Thankfulnessssss!

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I missed my family terribly! Luckily Mitch and I made with what we have and took off to Charleston South Carolina! Before I give a play by play about the trip I want to give a list of a few things I am grateful for:
    The Serious List: A husband who loves me and treats me like a I would    never have dreamt.
                              A family who I seriously consider to be my best friends.
                              Being so blessed as to have coworkers that have become a family away from my own.
                              A ward that has helped strengthen my testimony in my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
                              To be in a Relief Society that has so many strong women and mothers who I can look                                  to and learn from!
    The Extra Little Perks!: A gorgeous commute to UNC!
                                        Snow!
                                        Phone calls from my mom!
                                        CHOCOLATE
                                        Fall leaves!
                                        Mountains and the Ocean
                                        Super neighbors!
                                        Passing my classes!
                                        Hot Chocolate (my new obsession)
                                        Grey's Anatomy!
                                        Snuggles with my best friend!
                                        Fuzzy socks!!
                                        Chap stick!
                                        DR PEPPER
                                        and SO SO much more
Alright! That was fun but here is my trip! The Wednesday before thanksgiving Mitch and I left for Charleston, a 4 and a half hour drive. BEFORE the drive however, I spent four hours at an auto shop fixing the jeeps tires, and all worth it too! An hour into the drive our tire pressure was already leaking.... the good news is, that was the only bad part of our trip!

We arrived in Charleston around 9 pm to our gorgeous hotel! I am sure their are plenty of people who have seen nicer than this but I felt super spoiled in our room! Here is the bathroom, yes, the bathroom. I am in love with the mirror and I don't care who knows it!                                                                         

After checking in, we headed to the room and relaxed. yup. We didn't head out for the town or hot tub or anything. We sat. It was perfect. Mitch and I have been seeing just about nothing of each other or sleep for quite a while and sitting is exactly what we needed. We went to bed early and watched TV until we fell asleep.

The next morning (Thanksgiving!) we went on a horse drawn carriage tour through the historical city of Charleston. It was also perfect. The city was buzzing but not super busy because of the holiday. Their were three different tours that the guide could have taken us on and we got the one that included Rainbow Row, Steven Colbert's house, and the beautiful historical house in which The Notebook was filmed in.

 

These houses were incredible, most would cost around 3 million dollars. They are hundreds of years old and have so many stories. Mitch and I both are nerds when it comes to this stuff. If you don't want to hear the juicy history stop reading now, I may or may not tell some interesting little facts.

Interesting factoid #1: Fire Insurance! Back in the day Charleston had a lot of fires burning down houses and churches due to indoor kitchens and such. Some entrepreneur began the first insurance company in Charleston. It was a little different than today's though, people who paid for the insurance were the only ones who had fireman put out their fires. The rest of the people's houses would be left to burn. People that paid for it received a little plaque to be put on their house.

Interesting Factoid #2: On some girls wedding day she woke up to find an envelope from her father on her pillow. The note said something like this: On the first day of the rest of your life, you should build your dream house. Inside the envelope was $75,000 dollars. She built the house next to her fathers (the one in the notebook). Dad's house is on the left and the daughter's is on the right.

Factoid #3: This is a crooked house because of over tightening of the little rod irons they put through the houses as a defense against hurricanes.

Factoid #4: This is the dungeon where signers of the declaration of independence were held.

Factoid #5: George Washington stayed in this building while visiting Charleston.

After our adventures in Charleston Mitch was DYING to go to the beach. No it was not super hot outside but it was warm enough and Mitch is very persuasive. So I caved. We spent half of the day boogie boarding on Thanksgiving. I don't know when that is ever happening again but it was great! No one else was swimming so we had the waves to ourselves and had a warm shower afterwards.

When we were warm again and ready, we headed downstairs to the Hotel's restaurant. They were having a Thanksgiving buffet so we luckily got turkey, yams and mashed potatoes for the holiday! After that we digested in the hot tub and again went to bed early. I can't believe how much we slept, loved it!

The next morning we got up early and had a tour of the Boone Plantation, a 700 + acre old south plantation. At one point in time they had 28 slave houses, These people were crazy rich back in the day. My favorite part was the row of oak trees. They were beautiful!

Next we went on a harbor tour to see Fort Sumter and some battleships. Our trip was exactly what we needed and I am so very grateful for the time I got with Mitch. We needed a vacation and he planned the absolute perfect break for us. Next on our to-do list are finals and then CHRISTMAAAS!! We are in Utah from the 20th to the 30th for much needed family time!