The Gift

As I was driving home tonight after a wonderful day spent with loved ones, I was flipping through the radio stations in hopes of finding one that was still cranking out the Christmas classics. The family-friendly Christian station was the only one still playing Christmas music. While they tend to play more jazzed up versions of the classic carols, I still enjoy the feeling that comes from listening to the sounds of the season. That moment, the song that was playing was, "The Gift." I am forever grateful for my Christmas gift. His name is Casey P, and he is amazing. These are the words to the song…so applicable in lieu of recent events…

Sitting by the fire we made
You're the answer when I prayed
I would find someone
And baby I found you.

All I want is to hold you forever
All I need is you more every day
You saved my heart
From being broken apart
You gave your love away
I can't find the words to say
That I'm thankful every day
For the gift.

I told Casey that all I wanted for Christmas was him in a big red bow, but instead, he decided to give me this…

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining or anything…

WE'RE ENGAGED!!!

It's the weirdest feeling ever because on the one hand, it feels so completely natural to be engaged to Casey P. We both knew from the beginning that this was going to be something extraordinary. It is amazing how naturally our relationship progressed. On the other hand, I can't believe that I'm engaged…that it's happening to me. This is an event that I have dreamed of and thought about since I was little. Is this really happening? I'm seriously afraid that tomorrow I'm going to wake up and it's all going to be a dream.

I love Dr. Seuss' quote, "You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." I feel like this every night when I have to say goodnight to Casey. I don't want to waste a moment without him. I don't want to fall asleep because I have everything I want right in front of me.

Ok, so I'm guessing you want the engagement story? Case face did such a good job trying to surprise me, but everyone was acting a little…peculiar…and it was evident that something was up. After a lovely Christmas Eve dinner with Rusty's family (Casey's brother-in-law) Case suggested that we go down to the monuments in DC. This is a significant place for us. We went to the monuments on our first date. It's so funny to think back…we went there on a Monday night (skipping out on FHE). We had only met the Friday before at our ward campout. Casey had surprised me that morning by visiting my classroom at school (so cute). After work he suggested that I stop by his house. After a long debate in my head over whether I should stop by his house or just see him at FHE, I decided to stop by. That was the best decision ever because I got to meet Casey's awesome sister and brother-in-law, and their amazing kids. Casey and I had full intentions of going to FHE, we just decided that we were going to eat dinner first. We stopped by Moby Dick's House of Kabob (so yummy!) Case asked where I wanted to sit. I said outside (there's no outdoor seating). I pulled him outside and we sat out on the sidewalk by this restaurant, watching rush hour traffic fly by (one of those people in traffic being my brother who honked at us!) Sometimes I like to live up to the title of my blog (randomness). After dinner Case said, "why don't we go down to the monuments?" We were supposed to go the night before but that didn't end up happening. I was so excited because I love the national mall. After my amazing parallel parking job (mmmhmmm) we headed to the Lincoln. We stood there and talked and laughed and hugged for a quite a while. Looking back, it is so funny that we had only known each other for 3 days at that point!!! It felt like I had known him for so much longer… We slowly made our way from the Lincoln down past the reflection pool, and over to the World War II Memorial. We sat there, by the fountains, for hours. We talked and talked and talked and boy did I fall for that Casey P.

Fast forward to Christmas Eve…we started at the Lincoln and we talked about our first date and how everything has gone since then. We slowly walked down by the reflection pond, retracing our steps, and we ended up at the WWII Memorial, just like before. It was a surprisingly warm night, but there was no one else in sight. It was so romantic with the Washington Monument on one side and the Lincoln Memorial on the other. Casey told me some really sweet things about how he has felt since he met me, and then he got down on one knee and said, "Allison Rhae H, will you marry me?" AHHHHHHHH! "YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!" I believe those were my words. I didn't even look at the ring at first (although DANG did he do a good job!)

Here are some more pictures…




and of course some Christmas pictures…



I love this kid with all my heart and I am so excited for us to start our lives together.

Casey. All I want is to hold you forever.

All I need is you more every day.

You gave your love away, and

I'm thankful every day…for the gift.