Welcome to Jennifer and Wes' Blog

Scarlett's 1st Haircut

2012-02-09T17:45:00.015-06:00

This week, I went over to a friend's house to get Scarlett's haircut. There were a few moms from our playgroup getting their kid's hair done as well. They were surprised that Scarlett was almost 2 and had not yet needed a haircut. I thought about it and decided Scarlett just has a LOT less hair than most kids.

Let's review.

She was a little baldie for a long time.

Here she is at four months, there's barely a hair on that bald little head!

Here is my hair pretty close to the same age as Scarlett's is currently.

Do those fine wispy hairs look familiar?

Well, recently I noticed things had started to change when it came to Scarlett's hair. As I downloaded and looked at our Christmas morning pics, this is what I saw. . .

Then, the other day I took a couple pictures of her on the couch.

It was definitely becoming a mullety unruly mess!

So, we cut it. Which she was amazing during. I gave her some goldfish and blueberries to work on and she was good to go!

Here is the final, beautiful bob she is now sporting.

The Zoo Trip

2012-01-17T15:48:00.005-06:00

Scarlett finally had her first zoo trip. She really had a lot of fun. Since we have no animals at our house, the only time Scarlett gets to see animals are typically wild ones in our backyard or at the park. They tend to run off really, really fast when they have an overexcited, screaming toddler hurdling toward them. So, she found the zoo and all of its mostly stationary animals to be very exciting. The most excited she got was when an abnormally large and obviously overfed squirrel came up to her and sat on his haunches begging for food. She gave a shriek that probably only dogs could hear when that happened.

Here she is looking at a regular bird instead of the elephant.

Scarlett taking her fist carousel ride, she liked it a lot!

Now, she's waving to all the people waiting in line instead of at the camera and Wes.

The Harris's go Ice Skating!

2012-01-13T13:03:00.007-06:00

I was recently called to be the Young Women's Secretary, which is pretty exciting since I have never been in Young Women's before due to the fact that I didn't join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints until I was 18 and graduated. I'm pretty excited/nervous about the new responsibility. I went to my first activity on Wednesday night which was at the ice skating rink. Wes and Scarlett also joined us. I didn't skate since I'm almost 5 months pregnant, but Wes AND Scarlett skated! Yes, I said AND Scarlett...my itty bitty 22 month old. Okay, so she couldn't do it by herself, Wes had to hold her hand, but I must say she possesses some of her dad's crazy good skating skills.

Here they are getting ready to head out on the ice. Scarlett looks like her legs are a million miles long in this picture.

"Bye Mom, I'm going to go skating with Daddy now."

I cannot even tell you how fast they were going in this picture! I seriously almost had a nervous breakdown. They were going faster than anyone else at the rink, passing people like they were standing still.

I wish the pictures had come out better, but I forgot my normal camera and had to use my phone which doesn't do so well in low light and high motion situations. Anyway, Wes took Scarlett around for about 30 minutes before his back gave out on him and she had a complete melt down when he handed her over the wall back to me. She was definitely not ready to say goodbye to ice skating with Daddy.

Here's one more picture of her in her favorite pink vest. Its the only article of clothing she has that she's shown an affinity towards. She loves it and wants to wear it all the time. I think it has something to do with the pockets.

Wes's 2011 Reading Stats/List

2011-12-31T23:17:00.007-06:00

I love a good story. It can be just recounting experiences with friends and family or watching a movie or reading books—but I especially love books. They are tiny packets of adventure that can be experienced even while juggling home, church, work, a toddler, house buying/moving, pregnancy (in a supporting role), etc.

I had quite a few reading adventures in 2011 due to a fair commute, a kindle book always on my phone, and an audible book in my ear. A wonderful free site called goodreads.com helped me track it all. Luckily I’m not nerdy enough to pivot the data and make a chart of what I have read this year . . .

Books read: 28
Average pgs per book: 428
Total page count: 11, 985

Time Is On My Side...Or Is It?

2011-11-18T12:49:00.006-06:00

Maybe the Rolling Stones had it all wrong. I've been thinking a lot about time lately. When you have young children, everyone and I mean everyone (including strangers on the street) tell you how fast the time flies. How it feels like their 16 year olds were 16 months just yesterday, etc., etc. For me, right now, it doesn't necessary feel like time is flying, not at all really. It does feel like time is more definite than it used to be. Before we had kids, Wes and I might go on a vacation or go to an amazing restaurant or go kayaking and have a blast. We'd leave and say, "Wow, lets do that again sometime!" And that was completely possible, we could go and do those things again and have a pretty similar experience.

The thing with kids is that you can never really expect the same experience again. Whatever you do with them, its close to being the last time they'll do it in that way. They change so much, so quickly. It's never the same experience and you kind of mourn the loss of each phase. A year used to be nothing to me, Wes and I don't change much in a year. Scarlett changes in a month! She does more, says more, comprehends more everyday. Suddenly it feels like time marches on so strongly, so resolutely, so unforgivingly. Sometimes, I just want to say, Hey, wait a minute! I love her how she is right now! Can't I just hit a pause button and enjoy how when Wes is taking her to bed she waves good-bye so zealously to me all the way up the stairs and around the corner until she can't see me anymore or can't I rewind to when she was three months old and we'd carry her around in the Ergo and she'd sleep so peacefully and soundly right on our chests? Already, I can barely remember what that little roly poly body felt like against mine.

Absolutely, the last 20 months have not flown by, but they're done, they're over and I can feel it. Just look at Scarlett and see what 20 months of time passing by really looks like.

Scarlett Harris and the Great Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-30T09:41:00.013-05:00

Yesterday, the Harris family got out of the house and went to get a pumpkin. We went to the same place we got our Christmas tree last year and will again this year. They put on a pretty good show of activities.

First things first, we went and got a snow cone (yes it is still warm enough in Houston for a snow cone) and chopped beef BBQ sandwich (a Texas specialty). Scarlett thought the banana flavored snow cone was the best.

Then we went and got in line to ride the train. Scarlett was very happy and patient.

Here's an attempt at a family picture. Scarlett refused to look at the camera so this was the best we could get.

Scarlett working on that snow cone.

Loading onto the train.

Scarlett really liked the train ride. She just sat quietly staring out at the fields of Christmas trees. One of which we'll be taking home with us in a month.

Here's an awesome hay bale they turned into a giant spider. You can see the Christmas trees growing behind us.

Scarlett inspected all of the pumpkins carefully...

Before finally choosing the perfect Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin. (more on that in a future blogpost)

New...Well, Actually OLD and Improved!

2011-09-05T17:19:00.015-05:00

Okay, so I still do the couponing thing but Wes won't let me buy anymore deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, razor blades, body wash, ziploc bags...the list is endless. So, I spend much less time couponing as it's mostly with food items now. Moral of the story is...I needed a new hobby. So, I found one. Thrift store shopping. I buy something old, ugly, and unloved and I make it new (to me), beautiful, and appreciated. Wes has been helping as well which makes it even more fun. Here are a few of our finds.

What ARE these ugly brass and crystal lamps? I found these at a local thrift shop for $4 a piece, all of the electrical components still worked. Although, I had to take the whole lamp apart 3-5 times (it was a learning process). I am now an excellent lamp electrician. I feel confident that I could fix any lamp at your house that is not working for less than $5 and in about 10 minutes. My hard work was not in vain, take a look at them now!

Aren't they so beautiful and elegant looking?

This one, Wes actually found when we went to a Salvation Army store. We're going to make it our craft table, so we can keep the kitchen table cleared off from crafts such as spray painted lamps, building Catan boards, and Hagrid's Huts. Here it is in its dirty, just left the thrift store state.

It opens up with a hidden leaf that stays under the table to a huge 5' by 5' square. Otherwise its 3' by 5'.

We shined it up with Orange Glo (my favorite furniture polish) and it looks great. Although, I don't think its going to stay this color forever. I might make it my first painted furniture project. We'll see. Overall, not bad for $45! Good find Wes!

That's all for now, except here's a few of Scarlett (for the grandparents)!

CinderScarlett

2011-08-30T10:39:00.003-05:00

Well, I figured now that I've been pooped on, peed on, barfed on, snotted on, etc...etc...it's time for her to start pulling her weight around here! (Which granted is only about 25 lbs.)

Happy Birthday Jennifer!!!

2011-07-10T23:31:00.001-05:00

For my thirtieth B-day Jennifer blogged thirty things she liked about me (which made my head swell thirty percent bigger.)

I would like to return the favor by jotting down a few (30) of the many things I enjoy about my Booey Woo.

1) I like that she calls everyone she deeply loves a Booey Woo. At first I struggled to understand why she called me the same thing as her dog but like her school kids I soon learned that there was no higher or loved filled praise than to be called Booey Woo (except perhaps Booey Wooey Woo).

2). Her enthusiasm and energy for the world around her is infectious. When I debated becoming a wifeless hobo or marrying my smoking hot southern belle, some of the most convincing evidence that we would be great together was the time we spent talking in the Galley Cafeteria while I mooched off her dad's meal plan (thanks Jim) and shared our thoughts, jokes, gossip, dreams, & opinions (it's still my favorite thing to do).

3) I've read Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People", Jen hasn't but she didn't need to, to know that a true friend doesn't just ask questions but cares about the answers. I watched Jen interrogate her friends extracting their likes, dislikes, romantic turmoils, etc. As easily as cracking a walnut. They (and I include myself) found themselves telling her things they didn't talk about with anyone else and the reason we did is because we could feel how much she cared and how important we were to her.

4) I've never really watched a movie until I've discussed it with Jen.

5) Jen is a visualizer. One of my favorite of her laughs is when I tell a joke and she laughs and then is quiet for a moment while she really visualizes the humorous image and then bursts into a wild, unfiltered, crazy pure laugh.

6) She is totally supportive of my education & career goals. With only one semester left of a very long bachelor program I told her I wanted to go to 3+ more years of school. Her only real regret (of which she frequently reminds me) is that I didn't learn how to be a masseuse. (My regret is that she never worked at Great Harvest Bread Co., although the Smoothie King is a good runner up.)

