Dustin and Alli

The Update

2011-09-03T22:54:00.001-04:00

It is time for the yearly update!!! I have given up on anything else. This was supposed to be some sort of log of frequent awesome things going on in our life, like everyone else seems to be able to keep up in really cute, awesome ways... OH well.

The biggest news of all time for us is the fact that we are expecting our first baby in early January! I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited. I was convinced, probably by my own making, that it was a girl; but when the presence of something unmistakenly male revealed itself at our ultrasound a few weeks ago, my intuition was crushed, and I am still in the acceptance phase of that... but very, very excited about the fact that we are having a baby and it will be ours, gender regardless.

Pregnancy has been fine, but not awesome. The first trimester seemed a blur of tired, nauseous grossness, in nearly every way. I look back and see a sort of miserable person; up at 4 am each morning to have some raisin bran to both prevent throwing up, and hopefully convince my digestive system to please, please, I beg of you! move. And that just continued every couple hours through out the day, every day, interspersed with moments of throwing up, moodiness, and a general vague sense of blah. I just didn't want to do anything. The worst of this, of course, happened to fall in the month of June, which happened to be Dustin's only break month for the rest of medical school, and thus, the rest of his life. We had lots of fun things planned that were sort of casually tossed by the wayside by me, in my malaise. This didn't go very well with Dustin, understandably. So I feel bad for the husband in pregnancy; really bad, in fact. It's no fun living with a very non-fun person for months at a time.

The first discovery of the bump: 18 weeks

22 weeks: getting bigger!

But all that seemed to improve around month 4.5, and since then, I'm great. I look forward to actually looking like I'm definitely pregnant, instead of the whole "did she gain weight?" thing, but that is a minor conern on the scale of pregnancy concerns. Reality has hit, though, now, and I am frequently visiting in my mind such things as med school debt, how many hours to work after baby, survival, insurance, and all of those fun things that the adult mind grows accustumed to being accosted by in their day to day when children enter the picture. At least, that's what people tell me. Sometimes they make it sound pretty bleak, but I have plenty of great examples of happy med school moms around me, so I'll just follow them! I am relieved that our son is healthy and growing exactly as he should, and so am I. We are blessed and grateful!

Sidelight: Here's some pics from our Summer vacation to Rhode Island and Cape Cod:

Newport, Rhode Island

Medical school has taken a happy turn for D this year. He says that the first 2 years are just crappy. That's the way it is. He spent the first 6 months of this year enduring some hard classes and studying his life away in preparation for the boards exam in June. We honestly saw eachother a half hour a day most days of the week for like, 5 months. It was a dark period of time, and very boring for me, but it ended with the excitement of finding out about pregnancy, and with a job well done on the boards by Dustin! Such a relief in the medical world; it's the biggest thing to have put behind you, and lets us know more clearly the options that he'll have in the future and where we could be. Now that he is actually on the wards and working with people and learning things for real on the job, instead of being stuck in his library hole all day every day, he is actually enjoying it! It would seem that he wants to be a doctor again after all. He, unsurprisingly, looooves pediatrics. However, the only other rotation he has had thus far to compare it to was obstetrics, which we'll say is just not his cup of tea. He loves the special feeling the children bring to the pediatrics floor; there is something about peds that is noticeably more happy and fulfilling than working with adults. Sorry adults, but compared to children, we're losers. I noticed the same thing in nursing school. We'll see if that's where he ends up! The next rotation is medicine, and then surgery. They are both extremely demanding, so I'll be a single mom for awhile, but hopefully things will lighten a bit in April.

Well, Here's the rest of the year so far in pics: :)

A Holly Jolly December

2011-01-04T12:47:00.002-05:00

Currently, as I write this, I am on an airplane. Yes, in the air. Apparently Wifi is now on most aircrafts, which I find incredible! I hate flying, but thinking about pulling a handcart with maybe some oxen across the country to visit family adds perspective. And then, to think that I not only can board a giant mechanical bird (along with several hundred other people) and sit for several hours sipping cranberry juice while I am transported thousands of miles over rough turraine, AND I can communicate with anyone I want via mail that flows through the sky and gets to me in a matter of seconds while I am on this mechanical bird... it blows my mind. Anyway, shout out to all the tech geniuses that made these things possible.

