Vacation?!? Welcome to Bootcamp

Last year my brother and sister (Josh and Kelli) went on vacation to Havasupai.When they got back the trip sounded so cool I mentioned we should all go on a trip together. I had no idea I was signing Fielding and I up for a three day boot camp.
As time kept creeping closer, Fielding and I got more excited about the trip and all of the cool things we were going to get to take pictures of. we also got more details about the hike. It's about a 10 Mile hike to the Hilltop and then an additional 2 1/2 Mile hike to camp. Don't worry though. It's not that rough. Pretty much all of our stuff except for your pack will be packed in on the mules. Alright, I can handle that. After all it's just a bunch of walking and I've got two legs that work.
Boy was I wrong.

We left around 3 in the afternoon on Tuesday and drove all the way there with a short stop in Vegas.
(By the way if you want a buffet don't go to the Oasis. The buffet is closed right now.)




We got there at either midnight or one in the morning. I never did quite figure out what time it was there. Not ten minutes after we got there we were on our way down the trail.
Immediately my frustrations started. (I know whiner.) It was kind of dark and I had no real clue where I was going. I also was a bit afraid of falling off the trail and down into some pit. Remember, I couldn't see and I pretty much went tunnel vision within the first half mile. (I honestly don't remember anything after the first five minutes of the hike in until we could hear the water.)

I had to be one of the slowest hikers in the history of hiking and poor Josh and Fielding had to keep tabs on me and make sure I kept walking. And so I kept walking clinging to the hope that when it was done it really wouldn't have been that bad.
Again I was wrong.
I was dumb enough to ask Josh how much farther we had to go when I felt like we'd been walking forever. I even prefaced it by letting him know I knew I was going to regret asking. "Yeah, we've only gone about two miles and we've got another eight to the village. After that there's two and a half miles back to camp." Yeah, I regretted asking, but seriously what was I supposed to do? Sit down and cry? Turn around and go back? Nope, I signed up for it and it was supposed to be worth it so I kept walking and didn't complain (at least that I remember). We finally made it to the Hilltop about seven or eight in the morning and sat down for a short break. Fielding and I were both beat. Fielding's knee and back were hurting. And both of our feet were killing us. I already had a blister on each heel in addition to the one on my big toe.
We decided it would be best if most of us kept moving while Josh and Jamie waited to check in.
So we picked up our stuff and started walking again. It was torture. Since Fielding had already carried the pack 10 miles in and a bit to camp, I told him I'd switch him because he was hurting bad. I took the pack and lasted about...five minutes before I wanted to die. It sucked. My feet were killing me and I was exhausted. Not to mention now I could see all of the cliffs I could fall off of if I took a tumble. (Man, I'm such a baby.)
But Fielding and I kept going. I even remember telling Kelli at some point how glad I was that she hadn't carried any of our stuff and that I hadn't asked her to. (I think at first she thought I was commenting on how rude she was being because she made it through the hike without a problem, but I wasn't.) Instead I told her that I didn't want to be an even bigger loser than I already was since I asked how much farther after only two miles. She broke out laughing about it. (I still can't figure out if she thought I'd lost it.)
Finally, we rounded the bend and saw Havasupai Falls. It really was pretty, but I just wanted to get to camp and crash.
(To be continued.)

I WANT big girl shoes

Fielding and I are trying to get everything together for our trip to Havasupai.The river/pool has rocks at the bottom that will hurt our feet. So while we were at Smith Market Place, we picked some up.

Fielding found his size easily. I figured that it would be about the same for me, but it wasn't that easy. I tried on a size five, too big. I moved to a lower size, 3 and it fit just right. I can't believe how tiny they are and that they actually fit me. As we left the store, I kept telling Fielding "I don't want little girl shoes. I want big girl shoes." He just laughed at me.

I can't even remember the last time I fit into a size 3 shoe size. Okay, I remember what the shoe looked like, but I don't remember the last time that I wore them.

Fielding also likes to crack jokes about how tiny my feet are. But sadly, I can literally fit my feet with my shoes on into Fielding's shoes. I guess a girl can always use another pair of shoes.

The one, the only: Becky Boberg

I have so many great memories of Ms. Boberg. I was in both her AP US History class and Religion class. The first day of AP US History she told us that we were going to fail our first test. This was a tactic to get rid of any kids that weren't willing to put in the work for the class and also because it was true. Our first test rolled around and I'm pretty sure every single kid in our class failed or got the lowest grade they'd ever gotten on a high school test. From there, any students left in the class began to learn and understand the kind of commitment that was required to do well in school and in life. It was the first time I stayed up all night to finish a school project and one of the best classes I've ever had, including all of my college courses. Because of her unrepentant ways, I learned to love not only history, but Ms. Boberg as well. She was the kind of person that I wanted to be. I wanted to be the kind of person who could connect with people, make them laugh, teach them, respect them, and garner their respect and admiration in turn.

