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.

Home Again

I finished my third/fourth semester of college, passed my EMT practicals, and got myself a better boyfriend than I could dream of having. He treats me like a princess and might very well be the best person to come into my life in a long time. Now I have four months off, and said boyfriend will be up in the great state of Idaho starting his own college career. Over the next four months, I'll take my written EMT exam and hopefully get myself hired on with an Ambulance company. I'll continue to work at the movie theater in the interim, and I think I'll start writing again.

Part of me can't believe the semester is over. It was such a crazy one, but I'm going to really miss Idaho. Heads almost rolled during finals week though, that's for sure. I'm glad to have a break from school. That being said, I'm also glad to be done driving. For my latest trick, I drove from Provo to home...alone. I stayed the night with the family somewhere kind of in the middle, but still. I'm glad to be home.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas!

In Which I Learn to Lead

I am not a leader.

At least, I was never much of one. I spent years following orders and doing my best not to ruffle any feathers. In college, I have been put into a few leadership positions, nothing consequential. Each semester teaches me some new fundamental aspect of being human, though, like taking care of myself, and learning to trust.

This semester, I have learned to lead. It started with my calling as the second counselor in my RS presidency. I was given jurisdiction of sorts to lead over a few specific committees, where my specific job was to lead. It took some getting used to, but I eventually got the hang of conducting meetings, giving assignments, and receiving input from those around me.

The learning continued in my classes. In some, I was content to ride in the passenger seat and let the more ambitious take the reigns. That is not allowed in EMT. Can you imagine going into cardiac arrest, and the two techs responding are going back and forth with:
"You can do compressions."
"No, no, you can do them."
"Well, would you like to hook up the AED?"
"Only if you don't want to."
Five minutes later, nothing is done, and you're dead. That's bad. To prevent such terrible occurrences, we'd occasionally be assigned to lead when doing skills. No one acted without the leader's say-so, and if something was done incorrectly, it was the leader's fault.

I remember one particular lab day when we were learning to do scene assessments. Colton, the Paramedic student instructing the skill, asked for someone to start. I deferred, saying that I really wasn't as strong with that assessment type. He calmly looked me in the eyes and said, "then you're leading". The Paramedic students pushed the EMT students, and sometimes it felt like a lot, but they really helped me learn and grow.

It wasn't until this past Saturday that I realized how much I'd changed. My class was participating in a Mock Scenario. My group of eight suited up, prepared our jump bags, and drove the ambulances to the local high school, where the results of a fight had been staged. We wheel the cots in, but my teacher stops us before we get to the scenario room. We needed leaders assigned: one for each of the two groups of four, and then an Incident Commander, or IC, who was to lead the entire group. Two kids snapped up the team leader job, but no one was volunteering for the IC. Behind me, someone speaks up.
"I nominate Katie."
No. I was already a nervous wreck. Everyone knew that. So they wanted to put me in charge?

Suddenly everyone was looking at me, and before I knew it, I was donning the white IC vest.  My job was to examine each of the six patients, determine who was highest priority for transport, help everyone with their patients, and, well, lead. I coordinated the movement of tables from on top of patients, fetched supplies, triaged, and helped students move the patients onto backboards and cots and then carry those cots up and down stairs. Did I mention that those patients were our Paramedic student instructors? Scary. The hardest part for me was determining which patients were most critical, and organizing transportation for six patients in two ambulances. Somehow, I managed to do it.

My teacher critiqued us after, and my classmates made sure I knew they thought I did well. It was incredible, and the experience was incomparable, but the biggest thing I learned:

I can lead.