A Close Encounter

Wow, it was different to be home and done with church this week before it would have started last week. Out stake has just redone the boundaries of all the wards to make room for 2 new wards in the stake. For the most part we are still the same with a few minor changes. Some of those changes though include a new meeting time and location.

So, because we moved locations, I needed to report visiting teaching in the church system for the month of July before I had to turn in my set of church keys. I went up Monday to our old building to do this. I thought I was alone until 30 seconds after I entered the clerk’s office, I heard someone trying to open the door and then knock. I opened the door to find a stranger standing there. He looked at me and said, “oh…um…you are not who I thought you were.” To which I responded, “oh, sorry.” He quickly followed with, “well, uh, how are you?” I thought this a bit strange since I didn’t even know the man and starting to feel uncomfortable, responded, “good…how are you?” As soon as he responded, “good, “ the door was closed and I was trying to figure out my next move. I thought he might just leave, but as I reported my visiting teaching I could hear him still outside the clerk’s office. My new plan was to just hurry and get out of there…a girl can never be to careful, you know. Well,  I did finish, and I did leave the office to find my ward’s bishop’s door open with this stranger in the office rummaging through papers. I wondered what on earth he was doing and was taken off-guard as he stood up and looked at me, and said, “you’ve heard about the changes, right?” I said, “you mean about the ward changes? Yes, I am just trying to get VT reported before we move buildings.” He said, “okay,” and then just paused for a moment. Following this pause, he said something that brought great relief to my anxious mind…he said, “ I am sorry, I don’t think I know you…I am the bishop.” At first, I was still a bit confused thinking that I was pretty sure I knew the bishop and he definitely was not him. Then it registered…oh yeah!, we got a new bishop last night when they redid the boundary lines…this must be him. OOPS!!! Here I was thinking that a strange creepy man was following me, but in all reality a very good man was just simply trying to get his new life as bishop figured out. I am pretty sure from here on out, I won’t be forgetting who my bishop is. I am actually really excited for our new bishopric…they all spoke in church today and really brought a lot of power and spirit. So, welcome Bishop…may you serve well and be a “creepy” stranger to none.

I'm MARRIED!!!!!

...I know, this is a little belated. Ryan and I have been married for 3 months and ...um, 16 days now. We are feeling pretty confident about this whole newlywed thing. For and update on us since January, here is a brief list of things:

• Ryan completed his nursing capstone at IMC in Murray in their Emergency Department. 
• I taught Evolution at BYU for Winter and Spring semesters. 
• Ryan graduated from BYU's school of nursing AND passed the NCLEX making him officially a RN (REAL nurse). 
• We went on a honeymoon to Florida (yes, we went to Disneyworld!...and yes, we went to the beach!) 
• We fixed our sprinkler system and have done several other little house projects since.
• We returned to the Southeastern United States for a insect collecting trip. This was for my research on scorpionflies. 
• Ryan was hired as a window-washer to bridge the gap between graduation and finding his first nursing job.
• I am finally getting some results back in my research after a year of not finding anything really.
• We are LOVING our pass of all passes and the fun things we can do with it. 

So pretty much, life is going well. We love our little home and hope all will come to visit!

...oh, and no blog is complete without some pictures, right?

January 23rd...what a great day!

So…the engagement. Ryan worked a night shift last Sunday and so had slept in Monday afternoon. He always calls/texts when he wakes up, as he did this time as well. We planned to meet up on campus and he told me to meet him by the “family statue.” I will have it known that I arrived exactly at the time he told me to find no Ryan. Come to find out, he was on the other side of the statue. That is when he gave me a single flower, a daisy, and we went back to his house. Since it was Monday evening, we decided to do our own FHE. I gave him the lesson based on the religion class I have been going to (church history). We did this in front of a fire that Ryan built. He also suggested that we make tin foil dinners in the fireplace, which was one of our favorite meals we had done before. They were SO YUMMY. Then Ryan tried to make me come up with a FHE activity…but I had just given the lesson, so there was no way that was going to happen. He just smiled and said he would take care of it, and suggested we do one of the things on the date idea list I created a few months ago. We settled on driving around Provo reliving some of the memories we had there. We drove past Memorial Park where Mel and Dave got engaged. Looking back, I think Ryan may have paused there…just in contemplation. We eventually drove past the Indian Restaurant where we had his birthday dinner, when he asked about the “historic tree” that where we had our first kiss. I directed him to it and we stopped there. Of course we had to get out to reenact our first kiss. Ryan’s memory is a bit fuzzy because he recalls grabbing my shoulders, pulling me in, and laying a big one on me as we dipped. I recall the peck that I could hardly get out because I was so nervous he would notice I had never kissed anyone. So we “played” around for awhile. Then out of his pocket came a surprise, as he said, “something came in the mail today.” To this point, I had been completely oblivious. Ryan made he seem that we were just having a casual night and that I was helping to decide where we were at any given point. I quickly realized that I had been blind. He got down on one knee and said, “Katherine Fager, will you marry me?” I of course said yes, we hugged, kissed, and all that jazz. And that was it. We drove home and just enjoyed the night. I loved it! Simple, secluded, and special. He couldn’t have done a better job of tailoring a proposal just for me. When he dropped me off that night, I found a bouquet of more daisies on my bed with a note that said, “I figured in a few months I'll have to ask your permission before I spend money on you. Since I already know the answer to that I'll just have to spend what I can now.” That just reconfirmed everything I already knew. I just LOVE Ryan.

