Wedding Video

I can't thank Andrew Roberts enough!!! Not only was he Christopher's best man, but he also put together this beautiful video of our wedding day at the temple!! Caleb Moore and Andrew did such a great job covering our wedding for all of those who couldn't make it in person to celebrate with us. We have a ton of raw footage and I love watching and reliving our best day ever!!

Bonds

The friends I have made here are ones I hope to keep for a long time. We all clicked so fast and everyday we get together in some way. I guess going to disney parks really bring people together. The core is going strong and the boys now all live together...minus drew.
I don't want to sound ungreatful for my new friendships, but I really wish my best friends were here to experience this with me. Like
My best friend Christopher, I haven't heard from him since we left school. And I miss that kid like crazy! I just wish he was here to see how happy I am and that the old alli is back and here to stay.
Also Sora, she's in idaho and I feel like once I go back to school all I'm going to talk about is my crazy disney stories. Like how RM's talk about mission stories. I feel like I'm always bragging to her when I give her an update on what I've been up to.
The people here are great. I just wish I had both my old and new friends here. Is that too much to ask? Lol

Timing

BY ELDER DALLIN H. OAKS

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The Lord’s Timing

In all the important decisions in our lives, what is most important is to do the right thing. Second, and only slightly behind the first, is to do the right thing at the right time.

My first point on the subject of timing is that the Lord has His own timetable. “My words are sure and shall not fail,” the Lord taught the early elders of this dispensation. “But,” He continued, “all things must come to pass in their time” (D&C 64:31–32).

The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith means trust—trust in God’s will, trust in His way of doing things, and trust in His timetable. We should not try to impose our timetable on His. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said:

“The issue for us is trusting God enough to trust also His timing. If we can truly believe He has our welfare at heart, may we not let His plans unfold as He thinks best? The same is true with the second coming and with all those matters wherein our faith needs to include faith in the Lord’s timing for us personally, not just in His overall plans and purposes.” ¹

Indeed, we cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing.

In our service in the Lord’s Church we should remember that when is just as important as who, what, where, and how.

For a vivid illustration of the importance of timing, we can look to the earthly ministry of the Lord and His succeeding instructions to His Apostles. During His lifetime the Lord instructed the Twelve Apostles not to preach to the Gentiles but “rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 10:6; see also Matt. 10:5; Matt. 15:22–26). Then, at the appropriate time, this instruction was reversed in a great revelation to the Apostle Peter. Only then, at the precise time dictated by the Lord, was the gospel taken to the Gentiles (see Acts 10–11).

As this example shows, continuing revelation is the means by which the Lord administers His timing. We need that revelatory direction. For example, many of us or our descendants will doubtless participate in the fulfillment of prophecies about the building of the city of New Jerusalem (see D&C 84:2–4). But in this matter the timing is the Lord’s, not ours. We will not be approved or blessed in clearing the ground or pouring the footings for that great project until the Lord has said that it is time. In this, as in so many other things, the Lord will proceed in His own time and in His own way.

We prepare in the way the Lord has directed. We hold ourselves in readiness to act on the Lord’s timing. He will tell us when the time is right to take the next step. For now, we simply concentrate on our own assignments and on what we have been asked to do today. In this we are also mindful of the Lord’s assurance: “I will hasten my work in its time” (D&C 88:73).

People who do not accept continuing revelation sometimes get into trouble by doing things too soon or too late or too long. The practice of plural marriage is an example.

The importance of the Lord’s timing is also evident in His dietary laws. The Lord gave one dietary direction to ancient Israel. Much later, because of the “evils and designs” that exist in these “last days” (see D&C 89:4), He has given us a Word of Wisdom suited to the circumstances of our time, accompanied by the promised blessings we need in our time.

The Lord’s timing also applies to the important events of our personal lives. A great scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants declares that a particular spiritual experience will come to us “in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will” (D&C 88:68). This principle applies to revelation ² and to all of the most important events in our lives: birth, marriage, death, and even our moves from place to place.

It is not enough that we are going in the right direction. The timing must be right, and if the time is not right, our actions should be adjusted to the Lord’s timetable as revealed by His servants.

Several years ago President Gordon B. Hinckley announced the construction of a large number of new temples, essentially doubling the number of operating temples of the Church from about 50 to about 100 in just a few years. Having additional temples has always been the direction to go, but until the prophet of the Lord signaled this as a major initiative, no one could have properly urged such a sudden and dramatic increase for the Church and its people. Only the Lord’s prophet could signal the Church to double its operating temples in just a few years.

In my October 2001 general conference talk, I gave another illustration—the importance of following the Lord’s timing with those we try to interest in hearing the gospel message. ³ Proclaiming the gospel is His work, not ours, and therefore it must be done on His timing, not ours. There are nations in the world today that must hear the gospel before the Lord will come again. We know this, but we cannot force it. We must wait upon the Lord’s timing. He will tell us, and He will open the doors or bring down the walls when the time is right. We should pray for the Lord’s help and directions so that we can be instruments in His hands to proclaim the gospel to nations and persons who are now ready—persons He would have us help today. The Lord loves all of His children, and He desires that all have the fulness of His truth and the abundance of His blessings. He knows when groups or individuals are ready, and He wants us to hear and heed His timetable for sharing His gospel with them.