7). Jen loves stories. She has to be careful with a book series or tv series because it will consume her until it is finished. She takes her time reading books fully visualizing the story. She will often help me to love a character that I hadn’t formerly paid as much attention to (Ron Weasley, Ross Geller, Eric Forman). I inevitably love them more after I have seen them through her eyes. She gets so anxious for her characters that I have often found her with several fingers stuck in various stages of the book as she reads ahead to make sure they are okay.

8). There is a special light in Jen that draws her to happy things. She loves christmas & christmas songs, she loves comedies. She loves having innocent fun whether its reading grade-school books or Mmm-bopping with the Hansen brothers.

9). Although she doesn't believe it she is a fantastic mom. Scarlett and her will smile as they stare at each other and make identical sounds that pass right through high pitched and go beyond the capability of the human ear. No matter how much Scarlett loves her Daddy she never laughs harder or smiles bigger for anyone more than her mom.

10) Jen loves to organize/purge--it's something we really enjoy (which is good because it doesn't ever really end). There is nothing quite as satisfying as going through a closet or room and throwing away/donating a bunch of now unnecessary stuff.

11) Jen loves to game. Don't let her sweet exterior fool you. She has a competitive edge--she will not hesitate to bring out her Darwinian strategy & crush you--although she is very polite about it (In Catan that is, don't play Monopoly with her.)

12) Jen is a truth seeker. She is always open to logic & reason. She will consider your argument even if it directly conflicts with her own; if it makes sense she won't let her ego stand in the way. I'm not explaining it well but it's one of my favorite things. (Also, if your argument is weak sauce you won’t be changing anybody’s mind; she knows how to stick to her guns.)

13). On that same note Jen has this funny way of deciding she doesn't like something until she tries it. I just remind myself of the childhood story her Grandparents told me, about how firmly set she was against eating fried steak, rice & gravy until they got her to try it & it became the requested main course every time she was at grandma's, every night she was at grandmas.

14) I love that Jen supports me in my creative ambitions i.e. she continues to support my cooking of all the recipes in my Betty Crocker cookbook even though she finds my strategy flawed because when you cook all the recipes you can't be choosy, you have to cook the gross ones too (I look for ways to serve the ones she doesn't like elsewhere, so . . . sorry about the weird potluck dishes.)

15) If you really get to know Jen it doesn't take too long to realize that although Jen is most often sweet she can also be spicy--personally I wouldn't have it any other way.

16) Jen is incredibly brave. She had a hard pregnancy. In addition to the usual challenges we found out first hand about ones we hadn't even heard of--culminating of course in a scary delivery. Through it all Jen was a trooper and an all-star.

17) Family is important to Jen, of course it is more difficult since we live far away but Jen makes the effort, stays in touch, and loves doing it. Her thoughts are often with her extended family and mine. When I'm around I love listening to her tell her parents about Scarlett and me.

18) Jen is decisive. Whether its deciding on her top five movies or picking a quirky husband. My nature is to gather more data and conduct an exhaustive approach it's refreshing & breathtaking to see just how fast she can make a good decision.

19) Jen is wicked fast at math, Sudoku, cooking, cleaning, purging e-mail, cracking The Prestige, basically everything. It's not really an ego booster to have a spouse that's smarter than you but it does come in handy--especially for basic stuff like not letting me drive down the wrong side of the median.

20) The language of Jen's love is definitely Quality Time (or QT time for Beanie). Playing words with friends, Catan (as long as Jen is to my right), kayaking, riding dumb-and-dumber style on a moped, making christmas goodies, going to craft fairs (within reason),

21) QT continued: (Hey you might stop reading if I didn't break up this bullet.) standing in the book line for Harry Potter & reading it together, Gatlinburg, Disneyland, Disney World, cooking, talking to you outside the shower curtain, team diaper changing w/ Scarlett, watching movies, Hubble & Hudson gelato, regaling our experiences to friends & family.

22) Jen is always either a) supportive of or b) creating ideas for our improvement. Whether it's 30 minutes daily clutter control, packing the night before, or reading seven to heaven (reading scriptures together).

23) Changing for yourself is hard, changing for others is even harder. If Jen is doing something that she realizes I really don't like she will change. I think that is super sweet. Maintenant j’ai dit.

24) Quirks: Doesn’t like beans, raisins, shredded carrots. Loves crawfish et tu fe, strawberries on waffles, Crystal Burger, and french toast. Needs a moment to mentally & emotionally prepare before stepping on an escalator.

25) Jen sees things for what they are. She is realistic and pragmatic. She has a way of cutting through the fluff and calling a spade a spade. It’s a rare quality, one that would sometimes surprise her school kids and that I really enjoy.

26) I suppose you don’t want to hear me go on and on about Jen’s natural beauty and her sultry southern saunter. So let’s just say sometimes I feel bad for guys that aren’t as lucky as me.

27) Jen makes friends with super cool, awesome, interesting people, which is great for me because I can stand near them and laugh along. People that conduct lucrative business deals, landscape colorado, work in Shelley, Idaho, Shelly Idaho, etc. (and there are a lot of etceteras).

28) It wasn’t a surprise to find out that on those color/personality tests that Jen came out a deep blue. She is very caring. She cares deeply for the feelings and happiness of those she loves. As you can imagine little Miss Scarlett has a super mom who loves showing her the world. They laugh, dance, read stories. Scarlett knows she will get the best, most interested, and most excited reaction from her mom. I’m so excited to continue to explore life with both of them.

29) I love interacting with Jen whether it is witty banter, singing silly songs, or saying funny phrases that we have picked up in our many experiences together (“One shot would have done it.”).

29 1/2 Jen will mark places on the DVR to share funny or heart-warming moments with me from various shows. She loves to share with me. She is super sweet and gets teared up watching talk shows and reality tv.

30) For whatever unfathomable reason, Jennifer has a rock solid unwavering love for her husband. She has been through a lot with me. I've realized that not everyone has that and I do not take it for granted even though it may seem that way sometimes. Happy Birthday Booey Woo you are my one and only, I love you just the way you are. I hope you feel the same warm blanket of security, care, and love that you have always given me.

Scarlett...then and now...

2011-06-07T21:45:00.008-05:00

Okay, I know our blog has turned into a mommy blog and all we ever post are Scarlett pics...but she's pretty much what's going on right now. We'll try to post some other stuff someday soon!

When Scarlett was 4 months old, we had her picture taken at JC Penney and we just had them done again when she was 14 months old. So, these have a 10 month difference...crazy!

In all of these pictures, she's doing a slight smile. However, she also has a great big smile she uses frequently, as shown below!

Scarlett's Sweet & Sour Sides

2011-06-04T23:25:00.003-05:00

I love the first half of this clip when Scarlett is dancing in the wind...so sweet, right? Then the second part is her sassy/sour side. Which at times I find hilarious and other times I find exhausting and irritating. Notice the head shake at me after I back off. This is it in it's mildest form. That's her newest thing...she doesn't say no, she just constantly shakes her head at me with furrowed eyebrows.

During the Sweet part of this video we were at a local park and here is a still of it. It's really pretty and Scarlett really, really loved this dog!

Hunting the Egg

2011-04-30T07:16:00.020-05:00

"Look, I know what you are thinking: basket, dress, eggs. It seems simple but to pull them off successfully you need to know what you are doing. Come with me as I show my parents how it is done."

"First, pick a location where they didn't just drop 30,000 eggs from a helicopter and the easter bunny isn't riding around on a golf cart . . . unfortunately the parents didn't consult me on the location . . ."

"Not to worry. I know how to handle myself in this type of situation."

"As always Dad likes to start with some instruction.

Step 1) Find an egg."

"Step 2) put it in the basket."

"Egg. Basket. Got it."

"Dad seriously, I got it. I'm not 12 months old anymore."

"I have innate egg gathering abilities."

"Now what were those steps again?"

"Pick up eggs?"

"Suck on eggs?"

"Drop basket on the ground because I can only hold so many things at once?!"

"I love my Mommy, she's the best."

"After eggs we went to the Cracker Barrel. I ordered a tasteful bowl of carrots & bought a bookmark. Then I picked out a nice chair on the porch."

"I don't even remember what this was about. It had been a long day, okay. Next picture."

"See, I was happy again in 2 seconds but it was definitely time to call it a day."

"I hope you didn't think we were done. Who goes to just one Easter egg hunt a year??? Not Ma Ma & Da Da apparently. I think they were imagining a quaint 16th century stroll through royal gardens to look for eggs with other toddlers in their Sunday best instead of eating the dust of several thousand kids amped up on Easter candy and urged on by a radio announcer to get all the eggs possible."

"Mom found us a nicer hunting ground at a local church."

"It was definitely nicer but I didn't see any eggs."

"Eggs anyone?"

"Would they put eggs in the water?"

"Let's go find some eggs!!!"

"I found the eggs!"

"I had to wait until the announcer said go."

"Is it time yet?"

"Double check my equipment."

"I must say I was very patient."

"I may need a bigger basket."

"What's so special about eggs anyway?"

"I am pretty picture perfect, aren't I?"

"Overall I had a really good time. Next year maybe I'll go to three egg hunts."

"Happy Easter everyone!"

Scarlett's Birthday Cake

2011-04-09T18:38:00.006-05:00

Here's Scarlett enjoying her birthday cake...the first time eating any sweets.

Another great score!

2011-03-01T21:54:00.006-06:00

I score a lot of great deals these days, however some I just have to share with friends and family . . . this was one of them!

Total Cost Out Of Pocket - $ 1 2 . 5 4

Don't you love the Diet Coke and 6 boxes of brownie mix?

Follow the trail of bread crumbs...

2011-02-18T12:40:00.008-06:00

and what do you find???

Scarlett

Having the time of her life!

Not looking remotely sorry.

Parks & Lemon-Basil Chicken Deliciousness

2011-01-30T21:33:00.018-06:00

We took time out from couponing to see if Scarlett would enjoy the park.

Apparently there are loads of parks in our area so I printed out directions to five of them and we excitedly headed off to find the first one.

It was also the LAST park we visited for the day. I really think Scarlett would have liked the bucket swings--I mean she loved her baby swing and she knows no greater joy than getting tossed in the air like a rag doll.

There was a moment there when it really could have gone either way...

