Gobble Gobble!

Thanksgiving for me was different this year, because it was the first one spend without my own family. Weird! I have never not been with my parents on Turkey Day. I had a great Turkey Day to say the least though - it was spent with my future in-laws. The morning of the big day, the guys normally play football but they decided to go shooting instead. I informed Nic that I have never shot a gun (minus shooting a bb gun in my backyard) - he insisted that I go with them. I didn't want to feel awkward being the only girl, so thankfully Nic's brother's wife came with. It was so much fun! I loved shooting! I even hit some bottles. I shot some sort of rifle and then a shot gun - that's how well-versed I am in the gun industry when I don't even know what guns I shot. haha None the less, I could see how shooting could become addictive. My goal is to shoot a hand fun sometime in the future...we'll see...here are some pics of me shooting (I'll post a video on a new post that proves that I actually did hit something)...

My teacher: I don't think he was complaining to have his arms around me to teach me to shoot

I think he was making sure I was actually aiming at something

Way to go Lisa for the cool photography

Trying to show off for his lady - it worked!

The Thanksgiving dinner was fabulous - they have a lot more variety in their food then what I'm used to. The Stewart Thanksgiving is traditional, so it was fun to be around what they have for traditions. I didn't really take any pictures so sorry - just a few of Nic and I being our weirdy selves...All in all it was a great Turkey Day!

Typical...

Shout out!

I just wanted to give a little shout out to Nic...Thank you for all of the love and support you always show to me. It may go unrecognized (which is my fault), but I do appreciate it - especially as the term is winding down. I love you and can't wait to see you in a few hours!

Saturday @ 12

Can I just say that I am so excited for this Saturday at 12? You want to know why?..........I get my wedding dress fitted!!! This means that I get to put my wedding dress on and I just absolutely love my dress. You could say that I'm a dress snob - I'll admit it. It's simple and elegant. This Saturday, the seamstress will fit my dress, add the applique, and add the bustle. It's going to be stunning, and I'm not just saying that because it's my own - but c'mon, it's beautiful. I know you all don't know what it looks like, but come December 27 most of you will get to see it. :) By the way, the above dress is obviously not mine - I just wanted to share with you a truly hideous wedding dress.

Update

The happy (almost married) couple have been doing well.......wedding plans are well under way with the announcements going well. They are a piece of work but well worth it. Nic and I are both loving how things are coming together - it's going to be a beautiful wedding. Nic is recovering from knee surgery that he had just this past Thursday - I went over and tried taking care of him for the weekend. Unfortunately, I had to leave him and left him in his mother's care. Thank you Rita for taking care of Nic! I am still pluggin' along in school and it's keeping me busy - thank goodness I don't have school tomorrow! Yay! Sorry for no exciting news, but no news is good news right? Right......Nic and I are loving life but will love it even more once we are married.....Next month!!! I seriously can't believe that we get married next month. It seems like just yesterday that we met.....oh wait! That's because it was - fast moving but right every step of the way. We get grief sometimes for how fast things moved, but we weren't going to interfere with the Lord's timing. For now, that's the update...sorry again for no exciting news.........

Dedicated to: My Love...

This post is for the love of my life: Nic. If you don't want to read about me being a sap and in love, then I would suggest to stop reading now. This is a time when I want to set aside and thank Nic for everything he does for me, so that's who I'll be referring to....... I hope you know how much you mean to me Nic. You mean the world to me and I can not wait until the day when we are sealed for time and all eternity. That will be one of the most joyous days in my life. I also can't wait to spend my life with you - when you become my life - when you come home to me and I come home to you. I can't express to you the gratitude that is in my heart - you have my heart and my all. The time that we have apart, although short, feels like an eternity. How I long to be with you during your times of trial...My heart aches to be with you, to comfort you, to give you all the love that I have to give. The day will come when I give you my all, but for now all I can do is love you to the best of my ability. So for now, let me just say that I love you. I can not explain the love that is in my heart. I love you more than life itself. Know that the love that I have for you runs deep in my soul and will never cease. I pray and hope that at this time, you feel of the love that I have for you. May you always remember that...I love you.

