Halloween n Stuff

I think Dallin has a Halloween picture of both of us, together, on his phone.

Dallin is downstairs, working.

I am upstairs, blogging.

The distance is just too great.

So you get pictures of each of us, in turn.

Here is Dallin. He is a baker:


And here I am. I am also a baker. But I have an oven. And what is baking in my lovely oven?

A bun.


Ha ha! Get it?

We ooze of cleverness.

I know, these pictures suck. Maybe I'll put Dallin's pictures on here later. But if you know me, you're probably not betting on it.

So, Halloween.

A series of unfortunate e-mails that I received on Friday night led me to something of a nervous breakdown this weekend. I had a freak out party in my head about baby and money and who knows what else, but it seemed like the world was going to come crashing down.

It didn't. Don't worry.

However, ASU football suffered a(nother) devastating loss, this time against the Cal Golden Bears. We really should have won...we were very close to winning...so that was sad.

I am also fairly to moderately positive that I did not consume any food the entire day that had any sort of nutritional value to it. Yes, I think that's about accurate.

We did get to go to a fun party that night, at which we got to show off our costumes and play a few games, one of which was the donut-on-a-string eating contest (pictured above). Dallin and I did not compete against each other, but we did claim victory in our respective meets. Maybe we should have gone head-to-head...between you and me, I could have taken him.

We finished off the evening with a showing of Pirates of the Caribbean (the first one, duh), which led to a late bedtime.

And then there was (very) early church. We all know how I feel about that.

After (very) early church, I slept off my nervous breakdown a lil bit while Dallin proved that he IS in fact the most incredible person on the planet. He did this by basically cleaning the entire house, including doing some much needed organization in the baby's room.

I heart him.

Also, Happy November! It is very difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that our baby will be here this month. My due date is in less than two weeks. Less than two weeks, people! Do you know how much time that is not? A lot.

I may or may not be incredibly, irrationally excited about this. I'll let you know which.

So how is everyone?

Happiness Is...

having a husband that makes sure you always have a supply of Ben and Jerry's Phish Food in the fridge.



Love you, bambino.

What a Boy Wants

So I have this picture frame:



I've had it for quite some time now...I can't even really remember where I got it! And I've never used it. Only recently did I pull out the stock photos of couple smiling happily and bowl-haircut child.

But...my crafty dafty self (note: I am neither crafty nor dafty) came up with what I think is a pretty cute idea for this as of yet neglected frame. Since anyone that comes into our house will automatically be drowned in pictures of us anyway, I thought of spelling out some cute/inspirational/lovey type word by decorating 5 pieces of paper, each with a letter on them. (Can you see it? Can you see my vision? Well I can.)

So anyway, my problem has been, what word do I put in there? At first I was all excited because I thought there were SIX openings in this lovely as of yet neglected frame of mine, and I could spell "family" or maybe even "Harris." But alas, there are only five frames, for five letters. Bummer, dude.

So what five letter word do I put in? "Dream?" "Laugh?" "Faith" is out because we already have a wooden cutout thing that says "Faith." I've also thought of putting "Home" or "Love," and then filling the last square with either a paper heart or just one picture of us or something.

Well, like any believer in teamwork, I asked my husband.

"What's a five letter word that you like?"

Ok, maybe I could have told him what the five letter word was going to be used for. That might have helped. But then, of course, hilarity would not have ensued. For after contemplating this for a little while, Dallin answered, quite resolutely,

"Bacon."

And I laughed. And he didn't know why. So I told him, and he laughed too.

Maybe we'll put it in the kitchen.

Or maybe I'll choose a different word.

Dallin does really like bacon...

It's September.

It's SEPTEMBER.

This scares me to death.

I am scared for the following three reasons:

(1) It's SEPTEMBER and my baby is due in NOVEMBER.

(2) It's my little sister's birthday today and she is no fewer than EIGHTEEN years old.

(3) ASU football starts on Saturday.

Let's take these backwards...it'll be kind of like a countdown thing. It'll be fun.

(3) ASU football starts on Saturday.

If you wonder why I am scared about this, wonder no longer, for I shall explain all.

