Honeymoon Recap

As life becomes a little less hectic (hectic in the best way possible, if that's even a thing), I finally have time to sit down and recap a bit of what's been going on since Andrew and I got married. Once I get all of our wedding pictures back from our amazing photographer (seriously, if you're in the midwest and are in need of a photographer message me and I'll hook you up!), I'll be writing a wedding recap. But, for now, you'll just get to see all of the cool sites and yummy foods Andrew and I got to experience while on our honeymoon.

We left on Saturday, August 5th around 4pm and made our way to Cincinnati.

We did not coordinate our outfits, by the way.

We stopped at Panera for dinner (of course) and I got the southwest chicken broth bowl (SUPER GOOD).

We got to our hotel and opened some of our cards--it was so fun to read all of the wonderful words and blessings people had written us. We felt, and still feel, so blessed that we got to celebrate with so many people who love us so much!

On Sunday, we went to King's Island!

It was a bit rainy and chilly, but that just meant there were less people to wait behind in lines! Around 11:30am, it started raining a lot, so we got some coffee and hot chocolate at Starbucks and ate lunch. By the time we finished drinking/eating, the rain had stopped and we were able to ride all of the coasters we wanted with minimal waiting--it was great!

The Banshee was definitely our favorite.

For dinner we went to a chain Mediterranean restaurant called Taziki's. Guys..it was incredible.

That hummus though....

But the company was better. (:

I got the veggie gyro and I dipped it in the hummus...best decision I've made in a while (besides getting married).

The next day (Monday), we headed to our cabin in Pigeon Forge, TN.

Of course, we had to stop at Chick-Fil-A. (:

Our cabin was the cutest! We settled in and then made some dinner. I messed around with our new camera while Andrew manned the stove.

Pan fried chickpeas, roasted brussels sprouts, mixed greens, and sweet potato.

In the morning (Tuesday), we each had a slice of our wedding pancake stack along with dragon fruit because we had never tried it before.

We decided the dragon fruit was good, but they definitely wouldn't be a staple in our house.

We decided to go hiking because it was SO nice outside, so we packed up some leftover veggies and chickpeas and some fruit and LOTS of water and made our way to Chestnut Top Trail.

We didn't do the whole trail, but we saw so much beauty!

When we got back to the cabin, we showered and made ourselves look decent before going out for dinner. We made it a point while we were in Pigeon Forge to only eat out at places we couldn't find in Indiana, and I loved every place we went!

For dinner, we went to The Old Mill Café. We loved it!

I got grilled salmon on top of a rice pilaf and steamed broccoli. The salmon was basically perfect.

Wednesday morning, we had eggs and more of our pancake stack for breakfast. We ate it on our cute little backyard porch. Gah...I couldn't handle how adorable this place was.

Because it wasn't supposed to rain all day, we decided to go hiking again. We were researching trails and happened to find one called "Curry Mountain Trail". After we found that one, we couldn't NOT do it. I mean...seriously. How perfect??

Again, gorgeous views everywhere.

We refueled with some ice cream from a local place called "Mad Dog's Creamery". The best part though...it was FREE. When we rented our cabin, the rental included a free ticket to some random shows and entertainment as well as a free double scoop waffle cone from this place. How could we turn it down?

Chocolate peanut butter and moose tracks.

For dinner, we went to Bullfish Grill. It's mainly a seafood and steak restaurant (really similar to Red Lobster).

I got a cilantro lime grilled chicken with rice and broccoli and Andrew got baramundi, broccoli, and cheesy grits.

Thursday morning, we had our breakfast out on the porch again.

There's just something about sipping coffee, eating pancakes, and breathing in some fresh air that just soothes your soul.

Unfortunately, it was supposed to rain all day, so we couldn't hike. BUT, we had a free ticket to Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg so obviously we had to go.

We stopped at Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen for lunch, first, though. I had salmon, rice, broccoli, and a GIANT roasted sweet potato.

When we got to the aquarium, there was a pretty long line of people waiting to get in, but it went quickly and we got to see so many neat sea creatures!

Friday morning, we got up, ate breakfast, and packed up. We were sad to leave, but we were excited to see our families again and to move into our apartment at school.

One last picture in front of our cabin.

Road-trip views.

Last stop before home=Panera. Best decision ever.

Now, we are at school. Andrew is going to be a chapel worship leader so he is in training during the day. I have been on house duty--cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, etc.--which isn't so bad. I've also been practicing for my senior recital this fall as well as catching up on some podcast listening. I'm trying to soak up every bit of rest I can before school starts because I know when it hits...it will HIT HARD.

Stay tuned for a wedding recap in the next couple of weeks!! Love you guys!