Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Clark!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Clark. (Brian took it!)

One year ago today I placed my baby in the arms of his parents.  Here is a picture of him celebrating his birthday (2 days ago) with his mom and dad.  

Though it was difficult, I'm grateful I was able to bless someone else with a gift that they could not otherwise receive.  He will have such a happy life with Ben and Heather!

Welcome to the Ward.

We were officially welcomed to the ward today as Brian & Lucy Harris!  Woohoo!  It's still taking some getting used to-- this whole "Harris" thing.  But I'm loving every minute of it!

We were also given our first callings!

CTR Fives!  (they start out as 4 year olds and turn into 5 year olds by the end)
 

Four is such a fun age!

Brian is excited that he doesn't have to be in Priesthood and gets to be next to his "smokin hot wife" (he made me write that...we're kind of team-writing this.  I'm typing and he's narrating.  I resisted, but he insisted.)  

I am excited that I get teach with Brian every week!  I don't have to sit through Relief Society without him anymore.  I'm kind of obsessed with him.

We're still in that stage where we really like each other and always want to be around each other.  

We're both hoping this will be a long-term position for us!

A Month of Bliss.

Brian and I have been married one month today.

It really has been blissful…for me at least.  He might have had a more emotional month than he anticipated. 

He has been a perfect husband.  Kind.  So kind. 

Today I woke up late (because I can. I don’t have a job yet) and he had already written me a “Happy Anniversary” email from work.  He’s so on top of things. 

Then he came home from work with a perfect little gift— a pink hot chocolate soy milk mug which he filled with our favorite chewy little fruit bars (from Target and so tasty!)  We’ve been drinking warm beverages most evenings because it’s freezing and windy here in Troutdale, OR.  He’s a good gift-giver.  He’s thoughtful.

 

I didn’t know we were supposed to give gifts on our one month anniversary. 

I thought I was doing pretty good for having put on makeup

Look out, Brian because month two is going to be amazing—full of little surprises for you! 

December 1st Resolutions.

So, here's the deal...I used to be skinny, and then I met Brian.  He rocked my world!  I was so happy that I forgot to eat well.  Now I'm not so skinny.  It’s time to change.  So, I’ve decided to get a jumpstart on my New Years Resolutions this year.  I’m so excited!

Change #1:  I’m eating strictly vegan again.  I did this after having Clark and lost all of the weight I needed to quickly.  Let’s hope it happens again!

 Change #2:  No sugar!  I did this throughout my entire mission years ago, and have casually done it at other times since then.  I feel so much better when I’m not eating sugar.  Sugar is addicting to me, so it’s going to be hard to quit, but I’m ready to make the plunge. 

Wish me luck!  And hold me to it please!

Boise.

We flew into Salt Lake, spent the night there, and then prepared to drive to Portland, via Boise.  

Unfortunately, I own a cruddy piece of VW Jetta.  It seems to break down every week or so.  So, we stayed a day more in Utah than planned.  It was pretty exciting when we finally left Utah.  Besides the family that we both have there, neither of us feel any real need to frequent the state.

We finally got to Boise Monday night.  We stayed with Brian's aunt and uncle that he lived with during his year in Boise.  We had a great time with them and I loved getting to know them better.  

Brian met Clark!

My two favorite boys. 

Clark was fascinated with his tongue. 

Clark curls his foot underneath his bum when he kneels.  Just like me.  He has my foot!  The bridge of his nose is also the same as mine.  Every little bit counts...

I love you, Clark!

Mexico Honeymoon.

Brian planned an incredible honeymoon to Mexico.

Brian's uncle, Neal, invited us stay in his beautiful, large penthouse condo, located right on the beach on the Sea of Cortez.

It was going to be a surprise.  Then one day about a month ago, we were talking about birthdays one night over dinner with family when he announced that we would be in Mexico on his birthday.  Oops.  I was still just as excited!

We didn't take nearly enough pictures.  But here are the few we managed to capture:

A self-shot from our balcony.

With this ring...

Sunrise picture (taken by Brian, of course. I don't see sunrises.)

Sunset.  They were amazing!

From our balcony.  A beautiful resort!

You can't tell how far away this is...but one day we decided to walk there.  It might have been a mistake.  We figured it was about a 12 mile round-trip.  It didn't look that long, and we really wanted shrimp.  We drove every day after that.

Thank you, Brian, for a perfectly relaxing honeymoon!

New To Blogging

So this is the first blog I have ever written.  It's Brian writing for those that couldn't figure it out!  Like most men married to amazing women, I probably won't author the majority of posts.

Today being the day after thanksgiving I thought it would be appropriate to write a little note of thanks, specifically for my new wife.  Currently I'm watching her rock out to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" while working out to Jillian Michael's "30 Day Shred" workout video.  Right now I'm grateful to Cyndi Lauper because I just learned that her lyrics make it possible for a girl to do ANYTHING no matter how tired they may be!

I'm grateful that she unconsciously has taken on the primary burden of keeping the world up to date on the ins and outs of our public lives!

I'm grateful she is so concerned about health and fitness that I will probably be able to attribute an extra 5 - 10 years of life to her helping me stay on track with my own personal health goals.

I'm grateful for her desires to be a mom and that I can have complete trust in her abilities to raise righteous children.

I'm grateful for her patience as we wait for our house to maybe one day if we're lucky finally be livable.

I'm grateful that she won't write a similar post and make any readers go through all this mushy gushy stuff again!

Finally, I'm most grateful that on July 31, 2009 as we laid on the grass of a beautiful golf course gazing up at the stars, she said yes!

I could go on and on but I'll leave the rest of the details to tell her in person!

Lucy Harris, I love You!

P.S. I'm not doing the 30 Day Shred right now cause we worked out a bit before our 3 mile run that we just got back from... see, Ms. Lauper (and a little bit of Linkin Park) really do help people keep going, just like the energizer bunny!