Catching Up

I'm like 5 months behind on blogging, and in the blogging world that's like 10 years, so here is a recap of the last little while.

Arkansas - Rick lived there for 9 months, I lived there for 6 months. The whole time we were there we were living in a hotel room. I can't believe we did that. It was pretty there, but I'm glad we are back in Arizona.

We were supposed to go to Lake Powell in August for the Brimhall Family Reunion. We purchased our non-refundable plane tickets from Arkansas to Arizona, and 5 minutes later we found out that the houseboat was broken and they were canceling the reunion. We decided that we would go to Arizona and spend a few days at the Ranch, and then drive to Sea World. It's only about a 6 hour drive so it wasn't bad at all, and we had so much fun. We went with Rick's older sister Christina and her family. 

The dolphin show was amazing. Definitely my favorite part of Sea World.

I felt like I was watching the olympics while these dudes in colorful bird costumes dove into the water.

While we were there we noticed a lady at a caricature stand, and Rick wanted her to draw us. Before we sat in the chair he looked her in the eye and in all seriousness said "make sure you make my beard look awesome." He was pleased with the result.

I, on the other hand, had no idea that the feature that would make this artwork look the most like me was the gigantic beak like nose that I apparently have. So that was fun to find out about myself.

We also spent a few days at the beach where I discovered that I am awesome at boogie boarding, and where Rick and I both got stung by a jellyfish for the first time.

The next month we went to Utah to celebrate Rick's 30th Birthday. We had a pizza party at a park with a bunch of Rick's friends. It was so fun to see so many people that we love. Our friend Trish is a baker/decorator at Cupcake Chic in orem and she made some awesome cakes for us! One of them was even a vegan cake. She's amazing. Rick's favorite cake was the german chocolate that had a train on it. He was so happy about it.

Rick rented an SS Camaro while we were there. I've never seen him so happy. All in all he had a great birthday and we are both so happy we were able to spend it in Utah.

My friend Sabina lives in Provo and she has a sister that lives in Little Rock, so she came out to spend a few weeks with them. We were able to meet up a few times for dinner and we also went to the Little Rock Air Force Base to watch to air show. It was really fun, and I'm now realizing we never got a picture of the 2 of us, so you'll just have to imagine us out to dinner eating delicious pizza and at the air show watching all the different planes doing tricks. And me getting nervous every time the planes almost crashed into each other but turned away at the very last second.

For Thanksgiving we wanted to go to either Rick's parent's ranch in AZ or to my parents house in UT, but Rick didn't have the time off and we didn't have the money for more traveling. So, by nothing short of a miracle, I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for me, Rick, and our friend Ronnie who works with Rick, in our tiny hotel room using a crockpot for the turkey, the stove top for the mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing, and a very tiny toaster oven to cook the pie, rolls, and green bean casserole. I was sure that something would go wrong, but it all turned out delicious and was kinda fun. It was definitely a Thanksgiving to be remembered.

For Christmas this year we decided we were just going to stay in Arizona and celebrate with the 2 of us, but Rick found out that he had a weeks worth of Paid days off that he needed to use up by December 31. So we packed our bags and headed to Utah. We didn't tell anyone we were coming until we were in St. George. It was fun to be able to surprise everyone but even more fun to be able to spend time with our friends and family. We were able to see Rick's siblings and have a Christmas party with my family, plus being able to see many friends. It was a wonderful Christmas.

My parents have neighbors who breed shih-tzus, and they had 1 left that they needed to find a home for. I knew there was no way Rick would be cool with it so I didn't even bother to ask him. The next day, he knocked on the bedroom door to wake me up, then came in with the cutest little puppy with a red bow on her head and said "Merry Christmas!" I totally thought he was kidding for like 30 seconds, but when I realized he wasn't, I was so so so happy. We named her Maya because we got her on December 21, 2012 - the day of the end of the Mayan calendar. So far she has been the best little puppy. She and Rick are asleep next to each other on the floor right now. We love her. I think this year was our best Christmas so far.

On New Years Eve we stayed home, watched Saturday Night Live, drank sparkling cider, and drifted off to sleep listening to the sounds of fireworks and/or gunshots outside. My goals for 2013 are to do well in school, be happy and healthy, and never ever live in Arkansas again. So far we're off to a good start.

