Spontaneity

This past weekend Brandt and I went to Jackson Hole. Here's how it all went down:

On Friday, I called Brandt to let him know I was on my way home from work. He asks, "Do you have any plans this weekend?" 

Odd question. Ummmm...."My plans are the same as your plans...so...uh...no," I respond.

"Do you want to go to Jackson Hole?!" he asks, with obvious excitement in his voice.

.....Long pause...."Sure, why not?" I respond, with not nearly as much enthusiasm.

Apparently, Brandt's unemployment has left him with ample time to browse the internet for vacations, and he came upon a killer deal for a condo in Jackson for that night. Anyone who really knows me knows that I'm not much for spontaneity - I prefer things to be planned out. So I surprised Brandt by actually saying "yes" to this little adventure. So as soon as I got home I packed and within the hour we were on our way. We had to make a quick stop at the mall and get some snow gear (snow pants, gloves, etc.) but after that we hit the road.

The drive up there was beautiful. The roads were clear but everything else was drenched in white. Fields of snow everywhere! And the mountains and river in the background to boot. We pulled in about 6 pm and checked in at our condo. It. Was. HUGE. We felt bad we didn't come across this deal sooner and had time to invite some people to come up with us because there was plenty of room. 

♪ "And here we have Idaho..."♫ 
(At least I think we were still in Idaho at this point...maybe not.)

This is the condo we stayed in. Straight out that back door is a balcony with great views of the mountains.

After dropping our stuff off, we rode the city bus downtown to watch the beginning of the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race (IPSSSDR for short....haha, no seriously - that's what they call it for 'short'). This is a yearly sled dog race that kicks off in Jackson, Wyoming and they race around different cities in Wyoming and finally end in Park City, Utah. The race lasts a week. It was soooo much fun. These dogs were so dang cute. They were so excited to get going. They had to wait there turn, as one team left every two minutes, so all the teams were in a single-file line just waiting for there turn to get going. There were tons of people just milling around cheering on the teams, food booths, prizes, shirts, etc. It was freezing out there so it was good it only lasted a couple of hours, but so much fun. 

Brandt underneath one of the four antler arches in downtown Jackson. Apparently, they let the Boy Scouts go in and gather the antlers from the elk refuge and, for a lack of anything better to do with them, built these huge arches and strung lights around them.

The next day we headed back to town square and browsed around the shops for a couple of hours. They weren't very busy, I'm assuming because everyone was on the slopes. It was cool how you could see the skiiers in the distance coming down on a run - it looked like so much fun. Some of them were going so fast down these seemingly really steep runs. Someday Brandt and I are going to learn how to ski. Or snowboard. But for now we were satisfied with shopping :) After that we got on the road and headed to Grand Teton National Park. We passed the elk refuge and saw thousands of elk just chillin' out on this open plain. A hunter's dream no doubt. Or a wolves dream - talk about an all-you-can-eat buffet! Once we got into the park, we headed to the visitor's center for our guided snowshoe tour.  This was another great find of Mr. Hines: a two hour ranger-guided snowshoe hike for five buckaroos apiece. Can't beat that. It was our first time snowshoeing, and I must say it was harder than it looks! It took a few minutes to get the hang of it, but we were both very proud of the fact that we didn't fall down.

The Grand Tetons (P.S. did you know "tetons" is French for "breasts"? They named the mountains The Grand Breasts - silly Canadians)

Ranger Nik - our tour guide. He taught us all about elk, bison, moose, wolves, and the little critters that live in the area.

Here we are looking at tracks in the snow of a bird of some sort (if you look close you can see the feather imprints in the snow). Ranger Nik says he probably swooped down while trying to catch his prey. (sidenote: Ranger Nik's backpack is just like Mary Poppin's carpet bag - he had a gold mine in there! Seriously, we were amazed at how much came out of that bag. Everything from real animal skulls and teeth, to a full wolve's skin, elk's leg, stuffed animals, etc. All kinds of hidden treasures in there.)

This is just to illustrate how MUCH snow they had up there. CRAZY! They've gotten over 300" so far this season.

After our tour, we hung out at the visitor's center for a bit and looked at the displays (sidenote: shout out to our friends the Moultons - they had a picture and a little blurp about the famous Moulton barn). After that, we headed on home. We had so much fun on our quick getaway. Next time we'll have to plan a bit more ahead and invite some people to come with us! Any takers?