First of all, an ASU football game can make or break a Saturday night. Last year, lots of Saturday nights were broken. Crushed, really. Shattered, if you want to be frank about it. No, it probably wasn't the worst season ASU football has ever seen...but it might have felt like it. And now, me and every other ASU fan in the world has absolutely no idea if this season is going to be any better. Sure, our lousy quarterback graduated...but now we're left with a starting quarterback with hardly any play time under his belt. Yeah, ASU football hasn't had two consecutive losing seasons since like the 40s...but that might just mean our time has come. We do still have some big guns in our possession (Williams, McGaha, even Weber)...but we have a few more that are simply unproven.

Needless to say, my realistic hopes are approaching on their tippy-toes. We should win on Saturday...it would be incredibly embarrassing if we didn't...but the rest of the season may just have a dark cloud of doom hovering over it. I guess we'll see.

2) It's my little sister's birthday today and she is no fewer than EIGHTEEN years old.

I'll tell you what...wow. See, since there are six kiddos in my family, I've always kind of mentally divided them between the elder three and the younger three. Jenna is the oldest of the younger three...and she's 18.

18 is adulthood.

She's an ADULT? Wha-wha-wha-what?

Also, freaking out about this kind of makes me feel like one of those old aunts who can't say anything about you other than how big you are and how she can't believe how much you've grown, blah blah blah. Does anyone actually have one of these aunts, by the way?

At the risk of becoming that, I'll stop now. I love you sis! Happy birthday!

Now go get back in your footie pajamas.

1) It's SEPTEMBER and my baby is due in NOVEMBER.

We're in the "BER" months, people. September and November seem a lot a lot a lot closer to each other than August and November. Tell me I'm not right.

Can we say...freak out?

Furthermore, I am approaching the 30 week mark. 30. Weeks.

Do you know how long it takes a baby to cook? 40. 40. Weeks.

30 is almost 40.

Everything after 30 is really almost 40.

You get beyond 30...and you have...numbers of weeks left with only 1 number in them. Like...9.

Yeah, my baby's due in like almost 9 weeks. Gulp.

I should learn how to be a mom. That might help.

I should also buy some things...like a crib and some diapers (AHHH! CLOTH OR DISPOSABLE?!?) and some more clothes and a breast pump (tmi? lol. sry.) and some blankets and some bath toys and some make-your-baby-brilliant movies and a stroller and a diaper bag and oh my gosh baby needs a name!

Ok but really, I'm not freaking out this much. I still have a shower coming (probably second weekend in October...let me know if you want an invite! They haven't gone out yet...), and I'm not exactly Miss Workaholic right now, so I've got plenty of time to peruse stores/the internet looking for smoking deals on the cutest slash very most necessary baby items.

But still...there's a lot to do.

P.S. about the names...I think we've got it narrowed down. Maybe I'll write a post in a few weeks about all possible options, and then let the blogosphere decide for me! Yeah...probably not. But I'd at least enjoy the validation - genuine or not - about my name choices.

Baby's kicking/rolling/punching up a storm. I've been feeling sickish and am hoping it's pregnancy related and not cold/flu related. Dallin finally felt him while he was being really active (Dallin's felt him before, but never while he was really on the move) and said "So that's what you have to deal with?" Yeah, that and then some, babe.

Finally, and just fyi, I love juice. I am about to finish my fourth carton of juice in like, a week. Mmm...it's so yummy!

Wake me up when September ends.

Life Beyond the House

As if buying/moving into/fixing up our new house wasn't enough, life has still gone on.

Don't you hate that? I mean, sometimes there just isn't time for...life.

That was either really deep or really silly. Either way, love it.

So one of my nearest and dearest friends got married. That was joy on a stick.

Sometimes, I put things on a stick. Lots of things are better on a stick. Or at least, easier to eat.

So my lovely friend became a MRS.

Here she is in all her loveliness.

My loveliness was rather shy that day. Maybe if some pictures of it surface in the near future, I will let you see. I was priviledged enough to be a bridesmaid for my dear friend, so there might be a fun picture of us somewhere. I suppose that remains to be seen.

Also, in case you didn't know, we moved on my birthday. Yes, Saturday, August 15 marked 22 years of my being on this planet.

