Yosemite!

So...my computer crashed this week. And I was a negligent in my backing up of said computer, so I lost a good 9 months of music, pictures, and other life documentation.

Ouch.

At least I'm not in school, right?  That would make it more tragic.  I guess.

Still hurts a little.

But I'm trying to be optimistic.  I got a deal on a replacement hard drive and I'm back online, and I did not lose the pics from my recent weekend outing: Yosemite National Park.  I'm giving it a partial bucket list check, because:

Did I camp in the park:  Yes indeed.

Did I hike Half Dome?  Nope.

Did I see any bears?  Not a trace.

Guess I'll have to go back again later.

Despite that, I'm proud of how much of the park we packed in, in such a short time.  We took the trip with some good friends who had also never been there.  We had such a grand time hiking and exploring around waterfalls, rafting down the Merced river, capturing shots of star trails, and checking out the gigantic Sequoia trees.



 It's a seriously beautiful place.

I seem to have caught a camping bug.  Thank goodness it's only the beginning of summer and that I have camping options nearby since I have no more spare vacation days for the rest of the year.

Now, let's talk about camping food.  I'll give you a topic: How awesome is a tin foil dinner cooked over a campfire, followed by a s'more or two?  Discuss.

Dos Años

David and I just celebrated our second anniversary.

He surprised me with a mini road trip to beautiful Santa Barbara over the weekend.  (I actually had no idea what our destination was until he pulled in to our hotel.  Another successful mission pulled off by the master of surprises!)

We told the people checking us in that it was our anniversary, and they upgraded us to the honeymoon suite, complete with a balcony overlooking beach.

We spent a fabulous and carefree day wandering around the little Spanish-style town - exploring around the beautiful courthouse, riding our bikes along the beach, eating fish and chips on the pier...

...and stumbling upon the annual Memorial Day I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival at the old Santa Barbara mission!

The skinny: every year, people from all over Santa Barbara and the world congregate at the old mission, with the goal of filling their own rectangle of space with beautiful chalk art.

Some are basic and simple, but most are intricate, realistic, and stunningly beautiful.  And we got to watch  as they took shape and developed onto the pavement.














As a bonus, I bumped into one of my best friends from the BYU-Hawaii days, Ryan. Didn't even know he lived there, but yet there he was, adding his own touches to the sidewalk chalk art.  Awesome.










Happy anniversary to my best friend!!  I love you!  And thanks for the killer surprise.  :)

 P.S. Don't you think mom should get this vanity plate?