new friends, new adventures

nothing like a weekend with an eccentric/random group of people to open up your social networks.
st. george was great this weekend. exactly what i needed. although, i wish it was warm and not raining.
and i wish st. george didn't remind me of he-who-must-not-be-named.
isn't it bad enough that i'm reminded of him wherever i go in provo? can't you leave me alone in st. george?
anyway, it really was great, despite the rain and freezing temps. i was a bit worried when i heard who all was going because i didn't know any of them more than from a few interactions at church (if at all)
the drive down was long. but marissa and i (whom i didn't know at all prior to this trip) entertained ourselves with talk about LA (where she served her mission) and singing along to HSM, Moulin Rouge and Hairspray. A girl after my own {musical} heart!




after getting into town and meeting kate's grandparents (who are ADORABLE!) we settled in and started a game of hand and foot. basically it's our new favorite game, and i am bound and determined to get myself 24 sets of playing cards just to play! :)
saturday was started off with a trip to DI (where i found my fabulous fur coat for 8 bucks) and the girls found some awesome wedding gowns that we showed off for the boys.
then, another thrift store in downtown which then led to lunch at 25 Main (delish!) and then a quick trip back to grandma's to rest and change for a short hike. the rain put a damper on our plans to go to Zion's but we made due with what we had and hiked around pioneer park. it was freezing and drizzling, but that didn't really damper our spirits. rather, we used it as an adventure, and laughed a lot along the way, as well as took a good majority of our pictures.
after hiking, we changed again and then headed to this little hole in the wall bowling alley. oh my, was that place great. service wasn't great, and we had to change lanes because of some mechanical problem, but the guys were really apologetic and gave us our shoes for free! I bowled a 131, and came in first among the girls, 5th overall! Not bad, I'd say :) Of course, I lost the bet against Colten, but that's ok.
Once bowling was done, we headed back for taco soup grandma made for us, and listened to her and grandpa tell stories about the area, about themselves, and about how they met and married at 17 (her, he was 26!) So great. We then headed to the store to pick things up for Sunday dinner and then grabbed MENCHIES (yes, Kiks, finally had it and it was BOMB) for dessert, and then proceeded to start another game of hand and foot! We ended the night with step up 2, then rested for sunday.
of course a bunch of 20-something year olds can't get up in time for 9 am church, so we found a ward that met at 11 and headed over there, making it into the building right as the sacrament was being passed. haha. oh well, at least we made it, right?
we split up a bit since there weren't 8 seats together and enjoyed that meeting. afterwards i ran into matt chandler. Ha! what are the odds?! actually, they were pretty great i'd run into someone i knew, since it was President's Day weekend and we were only 3 hours from Provo. After church we headed back to get dinner going: a competition, Top Chef style. Nate and I were in charge of the salad, which needed asparagus, Kate and Trevor had the main dish with orange, McKenna and Colten had appetizers/side, and Marissa and Joey had dessert.
We definitely have a talented bunch because all of the food was amazing! The pictures don't do them justice. Once we were all fed and cleaned up we headed back to cold Provo where we heard there was 4 inches of snow. Lies. There wasn't even a fleck of snow left. Thank goodness :)
We got back right in time for ward prayer (talk about timing!) so we stuck around for that, and then Nate, McKenna, Kate and I decided to watch a movie. Good choice. Prince of Egypt to end the weekend? I like it.
Even better? I still had an extra day of vacation since I didn't have to go into work until 3 on Monday!
So I slept in, then started working on Brianna's crock pot lasagna recipe and then made fabric necklaces with Abby before heading off to work/move offices. The best part was getting off earlier than I thought I would and being able to meet up with everyone and go out to dinner at Olive Garden, and then hanging out at WQC playing Just Dance 2.

I love new friends. And I love that I was able to just take off Friday night to go to St George for a couple days. I had no responsibilities, and no obligations in Provo to keep me from going; reminded me why I'm grateful to still be single :)
I even love that those friends, after spending a couple days with me, still want to hang out with me later on! Haha. Nate and I went country dancing last night at the Center and let me just say, SUCH a different atmosphere than Borderline! Haha. Plus they mostly do swing out here, which I haven't done in forever, so needless to say, I wasn't the best partner in the world :) Give me a line dance or a waltz any day and I'm all over that. I did meet some cool people and learned some rad lifts. I sure do miss Borderline and my country dancing friends, but this could be a nice change, especially if we get more people to come every week. I just have to remember all the moves I learned in class, and break in those cowboy boots of mine ;)