Control

I dont mean to tell you what to do, I just love you enough to say what you don't want to hear, even if that means you'd hate me for it.

I broke trust with my best friend in the entire world. I screwed everything up, and I can't apologize enough. I care so much about you, I wish you could see that, but I know it comes off as me trying to control your life. I just want to help you do what's right so that your life can be filled with happiness and love for the Lord. I pray for you every night and I just wish you would see me as a friend you can be with, and not see me as you're ex girlfriend, because you weren't just some boy to me, you were my everything, my love, and my christopher.

I am so sorry.

I miss you.

I love you.

and I'll always be here 

for You.

I promise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCq6Y3gTN7M

missionary.

I pray everyday for him, so he can serve a mission.

Blue Christmas

Having a rough [chris]tmas break.

A Reflective Roller Coster

I'm really proud of this paper. I wrote it for my english class. It's a true story that I experience last summer.

A Reflective Roller Coster 

Here I am, holding his hand, never wanting to let go. It’s funny how love can do that to a person. We’ve been sitting in the car for almost 7 hours now and I still enjoy every squeeze I get from his strong rough hands. Christopher is tall and skinny. He’s the smart kid who never ceases to amaze me. Holding my hand with no words needed is enough, just little reminders of how happy we are when he lifts up our hands to his mouth and gently kisses the back of mine. I can’t help but to smile and try to keep my heart from fluttering out of my chest.   I’m in a new place, with a boy I’ve only known for 6 months and about to be thrown into the sky at 120 mile per hour, yet I’m at complete ease. The comfort I feel around him is so peaceful I don’t ever want to lose it. I don’t know how I could ever feel this wonderful and carefree without him.

When I went to visit Chris this summer in Pittsburgh, little did I know how much of his childhood was spent on the road between Detroit Michigan and Steeler Nation (Pittsburgh). We took the 7 hour long road trip so that I could experience a once in a lifetime adventure: “The Top-Thrill Dragster:” the 2nd tallest and faster roller coaster in the world. I always loved traveling and riding roller coasters; but it never crossed my mind to actually plan where to travel based on which theme park I wanted to visit. Come to think of it, I don’t know how boring old Salem Oregon formed me into the wild thrill junkie that I am. Or am I? Was I just doing this to impress Chris? Was I lost somewhere in that safety bubble I felt around him.  I assumed I should probably figure this out before I rode my life away in about an hour. 

Growing up, I was loaded with the best childhood. My mom ran her own day care at our home, so it basically meant we could have our best friends over every day before and after kindergarten. My brother, Garrett, had a friend named Ben, and Ben had a brother named Brandon. Brandon was my age, and Ben was Garrett’s age. They were the most regular of all the day care kids, and our favorite to play with. We had our routine down flat. After kindergarten we would all walk home from school, strip down, and wear our Power Ranger costumes before we even got out of the front hallway. My older brother Garrett, was the leader of the pack: The White Ranger, like Tommy in the TV show. He always had the best ideas and always had a bunch of toddlers following him, waiting to be assigned for roles in the games we’d play. Ben was the nerdy Blue Ranger, Brandon was the Red Ranger, and I was the prettiest ranger on the show, Kimberly the Pink Ranger. We spent hours spying on the mail man, our dog Scout, or whoever Garrett declared the bad guy for that day. Being the only girl in the group, I got overruled almost every time when it came to what happened next in the adventures, even though my way would’ve been way better.  Being the Pink Ranger I learned a lot. You’ve got to be tough and learn to take a hit, or you can’t play with the cool older kids. I never wanted to be demoted to join my younger sister and her drooling posse. I stuck it out with the boys. I was quick to find out, that if you kissed a boy, you would never be able to face the day care kids again. Not that that ever happened but uh, the one time that Brandon kissed me in the yard, he ran inside and told everyone that I kissed him first! What a great way to ruin my first kiss story to my kids someday. It took over a year for my brother to stop saying in a demonic voice, “Alli loves Brandon!” He would say that to any of the new kids that joined day care.

Christopher’s eyes get bigger, so I know we are close. His green eyes always have this little twinkle in them when he gets excited about something. I reach over and grab his glasses to clean them. He never does, so I end up doing it for him so I can see his eyes better. We pull around a corner and I can see the mountains of steel high in the sky. I blink and we’re already parked. I see Christopher practically running around the car like a 10 year old on Christmas day, while I play mom and make sure we have everything we need in my purse for the day (assuming I know what to expect for a day at an amusement park I’ve never been to). At the front gate everyone is smashed up against the fence like a bunch of race horses about to burst. Christopher grabs my hand tighter this time, but with the feeling of determination. The clock strikes 10 and the stampede begins. Chris has the height advantage and is experienced at Cedar Point (the amusement park) to take the quickest route to the biggest rides. He had planned before hand that The Dragster would be the first ride I go on for two reasons: one, because if I go on that one first, the others won’t be so terrifying, and two, because if you’re not there early, the line can be up to 3 hours long for the 15 second ride. I held on as tight as I could while being pulled through piles of people already covered in the smell of the Park’s famous Macho Nachos.  The crowd took me back in time again.

