new blog address ...

http://laceandjake.blogspot.com/

:)

glacier point and bouldering

the first day jake was here, we went to visit Mirror Lake, which is so full and mirror-y this time of year (though you can't tell in this picture).





Then jake shaved :) and drove me up to Glacier Point. (He was planning on proposing up there, had the ring in his pocket, but changed his mind when a camera crew came up with a ton of other people -- it was crowded with sunset-seeking people.) We got a picture and left:



It was a great place to have a sandwich, though!



While I'm at work, Jake has been bouldering with his new guide book. Look at him send this boulder problem, rawr!:



and grrr!:



I also got something new ... climbing shoes! I love them. They are snug but feel great and i think they're kinda pretty. I told jake to take a picture of them, but he squeezed me in the shot, too.



so many pictures, so little time to upload them! more to come, i gotta go to work ...

i said yes

I have wanted to blog more in the past several days, but i've been working six days in a row, 9 hours a day, with one day off. Busy, busy. The first day off, Jake arrived. yay! The second day off was yesterday ... and this happened:



And I said yes, of course, to the man of my dreams. This picture was taken by my roommate, Rachael, who was as surprised as I was! But I'm so glad she was there, and especially taking sweet pictures. Look at that view!



I was shocked when Jake got down on his knee and asked me to marry him in pretty much the most beautiful place in the world. This is at Sierra Point, a secret-ish hike (shhh) that involves scrambling up rocks for an hour until you arrive high above the valley, with a view of all five waterfalls. And there's nobody else up there. It's heaven. Jake and I consider this one of our special spots, and now even more so.

This is us, at Sierra Point, four years ago:



And this is us now, engaged. :)



I have lots more to blog about later, but this was obviously the most important. I have to work in an hour, too, so I better eat some lunch. Today, I get to wear a nice shirt, black pants and a bow tie!! I'm working a special function and got a lot of tips coming my way. ;) But most days, this is what I look like. I'm a cashier in the Coffee Corner. Shh, don't laugh:



I promise, just one more picture for now. My aunts, Jeanine and Laurie, and uncle Mike visited the valley and brought me my bike. They were lifesavers. I love my bike and I love my family:

vernal fall

yesterday i tried to hike to vernal fall, the lower of the falls below half dome, which lead into the Merced. they are so full and powerful right now. The river is rushing so loudly and the spray is so strong, which feels wonderful when you're hot and hiking.



unfortuantely i was too wet and cold to continue to the top. i'm going back, though, once i buy a poncho and get a friend to go with me for safety. :) i got to the point where i couldn't see where i was going, and i was shivering in my tank and shorts. like i said, the falls are so strong right now at the beginning of the summer. it'll go down soon, but the melted snow is cooold! so i retreated and took this silly picture in which my head blocks the actual waterfall (no friend with me this time):



(yesterday, a fellow employee i met, a guy from the Philippines, told me i looked like Rory from Gilmore Girls)

I was dripping for the hike down, but it felt so good as i began to dry off in the hot sun. being here this week has been a bit uncomfortable (huge ants and spiders in my tent) and lonely (jake doesn't come till next week), but getting out and hiking and seeing the fall was so good for my spirits. i love this place and could walk around staring at the granite and trees until my feet fell off.

in the valley again

I'm heeeeere! I made it. I'm in Yosemite National Park, again, for the summer. I haven't taken any pictures yet -- though it's gorgeous, as usual, the river is high and the waterfalls are full -- but for now, here's one from four years ago:



Being here again, in a tent, in the employee training classes, in my DNC uniform, brings back so many good memories ... namely, of meeting that guy in the pic. Jake will join me here soon, too. It's going to be a good summer.

sweetheart

i just returned from dropping some of my belongings off at my new friends' house (because they are awesome and are storing mine and Jake's stuff for the summer -- yep, moving again, but that post is coming soon). They were at work, but their neighbor was in the driveway when I arrived to start unloading. She didn't know who I was or anything, but as I pulled into the skinny road between their two houses, she showed me the biggest grin ever. She said, "Hi! Are you a teacher, too?" (My friend Melissa is a teacher.) And when I explained that, no, I was a just someone abusing the kindness of my new friends, she praised them too. She was like, "Aren't they the sweetest people? They make me feel like I belong here instead of like I'm an old lady!"

It made me laugh inside but I thought it was so cute. I feel like if I were her, I would have been like, "Who are you, pulling up in this driveway? You must be lost. Get outta here." (I imagine myself a mean old lady.) But I want to be that happy, kind and welcoming when I am older. I wonder what you have to do to grow up sweet. With all the crap that a long life throws at you, it's probably a choice you make -- a hard choice.

By the way, my friend tells me this neighbor's name is Charlotte ... and her husband's name is Wilbur. So maybe it's not a choice; maybe you just have to find your way into a fairy tale. :)

swine flu in the Hundred Acre Wood