Westpoint is for lovers

Well, I really should be doing some homework right now. But, I don't want to. So I am going to give a little update.

Yes, we are going to Italy next year!!! And yes, I am so excited. People have been asking me if I am scared. I am not really scared, mostly excited, and I am ready for an adventure. Living in

Italy will be an experience unlike any other, I am sure. I am already determined to learn the language and of course learn to cook authentic Italian food. I am especially excited about that (I love to cook already, and Italian is my favorite type of food). But most of all, I am excited to have so many amazing adventures with my sweetheart. I hope we will be able to travel lots throughout Europe. I have been so excited, I have been watching all the Italian episodes of the Rick Steve's travel show, scouting out all of the places I want to visit.

I know its not always going to be fun and games. I am sure there are going to be a lot of things I am going to miss about America. But it's not like I am never coming back! We will probably only be in Italy for two to three years. I have heard from many that living in a foreign country as a couple brings you so close together and I have also heard that if we have the chance to do this, then we should take it. So we are taking it!

In other news, I flew out to New York to visit Dallin over Valentine's Day weekend. It was lovely. I flew out on Thursday and Dallin picked me up from the Newark airport. We drove to Highland Falls and had some Mexican food and then Dallin took me to Sister Johnson's house. I slept at her house over the weekend. We hung out around Westpoint for most of the weekend. We have gone into the city so many times we don't really have anything else to do there and we decided to save money.

On Friday I went to Dallin's game theory class and his international economics class. Game theory went totally over my head. I now understand why Dallin hates that class so much. International economics was fun though, because I took that class last semester and I could actually follow along with it. And his professor kept putting me on the spot. It was embarrassing, but funny. After class, I went to lunch with Dallin in the dining hall. That place will never cease to remind me of the Hogwarts dining hall. After lunch, Dallin went to his skiing class and then we went into a little town-- I can't remember the name of it-- and we got pizza for dinner. It was delicious! Then we saw the movie Valentine's Day. I wouldn't recommend it. It wasn't that funny, kind of just an excuse for Hollywood to collect some money from people who wanted a Valentine's date.

On Saturday Dallin and I went to Men's Wearhouse to pick out his tux for the wedding and the tuxes for the groomsmen as well. So exciting! I can't believe how soon the wedding is. It really is creeping up on me. I have just been so used to it being so far away. But we are finally on the verge of spring and soon June will be here!

Anyways, after picking out the tuxes, we went to a car dealership and checked out some cars we are thinking about buying. We are looking at BMWs and VWs because the army has a sweet deal with those companies and we can get quite a discount on one of those cars. After looking at cars Dallin and I went to Bear Mountain State Park. It was so cold!!! But still a lot of fun. We walked around the park. It was very peaceful with the white snow on the ground and not very many people around. Dallin of course tried to push me in the snow. But I prevailed. We went to the zoo there. We saw so much fauna: bears, coyotes, porcupines, bobcats, frogs, and fish. After exploring Bear Mountain, we came back to Westpoint and changed and then went to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Sunday we went to church at Dallin's ward and then we went to Sister Johnson's house for dinner and hung out there. She had a bunch of people in the ward over for dinner.

Monday was our last day together. We went to Hoboken, New Jersey in search of Carlo's Bakery from the show, Cake Boss. We got in the huge line to go into the store, but it was hardly moving. We decided we would rather spend our last few hours together doing something else, so we just peeked through the window and took a picture outside.

I really enjoyed Hoboken. It is a cute little town that is just across the Hudson from New York City. We took a walk and saw some great views of the New York City skyline. The town has the feel of residential New York City, with a lot of quaint, brownstone apartments, lots of cute shops and restaurants, and not much traffic. It was fun to spend some time there. Dallin bought me some beautiful Italian leather boots for Valentine's Day and we ate lunch at an Asian restaurant.

Then, unfortunately, we had to start driving to the airport. Every goodbye just seems to get harder and harder. Dallin and I are so glad that these goodbyes are almost over.

Dallin is coming to visit me in eighteen days! I am already counting down. But then again, I am counting down for a lot of things. Fifty-seven days until I am done with school and then 102 days until the wedding. Before I know it, this abnormally long engagement will be over, and I will be sealed to my sweetheart for eternity. Can't wait!

Italy!

