And then we became one with nature.

This past weekend, we rented a condo with friends via the great AirBnb in the great land of Yosemite. And it was great. I gotta tell ya, though - growing up in California all my life, I'm a little ashamed to admit that there are far too many places in this beautiful state that I haven't seen; Yosemite being one of them.

(Update: My mother has just informed me that I have, in fact, been to Yosemite and it appears that, once again, my memory has failed me. So there's that.)

It was refreshing to get away from the city, away from cell service and WiFi, and just well, be one with nature and friends (Okay fine, there was a TV there and we may or may not have watched an episode or two of Kendra On Top, to which I'm not necessarily proud of that fact, but I mean, come on! She's going through quite the crisis with a cheating husband and transsexual! How could you not watch?!).

Friday night we grilled hamburgers and played the always hilarious and always inappropriate game, Cards Against Humanity. I mean seriously, that game will never get old.

And Saturday we decided to be quite ambitious by hiking the 8.4 mile Chilnualna Falls that even the description warned us that it "climbs relentlessly," to which we said, "Poo, poo!" and climbed anyway.

Relentless? And how!

Every muscle beneath my boobs were screaming at me to stop. About 30 minutes in, I soon realized the importance of cardio training. Training, might I add, that I have not done, nor ever care to do. But yes, important, nonetheless.

Anyway - pain aside, the views were spectacular. And I mean spec-tac-u-lar.

And this is the part of the post where I insert a bazillion photos:

^^^ Here's the gang at the start of the hike, smiling big, with no idea what lies ahead... ^^^

^^^ Sometimes I like to get artsy fartsy and pretend I have photography skills. ^^^

And then we reached the top and cracked open some fresh, cold beers. And if you ask me, all hikes should be accompanied by beer because not only does it serve as a great reward for when you reach the top, but it helps mask the pain as well as distract you from the ever-looming fact that now you must turn around and go allllll the way back where you came from.

Muscles sore and faces caked with salty sweat, we finally made it back and indulged in some chili that had been cooking in the crock pot all day. It was glorious.

Sunday we stopped at the Tunnel View lookout and saw the Half Dome and El Capitan rocks. One of my favorite views.

Can you tell?

^^^ Had so much fun with you guys - another trip for the books!^^^

^^^ I haven't decided if being engaged constitutes sending Christmas Cards this year, but if we do, this could be a nice contender, no? ;) ^^^

Anyhoozle - there ya have it. Yosemite at its finest. I hope you enjoyed my once a month blog post. ;) It literally took me about an hour to do this, so you better.

Happy Monday!

xoxo