James and I met through a "mutual friend". A mutual friend called, the internet.

A year ago I was a fresh BYU graduate, a not so fresh returned missionary, and a figure skating coach. James was working at a place called Mozy. Where he works with computers ... doing ... something. He was also being an amazing father to his [then] six year old daughter, Preslie. I, in Provo, and James, in Orem both found ourselves ready for the next stage in our lives, but weren't quit finding what we were looking. So what did we do? What does anyone do when they have a question or need help? They consult the internet. And that's exactly what we did ... 

LDSlinkup.com. Yup.That's where we "met". An LDS community network that was an awful experience. You think people are cocky in person? Try reading a Provo Allstar's profile. One guy sent me a picture of himself without a shirt becaue he wanted to show me his "sunburn". It was one of those bathroom selfies ... you know where people take a picture of their reflection in the mirror and you can see the toliet in the background. Classy. 

This is James experience:

"Nearly every single profile I have read about every girl around here says about the same thing.  Here is a quick synopsis in case you were wondering....

"I am fun and love the outdoors.......blah blah blah. I love to laugh, and stay active...blah blah blah.  I like to go out, but I also like to snuggle up on the couch and watch movies.  I'm spontaneous.  I love good food.  etc."

It is rare to find a genuine profile that actually tells me something real about any of these girls.  Who doesn't like to have fun and laugh?  Who doesn't love the outdoors around here?  Apparently if I went into the mountains, I would also find every single girl there, and she would be hiking.  And she would be loving it.

The last part is my favorite. and she would be loving it.

I had my account for about a week James had his for a couple months and we both frustrated about to delete them.

... but then James' messaged me.

He messaged me something along the lines of ... "Not only are you cute, but you're funny too. Sorry some jerk stole your bike."

He was responding to a comment I made on my profile about some jerk who recenlty stole my bike. [Good thing I didn't write about how I like hiking.]

It was a cheesy pick-up line, but it worked. People can say whatever they want to me about my face or hair or body -- but call me funny and I'm yours. We messaged a little bit and then we started texting. Texting someone you've never met is also a weird thing, but James and I were good at it. We kept up with each other's sarcasm and wit. It was like texting an old friend.

On June 5th 2013 we went on our first date. It was a Wednesday. I remember because it was 3 days after my 27th birthday. I gave him my address so he could pick me up -- which looking back was stupid. *Do NOT follow my example. Do NOT give your address to men you do not know!* Lucky for me, James did not kidnap me. [He did almost throw me off the back of scooter, but I'm pretty sure that was an accident] We went out for ice cream and ended up talking for hours. It was refreshing. Our conversation didn't involve the same crap I had been hearing for the last four years in Provo. He was a genuine, with real experiences, and he was honest about it. He didn't just tell me what I wanted to hear. 

There were many dates to follow and here we are a year later planning our wedding. Do I recommend online dating? How can I not? I met my fiance via LDSlinkup, but to be entirely honest - I think we were just lucky. 

I am so glad that some jerk stole my bike. :)

SilentJ

Male, 32, Blond hair, blue eyes, Caucasian/White ethnicity

6' 0", athletic body type

Mormon

Student, Information Systems

Divorced, has children (sometimes at home)

Hometown: Corona, CA

School/Collge: UVU, Mountainland Applied Technology College

Occupation: Technology, Mozy

Keranzi

Female, 27, Brown hair, blue/green eyes, Caucasian/White ethnicity

5'5", athletic body type

Mormon

Bachelors Degree, Communication Disorders and German

Never married, doesn't have kids

Mission: Germany Frankfurt Mission '07 - '09 Hometown: Stilwell, KS School/College: Brigham Young University Occupation: Figure Skating Coach

i like being a human.