Unfortunately it went the wrong way, another child at the park took that moment to weep, wail, and gnash his teeth. Which started a chain reaction. Scarlett started crying causing another boy in the swing next to her to start crying and so on and so forth. So we picked a different piece of equipment hoping for a more positive outcome.

Scarlett couldn't seem to figure out why we were laying her down on the slide. She kept trying to sit up. She thought it was great watching me go down but when I took her with me she made no expression whatsoever. She seriously could not have looked more indifferent. I did feel her tense slightly when I went down the covered slide but that was about it. We may wait a while before we try the other four parks.

On another note I cracked open my Betty Crocker book again and made Sunday dinner.

I'm working my way through the poultry section and I realized that I was cooking the recipe pictured on the cover of the book. This is my 256th recipe of 563! I thought it was picture worthy.

I highly recommend the Lemon-Basil Chicken deliciousness. We wish we could share it with you.

Do you have any coupons?

2011-01-08T19:10:00.008-06:00

I've found a new hobby or as Wes calls it "a way of life."

Okay, here's the story. I went to Costco TWICE last month and bought only the things on my list, in other words not a bunch of extra junk we didn't need. I bought things such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, paper towels, dish washer detergent, laundry detergent, TP, deodorant, paper plates, plastic cups, sugar, flour, formula, diapers...i don't know what all else. I spent just over $100 each time I went! Well, I was feeling a little depressed from saying goodbye to two of my dear Ben Franklins and I came home and watched Extreme Couponing on TLC. Now those women and the man truly were EXTREME. I actually now follow one of their blogs and they're not as extreme in real life as they were portrayed to be on the show...TLC hyped it up a bit. Anyway, some had like over 300 packages of TP that they literally paid pennies for...buckets full of deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss...shelves of detergent and canned goods. As I watched them ring up their goods, for 90% or less from the retail value, I thought, I'm doing something wrong here! Now, I don't want 300 packages of toilet paper. . .but ten free ones would be nice! So, I started couponing.

I've only been doing it a week, but once I get an idea in my mind, I can't rest until I've got it good and under way. I now have a binder that keeps all of my coupons categorized and organized. I absolutely love it! It's like one big giant Sudoku puzzle and my mission is to align all of the pieces together and figure out how I can get the best deal possible. Here is my last week's purchases. Just because I love to share my sweet savings and deals, I will occasionally post what I got on the blog and how much I paid for it! Just for reference here is one of the ladies from the show Extreme Couponing's website. She was the one with the little boy that was dumpster diving for Sunday papers (which I must say, I have not done.) Her site is very useful when beginning to coupon. Another site I use is from a lady in my Ward who is great to follow because she gives a lot of the national deals like CVS and Kroger, but she also mentions a lot of local deals as well. Her husband works in the Young Mens with Wes and they're a super nice (and big) family!

thekrazycouponlady.com This is the TLC lady's site.

mylitter.com This is the lady from my ward's site.

Here's a picture of my own krazy couponing:

All of this was $18.51 out of pocket including tax. For the record, the Milky Way bars were completely free with the coupon and sale, normally Wes and I would not buy 4 candy bars just for kicks!

Here's a picture of my enormous binder. I feel a little ridiculous hauling this through stores, but it makes couponing SO much easier! Wes has had all sorts of cheeky little comments to make at me because of it.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T15:23:00.017-06:00

Well, the Harris Family had a fabulous Christmas this year. We went to Georgia and spent time with family, dumped the mini Harris off with my mom and headed down to sunny Florida to hang with Mickey and friends! We had a great time! Here are a few pics of our trip.

We tried another picture with Santa, this time with the whole family. Things went a little better. Although Scarlett wasn't about to turn her back to the Jolly Old Elf. This Santa is actually a good friend of my moms. He doesn't normally look so Santa-ish, but he's been growing out his beard since August and has apparently made a pretty penny during the holiday season playing santa. I thought he looked great and he visited Scarlett for free! So, in review, we paid 0 dollars to continually strike fear into our poor Booey Woo's heart.

Here I am on It's a Small World. We were the only ones on the ride that we ever saw. So, we were able to enjoy 358 rounds of It's a Small World alone. This ride was being renovated when we went to Disneyland so it was Wes' first time to experience this wonderful, musical, cultural adventure!

While we ate at the Les Chefs de France, Ratatouille came by to visit. A quick word about our eating experience here at WDW. We bought the dining plan, which a lot of people said wasn't worth the money. We beg to differ. We made our reservations almost 6 months ago and they were worth every bite and minute we spent planning them. Our best eating adventure was at Jiko The Cooking Place. It's African food and I think Wes about died and went to heaven there.

This is a ride I rode when I was 8 years old and visited Disneyworld with my family. I was really scared to ride it back then because I thought maybe the ship would fall out when it backed up into this hole. Thankfully it didn't either time I rode it.

This was one of our favorite rides. Its Toy Story's Midway Mania. It's all carnival type rides except for instead of actual ring tosses, it's virtual 3D. I really can't explain it, because it would take more typing than I have the energy to do, but it's really really fabulous!

Speaking of Toy Story, here is a float from the movie in the Block Party Bash at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

This was a stage production of Beauty and the Beast. It was really good except I thought the Beast's human form was a little wimpy...as you can see in this picture.

After watching Apes play on this playground for about 1/2 an hour, Wes decided that if he were an animal he'd be an ape. His exact words were, "You may think I'd want to be a flying animal, but they're only flight nothing else. Apes are small enough to swing through trees, but big enough to fight and defend themselves." Anyway, he gave those apes a lot of hard thought and decided they were pretty cool.

Another Wes favorite was the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House! He probably took about 100 pictures of this fake tree. He's convinced we need to build one in our backyard some day.

Wes saw the Sword in the Stone and practically...actually literally skipped over to it and thrusted the camera at me saying, "Here, take my picture!" Then proceeded to climb up onto the stone and pull with all of his might while grunting from the effort. I'm pretty sure about 4 different families stopped to watch the spectacle.

So, for most of our trip, the crowds were really not too bad. However, this is the last day and they were getting a little...muchier.

We spent about 45 minutes watching this guy do glass blowing. He was trying to make a vase, but the top broke off. So, he made it a candy dish instead. It was pretty awesome!

It was surprisingly cold in Florida. During the daytime hours temps were a perfect 65 degrees, but at night they got colder than we had packed for...hence my disney jacket and scarf!

Here's Scarlett and Wes Christmas morning. Nana took good care of her and we are very thankful for the worry free vacation and the QT (Quality Time...in case that's a phrase only my family uses) we had together! Thanks Mom and Jerry!

Scarlett In!

2010-12-11T22:31:00.022-06:00

Mommy and Daddy forced me to do a little photo shoot under the tree. Don't ask why they felt the need to do half the shoot with me in nothing but a diaper. They can be SO uncouth!

"But I don't want to do this! I'd rather suck on that camera!"

"Fine, but ONLY because Daddy's making such funny faces behind Mommy."

"This little chair is interesting, it's just about my size. Maybe I should sit on it."

"Nah, its too small. I'll just rest my arm on it like this."

"Here Mom, let me take a look at that last picture. Did I look natural?"

"Look, Dad, don't try to pose me! We do it my way or the highway!"

"Well, what do we have here?"

"Hey there little fella! How are you?"

"Wait a second you look familiar..."

"I remember you!"

"I did not appreciate you ripping me out of Mommy's arms! I don't care if you are a jolly old fat guy!"

"Take that...and that!"

"I bet this beard isn't even real!"

"What? I was just LOOKING at the DVD Player. I wasn't going to push any buttons!"

"What's that bright light?"

"Daddy, I only need to touch it once. It's so pretty and sparkly!"

"I..I'm just going to bring it in for a closer look."

"HAH, you fall for that every time! Yep, right in the mouth there. Mmmm, tastes hot."

"Why do you two feel the need to take away everything I find that's interesting? I don't want to play with any of those toys, I want to play with loose cords and electrical outlets!"

"Thanks for coming by everyone! I hope you have a Merry Christmas. May you find an extra bottle in your stocking on Christmas Day!"

Scarlett Out!

Vomiting, Screaming, and Cries...Oh My!

2010-11-13T21:45:00.017-06:00

Well, Scarlett and I made our first and possibly last solo trip. We went to see my mom, my sister, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. I will not go into all of the gory details, but lets just say that copious amounts of vomiting, pooping, crying, and screaming were involved. I had brought enough clothes for the whole week plus an extra outfit and I had to do laundry 3 times while I was there. Everyone in my family got some sort of stomach virus. Scarlett decided that I was the only person allowed to look at or talk to her, otherwise she'd scream and cry as if she were dying. In all of the ensuing chaos, I was able to have a few bonding moments with different members of my family. The calmest part of my trip was when my sister, Scarlett, and I met up with my mom in Helen, GA. This was after stomach viruses had mostly run their course and Scarlett had decided my family wasn't as noxious as she originally thought. We decided to go to Helen because Babyland General is there and I wanted to see their new facilities and take Scarlett to a place I loved very much as a child. It's located in the North Georgia mountains, so we decided to stay in a cabin and make a little mini-vacation out of it. So, here are some of the happenings in Helen, GA.

The awesome view of the changing leaves from our cabin. It's really the end of the leaf changing season, so a lot of the trees were bare. It was still beautiful, though. There's really nothing quite like the Appalachians in the Fall. The pictures didn't do them justice.

Helen, GA is a re-creation of an alpine village complete with cobblestone alleys and old-world towers. Here is a shot from my mom's camera, yes the sky was really that blue. It was a perfect day complete with crisp cool mountain air.

One of those cobblestone alleys I told y'all about.

This is Babyland General Hospitals' Fancy New Building!

Scarlett in her BIG cabbage patch!

This is where the magic fairy Bunnybees sprinkle cabbages with magic crystals causing babies to grow out of them. Babyland General is a safe place for them to be until the are adopted by someone who will take them home to care for them and love them. You too could come and see one being birthed every half hour!

Scarlett loved the Cabbage Patch Kids.

Can you tell which one's not a Cabbage Patch Kid?

Well, of course Nana adopted a baby for Scarlett. Everyone, meet Ivy, complete with adoption papers!