It was definitely a good day, filled with lots of little reminders of how many people I have in my life that love me...or at least won't turn us down when we ask for their help moving. In other news, my grandma called me to sing "Happy Birthday" to me, like she always does (at 7:00 in the morning, also like she always does), and it made me cry. And then I knew I was pregnant. I also cried a couple other times that day, usually because of something nice someone did for me. Ah, I'm emotional.

But anyway, we went out to dinner that night, and then Dallin and I basically came straight to our new home and were dead asleep by 9:30. Good day, but didn't so much feel quite like a birthday, to be honest. I wasn't going to complain, but I think my sweet hubby noticed something, because I had a surrogate birthday yesterday, thanks to him.

We slept in, then got up and went swimming, and then he made breakfast whie I got ready. And a delicious breakfast it was too - complete with a Dr. Pepper which was left in our fridge by one of his employees over the weekend. It makes me feel special to know that Dallin would steal for me.

Then we went to the mall, where we looked at baby clothes (Baby Gap will be my ruin), bought me a shirt and some protective stuff for my sweet new phone, and just walked and talked. Then we headed over to Target to start our baby registry. Key word here is "start." We basically just dipped our toes into this fantastical new ocean full of 23 different types of bottles. Hmph.

And then we went to Red Robin to enjoy my free birthday burger (yeah, sign up for their little club or whatever and you get a free burger for a week before and after your b-day. I don't say no to a free $10 burger these days). I quite love Red Robin. I'm such an American food person. Burger and fries, baby. Aw, yeah.

And then we rented "Coraline" from Redbox. Because that is much cheaper than going to the movies. I'm still not so much a fan of "that kind" of animation, but whatev. I wanted to see that one, and now I have! It was actually quite good. Ok but really, I was a little bit scared by it. It was like...a nightmare in a movie. Thankfully, it did not actually give me nightmares. I did have a nightmare last night, but it didn't involve anyone that had buttons for eyes. It involved someone breaking into a condo place that I was alone in. Shudder.

Anyway, it was a fantastic day, full of many things that I very much love. Dallin did an excellent job of making sure I felt very special, and of making sure we did things that I would enjoy. He also kept saying "It's your birthday!" which was cute and funny, but I had to keep assuring him that it was not actually my birthday, so that there's no confusion next year. We wouldn't want that.

Finally, baby and I had to take a test together last week, to make sure we don't have gestational diabetes. I was seriously dreading this, having heard several less than encouraging stories abou not being able to keep the sugary drink down long enough, being at the doctor's office for hours on end, etc.

It actually went very smoothly though. The actual sugary drink wasn't anything me and my taste buds couldn't handle, since they're probably pretty much made of sugar at this point in my life. And then my groovy new phone and I passed the hour long waiting time playing games together before I had blood drawn.

So far, the only result I've gotten is a nice greenish-purple bruise where the blood-sucking needle was stuck. But that wasn't unexpected. Anyway, I think the test is one of those "no news is good news" things, so I'll assume as long as I don't hear from them that nothing's wrong. Which is great! It's good to be healthy. Especially when you're so bad at taking care of yourself you don't really deserve to be healthy.

So yeah, that's been our life beyond the house. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but definitely enough to keep us extraordinarily busy. Especially once you throw in Dallin's work, which keeps him extraordinarily busy anyway. The next ingredient to be added to the mix: grad school. Starting tomorrow, I'm a grad student! Go me!

Ciao for now, amici.

There's No Place...

like home!

Now tap your heels together three times and follow me on a photographic journey of my new home!

I'm pretty sure you haven't tapped your heels together yet. If you thought I was joking, think again. TAP, people.

Now let us be off! Hang on to your hats, my friends. It's a bumpy ride.

BEFORE... the FAMILY ROOM was:

painted a peachy color (not peachy as in nice and pleasant in a down home southern kind of way...peachy as in, like a peach. The fruit)

And there was a gigantic hole in the wall. We can only assume it was for entertainment center purposes. I think it's also safe to assume it never got finished.

AFTER...the FAMILY ROOM is:

painted a nice, neutral tan color, complete with an accent wall in a darker shade of brown;

COMPLETE with some awesome new shelves built by my awesome, semi-new husband:

Woo-wee! Just look at those beauties.

BEFORE...the KITCHEN was:

lacking working, much less worthwhile, appliances:

and painted the same awesome peachy color.

