The story continues...

Kathryn's solo career has ended, but it has a much more entertaining and exciting sequel. Check it out here: http://m-and-k-olson.blogspot.com/.

The List of Lasts (12 days to go!)

As I shut the lid of my washer on Wednesday night, I realized that I may be doing my last load of socks as a single woman--truly, a momentous occasion. It hit me that I'm coming to the end of my list of lasts. It's a list that started with my last Christmas living at home, and it will eventually include my last Sunday in my singles ward, my last FHE with my family as it is now, my last day of relying on my mom's grocery shopping (and having a clear conscience about it), and my last night of having the most comfortable bed in the world all to myself.

But it's also a list that includes my last day going through the daily grind on my own, my last night of leaving him on the doorstep with a kiss, and the last time I can only imagine what he was thinking about right before he went to bed and right after he got up in the morning.

As Mike reminded me tonight, we'll go through a re-birth of sorts when we get married. We'll give up some things, leaving traditions, routines, and parts of ourselves behind as we develop other parts of ourselves that have been waiting for the opportunity to be accessed by such a deep change. It's a leap of faith that will take us to a level of happiness we can't imagine now.

Like unto Temples

I recently learned firsthand that every detail of a temple is planned out and presented to the First Presidency before any ground is broken for it. The computer program-generated images look as real as a photograph. The intricate gold trim around the floor-length mirror in the Brides’ Room, the potted plant that sits to the left of the recommend desk, and the specific fabric that covers one of the chairs in the Celestial Room—all are included in the preparatory design.

Isn’t it fascinating that our bodies are often compared to temples? Paul asks the Corinthians, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?” (1 Cor. 3:16). Among many other comparisons between us and the temple, here is one that I really get:

“Every star is different, and so is every child,” we sang in Primary. Even twins have different personalities and life experiences. Just as every temple is different, so are we. And to accomplish that difference, the temple designers don’t just sit around and say, “Well, let’s have the dressing rooms switch sides on this one,” or “We’ll get the smaller sized potted plants this time,” and move onto the next temple. From a primary resource, I know that extensive care and research goes into every single architectural and interior design decision. Local traditions are considered, local artists are commissioned, and the “historicity” even comes into play.

When I think about Heavenly Father specifically designing my body from my incredible cardiovascular system that not only keeps me alive, but also does a little dance whenever Mike holds me, down to the hair follicle that graces the knuckle of my pinky finger, I understand a little bit more about how He knows me better than I know myself.

If you start to think about it, the similarities between us and the temple are endless! One that I’m particularly in awe of at the moment as I am on the verge of starting a family (in 2.5 weeks!) is that families are organized in the temple, and families are created by the functions of our bodies. Family, always family, is the height of excellence in the temple and in the body.

There is a lot more to say about the connotations of the Spirit dwelling in both the House of God and in our own temples. I would say that a personal study of this comparison yields the most fulfillment of all, so I will leave you to it.

For some awesome perspectives on temple architecture, check out this blog written by my sister-in-law's twin brother: http://thetrumpetstone.blogspot.com/.

One of the Best Decisions Yet

To gather addresses for wedding announcement purposes, Mike and I created a form into which everyone input his/her address. Just for kicks and giggles (as Dr. Feighery, Communications professor, would say), I put a optional "Comments" field into the form. I tell you, it really is one of the best decisions I've made so far in this wedding preparation journey. Mike and I have some pretty darn entertaining friends and family. Some comments made us smile and some made us guffaw. It made us grateful for having such a great support system.


Mike served his mission in Japan, and he likes to tell me some of the funny Japanese to English translations he's seen. I'm not sure how the relationship between the two languages came to be so entertaining, but I highly enjoy it. Some examples of Japanese to English translations are "the big happy" (= a yummy beverage), and "I feel peacefulness for this smiling face" (next to a picture of a cat). There are many many more.


We sent announcements to a few people Mike has remained close to in Japan. One woman filled out our form and wrote in the comments section. She wrote in kangi, which I can't read to save my life. Being the curious soul that I am, I quickly utilized the greatness of Google translate to figure out what it said:


"Happy marriage forever!

We find the same joy that your worthy opponent.

Please if you have a great love always deeply widely.

For all the countrymen for all women

Mayumi Matsui friends forever grateful to have met that "



I'm not sure how accurate this is, but I feel really great about how she mentions "forever" and "always." I also like the connotations behind "a great love", "always deeply widely," and "your worthy opponent."

