Harris Happenings

Growing up...

2012-01-20T14:33:00.002-07:00

Remember when you were little and all you wanted to be was big? It all seemed so exciting and wonderful. I don't want to go back to being little but I do sometimes wish I would have been little a while longer while I had the chance. What do we do as grown ups that make our lives so glamorous to little ones? Do they really not see all the crap that we deal with? Do we really shelter them from the "real world" that much? Don't they see the car break down, the house become a mess, us lose our tempers, have a bad hair day, fight with loved ones, get sick and still have to work? Or maybe it's not that they don't see it but they have the better perspective. Really, I remember "bill paying day" it happened once a month and we were supposed to leave Mom alone. But maybe through 10 year old eyes 1 day in 30 doesn't make life suck. It didn't take away my burning desire to grow up. I remember my parents arguing (not very often) but I also saw them dance in the kitchen, go out on dates, hold hands, and kiss. Through the eyes of a 10 year old arguments didn't define a day or a month or a life. Grown ups were like superheros, rock stars.
SOOOOO maybe should put on our 10 year old eyes the next time we have a life sucks and then you die day. Maybe we should remember how badly we wanted this and love all the perks. Maybe we should cut ourselves some 10 year old slack and not get hung up on the little stuff. And maybe we should fight for 10 year olds to stay 10 as long as possible to help us all keep some perspective.

An Early Morning...

2012-01-04T08:41:00.002-07:00

I've decided that no day should start with a 4:45 wake up call. But that is in fact how my day started! Brian reported to MEPS this morning to ship to Basic Training. Yesterday, I got to take the day off of work and we just hung out. They put all the new recruits in a hotel last night and then they bus them to MEPS and then the airport. I got a room at the hotel, and when we got there the front desk said they would just assign Brian to my room rather than another room and a roommate. It was nice, except that Brian didn't sleep last night and at 4:15, I started waking up every 5 min paranoid that we would sleep through the wake up call or that it wouldn't happen. So we are now both very tired but it was worth it to get to hang out last night. 10 weeks, 70 days, 1680 hours. I put the official count down on my phone :-). We are excited to have started this next adventure. I'll keep the blogging world posted.

Kindergarten...

2011-11-25T18:01:00.002-07:00

On Tuesday I subbed in Kindergarten for a half day. This was a big step for me, as a general rule I avoid all things Kindergarten. I think that people who teach 5 year olds are going straight to Heaven. I was actually sort of nervous about dealing with 19 little tiny kids for 3 hours. But it was a lot of fun. It was a nice change from 5th graders. See in Kindergarten, I didn't have anyone argue with me, or with each other. They didn't feel the need to voice their opinion on everything. The math lesson was on the idea of more and fewer not exponents. I tied shoes and pushed kids on the swing and held hands while 1 little girl cried because the fire alarm scared her. I love my 5th graders, and the fact they have very distinct personalities and are starting to figure out the world. But 5th graders don't think I'm nearly as cool as the Kindergartens do. To a 5 year old, you can do no wrong. Teaching the little ones all day everyday would wear me out and not something I want to do. But every once in a while it is really fun.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-21T19:30:00.003-07:00

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is this week. At the beginning of November I thought about doing something to think about what I was thankful for each day. I thought about it, but it didn't happen. I spent pretty much the last month and a half thinking about myself. It's interesting what it takes sometimes to get us out of our own little bubble of a world. Saturday was sort of "blast from the past" day. I spent it with one of my best friends, we hung out "like old times". I was reminded that we all have different things going on in our lives. Good things and bad things. It's not that one person's life is better or worse than mine, just different. This dear friend of mine reminded me that all too often we try to plan and control every aspect of our lives. When things don't go according to our plan we get upset. We get impatient and frustrated when things don't happen on our time table. Maybe, we need to give things time and enjoy what we have right now. So today I am grateful for old friends, perspective, and embracing the moment.

Cold

2011-11-16T17:51:00.003-07:00

I've decided that winter is a trick to make us all fat. I mean really, who wants to eat fruit, salad, veggies, etc when it is freezing? I know, it isn't even that cold yet, but all I want to eat is warm food, hearty food. Also, who wants to change clothes and put on workout clothes to actually go to the gym? Seriously, fuzzy PJs and hoodies are not conducive to working out. Then you throw in that the 2 biggest food and treat holidays of the year happen in winter. It's a conspiracy. Winter is out to get me.

...

2011-09-30T13:43:00.003-06:00

This is another post about school, if you don't want to read about 5th graders you may leave now.

Today we read an article about a WWII era ship that was found 3 miles deep in the ocean with 250 million dollars of silver on it. The salvage company that found the wreak gets 80% of the money. After reading the article, each student wrote a paragraph about what they would do with 250 million dollars. I made a list of "average" prices for things like cars, houses, mansions, etc to give them an idea of how much they could afford. I was expecting to read and hear about buy video games and swimming pools and cars, maybe even some charity donations. MOST of the kids wrote about just that. Except for a couple of conversations: o
5th grade boy #1: "How much would it cost to buy a lady?"
Me: "....what do you mean?"
5gb1: "Like a girlfriend, a cute girl"
Me: "You can't buy a girl" (What I'm thinking is that would depend on how picky you are walking the Vegas strip...)
5gb1: "Why?"
Me: "It's illegal." (Except for in Vegas)
5gb1: "Why?"
Me: You can't own a person, and you can't pay someone to be your girlfriend.

Conversation #2:
5th grade girl: Can I buy an Australian Model?
Me: No, you can't buy a person in the United States
5th grade girl: But if he's Australian then it doesn't count
Me: Yes it does, you want someone to like you because of who you are not the money you have.
5th grade girl: Oh...

Conversation #3:
5th grade boy #2: Mrs. Harris, I want to buy a smokin' hot babe
Me: You can't but a girl, it is against the law!
5th grade boy#2: Can I bribe her to go out with me?
Me: No.
5gb2: But I want a smokin' hot babe.
Me: Then you'll have to get one without paying her to spend time with you.
5gb2: Well that's stupid.

This is the future. 10 year olds who think Prostitution is a GREAT idea. Sigh.

The workings of a 5th grade

2011-09-22T08:54:00.002-06:00

So what do you do when in the middle of talking about Jamestown in 5th grade a student raises his hand and asks you what all the Indians and Kings will do in the 2nd coming? We can't have all those kings in charge and Indians have never seen a car and where will they live when they all come back to life?
What do you do when you class develops a black market? See we have class money, and they can use their class money at our class store, our auction at Christmas and the end of year carnival. BUT now they're using their class money to buy and sell things of their own: snacks, origami, etc. They think I don't know but I do. Do you view it as capitalism and decide that you can't shut down, you can't have a communist classroom right? But what if I really want to shut down their black market/entrepreneur endeavor? Does that make me a power hungry dictator, or just a control freak? Can I justify it as preventing fights and disagreements when someone wants a refund and the seller refuses?
Do you see the dilemmas I face daily? These are tough decisions...

Off-Track

2011-09-01T16:36:00.002-06:00

Last year while teaching I always loved going off-track but after 3 weeks was always ready to go back. As this first off track of the new school year is almost over, I am NOT ready to go back at all. I actually have no desire to go back. This has been a fabulous off-track. I will give you the Reader's Digest version:
1: Park City: zipline and the new alpine slide
2: Seven Peaks Salt Lake (previously Raging Waters)
3: Crazy, Stupid, Love (good movie)
4: Slept in
5: Sat by the pool
6: Swam in the pool
7: Texas Rode House
8: Brian not working for a week
9: New shoes
10: Dyed hair
11: Charmed
12: Buffy
13: Cleaned house
14: Kept house clean
Again, I have no desire to go back to work. I also know that summer is quickly coming to a close, which means winter is on its way. I HATE winter! It is cold, dark, and depressing. Sure fall comes before winter and I like fall but it is too short. We did not get enough long summer days. Winter is taking over the calendar. November-April is 1/2 the calendar! GRRRR but on the bright side this was a great off-track and another one is only 9 weeks away.

Adjustment

2011-07-13T10:20:00.002-06:00

As of about 9:00 am this morning Brian officially signed and swore in for the Army...as a diver (think scuba diver, not coast guard rescue diver) . Apparently, the army has lots of ships. Divers maintain and repair the ships with underwater welding, do search and rescue and deep sea recovery. It was an interesting morning and definitely a reminder of how the Lord directs our path. On Monday Brian finally got to pick a position after lots of time and needing more or different papers for his packet. He tentatively picked Calvary Scout. Tuesday morning at 6 am we are at MEPS ready for him to sign and swear in. 7 hours later we discover he is missing a paper his recruiter should have taken care of and he can't sign. We went home tired and grumpy. Then today we were back at MEPS at 6 am to try again. This means we had to re-select a job. Today, diver showed up on the list. None of the recruiters at MEPS had ever seen diver come up as an option (it rarely does). There were 4 slots total for the whole nation. We almost didn't even consider it. But the more we talked the more it seemed right. Last night Brian was up until midnight because something seemed "off" about signing as a Calvary Scout. Divers have a low deployment rate, outside the military they are in high demand for search and rescue, cruise lines, and the oil industry (most start at $50 an hour). We started to wonder if maybe all the waiting and nothing seeming to work out had been for a reason. Today is the only day that diver will be available. We needed to be there today and sign for this job. Amazing how everything works out. So on January 4th he'll leave for basic at Fort Jackson and then 29 weeks of training. He has to make it through the first 3 weeks in Missouri (its apparently not easy) then he'll finish in Florida and we'll go to...we don't know where but I'm hoping for Hawaii

Sometimes...

2011-06-03T13:42:00.002-06:00

Most of my time as a teacher is spent jumping through hoops. I teach what the state says I need to, my students take tests the district and state say they have to. Some of it is important, a lot of it I think 4th graders could do without (Does a 4th grader really need to know the distributive property?). I also am often times put in a position that makes me have a classroom that is just like all the others: sit, don't talk, work on a worksheet. I can go a whole day and never hear or see the class across the hall from me, they are in their learning. Peek your head in their classroom... perfectly clean desks, perfectly clean classroom, perfectly silent scribbling away on papers. It is those times when I walk back to my room and catch myself starting to demand the same things. I get frustrated when I don't get the same results. And then I have days like today, when I stop and think we should do this everyday! It would have been hard around 11:30 to get to my classroom. You would have had to wiggled around 11 boys, huge sheets of paper, rulers, tape, notebooks, etc. These 11 boys weren't working silently, they weren't even whispering but they were measuring, problem solving, working together and creating. If you had made it to my classroom you would have seen every desk pushed up against the wall. Kids would have been working all around the floor. It looked and sounded like chaos, it was play practice for today. We still took a math and spelling test today (in silence). But I didn't have any kids ask if they could come in during lunch recess and do more math, I had 27 begging me to skip my meeting so they could come in during recess and work on their play. I love it. I love it enough to stop hearing the voice in my head that says every other teacher's room is silent and perfect and we should be like them and I remember this is how learning is supposed to be.

2011-05-17T20:52:00.002-06:00

If my sister gets to brag, I get to complain. I will complain about male metabolisms. See Brian and I finally joined my family's weight loss, get fit trend.Brian has lost 10 pounds, (in less than a month). His pants are literally falling off of him. He looks visibly smaller. I started 2 weeks before Brian, I work out longer, I eat less but I loose no weight, my capris from last summer still do not fit. I know guys have different/faster metabolism. It is just unfair. GRRRR.
The end.

I should be working...

2011-04-06T10:10:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I am working, sort of... my class is working I am sitting at my desk, reading blogs. I go off track in 2 1/2 days and I am not in the mood to read with groups. Plus I haven't gotten new books for my group. I should read with groups it is the most important part of the morning but... I hate it. Overall, I am bored. I am sick of the same routine. Get up, go to work (which is the same most days), drive home, get dinner, watch TV, grade papers, sleep. I am bored with my same old clothes, I am bored with my apartment. I tell my one of my students everyday that life is not Disney Land. If it was, we would get bored with Disney Land too. Right now though I would like a little Disney Land. Also, when I get bored, I start to look ahead and plan ahead which makes me antsy. I start planning for next school year instead of for what we are doing tomorrow. I start getting antsy for going back to school (someday it will happen).
Have you ever noticed that when you're bored or stuck in day to day routine it seems like everyone around you is doing great things and moving forward. While this is probably not true, that is what it seems like.

TGIF

2011-04-01T14:48:00.004-06:00

I am so excited that it is Friday. Not only is it Friday but it is Conference Weekend Friday, I love Conference. AND its 70 degrees outside AND in 1 week I go off-track for a month AND tonight I get to go to Red Robin and a Grizzlies game. Happy Friday everyone!