Funny, Scarlett seemed more interested in Ivy's bottle than Ivy herself. At least for the time being!

This is Goats on the Roof and there were...well, goats on the roof. It was a funny little place. You could mine for gems as well. We didn't, but when Scarlett's older I'll let her mine for gems one day. When I was a little girl, I always wanted to, but my parents said it was a waste of money because they weren't real. Thanks Mom and Dad, I've been left emotionally scarred over that one!

And that was our trip home. Fortunately for all of you, I kept the camera tucked away during the low parts of the trip and saved all of you countless pics of me drenched with Scarlett's vomit!

Halloween 2010

2010-10-30T20:38:00.012-05:00

Our church did their Halloween Party/Trunk or Treat/Chili Cook Off/Magician tonight. I made Wes' shirt, hat, and belt. Which was a minor disaster and took a lot of cutting apart seams and resewing, but in the end after some blood, sweat, and NO tears we have Peter Pan. I tried not to be too irritated that everyone kept calling him Robin Hood all night. Why would Robin hang out with Tinkerbell and Wendy? I reworked my bridesmaid dress from my sister's wedding...perfect Wendy dress! I did buy Scarlett's Tinkerbell dress at the Disney store for $18 which I thought was a steal.
I now present to you our 2010 Family Halloween photos!

Here's Wendy and Tinkerbell

Here's Peter and Tinkerbell

Scarlett looks like she's saying, "Um, why are all of those kids eating candy and I'm not!?"

The Whole Neverland Family

And Again!

Tinkerbell sprinkling her magic pixie dust!

2nd Star to the Right and Straight On 'Til Morning! I love how we're so into this picture and how NOT into it Scarlett is.

By the end of it all she was completely tuckered out.

Happy Halloween!

Crazy Nightmares. . .or Dreams?

2010-10-04T12:02:00.009-05:00

I recently joined a gym and began working out. We chose the gym because they have a child care center and we're able to leave Scarlett there for up to two hours a day. Is it weird that since I joined and have been leaving Scarlett in their care, I have had multiple dreams where I left her there and went shopping and didn't come back until closing time? I'm not sure if this is a nightmare showing I'm afraid of leaving my baby girl with someone else because something may go wrong or if its my inner conscience dying for a little bit of freedom. . .a little bit of baby free shopping!? I'm thinking its probably both!

"Mommy, why do you want to leave me at 24 Hour Fitness until closing time?"

Scarlett 4 Month Video

2010-09-27T20:21:00.002-05:00

This is going to say it was posted by Wes, but it was really posted by Jennifer. I have already uploaded the video and that took too long to log out of his name, log in under mine, and then upload it again. I edited this video all by myself and I am pretty impressed with the sweet transitions I added...thanks to iMovie!

Scarlett 3 Month Video

2010-09-26T21:30:00.002-05:00

Okay, so we KNOW that Scarlett is 6 months old, but we have all of this adorable footage of her that we never posted. So, we'll catch up to the current Scarlett in about two to three blog posts. This video is about a week after our stuff arrived in Houston when Scarlett was 3 months. I know many of you would never have noticed but for those of you that do, we were still unpacking, hence the messy background in some of the shots.

Inchworm

2010-08-22T19:25:00.006-05:00

Scarlett is going mobile. She recently learned to roll over and even more recently she learned to flip back (which is awesome because she used to just cry until we laid her on her back again). She is really on the move. When we put her in the crib she is never in the same place that we left her. In the last couple of days she has started to scrunch up and put her little butt in the air, then she scoots forward like a little inchworm. It's pretty cute.

Who's the Booey Wooest of Them All?

2010-07-27T21:07:00.012-05:00

When my mom and Jerry came to visit us for my birthday, we went and got portraits done of Scarlett at JC Penney. Which was great fun, because we have lots of these from when I was a wee little baby. So, it was entertaining to compare some of them. Here are a few.

Look at these little cheeks, you can't help but gobble them up.

A smile for the family members who still haven't seen that!

"You have about 1.5 seconds to cuddle me, play with me, or stick a binky in my mouth!"

I love her little mouth, its surprisingly expressive.

"Look how good I'm getting at tummy time!"

The Anne Geddes Shot

The Controversial Nudie Shots

Jennifer's Jaunty Movie Reviews

2010-07-25T21:24:00.010-05:00

Last weekend, Wes and I watched a show called Remember Me. I've been thinking about it all week. This could be because I have VERY little social interaction right now! Whatever the reason, it really stuck with me. So, I decided to share my thoughts and opinions with my blog friends. I can't really discuss my feelings on this movie without talking about the ending. So, if you plan on watching it, you should probably stop reading now, because the ending will be spoiled (and that might decrease your enjoyment of the movie exponentially.)

I had heard of this movie and seen the trailers. However, I wasn't overly excited to see it. I think Rob makes an excellent Edward (most of the time) but I don't love him so much as an actor that I felt the need to rush out and see his newest flick. On a side note, I never thought the movie portrayal of Cedric Diggory did his character justice. Maybe that's got something to do with Rob's acting and maybe not...maybe it was just the screen play. Either way, this movie was not on my top to watch list. So, when it came in our Netflix, I had mediocre hopes for it and had no idea really what it was about. And I was pleasantly shocked and amazed.

The movie was all about people living real lives with real problems, just trying to make it from one day to the next. They had loved ones who died too young and too tragically. It was about families dealing with the fall out from death, divorce, depression . . . It centers around two young college kids who are both lonely and unhappy and they have their ups and downs. It seems like that's what the story's about. Two kids falling in love and growing up . . . and that would have been a fine movie. It wouldn't have been the first movie to have that as its premise. But in the end, this movie represents something much more. It represents one of the most tragic moments in US history. To me, it represented the lives lost. The people who were just people, just doing their thing, people having their own trials and successes only to have their time cut off too soon. I read some critics who thought it was a shameless ploy of forced emotion. I disagree. I thought they handled the catastrophe perfectly. We all saw the footage of those planes hitting the World Trade Center. We all saw the footage of people running and screaming. We all saw the footage of 1,000+ ft. tall buildings crash down to rubble. The makers of this movie knew that and they told us just what we needed to know. It ended before all that . . . leaving us with the knowledge of what came next. I love this movie because it was a portrayal of a nobody on September 11, 2001 in New York City and in doing that it represented everyone there that day; everyone who was in the Twin Towers and everyone who knew someone in the Twin Towers.

PG-13 for violence, sexual content, language and smoking

A Sad Goodbye to Some Old Friends

2010-07-22T08:51:00.011-05:00

Unpacking everything you own makes you stop and think about, "How much of this stuff do we REALLY need?" Just to prove my point here are some of our unpacking pics.

Wes putting forth a valiant effort while I ran around with a camera.

Whoa! That's a lot of boxes...

In the words of Uncle Jesse..."Have Mercy"

Oh, the shame of it all and we claim to be de-cluttered organization gurus!

So, as you can see we had a lot of stuff. This was merely two rooms! So we de-cluttered like we've never de-cluttered before. Here are a few of the casualties of our declutternation.

My parents bought me this when (I want to say age 8) I was in the hospital getting ear surgery in order to cheer me up. Yes, yes, I WAS obsessed with Alf. He's a funny guy! But he didn't make the cut. :( I loved it when he sang the Old Timey Rock n' Roll song with a pickle. Almost as good as Tom Cruise himself.

Shelby and Ted made this for me when I got married. (Thanks guys, it really helped keep Wes in line there at the beginning!) I miss those two. These rules still stand true...even though Linens n' Things went bankrupt...and Scarlett's favorite past time is to lick everything in sight which sometimes happens to be the carpet.

Well, goodbye Clutter! You were a good friend, but all good things must come to an end...and this was your time.

Just for good measure, I'll throw in a couple pics of Scarlett. (Mainly to keep my Dad at bay)

Everyone loves a Cowgirl, Baby! or is it Everyone loves a Cowgirl Baby? Either way, she is wearing a buckskin skirt, solidifying that she is the cutest little thing I've ever seen!

If you guys want me to keep blogging I'm going to need more comments! I thrive off of validation!

Like Father, Like Daughter

2010-07-22T08:37:00.003-05:00

When we were first moving into our new apartment (before our stuffed arrived...hence the air mattress) I left Scarlett and Wes alone while I made some breakfast and this is what I found when I returned to them. So cute!

They're like little twinners!

The Summertime Blogs

2010-07-09T09:19:00.009-05:00

Okay, I'm taking a moment while Scarlett is sleeping and I'm ignoring the piles of stuff behind me that still need a home to do a blog entry. My Dad reminds me of the fact he has seen no grandbaby pictures on the blog every time we talk. So, here it goes Dad!

First, I never showed any pictures from her baby blessing. It was great, we had a lot of friends come and most of Wes' family was there. (We missed you Sumners!) Of course, we missed all of my family, too. Scarlett was absolutely adorable in her little white blessing dress.

I love the bottom one, I think she looks like a Gerber Baby with her little mouth all O-ed like that.

We've moved to Houston. Where it's not that hot due to the daily torrential down pours we've been having. So, they're like a blessing in disguise. I waited outside the grocery store for 30 minutes on Wednesday with Scarlett hoping the rain would let up. I finally allowed two women (one coming into the grocery store and one leaving the grocery store) to watch her while I ran to get my car.They suggested both of them stay so that I'd feel more comfortable that one wouldn't run off with my baby. They were nice and funny ladies. As I ran to my car, standing water was literally higher than my ankles.

My goal today was to make a big, long post with tons of pictures. However, it took me over two hours to upload these two pics. So, I'll do it on a day when we have a better internet connection. I think it must be all of the bad weather.

More to come soon!

Goodbye Legacy

2010-05-31T20:56:00.007-05:00

It was a sad day on Friday as I stood in my room for the last time; I paused at the door to look around and thought of all the fun times I'd had in there. I think I'll miss being a teacher. I'll never regret that Wes and I chose the route of waiting for kids and me teaching for a few years. It's what was right for us and as I walked away from my career and toward my role as a full time mom, I felt that this is what's right for us now. I think I'll be a better mom for having taught these five years and I definitely grew as a person and as a teacher. Some lessons I'll put in writing now, so when I am a mom with school age kids, I'll have to answer to them.