Creation: Choose your Media

In the last few weeks of my Book Arts class, there was much talk of which forms we were going to use for our final projects. Some people decided on the traditional folio form, while others chose to create a book in the very loosest sense of the word (see the following for clarification on that last category: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Yam_(artist%27s_book, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brian_Dettmer_New_Books_of_Knowledge.jpg). On the description card that was to accompany our final projects in the library display, we had to indicate the media we chose to use to create our projects. The media and the form were to be rooted deeply in the significance of the project.

The word "media" is one of those words that keeps the same meaning but has a different significance in every genre, generation, and general subject category. Media are the tools people use to create and communicate. In a workshop I attended this morning, we talked about influences of "the media," referring to music, TV, movies, commercials, and other techonologic forms. We can certainly discuss the negative in media today, and we often do so.

Providing examples of good media, the man leading the workshop showed us clips of a movie with good values and a movie that exposed the behind-the-scenes of fahion/pornography media. Then he clicked through his presentation to pictures of nature. "The earth is God's media," he said. "It is the expression of His creativity." His creativity comes in the perfection in nature, the scenes that take our breath away, the elements that keep us alive, and the places we seek to be uplifted, enjoy solitude and receive inspiration. And here is my interpretation: If we are training to be like God and use our creative powers as He intends them to be used, we will follow the hints of nature as the results we're going for.

To create is to have power. I'm spending lots of beautiful time with my new niece, Genevieve Harmon. It's recently struck me that God trusts us enough that we're given the God-like power to create life. Women are even given the power to sustain it for the first little while.

To create is to use our talents. We have the potential to create every day. I feel blessed that I am wordsmithing text every day to be used by the Humanitarian and Welfare projects of the Church. Grounded firmly in the simplest of doctrines, my writing is meant to communicate the joys of service, the fruits of faith and action, and the miracles that come from hand of the Lord and through His earthly servants.

To create is to give.

So folks, choose your media. Choose the media you use for inspiration and entertainment, and choose the media you use to create. But choose wisely; what we are exposed to becomes our preparation for the bigger and better things we are destined for.

Is this real life?

You know those times when you are positive that things are too amazing to be true?

Like today, when I:

- interviewed a Creole-speaking man over the phone about his inspiring journey toward self-reliance
- opened my eyes to wake up and my room was still clean!
- looked over at Mike driving us to the library and squeezed his hand as we listened to Mexican radio
- taught my co-worker a few weeks worth of digital photography class in less than 30 minutes
- got positive feedback on my article

His Side of the Story

by guest blogger Michael Wesley Olson

Kathryn has done her customary brilliant and thorough job in telling our story. The only thing I can add are the feelings that were going through my mind at the time. I never once thought that I would be blessed enough to find a girl as genuine or as beautiful as Kathryn Harmon. Since returning home from the mission I served in Japan, I had seen many different girls, and none of them seemed to have IT, you know. I began to think that I’d have to compromise my values if I wanted to marry. I never dreamed I could be lucky enough to marry someone with both brains and beauty, someone I could really connect with. The girl of my dreams. My best friend. And this is how it all started…

I began preparing to study abroad at the BYU Jerusalem Center. I had my heart set on visiting the Holy Land for a summer semester. Little did I know that the Lord had other plans for me. He carefully led me into a different path. Several factors combined to hedge up the way and I began to realize that I was not going to make it to Jerusalem. I still had the itch to study abroad though, and after a few talks with Heavenly Father I walked into the U’s Study Abroad Office and began looking at the England pamphlets. One thing led to another and I found myself in an information meeting for the London program. I looked around the room and to my dismay I didn’t recognize anyone. But that was okay because I was feeling adventurous. After all, I had just signed up to fly to a foreign country.

Then my eyes landed on a face I had seen before. Hark! It was the cute girl from my Shakespeare class. She’d caught my eye a few times in class and I had wanted to talk to her, but alas I am a terrible conversation starter and could never come up with a good enough excuse to begin a conversation with her casually. “Um, hey,” *clears throat, “do you like… things…” Gah! *buries face in hands; these scenarios would always play themselves out in my head during class. But now was my chance. It was my time to shine! Our instructors had said that we should form travel groups to make traveling easier. I had my conversation starter.