The worst part of the first week of middle school was the hallway. In the hallways there are no teachers, everyone is taller then you, and pretty much anything goes as long as there are enough people to block the teachers at the doors from seeing anything. I went into middle school knowing close to no one. My three best friends from elementary school all moved away that summer, and I thought my life was over. I had never been shy before, but this was a whole new ball park. You have new people in every class and you are assigned lunch tables by your social status. I was the shy girl who clung to the first person to talk to me, Melanie. Melanie was a nice girl that I knew from church although I didn’t know too much about her other then she was small in stature with a loud personality. Without ever realizing it, we had decided to be best friends. She was a loud, boy crazy girl who got attention for all the wrong reasons. I stood behind her as the quiet girl who always wanted the teacher to like me. She found her way to the popularity scale by dating as many boys as she could and I was in charge of picking her up every time she was single again. I learned later on that we were in a very unhealthy relationship and it destroyed my self confidence. When Melanie got attention from some popular kids, she threw me under the bus, and gossiped about me to the new group of girls that would listen to her. I would stand there and just take it as they laughed and mocked me for all my insecurities that Melanie was happy to share with them. Luckily I found a way out of that friendship in high school and got out just in time. She ended up dropping out of school and fell away from the church. Garrett was two years older then me and was the coolest junior at Sprague High School. I came into high school not as the nerd everyone made fun of, but instead as Garrett Brock’s little sister. Seeing him and his friends dominate in sports and practically run the school, I sought out being the tough sporty girl again, as a way to make my brother proud to call me his sister. I made new awesome friends that I could play sports with, joke around with, and better yet feel confident and comfortable around. This is the type of person I wanted to become again, so I decided to start high school off as the strong person I truly am.

The line splits into two, and we take the left side. Christopher grins and shows off his adorable dimples. “If you’re gonna ride on the biggest roller coaster in the world, then we’re gonna wait in this line to get the very front row!”

I can feel my heart pound, and I pray that he can’t feel my pulse beating in my hand. I take a deep breath and begin talking to myself about how I have always pushed myself. I had been the tough girl and the rebellious middle child in my family.  I came to accept that I was excited but didn’t know if I could handle the amount of g-forces about to be thrown at my body. Before I could ask Chris another question, the queue begins to chant, “Roll back! Roll back!”

I stood in the line looking straight up 420 feet in the air at the 3 cars of the train that couldn’t quite reach the peak of the sky. The whole ride pauses and then starts to roll backwards towards the launch pad at 120 miles per hour. I look at Chris and he knows just by the look of my face that I’m wanting some explanation. “Did I mention how jealous I am of those people? Sometimes the coasters don’t get enough charge for the train to make it all the way over the top, So after they perform all the safety checks the people get to ride it again!”

I was hoping he had a better explanation other then sometimes the coaster doesn’t go according to plan. The mechanic finishes their checklist and shoots the coaster over the hill. I count in my head and we we’re only 3 trains away from being shot out of a canon. I take a breath and close my eyes to focus on the feeling I’ve had all along; comfort. It overwhelms me, and through all my panic I overlook the best part of this whole trip. I am with Christopher. I open my eyes. I am looking up at him smiling, enjoying watching the people before and after the ride. His smile looks just like his dad’s. Dad... he’d be a great dad.  Woah Alli, pull yourself together. I bring myself out from my day dream, and I’m sitting with the small iron lap bar over me, which is the only thing keeping us from flying out. Chris looks at me and says gently “ Are you ready?” 

I can’t gather myself to say anything, but I am grinning as big as he is, and nod my head yes. The car moves forward and settles into the launch pad and I can hear the hydraulics charging. I have my eyes locked on the red light that will have a 2 second count down, so you won’t know when you are actually about to launch. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Christopher in his own little world, unlike mine, with his right arm up and ready to fly. I face forward and my head is pulled back deep into the headrest. In just 3 seconds we go from a stand still, to flying 120 miles per hour. I have never felt so little control of my body in my life. I can’t move my head, my mouth is left open and the wind prevents me from closing it. Even my eye lids feel like they are lifting up off my eye balls and flapping in the wind. Straight up. The sound of the people below goes faint and the view of Ohio gets better and better. I have just a moment to enjoy the view and gain control over my neck when I hear Chris yell “Kiss me!” We share a quick smooch at 420 feet in the air, and then joyfully join in the train’s scream on the twist straight down.

Just as fast as we go up, it is over. Not only have I checked off an item from my bucket list, but I also created some time for self reflection about who I really am. On my flight home to Oregon, it was extremely hard to leave Chris for another 3 months. I learned a lot about Christopher’s family and even more about who I am capable of being.

I can’t wait for my next adventure.

I'm so lucky

I can't express how much this guy means to me. He is so kind and caring, loyal and is always surprising me with his intelligence. I love Christopher so much! I can't wait to see him again. He brings out the best in me and I can't thank him enough. I'd do anything for this one. I never want to loose him. He's so adorable!