AFTER...the KITCHEN is:

painted the sweet neutral tan color and decked out with new appliances to boot!

Of course, when I say "new," I mean, "new to us." Craig's List outfitted our whole kitchen for about $1300. That is why we use Craig's List. Thank you, Craig.

BEFORE...the HALLWAY was:

crying because of the carpet that was on it. I don't even have a picture that would do the ugliness of this carpet justice. Imagine carpet in the worst shape you've ever seen. Now go get some mud and rub it all over this carpet. Now wait a month. Now spill some questionable substances on it (hey, I won't ask!). Now get your lawn mower and mow the carpet. Now set fire to it. Repeat. Your carpet still looks better than this carpet did.

This picture was taken AFTER the carpet was removed. It looks better this way.

But now...oh, now. Now we have lovely carpet that I just love to squish my toes into.

The hallway is currently the only carpeted area in our house, but since we love this carpet so much, we are going to have an area rug made out of it for our living room! Hooray!

Also, this entryway lighting fixture:

became this entryway lighting fixture:

These hallway flushmounts:

became these hallway flushmounts:

and these kitchen track lights:

became these kitchen track lights:

All three bedrooms and the den were painted, except the one that had this awesome mural in it:

That one was destroyed.

The curly linoleum in the bathrooms was replaced with some nice new tile. We got a new water heater, since the old one was sick and dying. Several other lighting fixtures/ceiling fans were changed, but I won't make you look at all of them. Dallin swapped out a lot of the old baseboards for new ones, with the use of a new found toy- the nail gun. Toilet seats were replaced (something I could actually do!). Most surfaces in the house were steam cleaned (I could do that too). AND...

the pool is blue and there are no weeds and/or overgrown trees in the yard. You have no idea what an accomplishment these things are. The pool was greener than whatever grass was back there. Toxic, if you will.

So now, we're unpacking. Laundry is getting done (since we had the defective washer hook-ups fixed), boxes are getting unpacked, and project decorate/organize is underway. Some of the projects I've been working on for the past few days...

Cute-o storage baskets for my closet:

Setting up our kitchen table:

cleaning and lining the pantry to make it fit for human food:

and working on organizing this room:

which, as our extra room, I'm envisioning as a groovy hang out room, complete with my books and love sac, Dallin's guitar and amp, and baby's swing and toys. Let's see if we can make enough room in there...

As for all the OTHER stuff we've been up to, including (but not limited to) my being a bridesmaid in a wedding, my birthday, and a rather long and sugary OB-GYN appointment...well, you'll just have to wait. I got tired again just thinking about all the house stuff we've done (and have yet to do).

p.s. If I haven't mentioned how completely BLESSED we are to have this new home, and if you haven't assumed that I feel that way already, consider this your wake up call. I have a beautiful new home that my loving, hardworking husband and I have put a lot of time and work into together. I have an amazing family that has helped us along every step of the way (in fact, they are getting their own post later, I already decided). We were HELPED getting into this new house by a lot of people - not to mention a Father in Heaven - who really, really love us. And I'm going to have a nice, safe place to bring my beautiful baby boy home to in 12 short weeks.

Oh and also, just as a warning, these pictures are not all inclusive, and almost certainly will increase in number. Once everything is clean and put away, I'll probably have to show you more.

Vacay, Eh?

In celebration of Dallin's dad's 50th birthday (not to mention to just get the heck away), we flew up to Seattle last week. And if you think that sounds fun, hang on to your shorts, because we didn't stop there. We then drove the 4-5 hours to Vancouver, or, more specifically, the IN-famous ski resort known as Whistler.

This place would truly be a skier's paradise in the winter. Or a snowboarder's paradise. Or a snow lover's paradise. I am none of those things. But it is also not winter.

Green is good.

You know what else is good? Bungee cords. I've never really been grateful for them before, but I am now. Without them, I would no longer have a husband.

Of course, I would like to think that my husband would not throw himself off a 160 ft tall bridge towards a raging river of death if bungee cords had not been invented. So maybe I should be thankful for both bungee cords and my husband's...um...good sense. Combined.

Also, I am grateful for the smarty pants engineers who created this:

in such a way that it did not fall to pieces even when we were doing this:

over this:

This crazy gondola ride, known as Peak 2 Peak and built for the 2010 Winter Olympics, is...nuts. It takes you from one mountain to another. Yeah, uh huh.

