congratulations boston

 It was so fun to arrive in Boston in time for the Stanley Cup Hockey Finals. I admittedly don't know as much about this sport as I want to, but it was a nice welcome to Boston anyway. Yesterday we ventured down to the parade and we happened to get a prime spot where the players and said Cup were 15 miles away. It was a great celebration to a stellar Hockey Team. The Red Socks are playing great as well after a rocky start and I must say that although I love my Salt Lake City roots, it is so much fun to live in a city with major sports teams that happen to be doing very well. More later on the move.

Masterpieces

Hi Friends. Just want to share a couple of videos from my dear friend Steve Nelson (the cello player). Here are a couple of  is new pieces Steve has created in his musical mastermind. I love Steve as a person and I adore his music. I think you will too! Please watch these and share them with others!

sugar and spice and everything nice

Once upon a time...the ladies of the Harris family got together for a tea party. It was a most exquisite event! We dressed up. Drank tea. Ate Cake. A perfect Saturday afternoon!

happy endings, happy beginnings

I did it! I completed my Master's Degree and Students teaching last weekend and yes, it feels dang amazing to be done! 

My Bestie of 16 years! We've come a long way lady!

These girls are so cute I can't stand it!

The dad's and their little peanuts! 

easter thoughts

parts

I know I know...I said I would be better about blogging and then I got worse about it. I'm averaging 4 hours of sleep and I look like a walking dead person half the time. But let's be honest, I expected this right? Right.

Student teaching is a ton of work, but a ton of fun! I officially took over classes and grades last week. I'm teaching Child Development, Early Childhood Education, and Life Management at Cottonwood High School. Next week I will add Interior Design. Yes, I get to teach the best subjects in the school and yes I am loving it!

I probably sound more confident than I should. My very first lecture, I was to teach...wait for it....dun dun dun...Human Reproduction and Sexuality! Yep...awesome. Basically I was like, "Hi, my name is Miss Harris and now I am going to teach you about your...um...parts". Speaking of parts, this Children's book actually saved me and served as a nice segue to the lesson. I read the book to the class and then began with my Power Point. LOVE LOVE LOVE Power Point. Couldn't teach without it. Well, I could but you get my drift. So anyway, earlier that morning my good friend challenged me with a $5 wager to use the word "junk" in my lesson. Done and Done! My first slide to the power point had a picture of "The Birds and the Bees". I asked the students why we use that phrase to talk about, well you know...(in an effort to not come up in Google searches for that word I am opting to leave it out of this post). None of my students knew. Straight faced, I added..."So sometimes we use other phrases like junk to describe our reproductive parts"...enter smirking and snickering from students. I went on to  ask, "If you were from another country and were trying to learn American English, what would the word "Junk" say in your dictionary?"...Needless to say, my students got the point. Four days later, a box with my $5 and three box's of Samoa's arrived in the mail. Thank You friend, you know who you are!

Now I realize all of this probably means more to Miss Harris (Me), than any of you, but I figured a small update and funny story wouldn't hurt. I feel really lucky to teach what I love and to have such amazing opportunities.

Have a fun rest of March! More soon!

done and done...

January and February are the blah months of the year as far as I am concerned (anyone else in the snowy part of the Unites States agree?). Moving on. These months however have flown by because I have been too busy to think. And while these posts are not interesting, and please...I am hoping they vamp up a little bit come March and April I just want to say that I am glad to have the following three accomplishments behind me. All happened yesterday as I lay here, sick in bed.

• I finished The Hunger Games (LOVED IT), now onto Catching Fire
• Got my tax's done, finally I get a decent return this year. Hmm...Europe, Hawaii or South America for Spring Break?
• I recovered from my soreness from the half marathon in San Francisco last weekend. Amazing race, but I sure felt my lack of training. On to Oregon for the next one. 

Aside from the normal guilty pleasures of American Idol and The Bachelor, how are you handling February my friends? Half. Way. Through.

three weeks...

Three Weeks. Three Weeks. Three Weeks.

I officially have three weeks to climb several mountains. Normally, you might see a Happy New Year post about this time, complete with resolutions, but let's be honest...really I just need to get through January. Then February....and the following three months after.

I have three weeks left of teaching pre-school before I move on to student teaching in high school.  I am not sure how to prepare for leaving my little students and moving on to older students.I'm pretty sure I will be mending a broken heart in 21 days. My students mean the world to me. I am excited and pretty much scared to death to student teach, but the experience is invaluable so I just need to buck up and do it!

I have three weeks to finish grad school classes. I feel like I am running the gauntlet...and all of my energy and time is being sucked up in the vacuum of school right now. Worth it?...yes, as long as that Master's Degree and Teaching license do what they are supposed to do and land me a stellar teaching job in the end. Cross your fingers! 

