The New Home

Hi everyone! You'll likely have noticed many changes around the blog. I figured, hey, new family, new home, might as well give the blog a fresh coat of paint. However, it's not just KT anymore (nor are my initials even KT anymore) so I logically also had to change the blog name and address.
But Katie, why didn't you just create a new blog? Wouldn't it have been easier?
No.

Anyway, to the point of this entry. Jared and I, after our wedding on July 28th, had been living with my parents up until last week. Now it's time to start a new school semester, which means moving into married student housing up here at the Y of I. We're incredibly happy to call this little place home. 

I worked in California until Thursday night, we drove all day Friday and then again Saturday beginning at 6am. By 10am, we had the keys to our apartment, and by 11, we had unloaded our first car-full, met our neighbors, and scored a free tv.  We then proceeded to dash to the nearest bed store to ensure that we had somewhere to sleep for the night. Then we hopped back in the car, drove to Idaho Falls, and picked up a vacuum, a microwave (what kind of apartment doesn't have a microwave these days?!) and a million other little necessities. By Saturday night, our bed was made, our bedroom free of clutter, the bathroom had a shower curtain and towels, the kitchen had basic tools, and the rest of our apartment made us look like hoarders. On the plus side, the first trip home from the storage unit filled our car once again, but attracted the attention of half our building to help unload. It took maybe five minutes. 

Sunday was our first day in a married student ward. Unlike the single student wards, where everyone goes by their first names, we're Brother and Sister Allen. Also, there's the constant drone of a few rattles. Regardless, it was kind of fun.

Today was our first day of school, and Jared's birthday. We had a religion class together with a teacher we've had before, so that was really nice. Other classes were the basic first-day routine. Nothing too exciting. We were both done by 12:30, as we will be every day, which totally rocks. Jared will usually have work after that though. 

After school, I took my first stab at baking an Angel Food cake (from a box, of course). I now have my first oven spill to clean up. Yummy. The cake soon became part of a Strawberry Shortcake trifle. Because, you know, why not?

Jared, the greatest chef of our age, called it the best Strawberry Shortcake he'd ever had. Score!

And what birthday would be complete without Sparkling Cider in plastic champagne flutes?

The flowers were from Jared today.
"Happy Birthday!" he said with a grin as he presented them to me.
"But Jared, it's your birthday."
"Happy My Birthday!"
I love him.

So those are our latest adventure. More to come, I'm certain. Hopefully next time I post, we'll have the last two rooms assembled. Maybe.

-Katie A.

Remind Me Again: What is Sleep?

Home again. Well, back in Temecula. Home is where the heart is, which means for me, it's wherever Jared is. So I guess right now "home" is an hour from here. But I'm with my mom and sister now, so "home" is here too. I've definitely missed them.
Finals always seem to drain the life out of me, especially when compounded with having to make my apartment "white glove" clean at the same time. I think I got about fifteen hours of sleep all week, and that's including half the drive home. But you know, I'll take what I can get.
Six days, eleven hours.
That is how long I have until I become Mrs. Katie Allen, and gosh dang, six days and eleven hours is far too many. So much is happening this week, I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever get to settle down. Oh well, it's totally worth it.
Anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know that I'm back in California safely, and
I'M GETTING MARRIED IN A WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!

T - 6 Weeks!

Oh my goodness. I'm getting married six weeks from today. I woke up this morning with that pit in my stomach that tells me I'm missing something, so I've been going over my lists a dozen times trying to make sure I have everything together. Jared, meanwhile, is trying to convince me that everything is being handled. He definitely balances out my crazy. Regardless, the list this weekend involves:
-Finalizing our invitation lists
-Dressing the groomsmen
-Picking out our wedding bands
-Picking out music for the reception

I really wish I could just jet home really quick and see how everything is going.