December was a great month. It started with the arrival of Morten and Elizabeth; two unconventional and delightful Danish medical students that found themselves in need of a place to stay when their hostel fell through on the last leg of their 6 month world tour. I don't know if it was the small quarters of our apartment that made us all get tight so quickly, but their visit lives on as one of the highlights of recent months. We will never forget them! Such great people. Check out their blog to see some serious adventures:

making the danish dessert that Elizabeth's family makes

And Dustin, as usual when we have guests, decided to pull out his power tools

The completion of the danish dessert

The gingerbread making competition with our primary class was another highlight of the month (Morten and Elizabeth also joined in):

L-R: Dustin, Ali, Amelia, Jack, Teddy

One sweet gingerbread house

Jack and Connor attempting, for the three thousandth time that morning, to shoot the girl primary teacher

Boys don't change much

And finally, the Christmas tree lighting on Park Avenue, followed by a delightful party for the birthday of our good friend, Julie. It was wonderful singing Christmas songs with the Upper East Side community. I really love that event; it's one of the few times in the year that I really feel togetherness with my neighbors.

Then Morten and Elizabeth left, one dreary monday morning. We will mess them, and anticipate either their return, or our pilgrimage to Denmark.

look at all that gear!

The rest of December was consumed by finals, work, and a mad scurrying to acquire presents and pack for our trip back home to Dustin's family in Washington. Christmas with the Kasteler-Boothe clan was awesome!!!! More on that and New Years in the coming entry. HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!!

Long time no see

2010-12-14T06:56:00.002-05:00

Hello there you. Yes, you. Long time no see! I know, it's been FOREVER! ! ! What have you been UP to?? IS LIFE GOOD!? I really hope so.

Ok, so it's 6 am and I've had no sleep. Give me a break.

...But if you were enjoying the conversation, let's continue it, and talk about me.

(hahaha)

THANKSGIVING at the Boothe residence was very eventful this year. Rebecca G. Mennear and I (I have no idea if that is her middle initial, but it sounds GREAT), with the help of Dustin L. Boothe and his spreadsheet expertise, organized a bounteous feast wherein 30 or so of our friends and their family members came together (as one) to celebrate. The food was magnificent! It was so much fun to try other people's traditional items instead of chowing down on the same old mashed potatoes and gravy that I'm used to (no offense mom). Everyone did great with following through on their assignments, which made the whole thing very easy; it is great to be around a bunch of people who like contributing! I observed several people, out of the corner of my eye, giving thanks. It was a wonderful holiday; not to be forgotten. Unfortunately, I was so enveloped by the food that I did not snap any pictures, which would have been fun for the before and after. However, the lovely and talented Maribeth Youngberg did, and they can be seen here (and no doubt are much better than those I would have taken!) But I may steal just a couple to put here:

Thanks Maribeth. And at the risk of spotlighting her too much, I must say that the above caramel apple pie (hers) won the dessert award. It was INCREDIBLE! Among others. A bounteous feast.

So, earlier that morning, something else happened that was cool. Dustin and I's FIRST EVER

MACY'S Thanksgiving DAY PARADE!!! yippee. At first I was expecting it to be just lame like most parades, but after we got to the crowd and saw the giant floats, it felt different than just a normal parade. It reminded me of Harry Potter; that parade in Harry Potter where the deatheaters come out and destroy everyone and fly. It was like that, except for the giant figures clouding the sky were buzz lightyear and the dough boy (???) ANYWAYS, it was magical. Then Dustin promptly abandoned me to play in the ward turkey bowl, despite my intuition telling him it was a bad idea. He never cares about my intuition, for some reason. For some reason, HE HAS NOT YET LEARNED the gravity of that source of power. He will, I tell you, he willlll. Anyway, he nearly paralyzed himself but it had nothing to do with his manliness. And everyone should know that. Here's some pictures:

On her way to do something wonderful for some person in need, no doubt... I just thought she was cute.

It warmed me to see this little fam out playing a game at the park. Thanksgiving is a family time for everyone!

Dustin and Ronald

I just thought this was amusing. Call me creepy. Like Dustin did when I took it of this random little girl I don't know. Hope her parents don't see it and sue me. But she was so cute.

Yes... Who's a fan?

Kanye. All the cheerleaders across the street were removing their vocal chords and throwing them at him.