i volunteer at the hospital every thursday on the mother/baby floor. one particular morning there was a baby in the nursery who was getting a little bit fussy, so i picked him up and cuddled him and gave him his pacifier and let him wrap his tiny hand around my finger and stroked his perfectly mohawked hair. while i was rocking him and daydreaming about trying to escape with him, claim him as my own and how many years i would spend in prison when i got caught, a nurse wheeled in another baby. a young guy, probably my age if not younger, was trailing behind her. the expression on his face told me he did not work at the hospital; he was the other little baby's father. the nurse stopped the cart right in front of a huge window and started some tests on the wee little babe. the new daddy took a seat to watch his new son's first moments of life. that baby was literally only minutes old. outside the large window stood an older woman, excitedly taking pictures through the glass. grandma :)

the baby i held in my arms yawned, directing my attention back to his sweet, little, splotchy, wrinkly face. these babies were inside of another human less than a week ago. the one i held was inside of a uterus on monday, just two days before that. and there he was: breathing, yawning, squirming, and sleeping in my arms ... a l i v e! and the thought crossed my mind: i like being a human. 

being human is difficult. it's heartbreaking. it's sad. it's mean. it isn't fair. it tears you down. it sucks! but it also is and does the opposite of all those things and it can actually be pretty sweet. i've been going through some weird stuff lately and i've sort of found myself in a place i never really imagined i would ever be. some really really hard things, but also some of the best things. but most importantly things that have made me appreciate and better acquaint myself with God.

if there is one thing that i wanted to convey to those brand new little people, it was that as terrifying and as hopeless as life can seem, one (or three) fact remains: God is real. God is good. God is love. He sent little spirits to inhabit those tiny fragile bodies and those little bodies are going to get hurt. physically, emotionally and spiritually. but God's love is never going to leave them, because He is their Heavenly Father. they might not feel that love sometimes or maybe even ever, but that doesn't mean it won't be there. i know God weeps with us. i know that our concerns, pains, struggles, joys, and successes are His. whether it's stubbing a toe, losing a loved one, graduating from college, or having a baby ... 

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" D&C 18:10

He weeps with us and he rejoices with us. i know that more now than i have ever known that in my entire life. 

babies.

bis später,
Keri 

 chunky wee little keri

i don't go on blind dates often, but when i do ... i make sure they're unnecessarily awkward.

my friend/co-worker bri set me up on a blind date with her boyfriend's roommate. >> fast forward to getting into the car the evening of the date >> when i was stepping into the vehicle my head met the door frame. and when i say 'met' i mean smacked incredibly hard. i seriously don't know how it happened but i freaking head-butted the car like it was trying to rape me. i saw stars. lucky for me he didn't see it happen because he was walking to the drivers side of the car. unlucky for me, bri and her bf who were sitting in the back seat, did see it. i tried really hard to play it off, but holy crap it hurt! in attempt to make it slightly less awkward i told a story about how i nailed a metal pole with my face on my mission when walking into a mcdonalds. ... yeah, that didn't really work. [tip: when embarrassing things happen to you, don't make it worse by mentioning other embarrassing things] a few minutes passed and the conversation shifted from awkward to less awkward but eventually back to more awkward because i looked in the rear view mirror and saw a HUGE RED BUMP on my forehead. i couldn't just sit there and pretend it wasn't there. i was growing a second head! they were sure to notice when we got out of the car, so i decided to just point it out. when we reached our destination the bump had doubled in size and had turned purple. PURPLE. i spent most of the evening icing my forehead on and off. i couldn't look my date in the face because i knew all he'd be staring at was the purple contusion above my right eyebrow. it didn't make for a very pleasant evening as it turns out, hitting your head that hard causes a head ache ... and a TBI. seriously i may have suffered a concussion. needless to say, there was no second date, which is fine with me because my head may be completely healed, but my ego is still a little bruised. happy valentines day in a week i hope you all have dates, and that they're more successful than this one :)

love,

Keri Ann

discouragement is a life long engagement.

my father doesn't email, he doesn't 'facebook', he doesn't even like talking on the phone. but he loves texting. and i love that he loves texting.