School is going well, though I kind of had a week off. I got super sick last Friday, and my body has taken a whole week to recover. Meanwhile, doctors have no clue what's going on. It's fun! Not really...
Otherwise, I applied for my school's paramedic program and was put on the waitlist. I'm not sure how far down this list I am, but I registered for other classes regardless. If I get in, I can be done with school in three semesters. If not, it'll be an extra year added on to my time here. I'm really hoping I get in.

Jared is doing well. He was able to test out of Spanish classes, giving him the credits he needs to get on fastgrad, which will allow him to go to school year-round. That'll be really nice for us.

I hope everyone else is having a great beginning-of-summer! Love you!

I have no clue what to title this

Jared finally got to have a hand in the wedding planning and excitement. In the twelve weeks we've been engaged, he's barely gotten to do anything except help pack the bridal shower gifts and yay or nay some things over skype. Alas, yesterday, we picked out his suit. We're both very excited about it, aside from the fact that he'll be wearing it on our wedding day. For him, it's the first time he's had a well-tailored suit, for me, he just looks so gosh darn handsome in it! Okay, I'm done gushing.

Our weekend otherwise has had a damper on it as I've been sick. Even now, I'm staying home from stake conference so I can recover and hopefully not contaminate too many other people. It ruined so many fun things, like...not letting us stay out until curfew. Okay, so maybe it's just forced me to go to bed earlier and be half-miserable, but that's about it. All the same, we didn't get to see the supermoon last night or have any Cinco de Mayo-related fun. (maybe I can blame the heavy rain on the lack of supermoon, but regardless, I'm bummed.)

