Mr. and Mrs.

I did it ladies and gentlemen. I survived the semester I was engaged. Took my last final this morning. Now I'll just sit back and watch some Netflix, thank you. 

I'm kind of having a break down right now. It's not a big deal. Only to me. Only to the perfectionist over here who likes good grades. That girl who likes her scholarship. Crazy. I'm supposed to write a 3 page (double-spaced) paper on the following prompt: "Describe and analyze the way the U.S. Supreme Court makes policy by interpreting the Constitution and the laws. In your essay use the cases of Gideon v. Wainwright (formerly  Gideon v. Cochran) and Betts v. Brady  to illustrate such issues as the selection of cases, mode of presentation, and types of evidence considered. Also, explain the rule of "stare decisis," the doctrine of "political questions," and the pros and cons of judicial activism. Based upon your analysis of these issues, was the court correct in hearing Gideon's case? Why?" Yea. I understand everything in the prompt, I just have no clue how to make that into one cohesive paper. I hate you Dr. Magelby. I hate you...

I'm a little overwhelmed right now. I have too many feelings today. Feelings of gratitude and feelings of sadness. Gratitude for my parents and siblings, who love me so much and are all doing far too much to help me with my wedding. Gratitude for my soon-to-be in-laws who don't even seem to hate me for marrying their son and brother. Gratitude for my almost husband who is patient, sweet, hardworking, kind, and every other good thing (except early-rising).  Sadness for two little girls I miss immensely. I always miss them. But the closer I get to my wedding, the sadder I get. Sad that I don't get to pick out their dresses. That they won't get to carry the bouquets I picked out for them. That I won't get to show them my wedding dress. That I don't get a picture with them. That they won't be able to come to the hospital to visit a new nephew or niece when Rob and I have kids one day. That they won't be able to play with my kids. That I don'...

This holiday is different than any previous Thanksgiving Break I've had. I only remember spending one Thanksgiving away from Orem, and we spent that one at Grandma Shirley's. Spending my holiday in Boise with Rob and the (almost) in-laws is proving to be quite fun. I'll have my first experience with deep fried turkey tomorrow. They're being brave enough to let me make the pies.  I still like this blending of families thing. I'm pretty lucky to be marrying into such a welcoming fam. Now I need to work on my cross-cultural paper. Curse you professor.   

My big sister is incredible. I want to be just like her. I've always wanted to be like her. I used to want to dye my hair brown so I could look like her.  I think she's brave.  And here's why. I'm proud to be Brenda's sister. 

Regular readers, beware. What follows is a school assignment (my very own cultural diorama), though one that might prove interesting to a few of you.  Behold my ethnicity...my sixpence piece. My coin from Britain. This coin has not shaped my life, but our shared origin has. I'm a product of British ancestry. My ancestry has always made me feel a bit bland. Don't get me wrong. It's cool to be British. But no one ever asked me in class what it was like to be me, like they would the kids from Mexico or even Canada. Maybe that started me on the path of an identity crisis. I was bland in what identified me. I wanted something that would set me apart.  Check out my culture. In some places, my scriptures might have set me apart.    Not where I grew up. Everyone had a set of scriptures just like mine. I didn't realize that those people's possession of the scriptures didn't necessarily mean that they had the same level of devotion for the gospel they co...

Being engaged is fun. I like planning my wedding, even if it can get a little stressful. I'm glad I have Rob to help me with it. He's not too picky, which is kind of awesome.  Even though I like planning my wedding, I like planning our future family more. That might sound weird. I just like talking about the future and realizing that Rob is always going to be part of that. I like discussions that end up with what important things we want to teach our future children. I like discussions that end up with what we want to focus on in our home. I'm realizing that I'm creating a new family. Rob's going to be part of my family, and I feel pretty lucky. 

I'm a big kid now. I took my first road trip. It was real exciting, let me tell you. Sara and I ate Oreos, talked, ate Mike and Ikes, joked, ate Oreos, etc. As far as road trips go, it was pretty grand. The accommodations were free (thanks to my future in-laws) and the hockey game was fun (even though Rob's team didn't do as well as they would have liked to). All in all it was a pretty successful weekend.  My next goal is to take a road trip when I don't need to borrow my mom's car. I can't tell you how depressing it was to get into my 1994 Chevy Corsica after the 5 hours of smooth sailing in my mom's 2005(ish) Toyota Avalon. Maybe after I graduate Rob and I will be able to swing for an upgrade for me. 

