MaeLynn Kartchner Harris

It's been a month since MaeLynn passed away. Although we were originally planning to spend the weekend just with the Lee's I'm grateful that we were able to be there for MaeLynn's funeral. Being there made me think of all the memories we made. When I was about 12 I went to Utah for a few days and stayed with her family. Jamie, her sister, MaeLynn and I went to an art class, the library, played on the trampoline, and talked about everything. I loved every minute of it. For a few years after that MaeLynn and I would write consistently and she would keep me posted on the uber-cool life of a high schooler. She was my idol. She would spend time with me and still listened to me talk about my much less cool life in junior high. We also spent many summers with MaeLynn and Jamie in Idaho at our grandparents. It's hard for me to sum up my thoughts on MaeLynn, so many of the feelings I have can't be put into words. She was expected to pass a year ago and when she was feeling well enough to come to our wedding I was so glad.

Not only was it nice for me to see her but it was also nice for all the family to be together. I had so many cousins come and she stayed almost the entire night with her family. The next day there was another family gathering and she saw lots of cousins again. I'm so glad she was healthy enough to be there.

Until we meet again MaeLynn, we love and miss you!

Here's her obituary from the Logan Herald Journal:

MaeLynn (Kartchner) Harris (1980 – 2011)

MaeLynn Kartchner Harris, beloved wife, mother, daughter and friend, passed away quietly at home Jan. 31, 2011, from neuroendocrine cancer. MaeLynn was born April 11, 1980, in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is the daughter of Jerry Charles Kartchner and Marie Hanks Kartchner. She attended school in Salt Lake City and graduated from Brighton High School in 1998. In 2002 she graduated from Utah State University with a major in public relations. MaeLynn married Andrew Lee Harris of North Logan, Utah, on June 22, 2001, in the Jordan River LDS Temple. They made their home in Logan. They are the parents of five children: Kendall (8), Ellie (6), Triston (4), Sawyer (4), and Abigail (3). MaeLynn was an amazingly sweet person who brought joy to whomever she met. She loved painting, being outdoors, and socializing. She will be remembered as a happy, fun-loving, kind, beautiful woman who loved life. She served faithfully in multiple callings in the LDS Church and had a firm and abiding testimony. Her children were her joy and happiness and she was an excellent mother. As a family we would like to thank all of those who cared so lovingly for MaeLynn and her family during her illness. The kindness, effort, and generosity extended in her behalf were without limit and were greatly appreciated. MaeLynn is survived by her husband and children, her parents, her sister, Jamie, and her maternal grandmother, Mae Hanks, for whom she was named. She is also survived by her in-laws, Lee and Pamela Harris, and her biological family, Andy and Lori Reese, Devan, Jaide and Tonia. Funeral services will be held Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011, at 1 p.m. at the Logan 10th Ward chapel located at 792 N. 500 East, Logan, Utah. A viewing will be held Friday, Feb. 4, 2011, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Nelson Funeral Home located at 162 E. 400 North, Logan, and Saturday at the church, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. prior to the funeral service. Interment will be at the North Logan City Cemetery, 2000 E. 2500 North, North Logan. Online guest book at nelsonfuneralhome.com. Published in Logan Herald Journal from February 2 to February 16, 2011

Week 9: yeast

6 pounds yeast

Dilemma

Scott is sitting next to me right now and can't decide what to do. Since he had to use some tools this afternoon they were left on the table. I've asked him to put them away the next time he gets up. He wants to read a book but it's too far away to get without standing up. Instead he keeps starting to stand up, remembers about the tools, and sits back down. Really Scott?

China, here we come!

I'll keep this one short and sweet. I found out this morning that my paper was accepted for a conference in Beijing so Cecilie and I will be going. The paper notification date was Feb. 21. I started getting anxious to hear the result yesterday afternoon. My phone was on vibrate during the night. I woke up a little after 4am and saw that I had the email. I saw that my paper was accepted on my phone, but I wanted to double check with the real computer. Cecilie followed me out to the cold living room and we confirmed its acceptance together.

I'm pretty excited. Not only is this a fun excuse to travel, but it also marks my first paper as first author which is a big milestone in my field.

Week 8: tuna

8 cans tuna fish

Utah Weekend

The other weekend we went out to Utah to visit Scott's family. In October there was a killer deal on Southwest and since we weren't sure how long we'd be there for Christmas we decided to plan another trip out. This weekend was really nice. Scott flew out on Thursday so he could get another ski day in. Scott and Jake had an awesome day and you can even see where they skied!:

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=955598

Saturday we were going to snowmobile but my cousin passed away earlier in the week and the funeral happened to be during our visit. The services were nice and we'll miss MaeLynn very much. (I'll write about that more when I feel like I can.)

On Sunday we tried to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir preform but they were traveling so instead we saw the broadcast from the week before. I guess we'll have to try it again next visit... Scott's sister and husband came over for dinner and we finally got to play Settlers of Catan. Scott has been dying to play the game but I won't let him usually. He used to play it all the time with a core group of friends but the game never ended friendly so I'm not a huge fan. He and Fred were good sports and let us just play to end the game instead of play to win.

Monday morning we drove Scott's dad to the airport and then went to lunch with his mom. We had enough time before we flew out to look around downtown so we wandered through a jewelery shop and went on top of a skyscraper. It was such a fun visit and we look forward to seeing them again!

Week 7: sugar

20 pounds sugar

Peppermint Crunch Cake

What it was supposed to look like:

What it actually looked like:

So I've become obsessed with peppermint. I'll eat almost anything if it tastes like mint. I saw this cake in the Williams Sonoma magazine and knew I MUST try it. I worked really hard to make it beautiful but luckily it tasted better than it looked. Because of the angle you can't see how lopsided the cake was but this picture will give you a good idea of what I was working with.

**Word to the wise: if you're making a layered cake cut the bottom layer flat so everything lays flat and the frosting won't just slide off.**

Week 6: maccroni

6 pounds macaroni

Beceley

I'm always amused at how difficult it is to understand my name. I understand that it's difficult but I'm not sure it's really as difficult as people make it. At the mall the other day I left a bag and when I called the store the girl said she'd save it for me. When asked my name I started to spell it and she repeated back "B-E-C". I tried to correct her but she obviously didn't get it. This is one of the more creative spellings/pronunciations I've come across. I always wonder what people think when they know me as something besides my actual name.