OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO…

The past couple of weeks we’ve been gearing up for our Anniversary trip to Charleston, SC. I’ve wanted to go for awhile now and Christian planned a surprise trip.Well, sort of a surprise. I found out because he had tickets to museum’s mailed to our house, which I intercepted, thus the surprise was ruined. However, I was still equally excited. Christian and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary on September 20th. Which is beyond crazy to think of how much we’ve accomplished, been through, and done in those 7 years. Ups and Downs, Twists and Turns. I’m just glad that he’s my husband and is able to help and love me and be there for me in the most amazing ways. He is truly my best friend and has been such a huge support and a great father to our 3 beautiful children. Here’s a blast from our past…

{ Our Engagement picture from 2003 }

{ Our Wedding Day – September 20, 2003 }
{ The Day we were Sealed as a Family-March 2005 }

{ When Mia joined our Family }

{ When Landen joined our Family }   

{ Our Family Today } 

I am unbelievably blessed and grateful to have such a wonderful family. That I could be a wife and a mother. I’m thankful that Heavenly Father has created such a blessing for us to share and to be sealed as a family forever.

Ok… onto our trip.

We stayed in North Charleston at the Radisson where it was a bit more affordable and were able to come and go but still be nearby. Next time we might stay in the thick of things in Charleston, but it fit our budget and were still able to stay at a nice hotel. So we arrived on Friday after dropping off the kids at Aunt Cherre’s house. Mia saw me that morning packing my flat iron. She knew that Mommy and Daddy were going on a date. But when she asked me why I was packing my straightener, i told her “Just incase I need it.” Then she stopped and I could see her little wheels turning and she said, “Are you going on a SLEEP OVER date??” Which made me crack up and I told her yes. She looked a little weary but soon brushed it off and off we went.

We actually were performing an act of service before heading out the state and from 9-1pm we volunteered at the “me fine” foundation where GSK was raising money by having a yard sale and sold lunch also. The “me fine” foundation helps families who are undergoing trials such as having a child in the hospital undergoing cancer treatments. The founders themselves had a child who had cancer and whenever they asked this precious 2-yr-old how they felt. He responded by saying, “me fine.” Thus the foundation’s name was created. To learn more go here Me Fine Foundation.

So after spending time out in the sweltering hear (95 degrees) we headed south and started our weekend away. We arrived and immediately unloaded and rested, showered and got ready for dinner. We ate at the Harborview above the Holiday Inn. The cool thing about this restaurant was that they had an amazing view of Charleston and the Harbor. Boats, Water, Food… it was relaxing. Christian had a shrimp and pasta dish and I had shrimp, mashed potatoes and veggies. It was good, not the best, but good. We went home watched a little TV and crashed. We were so exhausted from being outside in the heat that we were useless.

Saturday morning: Christian wakes up at 7:30 am. Seriously? Am I on vacation or what? So I wake up at 7:30 am. We get ready and head out. We started our tour of Charleston and had come on the weekend called Museum Mile weekend. We were able to get into all of the old historic houses, museums and walk all over to check each one out. I have to say that my favorite was probably the Old Slave Mart Museum. It was really interesting to learn about that dark part of history in our country. The way the bought and sold slaves like property. It was sad to see the pictures of these old men and women and to just see the sadness in their eyes. I have to admit I got a little teary eyed during it. The thought of being ripped away from your family and friends and having to work such hard laborious work your whole life. I couldn’t imagine the hardships they went through. It was amazing to see that they had such great faith in God though… I guess it was one of the few things that kept them going.

The old houses were absolutely amazing. To walk up and down the streets of Charleston. To roam around their old houses from the 1800’s and see how they lived. I can’t say that I envy them though. As fabulous as their houses are… no AC, outhouses, and that southern humidity. Here are a few pictures we snapped.