And like I said, I've got many stories that I remember about her.

I remember walking up to her desk one day in class to ask her a question and being so caught off guard by her eyes. Instead of asking my question I asked her if she wore contacts. She said no and I responded lamely with, "wow, your eyes are really green". Then there was the time in Religions when she explained the word phallus. A kid had used it in his report to the class and didn't know what it meant. Of course she gave him crap, and asked him to explain what it meant. He finally admitted that he didn't know and so she did. He blushed for quite a while over that one.
Lastly though, I remember her signature. I was her TA during my senior year for the Religions class my last semester and a girl had asked her for a recommendation letter. Becky had us write it up the letter and sign it because she was out of town when it was due. I didn't want anyone to question its authenticity so I practiced her signature. It was really hard to copy and looked fantastic. Unfortunately I've never been able to adopt her looping B's.
I will miss her charisma, smile, and charm. I will miss her references to her druid ancestry and human sacrifices. I will miss her love of history and tab. But mostly I feel sorry for all of the students who will miss the opportunity to sit in one of her classes and learn. She was and will always be one of my favorite teachers.

And who knows. Maybe one day I'll be able to figure out which one I want to be a history teacher or an attorney. She once told me that if she hadn't been a teacher she would have been a guardian ad litem.

Her life has touched so many. She will be remembered and missed.

I got left alone unsupervised

Okay, so I know that it might come as a shock to a lot of people, but I love makeup. It is amazing to me to see how a person can change their entire look by changing their hair or by applying some makeup.

I played with some eyeliner to see how much versatility it has. Apparently Fielding left me alone a little bit too long. By the time he asked what I was doing, I'd already drawn way too much on my face. Let's face it. All of these different styles definitely clash and would look terrible in a picture. See example A to the left. =)

















A couple of nights later, I got some new makeup and wanted to see What I could do with this.












The eyeshadow was Loreal's HIP eyeshadow. I love it. It is always as bright as it appears in the container. I mean check out the gold. If that isn't amazing. I don't know what is.













I think the idea for the makeup was a combination of a peacock feather and inspiration from the gold eyeshadow.












I'm hoping that I can convince one of my friends to let me do some wicked crazy makeup on them and then take some pictures. I think it would work best with a classical background. I guess we'll just have to see how it all goes.

I guess at least I got to have a bit of fun. =)

Changing it up

The last few weeks have been crazy and full of exciting madness. I have finally finished my second semester of school and finished my company's LRQA ISO audit. With both of those activities coming to an end, I have a ton of free time. I've been catching up with friends and just having fun.
I did a really quick photo shoot with Jeniece out at the Great Salt Lake. I say quick because we drove out there and took about 20 pictures. I think three of them were of the evil mosquitoes that kept eating us. Hopefully, we'll be able to head out again before the end of the month.
After the next few months, I'm hopping to head back to school and finish my Generals. I have one class left to finish my Generals and then I move on to my Bachelors. Okay, so I've taken a few classes for my Bachelors. I'm hopping to take classes to finish a degree in History with a minor in Political Science. I guess I'll just have to see how it all works out.

Cute Colin

Colin is my youngest sister, Kaylene's son. He is so freakin cute!

He is so cute when he see my cats. He follows them around trying to pet them and loves to shake their mouse toys.

This is him trying to convince Balou to come closer so that he can pet him.




I have also learned one thing about little kids when he is around. They just don't ever seem to get the whole kissing thing and every single one of them seem to do it differently.

He keeps his mouth open and just waits for you to get close.

I don't think that Balou really knew what to do when he tried to give him a kiss.



Okay, we also had to get some embarrassing pictures of him too.

This story starts out with a little bit more information about Colin. He likes to smell flowers. He wanders over to them and sniffs them. Using this information my brother, Josh, convinced him to sniff a stinky pair of his shoes. Since then, Collin is wary of being told to sniff any shoes. We did convince him to try them on though. lol.

What can I say? Orange is my favorite color and the shoes cost $6. Totally worth it.

Kudos and Complaints

I just finished my second test for one of my classes for this semester. I am exhausted. It is so hard to deal with going to work and then going to school. I can't wait for school to be done for the semester. I'll get to take a break for a few months, go on vacation, and breath.
I do have to take a minute to tell everything the good new. No not pregnant. ha. I have three cats and am very happy with them right now. The good news is that Fielding had a second interview with ARUP today. He has been trying to figure out what his next step with work should be, especially with his PTSD. He went to his interview today. While touring the facility and learning more about the specific day to day operations, he became more and more excited about the job. I think that it won't matter if he gets this specific job or not. He says he's going to reapply. Hooray! Good job babe!