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!

giving thanks

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."

On the eve of Thanksgiving there is a lot on my mind, mostly what I am grateful for…. And yes, I will list them…read on if you like.

1. The Gospel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So often I take for granted all this church has taught me and the person that I have become because of it. This church is not just a religion that I chose to distinguish myself from one being to another. It defines me, it refines me. This church is a lifestyle and I am indeed grateful for the countless abilities, opportunities and lessons I am able to partake of because of it. I am very grateful for both the doctrine and the people of this church. I met someone recently who has both challenged and inspired me to dig deeper and to explore the scriptures and my beliefs. I am indeed grateful for their questions and friendship and a renewed sense of truth and understanding. Thank You! (You know who you are)…
   
2. Family. Really, what is the purpose of life without a family? Nothing in this world would mean anything if I didn't have a family to be with. I have a wonderful, strong family of whom I know love me unconditionally. It is an eternal family. A family that supports one another and laughs with one another. This includes my nuclear and extended family. It is such a blessing to be a part of a unit that I know will not be broken despite life's challenges.
   
3. Teaching. What a challenge it is to be a teacher. I love it. I get so excited when the students I teach understand a concept and repeat it back to me, or better…teach one another. I love dressing up in silly costumes and seeing my students eyes grow big, wondering what their crazy teacher is going to do next. I love growing from overcoming challenges in teaching. I love creating, singing, dancing, finger painting. Heck, I even love observing my students. I am so lucky and grateful to do what I do, and I feel so blessed to have a job that I love.
   
4. Education. I am very grateful for the opportunity to learn. I have only three classes of my Master's degree left and as it is winding down, I'm finding myself a little sad that I wont have the challenge of it anymore. Granted, life will present new obstacles as I persue my career in Secondary Education but I have loved learning in a formal institution and I will miss it. I guess the trick is to keep taking classes, to keep reading, to keep gaining knowledge.
   
5. Music. A couple of weeks ago I sat in a concert my good friend Steve Nelson put on. As I have been in the past, I was again inspired by his cello music. I have always loved making and listening to music and have a developed an appreciation for a variety of genres. I bought a Christmas Piano book at the concert (thank you Marshall McDonald), and have been so uplifted as I play. I also joined the choir at church. We have an amazing director who takes choral music very seriously, but has taught us so much. Singing at pre-school has been fun as well. Now that I've had a couple of months with my students, they have memorized the lyrics and it's the most adorable thing in the world.
   
6. The ability to run. Most people I talk to do not like to run at all. They scoff at the thought. I thank my lucky stars for this ability. It gives me the chance to think, to feel alive. I'm reminded every day what a gift this is, when I come home and see my father who isn't able. He has countless abilities that make him an incredible person, but I know if given the opportunity, he'd run to the moon and back. It is a wonderful thing to be healthy and strong.
   
7. Turkey, pie, and food in general. I've worked with a lot of people that struggle to feed their families. I have seen severe poverty in rural areas of the world. I will not forget the many times that the orphaned children in Africa brought me bread and tea when they themselves had nothing to eat. The division of food in this world is haunting and something I will never understand. I do not know I am fortunate enough to have bread on the table while others do not. I only know that I am blessed.
   
8. Friendship. I have so many wonderful friends, from all over the world. Each friend I have, I feel is in my life for a different reason. I only wish I could see those whom are far away more often. If I ever win the lottery, first purchase is a plane and a pilot to fly me to various cities to hang out with friends. Really though, friendship is something that I treasure and I am very grateful for all of you!
   

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!…I'll be out for a few days due to Turkey Coma and Skiing. (I'm not really sad about that at all).

welcome to my classroom

I have the best job in the whole world! I am privileged to teach 30 three year old darlings each week. Granted, I am still learning how to be a teacher but I'm having a lot of fun with my classes. Part of the fun is creating an inviting environment in the classroom which is a stellar creative outlet for me. We've done a couple of fun studies lately and although I can't share pictures of my students with you (just know they are the absolute cutest things on the planet)…here are a few pictures of the world in which I teach in. I loved the Dr. Seuss theme because well…who doesn't love a little "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" or "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?". This week we are studying farms and harvest/pumpkins. Hence, the barn in dramatic play and the tree with the leaves and the "Old Mac Donald had a Farm".

mini monster mash

I absolutely heart Halloween! I love costumes and candy corns, haunted houses, and corn mazes. It's such an excuse to throw a bash! (not that I ever need one)…. I teach pre-school, but to remain "politically correct" and neutral in all things, we don't celebrate holidays at our school. Gotta love the one families beliefs ruins the celebrations for everyone thing. What is America coming too? BORING! Anyhow, I sort of got away with it by doing a Dr. Suess Study in my class and dressing like "The Cat in the Hat". My little three year old students were bewildered, and one ran straight to the library and grabbed the Dr. Suess books and said, "look…you Him!" SO cute!

To get over my lack of having a party in pre-school, I threw a little Mini Monster Mash of sorts for my married with children friends. I really am lucky to have amazing friends and their children are absolutely adorable. For the menu we had goblin guts, vampire teeth, monster salad, eyeball cupcakes, witches brew, and Frankenstein claws. We made spider cookies, and painted pumpkins. I was mostly enjoying their little costumes amongst the organized chaos.

Check out the fun!

you are going to want to watch this...

I'm pretty sure I've posted this before...but in case you didn't get to it the first time around. This is my good friend Steve Nelson on the cello. Brilliant!

perfect saturday mornings...

are spent waking up late, running in the park and then heading downtown for the Farmer's Market. I did just that this morning and ended up bringing home fresh baked bread, sundried tomato and blue cheese pesto, and of course home made pasta from Tony Caputo's (my very favorite Italian deli in Salt Lake) to go with. Ah, bliss!

fall dinner party

It's not a secret that I adore fall. It's not a secret that I adore cooking for my friends with all my heart. I don't need an excuse to have a dinner party, and I didn't use one. I just invited my foodie friends to join me for a fall meal. I enjoyed every minute of putting this dinner together. Here are some pics of the table and the appetizers. On the menu…

 

pan fried caramelized onion dip

brie cheese with craisins, brown sugar, and tart apples

roasted butternut squash soup

arugula salad

braised pork loin in pasta with pancetta and pecorino cheese

butterscotch and spice trifle with pumpkin whipped cream

 

I had an amazing evening with my friends. So amazing that I spaced taking pictures of anyone. Sad. There are pics of the table and appetizers. I did get that far! No seriously though, My friends are a beautiful bunch and witty to boot! We laughed our heads off! I'm so happy to have foodies in my life, and just food in general really.