Friday Afternoons

2011-03-04T13:43:00.003-07:00

Dear Jordan School District,
I am writing in regards to our early out Fridays. I understand that these days were designed to give teachers, like myself, some "prep" time for the next week. I really do appreciate early out. Knowing I have less than an hour of school left after recess is often all that makes me come back after lunch. However, I think that you may have overlooked an important fact when deciding to do early out Fridays for teacher prep time. I am exhausted and DONE by Friday afternoon. This exhaustion causes my afternoon to vary in productivity. For example, last Friday, I laid on the table in my room only semi-conscious for about 20 min. I then wondered to another teacher's room and we talked for an additional 20 min. I finally decided that I HAD to get some work done and sat on the floor filing papers. I fell asleep within 5 min. At this point I thought about going home only to remember I had to stay until 4. I decided that sitting was not an option and tried to straighten my room and write on the board for Monday morning. I don't remember moving any papers or cleaning up but stacks of papers are still missing and I came in on Monday morning to discover that what I had written on the board was nonsense. Most Friday's follow this pattern.
It is now Friday afternoon, and I am facing 2.5 more hours of "work". I need at least 2.5 hours to get ready for next week but I also need a nap. Could I just lock my door, close my eyes and sleep for a while? Having a quality after school nap would really help with Friday afternoon productivity. Quality here meaning uninterrupted, on something soft (I don't even need a pillow). I appreciate your consideration on this matter and hope to be in contact.

Sincerely,
Kelsey Harris

Random Thoughts

2011-03-01T08:25:00.002-07:00

We got a hamster. About Friday of last week Brian started talking about wanting a Gerbil, and we went to the best store and looked, debated getting a rabbit, and then I said lets sleep on in and if you still want a Gerbil we can go get one. We then went to a different pet store because their cages were cheaper but there were no Gerbils. So we got a hamster. His name is Rex and Molly loves him. She sits and watches him run around in his wheel, and tries to lick him. She actually did last night. Rex likes to climb the bars of his cage making his stomach very exposed to the dog sitting as close as dogly possible and she licked his stomach the funny thing was he didn't seem to mind. :-).
I was just attacked by a herd of elephants... I have tried for over 100 days of school to make them come in quietly, we have practiced and practiced but it still takes about 5 min for them to come in and settle down and work quietly. I have also learned that it is better to let them take 5 min to settle down than to try and get them to sit down and shut up right away, it seems to make the chaos last longer. So I just sit and watch as they all talk and just wait patiently knowing that eventually I will have fourth graders and not a herd of elephants.

Off-Track

2011-01-25T14:19:00.004-07:00

Whoever thought up the idea of year round schools was a genius! They should get some sort of metal or certificate. Seriously, I am not sure what I will do when the day inevitably comes that I have to teach on a traditional school shedule. Sure I went to school on a traditional schedule for 16 years of my life but now that I have had a taste of year-round I don't ever want to go back. Sure it is sort of tiring that every 9 weeks I have to take everything out of a classroom and move BUT this also prevents me from having piles of stuff build up everywhere. I have no idea how people have full time jobs, keep their house perfect and clean, cook dinner, workout, have hobbies, friends, get their hair cut and dyed and then add children into the mix. Seriously, as the piles of crap build in my house and as our extra bedroom gets more and more messy I just tell myself I'll take care of it when I'm off track. Yesterday, I finally rehighlighted my hair cause I was off-track. I may even have time to finish the book I started a year ago. Then I think well... even as a traditional teacher I would get June, July and August off that would be time to get all caught up. But how does the rest of the world do it? Really I can't imagine going to work 5 days a week, all the time. I would go crazy, the rest of my life other than work would fall apart.

New Year

2010-12-29T17:52:00.002-07:00

Even though my Christmas stuff is STILL up...that's tomorrows project, I have been thinking about New Years and New Years resolutions. A couple of years back Dad encouraged us to pick a scripture for a New Years resolution, or sort of a motto for the year. I have decided to do this rather than the usual making of resolutions and goals. Mainly, because I am sick of them. I am sick of starting to think about what I should focus on through out the year and quickly coming up with a list that could be a book, then trying to pick one or two from the list/book. Another reason is that setting yearly goals, or resolutions usually just makes me grumpy, for me the list/book quickly turns into a list/book of everything I don't like about myself. It makes me wonder if the world would be better off focusing on what makes them happy and doing those things rather than making goals to change everything they don't like about themselves. Wouldn't we all be more likely to exercise if we found a way to stay active that we enjoyed rather than the painful dragging ourselves to the gym or onto the treadmill? The change would still be there, the weight would be lost, but we wouldn't hate ourselves doing it. Going to the gym because you're fat or out of shape is miserable, if you like the gym, great... if not find something else. Too often my life motto, is life is hard, and its because I make it harder than it needs to be. Constantly worrying about and focusing on everything that is not perfect about me or my life is exhausting. So, while I want to constantly be growing and changing and getting better, life and the experiences and trials it brings seems to have a way of making that happen on its own. This year I am going to focus on 1 thing: "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy"- 2nd Nephi 2:25. I am going to do more of the things that make me happy, spend time with people that make me happy and stop stressing about everything else, because I already have enough gray hairs...

Tis' The Season...Maybe

2010-12-17T14:34:00.002-07:00

It is December 17th, Christmas is in about a week and yet I am just not in the Christmas mood. We put up our Christmas Tree, stockings and nativity set, there are ornaments hanging from the ceiling in my classroom, we made Christmas cards, we read Christmas stories, I have planned our Christmas party, I have been Christmas shopping, and went to Forgotten Carols. BUT I am just not in a Christmas-y mood. Perhaps its because I am working until Wednesday the 22nd, or maybe its because I HATE the cold, snowy weather. But I am just not feeling very Christmas like. To me it seems like the older I am the more rushed Christmas is.

Blog Much?

2010-11-15T18:27:00.001-07:00

I have completly gotten out of the groove of blogging. I still try to read peoples blogs and keep up to with them but I don't ever blog. Im sure it has something to do with moving up to Salt Lake, getting a teaching job, having 2 weeks to get a classroom ready, teaching, going on a much needed vacation (I love year round schools) and more teaching. Right now as I type this I should be doing report cards for the dreaded Parent Teacher Conferences on Wed. and Thurs this week, but I am not. I love my job and I do manage to get down time Im just not always awake for the down time. Really though I think part of why I haven't blogged in forever is that I now live closer to most of my family than I have in 4 years and get to see and talk with them alot. Blogging seems sort of repetitive. On a random side note, Jordan District has this evaluation called JPASS where the principal has to come watch 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year teachers teach. It is a stupid hoop to jump through and is ridiculous. I met with my principal today to go over the results. She hands me the paper and says. "you passed." (The score you have to get to pass is ridiculous a monkey could pass it). Then reminds me that she has to come again in January. The End. Seriously, no how are things going, no this is what I saw you could work on, nothing. I think it is very odd to go from student teaching where everything you do is graded and evaluated to not ever having feed back from anyone. Very odd... and now I really have to go do report cards.

2010-07-28T13:11:00.002-06:00

Alot has happened since I last posted. Most recently we moved. The original plan was to move at the end of the month into Brian's parents' basement. We had decided that even without a teaching job I could do more subbing up in the Salt Lake area than in Cedar. What was supposed to be 2 weeks to move turned into 3 days and we are now officiallly in Kaysville. Jobless but in Kaysville. As I drove out of Cedar last Saturday with my car full of stuff I realized that I had lived in Cedar for 4 years and despite knowing that it was time to be out of Cedar and that going up north was the best decision, I was a little sad leaving Cedar. It holds lots of memories. Some of my favorites are:
1: My apartment flooding freshman year
2: Walking to Ihop and eating a ton of food
3: Pastry Pub
4: Ballroom (I could list a ton but I'll just say Ballroom)
5: An orange stuffed frog and falling over from laughing
6: Alternative Spring Breaks
7: Dating and marrying Brian
8: Our first apartment with orange counters
9: Going into old houses
10: The Block
11: Sleeping in the student center, the library, the science building, pretty much everywhere
12: Student teaching
13: Working for the Family Support Center
14: The sheep tunnels
15: Cheesecake and diet coke at Denny's.

Not a Good Blogger

2010-06-02T13:05:00.003-06:00

Not having internet at my house sucks! I am currently sitting at the library on campus using the internet because I was running errands and thought to stop and check the bank account. As I logged into the computer I thought... one of these days this log in isn't going to work anymore since I am no longer an SUU student. BUT let me tell you the 2 days of summer vacation so far have been very nice. I was able to apply for 13 teaching jobs yesterday. I was able to clean my house. (I ignored the laundry). I am sure sometime in the near future I will get bored but for now between job hunting, cleaning/organizing and weddings I am very okay with life being low-key. Let me tell you ending a school year while I am sure it is great for the kids as things start to "wind-down" is very hectic for a teacher. Not wanting to throw academics out the window for the last 2 weeks but being met with rebellion at trying to force the kids to do the "same stuff" they've done all year is difficult. The last week I felt like I had to trick the kids into academics. We played many math and reading games. But let me tell you most teachers seem to hate the last day of school. I loved it. Maybe it was because for once I didn't panic that I had kids standing on the counters (they were cleaning), or that we had to get something done, it was very nice to just have a low key day. Well maybe low key isn't the right word between taking their desks out in the hall, cleaning everything in the classroom, and an ice cream party with 19 different topping choices most of which were candy the classroom was actually pretty loud but we had a good time. Maybe that's were all the problems in the 3rd grade came from... the fact that I think doing the same centers week after week is boring, and that some days I don't want to grade a math worksheet, I have come to the conclusion that my medication induced ADHD causes me to HATE making the kids sit and work silently. Its like when I told the 3rd graders I knew they hated end-of-year testing, and that everyone hated testing but it was important and we needed to get it done, according to the other 3rd grade teachers, I shouldn't have told them that. I don't see why not. I explained why the tests are important I didn't say the tests were bad just that I knew they didn't like them and that grown-ups don't like taking tests either. Im not going to lie to the kids...I told them part of life was doing things we don't like but are important like going to the Dr. ANYWAY, this has been one rambling post, I apologize for those of you that have sat and read the whole thing. I promise better ones in the future.

Not a Good Start

2010-05-11T08:35:00.001-06:00

I woke up TODAY to snow. That's right, snow, not a lot of snow but there was slushy snow on my car this morning. It is cloudy and rainy and cold. Not how I wanted my birthday to start out... I'm hoping the weather does not reflect the day.

Web 2.0 (This is for CSIS.. the rest of the world can just skip it)

2010-04-28T20:11:00.004-06:00

Web 2.0 is all about the idea that originally the internet was used by people but controlled by companies and web-experts, then with the introduction of message boards, social networks and (drum roll please) BLOGGING, the internet became more shall we say.. democratic-"by the people, for the people". Which is great, I think its awesome the internet allows people a forum to get their ideas out and connect with the world. For example the sites such as the dietcokediet.com started as blogs, they are people writing to help out their friends and neighbors in cyberspace. So now a YouTube video link about Web 2.0

Bad Night

2010-04-19T08:35:00.002-06:00

For those of you who haven't heard, on Saturday evening Brian and I were walking Bella and she got hit by a truck. We rushed her to the vet, but as he started to look her over we realized that there was nothing we could do, her back right leg was completely shattered and would need to be amputated. Her lungs had blood in them, and when she breathed it sounded as if air was going where it shouldn't. The vet gave her a 30% chance to live, if he could get her stabilized and to St. George, the odds of her surviving the trip were worse. Also, the cost (with not payment plans available) was creeping towards the $3,000 mark. Brian and I decided that it would be best to put her down, and not make her continue to suffer.
We have only been able to find 1 picture of her. If anyone has any from Christmas or anything like that we would love a copy.

Interviewing is stupid!

2010-04-14T14:44:00.003-06:00

I am not a good "butt-kisser", I am not a good here is the "right" answer for an interview person. Because I think interviewing, as with all other shmoozing (spelling?!?!?!) is STUPID. If you really want to get to know someone, maybe you shouldn't try to trick them, that is how I feel about questions such as, "What is your weakness?" Really? Lets hire someone based on how well they LIE! That is what we are asking, don't really admit you are human and sometimes screw up, and have weaknesses but make one up so it can sound like a strength.Im pretty sure an interviewer doesn't want to hear that I accidentally threw away the 3rd graders ungraded pre-test for Spelling and so canceled the final spelling test this week. Because, I struggle with staying organized. In the education world, they always ask, "What is your favorite (strongest) grade to work with? This again is a trap rather than admitting and saying I love ___ grade because. Oh no that's not okay because then you aren't flexible. So you have to Miss America it. "Oh i love every grade, they all are fun and unique..." If you say, "I really HATE kindergarten.." That is the WRONG answer. How can there be a WRONG answer when you are asking for an opinion... don't we teach kids an opinion can't be wrong?. Do people who are interviewing actually expect you off the top of your head to be able to give EXAMPLES of something. When they ask, give us an example of a time you were proactive, what did you do? Why? How did it work? And I'm supposed to just PULL something out of my butt? You want to know what happens 99% of the time.. people MAKE stuff up. Again with the LIES. Having done 2 Target interviews which are all "give me an example of a time"questions. Let me tell you, "This one time at Odyssey.... BS, BS, BS. I usually don't completely make up a story but I do combine them and like I can remember details. But we have not yet come to by LEAST favorite, biggest pet peeve question. What unique qualities can you bring to this job?... Well since
A) I don't know the people who work for you all that well, how am I supposed to know if it is a unique quality?
B) The shear fact that I am ME. Its not 1 quality that makes a person unique, it is their life experiences and their personality. No matter who you hire you're getting someone unique.
C) I have no idea what the hell would be the "right answer"
I am going to babble out some B.S. that isn't really a unique quality.
When I am a principal and get to interview people, I am going to take them to lunch. We are just going to talk, no trick questions, no 1 person vs. 6. Then I am going to actually watch them teach. Watch them interact with students. Seriously, I challenge any principal, teacher, person in this world to come watch me teach, and then to just sit down and talk with me about teaching what happened that day, what I did etc; Get me started on education, behavior management whatever, in an actually conversation (not a LIE) and not hire me. Seriously, that sounds terrible, I know I haven't been teaching for 30 years or whatever, and have a lot to learn but I feel like I can hold my own with any other teacher...BUT instead they'd rather have me BS my way through an interview.
The End

Just kidding: I'd like to pass a note on to a certain parent who sits on a certain board of directors at a certain charter school.
I understand that you have an inferiority complex because you run and are "the boss" of people who have more experience than you in the education world, I know that a part of you knows this and in order to make yourself secure and validated you want to hire someone who LOVES parents and their input. However, asking the same question twice is stupid. Asking, "Give us an example of how you deal with parents." and "How do involve parents in the classroom. Is the SAME question.

