Back to School....and everything else

Wow! It's been a long time since I've posted. The Harris' are alive and well.

Jonathan started his second year at SDSU on August 25th. This semester is going to be very challenging for him. He's carrying a 16 unit study load and is on track to graduate in Spring 2016. Most of Johnny's schooling has been paid for by generous scholarships from AGC, CMAA, EGCA and the California Homebuilders Association. In addition to his studies, Johnny currently serves as president of the AGC/CMAA student chapter on campus, which gives him lots of opportunities to network and interact with firms and individuals in the construction industry. And as if that weren't enough, he also serves as the temple prep instructor and second counselor in the Elder's Quorum in our ward. We also still serve on Saturday nights as ordinance workers in the San Diego temple. Here are a few pictures from the AGC Golf Tournament Johnny took part in at Maderas Golf Course in Poway.

Here he is at the AGC Construction Engineering Gala at SDSU's Montezuma Hall.

Johnny enjoyed a great summer internship with Skanska working on the I-805 freeway expansion. This was significant because Skanska does not traditionally hire juniors, and after his summer working for them, they are now wanting to become more involved in SDSU's Construction Engineering program. They also asked him to stay on part-time during the semester. I think they liked him. :)

We have had the joy of teaching temple prep to several individuals in our ward, and then being able to attend as they go to the temple for the first time. Jacob Loeber went to the temple just before going on his mission to Idaho. Lynn Frank received her endowment at the temple May 2, 2014, and the Mendiola family (Cesar, Sarah, Julene and Magnus) were sealed in the temple on August 2, 2014. Many from the ward were in attendance on all of these occasions and it was so beautiful to be in the temple with these wonderful people who we have come to love so much. We also had the privilege of teaching the Wilson family (Marcus, Candace, DeShawn, Kaylee, Makisig and Rosela), but they moved not long after their temple prep classes were over. We look forward to attending the temple with them. We also taught Donna Morrison (Sarah Mendiola's mother) the temple prep lessons, and she should be going to the temple this month (September 2014).

On Saturday, August 16 of this year, we had a mini family reunion. Clara and Danny came down from Utah and Katie and Brandon and their little boy Hayden came out from Texas. Gretchen and Dan were down from Escondido with their 3.5 kids. It was great to spend time as a family.

On September 9th I'll be celebrating my one year anniversary working for University Mechanical. I've been moved out of the detailing department and have joined the project team working on the AOC San Diego Central Courthouse downtown. It's been a great experience to be out in the field, interacting with other trades and vendors. It's great to be downtown, where there is always something going on. I love to join Johnny for AGC/CMAA events he's part of. We got to help out at the AGC Golf Tournament back in August at the Sycuan Golf Course. We spent most of our day zipping around on golf carts helping out. So much fun!

I still serve as second counselor in the Relief Society presidency. I spend a lot of time preparing for extra Relief Society activities (enrichment nights), and it has been great to get to know the sisters in the ward. I've also spent a lot of time over these past years working on family history, and Johnny and I have been able to learn more about our families as well as perform ordinances in the temple for many of our ancestors.

Our lives are very full, but we feel so blessed to be part of it all.

Helping History - Halfway there!!!

So happy to be part of the transcription team that's working on the 1940 US census! Over 125,000 volunteers all over the US are working on this, and it's been amazing to work on this with Johnny. We'll sit next to each other and go thru the names together, helping each other if we can't figure out what is written. So far we've transcribed records from New York and Kentucky. It's great to be a part of history, and part of something that will aid others in their family history search.

Painting with the Hubby

This past Saturday Johnny and I participated in the California Day of Service. In connection with Mormon Helping Hands, groups across the state got together to serve in their respective communities.  Johnny and I helped paint the Mira Mesa Recreation Center.  When we started in the morning, the building was a boring off-white color with faded green trim.  By the time we left at noon, a fresh coat of pale yellow paint had been applied with fresh dark green trim.  Wow!  The building looked like new!  There were so many people there with rollers, brushes, ladders, etc.  Johnny and I mostly did touch up, making sure no spots were missed.  It's amazing how much can be done when we all come together in a spirit of community service.  As you can tell from the picture, Johnny insisted on leaving his mark on the building.  I love the hubby too. :)

Cooking Adventures

So, Johnny and I have decided we really like cooking. We already knew that we really liked eating and watching cooking shows, but we've discovered that it's even more fun to eat the food if you were the ones to cook it too! So, our new game is to go out to eat, and then try to learn how to make those dishes. We found this incredible Indian place here in Mira Mesa called Punjabi Tandoori and decided we needed to learn how to make Chicken Tikka Masala, because it's SO yummy. Here's how it turned out.


We enjoyed this so much that we invited our friends Doug and Kristy to come over and enjoy it with us.


So then we went out for Thai food...and I was reminded of just how much I love curry. Living in Mira Mesa, we have a ton of big Asian markets around us, but I for one was a bit intimidated going into one, because I wasn't sure what I'd find. We visited a large Asian market up the street from us and it was amazing! So many different things, you totally felt like you'd stepped into another country! We bought curry paste, fish sauce, garlic, etc. Then we went home and cooked it: Thai red curry with red peppers and green beans....it was delectable!


And here's what it looked like just before we devoured it.

Happy Anniversary to US!!!

Since we spent our honeymoon at Big Bear Lake, we decided to celebrate our 1 year anniversary (a day early) at another lake. This time, we visited Lake Cuyamaca, just south of Julian. We enjoyed some marvelous Austrian food at the Lake Cuyamaca Restaurant, right on the edge of the lake. Jonathan insisted that we go somewhere for our anniversary where we could see the stars, so we asked the waitress at the restaurant where we should go to see the stars. She recommended a place just up the road, where they offer a professional "Star Tour". After it was dark, we got to spend an hour in a small observatory checking out star clusters, a nebula, and even Saturn! Since we were far from any city lights, we could see millions of stars, even without a telescope. For me, it was definitely one of those "wow" moments when you are reminded of just how small you are, and also how much wonder and beauty surrounds us all the time.
Well, Jonathan got his stars, I got my Wienerschnitzel and we both enjoyed a wonderful anniversary. Can't wait for the next one!

Silly married couple!

So, we've enjoyed "wedded bliss" for almost 5 months now and it could not be better. We still like to go on Friday night dates to add some variety to our weekly routine. So last Friday, we went to Nickelcity and played arcade games for several hours, amassed a nice stash of prize tickets and you'll never guess what we cashed our tickets in for....
To show off our new stylish accessories, we went to Claim Jumper and enjoyed mozzerella sticks and loaded potato skins...and ate up all the strange looks we got from everyone else there. Marvelous, I tell you. Marvelous.

What God has joined together...

On June 25th I officially became Mrs. Jonathan Harris and I could not be happier! Jonathan and I met in the San Diego temple, so it made sense to be sealed there for time and all eternity. It was wonderful to share this special day with our family and friends. We know that our relationship is a gift from our Heavenly Father and He has continued to bless us with good jobs, good health, good surroundings and good friends. We feel so blessed and are so very very happy. :)