I started my practicum (20 hours of in-class teaching experience) yesterday. I'm working  with a 9th grade Geography teacher. The teacher is great. He challenges his students, and is more than willing to let me help them in the classroom. I didn't do too much yesterday, but I helped out with some of the activities throughout the day. As I did, the students kept calling me Ms. Belliston. I loved it. I love being in a school. I'm super excited to have more teaching experiences. I'm teaching about culture tomorrow, and I've got a great activity up my sleeves. Woot.  It's just too bad that I fell in love with the sound of Ms. Belliston less than two months before my name is going to change to Mrs. Peterson. 

You are turning four today. I'm wearing a pink shirt. I wore one in my race this morning. My shoes were even pink. I'm shedding tears for you, my little girl.  Would you have wanted books? Would you have wanted games? Would you have wanted a scooter? Would you have liked Dora or Princesses? Would you have still been enamored with ducks?  I'm sad that to prepare for your birthday I didn't have to wrap a present. Just wear the right color. I hate that you'll always be a baby in my mind. You should be growing up. I should be worrying about what dress you'll wear to my wedding. I should be trying to decide if you and Becca will hold flowers like Cassidy (and maybe Brynlee) will.  I miss you little girl. And happy birthday. 

I'm realizing something. I have lots of talents. Delegating isn't one of them. I get a little stressed sometimes. I'm a worrier. It's fine. I can admit it, so that's a step. I just need to get better at letting people help me not to worry. To let people take charge of things. I'm learning slowly. I let the co-chair of the music committee take control of the bigger things (let me tell you, he was thrilled). I let my mom and sister start to help me plan the wedding. I just need to relinquish the reigns a little more. I was chatting with my boss today and she asked me, "Does it matter what your wedding looks like?" That was a slap in the face. Because she's right. It's really not a big deal what it looks like. The things I care about will happen. 1. I'll marry Rob in the temple. 2. Our family will be there. Why do I worry about everything else? I'll get to where I can let it go. I'll just need to go on a run first. 

I'm sorry. But I just love my fiance. He makes everything better. He doesn't laugh at me when I have an allergic reaction to a Clementine and my eye is swelling. We registered today. I had to keep him from registering from toys. And then he had to keep me from registering for toys. Can't believe he wouldn't let me register for Nerf guns and Nerf bullets.  Don't worry. We registered for grown-up things like bookshelves and towels. Also a Kinect. I don't think we'll ever grow up. That's the best thing about the new life we're going to start. 

I used my hammer tonight. My roommate told me I was just like a man, but better. This is a small success. In other news, I'm working on Rob letting us register for a pink tool set. I don't think he'll be all about that. We took our engagements on Friday, and then the photographer went out of town. I'm getting a little anxious. I can't wait to see how they turned out! I under estimated how fun it would be to take pictures with my future husband. I had to say future husband because I have a feeling it will be weird to get used to that word. Husband. Hrm. One of my friends texted me last week and told me how many days it was until I get married. It was nice of her to count. Really nice, especially since I don't know how many days it is. More than 60 but less than 90. I don't really want to count down until its a low enough number not to bug me. 

I got a wedding dress today. I was much quicker at deciding than I thought I would be. I always expected that I'd need to try on oodles of dresses, but the third dress was it. Every eye in the store was on me. It was perfect and I didn't want to take it off. I tried on a few other dresses after it, but they just couldn't compare. I can't wait to put it on again. Can December 20th get here already?  

Holly and I ran the Dirty Dash last Saturday morning.  The 10K mud run was awesome with one of my best friends.  I twisted my ankle on the first hill of the race, but with Holly's help I  braved mud lakes, climbing walls, and half-submerged pipes. I was only slightly mean to her at the end. 

