Life is life is life

I can't believe it has been so long since I had something to say. (okay, let's face it I don't think that will ever really happen.) My life has just been crazy with vacation, school, and work.
In March, Fielding and I went to Las Vegas with our friends, Mandi and Jason. It was great fun to get out and not have to worry about going to work for a few days. Though in the long run, Fielding and I learned that Vegas just isn't for us. Except for the delicious buffet at the Rio and the roller coaster at the New Yorker.
School was a mad dash. I completed two courses I had taken I's in last fall. Luckily, I got an A in my Ancient Russian History class and I'm still waiting to hear on the other one. Hopefully it will go well and I can work on finishing up the rest of my classes. If I do well and ever get around to passing that blasted Math class, I'll be graduating in 3 semesters. I just can't believe how close I'm getting. Hooray!
Fielding on the other hand looked at his transcript and realized that he is about a semester or two away from graduating with his Associates in a few different areas. He's then thinking about pharmacology up at the U. I'm excited for him and hope he gets to those classes. At least he has finished the dumb math class I'm stuck on.
Outside of that my life has been pretty full of work. Most of the time that means I'm in the office, but I got the chance to go out on a senior portrait photo shoot. It was a lot of fun and I was shocked at how different Chelsie looked from one shot to the next. Luckily, a lot of the pictures turned out really cool, even with the harsh sunlight.

Hopefully Kaylene and I will be lucky enough to get some good pictures with Kelli too.

New and Exciting

Over the weekend Fielding and I had two firsts and both of them were amazing.

We went to Chickfila and Alice and Wonderland. They were amazing.

Chickfila was great, but I wasn't quite sure what to order. The menu seemed so different from all of the other 'quick food' places. (It's not officially called 'fast food'.) It had all of these chicken meals, but all of the sides were different. They were fruits and healthy (or at least seemed it) stuff. I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. But since Fielding and I were headed to a movie, I ordered chicken nuggets. Delicious. I definitely have a new place to get chicken nuggets from. Fielding ordered the chicken strips and thought they were pretty good. It was funny because I would almost go so far as to say we ordered the same thing, just different sizes.

After getting our food and eating it in less than 4 minutes, we headed over to the theater to see Alice in Wonderland. I think it is one of my new favorite movies. It was incredible and I think everyone should go see it. It tells the story of Alice, but seems more real. I don't think it destroys Disney's original Alice in Wonderland. I instead think it is another rendition that can stand on its own. The costumes, character development, and environment were so well coordinated that it drew me in. After the movie was over, I just wanted to be able to sit down and have a conversation with the Mad Hatter or the Queen of Hearts. (though she's probably just want me beheaded.)

In addition to being a visual masterpiece, it was also thought provoking. From the beginning of the film, you start to draw associations between some of the characters and by the end you feel like it's a puzzle that begs for understanding. Okay, so I think I wanted to be able to unravel it a bit more. (I'm sure Fielding is chuckling about that statement.)

Anyhow, I think if you had thought not to see it you should go see it. Even before the movie ended, I added it to the list of movies I want to own.

Outside of those two exciting things, there isn't a whole lot more to tell. Though Fielding was REALLY excited to get Final Fantasy XIII the other night. I don't know that he's come to bed before one for the past couple of nights.

Whirlwinds and such

What can I say life is a whirlwind and when it has you in it's grasp you just don't have time to catch your breath let alone worry about the last time you posted anything.

Hmm...let's see where to start.

Megan joined the National Guard and headed off to basic for about the next four to six months the last week of January. From the random bits of information I hear, it's not nearly as terrible as everyone thought it was going to be. She's holding tough though. After all she is a Bartlett and as stubborn as they come.

Tried to pull together a Girls Night to go see a chickflick, but it fell through. Sadly, I went to go see the movie anyway. Bad choice! It was horrid. I can appreciate a chickflick with the best of them and even terribly cliche circumstances, but it was terrible. I think the only thing that was good in the whole movie was the clothes and shoes. Oh well, I guess I can give it up and run blindly towards a new movie. Alice in Wonderland is coming out next week!

Oh I also found out that there are way too many people I know having kids. I'm thinking about joining a convent or at least hibernating until it's passed. And Fielding won't even let me joke about getting another pet. He has told me in no uncertain terms that if I bring another one home at least two will have to go. Oh well, I'm sure I can console myself be reading a bunch cheesy novels and watching ridiculous movies.

And so that Fielding and I can get in shape we're going to be following the P90X program. A few people I know have recommended it, but that in no way means I'm excited about it. Well rather, I'm not excited to feel the pain. I'm more than okay working out. I'm just afraid it's going to kick my trash.

That's pretty much all of the crazy madness that been going on. At least around work and school. Just give me another month and I'm sure I can come up with some more terribly connected random thoughts. I guess it must be a sign that I need to go to bed.

Drama

I don't know why, but watching tv shows makes my life feel to...simple. Every show I ever see focuses on a crazy life. There are always problems or parties or issues that need solving.
My life on the other hand is just...normal. (or at least what I call normal.) I go to work and to school. Then I come home. Fielding and I either make something for dinner or go out for dinner. See a normal life.

So why is it that everyone seems to be caught up in wanting drama in their life? It's almost like society has made it a requirement to feeling normal.

It's even dragged me into it. I can't tell you how many times I've actually told people my life is better than a soap opera. (Having 7 siblings helps with all the excitement.) I love my family and care about what happens to them. I want them to be happy, but I also want to try to help if I can.