It is official! Allison and I will be heading to the 173rd Airborne Division at Vicenza, Italy. Excited is an understatement of my current emotions. Never as a lowly plebe did I think that I would get the opportunity to live in Italy! Man, I am still in a sort of state of shock since hearing the news. I can't believe that this is happening to us. All of the countless hours of studying finally paid off! I will be doing my human resources job there and we should get there hopefully around mid-November. I have to report to AGOBC (my basic officer course) on 22 July, and I will be done with that by 20 October and then we will head down to Ft. Benning, Georgia for airborne school (parachute school) for 3 weeks. My hope now is that we can be in Italy before Thanksgiving, but we will see.

In addition we are currently working on planning our honeymoon. We found a sweet condo on Mahuka Beach in Oahu, and I think we are going to stay there for 2 weeks. Life is great. All of these changes and all of these decisions have made focusing on school difficult, but that is going well too.

We, (and I in particular), have been very blessed this semester. The Lord has blessed us with these awesome opportunities later this year and more importantly with the opportunity to be worthy to be sealed together in the Lord's temple in June. Everything in my life has led up to this point, and I can't believe that it is so soon. I am so grateful for a loving and forgiving Heavenly Father who has blessed me so much throughout my life despite my many flaws. I am grateful for the blessing that Allison is in my life, and being worthy of that blessing. I know the future will bring many challenges, and I think they will only get tougher. But I am confident that Allison and I will be able to overcome them because of our trust in Him and our dedication to following His commandments.

Ciao,
Dallin

Bad at Blogging and 2010.

I am not good at blogging. I can't ever think of what to write, and I don't want to just bore people with the same old blabber about what is going on with my life. That is why I normally focus on Allison, and the amazing person that she is and the amazing relationship that we have together! 

Christmas break was fantastic of course. Skiing in Tahoe with Allison and my family was a blast despite my grouchy attitude at times. Gift card Monday was fun, and the "epic" ride in San Fran with the Nealies was pretty fun as well. We are now back at school, Allison and I both traveled yesterday to our separate institutions for the last time! Just one more semester to go until graduation! I am so excited, 2010 is going to be awesome.

Quick to-do list (in chronological order) for 2010:

- choose first duty station

- plan honeymoon/potential European or Asian vacation

- help Allison and Mary plan the wedding

- graduate from West Point

- get married to Allison!!!

- go on honeymoon

- go to Europe or Asia

- move to Columbia, South Carolina for Adjutant General Officer Basic Course

- move to first duty station

This is going to be a busy year of more changes than I have ever had at once in my life. I am going to go from single student to married Army officer! I can't wait. I am trying to enjoy the end of this chapter of my life, but I can't help but just being excited to begin my life with Allison as my wife. Cheers.

Dallin

Back to the old grind...

Wow I have not updated this in a while! October was a crazy month. I was gone every weekend that month. One weekend, I went to Reno to go to one of my best friend, Alisa Hardy's mission farewell.

Abigail Hardy, Me, Alisa Hardy, and Travis

I flew into Oakland on a friday and then drove to Reno with my Mom and Travis. Alisa and I have been friends since we were five years old. She is going on a mission to Chile and I am so excited for her. It was fun to hear her speak in Sacrament as well as hang out with my Mom and little brother some.

Travis and I on a ferris wheel inside a huge store called Scheels.

Halloween was so much fun because I got to spend it with my sweetheart. It was a quick trip to New York City but so much fun. We hung out with Dallin's roommate, Dave and his girlfriend, Katie. We stayed in a hostel and hung out in the city. My favorite thing that we did was that we rented row boats in central park. The weather was wonderful; it wasn't cold at all and the leaves on the trees were beautiful. I have decided that my favorite season in New York is definitely the fall.

On Halloween night we went to a party in the theater district. It was quite a journey getting there, however. When we got off of the subway a huge parade had just ended and there was people all around us in the subway station. We were literally crammed in there like sardines. It was kind of scary because we could not move at all and we could not get out of the subway station. We were stuck. So we just pushed through the masses of people and we were finally able to get to the subway exit. It was a relief to get out, I was getting very claustrophobic. But when we finally got out of the subway station it started to downpour in rain. We got soaked and took shelter in a pizza parlor and ate some dinner while we were there.

Eventually we got to the party. We were a little unsure of what to expect from this party but it actually turned out pretty well. There was dancing with live bands as well as some plays going on through out the theater. We went to some of the plays but they were all really weird so we just stuck to dancing. Overall, it was a fun night.

Dallin and I on Halloween. We tried to dress up like Lucy and Desi. I think Dallin makes a pretty good Desi however I could use a red wig to look more like Lucy.