Keys

2010-04-12T17:29:00.002-06:00

Today was my first day as a long-term sub in the 3rd grade. Stacia (the 3rd grade teacher) had her baby lasy night! Today I was on my own. It wasn't bad at all, it helps that I have been in there for six weeks and basically on my own. But it is nice to not have to run plans or what I think we should do by another teacher. Also, I have my own keys to the school and classroom, and today when the office buzzed our room they asked for Mrs. Harris not Mrs. Leugers. Overall, though the day was pretty typical. Not fist fits, or parts grabbing. Just talkative 3rd graders as alway. Oh I guess on weird thing is that it snowed toay. Really hard. The class has indoor recess for lunch. Whew, its a good thing they get an hour of PE on Monday afternooons to give them a break. Stqacia was really great and got a lot of the year all ready to go, All I have to do is pull out the files and teach the lessons. I am very excited though to be on my own and to get PAID for teaching. WAHOO. And because I am nerdy I lock the classroom door a ton, 1)because it makes me feel cool, to have keys and 2) there is a cleptomanica in the 4th grade... literally its part of her IEP/health plam. Hopefully the rest of the year goes smoothly!

Things I Secretly Love...

2010-03-25T17:55:00.002-06:00

We all have those things that it seems like EVERYONE around us hates or maybe we say we hate ... but we secretly love them. I have decided to confess to those secret loves.
1: The Disney Channel-, yes this includes Hannah Montana and therefore Miley Cyrus.
2: Trashy magazines- Cosmo, People, US, you name it I love it.
3: Being sick- I know this one is weird, but every once in a while it is nice to have a day to moan and groan and watch seasons of The Office. Not a fake sick day, a real one. (And not in a creepy, psychological disorder. Just once a year)
4: Grading papers- Gives me something to do while I watch TV, which in turns keeps me awake during said TV. And I just think its fun.
5: Cleaning- I am not good at maintaining clean and organized but I love to get clean and organized. I love waking up on a Saturday after not doing any cleaning ALL week and spending all day cleaning up.
6: Speaking in Sacrament Meeting- I don't know why but I love writing talks, I love giving talks.

That's it for this addition of Confessions of a Mouse.

Some Days...

2010-03-24T14:42:00.002-06:00

Some days I miss my cute, non-attitude giving, 1st graders. One of these days happened last Thursday when during our prep hour the office buzzes the room to tell the teacher and I that 3 students are being sent back from Music... Sigh. I go to meet these students coming back from Music. 3 boys were being brought back by a very upset, very angry, very frazzled music teacher. The only words out of her mouth were, "I don't know what has gotten in to your class today, I wish I could send them all back." I told her, "I'll come get them." Apparently in 20 min of a 30 min music class NOTHING had been able to happen because students were talking, calling out, arguing, rolling their eyes, throwing things, etc. I tried VERY hard to not yell, or scream. I told them to get out their notebooks, and write an apology letter to our dear music teacher. I did not want to hear about how they did nothing, EVERYONE was writing a letter. Or else they would not be going home (there were 10 min of school left). Needless to say we made the next day of school very painful for 30 3rd graders.
Another one of these days happened yesterday. The class was in Centers, I had just finished with a reading group and a girl comes up to me and says, "Mrs. Harris, Frank (name has been changed) is rolling on the ground holding his privates... He agonized and hunched over when he walked for the next 30 min moaning and groaning, he told me he hadn't been kicked or hit, but this had happened on Saturday. 10 min before lunch recess (after telling him he would have to go lay down during recess if he wasn't better), he is better, walking, smiling. He goes to recess, then lunch. As the class comes back from lunch, Frank is missing. I am told he is in the lunch room crying. APPARENTLY, he wasn't faking, a janitor had to carrying him to the office, and once laid down and stretched out it wasn't his privates that hurt but his lower abdomen. His mom cam and got him. He was not in school today... we are worried it is his appendix. OOPS!

How to Guarantee Craziness in a Classroom

2010-03-17T15:45:00.004-06:00

If you have ever thought, "Hey I think it would be really fun to make 30 3rd grades have a crazy, bouncy, non-productive day", the following steps will make your dream come true.

1: Drastically change the weather. Pick a day where it starts out with snow and cold (perhaps it snowed that very morning) and by 10:15 it is pushing 50 degrees with promises to reach 65.
2: The day will need to be either the day before a "holiday" or the day of. (Really anything the kids are looking forward too will work)
3: Have a fire drill
4: Have a girl punch a boy twice in the nose, causing him to gush blood.
5: As the story of the punch comes out, it must involve 5-6 students "playing" (i.e. holding said girl down and rolling a giant snow ball over her).
6: Said girl must decide she doesn't want to "play" only after the snowball has been rolled on her.
7: When said boy is punched the first time he must retaliate by pushing said girl.
8: Said girl then punches said boy for the second time causing a bloody nose.
9: Have a spelling pre-test, and a math test back to back.
10: As the adult, insure that you start the day with little patience and tired (i.e. a headache, and 4-5 hours of sleep, after working until 12:30 the night before.)

You now have a way to cause craziness! It has already been through a trial run so I guarantee 100% success.

The odds and ends.

2010-03-02T18:26:00.002-07:00

I will start this post with complaining about the state of Utah. I just did my taxes and we own Utah 4.00. Seriously? I think this is a little silly. I would like to propose a compromise. Since ideally this next year my paychecks will come from the taxpayers. I as a teacher will buy 1 package of paper. This way the $4.00 of Utah tax money I would have used to buy paper will not be used and we'll call it even? Along those lines, I think it is silly that I don't get a tax break for being a teacher it seems as though I am almost paying part of my own salary... Just a thought. 3rd grade is going well. They like to push buttons and boundaries a bit more than 1st graders do but I like it. Im looking forward to long term subbing because the tests will be over and we can do science and other fun things that we dont do now. Currently we spend ALL day in literacy, math and 1 special (art, music, pe, etc). But I must go now. I have to run to Wal-mart and get things to be a pirate in tomorrows Character Education play. The theme is self-disciple. The counselor thought I was crazy when I told her the pirates (who are lazy and procrastinate) should sing We are the pirates who don't do anything...

Hash House A Go Go

2010-02-14T13:37:00.002-07:00

Last night Morgan and Derek took Alice and I to Hash House a Go Go. I got a stuffed burger. 2 patties of meat with mashed potatoes and bacon in between them. It was the size of my head and I ate the WHOLE thing. Thats right! And I have pictures to prove it....

BEFORE DINNER

AFTER DINNER!!!

The food was amazing! Whoever thought to put REAL mashed potatoes in a burger was a genius.

I guess I should Blog...

2010-02-11T16:09:00.003-07:00

Its been about month since I blogged. But recently I am not sure what to blog about. I live life by a routine currently. Wake up, go to school, go to work 2 days a week, or go home and ignore everything you could be doing like the dishes or laundry or homework, sleep, watch TV or Buffy. Answer my phone when it rings. Go hang out with people when they invite me (Id hate to seem anti-social even though I sort of want to be). Take the dog for a walk. Move from the couch to the bed about 1030. Sleep, repeat the next day.

The First Week of 1st Grade

2010-01-09T13:44:00.002-07:00

Let me begin this post by saying while 1st grade is not as bad as I thought 6th graders are way better. Moving on, I have survived the 1st week of student teaching. I have a very laid back teacher which is nice. I do not really like having an aid in the room all morning, she could actually go away and I would be alright with that. And while I was frustrated because I felt like my teacher didn't want me to do much, I learned on Friday that she didn't want to just make me do things I wasn't comfortable with. She had to take care of a parent issue after lunch, which left me to read Junie B Jones out loud to the the class, she apologized no less than 15 times for just making me do it. Also, who knew that telling 1st graders to put their math manipulatives under their chairs so they wouldn't play with them was "genius" and qualified a math lesson to be "amazing". Overall, it was a good first week. Only 5 more to go than I go to 3rd grade. The 3rd grade teacher is having baby the last week of my student teaching so I get to go from student teacher to long term sub through the end of May. Also, I have successfully completed the first 2 assignments for the computer class that I have registered for 4 times before this but have never actually finished. I have not eaten out once this week, I went to the gym 3 times this week (I worked the other two nights). Take that New Years Resolutions!

Sometimes Life's Just Hard

2010-01-02T12:32:00.002-07:00

Like when your car dies on Christmas Eve and the cost to fix it is 2,500 dollars. You learn to live with one car. Or when the day after Christmas a grandparent dies (at least it wasn't Christmas Day...which happened last year). Sometimes your "vacation" makes you more tired than real life, and you come home and are looking forward to normal every day life. Somewhere along the way, between the swearing, the crying, and asking are we going to be okay? how are we going to make this work, you think,"Welcome to life". Has there ever been a year when something hard or bad didn't happen? If it hadn't been the car, it would have been something else. At least you and your spouse are healthy. You're not homeless, or hungry. You're both employed, you have one car that runs. You have TV and movies to watch, a dog. Shoot you went on a 10 day cruise in May. Family who is helping you out. Sure I could make a list just as long of the not so good stuff. But who couldn't? I know plenty of people whose list would be longer. I know lots of people I wouldn't trade places with. So yeah, sometimes life is hard. But it could always be harder.

Elementary Education

2009-12-09T15:48:00.002-07:00

Elementary Education is a very unique major. To maybe shed some light on the world that I live in I have compiled a list:
The Top 10 Ways You Know Your an Elementary Education Major (in no particular order)

10: Your backpack has more Crayons in it than pencils and pens
9: To get a group of peoples' attention you use phrases such as, "Give me 5" or "1,2,3 Eyes on Me"
8: You know what the following acronyms stand for: DIBELS, IEP, AYP, IDEA, CRT, ADHD, PDD, NCLB.
7: There are only 2 guys in your class
6: One of the "textbooks" you bought last semester was James and the Giant Peach
5: You have piles and boxes of things such as paper towel tubes, ribbon, Popsicle sticks, post-it notes in the shapes of flowers, and old magazines.
4: You make your husband draw you giant pictures of mousetraps, band aids, and flamingos.
3: You never wear white(its just going to get dirty), and must always have pockets.
2: Your math final was the 6th grade end of year math test.
1: You graduate college having never written a paper over 8 pages!

2009-12-03T15:56:00.002-07:00

1st and 3rd Grade! FIRST GRADE! I thought I would be safe from the world of tears, and nose wiping, and dependency. Since I am not an early childhood emphisis and there are about a 9 in my class I thought for sure I wouldn't get 1st grade. But no I was wrong. And to be honest 1st graders scare me... 6th graders not a problem but 1st graders are so sticky. Teaching children to read completly baffles me and seems like an impossible task.
Moving on...
It is officially Christmas Season! But before going on about Christmas. Thanksgiving was great! I liked getting to spend sometime with Brian and then spending the weekend with family. Minus having to wear and itchy moo-moo getting to go through the temple with Caleb was awesome!
Now on to Christmas. Our tree went up the day after Thanksgiving. Tragically I went to Roberts and Christmas decorations were 50 % off. I had good self control and just bought candy canes to hang outside my door. They are super cute. I love Christmas time, and now that I am done with school for the semester Im hoping to get more into the Christmas mood. I haven't even listened to Forgotten Carols yet. But I have started one of my favorite part of Christmas which is getting to buy Brian Christmas presents. Silly I know but it really is one of the best things. And 1 more piece of good news Brian got the 24th-27th off so we will be up to see family for Christmas!
Hope everyone is getting into the Christmas Season!

Made it Through!

2009-11-24T18:21:00.002-07:00

Minus a 2 page write-up on my experience at the middle school... I have EVERYTHING done for the semester. Wahoo. Still waiting on a student teaching placement but by Monday for sure I should have one... Maybe. Things are going well here. I am having to relearn how to entertain myself though, Brian works 330-1200 even on the night that I work I am done by 930... and tonight I don't work so I am remember how boring Cedar City is. I am also remember how much I HATE how early it gets dark. It is 630 and pitch black outside. We aren't going up North for Thanksgiving and since neither Brian or I know how to cook a Turkey we are doing steak and potatoes and pie.Yum! So I am off to Wal Mart to get what we need for Thursday!

Too Busy to Blog.