Everyone, I would like you to meet...

...Ryan (this is our first picture together, taken back in September)! ... and he is also my fiance! This is just a quick post but more details to come...

Practice Doesn't Always Make Perfect

I believe there is a saying that goes, "you only fail when you stop trying," or something to that effect. This might be true in most aspects of life, but I have found one exceptions to this rule for me...GYMNASTICS. I thought I would be adventurous this semester and try something new, so I signed up for a beginning gymnastics class. Note that I said beginning! My entire goal in taking this class was to learn how to do a back flip.

First day, they call role and the teacher explains all the different events we will be expected to learn. He went through the floor, trampoline, uneven bars, vault, and beam demonstrating multiple skills with ease. In my mind I was thinking, "how hard can it be?!" Immediately we start to warm up and he has us start on strength training. This is where I quickly learned that I am not as strong nor flexible as I thought. Neither can I do one single pull up. Following the class, my arms were so sore that I could hardly open my binder in my next class. I didn't dare tell anyone that it was because I was attempting, not even accomplishing,

That is about how the entire semester went. About half way through my time, my goals changed. I no longer was aspiring to do a black-flip, but a handstand. If I was aiming high, I thought I might even be able to accomplish the "pull-over" on the uneven bars. Just look:



Six year old girls can do this trick....ugh! Well, by the end of the semester I still couldn't do a back-flip, nor a pull-over, nor an effective handstand. But let me tell you...I am a champion at somersaults!

Discovering New Love

Yes, it has finally happened. I have fallen in love....with hiking. I know you were hoping that I was going to say a boy, but that we are still working on. As far as hiking goes, I have always gone along for the ride pretending that it was something I truly couldn't get enough of. Truth be known, that was part lie. But over the last month, I think I have truly learned to completely enjoy it. I admit that I still don't love the long up-hills, sore muscles, and inexplicable amount of sweat. However, that all plays a part in the beauty. The best part though? Definitely the company.
A few weeks ago, David and I set out to hike Mt Timpanogos. After my experience on the mountain last year (nearly falling off a glacier covered cliff) I didn't know that I would become a Timp fanatic.

When David and I began the mountain we were prepared to take it on. However about 4 miles up, we ran into snow...sad day! We couldn't go much further without putting ourselves in danger (like last year) so we we descended. Feeling a little like a failure because I had failed to summit my goal, I suggested that we then hike Squaw Peak...and so we did.

Poor David really didn't want to, but for the sake of spending time with his lunatic of an older sis, he came along. By the time we reached the top (another 4 miles up), he was dying...shorts were soaked to the ends with sweat and he could hardly move one foot in front of another.
But we did it and it was awesome! The view was definitely worth it. After coming off Squaw Peak and looking back to it, we had great satisfaction in knowing we can conquered it. Hence my love for it.

Notice the shorts :)

This last weekend, my family decided to take on two more hikes in Jackson, WY. Unfortunately, not all of us in prime hiking condition. All did the "nature walk" around the lake and got back much later than anticipated. So the next morning when I still wanted to take on Snow King, mom joined me. It was a great time. It was difficult and a little exhausting and a little like hiking the "Y" with shade on the trail. Again, so satisfying to reach the top and see the beauty beneath.We will see what other adventures await!

Goodbyes to Hellos!

This summer has been quite the AMAZING one. While I am excited for EFY summer job to be over so that I can begin to have my own schedule, I certainly already miss my friends. Here is our family picture. It is neat how quickly you can get to know and love people...all it requires is for you to open your heart. Easy to say, I know. Anyway, now that EFY is over, it is back to the real world for me...well, kind of. Back to school at least and to something that is directly preparing me for my future, whatever it may be. Starting into graduate school is definitely a new adventure...bring it on :-)