“Hey,” I said to Kathryn as my palms began to sweat, “d’you want to form a Shakespeare travel group?” I was nervous and my words must have slurred together I concluded, especially since a confused look had overtaken Kathryn’s face. I tried to clarify by explaining that because we were in the same Shakespeare class we should form a travel group together.

In my 24 years of experience whenever I had found the courage to talk to beautiful woman it had always ended the same way, rejection. So I suppose it wasn’t much of a surprise when she said that she couldn’t form a travel group with me because she had other travel plans already. She’d be staying in England the whole summer to do a program in Cambridge as well. So I went on my way and prepared for an unforgettable trip to London.

We talked a few times after that in our Shakespeare class, which made me glad I had at least broken the ice in our earlier meeting. But again, nothing much came of it. She was a beautiful girl who was out of my league and I was just an aspiring radio talk show host with a fan base of six.

But in London she really began to impress me. My roommate and I began making plans to go to church. I was sad because it looked like we were the only two planning on going. On our way out of the collage we were living in we ran into a few more that were going to the LDS church as well. So we went together. We got to the church as sacrament meeting was starting and we sat in the back. It wasn’t until after the meeting was over that I saw her. I saw a couple of familiar faces in a sea of unfamiliarness. It was her! Kathryn! The girl I had always thought was cute but never really ever thought I had a chance with.

I was very impressed when I saw her at church. If there’s one thing you know about a girl that goes through the effort of making sure she knows where and when church is in a foreign land it’s that she has a good relationship with Heavenly Father. That, or she was tired of her singles ward back home and wanted to meet a hunky Englishman. But seriously the fact that she would chose to go where the spirit is rather than take Sunday off while she was abroad told me a lot about her. This was a girl worth getting to know.

I spent the next few weeks getting to know Kathryn as we traveled to Bath, walked around Stratford-upon-Avon, saw Shakespeare’s plays and took in the beauty of the English country. I gradually began to notice that I had a little crush on Kathryn. “This is no good,” I thought. I had come on this study abroad for an adventure and to strengthen my love of literature and Shakespeare. The thought hadn’t even occurred to me that I would meet a girl and fall head over heals for her. I had become disenchanted with dating recently when it became apparent that I was going to need to compromise myself in someway. It seemed to me that every cute girl I talked to seemed to think it was okay to bend a moral rule here or there; questionable forms of entertainment or less than modest clothing. That is why I was so surprised to meet a girl like Kathryn. I was beginning to think that girls like Kathryn didn’t exist. She is beautiful without trying to be, and she’s modest about it in every sense of the word. She wears nice clothes that show she respects herself and her body.

It wasn’t until the incident at the National Theatre in London that I knew I loved Kathryn, at least in a small way. Our travel group had taken a tour of the theatre and then a bunch of us stayed after to watch one of the shows. The group chose a show they thought would be good. It started okay, but things got uncomfortable quickly. I felt uncomfortable. I looked down the row of faces in our group and saw Kathryn on the end. She looked uncomfortable as well. That was the last scene before intermission. I suggested that we could leave and get ice cream. Kathryn looked relieved, and we left. The group left with us but as we left the theatre and walked along the Thames River I knew that I had found a choice daughter of God and that I would do anything to protect her physically and spiritually.

After we were both home and started dating my love for this beautiful girl grew more and more. Then, two months in, she surprised me by telling me she was getting a feeling that she needed to serve a mission. This hit me hard because I was falling deeply in love with this girl and the thought of not having her in my life was more than I could bear. I prayed for the strength to do the Lord’s will. I didn’t want to come between her and fulfilling a calling from Heavenly Father.

Several months went by, as did many hard conversations with Heavenly Father. She didn’t think it would be fair to ask me to wait for her, nor did I feel it appropriate to do so. The decision was reached that we would continue to date and see where we were emotionally in 18 months.

My love for this girl continued to grow as she prepared herself to serve the Lord. Then she met with the bishop and stake president and gradually felt more and more like she wouldn’t go. She told me and needless to say I felt guilty of unintentionally manipulating her into staying. She assured me that she felt that it was a prompting from the Lord. I’ve always trusted her to do the right thing when it comes to spiritual promptings.

I’ve never felt more love for Kathryn than the night we babysat my nephews—in particular when we were putting Joseph and Nathan to bed. She sang them songs from the primary songbook, and a spirit entered that room in a way that I’ve never felt before. I can’t imagine raising a family without Kathryn, nor would I even want to try.