but that isn't the point of this post . . .

if i had finished a bachelors degree within four years after high school graduation, i wouldn't be a ranzenberger. we all served missions, we all took a while to decide what we wanted to study, therefore we all graduated or will graduate a little later than your average bear. so here i am 26, with a year left in my undergraduate studies.

i tried to get a head start on grad school applications the other day and nearly had a melt down. my grades aren't terrible, but they aren't amazing. i haven't taken the GRE yet - i don't want to talk about it. i feel like grad school is something only smart people do, and unfortunately the one thing [besides be a mom] i want to do with my life, requires a masters degree. people do a lot harder things than study speech pathology ... like medical school. my sister went to  m e d i c a l  school. but whatever, it's relative right? whenever i start thinking about everything i have to do my heart starts pounding and finds it's way to my throat, my trachea constricts to the size of straw, causing hyperventilation, and before i know it my face is in a paper bag and i'm gasping for air with tears streaming down my face. suddenly those girls who decided to get married at 19 seem really smart. why didn't i think of that? 

i was talking [texting] with my dad about everything and this is how our conversation ended . . . 

ten years ago this wasn't the type of 'engagement' i imagined myself discussing with my father.

i'm grateful for his honesty and while the truth hurts, it is also motivating. discouragement is a lifelong engagement ... i'm always going to be facing something that makes me feel inadequate, i'll probably never feel good enough. the questions is ... will i let that be that driving force that helps me improve? or will i let it defeat me? feelings of inadequacy can distract and deter us from accomplishing our goals and reaching our potential, but only if we let them.

"Whatever the source, such feelings of personal inadequacy can prove debilitating. If we allow them to persist, the weight of the world will press down on us, and we will be held back from achieving our potential. By extension, the lives of those we love will also be affected—lives that otherwise would have been touched for good if we had felt positively about ourselves.
If we have subjected ourselves to a constant barrage of self-criticism, let us recognize that we are better than we think we are! When things go wrong in our lives, it is easy to lose all sense of perspective. We forget our divine inheritance, when we should remember that we come from heavenly parents who love us. We are impatient for instant solutions, when often it is the passage of time that will allow things to work out. We ignore or downplay our strengths and abilities, just at the time we should be recognizing and applying them." 
Elder David S. Baxter, over coming feelings of inadequacy. click here for full talk.


 “To press on in noble endeavours, even while surrounded by a cloud of depression, will eventually bring you out on top into the sunshine.” ^{president benson}


it's so much easier to blog about this mentality than to actually maintain it. but it can be done, i think ... i hope. and so my friends, the moral of the story is, keep on keepin' on. i will, if you will.


love,
Keri Ann

well. i did it. i did the dirty.

WHOA. let's keep in G-rated people. not that. i ran the dirty dash. it's basically a 10k with obstacle after obstacle and lots and lots and lots of mud ... and it's only 5.5 miles ... not actually a 10k. so the only thing that makes it 'basically a 10k' is the running. i have to say it's one of the dirtiest things i've ever done . . . [insert that's why she said joke here]

 

oh also - today is my birthday. :)

k peace out,
.keri.

so ... my last few posts have been kind of solemn. i lost two grandparents in five months. and even though they were old and lived wonderful, blessed lives, it's still sad. i was lucky to have them in my life. yes, i do still have a life, and i'll prove it . . .

i abandoned my blog for a few months because i didn't think i had anything worth while to blog about and i didn't want to waste anybody's time. but i remembered i don't care if i'm wasting your time because chances are if you're reading my blog, you have plenty of it.

1. Adult Sectionals - March 17th Adult Sccchhhhectionals was held right here in provo utah! i got second out of nine, which qualified me for adult nationals [they only take the first four places].

  

       

  

my biggest fans as well as my sponsors.

mom and dad 

in the bottom left picture is ali my 'stand in coach'. unfortunately my coach rory couldn't be there because of a bunch of drama that i'd rather not get into. but i worked with her that morning at a different rink and my parents got to watch me practice so that was cool for them to see.    