Nashville

So I kind of have this fascination/borderline obsession with fish. I could watch fish swim all day, and when I say it like that I realize it sounds like the most boring thing in the world and it probably is, but it's so fun and relaxing to me. When I was a kid my family went to Hawaii and all I wanted to do there was snorkel so I could swim with the fish. I didn't care about sight seeing, or food, or doing all the normal touristy stuff, I just wanted to be with the fish. So everyday I snorkeled, and it was awesome. I love to go to aquariums, and we just decided that we're going to San Diego next week and we're going to Sea World and now I can't sleep cause I'm so excited about it. So when I heard that there was a restaurant in Nashville where the walls were made of giant aquariums, I told Rick I didn't care what else we did in Nashville, but we were absolutely going to go to that restaurant. It was the first thing we did when we got there and it did not disappoint.

I'm pretty sure we didn't talk at all during dinner, cause I was just sitting there hypnotized by watching the fish/sharks/stingrays/eels. The food was good (because neither of us ordered seafood because seafood is gross), and I don't understand why seafood restaurants can do stuff like this. If you went to KFC and you got to watch all the chickens in the back walk around and then you ordered a bucket of wings wouldn't PETA be all over that? It's just weird to me that you can go to a restaurant like this and you can see the signs that tell you to please don't tap on the glass cause it scares the fish but don't worry cause you're gonna eat Nemo in just a few minutes. I was bummed that we were only able to go to the restaurant once, but someday I'll go back.

The next night we walked around downtown Nashville and found the best BBQ place ever. Like in the whole world, probably.

 

Then it was onto shopping, sight seeing, trying not to get lost in a sea of drunken cowboys, and enjoying the music.

We stood and listened to this guy for about 10 minutes.
The whole time he didn't stop rapping. He made up raps about all the people walking by.

Dance off. I'm serious. It was like we were in a musical.

A few seconds after this picture was taken a guy that was hiding in a tree jumped over me
and started dancing.
Awesome, but also terrifying.

Don't worry, we left a good tip.

Afterward we went back to the hotel and for the first and last time ever we ordered room service. It was good, but not $50 good.

So that wraps up the anniversary celebration. It was a fun trip and it was nice to go somewhere we had never been before. Rick's favorite part of the whole thing was when I surprised him with an iPad. I can only get him to genuinely smile in pictures where an Apple product is involved.

Anniversary in Memphis

Memphis is only about 2 hours from Little Rock, so our plan was to go to Memphis, spend the night, then the next day drive another 3 hours to Nashville. Nashville was fun, but Memphis was my favorite. It was a very pretty drive the whole way there. Memphis is right on the border of Arkansas and Tennessee. As we were passing over the state line, we drove across a big river. The only river I'm familiar with is the Provo river, which takes 3 steps to get across. Arkansas has a big river here that is beautiful and I love to watch them raise the bridges to let the boats go under. So when we passed this big river in Tennessee I asked Rick which River it was. He didn't know, but our hotel overlooked the river so we could ask the people at the front desk. Turns out it was the Mississippi river. Yep, we made reservations at a hotel called the River Inn that overlooked the river and we didn't even know it was the Mississippi river. I told the guy at the front desk we had never been here before (to try to somehow redeem ourselves and possibly make us look less like idiots) and he looked at me like "you've never been where before? America? Bless your hearts."

Our hotel room view. Right on the Mississippi River, you might have heard of it before.

Watching the sun set.

Rick carved our initials into the bench we sat on.

We were told that Beale street was the place to go in Memphis. We went and happened to be there on a Wednesday night which is bike night. Everyone brings their motorcycle and parks it along the road. I texted this picture to my mom and told her to show my dad. He and my brothers would have loved this.

Carriage Ride around Memphis.

3 years already, I can't believe it. Happy Anniversary to us!

National Civil Rights Museum

We did a lot of things for our Anniversary, and we went from Little Rock to Memphis to Nashville. So I'm going to break them up into a few different posts. First up, the National Civil Rights Museum. Some of the guys Rick works with had been to Memphis the week earlier and they told us to go. It was only a few minutes away from our hotel so we decided to stop by after we checked out. I figured that we would learn a little more about History and see some cool stuff, but I sure didn't expect it to bring both of us to tears. More than once.