Sargent Stewart and a construction worker.....

This past Saturday night (after the adult session of stake conference), Nic and I headed over to a Halloween party at the house of a girl in my singles branch. We partied it up...ok maybe me more than Nic. My friend Tabatha and I went as cops (Officer Vixen as my mother called me) and Nic went as a hottie of a construction worker. All in all it was a fun party - dancing, dessert, and a hot construction worker - what more could a cop ask for?

Sargent Stewart and a hot construction worker

The men of the party - I like how guys try to be tough and not smile

The ladies: cowgirl, Captain Cooke, Dorothy, the Joker, Little Red Riding from the Hood, Little Red Riding Hood, and Sargent Stewart

I like how I'm the cop and I'm being arrested with my own handcuffs by a construction worker - something is not right...

Name that movie...

Nice job to those of you who got the last movie quote - I will say that it was kind of a toughie - I didn't even know the answer. I hope this one isn't as hard, but here it is...PS don't forget to begin your answer with "what is..."

"It seems right now that all I've ever done in my life is making my way here to you." Begin the guessing... PS I love the name of this photo - "The Long Road Home"

Crater Lake

This past Friday, Nic and I headed to Crater Lake. We have been wanting to go all this Summer and finally decided to go. It was a beautiful day to go - very clear which made for spectacular pictures. The water is so blue there - I haven't been there probably since I was like 5...maybe. We went and walked around - he bought a "camping in Oregon" book and we decided to take on the tradition that my sibs do - every place that they vacation to, they buy a magnet. Nic and I bought our first magnet. Yay. We ate lunch at the lodge and that concluded our trip to Crater Lake. There really isn't much to do there except walk around. They do have a boat ride you can take out to the island and you can even swim. BRR!!! There is a drive you can take that takes you along the whole outter edge of Crater Lake - we obviously did not do this. It was a great trip though.

What a dang good lookin' guy :) Weirdy snack shacks...typical Love A "typical Alli" pose Snugglin' up Beautiful Love this picture

Phair (or almost a Phair) Book of Mormon Challenge

I hope you all are continuing to think about the answer to our movie quote (read the previous post)...Nic and I have made a goal to finish the Book of Mormon by the time we get married. It's going to take a lot of reading (approximately 16 - 17 chapters a week), but we are going to do it. President Hinckley challenged members of the church worldwide in August 2005 to read this book by the end of the year, and now Nic and I have taken this challenge upon ourselves. I will admit that sometimes I do fall asleep - you can't tell me that you haven't done that as well. It's not that I don't love this book, but it is hard to read sometimes. Here's the promise President Hinckley gave: "Without reservation I promise you that if each of you will observe this simple program, regardless of how many times you previously may have read the Book of Mormon, there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God." Nic and I plan on finishing the Book of Mormon the week before we get married. President Hinckley made this promise 3 years ago, so why can't we still be promised these same blessings as Nic and I prepare to be married? Wish us luck...

Love Quotes

So Alli and I have decided to quiz all of you that are faithful readers of our lovely little blog. About what? Your movie knowledge of course. After all it is what makes up half of the Stewart family vocabulary. :-) Love it! Here is how it will work. Alli and I will take turns adding Romantic/Love quotes from some of our favorite movies and it will be your job to post a comment as your answer. No cheating now, you can't go searching for it on the Internet either. So I expect to be seeing a lot of your comments starting with "What is..." I will take the first crack at this. Good luck! "There's an Italian painter named Carlotti, and he defined beauty...He said it was the summation of all the parts working together in such a way that nothing needed to be added, taken away or altered. That's you,...you are beautiful." What is................ Ok, it has been guessed correctly by Karen. Although I bet you guys all tried to cheat. Hehe, I forgive cause I would have as well. The answer was "Next - Nicolas Cage". Now it is Alli's turn.

