Sarah Harris

Sarah started out life as her grandmother called her "a little china doll." She had very dark hair and white porcelain skin. She loved to smile and observe people.  She has continued to observe a lot of things about herself and others. Sarah has high expectations of herself and a great sense of loyalty and dedication to what she believes. When she is comfortable, her secondary fun and outgoing side bring out her vibrance for life. These attributes have served her well throughout her life including her early years. Sarah is the oldest of six children. Because of her responsible nature,  she was the go to babysitter & chauffeur. These roles weren't all bad.  They allowed her to coach her youngest brother's soccer team, to do Sleeping Beauty sleepovers at college with her youngest sister, and even to discover the great atmosphere of BYU while chauffeuring another sibling to an event down there.  

When she was young she enjoyed playing the piano, playing soccer, and dancing. She loved that dance and piano allowed her to express her creative side. She loved soccer but she just wasn't quite as competitive as her other siblings who went on to play at the collegiate level. Her fondest soccer memories are soccer pick up games with her siblings & parents in the back yard. Her husband, who has a calmer energy, has been known to tell her, "Your family is over the top; they need to tone it down!"

Her intensity was more channeled into her studies. She maintained a 4.0 in high school and even did so at the sacrifice of her own health. In her senior year, she was involved in so much, being the co-editor-in-chief of the yearbook, participating in the high school musical, and being in four AP classes. She got so worn out trying to keep up with such a demanding schedule that she got pneumonia. During this time, she still wanted to maintain her perfect grades, but when she failed to get an assignment in and wanted to do the required extra report to make up for it, her teacher excused her from the extra report & let her know that she needed to be mindful of her health and the bigger picture. She said that she learned from that experience, "We need to find balance, a time & season, you don't have to be everything, every second!" So, she finished the acclaimed high school musical & its encore performances and then after much prayer decided to rearrange her class schedule to allow her to achieve her most important goals. She was able to graduate from Alta High with a 4.0.

Her dedication to her studies paid off as she was accepted to BYU and then was also accepted into their competitive accounting program. She worked hard and did well, but she made sure to throw some amazing experiences in as well. She really wanted to study abroad! When she heard that a certain business professor would be going to London for a semester, she decided to apply to go on the adventure of a life time. The experience did not disappoint! From seeing Northern Ireland, England, and Paris, in addition to living in London for 3 months, there were plenty of adventures to scrapbook about! One of the funniest occurred in an elevator at the top of the Eiffel Tower. A man kept trying to get all the girls on the elevator to kiss him. It made for a humorous and awkward elevator ride. Only in Paris, eh!?! (Side note seven years later she made another elevator ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower with her husband & the ride went much better!) Another thing that made that semester abroad incredibly memorable was that 9/11 happened as she was abroad! She was very touched by the outpouring of love and concern that she saw and felt from the people in Europe who were praying for the Americans there!

Little did she know after returning to the more patriotic US than she had left, an outpouring of love, of the romantic kind, would be entering her life in the not too distant future. She and her friends were going to go to a birthday party and a movie afterward. When they found out that there was going to be only three boys and ten girls at the movie, they were not dummies; they decided that they needed to even things up a lot more. So, they invited another group of guys from the Davis County area who had attended the party to come and join them for the movie.  Among these was a returned missionary named Matthew Harris. He first talked to a different girl while walking up the steps of the BYU hill, but when he found out she was from Georgia he lost interest. He moved on to the next girl who was none other than Sarah. They had a nice enough chat that Sarah ended up giving him her phone number. One of his friends was very interested in Sarah's roommate, so Matthew gave his friend Sarah's number to contact her roommate. Because Sarah did not want his friend to be lead on, she let Matthew's friend know that her roommate was not interested.  She told him that if Matthew wanted to call her, though, she would be interested in talking to him again. 

Matthew took the bait and called her shortly after. Because Matthew was much quieter than she was used to in her family and because they went to a pathetic movie, Sarah wasn't feeling it and thought there may not be a second date. Then, something fortuitous happened. The car tire blew out. Why is that fortuitous, you might ask? Well, because Sarah got to see Matthew in action pumping up the car & fixing the tire. She gave him a second chance. He warmed up and they had a wonderful second date;o)!!! From there, there were very few hiccups in their dating and they were married almost exactly one year later in May. A funny side story is that when one of Matthew's friends later asked him, "I've been dating this girl. I've thought about and I really feel good about it. How you know that she's the one?" Matthew told him, "She'll let you know!"

In their early married years, Sarah and Matthew stayed very busy with Matthew working towards getting into dental school and with Sarah finishing her bachelor's at BYU and her masters in accounting from the U of U. After Sarah graduated with her masters, they headed off on their next adventure in Virginia for Matthew to go to dental school at VCU in Richmond. 

Matthew was busy in dental school, but Sarah was no less busy! She worked at PWC as an accountant for three years. It was not uncommon during tax season for her to work 17 hours on Saturday so that she wouldn't have to work on Sunday. She felt like the blessings that resulted from her sacrifices to keep the Sabbath day holy were bountiful. She was inspired by a quote that she heard Jenny Oaks Baker say about 6 days at 100% being more than 7 days at 75%. She loved and lived that truth!

Upon finishing dental school, they moved to Williamsburg, VA, where Matthew worked as a dentist, with a beautiful addition, their sweet oldest daughter Karlie! A year later while pregnant with their second daughter Abigail, they returned to Utah. After Abigail, they added two lively boys Brayden and Christian.  While challenging, Sarah loves being a mom and really pays attention to her kids' personalities types. She tries to come to know them and how she can best support them in their unique beauty and talents!

Sarah's beauty, inside and out, is bold and vibrant and lovely! She is so fun and easy to talk to! Next time you have the chance to visit with her, take it. I promise it will be fun and interesting in ways that are enlightening and endearing!