The Museum was built on and around the Lorrain Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.

The wreath marks the spot where MLK was standing when he received the shot that killed him.

I don't know why, but seeing this really hit me. And this phrase has stuck with me ever since I've seen it. I think about it often. This was on the ground as you walk into the museum.

You know when you go to museums and there is that one elderly couple with the headphones on stopping to look at every single display and read every single piece of information instead of just skipping to the good stuff like everyone else? We were that couple. We had the headsets and everything. It took us a good 3 hours to go through the entire museum. We listened to every story, looked at every picture, and read every word.

Rosa Parks. They had a bus there and had these mannequins to show where she and others were sitting.

Bus Riots.

"If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public: if he cannot send his children to the best public school available: if he cannot vote for the public officials who represent him: if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place?" - President John F. Kennedy.

We weren't allowed to have the flash on our cameras, but this was a little phone booth where you could hear actual recorded conversations between President John F. Kennedy and the Governor of Alabama.

This was a very large wheel that you could spin to simulate what a black citizen of Mississippi's chance to register to vote was.

My result.

The March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.

MLK's hotel room.

The balcony where he was shot.

After you went through the part of the museum that was connected to the hotel, you could go across the street to where James Earl Ray was staying and the window he fired the shots from.

The bathroom where James Earl Ray was staying.

The gun that changed History.

Of all the the things we saw, this KKK robe was the most disturbing. We stood in front of it with knots in our stomachs for several minutes. We kept asking each other how does stuff like this happen? How do you get to this point? Around the robe were pictures of members of the KKK marching with burning crosses, and children in white robes marching behind them. One of the kids couldn't have been more than 3 years old. Obviously, that child had no idea what he was doing, and is not responsible for that, but what kind of man did that little boy grow up to be? It goes back to the picture in the brick outside of the museum doors - "Nobody's born a bigot." Nobody is born a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, a religionist, a bully, or a hater. We teach people to be that way. We spend our whole lives trying to teach kids what to be, but isn't that the problem? I think we can learn from them more than we can teach them.

If you go to the National Civil Rights Museum, you gotta get the t-shirts! We actually didn't get them, but thought it was cool enough to take a picture.

Christmas 2011

My parents came to Arizona to stay with us for a few days the week before Christmas. I had the week off and Rick was supposed to work but he got bumped from his job (when you get bumped you have 48 hours to put yourself on another job) and he would wait out the 48 hours before he put himself back on. He kept getting bumped which normally would be annoying but it turned out that he had the entire time off to spend with me and my parents, so that worked out perfectly. 

The first thing we did when they got there was open presents. A week and a half before Christmas. That's how we roll.

The best present. Did anyone else watch this religiously when they were younger? Even Rick used to watch it. That's how I know that we're soul mates.

The next day was Sunday. We all went to church together. The organist was AWOL so the Bishop announced that we'd all be singing acapella. Sounds pretty, right? It wasn't. At all. During the first song the 1st counselor got out his iPhone and turned on this app that plays the Hymns on the piano. He put it up to the microphone but we were already halfway through the song, and so we all had to start over, but we didn't realize it played the introduction first so people were singing through that, and then it started for real, so we all started singing it again. And then for the rest of the songs the music kept speeding up after every verse. Like double time. And we were all trying so hard to sing as fast as we could, and the lady conducting was so frustrated that she just stopped conducting and stood up there until the music ended. So that was fun. After Sunday School a lady came up to my parents and said "Bishop and Sister Harris!?!?!?!" Of course my parents would find someone that they know in a the middle of nowhere at a ward they've never been to.

