Cabin Trip

So far this semester has been off to a great start. All my classes are really interesting and I really love my teachers. I haven't even had too much work to do yet, which has been so nice. I'm sure things will pick up soon though and I'll be swamped, but for the mean time it's been nice having time to go to the gym, hang out with friends, take trips, and make dinner for Grant and I (ha).

This past weekend we took a trip up to the cabin with Justin & Holly and Jamie & Nicole. We left Provo around 5 on Friday and got to the cabin around midnight (after stopping in Idaho Falls and in Victor for groceries). We then woke up early on Saturday morning to go snowboarding at Targhee. It was a pretty foggy day so when we were at the very top of the mountain it was extremely hard to see anything, but other than that it really was a great day of boarding! I forget every time I go how much fun I have, and I love that Grant and I can ride together. So we had a great day on the mountain and then when we got back to the cabin Grant's parents were already there and they fed us a delicious meal and we all played games and relaxed. On Sunday we went to church in Victor and then relaxed the rest of the day. The boys played out in the snow making sled runs for a while, and attempted to get Grant's dad's truck unstuck (but they weren't successful until Monday), but then eventually came in and we all kind of lounged around. Oh, we also watched a really awful movie -- Night and Day with Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise -- please don't see it. It's even a waste of a red box $1. It's that dumb. Anyways...then on Monday we woke up, had a huge breakfast (Gail and Larry were so good to us the whole time -- they cooked Pot Roast and Potatoes, Lasagna, Buck Wheat Pancakes, Bacon, Eggs, and fed us way too many desserts) and got on the road around noon. We stopped in Idaho Falls to see Grandpa Manion for just a minute, then we headed back to Provo.

It was a great (and very relaxing) long weekend. I absolutely love three-day weekends! Not only do you get an extra day of weekend, but you get one day less of a school-week. It's great!

I'm glad that Grant and I have made an effort to take so many trips with our friends. Because once were graduated and we have real jobs we just won't ever be able to do this again. I think we both secretly dread all the responsibility that comes with graduating college and being a grown up so we're trying to prepare for it by having as much fun as possible while in school. Last year we were able to take tons of trips:

• Cabin trip w/ Jessie Leininger, Justin & Holly, Cory, Brad, and their friend Jess in January
• Cabin trip w/ Jessie Leininger & Jacob in February
• Connecticut trip for my bridal shower in March
• St. George trip in April
• Texas trip for our reception in May
• Connecticut trip for our reception in June
• Cabo trip for our honeymoon in June
• Logan trip w/ Andrea in July
• Cabin trip w/ Daniel & Natalie in July
• Vegas trip w/ Steve & Jessie, Preston & Lindsay, Ben, and Jamie & Nicole in August
• Connecticut trip w/ my family in August
• St. George trip in September
• St. George trip w/ Andrea for my mom's marathon in October
• Texas trip w/ Justin & Holly for Thanksgiving in November
• Grant's New York trip in November
• Connecticut trip for Christmas in December

I bolded all the months just so I could see in what months we took trips and in counting all that out I realized we went on at least one trip every month last year! No wonder it was such a great year :) And I really want to try to do that again so that we get the most out of our last semester in college. The trips we have planned so far are:

• Cabin trip w/ Justin & Holly and Jamie & Nicole in January (this past weekend)
• Vegas trip for just Grant and I in January (next weekend)
• Cabin trip w/ Daniel & Natalie, Justin & Holly, (possibly Jamie & Nicole), and hopefully everyone else in February
• Vegas/St. George trip w/ Justin & Holly, Daniel & Natalie, Jamie & Nicole, Steve & Jessie, Preston & Lindsay, Ben, and Jake in March
• Florida trip w/ Justin & Holly (and possibly Jamie & Nicole) in April/May
• Moab trip sometime this Spring
• Lake Powell trip sometime this Summer

We want to do all those and more! Like I said before, there's never going to be another time when we can just pick up and go for a weekend, so I want to take advantage of that now!

Along with taking trips, I've been good so far with my other new years resolutions. I've been going to the gym everyday for a much longer time than I used to. That's actually due to the fact that I now have an iPad (thank you Brandon!) and so I take it to the gym with me, put on a movie, and just run the whole time. It's great! By the time the movie's over, I've completely forgotten I've been running and I've burned 1000 calories without even feeling it! I've also been planning how I'm going to get access to a sewing machine so I can learn to sew and I've found some really good deals online that I might take advantage of. And I've also been trying to cook more. Tonight I made stuffed manicotti and it turned out great! I'm not a huge fan of so much cheese, but Grant loved it. So I think I'll make it again for him since it was such a hit.

I'm awful about making side dishes -- I just don't even think about it until it's too late! 

So tonight I just put out bread and my Grandma's homemade Fig Jam. 

And the cute little cutting board and knife were given to us by Grandpa Manion for Christmas.

Anyways, I'm trying hard to stick to my resolutions. Cooking more, I'm going to learn how to sew (I promise), going to the gym (hopefully I'll be able to drop another 10 pounds. I've lost 15 so far but the last 10 is proving stubborn to come off), writing in my journal more and on the blog, and I'm trying to work hard in school (even though my senioritis is really killing me). I just can't wait until I graduate!! Now the next resolution I need to focus on is getting Grant and I jobs!