Ode to Joy!

On October 17, 2008 Ryan and I got married. Many of you were there. Some of you almost didn't make it, but thank heaven for cell phones! It was a beautiful sunny day. Ryan and I both felt very calm and peaceful despite some unexpected things that came up. We are grateful for our temple marriage and know without question that our Father in Heaven approves of this decision. We have talked many times since about how grateful we are for the law of chastity, temple covenants, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ that makes it all possible. Elder Scott told us once when he visited the DC South mission that our mission should NOT be the most spiritual experience in our lives. It should only get better. I am grateful to say that it wasn't. There were wonderful times on the mission, but there is nothing that compares to marrying the right person at the right time in the right places under the proper authority. There is nothing in our lives so far. WE ARE SO HAPPY IT IS ACTUALLY PRETTY DISGUSTING!!

SOME of the Waiting is Over...

"I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!"

I have been putting of blogging for so long because I wanted the pictures of the day it actually happened but after so many reason and excuses I decided to just post! On Labor Day weekend, Ryan and I and Mama and Daddy drove down to Las Vegas to meet up with Richard and Melissa and their kids. Richard needed to meet Ryan before too long and there really wasn't any other time to do it. We drove down on Friday and ended up in Fillmore. The next morning we had planned on going to the temple, but got going late. Well, we didn't end up getting to Vegas until about 3 pm on Saturday. This is where the story gets interesting!



Ryan, being the one I love so much, is teasing me ALL day about when and if we were to get married...UGH! I was sooooo tired of waiting for him to figure it out. I knew, I received my answer and am not a very patient girl. So anyway, I was getting really irritated by all his jokes. He noticed and we talked about it for a minute and he said, "I'm sorry, what if we go look at rings next week? Will that make you feel better?" I told him it only sort of did because it was just another thing to do that would be LIKE we were getting married but we still weren't!



Okay, so now we are in Vegas, FINALLY, and I am irritated and not feeling much like going to the temple anymore. I said we should just go to the pool and Ryan said we should go to the temple. I told him I didn't really feel like it, but he suggested that we just go and I should see how I feel when we get there. I agreed. We all got in our church clothes and went to In and Out for dinner before heading to the temple (Thank heaven for GPS units). In the dressing room I told Mama how tired I was of waiting and she said, "Well, you want him to be sure don't you?" I said I definitely did but that I was pretty sure he was sure. She didn't say anything else.



We went through the session and Ryan was being so smiley and happy...I thought he was just feeling the Spirit and was extra in love with me. In the Celestial room (which is absolutely gorgeous by the way) I made my way around to find the English scriptures and sat down on a sofa. Ryan sat down beside me and told me he had something, "a loner until we get our own" and pulled out a small white box. He opened it and slid off the sofa onto both knees and asked,

"Sister Karren, will you be my wife forever and ever?"

I said, "YES, ABSOLUTELY YES!"

We HUGGED AND KISSED!

Then, Daddy did what Daddy does and went around and told everyone in the Celestial room what just happened! They congratulated us and then Ryan and I went and said a prayer together. I love praying with him. It was a very beautiful experience!

So now, SOME of the waiting is over and a NEW kind of waiting has begun!

Is waiting still the hardest part? YES, even harder!!! :)

(p.s. Thanks Lynette for taking the pics!)

AMBER ALERT!!!!!!

HAVE YOU SEEN ME?
NAME: The Crazy Lady
FROM: Escondido, California
DATE MISSING: Monday, July 28 2008
LAST SEEN: "Utah Vacation"
DATE OF BIRTH: September 6
AGE: not too old and younger than her age
HEIGHT: taller than Leighann but shorter than Lynette
HAIR: brown
SEX: probably...she has four kids!
WEIGHT: none of your business...skinny...that is all you need to know
EYES: hazely green
DESCRIPTIVE FEATURES: Double jointed knees, pencil lead in eye brown, no ear piercings or any other bodily piercings (that I know of)

If you have any information or know where she might be please contact us immediately. She has been know to frequent other blogs, leaving comments but her specific whereabouts are unknown.

REWARD: A generous reward has been offered by her parents of salt, garden fresh vegetables, family group sheet, insect identification and knitted socks. If found blogging fresh homemade bread is included with the aforementioned reward.

Labor Day Weekend! Such a wonderful time...