Our ward right now meets at 9:00. Our ward in Tucson met at 9:00. All of our wards in Utah met at 9:00. Remember how much I love 9:00 am church? I was excited because next year our ward is supposed to meet at 11:00. I work at 1:00 every Sunday and it is an hour drive, so I knew that starting next year I'd only be able to go to Sacrament then I'd leave afterward. I know that that's not the ideal schedule, but I'll take it. I'll gladly pick that over 9:00 am church. On Sunday the Bishop got up and the first thing he announced was that starting in January the ward would meet at 1:00 pm. Uhhhhhhhhwhat? So we met with him afterward to discuss our schedules. He was sad to hear about our work schedules, mostly because he wants to give us a calling in the Primary, but he said that I had 2 options. I should keep my records in his ward, but as far as meeting times I could either go to the "9 am ward, but that's the Spanish ward" or I could go to the "11:00 sacrament, but that's the Prison ward." Did I forget to mention that we live near a Prison?

Awesome.

So I can either go to 9:00 church that would be in a language I don't speak for another year, or I could hang out with the in-mates during sacrament meeting. Everyone is telling me to pick the Spanish ward, but honestly, 9:00 church is the bane of my existence. The thorn in my side. The eyelash in my eye. The rock in my shoe.

I can't do it for another year. I can't. I'll die. That's how good of a Mormon I am.

I'll be sure to let you all know how the in-mates are doing.

After church we went to a tiny town in Southern Arizona called St. David. My dad and brother went down there on a motorcycle trip earlier this year and in the middle of this tiny town is a tiny cemetery and in that tiny cemetery are my deceased family member's graves. David Patten Kimball (my 3rd Great-Grandpa) is buried there next to his wife. He is the son of Heber C. Kimball, who was in the Quorum of the 12 apostles for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and who served as first counselor to Brigham Young. When David Patten Kimball was 17 he and 3 other young men came to the rescue of the Willie Martin Handcart company, who had to cross the freezing Sweetwater river. They carried members of the company across the deep freezing water, and they all suffered lifelong injuries/illnesses due to the extreme exposure to the cold water.

When he was 42 years old he got lost in the harsh Arizona desert where he had no water and no food for 6 days. He knew he was going to die, and he wanted his friends to find his body instead of being torn apart by the coyotes, so he tried to dig himself a hole to hide in. Then, his parents (who had passed away) appeared in front of him. They gave him food and water and told him he would live for 2 more years. He was later found alive. 1 day before the 2 year anniversary of his parents coming to him in the desert, he told his wife he knew he was going to die the next day, and he was able to say goodbye to her. He passed away the next morning.

Look closely at the headstone. You will see him carrying someone across the Sweetwater river.

 His original headstone.

And here I am complaining about 9:00 church. Goodness.

After we left St. David we went to Tombstone, where the famous shoot out at the O.K. Corral took place.

The next day we went to Mesa to see the Temple lights there. Every year of my life I've gone to the Temple lights in Salt Lake and froze to death but still enjoyed myself. This time I walked around outside and admired the lights in the palm trees and orange trees. It even got a little hot. It was everything I've ever wanted.

Christy had been telling me about this neighborhood in Chandler where on one street everyone that lives there has to decorate their house for Christmas. They start decorating the day after Halloween and they open it up to the public the day after Thanksgiving. They set up porta potties and everything. We all went and my parents were able to meet Chad and Christy and the boys. I've skyped with my mom a few times and Cael likes to talk to "Mama Chicken" (my mom's grandma name, given to her by my nephew because my parents have chickens). He was a little shocked to see her in person at first, I think he was trying to figure out how she escaped from the computer, but after a few minutes he warmed right up to her and held her hand the whole night.

The people who live there said they HAVE to decorate their houses, like, it's in their HOA contract, but they can decorate them however they want. So there was one house that was Harley Davidson Christmas themed, and another one that had a star on top of their roof and as you walked through their yard it told the story of Jesus' birth. It was so fun to see, and I can't even imagine how much time it took all of them.

After seeing the lights we went to the DQ to get some ice cream and so the boys could open the presents we got them.

I think he likes the movie we got him.

Miss Jodi and Sloan playing peekaboo.

Utah Family meets Arizona Family.

I came back to Utah with my parents. I'll be here until the 3rd. I left Rick at home because he had to work. It's really not as mean as it sounds because now he gets the whole bed to himself. Lucky guy!

P.S.

The day after we got to Utah Christy sent me this video. My mom and I have watched it 500 times because it's the cutest thing we've ever seen.