When trying to decide what to do to celebrate our one year.. we both wanted something pretty low key. We decided to go to Gatlinburg, TN for a long weekend. We both wanted to visit the Ripley's Aquarium and wanted to go on a hike. . a scavenger hike that is! More on that later.
I knew that I wanted to buy a small topper cake again since we didn't freeze ours from the wedding. Don't judge.. we just couldn't stop eating it! If you had a piece of a cake made by katycake you would have done the same. So I surprised Chris with a strawberry cake that was just as scrumptious as it was the year before.
And here she is in all her glory. . even with a glowing light behind her! Okay I know it's the lamp. . just go with it. (Good positioning Chris)
I also made Chris some oreo balls that he recently fell in love with. It's such a simple recipe and thank you to Amanda for sharing it with us. All you do is crush a pack of oreos and mix with one package of cream cheese then you form them into balls and throw them into the freezer. After they harden you dip them in white chocolate and refrigerate. They are delish!
Now for the gifts.. well there weren't supposed to be any. We told each other that the trip was our present to each other.. but even though we say this it rarely works that way. I made Chris a map cork board. I cut the map out of an atlas and I glued cork board to the backing of a picture frame and then I glued the map to the cork board. I put the backing into the frame and left off the glass. I put a pin in each of the places we have been together and told him I am looking forward to adding a pin to all the other places we will visit in the future! I know.. I love it! And it was a diy project so it didn't cost a penny. I already had all the supplies I needed. So I didn't really fib when I told Chris I wasn't going to buy him anything.. right? except for the cake! but hey he cheated too!
Since the traditional 1st year anniversary is paper.. he got me the sweetest card, wrote the sweetest poem and put some sweet moolah in there!
He also took me out to dinner to wherever I chose. He is the best :)
While we were there we also did a scavenger hunt hike. We have had this book called Scavenger Hike Adventures by Kat and John Lafevre and have always wanted to try one. Most of the hikes are near Gatlinburg so we thought this was a good opportunity to try one out. We found a hike in the book that looked fun (bud "ogle" farm) and plugged it into our Tom Tom. During the hike you have certain items to look for. It is so fun. Here are a few pictures showing our treasures that we found! We did pretty well if I do say so myself.
These trees were damaged years ago by a bad blight.
twin twees
This was the rock wall that the pioneers had made back in the day
wall of roots
drive through barn
This was granny's window. She would shoot the critters getting into her garden right out of this little window!
This was where the "weiner cabin" once stood. Weird!
It was tons of fun and way more interesting than just a regular old hike.. although I love those too.
Okay next on the list! CAKE SMASH
Yeah.. Chris was pretty aggressive.. he took advantage of the fact that I dropped a crumb on the bed.. I was going to pick it up and he went in for the kill. Cheap shot! I think I'm pretty glad we didn't do this in my wedding dress.. but it sure was fun one year later.
Here was a night out to TGI Friday's..and walking the strip. We ended this night by playing cards out on our balcony.
Okay last adventure.. I promise! Ripley's Aquarium.
All-in-all it was the best one year celebration a girl like me could ask for! Thanks babes for spoiling me the way you do.. I definitely do not deserve it!
Whew.. I'm finally finished. I am pretty surprised you are actually still reading! Thanks so much for stopping by! <3