I'd already picked out the ring. Last Monday, September 17th, we went to Hur Jewelers to talk to him about how he could fix up Rob's Great-Great Grandmother's ring. I picked out a bigger diamond I wanted in the ring and then we left the ring with the jeweler.  On Sunday, Rob and I spent most of the day at my parent's house with my family. Both of our cars were at their house. When we went to Rob's sister Lindsay's house we left my car at my parent's. On our way home from Lindsay's, we stopped by my parents house to get my car. We went in to get something, and then to our separate cars. We decided we were going to drive to a park, so I went to my car and told Rob to follow me.  When I unlocked my car, he told me to come back because I'd forgotten something. He handed me the jewelry box. Here's our conversation: Me: Is this what I think it is? Rob: Why don't you open it and find out? Me: (Opening the jewelry box) Rob: Will you ...

That's right. That ring is on my left ring finger. I'm engaged to Rob Peterson! I don't think there's anyone happier on the planet. That ring belonged to his great-great-grandmother and is more than 100 years old. We had my friends dad, our family's resident jewler, clean it up a bit (cough and add a bigger stone cough).  It feels surreal to be engaged. It's something I've wanted for awhile. But it really doesn't feel that different. I still feel the same way I felt about Rob before the ring was on my finger. He's been my perfect fit all along. Rob told me in a letter once that I'm not perfect, but I'm perfect for him. I feel the exact same way. 

Today I saw a guy with worn out blue jeans and a cowboy hat on campus. That wasn't so weird. He was talking on the phone with someone. That also wasn't weird. He asked that person about the Renaissance fair that was coming up. That was a little weird. 

I feel like I've disappeared from the blogging world. I'm not going to apologize, because I like the way my life is going. But let me fill you in on how it's going.  I'm still an American Heritage TA and I still love it. I just finished grading my student's first papers, three days before I needed to. Bam. I'm still majoring in teaching, and my classes are starting to get better. I feel like I'm actually learning to be a good teacher for once. I'm still dating Rob. He's still pretty neat. I like having him back in my life. I feel more me again. I was happy while he was gone, and I led a fulfilling life. It's just like I've finally come home. He makes me more happy. He makes me more joyful. He makes me more better. 

Last night I was doing laundry. This was a good thing.  Last night my roommate had leftover pretzels and chocolate for dipping. This was also a good thing.  I had a chocolate pretzel and then went to switch my laundry. This was also also a good thing.  I got chocolate on my chest and stained three of my white work blouses with chocolate before they could make it into the dryer. This was a bad thing.  I have a talent for staining things. Thank heavens I have Fels Naptha on hand for such occasions. 

  Rob has had training camp this weekend for Hockey, and he's been pretty tired. I decided to surprise him with a fun date. It was fun to see him try to guess what we were doing and where we were going. I took him to Sundance Ski Resort and we rode the ski lift. They do "Rides to the Moon" on or near the full moon every month. We started the evening looking fresh.  Even though Rob scolded me for not telling him to get a warmer coat, he liked it.    On our way up we saw some beautiful lightning storms, but all hell broke loose once we got to the top of the mountain. I've never seen so much hail! We were soaked to the bone by the time they pulled us off the lift to wait out the storm in the ski patrol shack. Luckily I had muddy buddies to provide sustenance.  Rob lent me his hat in an attempt to keep me dry. It didn't work out so well. We  were pretty soaked.    Even though the storm calmed down after about 30 minutes, there ...

He did something big. Really big. I think it's pretty sweet. Let's have a drumroll.  He made the BYU Hockey team! That's right. I'm dating a college athlete. I'm really proud of him. Just looking at the schedule, I know it's going to take a lot of hard work. I can't wait to see him play, even if he'll ride the bench a little. (His words, not mine). His first game is September 14th, and you'd better believe I'll be there cheering him on. 

I'm so glad to be back in school. I feel like I'm in my element. For the most part, I think I'm pretty good at college. I like studying. I like learning. I didn't realize how much I missed it this summer. It's weird that this is my last first day of school. Since when am I a senior in college? 

And I'm not ashamed. 

Sometimes I crave ice cream when I go grocery shopping. It's a success that I only bought one carton on Maine Blueberry Cheesecake tonight. I promise. 