2009-11-16T16:09:00.002-07:00

I am now going to give you the Reader Digest version of what has been happening here in Cedar City. I am super busy with school and work so this may be the last post for a few weeks til I have time to resurface.
1: This last weekend Brian's parents came to stay. It is always nice to be with family but I am once again reminded that I did not get the entertaining gene, and by Sunday wanted everyone to go away. Nothing to do with who the company was, just the fact that I had company. We got a chance to see Kemille and the boys on Sunday as well. Fun for all!
2: Brian got the Team Lead position at Convergys we will be staying here next semester while I student teach
3: By little Brother got his mission call. Fortaleza Brazil! Very cool!
4: School is killing me. One of my professors just moved all of our due dates up a week to insure that we get everything back by the end of the semester. :-(
5: I had to take the Methods of Teaching Elementary School Praxis... I will be taking that one again since I am pretty sure I failed. I was the most horrible test I have ever taken and every person who told me "not to worry about it" was not being truthful with me!
6: I have a huge "Resource Toolkit" (aka annotated Bibliography) of 5 fiction books, 5 non fiction books, 10 websites, and 6 activities all related to the US Constitution due on Wednesday...
So I am off to do that!

A Halloween Adventure

2009-11-02T12:09:00.007-07:00

On Saturday afternoon Brian, the dog, and I went on an adventure. It didn't start out as an adventure, but sort of turned into one. The original goal was to take Bella to Enterprise reservoir so she could run around and play. We got to the reservoir and discovered it has been drained. We climbed around on the dam and around the reservoir for awhile. This is a picture from the bottom of the dam. All of the pictures are really small because I had to take them on my phone. This is t

On the way back from Enterprise, Brian wanted to see how close you can get to the mine dump hills. Well about a mile down the side dirt road, the road ends and there is this big "Iron Bull Mining Company-NO TRESPASSING" sign. This did not stop us. We just got out and walked. Along the way we found: An old outhouse

We also saw old telegraph poles

This is what we decided was the old dump shoots, the iron got dumped into little carts, and then got put onto trains. Its hard to tell from the pictures but we're pretty sure that is what it is. Tragically my phone died before I got to take all the pictures I wanted, but we are going back and going to get more pictures. We think we found a backway in to get us closer to the actual mine. There are tons of old half structures, huge 5 inch around metal cables, lunch pails, the list goes on and on. As long as you ignore the no trespassing signs and can jump the fence. It is awesome! It was also a little eerie, standing at the bottom of a lake bed, walking across the top of a dam, and wondering around an old mining site. But over all a great day!

Only In Utah...

2009-10-22T15:27:00.002-06:00

Today while grading papers in the 6th grade, one of the questions asked them to write a sentence about Judisim using 2 words from the word bank. 1 of the words was 10 commandments. The sentence this student wrote was "Nephi gave us the 10 commandments." :-)

A strong urge to burn everything!

2009-10-17T14:29:00.002-06:00

No I have not become a pyro. We got a call on Friday from the foster mom of the hellian children. Apparently when she took the kids to the doctor, he found "the worst case of LICE" he'd ever seen on the girl. Live lice not the eggs which means they are brown. How did 13 adults miss a bunch of brown bugs crawling around in platinum blonde hair? Worse yet the doctor is saying there is no way that we all don't have lice... I wanted to vomit literally. I have been very proud of the fact that I have never had lice. Despite 2 friends having in in elementary school. So not bother to check or wait and see if little brown bugs begin crawling all over my head. We went and got the lice kit from wal-mart. We sprayed and washed everything! I washed my hair (twice) with the stupid shampoo. Even the dog got a bath and a wash with the shampoo. I figure better safe than sorry. Ugg...

A Long Week

2009-10-15T14:50:00.001-06:00

It has been a very long week. For school we went to schools in St. George. We each got assigned a teacher and spent Monday-Thursday in their classroom. Well this means having to be in St. George at 8:30 every morning. Which means leaving around 7:45. Which is early for me. Monday night I worked from 5:30-11:00 and it was the worst night at work ever. I didn't help that I worked Saturday and Sunday, or that we had 3 of the worst kids ever in shelter. Seriously think the Herdmans, just violent and rude, and difficult. I was kicked, punched, yelled at, sworn at. It was not fun. At 8:45 I called Brian and made him come in. Sunday and Monday work dissolved me to tears. Tuesday was the guilt trip staff meeting. 2 hours of how hard of a life these kids have had and how we have to love and respect them (I really just wanted to spank them). But going to St. George was good. I actually got to teach Math on Wednesday. Its always nice to have the chance to actually teach and have someone watch so they can give feedback. And now Im done! No school tomorrow or Monday!! Nice long weekend and Im officially half way through the semester. :-)

Back to Reality

2009-10-06T14:56:00.002-06:00

Oh it was so nice, last week we ditched town Thursday night and spent Friday Saturday and Sunday with family. The girls all got to go out. Brian and I went over to some friends on Friday night and had dinner and played games. It was just nice to get to relax for a weekend with family. Of course that means that we see very little of conference because we get distracted and all day Sunday we were driving. But we recorded them and will make our way through them all eventually. And now it is Tuesday and coming back to Cedar and school and work seems to mean that I get to be sick...again or maybe still is the right word. All last week and over the weekend I felt so much better I really thought I had beaten this cold, however, apparently Sandy/Kaysville has a different cold virus than Cedar because I woke up yesterday feeling horrible and slept all this morning til I had class at 1. Thankfully though I have a wonderful husband who last night came to work and did all the cleaning for me. I was wiped out we had 3 more kids come into to overnight and they were way traumatized. They got there at 8 and it took a lot out of me having to physically restrain the 7 year old so she wouldn't run away... But I called Brian and he came. He played with the boys and cleaned the Kitchen and the toys he even hung out while I slept on the couch til 11 when I could go home. I really am lucky, he just came and got right to work and made me sit and do paperwork.

1 year.

2009-09-28T16:09:00.002-06:00

Wahoo! Brian and I have offically been married for 1 year! Crazy huh? And for our anniversary celebration we laid around the house. Brian finally went to the Dr. on friday after missing a week of work. He has a sinus and ear infection and bronchitis. Saturday I had to CPR/First Aid certify. I wasn't allowed to touch anyone or share anything because I am sick as well. We watched all of the show Firefly and many many movies. At least we could take turns getting more to drink, changing the movie, going to get dinner. Now the week has started again and Brian while still coughing seems to be feeling better and went back to work. I however, do not feel better if anything I feel worse and I have to work tonight. No one was willing to take or switch me shifts so Im off to work... 6 kids 2 one-year-olds 0-over the age of 5. All of them need baths and to be put to bed, and I have to clean. I am seriously debating what would happen if I just didn't show up, turned up my phone, locked my door and went to bed. Oh and if a thermometer tells you you have a body temperarture of 93.2 and then when you retake it 95.5 is it broken?

Mondays...

2009-09-21T16:06:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I wish my week did not start with a Monday morning but if it didn't start with a Monday morning it would start with a Tuesday morning and this post would still exisist it would just be called Tuesdays...Regardless of what day it is that the week starts on it is inevitable to be a long day. Mornings are painful as we all know but that first morning of the week is the worst. It takes me til noon to feel like I am really getting started. I walk around in a daze from about 8-12. Well mostly I sit in a daze because I have class but really my brain just does not want to work on Monday mornings. I always seem hungrier, slower, and grumpier on Mondays. Maybe it is because Mondays are LONG 8 am-11:30 pm is a long day in my book. Maybe it is because I have weekend hangover (different from alcoholic hangover). Who knows but for some reason I struggle. However, somewhere in the daze that was today Math turned out to be the highlight (sickening I know). We took a "pretest" last week in my Math class it was the end of year 6th grade test that students take to determine 7th grade placement. 37 questions if you got 31 or more you dont have to take the final at the end of the semester. Well my teacher put the scores up. One person got a 37... I vaguely remember in my daze thinking that was not me I got a B in the math for elementary school teachers... math is not my strong subject. Well the next thing I know my professor has announced to the class while handing back the tests that I was one that got the 37. So no final for me! That helped the daze lift a little :-) Even though I wish my professor hadn't told the whole class...

Never Having Children

2009-09-13T18:05:00.002-06:00

After this weekend I have vowed to never have children. I worked 8 hours yesterday and 8 hours today. We have 5 kids in 24 hour care right now... the 4 ages 3-8 are GREAT so cute and so well behaved. HOWEVER the one 1 year old not so great. It isn't her fault she has a cold. You can hear it when she breathes, plus she is getting 2 molars in one on each side her gums are huge and nothing seems to help. So she screams and fusses. She doesn't sleep through the night because of the pain and being sick so she is grumpy all day. She wants to be constantly held and sometimes still screams. I think to myself... I get to go home in a couple of hours but what if you were my kid and I couldn't go home and pass you off???? I would literally go crazy. I don't know how anyone does it. Seriously I HATE it when we have babies come in that are teething. And all babies do it, its not like my kids wouldn't. FINALLY I broke the rules I couldn't listen to her scream any more so I gave her infant tylenol and got 45 min of her sleeping to clean for the next person. We aren't supposed to give kids meds unless mom and dad bring it in with a note saying how much and how often. The problem is this baby is in state custody so no note from mom and dad for her. But she just kept screaming and shaking. And I was going CRAZY. I literally could not get her to be quiet for more than 5 min. So I have decided to never have kids. I have seen enough moms desperate and at their wits end. Enough overwhelmed moms who have disgusting houses because they are just too worn out to clean, and I do not do well when sleep deprived which is sort of how you live being a mom. I get grumpy and mean and completely irrational. so to avoid running the risk of being one of those moms I just won't have babies. We will adopt 3 year olds.

Panic Attack

2009-09-04T15:09:00.002-06:00

So this afternoon (about 20 min ago) I went to the campus Wellness Center to make an appointment to get my Ritalin refilled. (Why they won't just do what every other Dr does and put on the prescription do not fill until... and give me 5 months at a time is beyond me). Anyway went to get my Ritalin only to find out that the Nurse Practicioner who can fill the Ritalin had a family emergency and will be gone ALL of next week. Problem I do not have enough Ritalin to get me through a week or even the weekend. The little Secretary did not believe me when I told her I could NOT function with out it. She just smiled that smile that says silly ADHD girl just deal. Except that I am NOT ADHD I am Narcoleptic and have class ALL DAY EVERYDAY... I seriously started to panic right there in the Wellness Center. They may as well have told me I had to have a shot. Just typing this tragic tale is making me shake and have difficulty breathing. Who knew that one little pill could have so much control. Now some of you may be saying to yourselves that I survived for 19 1/2 years I will survive 1 week. Except for 2 things... I slept through class ALOT and now that I am not used to being narcoleptic all the time I struggle with feeling constantly ill, shaky, and having killer headaches. Its going to be a long week. If you don't hear from me by the 16th I didn't survive...

Kelsey LEE Bills

2009-09-01T13:34:00.003-06:00

Kelsey Lee Bills is a different person than Kelsey Rae Bills (now Harris). However the State Department of Licencing that runs background checks failed to realize that we are different people. Therefore when work went to run my background check like they do every year the BCI came back rejected. Kelsey Lee Bills was convicted of theft last September in Sandy. Meanwhile Kelsey Rae Bills was sitting in class in Cedar City counting the days til she got married. Thankfully by boss is still going to let me work while we sort through this mess. I had to go do finger prints. I have to write an offical statement, I have to send copies of my drivers licence, social security card, birth certifcate, marriage certifacte, a new BCI, and the fingerprint cards. All to prove that my middle name is Rae and I have not been convincted of theft...

Holding on by a thread

2009-08-29T13:26:00.002-06:00

My poor laptop for 3 years it has be hauled to classes, work, roadtrips, etc. But he is tired and going much slower than he used to. He has requested that I have only 1 window open. Not a word document, music, and 4 tabs on the internet. He just can't keep up. I think he is grumpy. He used to be the smallest thing on the block now all the little ones are everywhere. I just keep telling him that he has a CD drive that they don't have. Sometimes that helps him keep going. I also remind him that I just need him to make it through 1 more year and not crash completly since he holds all of the documents for my portfolio. Hopefully he can hang in there.

The First Week

2009-08-27T21:20:00.002-06:00

I have decided that part of college is that for 3 years I have been doing absolutly nothing of any value or anything hard. And now that I am 2 semesters from graduating and 1 semester from student teaching my professors have decided to make up for 3 years of nothing worthwhile. I have class for 8 hours on Monday and Wed. 4 hours on Tuesdays (Tues mornings are reserved for catch up and seminars etc). Thursday and Fridays we spend all day in the schools. In 3 days I got 6 6 page syllabi (plural for syllabus). Signed up for 8 group projects. Got assigned 150 pages of reading due next week and got student teaching papers to be filled out along with a resume and cover letter and signed up for practicum hours in the school (5 of us ended up in 6th grade in the middle school) Now for 3 years and in high school I have never done said assigned reading. Except now they have decided to hold us accountable. One professor gives quizzes, one makes us come with an activity for each chapter and questions to be turned in. The other we have to keep a journal. So I actually have to read. For 3 years I have had the "correct" format for a lesson plan drilled into my head. And now they don't care we can use whatever format we like. We have been told at least 30 times that classroom management is the key to success. So why for three years have I been taking classes that never touch classroom management ? Now we have 1 semeseter to do it all. I sort of feel like I am cramming for a major test. Except I didn't choose to procrastinate for this one... it just happened. As a side note sitting is the most exhausting thing in the world. To sit in class for so many hours makes me more tired than I have been in a long time. We didn't even do a full week. Monday was a half day and we don't start in the schools until next week. Its going to be a long semester. I picked the wrong time to give up diet coke.

