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.