when joe told me he wanted to go camping in yosemite for his bday, i was all for it but i had one stipulation: 

i did NOT want to be cold. 

**i don't like being cold in general, and i usually am. 

but this mostly stems from a camping trip we took over the 

4th of july. 

it snowed. i wasn't prepared. it. was. freezing. 

hence i agreed to camping as long as he could provide warmth**

so what did husband do? 

he found heated tents, yes - heated tents - for us!!! 

bless his heart.

so we headed out friday night, drove the quick 4 hours to yosemite, and checked into our heated tent.

ok, so it was more like a tiny cabin than a tent...

but it still felt rustic, and we had to lock up our food to keep it away from bears, so it sure felt like camping to me!

**sidenote: they made this huge deal about keeping anything scented out of your car and tent. i think i had about 7 or 8 tubes of chapstick with me and had to put them allll in the bear locker. i was terrified i'd forget about something and we'd get mauled in our sleep. joe tried to calm my fears by saying "if yellowstone has taught me anything, it's that bears don't exist." turns out i had a tube of chapstick in my backpack the whole time that i had forgotten about, but we're still alive so maybe joe is right?**

our campsite was nestled in the middle of yosemite valley, right next to glacier point, with a view of half dome behind us. the size of these mountains was unreal, even in the dark.

^^ glacier point ^^

on saturday we hiked to upper yosemite falls.

it kicked our butts.

it's about 7 miles round trip, but pretty much the entire first half is super steep switchbacks. 

it was awesome though, and totally worth it

(even if our legs were embarrassingly shaky on the way down...)

^^ i'm not sure if this picture captures the incline (or decline - because this was on the way down) but lemme tell you, it was killer ^^

on sunday we hiked to vernal falls.

it was a shorter hike, but just as intense. 

there's a part called the mist trail where you get pretty soaked from the waterfall, and have to climb what felt like a million stairs. (someone mentioned 600, that sounds about right i guess)

once again, we had the shaky legs to prove it.

but again, it was so worth it.

^^ look how happy joe is, even in the midst of climbing hundreds of stairs. this man is in his element ^^

 ^^ rebels WITH a cause ^^

^^ we made it to the top! joe told me that a lot of people in south america very strongly believe that the higher you are, the closer you are to God. i think they're onto something...^^

on the way out we stopped to take a few pictures of el capitan - a huge mountain famous for rock climbers (i can't even imagine trying to climb that thing), bridalveil falls, and the valley floor.

 ^^ el cap ^^

 ^^ bridalveil falls - on the left ^^

^^ el cap and half dome in the distance ^^

our weekend in the mountains was just what we needed, and it totally exceeded my expectations.

i stayed warm,

joe crossed something off his bucket list,

and we had a blast together.
the pictures don't do this place justice, and i'm super bummed that we only had our cell phones to take pictures with (time to invest in a nice camera maybe?)
but the moral of the story is...GO to yosemite.
i mean, they have heated tents people...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!

happy birthday to my love! 

joseph clegg jeppson

turns 31 today!

 as usual, we'll be turning this birthday into a weekend long celebration,

just because we can.
nothing sounds better to me than celebrating the life of the most important man in mine. 

so to wish him a happy birthday, here's a couple reasons that make me love him more each day:
>> he still puts his hand on my leg in the car. still gives me butterflies <<
//  he'll try anything i cook, and act like he likes it, even when it sounds or looks a little sketchy \\
::  he gives me a back massage almost every time i ask. sometimes he doesn't even ask for one in return ::

>> when i see flowers i like, his immediate response is "get em" <<

// he's the absolute best feet-warmer-upper. in fact, he told me that having him warm up my feet was the only consistent thing i have in my life. 

i'm not sure what he meant by that, but i'll take it \\

 :: he gets me. when i'm stressed and i snap at him, he doesn't take it personal. instead he just says "i know this isn't about me" and hugs me tight ::
>> the thing we "argue" about the most is who loves the other one more. talk about problems, right? <<

i'll stop there, but do me a favor and wish my #1 man a haps bday.
afterall, he really does deserve to be celebrated.
 happy birthday joe!

today marks the 3rd anniversary of the day joe and i met.

it may be cheesy to celebrate the day we met, but i'm gonna.

cause that day changed my life in ways i wasn't expecting, 

all for the better.

(plus i celebrate anything and everything, so...duh)

i didn't know right away that he would be my husband, 

but it didn't take me too long to figure it out.

i knew joe was different from the beginning, 

and i'm so grateful to have him in my life.

these pictures were taken on one of our first dates. 

so happy then, even happier now

 ps. notice joe's tattoo? keepin it classy!

thanks for making me the happiest girl ever,

cheers to 3 years!

life lately has been hectic, but great.

starting two new jobs + not totally quitting the old job + girl's nights + boy scouts for the husband = not a lot of time together this week, which i hate.

but busy is good too. i like busy

almost as much as i like lazy. almost.

and i'm not sure when i became ok with going to sleep at 11 on a friday night, 

but let me tell you, i never complain when it happens. 

snapshots of life's happenings lately:

^ day one at the new job - already in love

gold glitter - always appropriate ^

< hiking - yosemite prep >

^ joe and a babe. melts my heart every time.

for a girl that hates grocery shopping, this is a site that makes me giddy ^

< paradise edition - on repeat

kind of loving the fog. taken at 47 mph, i might add. don't tell my mom >