Well, I think Kathryn covered anything I may have skipped. In summary: Yes I did have a crush on her all through our study abroad in London and yes the hug I gave Kathryn just before flying back to America was a little awkward, but that was only because I get self-conscious around pretty girls I have a crush on (Kathryn's sidenote: I think he was also giving me space because though I liked him, he knew my heart was still somewhat engaged elsewhere). And now looking forward to the future I am so lucky to get to spend the rest of my life and eternity with the girl I had a crush on, my best friend. I can talk to her about anything and everything. We go biking together, we play games together and we go on picnics together. I don’t know what I did to deserve the blessing of her in my life but I’m certainly not going to waste it. We will serve together, go on missions together and raise a family together (and a pretty darn cute family too, thanks to Kathryn’s chromosomes).

I love you Kathryn, and I can’t wait for Oct 6, and every day after that.

Kathryn's footnote: See why I'm marrying him?

To Genevieve Aisling Harmon:

We've been anxiously awaiting your arrival for a long time now. You've brought your parents so much joy as they've prepared for you to join their wonderful family in Connecticut. The David Harmon family had tears of joy as we sang this to you over the phone earlier today on your 24-hour birthday--it's one of my favorite lullabys:

"Through your eyes skies look brighter
Grass more green clouds are whiter.
When you're close cares grow lighter,
We're glad that you were born.


Through your eyes hills stretch higher.
When you smile you inspire hearts to sing in a choir.
We're glad that you were born.


Born to laugh, born to dream
Born to spread your light.


Through your eyes we see clearer
You bring God so much nearer.
Life has grown so much dearer,
We're glad that you were born."

I can't wait to meet you soon!

Love,

Auntie Kate

Recent Radio Tastes and the MTC

I would like to know whether you're as intrigued as I am that my current radio tastes alternate between the two following genres:

1. Christian Pop
2. Spanish, with a pretty strong nod to Mexican

I mean, how can you resist "you are my Li-i-i-ght" and "eres mas linda que la rosa"? No se.

In other news, I've been spending some quality time with the future Welfare Services missionary couples lately. Monday, I went with them on a tour of Welfare Square, and I spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday at the MTC. I felt extremely funny about being practically the only one under 50 eating in the cafeteria who was neither wearing a missionary badge nor had ever served a mission. On Wednesday, it was especially odd to see all of the new missionaries. At least I wasn't the only one who looked lost.

These were some major highlights of the adventure:

1. I got to drive a beautiful and new company car down to Provo both days.

2. I really enjoyed seeing all of the senior missionaries either take delight in or be completely befuddled by their new iPads. Actually, I mostly just enjoyed the senior missionaries themselves. How can anyone not enjoy New Zealand and Canadian accents and answering all kinds of questions about my fiance at lunch?

3. There really is an incredible spirit in the MTC--a feeling that convinced me that I'd be back sometime about 40 years down the road. With my companion. My eternal one. Maybe we'll go to Myanmar (I learned that it's pronounced without the 'r') and help the Myanmarians (?) build clean water wells. Maybe Mike will be a temple or mission president in Japan! We'll just have to see.

Fourth time's the charm

I wondered if the women sitting at the front desk in the Church Office Building recognized me when I walked up to them last Tuesday for the fourth time in 7 months to say the same thing I had said three times before: "Hi, I'm here to meet with (fill in the blank) on the (fill in the blank) floor." As far as I could tell, they didn't.
 At least this time I ventured below the 23rd and 24th floors and rode in the southern elevator to the 7th floor.

Last September 17th, I walked into the Church Office Building for the first time and rode the elevator up to the 24th floor with my future fiance to attend an information session for the Church magazines internships. Pretty soon after applying for the internships, I found out that I didn't make it.

A week or so later, I applied for the Church Publications Editorial internship and went the second time to the Church Office Building to take a proofreading test on the 23rd floor. I didn't get that internship either that time or when I tried a few months later. That brings my count to 3 tries. (I'm not even counting the time I applied for the FamilySearch internship and didn't make it past the application.)

Welfare Services, located on the 7th floor, is where I tried a fourth time to work for the Church and where I succeeded for the first time. The offer letter began, "On behalf of the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("Employer"), I am pleased to offer you employment as an Intern, Editorial - Welfare Services." I didn't even know this position existed until a little over a week ago, but I'm pretty sure I've now exhausted the Church writing/editing internships option and found the jackpot--the zenith of all Church internships.