I'm not too much of a picture taker unless I'm on a vacation. I spent most of my time this week so happy that Rob was home. He's still the great man that I remembered, with only the best of upgrades (I was a little worried the mission would squash the playful out of him. Thanks heavens it didn't).  We rode his daddy's horses. Ignore my squinty face and just see how happy I am. Some things never change. We're a little goofy.  He's still handsome. I'm so glad to have my best friend home. Maybe one of these days I'll write more about how it felt to have him come home. Right now I'm going to head off to read my book and wait for him to call.  

I can't stop smiling. Rob is home. I've hugged him. He's real again. He's not just a letter writer. He's no longer a picture on my wall. He's a living, breathing, 6'3" man that I can hug, squeeze, and tease.  I am the luckiest girl in the world.

I'm blogging from the Las Vegas Airport. Ten points for you Southwest. You're right, it makes the most sense to fly someone from SLC to Boise via Vegas, Seattle, or Denver. All that's standing between me and Rob is my next flight (plus a few hours). I can't wait to see him. I can't believe that by the time I fall asleep tonight I will have seen my best friend. 

The only thing that will fix it is wearing my Matt Cain shirt. He pitched a perfect game. He's got to help me put a smile on my face. Right?

After Amy mentioned Rob, I started paying more attention to him during FHE. I realized that he was pretty funny, albeit very goofy. I still didn't have a crush though. A combination of events lined up before I became interested. I was feeling restless one Monday night after a run with my roommates. I wanted to walk around, but didn't think my dad would like me wandering around alone after dark. When I saw that Rob left his jacket at our apartment, I sent him a text. When he came to get it, I asked if he wanted to go on a walk. We wandered all around our complex and campus while we talked. I didn't remember having so much fun talking to someone before. Surprisingly, I remember much of what we talked about. We talked about each other's families, what we wanted to be when we grew up, and slang terms we wanted to start. Rob introduced me to the word Kosh (which I still use, on occasion). I introduced him to the word Boss (which he never used, and I doubt he ever will)....

It was August of 2009. I was going to FHE with my Freshman roommates. I was a little apprehensive about meeting my brothers. Would they be strange? Would they be too cool for school? I don't remember what the activity was. I just remember that the whole ward was there. I was initially pretty disappointed in my brothers, but mostly because I saw Voldemort and The Enforcer (it was freshman year. Don't judge). As the weeks went on, I started to crush on a particular FHE brother.  His name was Mark, and I thought he was dreamy. Though looking back, I don't see why. He was pretty short. Maybe I thought the braces were attractive? I got over Mark when I had a horribly embarrassing moment (maybe I'll divulge on this later) in front of him. I decided he was lame if he couldn't laugh about it.  Rob wasn't on my radar until Amy Faust told me she went on a date with him. I was surprised when I was jealous. It was the feeling you got as a kid when someone took the ...

I've lived in apartment #18 for 15 months. It's been home. My home in Orem became my parent's house while I lived in #18. Today I completed my move across the hall into #14 (my first move without mommy's help, are you proud?). It's a weird feeling. I like the new place. It's a step up, but it doesn't feel like home right now. It's just a hotel with beds on cinder-blocks and green carpet. Maybe it will once roommates start moving in. Now it's just a little lonely.  It's funny how things and places come to define me. I have knee jerk reactions whenever people mention the other places I've lived. I always get happy when people mention Heritage Halls. I have such great memories there with my freshman roommates, even if other girls used my towel on occasion. I always scowl when I pass Raintree, just because I had a hard time with one person. There were a few rough patches in #18, but mostly that place was home to some of my favorite memories....

Rob gets home in 9 days. I'm down to single digits. It's starting to become real. 

I went to the waterpark today with my entire family. That's right. All my sibs, their kids, and my parents. It was a party. We have some waterpark snobs who were good sports and put up with a few slides. My mom put up with scary slides. My mom is the reason I'm a pansy. She's a scardy cat. She was a brave scardy cat today. Two thumbs up mom. 

