eden Park

Eden Park (We are not sure what that is from but it looks cool!)

View of Kentucky.

Mirror Lake in Eden Park

NEW JOB!!

Well I have some great news for everyone! I'm sure many of you have already heard but Girl Scouts offered me a position! I am their newest Membership Recruiter. I guess they were impressed by my presentation (Special thanks to Katie for helping with the sash idea!). I don't have a ton of information at this point. Basically my job is to get out in the community to recruit girls, adults (leaders) and volunteers to assist me. I will have to work a few nights during the week but it looks like my weekends will be free, as long as I work hard in the week.

I am really excited to get started. I'm still in shock about the whole thing. I applied for this position back in July and never heard anything until 2 weeks ago. I feel very lucky to have found something so quickly and I can't wait to get started on Wednesday, October 14. To those of you that have talked to my Dad, don't let him trick you into thinking I have to wear the Girl Scout uniform. haha

I will make another post after my first day or week to let you know how it is going! Thanks to everyone for the birthday cards, calls and texts! What a great way to end the week! Miss and love you all!

T

Cinci Update (10/1)

My good friend Peyton started a blog a few months ago to share her experiences as a new California Wife! She has done any awesome job so far keeping everyone updated on their new life out in Cali, so I thought I would try it out myself.

As you all know, Dylan and I moved into our new place in Eden Park last weekend. It was quite a process to move. It rained all three days! Special thanks to my Mom for helping me clean and move in on Thursday. On Friday, Dylan and I packed up his apartment into a U-Haul. We picked up our new couch on the way south and had everything unloaded by 1:00 pm. Needless to say we were exhausted by the end of the day.

The new place is pretty big. We have 2 bedrooms...
Master
Guest











2 full baths
Guest Bath
Master Bath












large kitchen with wood floors












an orange living room (ha)









and a random spare room in the back.









I'm not sure what to do with the spare room. The back door opens to the spare room which allowed us to unload quickly in the rain. We've got plenty of time to figure out what works best in that room. We would like to add some additional decor once we can afford it too. Katie was in Cincinnati on Monday so we went to dinner with her. There is a GREAT outdoor mall just a few minute away. I know all of the ladies in my family will like it! They are opening a Nordstrom Rack on Nov. 20!!! We took Dylan to TJ Maxx Home Goods store for the first time. We looked at some artwork and large mirrors for the living room. I think he was a little overwhelmed but loved it. haha We'll be back soon!

We did hang out with a couple last weekend. Unfortunately, it rained all night Saturday so we just stayed in and watch the Purdue game. So Dissappointing. (The game, not staying in.) Hopefully this weekend we can hit up a few bar in Mt. Adams.

We can't wait to have visitors soon. Mom and Dad (maybe Kath & Mimi) are coming over next weekend and then Lauren and James are coming the weekend after that.

The job search is looking up. I had two interviews this week that went really well.I have a 3rd interview with the Girl Scouts on Friday. It also looks like I will be having a second interview with a company called Purple Trout. They do Search Engine Optimization for websites. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm sure the word will spread quickly if I get one of them.

Thanks for all your love and support! Love you and miss you.

Tracey

Hanging out on the Auld's deck on Grandview.

"Doing manly things."

My last show at White River State Park

We had a great crowd for Jazz in the Park with Cathy Morris & friends. Finally moving on from my job at Program Coordinator for the Family Arts Series! It has been a great experience but I can't wait to start something new in Cincinnati!
Cathy Morris rockin out on our stage!

Bongo Boy Music School held a Drum Circle in Celebration Plaza before the show. Loads of fun!

Pictures from February and March

New sculpture in White River State Park.

Inside the sculpture.

Side view. Lots of color.

Testing out the camera on my Valentine's Day flowers.

Beautiful flowers!

"Look what I found"
- Tucker

I've decided to start my own personal blog. Don't worry, I won't be boring you with my own opinions just my pictures! I love photography and enjoy checking out other photographers blogs to see their latest photos. Of course, I'm no professional, but I have a new camera and I'm not going take pictures just to have them sit on my computer! I want to share them with anyone that is willing to look. For now its just a hobby but maybe one day it will be more!

Enjoy!
T