10 Things I Want To Do as a Mom Because I Was a Teacher

1) Everyday, my kids will have a specified homework time...even if they don't have homework. They will read quietly or practice math problems or something.
2) We will practice times tables everyday until they are so ingrained in their booey woo brains they're reciting them in their sleep.
3) I will always get my kid's teachers nice, thoughtful gifts at Christmas, Teacher Appreciation week, and the end of the year. Teachers are more patient with kids whose parents show the teacher respect. I'm sorry, but it's true.
4) I will teach my kids to be organized.
5) I will take on the responsibility of helping to teach my kids concepts that they don't understand in school.
6) I will read to my kids a lot. And they will read to me a lot.
7) I will generally take the teacher's word over my kids unless something seems really wrong. A lot of times even the sweetest kid can sometimes misunderstand a situation innocently.
8) I will not fight my kids' battles with other kids unless something seems really wrong. I'll coach them on how to be a good friend, but they'll need to learn how to deal with social problems.
9) I will encourage my kids to participate in team sports...it really helps with discipline and social skills, however sports will not be more important than their academics.
10) I will be involved in their school and help out at parties, fund raisers, etc.

Me in my coworkers classroom

The Cutest Booey Woo Ever!!!

2010-05-27T21:41:00.004-05:00

This footage of Little Miss Scarlett is SO cute. She's just starting to babble and smile and we love it.

Looking Back: BYU's Product Development Program

2010-04-24T14:15:00.004-05:00

As I neared completion of my bachelor degree I shared my newest dream with Jennifer. Although surprised that I wanted to go to three more years of school to get a Masters in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration, she gave me her full support. At the time it seemed it would be forever before I'd graduate but it has come and gone. I just want to list a few key experiences from the program:

Engineering classes: optimization, statistics, advanced dynamics, etc. I took an especially engaging Product Development class that reminded me why I wanted to be an engineer and will also guide me in the creation of any service or product I make
Global Product Development Trip to Europe: Visited 21 companies in 7 countries. The mix of cultural sites and visits with chief engineers and CEO's of diverse companies was an incredible experience. For example, we visited: hand-built sports cars in Poland, a Toyota factory in the Czech Republic, and went inside a nuclear reactor in France, etc.
MBA classes: The program started out with a bang. I had never worked in such a team environment or faced such an array of high-paced, real-world business case problems. I felt like an MBA after the first semester and had found some life-long friends. There were far too many value-adding classes to list but a few I liked were finance, accounting, supply management, marketing, leadership, and especially negotiations, VBA programming for Excel, and sales management.
Business Presentations for Engineers Competition: I typically did not participate in the many competitions that went on due to the fact that any "extra" time had to go to thesis but I made an exception for a Dow Chemical sponsored competition. I decided that with my new found business knowledge I might have a chance at winning first prize, which was an aluminum-body Macbook, and even if I didn't I knew I would learn how to improve my presentations skills. I won the Macbook and I have used the skills I learned in every presentation since then including my end of internship presentation with ExxonMobil.
Internship with ExxonMobil: Entering the program put me in the right place at the right time to interview and accept an internship that I really enjoyed, leading to a job offer with the Natural Gas and Power Marketing group in Houston. I accepted and will start the last day of June 2010.
Thesis Project: Ah thesis, what can I say. This is the longest, most challenging continuous project I have undertaken to date. It stretched me and taught me things about myself while simultaneously helping me to grow. Believe it or not there is a non-thesis option, ha, ha, ha. Now that I'm on this side of it, I of course am glad I chose the thesis option. I worked all night several times as I fought to meet thesis deadlines i.e. thesis drafts, defense presentation prep, and formatting reviews. All of this was done while trying to balance a full load of MBA classes, help Jen through a difficult pregnancy, and occasionally attend a creative writing class from a favorite author Brandon Sanderson. I was trying to submit what ended up being the final draft for review from the hospital when the doctor came in to break Jen's water. I ended up sending the draft with corrections in the middle of the night after Scarlett's birth from the hospital room after mother and baby were asleep. The next day, with hours to go before the hard university deadline, the college review lady accepted my final draft. I printed and submitted the accepted, defended, three-year project with 2 and half hours to spare. For a good bedtime read or a glimpse into part of my world you can view a published copy by clicking the title of my paper: Optimal Design of a Planar 3-RPR Haptic Interface Based on Manipulability.

I couldn't help feeling nostalgic as I dropped off my cap, gown, and fancy masters hood and drove away glancing at the school in my rearview mirror where I struggled, grew, and emerged a much better and more complete person. I could not have accomplished what I did without many blessings from Heaven and the support of my, friends, family, an incredible advisor, supportive faculty, and BYU. I am ever indebted to Jennifer who sacrificed so much and gave me so much support and motivation through all my challenges. She was the one who stayed home while I went to Europe and Texas a month earlier than her and who went to bed alone at night while I hammered away at my work. She has my love and will always have it. I will leave this school now happy with my loving wife and beautiful daughter, grateful for the experience and ready to face my new challenges.

The Tides of Change

2010-04-08T12:01:00.003-05:00

Well, sadly Nana has left us. Saying we enjoyed having her here would be the understatement of the year. She cooked for us, she cleaned for us, she helped take care of Scarlett. When she arrived four days after we brought Scarlett home, we were beaten and battered and wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. Now, thanks to her, we're a little less beaten and a little less battered but we're still wondering what we've gotten ourselves into! So, goodbye Mom, thanks for everything!

On another note, it is insane how fast babies grow. With much sadness, I packed up all of Scarlett's newborn clothes yesterday since she could no longer straighten her legs out in her onesies. She is so much bigger than when we brought her home, even her cry has changed. (I enjoyed the newborn cry better.) I look forward to all that she's going to start accomplishing, but I will miss how little and booey woo she was those first couple of weeks.

Here is another video Wes made of her first bath!

Scarlett's Zeroeth B-Day

2010-04-04T09:46:00.002-05:00

While I was up with Scarlett I discovered how to combine video clips and do some editing. Enjoy part of her first moments on the outside.

Scarlett Jane Harris

2010-03-19T07:39:00.007-05:00

Scarlett was born yesterday, March 18th at 4:24 p.m. She is 7lbs, 5 oz and 19.5 inches long. She is so beautiful! They induced me at 10:45 A.M. and my contractions were pretty light until 2:40 p.m. when my doctor came and broke my water. Then things ramped up quite a bit! In fact, the epidural didn't even have time to take full effect. The anesthesiologist said it probably took some of the edge off, but I never had any numbness or even tingling in my legs. She's a total cutie!

Here we are getting ready for the big day.

This is right after she was born. Her face is bruised from the quick delivery and her little eyes are still swollen.

I, of course, always knew Wes would be a great father, however, the amount of love, tenderness, and total fascination he has with Scarlett has surpassed even my expectations. They really are quite precious together.

Like I said...adorable!

More pictures to come!!!

Baby Love

2010-02-20T10:46:00.012-06:00

Yesterday, my Room Mom threw me a baby shower. It was so much fun! She invited all of the kid's moms, too. I would say about 15 moms showed up, which made it even more fun and wonderful. This was my first baby shower, so it was great to be able to gush about how excited I am and have everyone around me be equally as excited. The students were so adorable in how jubilated they were to give me presents and play baby shower games. All of the moms who were there said their kids had been talking about it all week long. Pretty cute! Here are some pictures.

The Food

The Presents

The Students and The Moms

Me Opening Presents

The take home gifts my Room Mom made for all of my students.

This is right after I pulled out all of my gifts to show Wes. Everything you see is presents from the shower. It was crazy!

Needless to say I was overwhelmed by the love and support shown from my students and their families. We got so many adorable blankets, outfits, shoes, diapers, bath time stuff, medical stuff, etc. Little Scarlett will be one warm, cute, clean, and healthy baby!

On a quick, separate side note, for Valentine's Day, I got some new Maternity Clothes. (I am SO sick of wearing the same 4 outfits over and over and over again.) Here are some pics of a few of them.

Five more weeks to go!!!

Random Thoughts

2010-02-06T16:15:00.003-06:00

Well, this is week 33 for me. Only 7 more weeks of pregnancy to go! My good friend at work who was supposed to have her baby only three weeks ahead of me ended up going into labor and delivering 7 weeks early due to an infection in her placenta. So, I have been kind of nervous since then that Scarlett will try to come early. That really wouldn't fit into my schedule at all! :) My mom has already bought plane tickets for March 24 - April 7th. So, she would, like, completely miss my maternity leave if I had the baby too soon. I am getting very excited, but I am also getting very nervous. The freaky birthing dreams have begun. I won't EVEN go into those! Wes and I signed up for prenatal classes that begin on February 15th and last for four weeks. He's super stoked...alright, not really. Although, I'm pretty excited. We're hoping they teach us something about what to do with a baby...since neither of us have any idea. Luckily, my mom will be here and she can impart all of her baby wisdom onto us. Thank goodness for Grandmas, what would us Moms do without them?

New York New York

2010-01-22T20:01:00.009-06:00

Jennifer and I enjoyed our stay in the New York New York Casino in Las Vegas on our way to California for Christmas. Apparently this is not a boom time for Vegas and the hotel rates are significantly cheaper during this time of year, so we used it as a pit stop. Being the bottom feeders that we are, we still chose the rock bottom hotel room offered in the New York New York. I did not know this and while we were checking in I asked Jennifer with excitement which of the room options we were going to check into. She pointed to the cheapest one. The very nice clerk said, “Oh we can’t let you stay there, we’ll let you sample something a little different.”

Here was his idea of something different.

We were in a suite with green windows.

So yeah, it was a nice pit stop.

Just in case you guys ever wondered what kind of a teacher I am...

2010-01-14T20:22:00.003-06:00

One of my beloved little students anonymously left this sweet note on my desk.

Looks pretty cute, right? Let's take a closer look.

That's right everyone, I'm second best!!!

Happy Birthday Wes!!!

2009-12-12T02:53:00.002-06:00

Since today is Wes' 30th birthday, I thought I would share with him and all of the blogging world 30 reasons why I love him!