I keep realizing how great my life is. I've been so blessed to always have work, and usually it's good work. I go to a great school. I have good friends. I have a better family. I've been going to the temple weekly. That, coupled with studying the scriptures more in depth, has helped me to have the spirit with me nearly constantly. I've been happy, peaceful, and joyful recently. The spirit is the reason I've been feeling that way. And I'm grateful for it. 

Nothing makes me feel more patriotic than watching America dominate.  On a completely unrelated note, let's make it our little secret that I bet on whether or not the Russians would cry. That's $.75 I'll never get back. 

Today is Rob's 21st Birthday! I'm bummed I can't be with him to celebrate it, but that's okay. I know he's enjoying himself down in the DR. I've been looking forward to the 27th like it's a holiday. Funny how none of my coworkers care that my best friend is 21. That's okay. I have plans to celebrate it with the Opening Ceremonies. Also, I have a few fireworks I'm going to light off. He'd like that. I feel like I haven't blogged much recently. If you read my blog enough to care, I'm sorry. I've been sorting through the vicissitudes in my feelings as the time for Rob's return creeps ever closer. I haven't wanted to display those for all to see. But I've come to a few realizations.  I'm beyond excited for Rob to come back, but the end of his mission is (just a skosh) sad for me too. Though it's been tough, it's fun to get letters from him. I've had my last letter.  At this point, he'd beat any let...

He delivered this: Thanks Ellen , it's perfect! Her name will be Evangeline, and she loves her new home. How did you possibly know what color fabric to pick? 

Because of the state holiday, I had today off work. I decided to make a weekend of it and take yesterday off as well. Yesterday I went to Seven Peaks Salt Lake with my sister and her two oldest kids. Waterparks are more fun with 12 and 9 year olds who tell you about every time they almost flipped their tube on a waterslide.   I spent the night at my sisters house. We joined a few friends of hers to watch The Bourne Identity.  Today I hung out with the four other girls I work with (and two of their husbands). We watched the 5 hour BBC Pride and Prejudice while a few of us made Pies for tomorrow's Pie-o-neer party at work.  BBC Pride and Prejudice > The Bourne Identity This has been a weekend well spent. 

Here's the story of me and Ruth . I can't put my finger on when I met her. Her ward met in the same building as mine growing up, but I never knew her. When I started blogging, we started reading and commenting on each other's blogs. Now I like to think that we're good friends. Who am I kidding? We are. Anyways. Ruth is a singer. A dang good one. Here's the story of me and Faithfully . It's mine and Robs song. Cute huh? Probably not. We've got a few songs. But I (re)found it right before he left for his mission. It just spoke to me. You can vomit, but I love it. I was curious to see what Ruth would do with it, so I suggested she cover it. What do you think of her version ?

Today I realized that Law School isn't for me. That probably should have made me happy, seeing as I'll be saving thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars. But I'm pretty bummed. Maybe I'm bummed because that realization came with being bombarded by my own inadequacies.  In the end, I know Law School wouldn't make me happy. That's okay. I know teaching will. But it's always hard to let go of a dream (or a wish), even if that dream has only existed for a year or two.  

It was this girl's birthday yesterday. I'm sure glad I got to spend the day with her. (Oh, and the evening with him ). Holly and I lived together, but quite a few situations had to coincide for that to work out. I'm sure glad they did. She's an awesome friend, and a wonderful person.  I've realized that I don't believe in coincidences. I think the Lord has his hand in the 'chance' in life. I have my agency of course. I can choose what do to with anything that comes my way. I can choose who I'll be friends with, but the Lord sends people my way who will be just what I need when I need it. I'm so grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves me. 

My softball team, The Dark Unicorns, had their last game tonight. Even though they didn't play as well as I would have liked them to, I'm proud of them. They've all improved. I'll miss hearing them tell me all about their life. I'm really glad I volunteered as a coach this summer to help me do something meaningful before Rob comes home. I've been wondering what I'll do to keep myself busy between now and August 14th, so I decided I need five things to do (or abstain from) in the next four and a half weeks. 1. Attend the temple every week 2. Go to the gym/exercise (at least) three times a week 3. No How I Met Your Mother 4. Read 3 books 5. Read my scriptures before I go to work each day Any other ideas of things I absolutely must do before August 14th?

