My Precious Nieces!!!!

I finally finished making Madison a crocheted blanket and she loves it!!!! I took a picture of her in it!! I also got a couple of cute pictures of Madison!! She loves smelling the Scentsy Bars!! They have been so fun to live with!! They are so fun and know Aunt Ali will easily give in if they want something!!
I look forward to visiting my Brinkerhoff nieces and nephews in Utah for Christmas!!

The Countdown Begins!!

6 months….5 months…….4 months………3 months……….2 months……..1 MONTH….. That’s right start counting down. I am half way through my deployment I am so excited that we have made it this far. Alison I love you so much thank you for all the care packages. Even though you didn’t send a Halloween card I will forgive you… I know you are probably starting to forget stuff now that you are 30 years OLD. Ha…ha… j/k…. I look forward to my visit in February and we can start making final plans on our wedding which will be in Manti, UT. I miss everyone very much and look forward to returning home some time in May.

Here are pictures of Ali and I talking on Skype at the halfway point!!

Tribute to Lindsay!!!

In honor of Lindsay's 27th birthday I decided I needed to do a tribute blog to her like she did for me!!

1. Her name is Lindsay Anne Smith
2. She is married to Colton Smith
3. She has two daughters, Madison Anne and Brooklyn Paige
4. She loves football, especially watching her brothers play.
5. She has finished a marathon and three half marathon's.
6. She bought really cute red shoes at Dillard's
7. She loves selling Scentsy
8. Her nickname is Twee
9. She has been accused of running through a fire in neighborhood sanctuary where we grew up but disputes it and I believe her.
10. She played basketball in high school.
11. She loves Zac Efron and wishes she could touch his abs
12. Lindsay is usually hot
13. Lindsay survived Hodgkin's Lymphoma
14. Lindsay loves the Panda Express
15. Lindsay likes to have a very clean house but can be challenging with little one's!
16. Lindsay teaches Sunbeams in primary.
17. Lindsay loves country music favorites are Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley and Kenny Chesney
18. Lindsay is in a book club and has loved the books they read.
19. She loves taking Madison to Disneyland and DisneyWorld.
20. Lindsay works out everyday and does a great job at it!!
21. Lindsay likes Eskimo cookies.
22. Lindsay's favorite tv shows are My name is Earl, the Biggest Loser, the Office and Desperate Housewives.
23. Lindsay never had to wear braces.
24. Lindsay loves the Broncos but is still trying to get used to the idea that Jay Cutler is the quarterback.
25. Lindsay is having her annual retreat with her girlfriends next weekend!
26. Lindsay is an awesome sister for letting me live at her house until I get married!!
27. Lindsay has a great sense of humor!

My New Blanket!!!

As you all can see I have a lot of time on my hands these days. Well I guess I shouldn’t say that procrastination has taken over and I am becoming pretty good at it just ask Ali. She asked me to take pictures of the blanket well over a month ago and I am just now getting around to it. Ali and Lou-Lou did such a great job on this blanket. It keeps me very warm at night and during the day b/c our air conditioning works a little to well some times and our room is freezing cold. (But then again, I just think about Ali’s hot butt and I warm right back up again). The weather has cooled off here it is no longer 135 degrees anymore the average temp has been in the low to mid 90’s it has been so nice. We keep hearing about thunderstorms coming but I have not seen it rain since we left New Jersey so that will be nice to see when ever that happens. Thank you Lou-Lou for sewing the blanket together you did a fantastic job and thanks again Ali for the blanket, I love you so much!!!!!!!

Thanks!!!

Hello I want to say thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes and presents!!!! You are amazing it so great to get a text message telling you have mail, which is totally unexpected I love all the presents you have sent thanks again!!! I just got back from a trip to Iraq here are a couple of photos. Love, Phil

What to Do With My Free Time!!!