The next day we walked around the city, watched part of the NYC marathon, and went to Rockefeller center. We of course had to go to Magnolia bakery as well. Then we just hung out in a Chipotle restaurant until it was time for me to go and catch the subway to get to the airport.

Thanksgiving break was also wonderful. I missed two days of school and came home earlier on November 20th. The week before I got to hang out with my mom because she flew out to Utah to stay with my amazingly creative aunts, Sue and Sandi to get some fun ideas for wedding invitations, decor etc. It was so fun hanging out with them in between the craziness of school that week.

Then my mom and I flew to Oakland on the 20th and I picked Dallin up later that night. Our Thanksgiving break may sound really boring to other people because we didn't do anything extremely exciting. We kind of just hung out with our families and relaxed which was much needed after the grueling preceding weeks in school.

We saw two great movies, Blindside and A Christmas Carol (in 3D). On Thanksgiving Day the Neals and the Rosdahls got together for an amazing feast of turkey, potatoes, stuffing, rolls, and pie. I also got the privilege to participate in the Rosdahl's basketball game. It was so much fun, and amazingly I scored a point while playing amongst those tall people! Haha.

Dallin and I at the 3D movie!

As always, the break ended too soon. I flew back to Utah on November 29th. This week at school looks like a busy one and finals are looming ahead. I am already counting down to when I come home and see Dallin again. 16 DAYS!

2 days.
2,916 miles.
3 classes.
Turn in 2 papers.
Work on 1 paper.
Two nights of sleep.
1 drive to the train station.
2 trainrides.

...and then I am home with Allison :)

Can't Slow Down Yet

Wow,

The past few weeks have flown by. Everyday seems to blur with all of the studying, writing, missing Allison, and sleep. Allison is coming in 2 days though! I can't believe it, that is so soon. Branch Night is Sunday! I am not nervous, I am 307/1160, I will get my first choice. But it is surreal to think about. I have spent so much time here at West Point, by the time May comes around I will have been a cadet for nearly 6 years if you include my mission. But I am going to get my assignment in the US Army on Sunday. It is weird for me to think about. Growing up I never imagined myself in the army. It was never something I really thought about. I am glad that I have this opportunity though. Someday our children will be able to say that their father served their country during a very turbulent time of change and challenges. I am excited to serve this great nation.

Allison is coming this weekend! I am so excited. I have a history test tomorrow though on the Napoleonic Campaigns. And I am working on my capstone paper on geography and macroeconomic development. Good times. 2 more days :)

Dallin

Chipmunk cheeks

There have been a lot of highs and lows over the past couple of weeks. The highest high: visiting Dallin in New York from October 9th to the 12th. The best thing about last weekend was just the opportunity we had to spend time together. We basically just did a lot of hanging out in the city. We walked around a lot in Central Park, Times Square, China town and other places. We went to the Magnolia Bakery, one of my favorite places to visit in New York. They have the most unbelievably delicious cupcakes.

We also saw a play! We saw "Finian's Rainbow". It was quite enjoyable, however, Dallin and I agreed that the story line was a little crazy and hard to follow. But the music and dancing was excellent.

We also sampled many delicious foods of New York. Yummy Chinese chicken and broccoli on Canal Street, delicious thin crust pizza in Tarrytown, and Roast Beef sandwiches near Park Avenue. This last weekend confirmed to me of how much I love spending time with Dallin. I always have so much fun with him. He is my best friend. I love going on adventures with him in New York City. We have so much fun exploring and relaxing with each other.

I returned back to Utah on Monday October 12th at around midnight. And what did I have to welcome me home that night? A four-page essay, that I had not even started. I wasn't able to go to bed until around 4 am. The rest of that week was just as depressing as I studied my brains out for an international economics test and an operations management test, both of which I received mediocre scores on. Then last friday, to top it off, and make this last week the worst week ever, I had my wisdom teeth removed.

For the past couple of days, I have been recovering from the surgery at my Aunt Sandi's house. I just barely came back to my apartment yesterday afternoon. I am still in some pain, and I still am pretty swollen with chubby chipmunk cheeks. I can't wait to look normal and eat normally as well. However, I just received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my sweetheart. He very much brightened my day. He has probably suffered the most from this whole ordeal, because he usually calls when I have just woken up and I am still cranky. I have not been very nice to him over the past couple of days. So, I am sorry Dallin! I love you! Hopefully you still love me, after I have treated you so rotten after this past week!