{ The entry way to the Joseph Manigault House – snazzy, huh. }
{ The Joseph Manigault House } 
{ One of the many amazing churches }
{ I loved their street lamps. A few were lit with a little flame. Even the houses gas lamps instead of bulbs next to their doorways. classy. }
Let me tell you about this guy…
I don’t know his real name, but for all Office relating purposes, we’ll call him Dwight. He was AMAZING in every sense of the word. Loud talker, superior exterior, unintentionally hilarious. The first words he said to the group were “EXCUSE ME! I am going to have to delay our tour for a few more minutes. I have caught something and NEED TO TAKE CARE OF MYSELF FIRST PEOPLE! I have boot camp next week and need to be ready.” 10 minutes later, comes back with a mug of water. Sips loudly. And tells us our group is way too big. Continues on with lame jokes. He pretty much tells us he is going to bust any myths that you have about history. To which I respond “So he’s a Historian and a Navy Seal.” Christian’s response, “No, no he’s not.”  More lame jokes and facts. At one point he got on his soap box and started talking and the lady in the back tried to escape. Didn’t work, we were in a dungeon after all. Needless to say, after this guy, Christian and I were all historied out. But we did take a minute before leaving to take some sweet pictures with a dummy dressed as a Red Coat.

Part of all the fun is the jokes Christian and I make along the way. If you know us well, you know we don’t take much of anything seriously. Unless of course it’s sports for Christian. And well… pretty much nothing for me. It’s a weakness and a strength, if you ask me. We make fun of everything in passing. Not to be mean or rude, but merely for self entertainment. It works for us, and honestly, it brings us close together. I’ll let you in on a few of our inside jokes…

   This well was covered by a gate but Christian made a point in telling me “Try not to fall in the well, baby Jessica.” I’m not sure if he was calling me baby Jessica or if he was just making the terrible yet hilarious reference in general. The things that come out of his mouth amaze me.

This is me pretty much being a supermodel cause we were bored waiting to go into another museum house. Yes, there were other people around, but we decided to have our own little personal photo shoot in the back garden. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby’s butt… is that ever necessary?

By the end of the day we were exhausted. We went back to the hotel, showered again and got ready for dinner. This was our night to be ~*FANCY*~. So we got all dressed up and headed to a restaurant called Circa. It was located in Downtown Charleston amongst the million dollar houses and was tucked away. Upon arrival I noticed how old the people who were eating here. Which means one of 2 things. It’s wicked expensive, or the food is really intricate. Both of which were true. We had tried to look the food up online but they didn’t have a menu available. And let me tell you why, because everything was made with foi gras (duck liver), antelope, veal, and crazy sauces with ingredients we couldn’t even imagine what the food would taste like. So we were intimidated. We sipped our water, and ordered some fancy cheeses with baguette crackers and a truffle pot… somethin somethin somethin or other and duck. The cheeses were no cheeseball rolled in nuts folks. Nor were the crackers Ritz. The cheeses were super strong and super French and the pot of stuff was good. They also gave us a tiny espresso cup of carrot soup which was really good. Ok… for our main dish we were way over our heads. I wanted steak but alas, there was only a beef tenderloin which was (according to our waiter) very plain. So he recommended the Antelope. Seriously? Uhhhh… So I ordered it and ate it like a Lioness would eat her kill. Christian had Carolina Sea Bass which he really liked. The Antelope, just FYI, tasted just like Filet Mignon. It was AWESOME. No wonder Lions eat them.  Ok ok, so dessert was my FAVORITE. I had a Sweet Potato Crème Brulee with toasted marshmallows on top. It was amazing and tasted just like fall. How does fall taste you ask? Like Sweet Potato Crème Brulee.  Christian had a key lime pie which he also loved. We also got a chocolate flourless torte to go. We were stuffed by the end.

That was pretty much the end of our trip. We woke up on Sunday and headed to a nearby church for Sacrament meeting which turned out to be their Primary Program. We enjoyed that and headed on our way. I tried to sleep on the way home and Christian wasn’t having it. He won’t admit it but he was really homesick and ready to see the kids. I on the other hand enjoyed every last moment til the very end. He doesn’t see the kids as often as I do (which is every minute of my day) b/c he has classes and work. But it was good to be home. I’m going to end with some of my favorite pictures I took of Charleston. They may end up framed in our house someday… we’ll see.