Babymoon-aversary to Gatlinburg, TN

May has been a big month for our little family of two (and a half ;).

On May 9th, I graduated from college with my Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. That one is still sinking in. The end of the month, May 30th, is our one year wedding anniversary. Cue all the feels. Also, since I'm 30 weeks pregnant (when you're reading this), my hubby planned a babymoon for May before I got too incredibly pregnant to enjoy our one last travel as two. Major props to whoever started that trend 'cause what a great idea.

All that to say, we just got back from possibly one of the most celebratory vacations we will every take. It was a babymoon-aversary to the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Made that word up myself. ;) Timed perfectly before all the kiddos get out of school for the summer and before the real heat of summer sets in, we had the best weather and hardly any crowds.

Our little cabin was tucked into the hills about a mile and a half off of the main parkway between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. It was an ideal location for just about anything you could want to do. Before we left for the trip I was checking the weather constantly, and they were calling for 60-70% chance of rain every day that we would be there. But it never rained! We were able to spend a lot of time outside walking the strip of Gatlinburg, playing Farkle (the best dice game ever) in rocking chairs on our porch, and sight seeing on the mountain outlooks without a single drop of rain falling on us. Bless.

Speaking of sight seeing on the mountain outlooks....we did have one funny little mishap on the trip. In true little James fashion, we locked the keys in our car when we were on the side of a mountain, almost to our 5,000 feet up outlook destination. It was a classic snowball of unfortunate situations. We were not only locked out of our car, but the temperature had dropped about 10 degrees cooler, there was an impending rain cloud coming towards us, AND we were hungry and about ready to eat our picnic lunch at the next outlook spot (which was now locked in the car). Hungry pregnant lady warning. What happened was I locked the car, but thought my husband had the keys in his pocket, and he did not. Marriage communication 101 yall. Haha!

That day actually ended up going about as amazing as it could have though. We met two kind Christian men, Allen and John, from Chicago who drove us to find a park ranger and let us warm up in their van. About an hour later, two volunteer park rangers arrived! The man broke out his handy bag of tools and ended up using three of those air pumpy thingys to unlock my, apparently, super resilient car. Did I mention these two volunteer park rangers were a man and woman who had been married for 64 years? How cute is that! This couple now spends their retired years driving around the Great Smoky Mountain National Park helping people out for fun. If that aint #goals I don't know what is! So much kindness was shown to us that day.

Some other highlights from our trip included eating breakfast at The Pancake Pantry, the Star Cars Museum (we got to see actual cars used in the movies!), dinner at the Apple Barn, seeing the new Captain America: Civil War at the Forge Theater in Pigeon Forge, eating a caramel apple from the Chocolate Monkey, and just enjoying hanging out in our cabin. It was a much needed trip of relaxation, good conversation, and anticipation for what's coming soon with my honey.

Other random travel favorites: 
Song: "Boy Problems" by Carly Rae Jepsen. Seriously. Listen to it.

Snack: Twizzlers & Pringles. Only the healthiest of choices.

Books:
1) Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney. I read this before our wedding last year and am re-reading at our one year anniversary. I highly recommend this book for any female considering marriage, about to get married, or already married!

2) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: The Illustrated Edition. My graduation gift from Samuel! IT IS AMAZING.

Souvenir: New cups! Apparently I have a thing about water bottles and coffee mugs. Those were my souvenirs of choice for this trip.

Outing: The lookout spots in the National Park were pretty amazing. I almost wish we had done that twice.

Eats: The Pancake Pantry, of course. Their pancakes are outofthisworld good.

This picture was taken minutes before I walked back to the car to get my jacket because I was cold, and then realized that the car was locked. Notice that scary rain cloud approaching...

Thanks for a wonderful little getaway, GB. 

Much love, 

the Jameses