On our way down to Las Vegas, we just couldn't sit close enough...man, I love him!

AW! Just look at that face!!! I LOVE kissing it!!!

LOOK!! They still kiss, too...well, if you ask them to for a picture...

At Circus Circus, we wanted to play lots! Look at all our tokens!

Then we went and ate dinner...it was pretty good Italian food but WAY overpriced I thought. Usually you get cheap food in Vegas, but at least we got to spend lots of time with Richard, Melissa, Jordan, and Jadyn.

We went to the temple...thank goodness for Daddy's GPS unit! How did we used to get around without those things??? This picture is before we became engaged...the last minutes of me being just a girlfriend and Ryan being just a boyfriend...

NOW WE ARE ENGAGED...TWO FIANCES VERY MUCH IN LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ryan and I were really excited to see the symbol on this part of the temple sign. The circle and the square represents when God and man meet. God is the circle and man in the square. When we go to the temple we come very close to God and marriage is the way that we become most like God because we are starting a family. Ryan explains it better, but he doesn't blog... :)

Physical Therapy...hmmm

After too many car accidents to name anymore and trying several different chiropractors, I finally found something that seems to be working...physical therapy/chiropractic care. I do these exercises twice and day and it is supposed to fix me by Christmas. The good news is the first time I went he adjust my head and VIOLA! I saw the world on a whole new level. Literally, things were level again. It was insanely amazing. The exercises are supposed to put the curve back in my neck and lower back. It is painful at times, but my mood has improved, headaches lessened in frequency, and I actually feel like this system is going to work! YAY!

My First Day of School♦

WHOA!! Am I old enough to be a grown up and have a real job and be a real teacher? YEP! I guess I am. Last night was Back to School Night. Lynette was very generous and made chocolate chip cookies for me to give to those who came. It was pretty nerve racking to meet all the families in that short amount of time. But I made it through and the cookies were a big hit. I was finishing things up and saw someone walk in from the corner of my eye. I thought "oh no, another parent-I was hoping to leave" When I looked over, it was RYAN! That couldn't have been a better surprise. Maybe I should have gone to bed, but we went and saw "Batman" instead. Very good movie, unfortunately I missed the last thirty minutes due to sleep deprivation...I woke up 7:00 this morning and just couldn't get out of bed. I finally managed to thirty minutes later which made it so there was no time to read scriptures together. My goal was to be ready by 8:00 so I could get a few more things done before the students came. Good thing I set that goal because I didn't leave until 8:25. I asked Randon to give me a blessing. Good choice! I felt so much better after that and I knew that the Lord was on my side, or I am on His side. When Randon walked out the door to go to work, he saw a gift from Onalee for me. She gave me a card and a lunch box. So nice!!

From First Day of School

Everyone at the school was so kind and helpful. Everyone that saw me asked me how my first day was going and gave me encouragement and support. Most of you know that I cry alot, so you understand the magnitude of me saying that I DIDN'T EVEN FEEL LIKE CRYING! NOT ONCE! Now that is an accomplishment. :) I am so grateful to be working at Summit Elementary. The faculty and staff are really super nice. There is still so much work to be done...filing, filing, filing...too many papers floating around. But I have great hopes for this year. My students seem to be really excited about school. I have two that come in and out because of learning disabilities so I am excited to learn from them as well. Trudy, the principal, told me today that I am the one that will be receiving the new move-in students because I only have 23 enrolled in my class. Everyone else has 26 or 27. They entered in the computer that the students will special needs are mine, when they actually aren't. Anyway, if that is confusing to you...just think how I feel.

To make this day even better, my sweetheart, Ryan, sent me the most beautiful roses with a sweet note. Man, I love him! I stayed at school until 4:30 pm and am very tired. I have tomorrow all planned and that is about it. Baby steps-one day at a time. I am so super excited to start this school year and find out what the Lord has in store for me to learn. I am really truly blessed and another added bonus...I have health and dental insurance and a monthly INCOME!! And did I mention I have the most thoughtful boyfriend EVER?! Well, I do!

Hold Please...