2009-08-20T07:53:00.002-06:00

Most of you out there have heard by story about coming back from a charity gold tournament which was really fun pretty much a free vacation. I even got to meet Sen. Hatch. Yes, I did drive the wrong direction, yes I did get pulled over for DUI and speeding, No I wasn't drunk. Yes I cried. Yes the cop knew my sister and drew me a map to her house. No I didn't get a ticket. But the most amazing part of this story to me. Is the fact that I drove from Cedar to Midway without falling asleep. I drove from Midway to Sandy and back to Midway without falling asleep. I drove from Midway to Manila (til 2:00 am) without falling asleep. And....(drumroll please) I drove from Manila to Cedar City without falling asleep. It took us 7 hours and I still didn't fall asleep! You all may be impressed.

Nothing to Blog About....

2009-08-06T10:57:00.003-06:00

I haven't posted in awhile because I felt like I had nothing to blog about but as I have been reading others blogs I have decided to blog today about the many small and simple blessings in my life. While it is not my anniversary and I have not moved into a new house I am going to be all mushy gooshy today about all the tender mercies that seem to have been popping up since the last time I blogged. Like a sister in Las Vegas and one in Arizona who let me just talk and talk on the phone. Or a mother who calls the sister in Vegas to find out "what is wrong" with me and sends me an email with just what I needed to hear that day. Friends at work who will go shopping with me and get lunch with me. Old roommates who come to Cedar City before jetting off to China so we can hang out at least once a year :-). Or old roommates who forgive me for not calling yesterday because I got stuck at work. And lastly a husband who loves me. Who makes me dinner when I have been at work all day and haven't eaten when I get home at 9 o'clock at night. And brings me diet coke whenever I need it at work. And will let me be crazy and sometimes does things for me just because they are important to me even when he really doesn't want to.

Moving Fun!

2009-07-20T11:52:00.002-06:00

I went on Saturday to help Morgan and Derek move. I think mostly the truck was more help than I was but at least I could bring that. Las Vegas is HOT. But overall it ended up going fast they had lots of help and their new place is great! I had a good day and it is always nice to see family and catch up. We are lucky to live a close to Vegas and have family close by to hang out with and be helpful and supportive. Other than that life continues on here in Cedar. Days filled with Work and more Work. I have also reached that point in the summer when it is time for school to start again. Walmart has their school supply section out I have enjoyed a nice summer break but it is time to get going with school. The sooner I start the sooner I am done!

A Hidden Talent

2009-07-11T12:31:00.005-06:00

Oh its not my hidden talent... Its my mothers. We took her shooting on Sunday and she was by far the best girl. She hit 2 clay birds (thats for Lexi) with the 22 rifle and LOVED the hand gun. Its a big one too! I can't wait til we get her shooting the 22 hand gun she'll never put it down. Dad had to tape his drivers licence to his glasses to cover an eye, Caleb was also very good. Josh held his own. And Lexi looks like a James Bond girl when she shoots... its pretty entertaining. Overall it was a good day. So far this week not too much is going on, just lots of working and this morning we went garage saleing (spelling?) with out friends Shane and Mandy. I had to work very hard to not call them Rummage Sales... :-). Last weekend was a good weekend, I went up to Salt Lake a fewe days before Brian who had to work, and enjoyed the 4th of July and hanging out with the family. Caleb was nice enough to let me tag along to see the Proposal for the 2nd time with Him and Lexi. Josh came with me to get a Jamba Juice and 3 hamburger buns for Mom (she meant 3 packages but it said three hamburger buns on the list she wrote me with a map of where to find hamburgers at wal mart). Brian and I got to see his sister and her 3 cute boys who adore Brian. Summer is going by fast, soon it will be school time again and since I have not gone to school all day 5 days a week since my Jr year of high school I am a little worried. Oh well it is the last semester before student teaching. Im done rambling now!

Here is Mom shooting ignore my finger trying to block the sun.

Here is Lexi.... notice the hip pop. We Love her!

Josh being James Bond.

Sorry they are small they are off of my phone :-)

Looking for Duck Creek...

2009-06-28T20:24:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we went exploring up the canyon, as we set out we were trying to get to Duck Creek resovoir however we ended up going driving and discovered Navajo Lake we had never been and it was really cool, however as we were driving around, Brian pointed out that the Lake was clean as if it had an outlet but there was no outlet to be found. We had seen a sign for Cascade Falls on our way to Navajo Lake and decided we would go check those out. We discovered that Navajo Lake's outlet is sink holes that turn into Cascade Falls. So we went hiking to the falls. We ignored the trail closed signs, and despite being in flip flops made it to the falls.

A tempting quick fix

2009-06-25T20:02:00.002-06:00

So I was reading Cosmopolition (A girl I work with left it at my house). And I read about this woman who was about to resort to gastric bypass surgery to try and lose weight and keep it off. However a few weeks before surgery her friend came to the rescue and introduced her to this fiber that comes in capsule form so you swallow like a pill. It is 100 % natural, it is like super fiber that when you eat/take it, expands in your stomach making you feel fuller faster and as all good fibers do help to metabolism your food so that it is less likely to sit un used and turn into fat. The woman went to 3 doctors and all of them agreed that it is completly safe, Japan has been using it for years. The woman lost..47 lbs in 7 weeks, has stopped taking the fiber and has kept the weight off for over 6 months now...I should not have read this article especially after being frustrated that after either riding my bike or walking everyday and limiting my fast food intake to less than once a week and eating lots of fruits and veggies no chips, minimal cookies, my graph has only gone down 3 squares... after a month. The trial package of said fiber for someone who wants to loose 20 lbs that comes with enough for 3 months was $45 dollars, that seemed pretty reasonable as I sat there feeling pudgy. But then i remembered that i am leery of "quick fixes" and as ritalin is an appetite supresent and I only eat once maybe twice a day as is I decided to keep trying the old fashion way even though I am more hungry now that I excersise than I used to be which makes it really hard to not munch all the time, but if by the end of the summer it doesn't work I am getting the super fiber.

Neglected

2009-06-20T18:52:00.002-06:00

I know I have neglected our poor blog. But life has been crazy! We moved into a new apartment which is much better than the old one but that was very time consuming and unlike our old apartment where there were plenty of unsecured networks to get internet off of, there are NONE at the new apartment so I have to go on campus to blog and that just hasn't happened. Currently I am at work where I have been since 10 30 this morning and will be til 9:30 this evening. Eating those stupid frosted animal crackers even though I know they will make me sick they were there I was hungry. Really nothing is going here, I work like a crazy person so does Brian thankfully we usually both have nights off so we are getting to actualyl spend time together. Today at work we did what is called a super saturday and have 30 some odd kids here and did a Circus day, petting zoo (well two goats and a llama) included. It was crazyness but now it is done and mostly cleaned up after and everyone has left so it is just me. Bored and wondering when Brian will be back from shooting so I can have him bring me food other than animal crackers and chicken nuggets...

Pictures.

2009-05-28T19:57:00.001-06:00

I accidently posted our cruise post with no pictures, however pictures in blogger is slow and a pain in the butt. So check facebook for pictures or come hunt me down and i'll show them to you.

An Epic Tale

2009-05-26T11:04:00.002-06:00

WARNING: THIS POST MAY BE LONG. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

An Epic Tale of the Harris' Family Adventure Aboard the Carnival Valor.

A cruise is the most wonderful form of a vacation. To begin with we got on this gorgeous boat and for a week get 5 star service. We relax and just enjoy. We had wonderful food, all of which is included in the price of the cruise so we ate as much as you want. If you want to order two dinners, you can. There is ice cream always available. Pizza, hamburgers, buffets, sandwhiches. Diet Coke, what ever you want. Each night we got mints on our beds and cute little towel creatures. It was warm and sunny but because we were on the ocean there was always a nice breeze. We played shuffle board which was really fun. Each night there is a movie on the big screen on the deck. We would walk around and sit on the deck which it was dark and cool. It was wonderful. We made friends with one of the couples at our dinner table from Florida, Robin and Will, it was fun to hang out with them for the last couple of days. Brian finally caved and tried the waterslide which was surprisingly fun, and fast. We made 4 stops.
Stop 1: Grand Cayman.
Parts of Pirates of the Carribean were filmed in Grand Cayman. So lots of things have Pirate Themes. In Grand Cayman we discovered that I (Kelsey) am Snorkeling Impaired. My mouth is too small for an adult snorkel but a kids snorkel is like breathing through a straw. However, Brian swam with a sea turtle. He thought that was really cool. We mostly walked around looked in all the shops.

Stop 2: Roatan Honduras.
Robin and Will let us tag along with them to a private island. For 20 dollars a person, we got to go to an island that they let 40 people on a day. There is a beach, a pool, a resturant (with tasty food ), and animals. Monkeys that come to the edge of their cage and let you pet them. It was a GREAT day of just relaxing and enjoying one the most gorgeous places in the world.

Stop 3: Belize
We went Caving! We saw petroglyphs (spelling?) of Mayan Gods at the mouth of the cave, and sacrificial pots, as well as goregous cave formations, and a scorpion spider, it is a spider with the body of a scorpian but has 8 legs, the little one was the size of a baseball counting its legs, we thankfully missed out on meeting the bigger ones. We got to zipline, and do a mini repel, as well as being fed an awesome lunch. Belize is Gorgeous. Brian thinks he should be an anthropologist...and go discover the mysterys of South America.

Stop 4: Key West
We were orginally at a loss of what to do in Key West it was HOT and we didn't want to just walk around all day. We decided to rent a scooter and Robin and Will did too, being from Florida they have been to Key West and took us around. We rode around the Keys on our scooter ALL day with out sunscreen... Brian's arms are purple they are so sunburned. But it was really fun.

Needless to say we did not want to come home. And we will be going on future Cruises... Anyone that wants to come along in the future is more than welcome. It is amazing really if anyone has ever even thought about a cruise or heard about one... GO!

I am more tan that I have ever been and I am tanner than Brian :-).

A very happy birthday!

2009-05-12T09:13:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I didn't have to work which was really nice, and Brian for my birthday gave me strict instructions to go shopping... he knows me so well. So after lunch with Alli, I went and got a new shirt and jewlery. When Brian came home we had to make a detour to Wal-Mart for the third time... But I'll get to that part of my birthday later. Then Brian and I went to Pizza Factory, it has tasty bread sticks and the good ice. We went for a walk and had Strawberry shakes. Overall, it was a really good birthday, nice and relaxing. There was one minor hiccup caused by my stupidity. I went to Wal-Mart and bought earrings and a bracelet. My total was 8.48, I grabbed my receipt and went home. Brian got home from work and checked the bank account... a 108.48 charge had come through from wal-mart. I went to grab my receipt to show Brian I had not spent 108.48 at Wal-mart. But it wasn't my receipt... it was the girls in front of me. While I sat there very confused and baffled. Brian begins to explain to me what has happened, I ran the debit card, saw the receipt and grabbed it thinking I was done, but I didn't say no cash back. Someone had taken 100 from my account. So we go to WalMart, Brian explains to their security that we need them to look up the next transaction from the receipt I had, and they need to go watch their cameras to prove that someone after me had taken the hundred dollars. So we file a police report and go to dinner. The police called later that night to explain that a Wal Mart employee had grabbed the money, and taken it over to another employee explaining she had found it in the self check. Well watching the camera, there is a guy who overhears goes and gets his girlfriend who comes up to the employee all frantic and claims the money. Then they walk out of the store. Now all we can do is file with the bank as fraud and hope they put money back in our account...
The End
I really had a great day!

Finally!

2009-05-02T13:16:00.002-06:00

I am done! No more tests, no more homework, no more class, until Aug. Summer Break is officially here, and I am sure it is going to go by too fast. I have a list of things that I will do during summer:
1: Spend lots of time with Brian we coordinated our schedules so we only work opposite hours twice a week :-)
2: Get my teaching portfolio organized for next year
3: Read all of the Newberry Books
4: Clean the carpets (they smell like dog)
5: Go Rollerblading
6: Go camping (I told Brian I would)
7: Get tan or maybe less pasty is a better goal.
8: Get and stay in shape
9: Relax
10: Hang out with friends

In Case You Ever Wondered...

2009-04-27T08:34:00.003-06:00

Having nine kids under the age of 10, seven of them being 4 and under is a BAD IDEA!
Trying to give them all baths, and have them in bed by 8:30, is crazy thinking.
Then after all nine are in bed cleaning the last thing you want to do.
Finally you collapse in bed, and your last thought is... I get to go back tomorrow sigh.

After a month of waiting....

2009-04-15T09:44:00.003-06:00

My Praxis scores finally posted! I passed,(I got a 183) which is good because to retake them would have meant 80 dollars and not being able to take the test til June. I can now register for next semester and am one step closer to being done with school at least for a little bit.
Also it snowed in Cedar this morning, I woke up to snow and ice everywhere, it isn't a ton of snow and hopefully it will melt before I have to ride my bike to work, because our car is... STILL at the dealer. The dealer, who because they are so kind (eyeroll), is willing to pay 800 towards a new (technically used) engine for our car. The rest we have to pay. A car that they sold me with said engine problem that was "undectable" and now after 5 times at the dealer they suddenly found. BUT if we really don't want to pay to fix it, we can still drive the car but the engine will probably blow within six months, maybe if we're lucky it will make it a year. Here is what really gets me, Brian told them to give us 3,000 for the car, the value as is currently for a private sale. Then they can either a)put the $1,600 engine in the car, that has 30,000 less miles on it then the current engine and sell the car for $7000, still making a profit. or if they don't want to put the new engine in the car, scrap the car for parts, and since EVERYTHING works and we have had multiple parts replaced trying to get said car fixed they would probably still break even. GRRRRRRR

Easter!