How exactly could it get any better than not only talking to people with inspiring welfare success stories but also writing them in such a way that people around the world curious about the Church's welfare program (like the UN and the Church around the world) see them as inspiring and successful too? I'm really not sure it gets any better. Or harder. Or more humbling. Or more overwhelming. Or more fulfilling.

One of the first things my interviewer said to me after looking at my resume was, "God must expect great things from you." I couldn't agree more. Did I get here by myself? No way. Anyone who knows what's happened in my life for the past little while can see that a Divine Power exists--One who knows my innermost desires and dreams. England, Study Abroad Office, Deseret Book, an incredible fiance, graduation...

and now all of this. God must expect great things from me.

How it all happened...part 2

I know you've all been waiting for this with an anticipation that can hardly be soothed by anything but maybe the permanent residence of a Sprummer season in Utah. So I will finally rescue Mike and I from the utter agony of the mission/marriage decision, especially since we all know, well, what happened. But, as the post title suggests, we all don't know just how it all happened. **If you want to skip over the details and get to the good stuff, there are pictures at the end**

If you will allow me to be serious for a moment, I'd like to explain why this decision is such an issue for many young women. Before I experienced it, I always imagined that there would be one clear, correct option for this choice. Anyone who experiences this decision knows how hard it really is. Since girls aren't required to serve missions, it usually takes an affirmative answer to prayer or a strong feeling/desire to seriously consider serving a mission. And that was the case for me. That kept me going to mission prep and going to various appointments to complete my mission papers. I knew it was my choice and that I wasn't being forced into anything. Something that helped was the feeling that I didn't have to choose between a mission and Mike. I had his support 100% for whichever decision I made. I felt so strongly about both options, so it ultimately came down to those elusive, vague, and hard-to-understand desires of the heart.

But that could take up another 800 posts. The point is that with a little help, I slowly figured out those desires. And that's what brought me to being picked up and twirled around by Mike outside the stake president's office where we had received some spiritual nudging and counseling to get married. Now.

I have wonderful parents--parents who are concerned that I live a good life after I leave their care. Because of this, Mike and I found ourselves putting together a marriage budget before we had even received approval. Apartment shopping for October in March, and mock grocery shopping and insurance research for two makes the marriage decision very real. Many people knew we were getting married before we were engaged because of the asking around we were doing, but we figured that many people suspected anyway. I would actually recommend this process to anyone getting married. It was such a relief to know that we wouldn't starve once we got married, and it's always good to send out apartment-seeking, job-seeking, and insurance-seeking feelers far in advance.

We'd already been ring shopping, so once we got the thumbs-up from my parents, we moved fast. I'm such a curious stinker, so I knew when and where Mike was going to propose. He tried to keep it all secret, but a combination of his and my being anxious to be engaged made that a bit difficult.

The engagement story should really begin in London's Hard Rock Cafe. Remember how everything great starts with London? This is no exception. In that historic restaurant, we were talking about some of our favorite/dream dates, and I mentioned that I liked going to Barnes & Noble and reading children's books. Calling on his incredible memory, Mike took me to the Gateway Barnes & Noble soon after we started dating.

Well, the evening of April 1st found us back in the children's section of the very same Barnes & Noble. As we listened to some songs Mike knows I love (and some of our favorite dancing songs), he read me Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss. Man, he was nervous--he was messing up words (and I was correcting him--shameless!!) and skipping pages. On the second to the last page, he read, "You'll move mountains, kid!" He closed the book, got down on one knee (not a very far distance--we were sitting at the little kids' table), and said "Kathryn Suzanne Harmon, will you move mountains with me?"

Now, I was very aware of which day of the year it was. And, knowing in advance that this was going to happen, I had ample time to prepare a proper April Fools response. But alas, when he knelt down and opened the box to show me the ring that was more beautiful than I had been remembering, every witty response I had concocted was replaced with a squeal, a hug, and a "Just to be clear, my answer is YES!"

So here we are, soon to be the Mr. and Mrs. Mike Olson. We have big dreams that include little bikes for our kids, writing and making children's books, jobs with the Church, jobs with the BBC and Cambridge University Press (not too realistic, we know), supporting each other in church callings, graduate school, building a home library, serving missions, building a strong family, serving others, and so much more. One year from now, we'll probably have modified plans. We don't know what the future holds, but we do know that life will be filled with love, challenges, family, and adventure. October 6th, here we come!

