I Found This

This was a journal entry I found from awhile back. I needed to stumble upon it today.

March 31, 2010:

So the other day I was watching a show with my friend and my phone rings and I don't recognize the number. I answered it and to my absolute surprise a voice a barely recognized started talking. Her name is Kim. She has Spina Bifida and I was her "camp counselor" when the Spina Bifida conference came to Louisville the summer before my senior year. I worked with the teenagers and Kim was one of them. Lately I've been feeling like there hasn't been a whole lot of good that I've done in my life but when that call came, I knew that there was at least one thing. Kim still remembered me and still wanted to talk to me to see how my life was going. She's an angel in more ways than one. The Spina Bifida conference was definitely an experience that I would love to have again and again. Tender mercies...they're wonderful.



 So now, of course, I've been obsessed with finding another conference that I could go to and volunteer at. And I've been doing some research about how I can volunteer at Primary Children's Medical Center. I found this quote yesterday (or rather I walked by it in the Tanner Building on campus):

 "Service is the rent we pay for living on this earth."

-Shirley Chisholm (I think...)

How cool is that? It's just so nice to have things put into perspective. 

Bike.

An ode to my bike:
I have a bike.
His name is Ike.
He's gray and blue
and Silver too!

I ride by the river
straight down to the lake.
I hope that no one
my bike will take.

I like my bike,
My bike named Ike.
He is just plain swell.
-The End

I've been biking for the last few days and let me just say I love it SO MUCH MORE than running. I feel like I get a better work out in areas that I need most. Plus, Neil has been doing it with me! That makes it that much more exciting. We'll see how fit I can get in the next couple of months. (We'll keep going after we get married but the wedding is one goal to work toward.) YAY for IKE the BIKE!

On Top of the World

So, all week long I had a suspicion that it might happen the following weekend but I didn't really have solid evidence, just a feeling. Anyway, we went to Manti for the weekend so that we could spend time with Neil's family for Mother's day. The day before we left (friday) Neil asked if I would like to go 4-wheeling. My response was, of course, that I'd LOVE to go. I love outdoorsy stuff. :) So Saturday we get to Manti around noon and he asks if he can go, "hiking and shooting with Jaiden and the guys." I was totally okay with this because it's not unusual, but usually I go with them. I told him he could go and I stayed home with his mom, which is totally fine because I love her and we had fun.

While Neil was gone, his mom and I were chatting about what my relationship and the whole time I just kept thinking, "Oh. Ok. Maybe it's not going to happen this weekend. Ok, I just need to accept that and move on." Three hours later, when Neil got home, I was totally in the mindset that it wasn't going to happen. So I was a little irritated but I was getting over it, we can't always get what we want when we want it, right? Anyway, we head up the face of the mountain and just start going up. Up and up and up. It was A LOT of fun and I got to be on a 4-wheeler with Neil so I was a happy camper. About a quarter of the way from the top Neil says, "We should turn around and explore some trails closer to the base of the mountain." I was a little thrown because we were so close to the top of the mountain but eventually I agreed and we headed back down. 

A little later, we pull up on this hill over looking the whole valley. I could feel Neil's heart pounding but I didn't think twice about it, I though it was just the adrenaline rush... We hopped off the 4-wheeler and stood there gazing out over the most beautiful city in the world. He had binoculars with him and he starts looking off over where his house is. (His house is on the the very edge of Manti city. A few miles from the "cluster" of the city. Anyway...) So he's staring at his house, through the binoculars for what seems like FOREVER and I'm standing there squinting, cupping my hands around my eyes to block out the sun, trying to see what he was staring at. Now, keep in mind that I had already told myself it wasn't going to happen and so I really wasn't suspecting anything, I just thought Neil was being weird. Anyway, the next thing I know Neil is squatting on the ground next to me and for some bizarro reason I'm super confused because we all know he isn't proposing. Finally he says, "Hey, come here." I sit down next to him and after some instruction on how to best see through this particular pair of binoculars he tells me, "Look at the side of my house." 

So I look. 

And there is this sign.

I can BARELY read it but I know what it says (Marry Me) but I'm not sure if my mind is playing a trick on me so I ask,

"What does the sign say, Neil?"

"Can you read it?"

"What does it say, Neil?"

"Would you like me to clarify?"

"Uh, yes..."

Then Neil gets up on his knee (because at the time we're both sitting on the ground) gives a little but beautiful speech and then asks if I'll marry him. 

I didn't say yes. 

I said, "OF COURSE!!"

So, standing on top of the world, I became engaged to my best friend and I haven't come back down yet. 

I'm Engaged!!

Yup! It's true! I've got a ring on my finger and I am going to marry my best friend!!! Here are some pics!

I'll blog the story soon!

This is "The Boy"

I realized that there is this MASSIVELY important person in my life whom I have neglected to really talk about on my blog except for in code. So, here goes. I would like to introduce you all to my boyfriend. He's a cutie. :)

Name: Neil J Olsen

Favorite Color: Green

Favorite Food: It's easier to say what he doesn't like-celery, egg salad, potato salad...He does really like chicken pot pie.

Hero: His Dad.

Favorite Song To Play (On the Piano): Debussy Reflets dans Lea'u

Favorite Place: Lake Powell 

Favorite Book: The Virginian

Favorite Activity: Spending time with...ME!!!

First Impression of Me: "That is a fun, classy, sporty gal."

My First Impression of Him: "He's a nice guy. Cool." -No joke.

Well, that first impression grew to be a little bit more than that. By golly, I think I'm in love.

From my sneaky photo shoot. 

YAY US!

Thanksgiving. Meg was so small!

A friend was taking pictures of people at church and snapped these of us.