 *if you notice i'm not wearing a medal in the majority of these pictures it's because . . . i lost it. oops! but that doesn't change the fact that i got second place. BAM! suckers!

 2. Adult Nationals - April 14th this is me in chicago at nationals, where i got last. ... dead. last. i skated terrible, like really bad. i don't regret going though because i got to see my seester. [yes i'm aware i spelled that wrong] and rory was there and we had fun. well besides the losing part ... that wasn't fun, that sucked. remember last year, when i beat everyone. e v e r y o n e. click here to see and this year they mopped the floor with me. [no literally ... they used me as a mop to clean the floor, it was awkward.]

 if ya ain't first yer last! (and if ya ain't last you did better than me.) 

ok but seriously, i loved the dress i wore. 

3. Finals week this was my schedule 

April 12th - 16th Nationals in Chicago

April 16th  - 19th Finals week

April 19th - 28th out of town for a million weddings (or maybe just two)

i had three days in between nationals and leaving for rachel doty's wedding to study, take finals, and pack.  i did terrible on my finals ... it was just a week of poor performances. BLAH

4. Rachel Doty's Wedding - Seattle Washington

wedding #1

i was rachel's trainer on our missions in Germany. we became instant friends and have been besties ever since. :) i was a bridesmaid in her wedding! the weather was beautiful and the day couldn't have been better ... good thing that losing streak/bombing finals luck didn't cross over to her wedding.

it was simply perfect.

i stayed in washington for a week. half the week i hung out with angela in seattle and the other half i hung out in gig harbor with my old/future roommate lara. it was so fun hanging out with them and so nice to be out of provo. the whole week i did what i do best ... eat. angela and i went to a lot of yummy places. we literally ate ice cream everyday and lara made lots of delicious homemade meals at her home. [can't wait until we're roommates again. #fat.]

it's true, washington is beautiful.

5. Jacquelyn's Wedding - Oakland California

wedding # 2

Friday April 27, I was off to wedding number 2. this time for Jacquelyn Garces one of my dear dear skating friends here in provo. the day was amazing, and she looked stunning. i was so happy to be a part of her wedding!

between competing and finals and weddings it's been a long couple of weeks. and to top it off i'll be going to a funeral this weekend. but at least for now i get to relax for a few days before i take off again.  i'm physically exhausted and mentally drained which is precisely why i was up all night blogging? but it doesn't matter cuz i don't got no school tomorrow! or ever until august!!!

peace out girl scouts,

Keri Ann

they had just walked out of the airport; they looked lost. the driver barely stopped the car before i flew out the door. i hadn't seen my whole family and had very limited contact during my 18 month LDS mission in Germany and this was the first time i would see my mom and sister. we hugged [for a considerable amount of time] i couldn't stop staring at them! there they were ... just standing right in front of me! 

one week later i remember walking off of the airplane and seeing my dad and brother rocky for the first time in 18 months. i can't describe how it felt to be home again. seeing my family after a year and a half was a marvelous occasion. once we were together again my separation from them had felt like no time at all and it was almost as if we had never been apart.


two days ago my grandmother, Virgina (Dede) Ranzenberger, passed away. although she will be missed, i have no doubt she was reunited with her late husband after 11 years of separation. i imagine a reunion similar to mine when i think about my grandparents being together again, except a million times more exciting! yes, it's hard to say goodbye to ones we love, but the Gospel is a beautiful thing my friends. it binds families together forever seals husbands to wives and children to parents. i'm grateful to be a part of it. i'm especially grateful for Temples. 

Grandma, you were truly one of a kind. thank you for everything you have done for this family. you are an incredible lady and i love you.

In loving Memory
Virginia Ranzenberger April 19, 1916 - April 27, 2012

Gott sei mit dir bis aufs Wiedersehen,

Keri Ann Ranzenberger