Letters to the Editor

I have an idea. I think it's a mixture between tacky, weird, crazy, ambitious, and maybe even a little pridefiul. But I've been looking at the new title of my blog and thinking "Hey, what if I had a 'Letters to the Editor' section?"

Now, I have some really, insanely talented writers, photographers, crafters, video-makers, philosophers, musicians, experts in certain fields, travelers, and finders-of-fun-things-online people for friends. Yes, all four of you who read this, you all fit into these categories. This idea has started as I've been waiting for that handsome fiance of mine to become un-busy enough write a guest blog rebuttal of his side of our story. Why not have even more guest bloggers?

Here's how it would work:

1. You come up with a brilliant idea for a blog post. (I do realize that most of you are bloggers yourself and want to hog all of your brilliant posts for your own blog. Completely understandable. In that case, what if the post was published twice?)

2. Email your idea or post to me at kathrynharmon1@gmail.com.

3. I will be the (probably unqualified) judge of posting it on my blog. Maybe we'll go over it together and make some tweaks, or maybe (and this is the more likely possibility) I'll post it immediately in an attempt to class up my blog.

4. Don't be shy!

So. What do you think? It's another way to get your ideas out there and see what other people are thinking about...

How it all happened...part 1

It started with London, but doesn't everything great start with London? Well, actually, you could say it started with Shakespeare, and I wouldn't blame you. It's another great option. Regardless of how it began, it did. And I'm so glad.

The first words Mike said to me were "Hey. Do you want to form a Shakespeare travel group?" He was, of course, referring to flying to London with all the other people in our Shakespeare class who were going on the program. It was the beginning of April 2010, and we were in a pre-departure orientation for our London study abroad. My first words to him were, "Actually, I can't. I don't know when I'm coming home yet, so I'm not buying a plane ticket yet." Yes, a rejection. However, I would later tell him that when he walked into the pre-departure meeting, I thought, Hey...there's a really cute boy going to London!


After that, we talked briefly in Shakespeare class about travel plans and our final papers. Ah yes - nothing better than Macbeth and Henry IV for flirtation material.

The semester ended, and I didn't see him again until May 15 when he came strolling into the lobby of Regent's College, London (wearing a "Mind the Gap" shirt, no less) for our program orientation. I remember hardly anything else from that day because I had a ridiculous amount of jet lag. I do remember that he ordered a Sherlock mystery sandwich from the deli on Baker Street...

Throughout the next week, I gathered a few impressions about him: he was a bit goofy, but he was incredibly patient, witty, friendly, had a great bass voice, and loved studying literature. About a week into the program, my roommate, Jenny Hortin, had to go home to be with her family during a crisis. It was a really hard decision for her to make, and as much as I tried, I couldn't give her all the comfort she needed. She asked Mike to give her a blessing, and when he did, I was blown away. It was (though very early on) the first of many times I thought of him as husband material. His kindness, gentleness, sincerity and humility couldn't help but shine through.

Though we never told each other, we both started to like each other. However, a few things got in the way of a potentially budding romance. Among other reasons, we didn't want to add any drama to the trip, and we just wanted to be friends with everybody.

One night (that turned out to be a very important point in Mike's deciding he really liked me), a group of us went to an interesting play at the London National Theatre. At intermission, I was feeling uncomfortable and thinking about leaving. My friends were really enjoying the play, and I didn't want to ruin their night. We talked about leaving for a bit, and I just didn't have the courage to say I wanted to go. Mike saw my discomfort and said, "We could always just go get some ice cream..." I could have kissed him. I jumped right up and said "Yeah! That's a great idea!" That night was when I learned how tactful and good Mike is at easing uncomfortable situations.

Another night, Mike and I found ourselves alone while some other friends went out to a play. We talked and talked and talked, and before we knew it, our friends were home. It was such a special night for me - I discovered that we had so many similar interests like photography, books, Japanese food, and music. That night, I began to seriously think about how fun it would be to date him when we got home.

Well, as all good things do, London ended. On June 19th, the morning everybody left, I got up to see them all off. I wasn't leaving - I was going to stay with a wonderful family up in Solihull (near Burmingham) for a week, and then going on to Cambridge for another study abroad program for 8 weeks. I wanted to go home so much that day! I missed so many things at home. I was scared to death of traveling over the English countryside by myself with all of my luggage. I gave Mike a hug that morning (honestly, not the best hug ever - he admits he was still feeling a little awkward about showing me he liked me), and waved out the window to him and Ben as they walked towards to Regent's Park gate with their luggage.