Grandpa Manning

Grandpa Manning passed away last week. He was a good man and though it is sad to lose someone in this life it is good to know they have eternal life and will be seen again someday. For Grandpa Manning this is especially true because he had suffered a stroke a few years ago that greatly altered his body and ability to communicate. I can only imagine how frustrating it would be to have a clear mind but not be able to communicate because of the limitations of your body. For Grandpa Manning it is a blessing that he is now free from these bonds but still sad to lose a loved one.

As it always seems when someone passes away. you wish you had spent more time with them and gotten to know them better; such was the case with Grandpa. The stories shared at his funeral  yesterday made us love him all the more and wish we had shared a little more time together. Here are a couple of those stories: Though he hadn't spoken in months and could barely communicate through body language, on Grandma's birthday when everyone was singing, he suddenly began to sing as well and sang the entire "Happy Birthday" song to her. He knew how to work hard and help other people. There were many stories told about his skills as a farmer and his willingness to help those in need. He made sure to imprint this on his children and grandchildren. Whenever we went over to their house Grandpa would always show us the car he was working on and fixing up. He always seemed to have a project going. We are thankful to have had him in our lives and he will be missed. Love you Grandpa.

25

Today is my hubby's 25th birthday. You can call him Old Man Hines now. To celebrate this momentous occasion, here are 25 reasons why I love this guy:

• He makes me laugh. Every single day.
• When we're sharing a plate of food (nachos, quesadillas, etc. - I guess occasionally Brandt DOES share food :), he always lets me have the last bite.
• He still opens my car door for me. Usually.
• He's so concerned about being a good provider for our family. He works hard on school and is constantly researching job opportunities related to what he is studying.
• He is a sexy beast.

July 2010

June 2006

March 2008

• He helps out so much around the house: laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc. Usually, I don't even have to ask - he just does it.
• He likes to cook and that's one of the things we enjoy doing together. 
• He's my best friend. There's no one else I'd rather be with.
• He takes care of me. When I was in hygiene school, he made my lunch for me every day so I could sleep in as much as possible. If I'm sick or not feeling well, he takes extra good care of me and lets me complain about how crappy I feel. I don't know what I would do without him.
• I talk A LOT. I'm sure he knows so much more about dental hygiene than he cares to. And he's so good to listen even if he doesn't care about what I'm saying. 

July 2009

July 2009

Summer 2008

December 2009

• He's so creative and talented - did you know he's writing a book? Yeah, he's the next J.K. Rowling.    
• He makes sure we have fun. He'll plan dates, day trips, even just little jaunts to get us out of the house. We have so much fun just hanging out together.
• He doesn't gossip much. I've rarely heard him say anything mean about someone. 
• He's very much a "go with the flow" kind of person. He doesn't let the little things bother him. He's a good example to me in that regard. He helps me strive to be a better person.
• He is interested in so many different things. He has a plethora of hobbies - he should really share the wealth. And not just hobbies, but he finds interest in random, everyday things and how they work. (I wanted to post a video of him putting together our new humidifier, but he said no.) I love that he gets excited about the little things in life - any new toy or gadget we get is like Christmas for him. (Remember this post?)

May 2009

June 2010

October 2009

• He is the one person I feel that I can totally be myself with. Which is probably both good and bad, since I tend to be a bit crazy. We joke that someone should make a reality show out of our life. No more of this "Keeping up with the Kardashians." They could call it "Hanging out with the Hines'". And it would be funny.
• He doesn't watch sports. He would much rather play sports than watch other people playing (makes sense right?). There are too many other things he would rather do with his time. He may watch one game a year - and even then it's not the whole game. I LOVE this about him. This may be one of my most favorite things about him. 
• He also doesn't play video/computer/etc. games very often. Usually the only time he plays is when he's with other guys and they'll pull out the Xbox or Playstation for a couple of hours at most.
• He follows me around the house. Seriously. If I'm downstairs he'll come down just to be with me. If I'm upstairs on the computer, he'll bring his laptop into the same room just so he can be near me. It's funny, and only a little odd, but I think it's cute. I get sad when I think there may come a day when he doesn't do that anymore - I hope it never happens.
• I know without a doubt that he's going to be a great daddy someday. I worry that our kids are going to like him more than me, but I should just accept that that's how it's going to be. But he says he'll make sure he's mean every now and then so they'll like me more :) What a great guy right? 