Now that I have been released as Relief Society President one may ask what will I do with all of my free time? Well currently I am on a two a day workout regime ordered by my personal trainer. Notice in the picture below that I look so pretty due to coming home from the gym gross that night. I also plan to crochet blankets for a good time!! In the picture I am working on Madison's and I also have one in progress for Phil and have plans to make one for each niece and nephew!! I have also been throwing around the idea in my head to work at 24 hour fitness for a couple of nights a week for the extra cash and I live there anyway so why not!! But that all depends on what hours they would want and stuff so that is definitely up in the air. I am relieved to be done with my calling and enjoyed the challenge but will definitely enjoy my lessened responsibilities!!!!!!

Good Times for All!!

I am so happy!!! The good tv shows are back on and they are not reruns!! Sharalyn, Jeff and I enjoyed our first Finer Things Club night of the season! I am so glad that Jim proposed and I am also glad that Rose is not pregnant on Grey's!! So I still love Grey's but it will never be as good as season 1 and 2 again I have decided. I guess that is what happens over time. Her are a couple of photos with my fellow members of the FTC!!!


I have also enjoyed watching little Joshie play football! I am so proud of how well he plays and how focused he is!! He lost another heartbreaker on Saturday but they keep getting better and better! Way to go Josh!

Happy Birthday Phil!

So Phil's birthday is not until Monday the 22nd but due to his traveling schedule I wanted to post this so he could see it before he left!!
So there I was driving home from something one night and I was listening to the XM radio love station and the song "Somewhere Out There" came on. Of course I started crying. Phil knows it does not take much to make me cry these days (I wonder if it is because my fiance is far far away in a war zone)! Anyway I really enjoyed hearing this song and I made a Happy Birthday video for Phil!! I know you have probably all seen most of these pictures but we can't really get new ones of us together right now but I did try to add new ones from our time apart.

I love you baby and hope you have a great and safe birthday!! Love, Ali

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Update From Phil

Hello everyone I apologize for taking so long on sending an update from Kuwait. I have a lot to talk about and I have learned a lot since I have been here. First, let’s talk about the important stuff. I was told this place is like a sand box and you can build sand castles that is FALSE!!!! Kuwait’s sand is too fine; they have to import their sand from other countries. Therefore, you cannot build a successful sand castle trust me I have tried, but I have made some sweet looking sand angels which, brings me to the next topic. What I have been doing for the last couple of months. Besides my numerous attempts at making sand castles and writing notes to Ali in the sand. While the boss is in the country we are responsible for his safety and protection, which keeps us very busy and followed by a lot of down time for when he is in the office doing whatever generals do during the work day. Our team is very big on physical fitness, so we spend a couple of hours in the gym 6 days a week and run any where from 5-8 miles at a time. Ali is amazing any time I need something she has been there sending me packages, which has been great it is always exciting when the mail comes everyday b/c it is always a surprise your not sure if someone has sent you a care package. When no one on the team receives mail for a couple of days we start interrogating the guys who are responsible for picking up the mail and bringing it to the trailer, to see if they really checked or not. The chow isn’t that good here. A majority of it is fried, so you have to really watch what you eat or you could end up leaving the deployment with the infamous “freshman 15”. Every Wednesday is what they call “surf and turf” which consists of crab legs and steak. The steak is thin and over cooked and fish is just disgusting and should be left alone and aloud to swim around in the sea. Now don’t get me wrong, I know it could be a lot worse. I know for a fact I have the best job in the Untied States Army. I just have some bad luck when comes to missions such as traveling to Kazakhstan, or Untied Arab of Emirates, just naming a few…anyway, something will come up to cause the boss to change his schedule or something will happen and I will get bumped off the mission but this has happened to me 8 different occasions and just gets old when you do a lot of research and a couple of days before your scheduled to leave they cancel it on you. Alright moving on to the next topic the weather, you can watch the weather chancel is going to tell you is it is going to be hot!!!! Like 126 degrees hot. The average during the day has been 115 but with in the last week the winds have shifted so the wind is coming off the gulf and it is HUMID and is still a 115 degrees outside which is no fun….
Alright I better stop typing so that way I have something to write about later on. I will write back when I have some thing else to say take care and thank you for all your support.

