Dump

“Vindie hates bugs…do you know why Vindie hates bugs?...because she says when they get in an accident they get squished like bugs!” Yesterday, while stuck in traffic on the Bay Bridge VeNae decided to dump her brain like she always does. It was pretty awesome. She is pretty hilarious most of the time. But sometimes, not so much, and those are the times when “the quiet game” is initiated by myself.

Allison’s birthday is in 6 days, and I haven’t gotten her present yet. Any ideas?

I don’t really know what to write about today. I am in the office, without anything to do for the moment. I think I am going to go shopping for Allison when I leave. I think I might leave at 1:30 or maybe earlier depending on what they have for me to do.

I am going to be a senior or “firstie” this fall at West Point. That is exciting. I remember when I was a lowly plebe, I would always look to the seniors at Church as such wise, awesome Priesthood holders. I hope I have become one too. Senior year will be good though. What most don’t understand about being a Senior at West Point is, is that we don’t want to be at West Point. So when we know we are in our last year, we are very happy. It is not bittersweet to leave. It is 100% sweet. I can’t wait to drive out of those gates for the last time. That will be awesome. Awesome too because that will be just 2 weeks before Allison and I get married!

So far I am thankful for our long engagement. This may come as a surprise to some, especially Allison, but I really am. This has been a good time for Allison and I to further strengthen our relationship and have fun.

Contrasting Vindie and Lincoln with Allison and I makes me laugh sometimes. Allison and I seem to have this requirement that we are always touching in one way. Whether it be holding hands, my arm around her waist, her scratching the back of my neck, or what have you. But with Vindie and Lincoln it is rare for them to be on the same piece of furniture. I think it is funny how different the engaged stage seems to be from the married stage.

Lance Armstrong isn’t going to win the tour de France after all. Very disappointing.

Harry Potter 6, also very disappointing.

Well, I just did my best to do what VeNae does quite superbly on a regular basis. Dump my brain.


-Dallin

Sorry I haven't updated the blog. Dallin said he wouldn't post again until I do, so I guess that we are taking turns updating this. So far, this summer has been great! Dallin and I had a couple of weeks to just relax and take a break from school and from being apart from each other. Now Dallin is doing an internship in the city, and I am desperately searching for work, currently just settling for doing odd jobs. One of my odd jobs that I have been working on has been actually quite fun. I am currently digitizing all of the Rosdahl's home video tapes and converting them to DVDs. I really enjoy watching their old movies and learning more about the wonderful family that I will soon be entering into.

It is so wonderful being here in Danville with my own family, as well as the Rosdahl family. I enjoy spending time with both of these families. In fact, this past week both mine and Dallin's family took a trip to Yosemite National Park. Each of our families rented cabins in Wawona for a couple of days. The trip was planned so that Dallin and I could attend the wedding and be in the wedding party of one of his old high school friends. It was lots of fun hiking in the mountains, being with our families, and enjoying the beauty of Yosemite.

It is such a blessing to be from the same hometown of my fiance! I never had to have an awkward meeting of the parents, because I already knew them! And it is so great to be able to just drive down the street hang out with Dallin and his family. I so enjoy spending time with the Rosdahls and it is great when my family and Dallin's family can do activities together as friends.

Great week

Man, it is hot in Danville right now. My weather widget is reading 100 degrees right now! Allison and I have had an incredible week this past week. We went to Santa Cruz on Tuesday and went to Pacifica with Devan and Margarita yesterday. We have also been running everyday in the morning. Allison has been quite the champion in getting out there and running with me. I am not the funnest person to run with as I really only say "let's go" or "I know that your legs can move faster than that" to her but she is awesome and puts up with me regardless.

This upcoming week I begin my internship in San Fran at Asia Alternatives and I am really excited to start. I am not getting paid, so my entire focus is going to be on learning and figuring out if finance is where I want to go for a career.

Allison found an awesome article earlier this week and I wanted to share one excerpt that I really liked.

Because love is as much a verb as it is a noun, the phrase “I love you” is much more a

promise of behavior and commitment than it is an expression of feeling.

- Elder Lynn G Robins, "Agency and Love in Marriage"

I really like this a lot. I am guilty I think of always thinking of love as a feeling and almost desire. But I love how Elder Robins reminds us that "I love you" is a promise of loyalty and trust between couples. It has been incredible to be with Allison this summer. Our relationship is getting so much stronger than it ever has been before. As we have been able to not worry about long distance or about being apart we have been able to increase our commitment to each other and to our future together. Well, I am exhausted and might steal a little Sunday afternoon napski for old times sake.

Dallin

Home at last

Hello!

Well I am back home after training. The training went alright I guess. Finishing it felt so good though because it marked the completion of all of my West Point military training! Just 11 more months and I will graduate! Allison got home yesterday and it has been incredible to be together of course. It is strange for both of us to be together and not have a looming day when we have to leave in like a week.

I am starting an internship in SF in a few weeks and just excited to spend time at home with Allison and the Rosdahls and Neals. This is my first real summer at home since 2003 and I am looking forward to reconnecting with my family. It is unbelievable for me to watch the kids and realize how big they are now. When I left for school 5 years ago Declan was about 2 feet shorter than I, Victoria was a munchkin, Dooley Wooley (Dewlin) was tiny and Veronica was in her awkward middle school years.