I have three weeks to train for a half marathon I signed up for in December. I had every intention of running every day until the race. Um...see the above two paragraphs if you want an idea to as why the running every day hasn't happened. Shoot! Seriously...21 days to train for a race? I'm dead. The upside is that the race is in San Francisco and I get to run it with a friend. Strength in numbers? I sure hope so. I need all the help I can get! PRAY!

I can't wait to be in this city!

Thanks to my loyal readers. I will hopefully be alive at the end of this fortnight and a week. I shall let you know with posts of celebration if that happens.

Wishing You a Magical 2011!

all is calm (sort of), all is bright (yep)

Sometimes I blog stuff. I am trying to get back to it, so bear with me on the Christmas pictures in late January.

My most favorite Christmas Tradition is the Annual Harris Family Sing-a-long. Every year we get together in my Aunt Lynda's home to retell the Christmas Story from the Scriptures and Sing the Christmas Hymns. We dress up as the nativity scene and as you can see they are quite creative! Actually, the whole thing is usually hilarious. I heart my family...so much! We have such a stellar extended family and we love being together.

The Crowd

Aunt Martie doing what she does best!

A new meaning to "all is bright"

Aunt Carol, Charlie and Chance. Aren't they gorgeous?

The Uncles

Little Mia and I partying it up.

 Yes, that is a diaper on my nephew Hunter's head. Clearly,  we have some very wise men in our family.

Uncle Mike, bringing it home with little Franklin

What's a good Christmas party without appetizers galore and a plethora of crock pots?

Baby Jesus was a little bashful, er...she loved playing in that white satin number.

Our humble donkey, or unicorn? Just go with it!

I adore these women. My aunties, Mom, Grandma Norma, and I.

Where's the crowd control?

The shepherds and wise men getting ready to present themselves. Love the tinsel chest hair Hayden!

Poor Carter and Kevin spent the night at the hospital getting ready for an operation. Carter was spoiled though and we got to spend Christmas Eve with him in his hospital room. So glad he's ok.

Again, I mention our wise men. Creatively presenting their frankincense, GOLD, and murr. Lovely!

celebrating

Christmas is always magical. This year it seems that much of that magic has come through Music and the Arts for me. I joined the ward choir and it has been a treat to be directed under Sister Appeloni who also directs the BYU Women's Chorus. We performed at the annual Christmas Sing-a-Long last weekend. Loved it!  I have also had the opportunity to attend many Christmas Concerts. In my opinion, best Christmas Album of the Season goes to my good friend Steve Nelson. Seriously, click here to sample Steve's music or run to Deseret Book or go to iTUNES to purchase it. You still have a week to devour it! 

Every year since I was a very young, my mother would dress us up and take us to the Nutcracker on Christmas Eve following Breakfast with Santa at the Tiffin Room in the old ZCMI building. While the Tiffin Room doesn't exist anymore, luckily we are still able to attend Ballet West's The Nutcracker. I love it! SO MUCH! Yesterday I took my "little sister" Andrea from Big Brother's Big Sisters. (and here's where my plug comes in...) Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah is in need of volunteers.

Andrea and I hang out each week and it's been such a pleasure getting to know her. If you'd like information on how you can get involved, please let me know. We had a lovely time yesterday at the ballet. The Nutcracker never seems to lose it's magic and always gets me in the mood for Christmas. So many traditions still to conquer in these next few days. I'm giddy just thinking about it.

Lastly I just want to throw a nice little quote surrounding Christmas. I found it on the LDS Church website.

“There is no better time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus the Christ.”—President Thomas S. Monson

There are also several videos there about Christmas that are lovely for getting into the Christmas Spirit and help to keep focused on the real reason we Celebrate!

Enjoy the rest of the season!

festival of trees

One of my absolute favorite traditions in Salt Lake City around Christmas Time is the Festival of Trees. I partook of the goodness yesterday morning and I was loving every minute. Seriously, lights, toys, home made fudge, gingerbread houses... Is there anything better than that? While walking around, I found myself curious about how they came about. There's a ton of different stories about Christmas Trees, but here is a short excerpt I found about how they came to be.

The Christmas Tree originated in Germany in the 16th century. It was common for the Germanic people to decorate fir trees, both inside and out, with roses, apples, and colored paper. It is believed that Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, was the first to light a Christmas tree with candles. While coming home one dark winter's night near Christmas, he was struck with the beauty of the starlight shining through the branches of a small fir tree outside his home. He duplicated the starlight by using candles attached to the branches of his indoor Christmas tree. The Christmas tree was not widely used in Britain until the 19th century. It was brought to America by the Pennsylvania Germans in the 1820's.

Anyway, just something to think about as you enjoy your tree this year! Tis the Season!