Just wanted to send a little update on my life. Things are going really crazy as I try to prepare my classroom and get school started and start being a real "grown-up". If you could just keep me in your prayers (and maybe Ryan too) I would appreciate it. Making adult decisions can be challenging and difficult, but at the same time, it is easy when we know we are doing what the Lord wants us to do. I have found that some of the hardest challenges of life have to do with agency. Allowing people time to form their own choices, watching people make wrong choices or choices we don't agree with, etc. seem to be the hardest for me. As far as everything else goes, I am a "carni" at the fair serving snow cones...fun, huh? 13 hours yesterday and another 13 today, YEE-HAW!!!!!

More about Ryan and I♦

I first met Ryan in the Birch Creek Singles Ward in 2005. He was my mission prep teacher and I thought very highly of him. He was cute and kind and spiritual, everything a girl wants, right? Well, I knew without a doubt that I was going to serve a mission so didn't spend time flirting or anything like that. I even introduced him to Onalee! I went on a mission and returned home. Ryan and I saw each other on campus maybe twice and then once at the temple. I thought for sure he was going to ask for my phone number then, but was wrong. It turns out that he wanted to but said he got too scared. Well, after some crazy circumstances and a lot of "random" things happening. We were in contact again and started dating. Things have progressed very quickly but it feels so right to the both of us. He is all I've ever wanted and needed. So, if things go as planned, there will be a wedding this fall! YAY!

We've Waited Long Enough!

Some of you may know that one of my favorite movies is ELF...well, "I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!" If you haven't seen it, go watch it. It is great! Ryan and I went down to Monticello to one of his family reunions. They do a lot of 4-wheeling. We had so much fun.

Bein' the Aunt!

There is only one thing in my life so far that I love more than being a teacher...the favorite AUNT! Okay, so I don't really think that I am the favorite aunt because that would mean I am better than a lot of people. But being the only single aunt does give me a lot of advantages over my sisters. :) I wish that more of my precious nieces and nephews were playing with us in this water fight. Nevertheless, it was really fun to run around in swimming suits throwing water balloons at each other. I love making memories with my 19 (almost 20) nieces and nephews and hopefully when they get older they will be able to look back and laugh at all the fun and goofy things they did with Lorna aka Aunt Lornie or Noni or Nornie or...

Meeting the Challenge

I DID IT! I graduated from Utah State University this past May with a degree in Early Childhood Education and a second degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Music. Tens of thousands of dollars later, I am starting my first teaching job at Summit Elementary in Smithfield, Utah. I'll be teaching 4th grade and am incredibly excited!

Institute Graduation

I graduated from Logan LDS Institute of Religion in April including an extra certificate of achievement. That means I took more than 14 credits of classes. Did you know you can just keep going and going and getting extra certificates all along the way? I graduated from Institute, but I don't think anyone ever graduates from learning the gospel. I love going to institute classes. I learn SOOOOO MUCH!! Next, I think I will take the class on world religions.

Confusion...

I am confused right now. A song comes to mind that my friend Heather shared with me in high school..."The waiting is the hardest part!" (Many of you may find this entry confusing as well, but unfortunately for you that is all I am going to say...you want to know more? You will have to email me.) ahh, now I feel better!

SHOES, SHOES, AND MORE SHOES!!!

I was fascinated with the massive pile of shoes outside the girls dorm each day. Everyone that had a pair of shoes new exactly which ones were their own...the fascinating part is that the "pair" wasn't actually a matching pair, just two shoes.
























This sweet girl let me take a picture of her shoes and then we got a picture together. She just exudes sweetness!!

Teaching Math in Uganda

While I was in Masaka at the Byana-Mary Hill Boarding school, I was asked to teach the Primary 4 math class. Of course, I was so excited to have the opportunity because I love teaching and I love Africa! Anyway, I tried to play a relay game with them, but they didn't really get the concept of playing a game while in class...oh well! It was a great experience...and aren't the children BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

I really enjoyed my time in Uganda. What an amazing blessing it was to visit this wonderful country. I was able to make new friends and learn more about myself in the process. I really consider the opportunity to go to Africa a tender mercy of the Lord. This is a picture of me with Kennedy, Kensecade (I have no idea how to spell it), and a couple other kids at the school.

Hey, Hey, Hey!!!

Here is my attempt at keeping you all informed on this most amazing trip to Africa! I am enjoying it soooooo much and still can't believe I am actually here most of the time. I still haven't decided about going to Kenya yet, I know, I need to decide soon...it is just a lot of money...