Oh, and here I am at the tip top of a mountain. I am also 6 months preggo.

You betta believe it.

We also made s'mores:

(This is the better of the two pictures I got of Dallin eating his s'mores. Just trust me)

We sat in a bobsled:

and visited the bobsled track for the olympics.

Tour guide man says you can get up to 150 km/hr on this baby. You know that some people go down this track on a little sled, face first? It's a sport called Skeleton. I think it's called that because that's all that's left once your skin flies off.

We also visited a very pretty lake/park, at which I decided to look fat in every picture that was taken of me, except perhaps this one:

Oh, and a float plane dock:

and a giant stone man, more accurately known as an Inukshuk, which is a symbol of friendship and the mascot for the Olympic games:

AAAAAAAND, because I believe in saving the best for last:

Now, don't get too excited. I taught everyone long ago that guns are not safe in my hands. But hey, just the fact that we got to visit THE Biathlon site was good enough for me. Don't know anything about Biathlon? It's only the most random, and therefore possibly one of the most wonderful, sports out there. Here are the rules:

I told Dallin I was going to be a Biathlete someday. He then reminded me that I hate the cold, I don't like skiing, and I don't like guns.

So much for encouraging my dreams.

We had a fantastic vacation!! It was wonderful to spend time with family and be somewhere where our shoes don't melt into the ground. This is the closest thing I have to a group picture of all of us:

so you can work with that. Imagine 3 more people in it and everyone looking at the camera. Close enough.

Have a good one, eh? Stay tuned for info about and pics of our NEW HOUSE.

Spontaneity

"Somebody help me! I'm being spontaneous!"

Name that movie. I'll give you a cyber-hug.

So. I'm not an especially spontaneous person. I like having a plan. Or at least time to plan. Then even if I don't use it wisely I can say "Well, it's my own fault. I had time to plan." Anyway, I'm really not a "just do it" kind of gal.

Which is why, when I'm at work and I get a text from my husband at 2:30 saying he's had a rough day and that he would like nothing better than to leave at 6 and go camping, I have a small freak out party in my head.

"Where are we going to go camping?"
"Won't it be dark when we get there?"
"What are we going to eat?"
"Camping?"

So I text back: "is there anything besides camping you would like to do? something that might require a little less preparation?"

To which he replies: "I can't think of anything. And I really don't think it will be that much preparation - I just want to get away with you. We'll come back in the morning."

Aw.

So I agree.

We stop by Wal-Mart to get some stuff for breakfast, and go to Wendy's in Payson for dinner. The drive is pretty nice, and not too long.

We get to the campsite well after dark and Dallin sets everything up. By this time, I have to...you know... go. I am prego, after all. I tell Dallin of my need, and he responds by pointing the flashlight off into the woods. Ha. Right.

We had driven by some restrooms while in search for our campsite, so we make a trip back. While they certainly aren't pleasant (aka gag me), it was better than going to pee in the woods in unfamiliar territory in the dark, so I suck it up.

We are already pretty tired by this time, so we play a quick game of Skip-Bo and hit the sack.

Let the fun begin.

I have claustrophobic tendencies. I blame my grandma. I don't know if claustrophobia is hereditary, but I still blame her. I shouldn't...that's not very nice if it isn't her fault. Anyway, mine isn't nearly as bad as hers. I can sleep in a sleeping bag. Heck, I can sleep in a sleeping bag inside a tent. But put me in a sleeping bag inside a tent in 80 degree heat with a boy right next to me who wants to snuggle with me, and I kinda start feeling like I'm never going to escape. Snuggling became outlawed, which was unfortunate.

Also, sleeping bags are difficult to roll over in. A pregnant woman sleeping on a hard surface needs to roll over 763 times during the night, give or take. This led to much discomfort and frustration.

And large, beetle-type bugs kamikaze-ing into the outside of your tent as they try to get into the inside of your tent? Well, they don't exactly lull you to sleep. They make you feel like you have little pesky thingys all over your body.

Sleep came sporadically.

My first thought when I wake up in the morning - if you can really call it waking up when you've already been awake about 12 times before that - "I have to pee."