1. His creativity knows no bounds. You have only seen a glimpse of his capacity with the recent postings of Hagrid’s Hut and The Settlers of Catan board.
2. No matter what I want done around the house, he makes it happen. He’ll work tirelessly until he finds a way and he even makes it look nice…not just functional.
3. He is quite hilarious; sometimes this is on purpose and sometimes not.
4. He gets along with everybody, no matter how difficult others might find them to be.
5. He is open-minded and never tries to push his opinions onto other people.
6. He is a fabulous cook. However, he still acts as if the five meals I know how to make are the tastiest, best meals in the world.
7. He’s not afraid to try anything new.
8. He’s a blast to watch movies with. He loves everything. We’ll spend an hour after a movie analyzing the characters and plot together. He’ll watch chick flicks with me and he even likes them.
9. He is always trying to improve himself. He feels no shame in his efforts to make himself a better person. You should see the number of For Dummies books we have from him trying to learn new skills.
10. Along with the above-mentioned For Dummies books, he has a constant quest for knowledge. He often asks people about things and won’t tell them how much he already knows about the topic because he’s afraid they’ll clam up if they think they’re boring him or telling him stuff he already knows. He says this is a good way to learn more from people.
11. He’s so unbelievably happy about becoming a father.
12. He loves to organize the house, something he’s shared with me. We often go on organizing tangents. You should see our closets and drawers. It can awe and amaze.
13. He loves our Christmas decorations, watching Christmas movies, and listening to Christmas music. All of which, I tend to start doing before Thanksgiving most years. So, he’s sweet to endure it.
14. He watched Gone With the Wind with me (a true test of a man’s love) and he STILL agreed to name our daughter Scarlett. (I know Scarlett O’Hara isn’t the best role model, but I love her!)
15. He’ll listen to endless stories about my students, co-workers, or lesson plans and he actually looks interested.
16. He loves to read, we’ll also spend hours dissecting character motives and story plots from books.
17. He’s writing a novel and he’s already written 40 typed pages. He gets up every morning at 5:30 AM to write. Who does that? I love it.
18. He loves creating motivational techniques to help us do things we should do. We recently did a chart to read scriptures together everyday for 20 minutes. Last weekend, we completed 21 days straight of this and celebrated by going out to dinner.
19. He is obsessed with light and his ability to control it. He has installed and/or wracked his brain on ways to install lights all over our apartment. We have them under our kitchen cabinets, under bookshelves, dimmers on our lamps… If I would let him install track lighting into our RENTED apartment, we would have those over every picture in the house as well.
20. He loves technology and is very good at showing me how to use it to make everyday tasks easier and more convenient. He’ll use it to find solutions that would otherwise not be possible. Like when he went to Europe last year for a month. We knew talking was going to be very difficult due to the frequency he would be switching countries and the time difference. However, he discovered Skype. Which allowed us to talk overseas for free…and we could see each other via web cam.
21. He loves to have friends and family over. He’s a great entertainer.
22. He gets very excited about things. If I tell him something I want to do or something that I think is funny or cool…he gets really into it. That makes life so much more fun.
23. He is such a salesman. He tries to sell me on stuff all the time. If he’s decided we need some (usually expensive) piece of technology, he’ll research it, get all of his facts straight, and organize his argument. Then, he’ll approach me about why we need to have this item and how much it’s going to change our lives for the better. I have to always be on my toes when he’s telling me about something, so I don’t get duped.
24. He loves a good strategy game. Although, he can be super conniving at them! Our friends, Shelby and Ted, called us Hitler and Mussolini because of our Settlers of Catan tactics.
25. He’s had such a broad range of experiences. He used to work on a cattle ranch (cow farm, right Myrna?) every summer when he was a kid, he did jeep tour guides in Alaska for the summer, he sold satellite dishes in Kentucky for a summer, he lived in Mexico for two years, he’s visited high profile businesses in Europe, he worked in Houston at a Fortune 500 company. He’s exceptional because he is successful at all of these different situations while still standing out as the unique and wonderful person that he is.
26. He’s a problem solver. Anytime I have a concern, whether its something around the house, work, or life in general, he does not relent until he has come up with the best solution for my problem.
27. He gets me into these lovey dovey books and TV shows because he watches them. For example, he got me watching Vampire Diaries and he bought me Twilight (which I had no interest at the time in reading). I now love both. I think his ability to enjoy these types of media is why he can be such a romantic and sweet husband.
28. He loves smart, witty people. He just thinks they’re wonderful and hilarious. He really likes the show Castle because that guy is always getting under the female detective’s skin and he just thinks that is great. He also loves Damon from Vampire Diaries and Ben from Lost for the same reason.
29. His faults are so minute. For example, his two biggest vices are his love of hearing his own voice and his obsession with the ergonomics of every chair he comes in contact with on a daily basis. He complains about the seat in our cars (both of them are sub par in his eyes), our desk chair, our kitchen chairs, the chairs at school, etc. They all make his back hurt and cause him (and subsequently me) never-ending pain, turmoil, and frustration. But seriously, if those are the two biggest shortcomings a husband has, then you’re doing pretty good.
30. Last, but not least, the thing I love most about Wes is how much he loves me. I have countless faults and he RARELY brings them to my attention. He’s constantly telling me how much he loves me, how wonderful I am, how funny I am, how smart I am, etc… No one else in their right mind would think that highly of me. So, although, it took me a long time to convince him I was the one he wanted to spend eternity with, it was worth every second, minute, and year I spent getting him to fall in love with me.

Hagrid's Hut

2009-11-29T19:51:00.001-06:00

Jennifer’s mom has several beautiful villages that she puts out at Christmas. She created a Hogwarts scene but had trouble finding a Hagrid’s Hut. With my permission Jen volunteered me for the job of making one.

In the various Harry Potter movies there are different Hagrid Huts. I used this one as my muse.

Cardboard framing.

Here are the first attempts at the roofing and the walls. The fitting, trimming, and gluing of shingles took a full season of Pushing Daisies before it was completed.

I thought the roof worked well; the huge rocks on the wall did not. I was particularly pleased with the little windows up top. Per Jen’s suggestion I soaked the wood and then molded it with a paperclip to dry curved.

The second attempt at the wall went much better. Jen painted the rocks and well . . . they rocked.

The door was a lot of fun to make and I feel, really added something.

This handle took the time of one general conference talk to carve and paint.

The finished door.

Imperfect as it may be: Hagrid’s finished hut.

After flying it from Utah to Georgia, through the Muggle airports, it arrived safely to its new home at Hogwarts

Broomstick view of Hogwarts. Mission accomplished!

XX Chromosomes!!!

2009-11-10T20:28:00.000-06:00

Hello everybody!!! After much shopping and splurging, I am now home and able to tell all of you that Wes and I are having a girl! We are super excited! Everything in the ultrasound looked like a healthy baby girl.

Big News in Two Days!!!

2009-11-08T20:15:00.000-06:00

Alright, everyone...we find out on Tuesday whether we're having a boy or a girl. Check back and I'll make a post to let everyone know which it is Tuesday night!!! Yea! Now I just have to try to stay focused through two full days of school.

Sleeping Hazard

2009-11-01T13:01:00.000-06:00

When Jen was feeling extra sick during the first trimester, I slept on the air mattress for a few nights. Something changed from night two to night three; for some reason my air mattress felt distinctly different.

I think something is wrong.

3D Catan Box

2009-10-13T10:46:00.000-05:00

So as most of you know, Jennifer and I like Catan a little bit. We (Jen might say Wes) decided to make a 3D catan board. It is a work in progress and lots of people have helped get it up and running. Especially the Munns with their late night/early morning contributions. Surprisingly this post is more about the box in which it resides. Due to a very large catan board that I had preciously constructed. Jen and I (reluctantly) agreed to only make the game if it could fit in the box below.

It was just an empty box on sale from Michaels. Well this clearly wouldn't suit my needs. So I decided to make some modifications as follows.

I cut the front off and started to add shelves.

I hinged the shelves to provide easy access to the hexes.

Fortunately everything fit.

Then I had to create a way to put the front back on and still make it removable. Pegs on the top and bottom did the trick nicely.

I grooved out the front to allow the hexes to fit more comfortable. Actually this was the original reason I wanted to modify the box.

Now, from the outside it looks the same, but you know what's inside.

Mike, Jeralynn, and Talon are playing the game with Jen and myself. There you have it.

The Bigger News...

2009-09-03T17:38:00.000-05:00

Wes told all of you about our exciting new job starting July of 2010 at ExxonMobil in Houston, but we both agree that the bigger news is...that we're having a BABY!!! We were holding off to make the announcement until after my first trimester, but there have been leaks via Facebook and other people's blogs (I still love you Shelby, Dad, Sabrina, Aunt Belinda). So, who wants to hold off on such exciting news anyway! I am due March 27, which will be 4 days before our 4 year anniversary. We are ecstatic to finally be expanding our family!

Here are our baby pics...I wonder which one the baby will resemble more? Either way, it's going to be a cute baby!

The Houston-Internship Summer Snapshot

2009-08-23T22:51:00.000-05:00

I realized two things tonight--yes, two things in one night. First, I haven't posted anything for a while and second I haven't posted any pictures from my internship with ExxonMobil's Gas and Power Marketing group in Houston. So here are a few random pictures from the experience.

Jennifer drove down with me (1600 miles) and dropped me off, only to fly back to Utah to finish teaching school. The long distance was helped by playing Peggle (a great game) with Jennifer over Xbox live--made possible by Spencer Wilde (thanks for the Xbox loan) and frequent phone conversations.

Here I am about to enter the Exxon building. I worked on the 35th floor.

After I was made official, I headed up to my office.

Yay for my office...which lasted three weeks and then I was moved out to a general work area with about 50 other people. I got to talk to more people there and I got a window, actually there were windows on all three sides of the open floor.

So I wasn't right by the window but I was fairly close. Houston is home to some great restaurants (Barbecue, Cajun, Vietnamese, Mexican, Crepes, et cetera).

I had never eaten a spring roll before but it was good. One restaurant I went to several times called Bourays served Vietnamese food and Mexican food. 'Yes, I'd like the Egg Roll Vermicelli and the quesadilla please...no wait, let's just go with the pork burrito and a fortune cookie.'