It's officially official

Done and done. Nic and I's sealing time is set up - we are now in the books. The morning of December 27 at 8:45 is when Nic and I will be sealed for time and all eternity in the beautiful temple above: Medford Oregon Temple. I just thought I would let you all know that it's officially official...

stress

As far as the engaged couple goes...we are still alive and happy as always. We love being engaged but would love it even more if we were married. This past week we have learned some lessons about each other and about 'us' as a couple. Life unfortunately brings you stress and I know that I need Nic when I'm stressed. I will admit that I do sometimes use him as an outlet, but he is always there by my side being supportive. I hope I can speak for Nic when I say that he needs me as well when he's stressed. It was kind of a crazy, busy work week for him - there was nothing I could do to alleviate his stress but keep trying to be supportive. Can I just say that it will be so much better when we are married? When I'm stressed, I take comfort in knowing that I will be able to come home to a loving husband. I hope he takes comfort in knowing that he will be able to come home to a freshly cooked delicious meal, clean home, and his wonderful wife...ok so that might not always happen, but he can come home to a supportive wife trying to do those things. Despite stress coming our way, it only helped us grow closer together and deepen our relationship. Long distance is no walk in the park, but there is something to be said of taking that walk together.

Recap...

Nic traveled my way on Thursday night for the weekend. He didn't go to work on Friday, but I wasn't complaining. :) We had such a great weekend. Friday was spent running errands and later that night was our "date night." I made him swiss cheese chicken for dinner with a couple of sides. Yummy! I even made homemade brownies for dessert. We then went in to the hot tub and what's where all of the slew of pictures came from. We had some fun taking pictures...Saturday was spent running around town, movie, and then to BoTown (aka Bonanza) for a going away party for Chelsea. She and I have been friends since back in the day and she's reporting to the MTC on September 3. Sunday was sacrament meeting in BoTown for Chelsea's farewell talk and then the singles branch for meetings. I love sundays - I love that they are spent relaxing and watching movies. :) Unfortunately for me, Nic left this morning. I had such a great weekend, like I always do. Thank you Nic for coming down. Friday can't come soon enough...I love you!

Me and my amazing soon to be husband - yay

Peek-a-boo!!!

Let the photo shoot begin with a lovely picture of the 2 of us We are 2 weirdy snack shacks Um...yikes Ooo Grrrrr One work = sketch Fish lips - Nic tried to teach me to have better fish lips but I just looked weird Yeah I don't know about this one...

Old Historical Bridge

engagement

If you want to view the slideshow, click on the above picture...

what you've all been waiting for...

You know the proposal story, but one detail is missing: what does Alli's engagement ring look like? So here is the moment you have all been waiting for: pictures of the beautiful ring Nic gave me. Let me just say that he has amazing taste in rings - I love wearing it everyday. It's absolutely stunning! Thank you Nic - I love you.

Front view: this picture includes the wedding band, but obviously I won't be wearing that until we get married. Princess cut diamond in the middle with 4 round diamonds on each side.

Front/back view: because this picture includes the wedding band, you can't really see the side, but up the front and back of the ring are 4 small round diamonds each. Most people don't notice this part of the ring, but they are there.

Side view: you can now more clearly see the 4 diamonds on the side.

Yay for Thursday!

This Thursday brings some excitement for me and Nic (ok well I don't know if Nic is as excited as I am). On July 31, Nic and I will be taking our engagement pictures in Medford. This past weekend, I made a visit to Meddy and we scoped out a couple of places for potential spots for the perfect pictures. I had a few ideas of what I wanted, but was open to suggestions. We both decided we wanted fall looking pictures because of the time of year our wedding will be taking place in. Sunday came around and I still wasn't sold on any place we had looked at, until Bob and Rita (Nic's parents) suggested Lake Creek. There's a park called Walsch Park (or something rather) and a historical bridge next to it. The 4 of us took a drive out there to check it out and I fell in love with it. I think there will be some amazing picture taking on that day. A small, quite park with a creek, historical bridge, benches/tables, old looking stage, and my fiance. What could be better? Wish us good look that the pictures will turn out well! PS The above picture is not of the creek in the park, although it does look fairly similar.