2009-04-13T09:36:00.004-06:00

In order for my story to make sense you will need a little background information. As Wal-Mart started putting out their Easter section about 6 weeks ago. I declared to Brian that I love Easter, which I do. He informed me that he hated Easter and thought it was stupid that we use bunnies and eggs and what not as a way to celebrate the Resurrection. A few weeks later while once again walking past the Easter stuff I asked him if even though he hates Easter if we could still dye eggs. Being the sweet husband he is he agreed. But on one condition I had to explain why I loved Easter. I had to think about it... and I decided that in my mind I always associated Easter with Spring when everything is new, as I got older General Conference always seemed to fall around Easter and that is always motivation to get things in order, start again, reset those goals from January. Plus its just fun! We were supposed to go up north so I just sort of thought we would do Easter fun at Mom and Dad's but then we ended up not being able to go so I was a little disappointed. Anyway moving on.... So on Saturday we went to the grocery store and while there got egg dye. That evening we had to go to wal-mart and Brian informed me that I had to go away for a few min and he would meet me by the red box, he had to get a surprise. This happens between the two of us frequently and despite the fact that it would drive me crazy I agreed. We came home and dyed our nine little eggs, Brian was amazed that if you write on an egg with white crayon the writing shows up. :-). Sunday morning Brian informs me that the Easter Bunny has left me clues to my surprise and I have to find the eggs that the Easter Bunny hid. So I went on an Easter egg hunt. After finding all the eggs Brian tells me that the Bunny has left me my surprise by where one of the eggs was hidden which means I had to remember. In our stash of Wii games I found Wii Music! Which I have been talking about since it came out! You can play over 60 instruments! So that was our Easter, well more so my Easter but it was great! Here are pictures of Brian dying eggs and me with my surprise!

Sometimes People Surprise You...

2009-04-10T11:21:00.002-06:00

On Wednesday I was supposed to work an 8 hour shift. This did not sound appealing due to my sore throat, pounding head ache and a strong desire to just go to bed. I was fortunate enough though that my 3 hour In-home got cancelled so I went to work and tried desperatly to not fall asleep while taking care of kids. At four (I still had an hour and a half of work) my "bad boss" came in to do some work in office. I secretly moaned to myself now I actually had to make it appear that I cared and was working. Despite the fact that there were toys everywhere dishes in the sink. etc. She poked her head in around 4:30 and said, I know you don't feel good, finish your paperwork and go home, oh and don't worry about flocking (it is our big Flamingo Festival fundraiser and Brian and I were supposed to move the flock of Flamingos to their new location that night) I'll take care of it. I was shocked. I had no choice I had to say yes. I tried to clean up a bit, seeing as how she is OCD and hates mess I could not leave with such a mess. She refused to let me finish and sent me home. Where I promptly went to bed and woke up for a total of an hour to pick Brian up from work and eat dinner that Brian made, then I went back to sleep and slept until ten the next morning. I woke up feeling much better. I was just amazed, usually she never takes shifts, usually she seems to be oblivous to anything going on... it really was surprising but much appreciated. It also made me feel slightly guilty for how much she drives me crazy sometimes... I should work on being nicer about her.

The Call...

2009-04-07T10:54:00.002-06:00

I was laying in bed at 2:51 Utah time wondering why in the world I couldn't get to sleep. I finally decided to get up and go to the bathroom. I came back, layed back down and then my phone rang. As she had predicted weeks earlier and confirmed that afternoon, my sister's baby had decided to come at 3:00 in the morning. I woke up Brian to tell him that I was heading out to Vegas cause Morgan was in labor. This did not go over well, Brian a) was pretty sure I would fall asleep driving, and b) since we had to take the truck was convinced it would break down and I would be stranded in the desert and get picked up by some creep-o, making me a CSI case. So he decided to call out of work and drive down with me. Which was a good idea because about the time we hit Arizona I fell asleep. The truck ran perfectly, and we go there just in time, Henry and Spencer were still sleeping, but Oliver had just come. This meant that Brian missed all things labor related, which was his biggest concern about coming, having to be around when the baby was actually born in a tub of water and grossness, in the next room. We spent the day just hanging out. Morgan was under strict midwife orders to limit her movement so she directed traffic from the recliner while Derek and Brian got some much needed sleep. It was nice to have some sister time. She was sort of loopy cause of all the adrenline from having a baby, and I never did get her to take a decent nap but at least she got to just relax, and Im pretty sure Derek would not have made it all day he looked dead on his feet when I got there. It really was a pretty low key day. Henry and Spencer have horrible allergies so they were even super mellow. It was a good day overall, and Im glad we could be there to help.

Bad idea...

2009-03-26T14:19:00.003-06:00

When making a shake, do not put a metal spoon into the blender to push the ice cream down and stir while the blender is running. You end up with ice cream on the celing, the floor, the fridge, the oven, all over your face and in your hair, and you ruin the spoon (bad news because we only have 4 spoons).
To procrastinate your online Utah History class til there is are 5 weeks left in the semester and realize you have 5 chapters, 6 lectures, 5 quizzes, 4 tests, and 1 5-6 page paper due by May 1st. On top of all the end of the semester work for your other 4 classes.
Sitting down on the couch to eat lunch during your 30 min break when no one else is home and you haven't taken more Ritalin. This results in falling asleep and waking up at 2:45 (you were supposed to be back at work at 12:30).
Telling your good boss that the bad boss scheduled you the only weekend you asked off, before talking to the bad boss about it. The bad boss calls you and yells at you for going "over her head" and not talking to her, and making it seem like she was out to get you.
Blogging when you have class in 4 min and it will take you 10 to get to class

Life with out Marley

2009-03-19T13:27:00.002-06:00

I promise this will be the last post about Marley... I'm sure youre all sick of reading about her. But Brian and I miss her a lot so the world will just have to deal. Life with out Marley is quiet in a bad way. We don't get to have wrestling matches with her anymore, when we have our nerf gun fights we don't frantically pick up the darts to stop her from eating them. We don't have her to come home to. No longer do I have her bringing me a toy while I try to do dishes or am on the computer, or doing homework. BUT she is doing well at her new home, they love her and keep telling me and my boss how amazed they are at how well behaved she is... I wonder how they define well behaved. And it is nice to not have to run home during my 15 min break from work to let her out, or come home to see what she has destroyed. It is nice to not have to worry about her while Brian and I are at work and school all week. This week is harder because with it being Spring Break I am home alone a lot and I forgot how much I hate it. Marley's new family said we could come and visit her when ever we wanted which if Brian had his way would be weekly if not more, but I told him we have to wait til she is adjusted and attatched to them or else she is going to get very confused. Overall, it is better and in a little while life will adjust and it won't be as weird without her. I have however had to stop Brian from going on KSL to look at dogs, and snakes, and rabbits, all of which he thinks would be great. One day they will be, but not today. (Yes Caleb and Sarah one day we will have snakes, they are cool and Brian has had them before but I will not make you see them or play with them because I love you just that much!)

Spring Break!

2009-03-16T16:18:00.002-06:00

Spring Break is FINALLY here. It was so nice last night to not have to set my alarm. The weather is perfect for a spring break. Warm, and sunny. I have a mountain of school work to catch up on but still to be able to have some time to breathe is nice. Brian has Friday and Saturday off so we are going to just play all weekend. Also in good/sad news. Marley has found a new home. My boss' daughter and husband were looking to get a dog. They came up on Saturday and met Marley and will be coming tomorrow morning to get her. It is sad that she is going but we hope it will be better for her. Not wanting to send her away stinky I gave her a bath which should be an olympic sport. See you have to get in the shower/bath with her and basically hold her in place while you soap her up and then attempt to rinse her off, usually I use a cup but I forgot to grab one so I had to actually turn on the shower to rinse her off. She did not like this she kept trying to get out of the shower. Once we were done I let her go which meant shaking water all over the bathroom and running around the house. Now she is out on the balcony in the warm sun being mad at me for the horrible thing I did to her. *eyeroll* I wish her new family the best of luck, she certainly has a lot of personality.

2009-03-10T14:35:00.002-06:00

I know I have been a horrible blogger lately. Somewhere between working 50 hrs a week and going to school full time that blogger got forgotten. Really nothing that exciting is happening. We are still trying to find a home for Marley, my schedule seems to keep getting busier only increasing the need for her to find a new family. We have posted an ad on KSL but no luck yet. If anyone knows anyone that wants a dog, she really is a good one...just a little needy. Lets see it was 4 degrees this morning in Cedar, and we have about 2 feet of snow on the ground... thats right Spring Break is next week and it feels more like December. And last in exciting news (as exciting as it can be when all you do it work and go to school) we bought a new kitchen table, I guess it would be a kitchen table set since it comes with 4 chairs. It was on sale at wal-mart and we had been thinking about getting it for a while so Brian spent last night putting it together which he loved.

Picture Tag

2009-03-02T16:55:00.003-07:00

I got tagged, you are supposed to open the 6th picture folder, and then the 6th picture in the folder, and blog about it. This is Marley when she was about 7 weeks old, with her Monkey, that has since been replaced with a new monkey because she destroyed that one. Her monkey is asbig as she is in the picture, she is about 3 times as big now! So cute!
I tag Mom/Dad, Morgan, Sarah, Karen, and Erin

A Sad Realization

2009-02-25T12:49:00.002-07:00

So Brian and I have come to the realization that Marley needs a new home. She has severe seperation anxiety, not normal puppy being left anxiety but real seperation anxiety. For example today I went to class for 1 hour, Brian was home with her the whole time. And when I came home she would not let me leave her sight. I went to the bathroom and she threw herself against the door and cried. Example two, I took the garbage out and in the course of 1 min she had frantically scratched at the carpet in front of the door. So she will be going to new home where she is NEVER alone not even for 2 hours. A girl that I work with boyfriend we think is going to take her, he is home all day and works nights, at which point she is home while Marley sleeps. Sigh, it is sad but hopefully this will be better for her and less stress on her poor little puppy brain.

A Post for Mom

2009-02-23T08:41:00.004-07:00

You are not too ADHD for a cruise and you asked what do you do on the boat. Silly mom. There is tons to do! It depends on what cruise line you do. Some have ice skating ranks, or shows, or games like shuffle board, and they all have swimming pools. And you only spend 2 days on the boat. The point is to relax, so yes read a book. Then the other days you are off the boat seeing cool stuff like Mayan ruins. And if you think a week is too long, try like a 3 or 5 day cruise. Oh and you eat really well, and its all paid for so when you go to dinner at night it doesn't matter what you order. See its perfect. I know I know relaxing is hard. you want to go and do and see ALL the time but it is okay to sit by a pool and read, or go see a movie... they even have LDS cruises where you can got to seminars and stuff. I think a cruise would be perfect

A Post for Mom

2009-02-23T08:41:00.001-07:00

I should blog...

2009-02-20T09:06:00.002-07:00

But about what? Lets see... I am going on a cruise. Okay not just me but Brian and I are going on a cruise. We got a killer deal on both airfare and the cruise. The week of May 17th are will be in the Caribbean. We get to go to the Cayman Islands, Mexico, Belize, and the Isle of something. The coolest part about this is that while in Belize or Mexico (we can choose) we are going to go see Mayan Ruins! I am so excited. May can not come soon enough. The only downside to a cruise, is tanning. See I don;t want to burn the first day and then be miserable all week, so I have resigned myself to having to go tanning prior to the cruise. I hate the idea of tanning. The whole concept seems awkward and hot and claustraphobic to me. But I will do it so that I dont turn into a lobster while on the cruise. I am very excited!

Parenting 101

2009-02-16T17:24:00.002-07:00

Today while taking Marley for a walk I hear this crying as we turn the corner to walk down the street. About 3/4 of the way down on the otherside of the road I see a little boy he can't be older than 4 standing outside this house crying, trying to get in what is obviously a locked door. Keep in mind that it is snowing/raining ice pretty heavily, I have on my big coat with the hood up and am still freezing. So I stop to see if this little boy gets into his house, I wait and wait (for a good 2 min) and no one comes to the door. There were cars in the driveway but I think maybe no one is home, maybe this little boy is confused, who knows, so I cross the street and go to stand at the bottom of the porch stairs. The little boy, still hysterical, turns to look at me. So I tell him my name is Kelsey, this is my dog Marley, and ask him if he lives there. He turns around and continues to cry and try to get in the house. At this point I notice, he has no shoes on. It is raining ice/snowing I am freezing and this 4 year old is standing outside for what is now turning into 5 min with no shoes on and a t-shirt. So I keep trying to get him to calm down enough to tell me what has happened I am also determined not to leave until we figure out what is going on. As we approach the 10 min mark I am about to walk up the stairs and knock on the door myself, when it opens and a very angry looking mother opens the door and pulls her son in. I explain that I had heard him crying and trying to get in and with no shoes or coat in this weather didn't want to leave him outside not knowing if he was okay. She responds with, "Just a little timeout" and shuts the door. Just a little timeout? Okay now I know that I am not a parent, but first of all if you are going to lock your 4 year old out of the house in the front yard dressed the way he was you run the risk of people getting concerned and stopping. 2nd a timeout is like sitting on a chair, or a rug, or the stairs not being locked out of the house. I would also understand if she had sent him outside, til she was ready to deal with him but at least give him shoes and a coat, or if it had been nice outside. And lastly, don't lock him out for almost 10 min. I was really grumpy, I hadn't touched her kid, I had intentionally kept my distance, grr. I don't know maybe I am overreacting. All I do know is this, if I did that at work I would get fired, and 10 min is a really long time out for a four year old.