I don't want to drive down to the nasty restroom. I also want to prove to my hubby that I can pee in the woods. The thing is, I can't pee in the woods! Like, it doesn't happen. Not without stripping down. And I don't want to do that.

So I start getting creative. The solution?

"Hey Dallin?"
"Hm?"
"You want to go get one of those Wendy's cups out of the car for me?"

No, I don't go in the Wendy's cup in our tent, thank you very much. I go in the Wendy's cup in the woods.

Because if there's one thing a pregnant woman can do, it's pee in a cup.

After that excitement (well, during it, since it still took freaking forever because I'm lame like that), Dallin makes us a yummy pancakes and bacon breakfast. Dallin does most of the packing up, and I make trips up and down a decent-sized hill to load the car up. I only fall once. And it was graceful. Ok, no it wasn't. And I'm going to have a bruise.

Then we walk down to the river and explore a little bit before heading home.

About 7 minutes into the drive, we pull over so I could brush one of the large, beetle-type kamikaze bugs OFF MY LEG.

When we get home, we take a nap.

Because you know, getting away is tiring. And spontaneous getting away is downright exhausting.

But hey, it was nice to get away, and even nicer to do something that my sweet, thoughtful husband really wanted to do.

Especially because now he owes me.

Dear Mr. Dryer

Dear Mr. Dryer,

First of all, allow me to say that you are a fabulous machine. You and your kind have done wonders for me and my kind. For that, I thank you.

But now I must pick a bone with you.

It's an expression. It mean we've got problems, you and I.

The thing is, you are a dryer. A DRYer.

Runners run. Timers time. Bakers bake.

Dryers....

DRY.

They dry. This is the wonderful cause you were born to fulfill. Wet things become dry within you! No clothes, towels, or even shoes can withstand your heated tossing that leads to wonderful, wearable DRYNESS.

And this should all happen quickly. I should be able to run you for one cycle - one brief 45 minute-ish interval - and everything you hold within your cavern of drying power should be (say it with me) dry.

Let me break it down for you: WET. ONE CYCLE. DRY.

Let's just try to remember that, shall we?

And remember this as well: those lint traps don't clean themselves.

I believe I've made myself perfectly clear.

Sincerely,
Katie
Pregnant Katie
Pregnant Katie Who Is Often Very Tired
Pregnant Katie Who Is Often Too Tired to take 8 Hours to do Laundry
Pregnant Katie Who Is Often Too Tired to take 8 Hours to do Laundry and Is Frequently Armed with a Baseball Bat

P.S. You are noisy. Anything we could do about that?


UPDATE: So I wrote this post last night. This morning, Dallin tells me that he FIXED THE DRYER after I went to bed last night. Without being asked. Without even being complained to. The "Twilight Zone" theme song echoed through the room.

I'm not saying the universe somehow absorbed my written-but-unpublished thoughts and then passed them on to my husband.

All I'm saying is that I'm writing "Dear Mr. Kitchen Who Doesn't Clean Himself" right now.

Small-ish updates

Well, well, well - fancy seeing you here. It has been a while, hasn't it? I mean, it's really only been a couple weeks, but any time at all is too much, wouldn't you say?

Much has happened since last we met. Let's go over that real quick:

A house is not a home...

until you've bought it. We're currently working on this. It's getting a little difficult, since everyone else seems to have figured out that it's a pretty darn good time to buy - including those pesky investor people who have money and can pay cash for houses, thus defeating all us loan-getters. But hey - we did get pre-approved for the loan and everything, which is positive news. And we've got some good help on our side. And we've spent some fun, HOT days walking through lots of houses! And...you didn't get this from me...but it is very possible that we have actually bought a house! They've accepted our offer and everything. We're just waiting to make sure everything goes through correctly. Keep your fingers crossed!

Oh say, can you see...

(*note: You have to sing this part. You have to. End note*)

Oh say, can you see,
By the bright Utah sun
All those people in Richfield,
The parade marching by?
The weather is nice
And when the parade's done
They'll all eat with their families-
Hot dogs and apple pie.
And later that night
Everyone will get a fright
When Dallin and his brother
Have a firework fight.
Oh say, can you think of a
Better place worth stopping by
Than lovely Richfield, Utah
On the 4th of July?!

