Starting Spring Off With the Lord

I like a challenge so when I heard this one, I went for it.

A week ago, I was driving to College Station, listening to KSBJ when I heard of their 30 Days for 30 Years Challenge. To sum it up, it challenges you to only listen to Christian Music while in the car. Now I usually flip from Christian to Country but I thought, I can do this.

Going into it, I had no idea what to expect. In fact, I did not expect anything. But the changes that are already occurring in my life are to amazing not to share.

1. I am in a happier mood, smiling and not letting the small things bother me. I know the Lord can help me handle anything.

2. I am FINALLY back to running/workout on a daily basis. One year and 2 months after my surgery, I am FINALLY doing it!! The key here is that is has nothing to do with me and EVERYTHING to do with the Lord.


3. I am much much more organized....yes, I said organized. I got to College Station, did laundry, went through my room and even started hanging up clothes. (For those of you who have seen my room, this is a shock, I know...I almost did not believe it either!)

4. I am a better girlfriend, friend, student, daughter, sister....you name it. Just hearing the Lord's word over and over again everyday has enabled be to be a better me!

This is truly changing the way I take on stress, how I handle all relationships, my general mood and most importantly strengthened my relationship with the Lord.

So to Spring 2012, bring it. I can handle anything!

Fun Stories of a Five Year Old Soccer Coach

God works in mysterious ways........

Now that is a something that I have heard all of my life, believed but never thought I had lived it. These past few weeks have been.....interesting....and those interesting scenarios have led me to be Coach Jordan. I am officially a coach for the College Station Youth Soccer Club but not just any coach, I get the babies! I am coaching 6 of the cutest 5 year olds in the world!

Tonight was our first practice and to show how it went, here is a picture of what my living room turned into 10 minutes before I was out the door:

What is all of that stuff you say? Well, I have 3 hula hoops, 12 soccer balls, a set of bowling pins, 16 cones, and our 6 NEON yellow jerseys. I am always prepared :)

Then it was off to practice. My little kiddos are just adorable and made me laugh, smile, want to pull my hair out, raise my voice, trip over my feet.....ALL at the same time. Needless to say, this should be a fun but unique experience.

At the end of practice, it was time to pick a team name. To start this off, I have 4 boys and twin girls........if you know anything about 5 year olds you know that boys and girls will NEVER agree on a team name. But I was bound and determined. We narrowed it down to the Bulldogs or BumbleBee (not the animal but the transformer) but still no compromise.

Coach Jordan to the rescue!! After much thought, I decided that we should be call the "BumbleDogs"! Nice compromise, right? RIGHT! They loved it and it made the parents laugh (something that I hope to see more of this season). So here is to a great season! Game 1 on Saturday! Go BumbleDogs!

And to think, none of this could have happened if not for the changes in my life. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me next and how He can help me be a role model to these children! Jeremiah 29:11-For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

All of the Different "Locomotions"

8am and Day 2 of London Begins

Let me start by agreeing with my mother, this does not happen often I might add. She always told me that the best way to know if you are ready for children is to "baby sit" someone else's. Well, Shelbi Harris at 8am in the morning makes me want ALL boys. Oh teenage girls.....

After I FINALLY wrestled her out of bed, we were off to finish the bus tour and hop on the River Boat Cruise. It was such an awesome way to see even more of London and add to our different types of "locomotation". Never a dull moment with the Harris Girls! While on the boat, we were having so much fun that we decided to stay on for the long hall…..45 minutes later, we came to Greenwich. Along the way we saw many historical sights including a little resturaunt where Charles Dickens wrote many of his novels. As soon as we got there, it started to pour down rain! Having no idea where we were, we ran into the first building we could see! Luckily for us, it turned out to be the visitors center and information desk.

Inside was a cute little museum and Shelbi and I got to be Admirals for the afternoon! It was a great place to warm up….we were freezing!! Then we were off to the observatory.



Standing in both Hemispheres at Once!!

This is where GMT is set everyday at 1pm. The best part about this story is that we had about a half of a mile hike STRAIGHT up….we didn’t think Mimi was going to make it! But she did :)  When we got up there, the sight was beautiful. By this time, the sun had come out and we could see all the way back into London City. We explored some museums that told us how people kept time and the evolution of the watch. Another cool thing was that we got to see the red ball drop…what’s the significant of that you say?? Well, it only happens once a day, at 1pm and this is when time is set for that day! It was awesome and we took tons of pictures! After we had our time at the observatory, it was back down the hill. 

At the bottom of the hill was the Maritime Museum and the Queen's House. The house was built for Queen Anne and was absolutley breathtaking but poor Anne died before she was ever able to see it finished! After we got a few snacks at the museum, we were off to the England Royal Naval Academy. Not knowing what to expect, we were more than plesantly surprised by the beauty of the two buildings: the first was the Naval Chapel. Not only was it gorgeous but it just so happened to be the day of an examination and not just any examination, but that of an opera student! Words cannot describe the beauty in his voice, such a delightful treat!