Texas Road House

2009-02-14T12:36:00.004-07:00

Brian's sister gave a gift card to Texas Roadhouse for Christmas. Brian works all day to day so we decided rather than battling the crowds of people going out tonight we would go out on Thursday, Brian's day off. It was so nice to just get away from Cedar. We went to St George and saw Brian's aunt and uncle and our friends Jay and Julie before going to dinner. It was tasty. We go the valentines special and it came with a catus blossom appetizer. I am not usually a fan of eating onions but the blossom was really good. I hope everyone has a good Valentines day, single or not.
I am falling asleep so Im going to stop for now

20 things I learned in college... outside the classroom

2009-02-11T17:59:00.005-07:00

This post is inspired by a recent post on my friend Alli's blog. So here goes 20 things I have learned in college not in a classroom

1: 2 people fit in a twin bed, after about 3 nights you adjust and are actually really comfortable

2: When you have roommates that drink Saturday night don't plan on showering Sunday morning, they will have thrown up in the shower

3: At 4 am there are no cops on the road between Las Vegas and Cedar City, so you can drive over 100 and be just fine

4: Random day trips with your friends, solve all the worlds problems

5: If you want a boy to ask you out, bring him In and Out Burger

6: Don't tell your roommates you plan on wearing sweatpants on a date, they will lock all your clothes in another room except for the 1 outfit they pick out.

7: Puppies are cute but a house-trained dog is better

8: Getting married is the greatest thing in the world, sitting home alone while your husband is at work isn't

9: Midnight trips to Denny's for cheescake are worth loosing sleep over

10: Being narcoleptic may sound cool but it isn't

11: Trust your gut instinct... its usually right

12: Just cause your married doesn't mean that girls nights aren't necessary

13: People will surprise you, usually in a good way

14: Getting to talk to your Mom as a friend, and wanting to cancel plans with people your age to hang out with her is one of the coolest things ever.

15: Bouncing checks is worse then bouncing a debit card

16: A person cannot live on Top Romen, and PBJ only.

17: Don't tell people you think in movement rather than words... they will think you are crazy.

18: Going for a walk is a great stress reliever

19: Every lesson, and talk you ever heard on dating was a waste of time. (Unless taught by Angela Bennett or Anne Bills cause then it wasn't really on dating)

20: Just when you think you have your life plan all in place the Lord tweeks it, and life is better than you ever thought it would be.

Stupid People

2009-02-06T14:16:00.002-07:00

Stupid people really bother me. Okay not all stupid people just certain stupid people. Mostly stupid people who are given any ounce of authority. Like take my English professor... we are supposed to be working on critically, and logically thinking about/discussing topics. Yesterday in class we were supposed to be having class discussion on certain topics. The first was if Torture should be allowed. I managed to keep my mouth closed while rather than non-biasedly leading a discussion our ex-marine teacher refused to hear any arguments against torture. I resisted the urge to play devils advocate. I didn't pull out the Law Dictionary definition of torture (yes i know it). I didn't whip out ex debate arguments. I sat on my hands. BUT the next topic was whether or not community service hours should be a requirement for college graduation. I tried so hard to keep my mouth shut... but I couldn't. Having been the student representive on the commitee that is trying to implement service learning at SUU, and for the statewide organization to promote service on college campuses, having read pages, and pages of research. I couldn't do it. I gave up raising my hand, I gave up letting my professor finish a sentence. The only thing I didn't give up doing was flowing. Which is basically a nerdy debate thing where you track your argument, and your opponents on paper so you know that you have defended all of your points and attacked theirs. Im sure my class thinks Im crazy. But my professor was being stupid. He had no real arguments and I thought it was ridiculous that he was facilitating the discussion but un able to keep his un-educated mouth shut.

Crate Training

2009-01-31T10:25:00.002-07:00

I know I write about Marley a lot but she takes up a LOT of time. We are currently crate training and it seems to be going well, we have yet to actually lock her in her crate, we put her bed and toys and treats in the crate and just leave the door open. She seems to like it, and yesterday we were gone for three hours and we came home to her laying in her crate and a house not destroyed. There were no packing peanuts on the floor, the garabage had not been raided. It was lovely. Today we are going to trying closing the door while we are gone for very small amounts of time. Hopefully it helps. Have a good weekend everyone!
Love
Kelsey

Breaking Blogging Rules

2009-01-24T21:50:00.002-07:00

So I know that blogging twice in less than 30 min is lame but I remembered something I had to say. I was sitting in English on Thursday and it 2010, of which there are about 30 sections all with different writing topics. You can take writing about baseball, shakespeare, satire/humor. Well I ended up in Writing about Sucess. This class is a rah-rah motivational class. We talk about Tony Robins (he's a big motivational guru my father owns many of his tapes) on a weekly basis. The teacher even has similar handwriting to Dad. It is creepy. But on Thursday we were watching a video blog that Tony had but on and he was talking about how to actually make your New Years resolutions come true. For most of the video I sat there thinking... this is a Family Home Evening lesson we had once. But his last "tool" I thought was interesting was to "Give more than you Receive" So if any of you, like myself, at times find yourselves stuck in a rut, or get down on yourselves or maybe can't seem to stick with your goals. Maybe stop thinking about them so much, stop trying to figure out a hobby to fill your time with so you feel less useless, and focus completly on someone else. See what happens.
And yes, I struggled to come to terms with the fact that the rah-rah I have mocked for years has valid points.

Last Night

2009-01-24T21:30:00.004-07:00

Last night Brian and I slept on the floor in front of the bathroom, with the door about a foot open. Why? Because Marley was sick...again and after throwing up and going to the bathroom in the house three times in 2 hours. We decided to put her in the bathroom. BAD idea. She howled, she cried, she scratched and it didn't stop for almost 20 min. So I went in there with her which helped her calm down and curl up on her doggie bed. But if I left she cried, so Brian and I slept on the floor where she could see us but still be in the bathroom from about 2-7 last night. The things we do for the stupid dog. She is just so darn cute I can't help it.
Also if anyone ever wanted to invest in property now in Cedar City would be the time to do it. Brand new 3 bedroom, 2 bath town homes are currently selling for less than 100,000. Just thought Id pass the word along.
Other than that nothing is going on here, school and work. Hope all is well with your worlds!

Improtu...

2009-01-19T18:14:00.002-07:00

So on Saturday we were supposed to go to St George and hang out with Brian's friend Jay and his wife Julie. But our plans fell through, so at 3:00 pm on Saturday we go in the car and drove to Salt Lake. Now when I called my mother to see if they wanted to dinner when we got into town. She asked if there was any particular reason why we wanted to go to dinner and were coming up. I told her nope we were just bored and thought dinner would be nice cause we could hang out and talk. She translated this into... Brian and I have an announcement and of course the only thing we could possibly be announcing would be a baby. We got to Mom and Dad's in Sandy and within 2 min of walking in the door my mother can't take it anymore and asks if Im pregnant. Which I am NOT. But it was funny. Dinner was fun we got to give Mom and Dad a hard time about some of their dating stories. (According to Mom necking in the 70's was standing and hugging... or of course the classic Dad and the gum on Mom's date) Then on Sunday after church we headed up to Brian's parents and had dinner at his grandparents house. It was a fun night. I took a nap while Brian played ping pong with his parents. This morning we woke up early and headed back to Cedar for work and a mountain of homework. It was a fun weekend though and it was really nice to get out of Cedar, even if it was 30 degrees colder in Salt Lake.

A bad idea.

2009-01-16T08:58:00.002-07:00

So in case you are ever sitting in a class, lets say Art for Elementry school teachers. And you are supposed to be drawing the fruit that is in front of you and the shadows to learn about "value" and shading. And you happen to HATE drawing, and hate sitting there. And the teacher comes around to see how everyone is doing. And she asks you how things are going. Do NOT tell her that you are frustrated and that this is your own personal Hell. Do NOT tell her that you have an art learning disability. Do NOT tell her that in 7th grade your art teacher finally told you to put anything on the paper, she didn't care what, and turn it in. Even if you think she is only the sub for this week, and she will just roll her eyes and walk away. This is all a very bad idea. It results in her sitting next to you. Trying desperatly to prevent you from doing it wrong. Trying desperatly to tell you how to make the stupid shadow. (Yes thank you I know it should be an eliptical shape...) Until eventually she quietly realizes what so many before have realized, you really are disabled and she stands up and leaves you alone. But you can tell that she is a little disappointed... her life theory, that everyone CAN do art if they are taught and encouraged rather than judged, that all eveyone needs is a little self confidence has been challenged. All because you had a really bad idea... You could have just kept your mouth shut, smiled, said everything was great. But you didn't. Maybe it was years of frustration at being forced to do art and failing miserably, or the fact that it is 5:00 pm and you are still at school, or the fact that you vowed to teach art in a different way rather than simply drawing what is put in front of you. Whatever the reason it probably isn't good enough to justify this very bad idea. Just in case you ever had that thought...

The Vacuum

2009-01-14T10:55:00.004-07:00

First of all I would like to say that the cheesecake was not a disaster. Never have ever followed a recipe as exactly as I did with the cheesecake. But it worked out really well.
If you find yourself in the market for a new vacuum. I would like to suggest the newest Hoover 5 cylinder vacuum. It is cheaper than a Dyson but works just as well if not better.It has a retractable cord, . It has unique, slick orange trim that makes it look fit for the space station. AND if your husbands are anything like mine you will never actually use the vacuum yourself. He will use it on a regular basis and find things to vacuum so that at least one of the extra tools is used. It is a brillant plan. So if you hate vacuuming, or even if you dont (I don't mind it) you will never do it again if you buy this vacuum.
Note to any husbands, fathers, brothers: You may read this and think that you may be exempt from the power of the vacuum. I think not. It is a very manly vacuum... something about it draws guys in...

Happy Birthday!

2009-01-12T13:25:00.002-07:00

Today is Brian's birthday, sadly he works today from 1:30-10:00pm so it is limiting the amount of birthday fun that can be had. We were going to go out on Saturday but Marley was really sick so we stayed home. However so far today we had Lemon Poppyseed muffins for breakfast, and opened presents. Now I am going to attempt to make cheesecake so that tonight we can have that. Hopefully that cheesecake works... I will update later on how disasterous it was.

A Problem Solved

2009-01-07T13:18:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I wanted to kill Marley. Okay not kill but someone could have come and taken her away and I wouldn't have cared. I was done. She was acting HORRIBLE. At around 11 ish she stopped listening, started going to the bathroom (like 5 times) in the house, chewing on EVERYTHING, Bitting, I could hardly keep up with her. Then at noon, she crashed fell asleep, an hour later woke up and was WONDERFUL. Then something dawned on me. Everyday at around 11 ish, and then again around 6ish, I want to kill the dog. Then I thought well she is a puppy and part Australian Shepard (aka I have lots of energy dog). Maybe she gets so much energy that she is literally not capable of controlling herself. A memory came to me of Jonah's "puppy fits" except she doesn't have a big cirlce house to run in... So today at 11:30 after taking Brian to work we went on a walk/run. We went for a half hour. She came home and was WONDERFUL. Tonight we will go on another walk/run and then maybe just maybe she will not have so many problems. Because she really is doing well. She sits, she comes, she has to be reminded but she doesn't bite, she goes to the bathroom outside, she stays, she goes to bed. Except for 2 hours a day.
In other news, if anyone would like to total our car, feel free. It has developed ANOTHER problem. Now in addition to: the engine light being on, exhaust in the car when you start it, a clanking noise. All of which no one seems to be able to explain or fix. The break lights don't go off. But just the breaklights. Yesterday the car died while I was at work. So today we jump started it and took it to the Dealer who sold us the P.O.S. car to see if they can figure it out. We shall see what they say and how much it will cost to fix it. (Good thing I just got a 3,000 refund check for finacial aid).
And lastly (sorry this is such a long post): Yesterday I stayed awake in ALL of my classes (I had drugs of course). This means that I stayed awake sitting for 3 hours in the morning and then for another 3 hours from 2:30-5:30. It was amazing! I love Ritalin :-).
We will be seeing the Sandy family this weekend! We are excited.