Wedding Dress Shopping and Brady's Birthday

This past weekend my mom, sister and I flew to Utah to go wedding dress shopping with my sister in law in Utah because they have a better selection of dresses!! We went to Alysses Bridal and I tried on a couple from the website I had seen and then a few others. The ultimate winner was a dress that Lindsay picked out from the catalog and it is gorgeous. I absolutely love it!!! Thanks Lindsay! We were also able to find really cute bridesmaid dresses. Here is a picture of Julie in the bridesmaid dress. I cut myself out of it because Phil is not allowed to see!!

We were also able to look at invitations and narrow those choices down. It was so fun to start the wedding plans and purchase a wedding dress!!
We also had the chance to celebrate Brady's fourth birthday!! He was so excited and loved getting tons of Transformers for his birthday. Phil and I gave him a police car Transformer! He is still looking forward to a ride in Phil's police car someday! Here are a couple of cute pictures!!

I am so Lucky!!!

I have the most thoughtful fiance! He is always doing cute things for me! A personal countdown calendar, flowers, I love you's everyday and the latest his love for me professed in the sand!! I love him so much and we are so excited that this Sunday, August 3rd we will be a quarter of the way through his deployment!!!

Lieutenant Dan

Update on Phil:

He has been doing good overseas! It is very hot and he has not gone on any traveling missions but he is in good spirits. He is usually at watch over the General's quarters. Not very exciting but I like it that way because not much happens and I know he is safe. We are able to communicate everyday whether it be through email, his cell phone or webcam. Technology is great! I miss him very much but I just take it one day at a time and keep busy!!

Phil actually got to be on security detail for Lieutenant Dan (Gary Sinise) when he visited the troops. This is the picture. It makes me laugh because he is not looking at the camera nor is the other security guy. They were watching out for the bad guys!

I love you Phil!



As for other news I just recently moved into the Smith household!!! Has been good so far and it is fun to see the girls all the time!

I also attended the blessing of my nephew Daniel over July 4th weekend! I was feeling very patriotic (of course) due to my fiance and got to go see a fireworks show at an Air Force base. It was great fun! We also went to Newport Beach and In and Out Burger and all the fun stuff!!! The blessing was wonderful and Matt has an adorable baby! Good times for all!

New York and The Proposal

Phil and I had a fabulous time in New York together! Four fun filled days together was awesome and too short!! We met up Sunday night at the LaGuardia airport and headed to the Marriott in Times Square. We grabbed dinner and went to sleep because we had so much to do and see. Of course we visited New York during a heat wave. I was a sweating pig with frizzy hair but Phil said I still looked good. As quoted from the movie Juno he still thought "the sun shined out my butt." despite what I looked like.

We hit many tourist spots such as NBC Studios, Ellis Island, Ground Zero, Central Park, and the Empire State Building. As for the important business.....Phil did propose on Monday night of the trip. We first had dinner at the revolving restaurant in the Marriott Marquis Hotel. It was delicious and beautiful!! After that we headed for Central Park for a carriage ride. However, it was too hot for the horses to be out so we went for a walk in the park. We were on a bridge and had some people take our picture. While I was putting the camera in my purse, Phil got down on one knee and proposed. Of course I said yes!!! It was very sweet and exciting! He picked out a beautiful ring and love him so much and cannot wait until we are married next year in the Manti temple!

