Withdrawls...

Today I'm home sick with a cold.

Steve is at his new job at Standard Plumbing. He took the bus too. So after he gets off work at 6, it's and hour and a half until he gets home.

Back in the day when he was at the bakery, he got home around 2.

Only 4 1/2 hours until I can see my sweetie pie...

The Best Christmas Ever...

WE ARE ENGAGED!

Yes... it has FINALLY happened! This passed Tuesday, Steve popped the question and of course I said yes! Here's how it happened:

We had planned on Tuesday to carve pumpkins. Steve had this great idea to have a pumpkin carving contest (everything is a contest or a race). So he set it up so that we were facing each other and couldn't see what the other person was carving. He was so excited that he had his pumpkin carved before I had mine cleaned out! So I quickly carved a face and scooted mine over to by his. He grabbed the camera and told me to close my eyes. He turned his pumpkin around and I opened my eyes. He had carved "Will you marry me?" in his pumpkin with the ring sticking out of the top. I got all chocked up and he came over and knelt down and put the ring on my finger.
It's amazing to be engaged to such a great man. It's been so much fun calling our friends and family and sharing our news.

December 22 will be a great day!

This last week was not too terrible, however a lot of things happened. Melissa and I got called into the bakery on Tuesday to help package and decorate cakes. Melissa taught me how to make Boston Cream Pies and some other really cool stuff. All week long Melissa got to do the cakes. She had a major blast. I got to learn to run the mixer. I mixed all day Thursday and most of Saturday.

In Institute on Wednesday we had a question and answer deal; everyone in class wrote down a question then our teacher went through and read them for all of us to answer together. (We are taking a Dating/Courtship class). Someone wanted to know if a temple trip was a good first date. We also covered the subject of who picks out the engagement ring. That one got heated, I never knew that it could be such a big deal.

This is a shout out to Danny and Mary for the rockin' game time party for the COUGARS yesterday. Even though the MTN doesn't know what HD is, the game was fun and we won. Mary's chicken chili was amazing, the drinks refreshing and the company was outstanding!

Over the last few weeks Melissa and my mom have been canning, jamming, and all that fall fun. Melissa loves feeling all domestic and stuff! Not to mention that she's been working on some amazing baby quilts for her nieces and nephews.

Bunch of Hicks

So one thing that you ought to know about Steve is that he is a farm boy. Grew up breaking in horses, digging holes for fence posts, gathering chicken eggs, and just about everything else. (He was also in the FFA Club when he was in high school.) He is pretty hick and is proud of it! For example, he has a John Deere Blanket and a set of John Deere cookie jars.

Since I met Steve about five months ago, we have built shelves for my roommate Beth, built a garbage can enclosure for some friends of his, done lots of work in the garden and cleaning up the firepit area and around the yard.

Steve is so much fun to work with. (The nail gun is my favorite!) He is an incredibly hard worker! This week alone he has cleaned out the chicken house, helped mow the pasture, weedeated most of Danny's yard, and will hopefully start demoing and redoing a friend's basement next week. He does all of this on top of his full time job.

Our Half Marathon (June 13, 2009)

So this past summer, Steve and I ran the Helvetia Half Marathon in Beaverton, OR. I had been training since February and he started, well shortly after May 17th. It was so much fun training. One day we ran 5 miles and Steve said, "That's the furthest that I've ever ran!" Three days later we ran 11 miles. It rained on race day and it was super himid which is a bit rare for Oregon. We finished in 2 hours and 24 minutes... our times matching perfectly.

This was a big accomplishment for me because if you know me... you know that I am not vary athletic. But it was a goal that I set. I was able to complete the whole thing non-stop and even was able to sprint for the final .1 mile. It was amazing to have Steve right there beside me, encouraging me every step of the way... literally.

The Spirit of God

Today was Ward Conference in my ward. We had a great talk by my Bishop followed by the Stake President. Mid way through the stake president's talk, the fire alarm goes off. BEEP BEEP BEEP! Along with the alarm was a lady's voice giving instructions. "Can I have your attention? Can I have your attention? (Stake President chimes in "You have our attention.") This is a fire alarm. Please use the nearest exit to exit the building. Do not reenter the building unless notified by the proper authority." Stake President leans into the mic and says, "I am that proper authority. Please head outside."

Turns out that the pressure was too high in one of the boilers and set off the alarm.

I would like to think that the Spirit was there today and like a fire, it was burning.

Do you see what I see?

I love the ocean.  It is my happy place.  The sights, the sounds, the smell... I love it all!  My heart sings whenever I am there!

So today for the last time in a long time, Steve took me to the coast so I can have the sand between my toes (because he is a sweetheart like that).  It was a fun filled day with squeaky sand, cooling winds, seashells and round rocks, crashing waves, salty air, noisy birds, romantic walks, childish games, tender love notes, and moments of absolute bliss.  My heart was smiling and my soul was at peace.

After the beach and shopping at Lincoln City (found a great pair of board shorts for Steve... and I was reminded again why I don't like shopping for swimsuits) we headed down to Depot Bay which is the whale capitol of the world... or something like that.  While we were enjoying the waves beat against the rocks and feeding the squirrelers, I looked up and saw the backside of a whale disappear under a wave!  Can you believe it?!?  I was so stoked!  (You should hear the camera footage... I was screaming I was so excited!)  Unfortunately I wasn't able to point it out to Steve in time.  After another five minutes of looking, I started second guessing myself and decided that it must have been something else.  It seemed to be too close to the rocks.

About 45 minutes later, Steve and I were enjoying a FABULOUS meal at Tidal Raves (highly recommended to anyone in the area... thank you Troy!).  It was a beautiful moment when the clouds cleared up and revealed a glorious blue sky and golden sun!  I hear Steve gasp and "There's a whale!"  Sure enough... there was a whale as close as was the earlier one.  We enjoyed watching the mist from the blow hole and the back rolling across the bay.  

Then, Steve said the most amazing seven words... "Honey, I was wrong... You were right."

:)

This is the first

Hi I am Steve I am new at blog activities. This Blog will contain info  on me and my sweetheart Melissa Gunnell. on day not sure when we will be the Allreds. Until that happens we will keep track of our joint activities, this includes dates, road trips, camping, ER visits, and many others.

Melissa and I meet one sunday morning in May (17 may 2009) she and her roommates had a "new roommate" open house, this included craps (thats why I was there, food). We took a quick interest in each other, I was interested in her Half-Marathon training and she thought I was cute. Due to some recent events I needed a new ward to go to, most of the people at her place went to the Canyon Road Ward. As friendly as they all were I found myself feeling very welcome.

At church James decided that we were going to have a movie night at Beth's place (Its the same place that Melissa lives). Melissa and I pulled up at about the same time so she waited for me while I parked, as we walked up together. I couldn't believe how tis super cute girl was in to me. as the movie started seats were shuffled and we ended up sitting next to each other, then the talk started. We talked as if we had been friends for years, very comfortable and friendly. It was a click, instant best friends. With the end of the movie we exchanges some texts and decided that we should go on a date.

I was supper excited to see her at FHE however she had to work. i thought it would be nice if i just so happened to stop by her work and say hi (this is when I learned she didn't work at the Washington Square Mall). I stopped at the Gap and didn't see her, with a few texts and some humble pie we planed to meet at Target parking lot. Not far from there we found BK and got some milkshakes, again it was like old friends our first date was a third and a fifth all in one (we were there so long that they had to kick us out)