This was one of my tougher days at work. Nothing like a grueling day at a charity golf tournament.

I did Meals on Wheels (bringing food to people) during work hours as well with fellow interns, Jenny from BYU and Alex from Missouri.

Finally Jennifer came down (Yay!!!) and we had a lot of fun. I won us free Astros tickets from an Exxon drawing that put us five seats behind the dugout. The Astros won and they did fireworks. After the game I saw a baseball player carry a three foot snake in from the field and scare one of the officials.

And we worked over the Museum of Natural Science...lots of butterflies, dinosaurs, diamonds, and Terra Cotta warriors. This is an Allosaurus from Wyoming.

Anyways, another 1600 miles later and we are back in Utah. Jennifer is already teaching school and I am spending every waking second working on my graduate thesis...or, well...I'm about to. My final year of MBA classes starts on August 31st, yay! Oh yeah, Exxon offered me a job (double yay)!!!

Awkward Family Photos

2009-07-09T12:20:00.000-05:00

I have discovered the most fabulous website. It is called AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com. It is hil-ar-i-ous! I have clocked many hours scrolling through the pictures and the comments. The readers of AFP.com are some pretty witty people. To accompany this post I would love to post some of my own awkward family photos, but I am still in Texas, so those will have to come later. Take a moment to stroll over to the site and see a few funny pics. They'll make you laugh.

Below, is an example picture from the site. This one is kind of bitter-sweet...poor girl. Although, I love that the frog legs are straight up in the air. They get even better.

Maybe a McWorld would be better than I thought...

2009-06-18T14:18:00.000-05:00

On our recent trip out to Houston, Wes and I drove through some of the ugliest and most boring parts of our country. One of the worst was Southern Wyoming...okay THE worst was southern Wyoming. That is some dry and ugly and brown land. I'm sorry to any Wyomingites who are reading this. There really are some pretty parts, just not where Interstate 80 runs through. Denver had never looked so beautiful to me. Anyway, I am straying from my point...McDonalds. While we were in the dusty state of Wyoming, we came across the coolest McDonalds I have ever seen. Allow me to demonstrate.

This is the first thing we noticed upon walking in. I don't know if you can tell but this is a rock waterfall. This McDonalds had 5 installed in their dining area.

They also had 5 flat screen TVs around their dining area...as well as somewhere else...

They did NOT have flat screen TVs in the women's restroom, I checked.

Not only did the kid's play area have these adorable miniature "saddle seats" that are apparently equally fun for kids and 29 year old men alike. They also had...wait for it...4 stations of X-boxes.

This was the definite high point of our drive through Wyoming. Oh, and last but not least, the lovely little fireplace and sofas in the McDonalds.

Texas pictures coming soon...

O Broadband, Broadband! Wherefore Art Thou Broadband?

2009-04-30T10:31:00.000-05:00

I didn't have internet yesterday. It was horrible. It was like I lost an appendage or something. In one day these were my problems, I couldn't:

See my wife's IM on Skype
Listen to Pandora Radio
Check my e-mail
Set-up an appointment with my thesis advisor
Distract myself with the online Halo community via Xbox Live
Watch a movie on Netflix
Check to see if X-men was coming to the I-Max this weekend
Set-up my cable installation appointment in Houston (online only discounts)
Look up some equations I needed for my thesis
Find a good creative writing book using Amazon's rating system
Download a writing program I needed
Check out blogs

Like I said it was awful. I was reduced to being productive, working on my thesis all day (minus the equations I needed), with the bright spot to my workday being a Wendy's run and an episode of the animated Batman(on a disc) for lunch.

Today

I am happily connected to the internet and used it to:

Chat with Rodolfo from India to schedule my internet/cable installation in Houston taking advantage of online only coupons
Check my e-mail (Hey Babe, thanks for that Crate & Barrel spam)
Cancel my unsolicited subscription from Crate & Barrel
Use my online only bank to cut a check to Comcast
Send an e-mail to my future apt. manager to make sure I'm sending everybody to the right address
Not do thesis (don't worry I will)
I just got a response, I did send the right address
And OF COURSE, chat with my sweetheart on Skype
and the day is still young...

I know you would all be devastated without the internet because you wouldn't be able to read this non-whiney, non-materialistic post.

My Shlumpadinka Spring Break!

2009-04-25T13:16:00.000-05:00

Well, this was my first week back to school after a most fabulously relaxing Spring Break. I have decided to share the details with you because it's been a while since my last post. Now normally my mom comes to visit for Spring Break, but this year we settled for talking every day instead (I'll take what I can get).

Weekend before Spring Break - Read Gregor the Overlander (320 pgs.) as well as Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (309 pgs.)

Day 1 Monday - Read Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (358 pgs.) and literally did nothing else. It was awesome.

Day 2 Tuesday - Read the penultimate Gregor and the Marks of Secret (343 pgs.), went to Barnes and Noble, bought Gregor and the Code of Claw, went home, read Gregor and the Code of Claw (412 pgs.) until 2:00 a.m. (Because the next day Wes was going to be able to hang out! So, I basically HAD to finish it that night!)

Day 3 Wednesday - Hung out with Wes. Cleaned out kitchen cabinets and hallway closet, which felt very nice. We threw away 7 bags of trash and sent 4 bags to the DI (which is like a Goodwill for our non-Utah readers). How is this possible? I do not know.

Day 4 Thursday - Hung out with Wes. Cleaned the bathroom, watched some movies, and shopped.

Day 5 Friday - Hung out with Wes, went to Best Buy and bought Lego Batman. (an amazingly addicting XBOX game)

Day 6 Saturday - Played the aforementioned amazingly addicting Lego Batman for the majority of the day while Wes worked on amazingly "un-addicting" finals. I finished up my Spring Break with a nice dinner and a movie...Wingers and The Knowing.

By the way, those Gregor books by Suzanne Collins, I definitely recommend.

Mmmm! Fondue!

2009-04-18T11:34:00.000-05:00

Photo by Courtney Spears

Dipping delicious goodies in chocolate, brilliant!!!

Photo by Courtney Spears

It turns out fondue is a fun way to party with our friends Kurt and Courtney Spears. We ate apples and focaccia bread with cheese as well, which was also good. Who needs the Melting Pot?

April 1st & Easter

2009-04-12T19:57:00.000-05:00

This was the weather for April 1st. Hmmm.

Apparently

it was just a one day prank

because we have been enjoying much better weather since then.

We had a good time this Easter.

We hooked our eggs up with sweet shiny accents.

The Easter bunny left us this ridiculously good looking basket.

Our neighbors provided these scrumptious hash browns.

We provided the German Apple Pancake.

Which combined splendidly for an Easter morning brunch.

Happy Easter Everybody!!!

We are VIPs!!!!!

2009-03-29T20:38:00.000-05:00

Wes and I went to the launch party for Fablehaven 4 Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary. The librarian at my school gave me her backstage passes. So, we were able to go backstage and meet Brandon Mull, take pictures, and get our book personalized and signed. As well as sit in the up close and personal VIP section!

In case you can't tell, this is a picture Wes took from backstage. There were over a thousand people in this high school auditorium.

This is a picture of Brandon signing my book. We now have the entire series signed by the author. We will be here next year when the final book comes out. So, we'll have to get it signed to complete our rare and awesome collection!

By the way, I just finished the book and it is definitely fabulous. It had one specific plot twist I didn't see coming a mile away or better yet a millimeter away!

Let It Grow

2009-03-07T11:59:00.000-06:00

Jen and I have had some trouble growing plants.... they have a tendency to die. When this little guy started to grow we didn’t have the heart to stop it.

Shameless Bragging

2009-02-20T08:39:00.000-06:00

I just thought I'd share a couple of slides from the presentation I gave last night. I gave a presentation in a business competition for engineers where I learned a lot and... Won a brand new MacBook!!!

Pretty cool huh!

How many of you were LOST last night?!?!

2009-01-22T16:57:00.000-06:00

After months of torture and short lived patience, LOST was finally returned to us last night. I watched three straight hours of recaps and the two new episodes. This TV show is SO good and I feel like old friends have moved back to town. Life was just not as fulfilling without (to name a few) Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley (Hoo-Ho), Sun, Saiid, Locke, Desmond, and the best bad guy ever created...Ben. *Cue orchestral score performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra*

Any predictions out there about what is going to go down during Season 5?

Also, for those of you who do not watch LOST, it is time to join the Harris family in what is the most intriguing show...ever. You will not be disappointed. But you would definately need to start with Season 1.

Ready for 2009?

2009-01-10T13:43:00.001-06:00

Well, 2008 was a pretty fun year, especially the summer.

I am hoping 2009 will be even better. We have some fun stuff coming up this year. Such as Wes' internship in Houston this summer with ExxonMobil. (Wes said there is no space between Exxon and Mobil.) We are way excited about this because it could mean a permanent job there after he graduates. I am also excited for this fall, because Wes will start his last year of school! Yeah! This summer will be my ten year high school reunion. I'm not going, but still cool to know its been ten years.

Is anyone setting any New Years Resolutions? My 2008 resolution was to not put make-up on in the car (specifically on the way to work) anymore. I am proud to say that I have met this resolution with a 100% success rate. My goal this year is to set out my clothes the night before. I know these goals are very simple and not necessarily life changing, but I like to make resolutions I think I can keep. Plus, I am not much of a 6:00 in the morning kind of person. Anything I can do to help my mornings go smoother and quicker are very good. Well, I don't have too much more to say for now. I just was sick of seeing the Jen and Wes Elfyourself video at the top of our blog.

Jennifer and Wes' Elf Dance Spectacular

2008-12-22T15:57:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Real Estate

2008-12-11T15:29:00.000-06:00

Don't worry when it comes to the big purchase I will be looking to Jennifer for design approval. Today was my last day of classes for the semester. I looked at my last blog entry and it was before the semester started.....coincidence? I think not.