Then it was across the street to building two: the Grand Hall. Just a bit of interest about this building, this is where all three of the Pirate of the Carribbean movies have been filmed but that is by far NOT the neatest thing about this building! The coolest thing was the ceilings....just take a look at our goofy pictures!



This is a picture of a mirror so that we could see the ceilings that were above. Basically, it is like we are hanging from the ceiling upside down! We had WAY too much fun taking these pictures.....oh the memories that will last a lifetime!



This was so beautiful and an experience of a lifetime! But we all know how us girls are....after a long day we needed some retail therapy so off to the market we went. Here, Shelbi and I found the cutests dresses that will come in much handy with that hot Texas heat that we will be forced back into in a few short days. But then we found it.....a SOCK MONKEY!!! I was sooo excited (for those of you who don't know me that well, I am obessed with sock monkeys) because Seilah asked me to bring her one back and I finally found one and was able to do so! But after that bit of shopping, we were ready to head back to London City so back on the boat we went.

And guess what??? Our boat ride was another wonderful adventure! On the way back we saw a once in a lifetime event.....the London Tower Bridge was opening!!!! A "pirate" ship needed through so all of the traffice was stopped and our wonderful captain turned our boat sideways so that we would have the best view. What an amazing sight!!

But was this the end of our day.....most certainly not! Starving, we headed to a cute little Italian Resturaunt across from Parliment! I think that Shelbi ate the place clean! After we were more than satisfied, we decided to run over to Trafalgar Square and take a look inside the National Art Gallery Museum. Here, we saw beautiful paintings including my favorite, Sunflowers!

By this time, we were all a little cranky and ready to hit the hay! As our fearless leader, I did a great job locating our hotel and for the first time, we were not lost! Exhausted after our first 12 hour day, we were all out like lights!

(I am hoping to add more pictures to this post but here it is for now!)

Are We There Yet???

To start off my senior year, I was supposed to be at a 6 week long internship in London.....well we all know how that one ended: It never started. Feeling heathly again, my two cousins, Shelbi and Sydney, and my Mimi decided to take a week long trip to London anyways....and here is how it all began!

Wednesday June 8th 10:00am
The Harris' depart Deer Park for the Houston Airport. Aunt Jo and Uncle Michael (along with little cousin Seilah) were our drivers.....I still don't know if this was a good idea or not, the car ride ended in tears as Mom and Dad said good bye to their little girls for the first time!

In the airport, the girls experienced a few "firsts"-they had never been on a moving sidewalk before....Shelbi almost ate it so bad but luckily, she didn't and we were in route! (Partying it up in the Airport as Usual!)

Wednesday June 8th 3:30pm
Our first flight landed in Newark, New Jersey just in time! We only had 30 minutes to catch our connecting flight because our first one was delayed.....in a rush we made it to the airplane only to sit for and hour and a half on the runway while they "fixed" the plane. Praise the Lord, it was fixed and we were safe and sound and off on the 6 hours plane ride!

Thursday June 9th 8:30am

LONDON!! We FINALLY arrived after two delayed flights and an hour wait through customs. And of course, us Harris' girls arrived in style.....in the CABBI! The girls had never been in a taxi before so we hopped into the cabbi and headed for our hotel! 

After we got settled into the hotel, we were off.....as much as the girls and Mimi fought me to want to sleep, I've been down this road before and knew that we HAD to stay awake in order to get on schedule so hopped on a Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour Bus!

Do we look as gross as we feel?? We have airplane hair!!!

While on the bus we all began to get sleepy so we "Hopped Off" at the Tower of London. Most people know this tower as the execution tower where hundreds of thousands of Englander's where killed......as well as where Henry the Eighth had his wife's killed......sounds like a horrible place but it was beautiful!! Here is what we saw:

Going to the Restroom, the King's Way

The Exterior of the Tower...with tow girls who did NOT want to take their picture....one of many battles I have won, bribing them with icecream :)

Also in the Tower was Her Majesties Royal Jewels. Unfortunately we were unable to take photographs but we did come to one conclusion......Queen Elezabeth was origionally tall but then, because of the MASSIVE crowns and jewels, she shrunk. The end :)

After we toured the tower for a few ours, we were getting cold, hungry and tired. We hopped back on the bus and made our way to a small Italian Resturaunt.....food had never tasted so good! 

To end our day, Shelbi and I got to see how our room looked (we only had one room available at 10am when we checked in). Needless to say, we are to bugs in a rug :)

More on our trip later....we are off for more Harris Girl Adventures :)