Hopefully the next week goes better!

~~~~~~~~~
82 days until the wedding!

The I

I'm back in Idaho where everything feels normal again. The only different thing, really, is that I'm here with Jared, and have apparently joined some group of students that I didn't notice before. The student body seems to be primarily divided into the single-and-mostly-uncommited and the engaged-and-or-married groups. Without having consciously known it, I belonged to the former until now. I'm in my last semester of single-student housing, which is very nice. When we go to devotional and the speaker talks about eternal marriages, I get to sit back and smile when they plead for the single students to date, and I tune in when they discuss marriage and families. I'm even on a special list in the Bishop's office. Being engaged falls somewhere between a fantastic thing and everyday life up here.

Anyway, classes are awesome so far. My New Testament teacher spent years in the middle-east simply because he wanted to understand the Savior better. My firefighting class has a 2-1/2 inch wide textbook, is almost entirely male-dominated, and might be entirely useless, but it's supposed to be incredibly fun. Plus, I get to sit by Jared in both of those classes. My Spanish teacher seems to be fantastic, and I think I'll learn a lot from him. My DNA class textbook is Genetics for Dummies. I'm taking a global dynamics class online, and the jury is still out on that one.

For those who wonder, my hands haven't gotten any better, but they haven't gotten worse either. I'm learning how to take care of them and I've cut back a lot on the hand-stressful activities. Even Jared is finding ways he can help, besides just being my scribe when I need him. Granted, sometimes I feel downright disabled, and most days my pinkies and ring-fingers are mostly asleep, but I've gotten used to it.

Honestly, I think this is going to be a great semester. It just has that feel to it, you know? I guess we'll just see what happens!

The Big News

For a ridiculously cute story, read everything. If you just want the big news, skip to the end. Oh, and italics from here on out are Jared's contributions.

Once upon a time, a girl of about thirteen was hired to tutor and clean for a family in her ward. Often times, the girl would find herself cleaning alongside the family's teenage son. They became friends. The two worked together for years, and eventually began meeting away from the home, going on adventures, getting into trouble, and generally just having fun. A few months before the girl turned sixteen, the young man presented her with his first gift:

a ctr ring the young woman had greatly desired

The young woman's sixteenth birthday rolled around, at which time the young man presented her with a dozen red roses, and asked her to be his girlfriend.

eww eww eww

Unbeknownst to him, the girl dried the roses and held onto them.

Unfortunately, the teenage romance didn't end well, and our heroine broke up with the young man.

Their relationship thereafter was in shambles. It went from silence and cold-shoulders to almost-a-romance, back and forth over the space of a year. Still, the young man bought her a gift for her seventeenth birthday. Knowing her love of writing and of things that whispered of eras past, he bought her a quill and ink pot. 

For the record, she wasn't expecting a gift that year. She still swore he was upset.
That's what she thinks.

Our young man left for two years to serve a mission, during which time the young woman missed (quite a lot) her friend of years ago. So she wrote him. Faithfully. For two long years. (Talk about dedication, right? Do any of you guys out there have a girl who will do that? Yeah, she's pretty awesome.) In return, he wrote back, and continued to send gifts on her birthday.

For her eighteenth, he sent her something straight from a missionary's heart:

For her nineteenth, he surprised her, and caused the girl to experience her first ever laugh-cry. (Success!)

He sent her a printed, bound copy of her first completed work of fiction. It looked like a book she would find in a bookstore (where it should be), and holds a place of honor on her shelf.

Eventually, the young man returned home, and the young woman apologized (for what??) and expressed her desire to be reunited with him. She surprised him by flying from Idaho for his homecoming (or rather, redefined surprise. She was talking to her roommates in Idaho one hour, and the next she was in my living room!). Once the young man rediscovered cellphones and skype, the couple remained in near-constant contact. The girl went home again for Thanksgiving, where this time, she asked him to be her boyfriend. Of course, he said 'yes'. 

For Christmas, our young man bought the young woman a beautiful and unique necklace (one of the girl's three eternal hunts, I'll have you know. That thing doesn't exist anywhere else in the world), and hand-crafted her a wooden box to keep it in.

Unfortunately, some four-legged creatures got to the box. (I swear I'll kill those dogs)

After Christmas, the couple traded places. He left for Idaho, while she stayed in Temecula. Still, they kept in constant contact. They talked. And talked. And talked. They made plans and secret schemes. He sent her flowers on Valentines Day.

 One specific weekend in February rolled around, and the young man flew to California. The couple met with her parents, got their approval and blessing, and then the magic began. 

First, she was blindfolded.  Then, she was driven in circles, and finally, led over treacherous fields and dirt paths. When the blindfold was taken off she was sitting...in the middle of the meadow, where the couple had spent many nights stargazing. The young man surprised the young woman with:

And then...

"Let's go get some dinner."

That's it? the girl thought. We talked to my parents, he dragged me out here for this big show and...rootbeer?

She shrugged and followed regardless. They gathered their things and walked over the next hill, where written in glowsticks was:

He then handed the girl a package, which contained:

And inside that:

A ring, on the chapter titled "The Unbreakable Vow"

Jared then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

 And I said yes.



Katie Helen Thompson is officially engaged to Jared Christopher Allen, as of 2/17/12. 

Movies as Usual

The semester ended, I moved back home, my room has a pleasant Katie-mess to it, and I'm back at the theater. My boyfriend is at school in Idaho, and I'm stuck here in glorious, southern California. I spend my days...well...looking for things to do. If I'm not at work, I'm usually on the phone or skype with my boyfriend. If neither of those are available to distract me, I read or play MarioKart (probably the best video game I've received in a good seven years). I have feelers out to babysit wherever I'm needed, but with an always-changing work schedule, it's hard to say when I'm available very far in advance.
I haven't even taken my EMT exam yet. I'm waiting patiently for all the forms and certifications to go through, just chillin' around, forgetting everything. Ok, maybe not everything. Last week at the theater, I got to help someone who got sick, arrange things with Emergency Services, and talk to the medics like a big kid. Well, a big kid with EMT knowledge. Regardless, that was probably the coolest thing I've done in a while.
Anyway, I think I'll go back to looking for something to do, because I don't start work for another seven hours, and all my friends are in class.
Sigh.