That was fun.

Anyway, we went to Richfield again for the 4th. Good times, good weather, good company. I love getting to see our Harris family! I also love that the Richfield Wal-Mart sells caffeine-free Dr. Pepper. We may or may not have bought a couple cases.

Pictures of this trip are scarce. Man, I hope you people have good imaginations.

New Addition

The Harris household as you know it is plus one as of last week! Meet Dayton Harris!


Who did you think I was talking about?

This is Dallin's brother. He just graduated from high school in Washington and is now living with us before he leaves on his mission in about a year. We'll only actually be living with him for a month or so - just until we get into our new house. He'll stay at the condo and keep an eye on things here for us.

New Addition #2

This one is still to come, obviously. He and I are both getting bigger every day. I finally found my cord to connect my camera to my computer, so I can show you that belly picture we took a couple weeks ago:


but I think this one might be a little outdated already. Maybe in a few more weeks you'll get to see what I look like today.

Baby has eased off my sciatic nerve, thank goodness. My back still hurts, but it's kind of more of a general pain that I was expecting to have anyway. Just kind of stiff and tired feeling. Kind of like the rest of me.

And also, just so you don't walk away thinking we are enitrely normal people with entirely normal lives...


MOOOO.

We dressed up like cows last night.
Because it was Cow Appreciation Day.
And Chick-Fil-A gave free food to everyone cool enough to show their appreciation for cows by dressing up like one.

We may have looked like idiots.
But we were cheap idiots.

Well, that's probably about all the excitement you can handle right now, am I right?

Until next time, go hug a cow.

Working Woman

I'm sure most of you have heard by now. I mean, this is big news - I don't know how you haven't heard, if you haven't. I figure you've at least seen the billboard I commissioned. Anyway...

I quit the bank.

It just wasn't worth it anymore, I tell you. Not worth it! Unhappiness was oozing out of my ears and making messes all over the place.


So I've been gone for about a month now. It's beautiful, man. I've even stopped yelling (or at least wanting to yell) at complete strangers because they are making/have made/were going to make my life completely miserable at the bank. Also, birds sing. They sing the "Hallelujah Chorus" in the back of my head whenever I don't have anything else to think about. It's quite magical.



Of course, quitting left me without a job. And I needed a job. I needed a job that would give me a lot of work - full time work, to be exact, since we are trying to qualify for a new house. I thought I'd get there with American Eagle, where I've been (off and on, part time) for about 3 years now. But, uh, no. Not even close. Not even close to close. It kind of pissed me off, to be honest....

So there I was, needing a job that would (1) give me at least 40 hours a week, (2) hire me like, right away, (3) not be completely miserable and horrific, and (4) wouldn't mind that I was (a) pregnant, and (b) probably going to leave the job after the summer since I am (i) having a baby and (ii) going back to grad school in August.

I got discouraged. This did not seem possible. Dallin, however, remained the picture of positivity, and spread the word to everyone we know - and their mothers - that I was on the hunt.

Turns out, it's a good thing word got to the mothers.

Enter our lovely friends John and Ceri. Ceri's parents run a Montessori preschool in Chandler, and they had been having "problems" (mysterious, deep-dark problems...I don't ask) with their office manager. Well, something(s?) happened to push everyone over the edge, and the school was left without an office manager right before the beginning of summer school.

40 hours a week. Starting right away. Paying me enough. Not needing to carry me over into the fall semester. At a preschool - and I'm going into Early Childhood Education.

Prayers. Are. Answered.

I've been at the school for only a few days, but so far, it has been a fantastic job! I'm doing my best to learn everything, and they're being very patient with me. The people are great, and I get to do a lot of organizational type stuff, which keeps me busy and helps me feel all neat and accomplished. I also get to spend a little time with the kiddos, which is FUN!

*Side note*: I am not making this job sound great just because I know the people I work with read my blog (hi guys!). If you think I am, come talk to me personally to get the "real story." I will then proceed to re-tell you everything I have written here, since it is all true. *End side note.*

The point is, this is exactly what I needed, exactly when I needed it. It's amazing how things turn out for the best when you have a few good friends, a little positivity, and a whole lotta faith.

Or at least, when your husband has them. Dang, I got me a good man.