A Photo Album: Our 11th Anniversary

Matt and I made a promise to each other.

Each year, we would make our anniversary a priority, and we would make sure to focus on our marriage and get away from it all.

I posted about our trip from last year.

and from the year before last.

And this year, despite the fact that our resources were compromised, and life has been very stressful,

We continued in our promise.

We worked a lot harder this year to find a good deal, but we were able to get a last minute room here:

It was delightful. In the heart of Apple Country, and North of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, The Slocum House Inn was a perfect place to disappear {and eat an amazing breakfast}! We spent a lot of quiet moments walking the grounds and enjoying the most glorious Fall weather. Every moment felt like a gift.:

Our humble and cozy room at the B & B {I just love staying in historic homes}:

I had to show you the pool. I thought it was so cool! With the stone wall, the small size and the bush surround {I never would have thought to do that so close, but it really softens it. and works!}, I think they did a fantastic job blending a fenced pool into the landscape:

 We spent part of our afternoon finding good eateries {of course.}, and then doing an auto-tour of the Gettysburg battlefield:

 And another part of our afternoon doing this:

 Dinner was at Restaurant Sidney. It was a splurge, but we saved a lot by bringing our own wine and ordering modestly. It was SO worth it!

 Can you see that the name of our wine was "Weisenheimer"??  Yeah. We got quite tickled with ourselves over that:

 Our actual wedding cake, 11 years ago, was not white. No sireee. I love chocolate far too much to have a silly old thing like a white wedding cake messing with my chocolate. So, our wedding cake was a BROWN flourless chocolate truffle decadence cake. And guess what Sidney had on the menu? Yes. mmmmmm.

We will take two.

On Sunday, we stumbled upon the precious town of Boiling Springs, PA, which revolved around the actual Springs that fed a lake in the center of town. We had a fantastic time checking out all of the gorgeousness that God had placed there:

 snooping at historic homes everywhere we went! This one housed an Underground Railroad station:

Then we stumbled upon the Appalacian Trail. And while I did not get to witness any fun, smelly, backpackers with dreads, I pretended that I was one for a little bit as I hiked it for.......

 say....... point-3 miles, or so:

 And on our brief weekend, we did, in fact, focus on us, and our love for each other, and our many blessings:

Another beautiful Fall day, 11 years ago.  The first kiss of our married life. October 9, 1999:

plus eleven wonderful years: