Happy Birthday Allison!

Happy 30Th Birthday Allison!   Oh the best is yet to be.. Allison we are so bless to have you in our family. I remember when Bryan told me that the Lord had showed him that he would soon ask you out. I ask him what was he waiting for, he let me know that God had not release him to do that yet, besides that you had a boyfriend! A few months later you had your first date, and he let me know you were the one for him.  Thank-you for loving our Bryan..being a wonderful wife and mother. Thank-you for sharing sweet little Millie Jean with us, and allowing us to be apart of her life. I love to watch how much Bryan loves you and Millie, and can't wait to see you hold your sweet little Owen. Bill and I are praying for you to have this most wonderful birthday, and that this year will be a year of blessings. I can't wait to see how the Lord works through you, around you and in you and your family. Happy Birthday, Allison Much love, G and Kaki

sweet Allison

Happy Birthday my sweet friend! You have been such a bright part of my life. I think your family moved to Branderwood when I was 4. I can remember being so excited to have another family in the neighborhood  with so many kids. Plus, I was in luck because there was one my age! There was an instant connection and from that day on we were best friends. We rode bikes pretending we were college girls driving cars around. We spent many days exploring the area, dressing our younger brothers up, and running from Buck ( your wild dog) :). I have so many fond memories of us growing up

and into adulthood. You were the friend that I never got sick of. We could spend all day every day together and be completely happy. Some of my fondest memories were out at the softball fields with you playing 1st base and me playing pitcher and of course me throwing the ball way over your head and you having to chase after it. 

When we got to Whittier I was so excited because I finally got to go to school with my best friend! We were locker mates and tried to get our classes together. Even though we did so many different activities we maintained our special bond. You came to most of my basketball and soccer games and cheered me on. You were always so supportive of me. 

I know in our crazy lives with kids and husbands it's hard to see you as much as I would like. But I always feel at home with you like we never skip a beat and can talk about anything. It's never awkward. I have derived so much strength from you. You are such a wonderful Christian and you inspire me more than you know. You helped me through a difficult time last summer with my etopic pregnancy. I knew you knew my pain and you helped me feel at peace.

I truely love you and your family. I have spent so much time with Rosses in my life. I just pray that my children have a special family they can be close friends with like I had growing up. God Bless!

Anne

Happy Birthday Allison!

Well Allison, I guess we've been friends for a third of your life!
10 years of stories and memories, some of my favorites include:
Big Boy Movers moving you, Tracy, and Brooke into your apartment, the vanilla candle survey on your living room wall, my vanilla potpourri christmas light jar birthday present(this is a favorite), worshiping on the Trails golf course, YL Leadership, Junior High Young Life skits, Blue Jeans Coffee and Denim Hut, French toast with the Rays, your honesty in your story telling, your sweet, and timely notes, verses and words for my wife and family, your generosity, your loving college students, you being just the right wife for Bryan, and just the right mom for Millie and Owen, celebrating pregnancies together (and it really feeling like a celebration), your discipline in the word, and your commitment to the Lord.

I'm so thankful for all the memories we've shared and look forward to the many in the coming years. Know that you are loved deeply in the Grigor house, and your friendship is one of our cherished possessions.

-Gerod

Happy Birthday Allison!

Planning Showers!

Planning Parties!

The Girls!

Happy Birthday Al!  I don't know that my words will accurately express how thankful I am for our friendship.  It's amazing that we have been friends for about 15 years, but God wanted our friendship to blossom during this season of life!  Over the last 6 years God has done some amazing things in our lives to bring us together.  As I reflected on getting married, finding a church community and having children you have been a major part in all these things.

  I am thankful for the ways you speak truth into my life regularly.  You are a good listener and always encourage me.  You have a heart for prayer and pursuing Jesus that will leave a lasting influence on your friends and family.  You love Greek students wholeheartedly, always wanting more for them!  You are SO creative and talented, I love that you are always challenging me!  You are an amazing mother to Millie and soon to Owen.  You love Bryan with all your heart and are constantly trying to improve your marriage.  You are a woman that runs fast for things that are pleasing to the Lord, you don't settle!  Your love for God's word and encouraging others through scripture is amazing.  

I was thinking through all the ways you have influenced me and my family over the years, here are just a few:  Brian now makes crepes?!? I am growing herbs in my backyard, I desire to learn to knit but might need a special class...I wasn't great the first time you taught me, CoOkIeS (Pumpkin cookies, sugar cookies, gingersnaps), I always tell Brian "this is Allison's recipe", how I order coffee, Ella has pink furniture in her room thanks to Alli (you were prepared for her to be a girl!), Ella had clothes for her first few months of life thanks to Millie and Alli, blogging, feeling the love of a sister, and so many more!

I love you with all my heart.  I am thankful for the role that you play not only in my life, but in the lives of my kids.  (Port- "Alli looks cute today!")  You are a blessing to each of us!  I pray that this next year would be filled with extravagant JOY from the Lord.  That you would continue to experience His presence in new and more intimate ways.  That you would fall more deeply in love with the Father because of His overwhelming affection for you!  I believe that this will be the beginning of a new season in your life, that God has great things planned for you and your family.  I believe that you will lead them with complete faith in the Him, He will never fail you!  I love you Al!!!

30 things I love about you (my wife)....

Allison, I thought it would be fun to list the top 30 things I love about you. I mean, afterall, it is your 30th birthday and all. I rarely share private info like this with others, but I think its appropriate given the situation :) These are in no particular order. 

30. Your laugh: You have such a contagious laugh and it always makes me feel good. It lights up a room and makes me think I'm funnier than I really am. Thats perhaps why we are a good match :) I especially love it when you laugh so hard that you open your mouth really wide and can't even utter a sound (you know what I mean). 

29. Your feet!: This might seem weird, but I really do love your small, narrow feet. Not that I have a fettish or anything, but I love rubbing your little feet and especially your 'pads' upon request. I think they are just as cute as can be. 

28. Your dancing skills: One of my fondest high school memories of you was breaking it down at Young Life. I always thought I was a good dancer, but I could never master the classic Allison Ross dance. Not many people know that you won the freestyle competition at pom camp (oops...cat's out of the bag now!). I love that you still do old pom routines when no one else is looking. 

27. Your cooking skills: Since we've been married, you have really become quite the chef and baker. You are really good at just eyeing ingredients and throwing in spices as needed. As you know, I'm a "follow the directions" kind of guy. As we have discussed, there was only one bad meal since we've been together. That was partly to blame on the fact that there was nothing to really eat in your mom's kitchen, so you ended up making pasta with an assortment of nuts in it. 1 out of thousands is really awesome! You're always are good at surprising me, Millie, or other friends and family with homecooked meals that warm the soul.

26. Your phrases: You use words like "Big Ol" to describe a large sized item at a restaurant. For example you'll say, "Give me a 'Big Ol' Coke." I ask, "What size?" You say, "You know, Big Ol." You also use funny sayings (probably from your dad) like "are you serial?" "I want some screammage" and abbreviating everything (Sons, Buens, etc.) There are seriously too many to count!

25. Bubble baths: I love that you love taking bubble baths. I love even more that you will not get in unless there are bubbles in the bath and candles lit! (this has rubbed off on me as well). 

24. Slow-to-warm-up: I love that you are quiet and reserved when first meeting people or around a big crowd, but once you are comfortable you come out of your shell. You'll start dancing, cracking jokes, and maybe sing a few lines of a song that pops in your head. Most people give me credit for being the funny guy, but you are 10 times funnier!

23. Your creativity: You are very creative in several aspects whether its painting a picture, designing a room, coming up with ideas, cooking something out of the "nothing" I find in the kitchen, giving gifts, etc. You make things look easy. God has truly blessed you with creativity. 

22. Your love of treats: (see one of the first posts:) I love that you always want a "treat." Almost 5 out of 7 days in a week, you eat a light dinner just so you can have a "treat." Your sweet tooth has rubbed off on me and our daughter (Yummer 2). This reminds me of my Me Me, which is a great thing. You will sometimes get worn out when we run errands and what not and I'll ask if you are ready to go home. You typically respond by saying, "no, I think i just need a treat!" Love it.

21. The way you sleep: Don't get freaked out by this, but I sometimes watch you sleep. Its like a little china doll taking a nap. You put you little fist under your chin and are curled up into a little ball. It seems so peaceful and beautiful. It reminds me of Millie, but adult version. 

20. Your thoughtfulness: You are always so thoughtful to others, including me. Whether its sending them a text, email, card, or writing them a note, you have the ability to show people you genuinely care about them and its makes them feel special. I can honestly say that I have never met anyone who thinks and cares for others the way you do. There is nothing better than waking up to find a little love note written and stuck to the mirror in the bathroom or a note left by the back door for me to read when I get home from work. I know hundreds of others would say how much they appreciate your thoughtfulness. 

19. Organization: I love that you are organized and detail-oriented. This is the opposite of me, but I love that you love organization, your love containers that help you organize, you love thinking about organizing, etc. It certainly has taught me a lot over the years and I appreciate that you are organized! 

18. Being a MOM: You are such a wonderful mother to Millie. You have such deep compassion for her, teach her what she needs to know, make her laugh, take care of her, pray for her, influence her, etc. She will love spending time with you when she gets over. I know Owen will absolutely love you as his mom. One great thing recently is that Millie has started reading her Bible in the mornings because she sees you reading your Bible. I know Mills and Owen will say, "we have the best mom ever!"

17. Patience: You are truly patient with myself and others. You are always understanding when I make mistakes or when things don't go as planned. I've also seen you be patient for the things God is teaching you and with issues He has led you through. 

16. Your sense of humor: You are really funny! Sometimes people think you are quiet and that I am the funny one in the couple, but to be honest, you are much funnier than I am. I have said this from day one. I have to try to be funny when you are actually funny! You always have a way of making me laugh, Millie laugh out loud, and others laugh. I love that your humor is so subtle and under the radar. I always think "I wish others got to see this!" Of course, I am blessed to get to see those moments and have them to myself. Despite all of the tough times we've been through, we've always been able to laugh about things and for that I am grateful. 

15. Loving your family: You always care about your family and have their best interest in mind. You pray for, think about, or contact certain family members just to make sure they know someone cares or that you are there for them. I've never seen a family and specifically siblings likes yours who are best friends who are there for each other. 

14. Brushing your teeth: I love that you brush your teeth as fast as humanly possible. It is like a little hummingbird brushing its teeth. Its so fast I cannot even mimick it just to be funny! 

13. Street Smarts: It seems like you always know a quick solution to problems or situations as I'm still reading something on the internet about how to solve the problem or fix the situation. I appreciate your "just make it happen" mentality to many things in our life. You are very wise about things and always good advice to give to others as well. I always want to know your opinion about something because I know its coming from a very thoughtful, kind, and wise place. 

12. Kissing: Most people would not post something this personal on a public blog, but lets face it, I'm not "most people." I love kissing you. I always have. I always will. I will never forget our first kiss at Mike Powers' house when you were babysitting. (Thanks Mike for leaving for the evening and hiring my wife that night!) Also, thanks to Mandy Moore for making a terrible movie (A Walk to Remember) which encouraged you and I to kiss! I thought to myself at that moment, "I just kissed Allison Ross. I've wanted to do that since 6th grade!" Praise God! It happened. I still am baffled by your comments a few weeks later about our first kiss in which you described it as "different." 

11. Nurturing: You know how to take care of Millie and I. I can still remember moving to Denver and being really sick. You took care of me and it was kind of passing of the torch from my mom to you (no offense mom!). You have always taken care of me whether I'm sick, tired, sad, etc. You know how to lift my spirits and help bring restoration to my body. You do this with many others as well.

10. Authenticity: You are the real deal. What you see is what you get. There is no Al that is shown in public and then the real one comes out in private. You are the genuine article. You are caring, compassionate, thoughtful, sensitive, loving, kind, etc. in private as well as public. I didn't think anyone was always like that, but you are. You have a very real quality about you that I have and will always be attracted to.  I wish everyone got to see how much you care for them, pray for them, and think about them. You are always thinking of ways to bless other people. 

9. Your addictive personality!: By this, I mean, once you are into something you are all the way in. For example, you love to blog right now. You blog all the time and look forward to it. Before this, you liked to scrapbook. I remember buying a puzzle in Denver and you would come home from work everyday to finish the puzzle until it was complete. 

8. Your health: You are very healthy naturally and it is good to be around. You always take care of yourself by eating healthy, exercising, taking vitamins, taking care of your skin, etc. and you always show concern for the health of others. This is a huge encouragement and gets me excited to spend the rest of my days with you....in health!

7. Honesty: Even the meaning of your name implies that you are a truthful warrior (or is it truthful one). Anyways, you are always honest with others. You will say exactly how you feel. Bless your heart, you cannot hide when you don't like something. You always wear a certain expression on your face or have typical body language when you don't like something. You then will say, "I have to be honest...." Thats when the truth comes out. Sometimes this can be funny and blunt. For instance, when you say "Don't wear that" or "You're going to shave aren't you?" I love it.

6. Accents: I love when you try to do different accents. Most notably, the pirate accent. Grigors, you can testify to this. I think its the cutest, funniest thing I've ever heard. I love when you impersonate me or others and think its absolutely hilarious. Also see: British, Australian, Country, etc. 

5. Small Stature: I love that you are short, small woman. Its fun when I make you stand on a chair or the fireplace just to look you in the eye or give you a hug. Or, that your neck is at a 90 degree angle when you hug me normally! I love that you think that you can be as physical as you want with me because I'm much bigger than you. For example, you will slug me on the arm as hard as you can to prove a point that I bumped you too hard. Babe, it really does hurt! Just because I'm big doesn't mean I don't feel pain. Something about you just feels right. 

4. Your Beauty: You have never been more beautiful than you are today! You have always been a cute little thing even when I met you back at Whittier Middle School when I was in 6th grade (you in 7th). Not to mention, winning "Best Looking" or something like that your Senior Year. As time has gone on, you have only become more breath taking and gorgeous. I still think you look amazing everytime we go somewhere, when we hang out at our house, or when you first wake up! I would take the Allison that just woke up, who rolls over to look at me in the morning over anyone on earth. What a beautiful woman you are. I cannot wait to see you 50 years from now. I will always think you are beautiful. 

3. Compassion: Perhaps the thing I am most attracted to is your compassion on those who are in need or hurting. While this relates also to #2, I love how you truly feel what others are feeling and hurt with those who are hurting. You feel it with every inch of your being and you would give anything to alleviate their pain or make everything alright. I had always prayed for a wife that was compassionate and who had a big heart. You have a HUGE heart. I pray that now for our daughter Millie and I am beginning to see that in her as well. You are so tender-hearted and sensitive to others. 

2. Your love for Jesus!: I love the way you love the Lord. I love that you are constantly seeking Him, that you wake up before anyone else and crave time alone with Him. I love the way you pursue truth in your life and try to apply it. I love the way you worship our Father. I love the yield to the Holy Spirit in order to receive all that God has for you. I have loved this about you for a LONG time, but I specifically remember talking about Jesus on our first date. I could tell that you weren't just someone who went to church or knew the terms, but you actually were in love with Jesus. This is so contagious for others. It has been really encouraging to me over the years. You are truly becoming a leader to those around you and you are always being filled with the Holy Spirit. Mills has started reading her Bible in the morning because she sees her mother reading hers'. It is precious! I know that God has shaped you in such a way that this next decade of your life will be the most fruitful, life-giving, blessed years you could ever imagine. I feel like he has been pruning some things in your life that perhaps have been heavy or held you back from experiencing all that he has for you, but now is the time that the weight is lifted and you can truly bear fruit! This is such an exciting time in your life and I'm glad I get to be a part of it. 

1. Forever: I love that I get to spend the rest of my life with you. It has been the greatest blessing to be married to you and I cannot wait to be married forever. I love entering into this next phase of life with you and fall more deeply in love with you each day. I am amazed that I am still finding out things about you and how I love those things God has put in you. You are so encouraging, thoughtful, funny, beautiful and all of the other things listed above. I could come up with thousands! 

I'll never forget when we were in college and you were dating someone else. I remember telling someone, "I'm not dating anyone else until I date Allison Ross." They replied, "You know she has a boyfriend, right?" I said, "I know. I will wait for her." Al, I would do it all again. You were worth the wait! 

Happy 30th birthday! May God bless you this year like He never has. 

Love you much,

Bry

And the list goes on and on...

and the list goes on and on....   Trip to Memphis, getting lost on the way back, our apartment, making everyone who entered dress up and take a picture, sharing a room, sharing clothes, not sharing Tracy's socks, birthday waffles, hair-cuts, praising Jesus to the point that Tracy was annoyed and left the apartment, hiding from each other, Simon & Murphy, pretending to be you on the phone so the church would pay you for that painting job, truth or dare the last night in the apartment, playing "what kind of man will I marry", Allison turning down every guy who ever liked her =), Cadbury mini eggs, not allowing people to come in unless they had mini eggs to offer, taking a poll of who thinks vanilla candles stink, Padre!, hotel where we stayed 20ft. from the cemetery, spending all my money on a nose ring and not being able to eat for the rest of the trip, hooking me up with the guy from Blockbuster, shoe polishing my car!!!, hiding my car from me, laughing til we thought we might cry or puke... or possibly both simultaneously, Young Life, " I'm dating Bryan Ray", "Bryan and I are engaged", "You know Mike Husserell " (with hand motions).   I love you my friend.  I hope you have an awesome Birthday and I appreciate all of the memories!!!!  I look forward to making lots more =)   Love, Brooke Tigtig

Happy Birthday Allison!

Allison, 

I have loved getting to know you over the last few years.  The first memory I have of you is going to get drinks and sitting in the gazebo at the park talking and getting to know each other.  I remember really admiring your openness and honesty and thinking how that must really draw people to you.  I think the most significant thing I remember about our friendship is when we both picked each other's names at cluster and the Lord used you to really speak truth in my life and really encourage me in my giftings.  I remember the Lord clearly telling me how pleased he was with you and Bryan and the way that you trust the Lord.  I really felt like the Lord was saying that he will bless you over and over as you continue to trust him with your lives.  It seemed so significant at the time...that the Lord was bringing Millie to you as a gift from the Lord and a sign of his faithfulness and a way to show his pleasure over you and Bryan.  Allison, I am confident that the Lord is going to use you in huge ways to impact the Kingdom, and I am really excited about the idea of walking some of those things out with you.  I feel like the adventure is beginning and the Lord has things for us that are beyond our wildest imaginations if we just continue to run after him.  Thanks for having such an open and encouraging heart.  I am excited to learn from you and with you.  I feel blessed to get to celebrate your 30th birthday and celebrate the things the Lord has done and the things he will do in the next season.  Many many blessings to you and your family in this next season.  

Much love, 

Kristin