A couple nights later, as I was comfortably situated in Solihull, I found that Mike had sent me a facebook message. He confessed that he couldn't help but think of Juliet teaching the torches to burn bright as he saw me wave to him from the Regent's College window. It sounds a bit cheesy, but my heart was eager to grasp onto any sign from him that he liked me.

Throughout the summer, we continued to correspond and tell each other about our summer adventures. Without fail, every message from him made me smile and laugh. I found out that he had a radio show I could listen to on the internet, and when I heard his deep voice again, I couldn't help but be giddy.

I came home from Cambridge on Saturday, August 21st, and school started up again the next Monday. At precisely 9:00 Monday morning, I walked into the LNCO courtyard to meet up with this boy I couldn't wait to see. When he stood up to greet me with a hug, I remember thinking Holy cow! Was he always quite this tall and attractive?

The hug was much better this time.

We talked for a bit, and then he had to go to class. I was sad to not have seen him for a longer time, but I had hopes for the future. He texted me about an hour later, wondering what I was doing after my class ended in about 30 minutes. Apparently, he wanted a bit more time with me too.

We met up after my class and ended up spending most of the rest of the day together running errands around campus and going to my favorite place to eat - The Kyoto - for lunch. I didn't see him Tuesday, but he called me that night to see if I wanted to take an Institute class with him. Why yes, I did want to see him at least twice a week, so I said yes.

After that, things went unbelievably well. We went on some wonderful dates in Bountiful and Millcreek canyon, went on some beautiful walks through my neighborhood, and I realized I was starting to fall for this guy. It was almost scary how much we more than clicked. We became best friends. We both proclaimed ourselves to be very slow-movers, but about a month after I got home, we declared ourselves "official." Not a week after that, we knew we were in love.

I tell you, I was hooked. He treated me like a princess. He appreciated my wit and could keep up with it. With his arm wrapped around me on a blanket in my front yard, he told me about the Horsehead nebula. We talked about our favorite names. We philosophized with Lewis and Talmage, talked about Media Law, Japan, England, traveling, future career goals, editing, advertising, and graphic design. We Skyped on the days we couldn't see each other, and talking to Mike became the best part of my day. When some of his friends became engaged to be married over Spring Break, we joked about joining them. Pretty soon, we weren't so much joking about getting married.

And then I threw us both off in the beginning of last December by seriously planning to go on a mission. While Mike never hesitated to tell me he supported me, he would always follow his words of encouragement by saying that he definitely wouldn't mind if I stayed home and married him. We started talking marriage in terms of two years down the road. I was getting my mission papers in as soon as possible, so I could get my call as soon as possible, so I could leave as soon as possible, so I could get home as soon as possible, so I could marry Mike as soon as possible...see a trend?

To be continued...

A Little Love Story

A girl with big, brown eyes and a straight, brown bob of hair once dreamed of a tall, handsome prince who would take her away to his castle on a hill and let her dress her in silk gowns every day.

As time progressed, her brown hair became curly, and it lengthened with the rest of her. Her dreams of a tall, handsome prince turned into dreams of someone tall, handsome, rich and famous.

Soon, her dreams became more active, and this girl began a search for such a tall, handsome young man who could make her smile forever. But alas, her search yielded no such man.

Then, one day, this girl went to England. Here, she came to know a tall, handsome young man who made her laugh, made her think, and made her feel wonderful. They became friends, and he went home to Utah 9 weeks before she did.

Nine weeks and two days later, the girl walked into the LNCO courtyard and laid eyes on the young man again. She seemed to have forgotten how tall and handsome he was, but she quite quickly took note. The young man and she spent every bit of that day together that they could, and they tried (mostly successfully) to see each other ever day afterward.

It wasn't too long before this wonderful young man offered this girl the position of copilot on his plane. After she saw that he was flying places and moving mountains she couldn't bear to miss, she accepted.


Michael Wesley Olson, you're going places, and I can't wait to go with you.

Birthweek

Tuesday, March 15: Mike made a delightful picnic lunch and we enjoyed the sun on the U frisbee golf course for the 30 minutes I had between work and class.

Wednesday, March 16th: After treating me to a delightful and delicious dinner at Olive Garden, Mike took me to Little Women, the opera - a story he knows I love. It was the best opera I've been to, and Mike liked it as his first opera experience.