...By dear old Annie . The rules 1. Write eleven facts about yourself 2. Answer the following questions the 'tagger' has set for you. 3. Provide 11 new questions. 4. Tag away, Link away & Inform away. The facts 1. I don't like peanut butter. I'll only eat it on celery or PB&Js (when the J is Grandma Shirley's Boysenberry jam). 2. I can touch my tongue to my nose. 3. Psycho is one of my favorite movies (thanks for the introduction Ellen!). 4. I love the mountains, much more than I love the rolling hills. 5. Daffodils are just okay, I'm all about Gerbera Daisies.  6. My favorite Avenger is Captain America. 7. I have only locked my keys in my car twice, but once I left my keys in my ignition while the car was running (for 45 minutes).  8. Feet are gross.  9. My visiting teacher is one of my favorite people. I can't wait to live with her this fall.  10. My favorite cereal is Special K Fruit & Yogurt. 11. I love...

As I was leaving work today, a man who works in my building stopped me by saying, "Have you seen the Amazing Spider-man? You look just like the girl in that movie!" Do you see it?  After work today.  Emma Stone The only similarity I see is the bangs.  And no, I haven't seen The Amazing SpiderMan yet. But I want to. 

Today my coworker, Bryn, told me about how her roommates were mean to her. I told her she could invite me over and I'll go all crazy on those crazies. That I'd bust their face. Then Cory chimed in and said, "I'd like to see you try to be mean to someone Katie."

I'm excited July finally came. Next month I get to see Rob! I'm just a wee bit excited. I'm excited to shop with him. I hope he still dislikes it. It was annoying to have to push him into buying necessary clothes, but it was the fun kind of annoying. The endearing kind. I'm excited to eat food with him.  Especially food he cooks, because he's a much better cook than I am. I'm excited to try to force him to play games with me, even though he rarely does. I'm excited to beg him to let me listen to Showtunes Saturday in the car. I'm excited to talk to him. I'm excited to listen to him. I'm excited to introduce him to my friends, so he can know who the heck I've been writing to him about for the last two years. I'm excited to bug him, so I can see that face he makes when he squinches up his eyes. I'm excited for him to bug me, so I can see that mischievous look that usually is followed by a laugh.    I'm just excited to spend tim...

Don't laugh at me, but I had a happy moment today when I noticed that both of the Baseball teams I've been following in the standings have moved up.  The Giants are now at the top of their division and the Red Sox are now in third, only one game behind the Orioles for second place. Woot for baseball.

My first Taxi ride.  Those ladies sure were painted.  Yup. You're supposed to walk on that.   The water tasted gross.  Brenda thought so too. I rode a cable car! So did Brenda. Sometimes we show affection to each other.  I geeked out.  A lot.   Amoeba records. HUGE!!! I found the counter culture! We did a little Yoga.  I'm on a bridge! Know who else wrestled with that luchador? I got in trouble.  So did Nathan and Brenda.  Coit Tower and Katie Tower.  Palace of Fine Arts + hands in pockets= class. 

Me and Emily (my new ward friend) saw this movie last night. We both pretty much loved it. I left saying, "You can change your fate" in my best Scottish Brogue. Merida is one tough cookie.  However, I wouldn't take your kids who are younger than about 5. It was pretty intense. I jumped a few times, but that's not saying much (I'm notoriously jumpy). 

I've been in a Jane Austen mood recently. I read Austenland (enjoyed it), watched Lost in Austen (also enjoyed it, and started re-reading Pride and Prejudice (still enjoying it). It's got me thinking in doth's and hasten's instead of do's and hurry's. 

But I'm grateful for brothers and Blue Bell.

Thought I'd share a few pictures (photo cred to Jessica Wilson ) from my friend Naomi's wedding on Thursday, just to prove I was there. Bridesmaids: Me, Jessica, and  May The scary, "I'm going to eat you" look is me trying to look triumphant about my catch. They were jealous.  HOBY friends: Cooper, May, Me, Jessica, Neil  It was so fun to spend the day with some of my favorite HOBY friends.