October 2006

December 2008

Summer 2008

December 2007

July 2010

• He works hard. He's always willing to help out when it's needed. He's always volunteering to help people move. I don't think he really knows how to be lazy. But that's ok - I've mastered the art of laziness.
• 98% of the time, I get to hold the remote.
• Whenever we go shopping, he pretty much always lets me get whatever I want. Luckily, I have pretty good self-control. Otherwise we'd be in trouble.
• My family LOVES him. And he loves hanging out with my family. He fits right in with the rest of the crazies.
• He makes me feel so loved and appreciated and treats me like a queen, even when I don't deserve it. I can 100% GUARANTEE that I have the BEST husband EVER!

March 2007

January 2011

Happy Birthday Brandt!!

New Year's Festivities

I'm pretty sure ever since Brandt and I have been married we've always spent New Year's Eve with the Hines' because that's when his sister, Allison, and her family make it up to Burley. So after all of the festivities with my family we hopped on over to Brandt's family and spent a few days with them. When we got there, Allison's three boys were the only ones there; somehow we missed the memo that the adults were going to a movie. It was all good though, we just hung out with the kiddos for a couple of hours until they got back. We had lots of fun hanging out and being with family. We played a lot of "Minute to Win it" games, as seen in some of the pics posted below (except for bro-in-law Tyler in the upper right hand corner pic - that's just how he likes to eat his chocolate :) ha! I kid, I kid...

On New Year's Eve we opened presents! Brandt got a fun little helicopter from his mom, and I'm mildly surprised it still works for how many times he's crashed that thing into the wall. Allison and her family had our name this year in the sibling gift exchange and we got the coolest iPod docking station. We've been wanting one for awhile now so that was a nice surprise. Grandma Hines came over for a scrumptious dinner, Brandt and I played "Settler's of Catan" for the first time (and really liked it - though we lost miserably), and we actually stayed up until midnight to ring in the new year! (and I was in bed, sound asleep by about 12:10). The next morning we got to see the Moulton's for a bit and have breakfast with them. It was great to see them.  Then before heading home we went over and visited Grandma and Grandpa Manning for a bit before heading home. Grandpa Manning hasn't been doing very well, but while we were there he looked pretty good and even gave us a few smiles.  

It was great to see everyone and spend time with the fam. Brandt and I are so blessed to have two great families the love and support us and are just so much fun to be around. Thanks for the good times everyone!

The House of Hines' New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year! Does anyone else think 2010 just FLEW by? I can't believe it's 2011 already - I feel old. As we all nurse our hangovers (that sparkling cider last night sure had some kick to it :), Brandt and I have been contemplating some goals we would like to accomplish this year. I haven't set New Year's Resolutions for a few years now because I never accomplished them - so I figured if you don't set them in the first place, then you don't have to be disappointed with yourself when it doesn't work out. Makes sense right? Well, this year, I'm going to try again, and Brandt is going to help me. There are a couple of things we'd like to accomplish, and maybe by putting them out in the blogosphere, we will be more accountable and work harder to "get 'er done". So here we go- one spiritual resolution and one physical resolution for the year 2011:

 

 1. Attend the temple every other week. Yes, this is a lofty goal for us. Our goal previously has always been to get there once a month, but lately we've been a bit lax on that. Our stake has really been pushing temple attendance lately and in our recent Stake Conference, our stake president talked solely on temple worthiness and attendance in his talk for the Saturday evening session. He promised "you will overcome all things as you worthily attend the temple." He went on to say that even parents with young children can get to the temple at least once a month. And then, he said that for those of you with less demands for your time (and I swear he looked right at me and Brandt), you should be attending much more often than that.

I know we receive blessings from attending the temple, so it will be good for us to try and get there more often than we have been. So there you have it. Every other week we will be in the temple. At least that's the goal...wish us luck! 

2. Go to the Gym at least three times every week. We were really good about getting there regularly for the first month or so after we joined Gold's, but lately we've fallen off the wagon. We've become "once-a-weekers" for the last several weeks. Since we're paying our weight in gold (no pun intended) for this membership, we need to be better about using it. Plus we need to get rid of our muffin tops. Brandt's original goal was to work out six days a week, but I laughed at him and cut it in half - three days a week is more reasonable don't you think? At least that's the goal...wish us luck!

So there are the House of Hines' New Year's Resolutions. Happy 2011 everybody! What are your resolutions for the New Year?