I really think he was real. I know all of the others weren't, but I am almost positive he was. When he went by my place in the crowd, he looked down and whispered, "To infinity, Allison, and Beyond. Go beyond." And I knew I was loved, and it was a Thanksgiving miracle.

Ah joy, young love...

Jessica Simpson. She only waved to the boys.

This lady ROCKED. She was in the buzz group, and had an awesome way of riling up the crowd. I wanted to take her home, and put her on my shelf.

Thanksgiving was great. And guess WHAT. I am going to post even more, about all sorts of things, including *Danish People,* When I return.

Arividerchi!!! Have a wonderful day.

Week's adventures

2010-11-21T00:51:00.001-05:00

So... last week Dustin finished the class of Horrors; "Brain and Mind." Every Cornell Medical Student knows that this class may kill you. Only the strong survive. I am proud to say that Dustin is one of the strong. This called for celebration! Dustin's only wish was to go bowling; but unfortunately I broke a glass 5 minutes before we left, and he was cut on his MIDDLE RIGHT HAND FINGER depositing the bag in the trash. Come on now. This dimmed our excitement somewhat, but we knew that 80's tribute night to the Beegees was still waiting for us at Brooklyn Bowl, even if Dustin would be grannying it. So, we headed out with a few friends to experience this supposed "greatest bowling alley on earth." We couldn't get in because a few people forgot their ID's (we're just Mormon kids looking for good clean fun...). Luckily, there happened to be another bowling alley two blocks down that we were able to talk our way into, but after waiting 2 hours and still not being able to bowl, we sought reprieve in an exciting japanese drink restaurant. I ordered something called "Nano." It was a pina-colada thing with some sort of cottage cheese-like thing on the bottom. It was actually quite good! Dustin got chicken something that unfortunately looked and tasted like raw intestine; so we offered it to the Pearsons, who did not accept. How rude.

The ladies: Alli, Julie Pearson, and Kaela Athay. Love these girls!!

The one and only Adam Pearson, who is afraid of foreign foods.

Mike and Kaela (Macaroni and Cheese Pizza-- not japanese...)

Me drinking my exciting exotic cottage cheese pina colada concoction. I felt myself becoming more and more japanese with each sip.

In the subway on the way home this guy was playing this Australian outback instrument. He was quite talented.

Dustin's reaction to the Australian outback music

The next day, Dustin and I awoke with a deep inner yearning for adventure. Like a good little wife, I made us eat a healthy breakfast and clean first. Shout out to you mom! We then burst open the campus doors that have held Dustin bound for several months now, feeling the wind beneath our wings, etc., and found ourselves on the Statin Island Ferry! I know! How Exciting! We took the ferry ride, got off on Staten Island, paid brief tribute to all the Italians we know from there (including Daniel Holzi and the guy at chase bank), and stepped right back on the boat to the city. We explored the financial district; ground zero; walked across the Brooklyn Bridge; and ate lunch at the Brooklyn Bridge City Park; our favorite place.

Day well spent!!

Here are the photos to chronicle our adventure:

Battery Park

Lady Liberty from the Boat

This. This is amusement at its finest.

Dustin meandering.

The infamous... the corrupt...

Trinity Church

NY Stock Exchange

Old Town hall... Historical fun fact: First seat of Pres. Washington when NY was the capitol of the United States

Sight of Ground Zero

Ground Zero Memorial-- I hear the lights represent the lives that were lost and are always left on...

Yes! Yes! I get excited just looking at it. This is the best homemade icecream this side of the Mississippi... and on the other side

Dustin ready to dig. in.

Enjoying exotic foodstuffs

European village?? No, no. New York. Can you believe it? I can not.

This hot man on the Brooklyn Bridge

Definitely the daughter of Chris. L. Schmutz

The subject; posing for a brief city portrait

At the Bridge

And THEN there was this huge, geometrically perfect meteor that was about to strike earth but Dustin, with his superior skill... no, this is just a digitally enhanced photo of a giant, lopsided cube that is free standing in the heart of Manhattan. Go take a picture at it.

Adventuring is fun. It does three things:
1. Gives you a reason to work hard and manage your time so that you can play
2. Allows you to sample all of the exotic foodstuffs you want. Operating, of course, under your pre-set student budget and giving you the opportunity to practice your negotiating skills with your husband; as you will inevitably need to sample more than he
3. Makes you truly and terribly in love with your spouse

Day of adventure, please come again! I enjoyed you.