Thursday, March 17th: the day itself. After being at school for 11 hours and watching the Sigma Gamma Chi president become engaged, Mike and I headed to my house for BBQ Chicken pizza (my favorite), ice cream, and cake!

Friday, March 18th: My family plus Mike went to Once Upon a Mattress at Wasatch Jr. High to see my cute cousin make her stage debut. Good show!

Saturday, March 19th: My family plus Mike enjoyed the best seats in the house at the Mayan as we watched the divers, fire dancer, and acrobats put on shows. Dinner was included. :) After the Mayan, we went to see Rango.

To top it all off, I didn't have any night classes the next week because it was Spring Break! So here's to incredible family and friends for making this birthday one of the best yet. 22 is going to be a wonderful age!

Inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888

I just invested in something that I'm really excited about - a $10 year-long magazine subscription. My first subscription ever. To National Geographic! Tell me - how can you go wrong with that?

(Arnoldo Grenha)

Lullabye

One of my favorite lines from a country song belongs to Lady Antebellum's "American Honey". This line became especially relevant to me before I left for England. I was going to be gone for the longest I'd ever been away from home, and I was leaving behind many things I loved in order to have an adventure of learning. The line goes, "Couldn't wait to get goin' - but wasn't quite ready to leave."

I find it fascinating that the human emotions have the capacity to feel restlessness, excitement, and anticipation at the same time as apprehension, anxiety, and yearning for younger days. All of these came to a head as I sat in the kitchen with my mother as we listened to the men of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing "Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)".

Goodnight, my angel
Time to close your eyes
And save these questions for another day
I think I know what you've been asking me
I think you know what I've been trying to say
I promised I would never leave you
And you should always know
Wherever you may go
No matter where you are
I never will be far away


Goodnight, my angel
Now it's time to sleep
And still so many things I want to say
Remember all the songs you sang for me
When we went sailing on an emerald bay
And like a boat out on the ocean
I'm rocking you to sleep
The water's dark and deep
Inside this ancient heart
You'll always be a part of me


Goodnight, my angel
Now it's time to dream
And dream how wonderful your life will be
Someday your child may cry
And if you sing this lullabye
Then in your heart
There will always be a part of me


Someday we'll all be gone
But lullabyes go on and on
They never die
That's how you 
And I
Will be


-Billy Joel

As I listen to this song, I sometimes picture my mom singing this to me during a wonderful, blissful childhood and grieve over the fact that I must grow up. But then an image of me holding my own child creeps into my mind, and suddenly I am the one singing this song. Am I ready for that? I think of all I've done over the past few years and all I plan to do over the next few years, and I am tempted to slow down. Wishing I could change seconds into minutes, minutes into hours, and hours into days, I realize that my role in the world will soon change. Soon it will be my turn to sing the lullabyes and encourage the dreaming just as my mother did to me.

I'm scared, but I have experienced extraordinary outcomes of recent scary leaps of faith. Whatever happens in the next few years will probably surprise many people - probably me most of all. Who knows? I know it will be wonderful.

I can't wait.

Editor's Note

I was reading Words of Mormon today, and I realized that the profession I'm preparing for is one that many many great people belong to. Mormon edited the Book of Mormon, and he succeeded in editing it into the most correct book on the earth. Wow.

Think of all the anthologies or compilations you've read. Those were all put together by editors. Editors have been around for a LONG time. Ever since there was text to produce, someone probably looked over it for typographical and design errors. How fun to join in a profession that boasts such a rich historical line of people!

On Books and Babies

In my Artist Book class today, my teacher shared an interesting philosophy:

"In my home, books are sacred. I let my children hold babies before I let them hold books. In many ways, babies are more resilient than books..."

How would it be if...

• Your desk at work was right next to John Bytheway's?
• You met the man in charge of all Deseret Book's sales in the elevator?
• People around you refer to one of your idols as just "Sheri"? Example: "Oh, I just need to run these journals down to Sheri..."
• Your supervisor participated in Deseret Book's annual Christmas book signing event?
• You spent two days source-checking the 100s of scriptural references in the work of one of your favorite speaker/authors?
• You spent a day combing through quotations from the volumes of Journal of Discourses, History of the Church, Doctrines of Salvation, and Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith? And how would it be to recognize each of those by their acronyms - JD, HC, DS, and TPJS?

Let me tell you: It would be pretty great. Intimidating, yes. But mostly fantastic.