Benji and Jenn Harry

Hi, it is Benji Harry.  Wow, it was great to read all the updates.  It
sounds like many have been on further adventures after our semester in
Jerusalem.  It was great to hear from Candy, I had always talked with
Jenn about how he had fallen off the face of the earth after his
wedding reception, and he truly did!  I was lucky enough to have
served on my mission with him as well, so it was doubly fun seeing him
in Jerusalem (Doug Warner also was in our mission – gab es noch jemand
anders?).

Jenn and I have had a few turns around the US (nothing compared to
Candy’s), but we have had fun.  Babys seem to come with long moves, we
seem to be shadowing Jill Newell, and we have always looked back on
our Jerusalem times fondly.

Well, after Jerusalem, we started dating in April of 2000.  Jenn and I
were both at BYU.  Since we knew each other so well from being friends
at Jerusalem the time before we got engaged was pretty short, and we
were married in August of 2000.  We remember a good deal of Jerusalem
buddies coming to the reception!

Jenn graduated from BYU in spring 2001.  Then started working at the
Library at BYU.  I finally graduated in Spring 2002, and with Jenn
pregnant we zoomed off to the Twin Cities in Minnesota so I could
attend graduate school.  Our first son, George, was born in January
(in Minnesota that is NOT kind – it didn’t get above zero for over
three weeks!).  Jenn worked some and we survived the cold winters, but
we were ready for a break from the ice.

After two years there (2004), Jenn was pregnant with our second and we
zoomed off to LA (seeing a pattern here?).  In LA, I started further
graduate work at UCLA and worked at the University teaching German and
then had multiple jobs in the Hollywood industry (it was fun, but all
the driving was crazy).  In February, our son Isaac was born.   I
constantly held multiple jobs (DreamWorks, Walt Disney, and others),
and Jenn worked out of the home as an event planner (I remember going
to pick up 400 pounds of pumpkins at the LA farmers market for a
carving event), and helped with a pre-school and music time for the
kids in the family housing complex.  Jenn even had a Jill Newell
sighting in Santa Monica!

Graduating in 2006 with a second masters degree I thought it might be
nice to start making money rather than piling up student loans.  So, I
took a job at the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the Media
Archivist.  So, with Jenn pregnant . . . nope, our daughter Eleanor
joined us 8 days before we zoomed off to Cooperstown, NY.  Back to the
land of 9 month-long winters.

We loved our time in Central New York.  We got down to the City for a
trip once, went to the Palmyra temple a whole lot, and were pretty
settled to stay there for a long time.  George started school, I got
to watch waaay too much baseball footage, and Jenn taught piano out of
the home and ran a story time in the local library for local kids.

We lived in a small branch where we had callings galore (2nd counselor
in branch presidency, primary president, branch clerk, primary
chorister, branch mission leader – always more than one calling). it
was really great fun and we could always draw from our great
experiences in Jerusalem and entertain with our courtship story (when
I thought maybe Jenn and I might try being more than friends, I asked
her what she thought while Jenn was shelving books in the library
stacks at BYU and she looked at me frankly and said, “I don’t know
what to think of that.” and walked off.)

Well, my schooling is in media preservation and archiving, which is
virtually taking a vow of poverty.  And poverty wore thin in such a
cold place, so I applied at about the only place where archivists and
librarians can actually support their families: the Library of
Congress.  And I got the job!  So, Jenn got pregnant in February and
within a few weeks I had a job offer!  So this last summer we sold our
house and moved to Virginia.  Our next daughter is due in about 4
weeks.  We will have an even two pair: George (6) Isaac (4) Eleanor
(3) and Baby Girl peanut.

Sorry I don’t have a picture.  I will try to get one together.  We
have a blog: harryherald at the blogspot site.   We would love to hear
from anyone and everyone.  Sorry we couldn’t make it out for the
reunion.

Shout outs to my great roomies: Shoemaker, Gary, and Rich.  Jenn says
hi to her room buddies too: Laura Jae, Shawnee, and Tiffany.  Everyone
was so great there, we really have warm spots in our hearts for all of
you.

y’alla y’alla – keep it movin!


Benji and Jenn Harry