Phil will be shipped overseas soon and will miss him terribly. I love him so much and am grateful for the short time we had together this past week!!!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Phil's Month at Fort Dix

Phil gave me his pictures from his month of training at Fort Dix. I have put this video together from his goodbye party to right before we went to New York! You will see pictures of random people too but they are buddies he is training with!!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Final update from Fort Dix, New Jersey

Hello everyone so I have been here at Fort Dix for a month now and I miss Ali very much! As the seconds turn into minutes and the minutes turn into hours and the hours have turn into days and the days have turned into weeks and NOW we have been apart for a month and I miss her and love her very very much!!!!!! Well our group has finally completed the required training, which will allow us to deploy. I am very happy to be done with this part of my deployment/training. However, we did get to train with some high speed group of guys from the FBI SWAT team and SPECIAL FORCES I think that was the best two days out of the entire month we have been here. Also, while we were at the F.O.B. (Forward Operating Base) Which is just a fancy word the Army likes to use for sleeping in a big green tent, the combat life savers had to stick 3 different people with IV’s I being one of them was able to stick 3 different people on the 1st try! unlike my buddies who took several tries to hit the vain. Unfortunately, I had to sacrifice my arm to an unsuccessful stick, but I did get a sweet looking bruise on my arm from it. Anyway, last weekend we went to the air show it was sweet!!! It was really nice to get away for a couple hours to see the Thunderbirds and watch someone else work. Well I am in the process of compiling a slideshow of all the pictures that I have taken in the last month but in the mean time here is a couple of photos. (I am waiting for Ali to come to New York to help me out with putting the slideshow together). Well my next military update will be from Kuwait!!!! I am so excited everyday that I wake up is a day closer to coming back home!!! I love you Alison ☺

Crazy Week!

This week was kind of crazy for me at work. I normally get to go to my office and sit and answer emails and phone calls but this week I was asked to come to a sales presentation with a prospective client so they could meet me and know who would be there account manager if they chose us. I hate doing presentations and stuff because frankly I am not a salesman. I leave that up to my brother TJ. However, I do surprise myself and can be smart and confident when needed. I was with our VP over sales and he said I did a great job!! Always nice to hear!
The meeting was in Columbus, Ohio so I had to do a lot of traveling for a short meeting. However, I did get to see the Ohio State campus and ate at the "Buckeyes Hall of Fame Cafe". It was fun! I was also only about 6 hours away from Phil:) We were in the same time zone for a short time. Close yet so far!!
Speaking of Phil, I am one week away from seeing him!!! I love and miss him so much!

1st Update from New Jersey

Hello everyone I am sorry I have not written something sooner. However, we have been pretty busy training to go to this place called paradise! I have been told it is kind of warm and sunny there also! There is plenty of sand to build sand castles and stuff like that. In the mean time I have been training in this wonderful state New Jersey. I am sure you can tell that I have been drinking the Jersey water if I think this state is wonderful. Furthermore, we have been training everyday since we got here. We do a lot of stuff that reminds me of basic training. We will be done with the basic stuff soon and actually start training for our mission next week. However, most importantly I am looking forward to seeing the LOVE OF MY LIFE in a few weeks in New York. I am so excited to see her!!!!!!!!!!!

Bachelor's Gulch Ritz Carlton Weekend

My good friend Nikki invited Sharalyn and I to go up to Beaver Creek to the Bachelor's Gulch Ritz Carlton. She did not have to twist our arms much to say yes. Nikki works at the Ritz in Denver and can get great deals on rooms. We drove up Friday after work and went straight to the hot tub upon our arrival. Saturday we woke up and went down to the spa for the Jacuzzi and steam rooms. There was also an ice cold pool you are supposed to go in after the steam room and I was the only one brave to do it but it did feel good. After the spa we went to a yummy burrito place and went and got pedicures. After that we decided we just wanted to relax in our room. We watched Fool's Gold and ate junk food. That evening we went out for pizza and headed outdoors for the hot tub and fire pit. It was a great time!! Thanks Nikki:)

Mother's Day Fun

Here are some fun photos from Mother's Day at my parent's house. We had a lovely dinner together and are thankful for Colton and Torrey taking care of us with all the yummy food!!