April-May 2013 6/30/13

Well, I have no idea what was going on in April and May.  I only keep track based on pictures and there aren't many pictures.  In April, I did have another birthday.  26.  I can't believe I'm official upper 20s! :(  I did have a great birthday though.  Josh spoiled me as always.

 

We also refinished our kitchen table and chairs.  It was ALOT of work, much more than we thought.  It took us forever too but we both LOVED how they turned out.  Here are some after pics from my phone with not the best lighting but you get the idea.  Everything was pretty banged up from moving.  Click here for a pic of when we first bought the set.

My mom came out for a visit during the long Memorial Day weekend.  We had a wonderful time!  She is our first visitor here in New Jersey and we have been here for a year!  Our families need to step it up these next two years especially if they want a place to stay while they visit the east coast!

Mom and I mostly just relaxed and took it easy.  We both work full time and were excited to spend some relaxing time together!  We did go to the beach at Cape May and absolutely loved it.  Its such a cute little town and so beautiful!  We went into a few shops and enjoyed the nice beach!

 

I'm so glad my mom was able to come out.  Its been too long since I have seen her and have really been able to spend some one on one time with her.  It was a great visit!  Love you, Mom!  Thanks for coming!

Five Years Part II 6/30/13

Well...Here we are three and half month later. :)  Better late than never, right?

 

We spent the second day of our vacation in Hershey, PA.  We LOVED it!  What a cute little town.  We loved chocolate world.  That place smells of heaven :)  Here we are outside of the building.



 

Inside, they have a free little ride that demonstrates how chocolate is made.  It was actually really fun, informative and interesting.  

The town of Hershey is so cute even down to their street lamps.

 

We took a trolley tour around the town and learned about the life of Milton Hershey.  What an amazing man he was.  Josh and I were amazed at the charity that he had for all those around especially his employees and those who lived in his orphanage, which is now the largest private boarding school in the US.  He truly gave back to all those he came in contact with and everyone within his community.  We were so inspired by the life he lived and hope that we are able to give back a fraction of the way that he did and that his company still does.

We also took a chocolate tasting class.  It was so neat to learn about the different kinds of chocolate and to eat them too :)

 

Unfortunately, it's been 3.5 months and I don't remember all the details but I do know that we had an amazing time there and an amazing trip.  We took our time coming back.  We stopped at an outlet mall and did a little shopping.  We also stopped at some antique stores and other random places.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate being married to the man of my dreams for five years!  Love you, Josh!

Five Years Part I 4/7/13

On March 15th, Josh and I celebrated our five year anniversary!  These last five years have flown by.  We have both finished up degrees, have lived in 3 different states, have lived in 5 different apartment/homes and have had a lot of fun. 

 

Here we are on our wedding day, 5 years ago.

 

Because it was our FIVE year anniversary, we decided that we needed to do something a little special.  So at the last minute, we decided to take a little bit of time off work and headed out.  We didn't really have any specific plans except we wanted to go to Gettysburg and Hershey, PA.

We/I took a ton of pictures, so beware.  Our first stop was Gettysburg.  It was a great place to go and we went at the right time of year.  We could see that during the summer, this place is completely packed!  It was great to go and learn more about our history.  I'm sure I learned all of this in school, but its completely different to see it in person and to learn about it at this age.  

We started out at the visitor center/museum.  This is right outside of it:

We first watched a 25 minute video narrated by Morgan Freeman.  Then we went to see what they called "The Gettysburg Cyclorama."  It is this HUGE painting.  It is 359 feet long, 27 feet high and weighs an estimated 3 tons.  Here they told the story again for the actual battled and played a little light show on the painting.  It was so neat!  There are so many details on the painting.  It is completely amazing.

Josh had to make sure that we got a picture of the field "hospital."

After the Cyclorama, we went into the museum.  There are cannons all around the town of Gettysburg.  We were told that they are placed everywhere so that we can remember the events that took place there and remember to respect the peace and the lives that were given there.

This was one of my favorite quotes.  It almost even brought tears to my eyes as I thought about it and about where we are as a country today.  There are many who fight in our military and give their lives today but what about the other citizens of this great country?  Are we willing to do everything we can to protect our country and the freedoms that we have?

The battle took place over three days, from July 1-3.

After the museum, we drove around and did our own little car tour of the battlefield.  There are statues and monuments all along the tour.

There are several lookout points along the way too.  It was a little cold and SOOOO windy, so we only climbed a few but he is one of the views.  It's a beautiful place!

 

This is at the top of the "Little Roundtop"

This is where the well was and were the soldiers obtained water throughout the battle.

 

This was day one of our little vacation.  We had a great time there and it truly is an amazing place.