Hooray Hoorah Horrack

2010-11-10T05:40:00.231-05:00

Well it's about time... I updated this blog. Now that it has been just a YEAR since my last post! Wow. I'm on the right track to an awesome blog.

What has been happening the past year? Hmm... well, we graduated from newly-wed status. Right?? I mean, we have been married now for a solid year and 3 months; I'm pretty sure I'm an old pro at this thing. Lessons learned in the first year:

1. If you really love candy, but your partner really doesn't, THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED before marriage. Trust me, it will be an issue.

***But when it is, it is possible to slowly and skillfully wean your mate into a fairly acceptable level of need for sugar, like you... this will make it possible for you to continue on in your pre-diabetic course, what you were hoping for.

2. Selfless = happiness. Let's be honest, sometimes I'm selfish. And I can be really rude. Who would of thought? In fact, sometimes being rude just really hits the spot for me. Again, who would of thought? However, every ounce of selflessness makes pounds of happiness.

3. Volatility. Great word. Great fun. Not so great when you seriously feel volatile. Self Control? Yes. Self control is a great way of addressing conflict, that I never knew about before. Who would've thought that the years of tackling my little brother would give little benefit to conflict resolution strategies in marriage?

4. I didn't realize that I like to swear sometimes, under my breath. It's a guilty pleasure. But sometimes I hope someone hears, just for effect. Then I realize that I'm alone and it was all for nothing. I can't tell if its marriage or NYC that brough this on. Confession!! Sorry mom

5. Men like food, sex, and kindness. That's pretty much all they really require to be happy, and when they are happy, wow. You have yourself a henchman, doorman, toolman, loyal friend, confidant, playmate, and lover all in one! They are pretty awesome, if you ask me. Pretty simple.

Overall, how do I feel about marriage after one year? Best decision I ever made. And can you blame me? Dusty after I made some bread:

Who wouldn't love this man?

Other things:

I started school again for my BSN. Big mistake. SOOO boring.

I quit my job working for a plastic surgeon who will remain unnamed. I still need to record some of my experiences from there. Indulge me with lessons learned from working on Park Ave:

a. Don't ever get a boob job. If you are considering it, please see me first. You need to know the bad and the ugly before you risk bringing it upon yourself! There are always risks, even when done by a world-class surgeon, and they require upkeep! They are not a one time investment, which would be scary if you lost your job and then had a deflated boob... which I have seen happen!

b. Even gorgeous movie stars have self doubt and imperfect bodies. NO ONE has a perfect body. Cellulite, wrinkles, fat where you don't want it, no fat where you do want it... these are facts of life!

c. Aging with grace must be really hard to do. It is really important to have a solid life outside of what you look like.

d.The quest for physical perfection is insatiable!

e. Laziness + self-obsession = poor self esteem.

Wow, did you know you were going to recieve so much wealth of wisdom and life lessons before you woke up this morning and read this blog!?

Dustin finished his first year of medical school. YAy! Three, or six or eight or something like that more to go. Hooray hoorah horrack.

We moved to a much larger box (comparitively) 7 blocks down.

We took a vacation to Puerto Rico. Highly recommended!!! **We have a great realtor contact, if you are interested!!**

I got a new job doing pediatric homecare. LOVE IT. (In nursing, you just have to find your niche. Mine wasn't really in the hospital, wasn't with adults, wasn't in the ER, wasn't in the clinic, and DEFINITELY wasn't in plastic surgery... but I love homecare!).

I am sure I am forgetting many noteable and exciting things (or not...) but that about sums up the year. Oh yeah, and we got two cool lawn chairs to sit on the roof! *exciting* I know, I know.

Here's some of the year's highlights in picture form:

Christmas '09, spent with our families in Utah and Washington:

These little parasites are nephews. They love uncle D!

Who else dresses up with their families on Christmas Eve for a formal Dinner Dance? We do! Dustin and I in character.

Puerto Rico Vacation Summer 2010:

View from our Condo Window

Catamaran snorkeling trip

Going hog wild on the beach

El Junque National Park

The Fort in San Juan

I think that Dustin's favorite part of the trip was driving this golf cart around the resort

Other Random Memories:

Brooklyn Bridge Park

Beach day with friends

Sarah McLaughlin and Norah Jones Concert in the Park on my birthday

View from the Top of the Rock

Loved Bryant Park Monday night Movie Nights

At Bryant Park

love fairs in the park

We were members of the audience on the Monday after the big David Letterman conspiracy was announced. It was very exciting, and I must say, he knows how to perform! With the help of Steve Martin and Martin Short, you would never have known that his entire life was falling apart.... We were interviewed when we left the show by two news stations for our opinions about the scandel.