Declan is now as big as me, Victoria is grown into a young woman, Dooley Wooley is a stud lax player, and Veronica is graduated from high school. Oh and did I mention that Vindie is married to an incredible guy and has a baby girl? It stinks when I think of everything that I have missed these past 5 years of their lives while I have been in New York and Cambodia. But that is why I am so excited to be home with them now. This summer is all about reconnecting with them.

Well, Allison is about to get here so we can go on a run together. What a lucky guy I am, my fiancee will run with me! Life is great.

Greetings from the BYU bubble...

I talked to Dallin yesterday after he had been lucky enough to go online for about an hour. He must have checked this blog and saw that I hadn't yet posted anything. He said, "You know when I made my blog into our blog, that meant that you would actually be able to post to it!". So here it goes, I've never had a blog, but I've looked at some of my friends' and it looks like a great way to let people know what is going on in your life, as well as do some self-reflecting.

My current overwhelming thought for that past month or so, is... I MISS DALLIN! This past month has been especially hard because we haven't been able to video chat at all, just talk on the phone. And there are some days when we can't even talk on the phone because the cell service is so shotty where Dallin is. It has been tough not being able to talk to my best friend who have been able to talk to pretty much everyday since last September.

For those of you who don't know, Dallin is currently at Camp Buckner in New York. The camp lies on many acres of land near the Westpoint campus. It is an intense 3 week training where they practice a host of infantry skills. For the past couple of weeks he has been trudging through the wilderness, performing mock missions, practicing shooting, riding helicopters, and guarding stuff. It sounds like he is doing really cool and exciting stuff, but it is actually really hard and really not much fun. It's hard because he feels pretty cut off from the world. His only link to the rest of the world is his cell phone which he can only use if he climbs a hill. He has no access to the internet, TV, or even newspapers! It sounds like a prison to me! (I mentioned earlier that he was lucky enough to get internet access for an hour. This was because he got to go to campus for a little while for an orthodontist appointment) Luckily, Dallin won't have to do something like this training again. From what I have heard from him, he is not enjoying himself in the least and cannot wait to come home.

I can't wait to come home either! I have been out here in Provo way too long, stuck in my amazingly luxurious apartment (haha). But, overall I am glad that I decided to do Spring term here at BYU. My classes have been amazing. I have really enjoyed them. I took LDS Marriage and Family, New Testament (the gospels), Financial Management, and Executive lectures. But I just feel like I have been out here in the BYU bubble just a bit too long. It's time for a change of scenery. And also, I miss Dallin (if you hadn't noticed). :)

Next week will be great. On the 18th Dallin will return back to Danville from New York, and I will be back in Danville on the 19th. I am so excited to have this whole summer with Dallin. It will be so nice to just relax together and be with our families. Often when we are able to  see each other we cram as much as we can into our days because we have such a limited time together. This summer we can just relax and not have to worry as much about time.

Well, there's my first try for a blog entry. Unfortunately my life is not that interesting right now, or else I would write more! But basically to sum it up... I love Dallin. We are so excited to be engaged to each other and eventually married! And I am so looking forward to this summer of 2009 that I get to spend with him!

This is me and Dallin a couple of weeks ago when we went to the Timpanogos Caves.

It is official

Well,

As most of you have all discovered, Allison and I got engaged last Thursday May 21st! We have set a date of June 5th, 2010 for our wedding. This is going to be a long engagement, but due to our educations next June works out best. We couldn't be happier. Allison just got on a plane headed for Salt Lake to finish out her Spring quarter while tomorrow I head out for New York for 3 weeks of military training.

With the beginning of our engagement we have decided to convert my blog to our blog, and Allison will begin posting to this site!

We just had an incredible 11 day break together. We spent 5 days in Utah and then a few days in Danville and have had a great time. It is always hard to say goodbye, but this will just be a quick 3 week stretch before we are together for 8 weeks for the rest of the summer!

Like I mentioned, I will be out in the field for the next 3 weeks, so I will be unable to access this or facebook till June 17th. Be back soon!

-Dallin

Update

It has been a few weeks since my last post and thought I would provide a quick update on what is going on in the exciting life of Dallin...

Last Friday I came to Utah to spend a little less than a week here with Allison. We have had an incredible time together doing super fun stuff like hiking to the timp caves, dinner in Salt Lake City, dancing, dinner at Aunt Bonnie's (always incredible), attend awesome BYU classes, and just enjoy each other's company. But the best is yet to come, tomorrow we both fly to California to spend a few days with family. We are actually headed up to Pinecrest on Friday to spend the weekend camping and I have been tasked to take all the kids minus Devan, Dillon and Vindie and fend for them. It should be fun, though Allison is going to need to help me! 

I head back to New York next Tuesday for 3 weeks of Army training then I will be back in California for the summer! Life is incredible right now, really haven't ever been this happy in my whole life. Life is great, and I can't wait to see my family tomorrow! 

-dallin