Believe in the Magic Traci Diary
Recipes, Travels, and Stories
This morning I made some pumpkin spice latte syrup so I could make myself a homemade pumpkin spice latte. After I put the syrup in the cute bottle I got from Meijers, I started dancing around the kitchen singing “Pumpkin Spice” to the tune of “Jingle Bells.”
Sorry there isn’t a video of me dancing around while singing a crazy song.
Continue reading “5 Reasons to Love Fall”
In 2017, my word of the day was bucket list. It was definitely a bucket list type year.
Continue reading “2018’s word of the year”
Last January, I decided my 2017 was going to be known by the phrase bucket list.
So was this year the year of the “bucket list?”
In 2017, I had so many different experiences some that could be said were part of my bucket list even though I do not have an official bucket list.
I think I crossed items off of my bucket list. Memories were made with family and friends. My 2017 was definitely the year of the “bucket list.”
So what is my word for 2018? You are going to have to tune in on Thursday to find out.
Have a magical 2018,
Traci
We are now on the downward swing of my Write 31 2017. Yeah!
My favorite artist is P!nk. I adore her. Her music is the soundtrack of my life.
On Friday, I got her newest album, Beautiful Trauma. I already have favorite songs that I’ve played on repeat a million billion times.
Everyone interprets songs differently. So when I talk about my feels and thoughts about my two favorite songs from the album, be reminded these are my thoughts and feels.
“I Am Here” – Oh my goodness. I feel as though it is speaking to me about my current situation in my school district. We are in academic distress. One of the lyrics is “I’ve already seen the bottom so I have nothing to fear.” It’s my rally cry.
The song also tells me to live authentically. Live my truth not another person’s truth. The opening line is “I open up my heart. You can love me or not.” I struggle with this bit constantly. It’s a reminder to live my truth.
Finally the song addresses the age old question. What happens when we die. “Where do we go when we go.” Since I am Christian, I believe I go to Heaven.
The other song that speaks to me is “Barbies.” She addresses growing older. Since I’m over 40, 42 to be exact, life is totally different from when I was younger. Sometimes it would be nice to go back to when life was so much simpler. When I did not have to adult all the time. Maybe that is why I love Disney so much. I’m able to put adulting to the side for a while and be childlike while I’m there.
Hubby and I are going to go to see her in Louisville during my Spring Break. I’m so excited. We were able to get the tickets before the price gouging. I’ve read a lot of people complaining about the price of tickets. $500 or more per ticket. The price for our tickets was not cheap and a lot more than I would have spent but Hubby knows how much I love her. Seeing her in concert is on my “Bucket List,” so he was willing to pay those prices.
Now onto our menu for the week. Please continue to the next page.
I’m sitting here at the computer trying to write a blog post using one of the writing prompts that were provided. My brain is blank. Continue reading “How a Coke Saved the Day”
I have a favorite quote that I say all the time. It’s a simple quote that has a lot of meaning for me. It’s “Hakuna Matata.” The quote simply means “No worries.”
We live in a world where there is constant worry.
Continue reading “Disney Quotes to Live By”
After we left the Muhammad Ali Center, we went to the campus of the University of Louisville. One of my students played football there from 2010 until 2014. Since I was down there, I wanted to visit the campus.
While we were at the Muhammad Ali Center, I talked to one of the people who worked there. He knew who my student was which was totally cool.
It’s a totally beautiful campus.
There is an art center by where we stopped to visit the campus. Outside the art center was different statues that I thought were cool.
The beautiful fall foliage on the campus
As I was walking around, I took a photo of the band they gave me to wear while I was in the Ali Center. I love the saying – “Be great – Do great things.”
Here is more of the campus – So beautiful in the middle of the city
The sunset – I took this photo as we were driving down the highway. I think it came out great.
We then got to our hotel and needed some dinner. We ended up at this Mexican restaurant called Mi Pueblo Mexican Cuisine. We had the best service.
We were the only ones in the restaurant until another customer came into the restaurant. They were friendly from the get go and were cheerful. We ended up leaving them a big tip when we left.
They gave us a sample of a street taco they were testing out. Pretty yummy!
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel room and just relaxed for the evening.
While we were relaxing, I figured out how the Wi-Fi works on my camera. I had tried to figure that feature out for the past month. I love it because I can download the photos onto my phone. So cool.
I can also use my phone to take photos remotely. Yeah! I’ve wanted a remote for my camera for a while.
On the next blog post, we are gong to visit the Highlands area of Louisville for breakfast and then the Louisville Zoo.
Thanks for reading my blog!
Have a magical day!
Traci
In order to know what direction this blog needs to go, I have a favor to ask my readers.
What kind of recipes are you looking for when you come to my blog? Please follow the link to a VERY short poll. It’s only 2 questions long.
Thank you so much!
Happy Eating,
Traci
We have only once deciduous tree in our yard. It’s a autumn beauty maple (at least I think that’s the name of it). It gets gorgeous during the fall. It has not completely turned yet. However since the lighting is great outside today (sun shining), I decided to take some pictures of it.
Enjoy the beauty:
I love coffee so much when we go to Walt Disney in late March/early April, I’ve trying to find ways for me to have my morning cup. It’s part of my breakfast routine. Unfortunately they don’t have a coffee maker in the hotel rooms but we have come up with a solution which is buying a resort cup so I can have my coffee in the morning and the rest of the family can use it for other drinks.
Several years ago, I was wanting Keurig. I thought it looked totally cool and economical because I am the only coffee drinker in the house. A week for Christmas, I told my mom and Hubby. They both wanted to get me the machine. Finally it was my mom who got me the machine and Hubby got me the K-cups.
I love using the K-cups but it can get expensive. I bought the reusable K-Cup but it was a pain because you had to take the insert out in order to put the filter in. I still have it but use it rarely. I got another reusable K-cup but it did not have a flat bottom. So it was a pain to put the grounds in because the grounds could fall out and get all over the place. At Easter time this year, I found Cafe’ Cup reusable K-cups. There was four in a pack with a scoop for the coffee. I love them because they are flat. I use them all the time instead of K-cups. The only problem is from time to time, the lid does not seal.
The best part of using reusable coffee filters is the economical benefit. I can buy ground coffee for cheaper then K-cups. One of y favorite brands is the Target’s Archer Farms Ground Coffee. Some flavors I have liked are the Caramel Apple flavor, Autumn Roast, Pumpkin Spice, S’Mores (summer flavor), and Dark Chocolate truffle (summer flavor). As you can see, I love flavored coffee. I usually get it when it’s on sale.
Another coffee I like is from a local coffeehouse – Boston Stoker’s. I usually 1/2 pounds of this coffee. Two of my favorite blends are Snickerdoodle and Highlander Grogg. Both are delicious!!!!
I also like another local coffeehouse – Winan’s Chocolates and Coffees. I’ve discovered 2 favorites – Cashew Crunch (I believe that’s the name) and Buckeye (which is named after the delicious chocolate peanut butter candy).
Finally my favorite non flavored kind is from Tim Horton’s.
Another benefit from using a reusable coffee filters is not putting all that waste in the landfills.
What is your favorite coffee or even tea?
(No one has reimbursed me for my thoughts on these coffee flavors and reusable coffee filters.)