Sunriver and such...

Sorry for all of the pics, but these are the most recent ones I have taken of me and Nic. There are a few of us from our trip to Sunriver with my family and then a few from some stops we made on our way back to Meddy.

I have no idea where this was taken - somewhere in Sunriver - I love it and that's all that matters.
Yikes! And you think I look sketchy in them Nic?
One of our stops: the Gorge (no idea how you spell that word)
Me and Nic at the Gorge
I heard Nic had a beautiful fiance...question mark?
Ok seriously - I love this pic! We were walking on the trail from the natural bridge.

The Picnic of a Lifetime

Sorry it has taken me forever to finally blog about how Nic proposed - I know most of you already know the story but here are pictures of the event and the story of how the night of June 26 changed my life. First off I would like to thank Adam and Savannah for helping Nic with the set up of the proposal and Nic for the most amazing night of our lives thus far. The night went like this... Nic had previously asked me if I wanted to come to Medford on a Thursday so we could go watch a movie in Bear Creek Park in the amphitheater there - he also suggested having a picnic. (PS This park has significant meaning for Nic and I for a previous event that occurred there) I thought that sounded like a great idea - so much fun right? When I arrived at his parents house, he wasn't there. He called his mom and told us that he was late because he was helping this girl he worked with change her tire. I believed it. We picked up our Italian dinner and headed over to the park. Before we even got out of the car, I gave Nic a card, poem and a jar of Peanut Butter M&M's to countdown the days of our wedding. Just a little something to give him, but nothing compared to what he was going to give me. We started walking in the park and he had been fairly quiet - didn't really know why either. I saw a path of torches up ahead and was confused as to why they had them set up - an event that just occurred? I wasn't connecting the dots. We continued walking and I still didn't suspect a thing - I looked down towards the amphitheater: table set up, music, rose petals, torches and candles everywhere. Did I think he was proposing? Of course not. I was literally speechless - he knocked the breath out of me. I couldn't stop smiling and I had no words to say to him. All I could think of to say was: are you kidding me? He had this silly little grin on his face - it was the cutest thing ever. :) When we settled in at the table and began eating, I couldn't eat because I couldn't stop smiling. My cheeks hurt so bad - I knew he loved it that I couldn't stop smiling. There was music playing in the background - it was perfect. After we got done eating we just next each other, not saying anything but enjoying every moment together. At this point, I finally started to think that maybe he was going to propose but still not knowing for sure. (I know I'm a little slow on things haha) We turned our chairs to face each other and he began singing "You" by Rascal Flatts. The chorus goes like this: Every road that I've been down, The only truth that I have found, There's only one thing I can't live without, You. When he was singing I knew he was going to propose. Nic knows how much his singing means to me - him singing a song to me melted my heart. When he finished singing, he told me that he has been down a lot of different roads and that he can honestly say that they have all pointed to me. He also told me that he thought he knew what it meant to love someone but didn't know his love for someone could be deeper until he met me. He also said that he honestly couldn't live without me in his life. (I got teary eyed during this part) He pulled a box out of his pocket and got down on one knee and said: Allison Marie Stewart, will you make me the happiest man on earth and agree to be my wife? My reply: Yes. Absolutely yes. He put the ring on my finger and of course we hugged and kissed. We then put on the song "She Thinks She Needs Me" and danced to it. It was a perfect night in every way. I couldn't believe what all had happened up until that night - it had all gone so fast but I wouldn't have asked for it any other way.

My Favorite Park = Bear Creek Park

Harris Beach

A regional young single adult activity was held last weekend on the coast at Harris Beach. Here are a few pics of the events that took place...

I just wanted to show that I loved him - I thought the seagulls would appreciate knowing that I loved him
This is one of the best pics of Nic and I from the whole weekend - going in the wedding video
I don't even know why we were frowning - I think I was because I wasn't looking cute in any pics
Tab and I watching the sunset from a rock above the beach - best seat on the beach
Beautiful sunset :) Nice photography skills Nic.
I am marrying a squirrel whisperer - he loves feeding his little friends