But the truth of the matter is that no matter what advice you give to a person it is their decision in the end. And advice can be a double edged sword. You have to be careful to say the right things, at the right time. Because what you say can destroy the relationship you have. It's our job to love them and to let them know we love them.

Hopefully, I'll be able to let go of all the drama and enjoy the normal. Enjoy the happiness and memories we create every day.

Fuzzy Hats!!!

I don't know why, but I just couldn't seem to squish what we got for Christmas into my previous post. They just didn't seem to go well together.

Fielding and I always seem to have a tough time shopping for each other. Each of us don't really need anything and there isn't typically a whole lot of stuff I want (except another pair of cute shoes). And as per almost tradition (the past two years), Mandi and I went out Black Friday shopping. There wasn't anything in particular I was looking for. I figured if there was it would slap me in the face with a name tag that read "for: Fielding". Nothing did that either though. But I did spot a bread maker that looked pretty cool. (Fielding has mentioned one for two year now.) So I got it. I also got a food processor. (I'm convinced that one was for me though.) =)

After those two gifts though I still had some money to burn and caved before some madness. I've been trying to expand Fielding's dress wardrobe from basic white shirts to some color, but he's barely budged to a gray shirt. I got him two dress shirts with two new ties. One set (gray) I think he'll keep. I'm not sure on the other yet though. (I left them with Mandi so he still hasn't seen them yet and it's almost two weeks past Christmas.)

After that I was pretty much done shopping except for one thing. Mandi's cousin was in Russia on his LDS mission and due home right before the holidays. Luckily his mom asked me if I wanted anything. YES! I don't know why, but I wanted a fuzzy hat and figured Fielding one probably like one too. So I asked her to ask him to get me two fuzzy hats. I was SO excited.

He brought them home with him and they are PERFECT!!! Mine is black and white bunny, while Fielding's is wolf. (He looks like a crazy mountain man.) We wear them everywhere and I think they are the best hats we will ever own. They look freaking awesome and keep our heads warm. Seriously, I don't think it can get any better than that. I'll even get a picture up soon of how freaking cool we look in our fuzzy hats. (Let's just face it fuzzy hats are awesome to see, say, and wear. )

Hooray Fuzzy Hats!!! =)

~Christmas Crazy~

I typically know that Christmas is around the corner about a week or two before Thanksgiving. Sadly, the reason I know is because of the stress due to my thinking brain. I start thinking about Thanksgiving all of the delicious food and all of the family that is going to be there. Since I never really cook much, I stress about what I might have to bring. (This I think is because I LOVE delicious food and my food is never as delicious as the food I eat.)
Following Thanksgiving is Black Friday. I go to hang out with friends and to see if I will ever truly understand the madness that causes people to push/shove and be mean to strangers for no reason other than a material object. I typically find something to buy, but never really go out hunting for anything in particular. I typically think about stuff Fielding might like or the family names we have for Christmas.
The family names are another stress for me. I don't like buying people the generic gift of a gift card. I don't know why exactly, but I like getting people a tangible gift they will love and use. (This doesn't count for books though.) It gives me the chance to get to know them a bit better or show that who they are matters to me.
The last kicker for me is seeing our families. We haven't figured out the family visiting schedule so each year seems to get crazier than the last. (especially since we like spending time with both.) This year we went to my family's Christmas Eve party and then headed over to Fielding's parent's to spend the night. The next morning we woke up and ate breakfast and then headed back over to my parent's about noon for brunch. After that we stuck around until three when we headed back to Fielding's parent's for dinner. After dinner we came home to a broken fridge.
It's funny because every year I seem to promise myself that I won't participate in the madness. I refuse to get stuck running around with my head cut off, but without fail each year I join the fray. I guess there is just some madness we can't get rid of. maybe it's genetic.

Happy Turkey Day

I figured I'd join the crowd in writing about what I'm thankful for.
As a kid, I was just so excited to play games with all of my cousins and eat as much delicious food as I could possibly devour in the two or three hours.
I'd like to say that I started to notice subtle differences over the years, but that would be a lie. It actually has been over the last couple of months that I've really noticed how much I have to be thankful for. The past year and a half has been really difficult for Fielding and I. We've had to figure out what we really want in life and better ways to support each other in our efforts. I started looking at how I could be a better person and not sweat the things that go wrong.
I'm grateful for the gospel and all of the wonderful lessons I've learned over the years. I'm thankful there are so many young men and women who are willing to commit to serve the Lord by serving his children. I'm sure it becomes difficult at times, but I'm also sure that it provides some of the greatest experiences one can ever have during this life. If you truly want to see what you have been blessed with in life all you have to do is help someone else with their burdens.
I'm also grateful for my family. My mom always taught us that family will always be there if you need them and that is still true with my family. We might be really loud and rarely agree with each other, but we are always there for each other when times get tough. I even still love spending time with them even though I'm pretty much guaranteed to leave with a headache because of the noise. At least I'll always have the memories. =)
I'd also be remiss though if I didn't say something about how much Fielding means to me. I'm convinced that no one really knows how a person is unless they are your other half. They see it all. The sad, bad, crazy, happy, and giggly. Fielding has seen it all and been there for me at every turn. I don't think there's anyone else in the world who could put up with me and love me the way he does. I'm grateful that I found him and that he knew when to give in when I wouldn't go away. =) I can't imagine putting up with three crazy cats on my own and staying sane enough to tell my tales. I love you Fielding.
-Jen