[Happy Fall. Happy October 25th.]

Happy anniversary to my love.

One exceptional year.

I love you.

[A day at Gettysburg.]

Earlier this month I went on a day trip extravaganza with Chad to Gettysburg, PA. There are a few different ways to tour Gettysburg: you can toodle around the expansive visitors center, drive around the park at your own pace, or you can purchase a CD tour in varying lengths. Chad wanted us to do the three hour tour, and I was basically like omg, I'll diiiiiiiieee (I nerdily like history and Civil War battlefields probably more than the average person, but seriously, does anything sound more dry and boring than a three hour audio tour??)...but we agreed, with the caveat that any time I wanted to stop the tour to take a photo, I could. Obviously, less than 30 seconds into the tour, we stopped the car. And then 30 seconds after that...then another minute later...you get the picture. (...get it? ah, I crack myself up...) I also may have spent ten minutes climbing around the canons, pretending they were historic, adult-sized jungle gyms... We ended up making so many stops that we didn't actually finish the tour before dark, much to Chad's chagrin, but it was still a really enjoyable way to learn about this historic site. I actually really enjoyed it, and I didn't fall asleep or even tune out once, which is kind of significant (but I maybe fell asleep on our second part of the date later that night).

Side note: the first time Chad and I hung out (not to be confused with the first time we met, when he kissed me, or our first date at the Tim McGraw concert several days later, when he didn't kiss me), we spent the day touring Civil War battlefields in Virginia, so ever since then it's been one of our special, dorky little dates that we love to do when we get the chance.

[Philly cheesesteaks at Jim's.]

On Saturday, after an unplanned mini-road trip to Delaware, Kelsey {Chad's sister} and I convinced Chad to drive us an extra forty minutes to Philadelphia so that we could have Philly cheesesteaks from Jim's for dinner. I've been a fan of Jim's since high school, and after five years on the East Coast, including one in which I basically lived in Philly part-time and ate cheesesteaks with some, um, regularity, I can honestly say that Jim's NEVER disappoints. Order a cheesesteak with American cheese and peppers, and you'll be a happy camper!

pacific coast highway.

a perfect afternoon is:

...a three hour drive up the pch...
...no particular destination...
...bff L in the passenger seat...
...views and waves and the sunset...

this is why you live in california.

a weekend roadtrip with Chad.

Charlottesville, VA

:: Crosby, Stills, & Nash concert with Brandon & Jaclyn ::

Definitely the youngest ones at the concert, besides the grandchildren dragged along by their CSN grandparent fans. Met Brandon, Chad's bff since they were babies, and his lovely wife Jaclyn.

:: Toured the University of Virginia campus ::

LOVED this. Pretty sure Thomas Jefferson designed it with my tastes in mind--he even planted cute Southern boys around. Grad school, maybe?

:: Michie Tavern General Store ::

I died over the quaint goods and homemade pumpkin butter, but wasn't so interested in the history of the place--still not really sure why it's significant, but Chad can tell you.

:: Colonial dress up ::

Found a jackpot of Colonial hats and costumes at Michie Tavern--obviously had to stop our tour to try on every single hat, I giddily, Chad begrudgingly.

:: Saturday afternoon bar visit ::

Clearly Chad's reprisal for the earlier forced dress up. Pretty sure we spent about 10 hours or so in a freezing sports bar to watch BYU lose a football game.

:: Monticello ::

The house was meh--there, I said it--but the views and grounds were beautiful...and I would now like to be buried in the Jefferson family cemetery.

:: Appomattox Courthouse ::

Where Lee surrendered to Grant. Where I almost surrendered to the heat.

:: Wandering around the central VA countryside ::

Highlight of the trip was taking the long, scenic way home, enjoying the scenery, music, and company. Significant resources were contributed to looking for a quaint, small town restaurant for dinner, but apparently Southern restaurants observe the Sabbath. We settled instead for fine dining at Country Cookin' Restaurant, where the Vegetable of the Day was mac'n'cheese, unironically.

Special thanks to Chad, who planned the trip and somehow allowed me to play Only the Young on repeat a zillion times without throttling me.