First Days Back

2009-01-06T11:55:00.002-07:00

It has been a long 2 days. Yesterday I had only one class at 8:00 am. Then it was off to run errands, and head to training for my SECOND job. Where I watched 2 videos: 10 things every child needs, and How to Calm A Baby. LAME and it took three hours. With no drugs in my system it made for a long three hours. But then I got to go home and do some homework, and take care of the dog. Who is either the stupidest animal ever, or extremely smart and slightly stubborn/Spiteful. Im going with the second and I'll tell you why. She knows that she is supposed to go outside to go to the bathroom, she goes to the door, she will even come and get you if you don't notice that she needs to go. Now she is a puppy so sometimes by the time I see her she has gone by the door but she is getting better. EXCEPT for when she doesn't get what she wants. This usually means that I take something away from her like the WII remotes, my car keys, Brian's waterbottle that she opens and drinks out of, etc etc. It seems that after taking things away from her and telling her no. That she likes to go to the bathroom in the house. And I am convinced she does it on purpose. She never goes and hides to go the bathroom like she used to, oh no she does it right in front of me. Where ever I am. The beast can wake us up and tell us she needs to go to the bathroom and can wait while we put on shoes to take her out. But conviently whenever she doesn't get her way she suddenly forgets to go outside. She is a brat. But very cute.

Back in Cedar

2008-12-31T17:34:00.002-07:00

So the virus from Hell wasn't just a virus... it was pink eye, an ear infection, and a sinus infection. Lots of drugs made it so that bythe time Christmas came I was feeling better, and by the time we got to Salt Lake was almost completly over it. Christmas was great, a little crazy but a lot of fun. We started in Las Vegas (we got to Vegas at about 3:00 am Christmas day), after sleeping for 4 hours headed to my sisters apartment for Christmas fun. All of us in her little apartment made for true Bills Family crazyness. We all handled it pretty well except for the puppy... it made her a little nervous but she got better as the day went on. The next day we made the 7 hour drive up to Salt Lake and spent the evening with Brians family. His sister, brother-in-law and 3 nephews came for Christmas. We spent the next several days bouncing back and forth between the two families. There was a baptism, a funeral (Brian's grandma passed way on Christmas), and lots of family to see and spend time with. It is nice that both of our families live close by so we get to spend time with everyone. Now we're back in Cedar. I had to work tonight but we don't have any kids so Brian is coming over to hang out once the car is all unloaded. School starts Monday! Bright and early. Hope everyone makes it back home safetly, and that 2009 is a great year. Full of blessings, and surprises as always.

A Virus Fairy Tale

2008-12-23T07:59:00.003-07:00

Once upon a time there was a little virus we will call:Cold. Cold was a world traveler. He had been around the world to every continent, ever country, multiple towns. One day he found himself in the small town of Cedar City, Utah. He toured the town, he visited acclaimed places like Southern Utah University, Convergys, and the Family Support Center. While about his travels, he met lots of people. One house in particular thrilled him. He stopped by for a visit, and met a handsome young couple we will call: Kelsey and Brian. Cold visited Brian, but was quickly sent packing. Inraged at being dismissed so swiftly, he visited Kelsey, with vengence in his heart. This would not be the his usual visit. Oh no, he had plans for Kelsey. He would start small, visiting the throat, and head as usual. Then slowly he crept up to the nose, and planted his vicious spell there. Next would come the eyes... one at a time. He laughed as he watched the oozing and watering. Just when the fair maiden thought it couldn't get any worse. Having not slept in days, having taken medication after medication to evict Cold she thought the worst was over. BUT NO! Cold laughed, there was one more spot that Cold could visit. One he rarely went to... the ears. He danced with joy as the left ear clogged and made it impossible to hear. He clapped his hands when the maiden moaned with the pain the pressure caused. He had inacted his revenege. And now he would sit back and enjoy the show, while the poor maiden desperatly tried to kick him out. Only to endure more and more torture. One day, Cold was sure he would move on, one day... Maybe.

A Puppy's Lair

2008-12-16T11:57:00.002-07:00

So Marley has created a home for herself, right next to the space heater, I looked over this morning and this is what I saw... (sorry the pics are so dark)

In the lair there is a shoe, garments (her favorite chew toy!), her 2 stuffed animals, her rope, my winter coat, the plastic case to the new shower curtian, and her puppy pad. It is the warmest spot in the house when you are a little freezing puppy, and she worked very hard to drag everything over there... Nevermind the fact that she uses the puppy pad maybe 50 percent of the time it had to be included. She certainly has personality. She has also decided that the only place to sleep at night is next to me, she would actually prefer to be smooshed in between Brian and I, but I told her that I get to sleep next to Brian, so she settles for right next to my head, and eating my hair. I have decided that we should send her away for 2 weeks and let someone house train her cause she just isn't catching on. She is pretty good about number 1 on the puppy pad, but number 2 just doesn't happen. And there is currently a foot of snow on the ground so she isn't a fan of the great outdoors... Oh well we are getting there slowly but surely.

On a sidenote I did not realize that Christmas is next week! Until Brian reminded me... we are excited though to see everyone, and we will be staying at Mom and Dad's the whole time because Brian's mom said we couldn't bring the dog. I must go do some shopping.

Love

Kelsey

Marley

2008-12-12T12:34:00.004-07:00

Here are pictures of the puppy. We're pretty sure her name is going to be Marley. We have gone back and forth but that is the one we keep coming back to. She is pretty mellow, runs and chews on things for about 20 min and then sleeps.

This is her with her Monkey she found it in our room last night and now chews on it all of the time, better than my feet which was yesterdays facsination. She is not good at going on the puppy pads... in fact she seems to want to go anywhere but on there... But for the most part she is well behaved. She also likes to walk backwards... One day she'll let me take pictures of her while she is playing bue she gets distracted by the camera and attacks me.

I Saw My Life Flash Before My Eyes

2008-12-10T09:05:00.002-07:00

Last night I almost died. I was at work. I had stayed late because we had the worst behaved kids I have ever dealt with. I was supposed to get off at 5:30 but we had a staff meeting at 7:00 so when 6:15 hit I gave up on going home. So while I was doing dishes, my co-worker Megan comes out of the bathroom, where she is giving kids baths, and says the pilot light on the hot waterheater is out again! I jump in with: I have lit pilot lights before I can do it! So I go to light the pilot light. (Keep in mind the pilot light is off the side of a closet full of clothes, and a dresser...very small space). I go through all the steps: turn off the gas, wait, smell for gas, go to light pilot, there are NO matches or lighters in the Center they are a "hazard". So we send ANOTHER co-worker to get a lighter. At this point staff meeting has started but I am determined to light the pilot. THEN I realized unless I was an octopus I wouldn't have enough hands to hold a flashlight, the little door open, the red button down, and a lighter. So I go get someone to help. There are now 2 of us in the little space, my pants are falling down, and I go to light the pilot... BUT I think to myself if I stick my hand in the now gas saturated pilot my hand is going to catch on fire. Co-worker Megan says her husband lit a papertowel then put the paper towel in to light the pilot. SO I decide to do that. The pilot does NOT light, however, the papertowel burns really well... I am now trapped in a sort of ball-like kneeling position with co-worker Shelena leaning over me, holding a burning papertowel. I'm inhaling smoking, trying to put the fire out, swearing, and yelling at Shelena to go get me a cup of water. At this point I gave up. Co-worker Megan's husband is called and he lights the pilot in 30 seconds all by himself. (He apparently is an octupus). And that is how I almost died.

In other news, Brian is sick nevermind that he has paper due tomorrow that he hasn't written and I can't write because it has to be in Spanish... he is sick. Not good. BUT we get to get our puppy today. Pictures to come!

The Growing Harris Family

2008-12-05T15:24:00.007-07:00

So occasionally, okay more often then not, it seems that just when you have a life plan: i.e. finish school, have Brian finish school, get a house, have a baby etc etc. Your life plan changes, and what a week it causes. Admist studying for finals, I find myself constantly adding possible names to the list, going to EVERY store in Cedar City to compare prices for beds, material, toys, etc. figuring out where you're going to put the little bugger when she gets here. Discussions on how to raise the addition. All very complicated. But a blessing.

Because on Dec 10th, the Harris Family will add one more member. An adorable American Bulldog puppy. :-). She isn't completly American Bulldog, she is half Bulldog and half Austrialian Sheperd but she looks mostly Bulldog. But she is very sweet and low key. American Bulldogs are taller than English Bulldogs and less wrinkling. I think they look like big boxers. I will put up pictures as we get them. For now I have put the one up from the ad on KSL. And yes we know that dogs are a big commitment and cost money in vet bills etc... but we have crunched the numbers and are very excited. We are also taking suggestions for names. So contribute contribute.

This is her!

This is her Mom, what she will look like some day... except she has more brown than her mom.

Currently the leading name choices are Roxy and Marely. We think she needs a "tough girl" name cause she'll look pretty intimidating but be a sweetheart and spoiled if Brian gets his way. Her mom is a giant love junky, and American Bulldogs have really low key temperments.

More pictures to come!

Holidays

2008-11-29T15:26:00.003-07:00

Thanksgiving was great! We got to spend time with both families and catch up, hang out, and eat a lot of food win some BINGO prizes. Also, my parents were nice enough to buy us a Christmas tree. Is 6.5 feet tall. We put it up this morning. We made a trip to Wal-Mart and bought some ornaments and then put the ones I had from growing up on. We also needed a tree skirt. We have spend most of the day listening to Christmas music and putting our tree and outdoor lights up. Here are some pictures of the Christmas fun today.

Brian and I by our Christmas Tree

Brian putting up the lights on our balcony

Brian putting the tree together.

100 Things

2008-11-24T18:43:00.003-07:00

This was fun- you're supposed to copy the list to your blog and then bold the things you have done. So.... I should do more.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris (I've been there, but I don't think the airport should count.)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France2
0. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (Great Moments in California History!!!!)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (I've never been inside but I've been to it..)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

The Office

2008-11-24T18:26:00.002-07:00

One of favorite shows is The Office. For those of you who don't watch it on The Office the boss' name is Michael Scott and he is a bit...quirky. Well he basically is slightly dumb but it is entertaining dumb, even most of the people who work under him realize this and just roll their eyes and smile and nod. Now I wish I could tell you that I was lucky enough to have a boss like Michael Scott for those of you who have seen The Office you probably think I am crazy. However, Michael Scott even in all his stupidity does not come close to my boss. She is an idiot. Now we have always known this but today it hit an all time high on the stupidity meter. Today December calendars came out... Now I said I would work EVERYDAY of Christmas break from 12:30-11:30pm except for the 18th and the 25th-28th. I got scheduled for the 27th-on call, the 28th, and Thursday the 18th. Not counting those shifts I work a total of 3 shifts all of Christmas break and am on call for 4. In three weeks I work 3 shifts. Now to make matters worse at my job according to said boss we schedule according to senority. So those who have been here longest get first pick of shifts. This did not happen. 3 girls who were hired after me have more shifts than I do. One of them, got all but 3 of her shifts covered so far this month and she works a TON, while I am her AN (on call) person. It should be the other way around. I should be working and she should be AN. I said I would work three Saturdays in December and got scheduled for none, meanwhile girl who got all of her shifts covered in Nov works 2 and is AN for 1. Tomorrow my boss and I will be having a little sit down chit chat. Because I am not happy. Now only do I need to work more than that but Brian works everyday but Thursdays from 1:30-10:00, if I don't work it means that I have to sit at home for three weeks which most likely would result in me killing someone...probably my boss.

I know that I should be writing something heart warming and lovely about Thanksgiving and everything I am grateful for but it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-20T11:02:00.002-07:00

Brian got work off for Thanksgiving so we are coming up to Salt Lake. We are going to do the morning with his parents and then come down for the later afternoon and night at Mom and Dads. I figured that Brian needed to experience BINGO, and left over fruit salad (my favorite!). We are excited!
Also, you would think that having not done or been involved in Ballroom for an entire semester, that I would be able to go see the concert as a paying patron and just enjoy. WRONG, I ran into Mark (the director) yesterday and was informed that he needed my help. So now tomorrow before the show, during intermission, and after the show I get to run the "donations" table and talk to people about ways to "get involved" with ballroom dance... It isn't a big deal I just find it interesting. But we are excited to get to spend Thanksgiving with family.

A hobby...

2008-11-14T19:49:00.002-07:00

I will now be taking recommendations of things to do as a hobby. I don't have one and I need one. I spend many hours sitting at home by myself and having never not been so busy I hardly have time to breathe I am going crazy. However there are some considerations that need to be taken into account. I am artsty/crafty learning disabled this rules out the following: scrapbooking, quilting, painting, drawing, cutting and gluing, sewing, knitting, and crochetting. Also, I don't really have any money so it has to be a relatively cheap hobby. Thanks!

Sometimes...

2008-11-12T15:22:00.002-07:00

Sometimes I want to not go to math
Sometimes I cannot stay awake in math no matter how hard I try
Sometimes I wonder why I bother to study for hours for my math test
Sometimes I want to throw my math book at my teacher's head
Sometimes I want to pretend like it doesn't matter if I fail math
Sometimes I want to tell my math teacher EXACTLY what I think of her
But then...
I remember that I have to take math from the same teacher next semester
I remember that if I fail I will be a semester behind which we can't afford
I remember that if I study, then I have more justification for blaming my teacher when I fail said test
I remember that we only can miss 4 days until our final grade it dropped
I remember that I am narcoleptic
So...
I come home and I eat ice cream
I come home and I scrub dishes to get out my frustration
I come home and watch a chick flick
I come home and am grateful that tomorrow I don't have to go to school
I come home and sleep
I come home and write a very long repetitive blog

Love
Kelsey