There is definitely a story behind this picture: When my parents visited, we passed the greek heritage parade on fifth avenue. Something happened in all the excitement, and Dustin found himself actually walking in the parade, waving to thousands of greek grandmas. He may have been found out, as he was the only one not wearing traditional outfitting.

Picnics.

All-time favorite past-time of the year: playing catch in central park.

We were able to visit Dan in Baltimore and attend his concert! Love him!

We went to this state park in upstate New York when Blake was visiting, and Dustin's inner man was able to reconnect with nature.

Dustin opening presents for his bday. Our family was present for the event, as shown in the picture on the table. Note the stellar leopard print wrapping paper, a major find near the trash shute in our building.

Dustin's only request for his Birthday this year: to play wii with his loyal playmate, Adam, for as long as they could possibly want. No nagging wives, no responsibilities. He turned 13... oh wait no, 26. They had fun!

Cornell Class of 2013 Manhattan Island Boat Cruise

The Deerhead Inn, Deleware Water Gap, PA. Where we spent our first anniversary. So romantic!

Loved Summer nights at this pier on the West Side. Live music, food, and amazing sunsets

Coney Island with the Sagebins and their friend Dave. Luckily we made it for the mermaid parade!...

It's been a great year. Hopefully my next post will be before November 2011.

An afternoon in Central Park

2009-12-14T07:29:00.002-05:00

These pics are from our recent outing with the Pearsons (see post below), and the Wyatts in Central Park. The first gift Dustin and I gave eachother was our football, which we use in the park, and has brought us great enjoyment. Such a fun afternoon!

The Wyatts

I was playing, but the boys were scary, so I eventually left...

Our Friends the Pearsons

2009-12-14T07:15:00.002-05:00

We have the greatest friends, known as the Pearson family. The Pearsons consist of Adam and Julie, and they come from the West, like us. This is not, however, the sole reason we bonded. We bonded with them to use them for the amusement they consistently generate (quirkiness just flows naturally through their fibers), and also to go on cheap dates with us, knowing they understand the value of a dollar :) Judgine by the picture above, can you blame us?

For FHE last week, we, the Pearsons, and our other good friends the Sagebins (equally awesome and amusing, though this post is not dedicated to them), chose to relive our elementary school days be constructing ginger bread houses made of graham crackers. It was a contest, and everyone was trying to win the prize for best gingerbread house (which prize we didn't reveal, because we didn't have one), but in the end the Pearsons took it; the foreclosure sign on their Arizona-type replica just couldn't be beat.

The Winner

The Pearsons

The Sagebins

We love you Pearsons and Sagebins!

The weather outside is frightful

2009-12-14T06:45:00.001-05:00

The New York winter has descended upon us, and I was unprepared for the shock of how cold it really is. On Friday night, we had great plans to go to Rockefeller center, see the tree, and do all things festive... but after a few blocks of walking around with Dustin's hand covering my face (maybe time to invest in some different outer wear), we did what all the smart people were doing; ran home, changed into our pjs, made hot chocolate, grabbed our candy stash, and watched Tansformers. A weekend night well spent!

the first one

2009-12-07T01:21:00.000-05:00

Can't sleep. I can't sleep tonight. And so what do I do? I do what every newly-married mormon girl should do; I make a blog. The proper period for blog creation seems to me to be within the first months of marriage, or before, but after... well, you're weird. So I am making ours before the peeps at home think we're hiding something. That is, if anyone even starts to read this thing...
For entry number one, I simply want to state my ideals for blog communication, and for this blog in particular:
1. no rambling
2. no overuse of trite, meaningless, "cute" phrases, and finally;
3. a life outside of the blog to capture within it, rather than the opposite which we've all seen (the "bless their hearts" trite phrase may be inserted here...)
Love to all those who I notify today that I have begun to add my thoughts to theirs in the online universe, who have logged on to find out... you have botched my real problem with blogging; the question of, "will anyone actually read it?"
love,
A