Jennifer Harris
711 Sprite Circle
Star Sprinkles, Rainbowland

Wesley Harris
1212 Harris-End
The Shire, Middle-Earth

Halloween and Rainbow Brite

2008-11-02T21:37:00.000-06:00

Halloween was a very exhausting day for me this year. I think that is the case for most teachers. I was a shadow fairy from the Fablehaven books..specifically Fablehaven 3 The Grip of the Shadow Plague. It was great because I wore black wings, a black outfit, and awesome black make-up. I also spray painted my hair black. Which, by the way, has STILL not come out completely. My hair right now is a lovely shade of gray. It's like Murky Dismal sprayed a gloom cloud into my hair. Which leads me into my next topic...Rainbow Brite. For all of you out there who were kids in the 80's you know how fabulous those cartoons were! Who doesn't respect the Care Bears, Popples, Pound Puppies, Lady Lovely Locks, Strawberry Shortcake, Hugga Bunch, Jem, She-ra, He-man, Transformers, and of course Rainbow Brite. (I am sure I missed some great ones in there.) My personal favorite, though, was Rainbow Brite. Wes and I have recently been de-junking our closets and I came across Puppy Brite. According to the Baby Book that I also came across, I received said puppy on my second birthday making it 25 years old! I washed it and now it is shiny and beautiful. Just how Rainbow would have wanted it. However, this got me thinking about that magical and colorful cartoon. So, of course I ebayed the whole series and spent the last week watching it...and it was as fabulous as I remembered. Wes' sister, Nancy and her family came over today for dinner and we tested Rainbow's charm on her sons (a new generation of booey woos) and apparently she still has it. Because I don't think their eyes left the TV screen the whole time she was on. I asked Joseph (my 3 year old nephew) which character he liked the best and he pointed to the screen and said, "The girl on the horse." Yep, after 25 years, Rainbow Brite's still got it!

Fall Break

2008-10-19T20:18:00.000-05:00

I had a very relaxing Fall Break. It was perfect except for the fact Wes did NOT have time off. On Thursday, I did absolutely nothing other than read, sleep, and watch T.V. On Friday, I ran errands all day long. Today, I used some of the vast knowledge I collected on Thursday while watching Rachel Ray. I made Cheeseburger Salad. It was delish! (As Rachel would say!) Wes especially loved it. I think most of his enthusiasm was based on the fact I had actually cooked. Here is a picture and the link to the recipe in case you want to try it yourself. It only took me 30 minutes to make!

Link to Cheeseburger Salad Recipe

Happy Fall?!?

2008-10-12T17:46:00.000-05:00

Well, I have all of my Fall decorations out. The house smells like pumpkin spice and Wes and I are discussing what to be for Halloween. Even my blog is decked out for Fall. I have only one dilemma, when I woke up this morning, I looked out the window and what did I see?! Huge, wet snowflakes covering the tree. What kind of a crazy place is this? Today, I missed the East Coast where I would be looking at a million different colored leaves and wearing a light weight jacket. *sigh* But aren't my decorations cute?

It's Like an Alarm Clock! Whoo! Whoo!

2008-09-15T22:33:00.000-05:00

Shelby and Ted posted a funny video on their Blog. So, I decided to follow suit. The first time I ever saw this video I said, "Ted Sutarik would think this was hilarious." We're getting this installed on Shiara (our new car) immediately!!! Whoo! Whoo!
Whistle Tip Video Link

Back to School...

2008-09-14T14:45:00.000-05:00

Well, Wes and I had a great summer, but now we're both back in school. Him, the Padawan and me, the Jedi Master! He is loving Business School and I am missing last year's class. I do this every fall, though. By May, I will love them just as much as the previous group. I am posting a picture of my new Fablehaven reading corner. I am hoping it will inspire all of those booey woo 4th graders to desire to read all day, every day.

Are you inspired?

Which Look?

2008-08-23T00:28:00.000-05:00

I will be starting business school soon and would like some help picking my look. This is very important to me, as I want to make a good impression. Please consider the options carefully and make your vote using the poll on the right of the blog. Thank you so much for your invaluable insight. I'm sure my year will start out right with your help.

Golfing

2008-08-19T23:14:00.000-05:00

I had a great time golfing at the Cascade Golf center tonight. It's very relaxing and I did pretty well. (keeping in mind that my expectations were very low) I tied with the other guy so it was a good match. I plan on golfing more in the future, it's great.

I'm Alive!!!

2008-08-12T20:28:00.001-05:00

To all my dearest friends and family...You are lucky I am alive! I recently had a near death experience. About one year ago, when I moved to Utah, I signed up for dental insurance. Due to the Law of Procrastination, Wes and I were just barely getting around to doing are semi-annual cleaning and check-up. When I signed up for dental insurance, my insurance just gave me a list of dentists I could use. So I just randomly chose one near my home. (A little too near as it turned out.) When I called my dentist to make an appointment...he answered. The dentist answered! I don't know if all of you frequent the dentist's office, but that is not normal. That was my first sign. I greeted him and made my appointment, which was the NEXT day. That was my second sign. He asked me if I knew where his office was. So, I said no and asked him to just give me the address. (Thank goodness for GPSs) He then proceeded to tell me it was in the basement of his home. At this point, I got nervous. I hung up and told Wes about my conversation. We thought maybe he had a nice big basement with a huge swanky dentist office in it. We could hope, right. I told a few coworkers where I'd be just in case I didn't emerge. So, the time came and we pulled up to the office. When we walked into the office/basement, I saw that it was in fact NOT a huge, swanky basement office. There were wood paneled walls and a huge cougar skin pinned up next to a million dentist cartoons. Then, I saw the 100 year old man sitting behind the desk. As he led me into his torture chamber with his shaky hands and questionable instruments I only hoped Wes would not pop on his I-Pod, so he could still hear my screams if things got out of hand. As it turned out, he was a kindly 100 year old man (as most 100 year old men are) and although he stabbed Wes' lip, lost my insurance card, and told me stories about how he once got a false positive for an AIDS screening blood test when he was donating blood, we emerged alive. However, we will be seeking a new dental provider in 6 months.

Goodbye Gina

2008-08-08T01:41:00.000-05:00

For those of you who know and love Gina, I thought I would post a picture of her sweet "off-roading" skills. It took Dan Campbell and me about an hour to dig her out with a stick and a jack handle. I would have a picture of Gina in a river but Ted Sutarik and I were too busy shuttling our wives to shore and pushing her out of the water. Anyways, with the purchase of a new car, it's not without a little sadness that I return her to my parents. Farewell dear friend.

Logan Visit

2008-08-04T09:33:00.000-05:00

Jenn had a 3-day teaching conference in Logan, UT this weekend. My grandparents live there so we stayed with them while she attended the conference. My grandparents grow a lot of stuff. It was a lot of fun to eat rhubarb, peppers, and apricots straight out of the garden. I have a lot of good memories of the weekends in Logan. I spent hundreds of hours roller skating around Logan and rock climbing in the canyon. And, of course, I got married there to my Booey Woo. Jenn, LOVED, her conference and it was nice to visit both sets of my grandparents. We just happened to catch my parents in town as well, and that was a lot of fun. Have a great day.

Del Taco

2008-07-29T10:03:00.000-05:00

Steve Morton, a good friend, reacquainted me with a little beauty called the "Taco del Carbon". I used to eat these in Mexico but have only found them once from a cart in Salt Lake City. Now I know I can get them anytime at Del Taco. Admittedly, they aren't quite as good as the ones in Mexico, but they are still delicious.

My First Blog Entry

2008-07-24T16:21:00.000-05:00

Wes has been completely harassing me to get involved with our Blog. So to appease him and to do this "together" I decided to give in and create my first blog. The first of many many more to come. This is a lovely picture of the Great Smoky Mountains of my youth. Mostly it is Wes teaching me how to input pictures into the blog. I am using my new laptop and it doesn't have any pictures of us on it yet. I hope everyone who lives in Utah or Idaho is having a great holiday. For those of you that don't live in Utah or Idaho, today is Pioneer Day and here that's about as big of a deal as the 4th of July.

PicLens

2008-07-23T23:50:00.000-05:00

I found an awesome new tool for viewing images/videos. It's called PicLens. It works with Google, Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, etc. I don't know how to explain it. It takes advantage of 3D effects to quickly and seamlessly show you multiple images. If you're interested it's definitely worth checking out the "play guided tour" video clip at www.piclens.com

Thanksgiving Gardens

2008-07-23T17:21:00.000-05:00

Jennifer & I headed over to Thanksgiving Point to visit the 55-acres of gardens they have there. We had a great time. Apparently, they have the largest man-made waterfall in the Western Hemisphere, you can see part of it behind Jennifer. It was in fact quite large and very impressive. Here are a few pictures from my phone. You can see more at the Thanksgiving Point website.

Pixar Parade

2008-07-21T18:07:00.000-05:00

California Adventure was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed all the Pixar stuff. Our favorite rides were "The Hollywood Tower Hotel" (a.k.a. Tower of Terror), Soarin' Over California, and the new Toy Story 2 ride. The bug life 3D theater, Aladdin show, and Turtle talk with crush were also awesome. Here is a picture of part of the Pixar parade. The monster robot was moving it's arms and squirting the crowd with water.

Beach Visits

2008-07-20T16:19:00.000-05:00

I have always wanted to see the ocean standing on a beach. At San Clement, CA I got my chance and took it, as you can see in the picture. A few days later I went swimming at Huntington State Beach while waiting for our flight out of John Wayne Airport.

Lorikeets

2008-07-19T11:34:00.000-05:00

We loved feeding the Lorikeets ..... both times. Okay, so we really thought it was fun.

Killer Whales

2008-07-13T23:06:00.000-05:00

My first visit to Sea World was a blast. I loved it all but I have to admit that the killer whales were especially awesome. Jen & I slipped into the 2nd row of the stadium and quickly realized that we were in the soak zone!!! Most of my days don't start with a killer whale using its massive fin to hurl salt water in my face but this one did.

Vacation

2008-07-13T22:58:00.000-05:00

Jennifer and I just went on a vacation to Southern California visiting Sea World, San Diego's Wild Animal Park, Disneyland, California Adventure, and Universal Studios. We also had some time to slip down to the ocean at San Clement, and later Huntington Beach.

Our New Car

2008-07-13T18:39:00.000-05:00

I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our family "Shiara" named after a blue haired fairy in the book "Fablehaven". She is an '08 Suzuki sx4 Sport. We're pretty excited to have a car with air conditioning.