Chickamauga

So we stopped at Chickamauga and Chattanooga Battlefield on our way back in to town, a civil war site which was a win for the South tactically, though they lost almost 2,000 more men than the North. I was very impressed with the displays they had evaluating the causes of the Civil War (it wasn't just slavery, y'all!) and showing the progression of the war including all the major milestones. The most impressive collection was that of a man who donated his gun collection to the battlefield! The guns ranged in age from 1803-1913! 

I figured out that my phone camera was PERFECT for shooting detail through the glass because I could put the lens up to the glass (thus avoiding the reflection issue) and it was willing to focus on something close up and fairly well. These pictures were re-sized, so if you want a closer look at some of the amazing details on the trigger areas on these.

Republic of Texas Gun

Gun forged at Harper's Ferry, which changed sides 8 times during the War!

I thought this one was quite nice

And this is the butt of the gun!

The one with the filigree is in the middle

Shovel or bayonet? You make the call-- though I think it could be a dual use sort of thing.

British gun from the Civil War

Belt buckles found on the grounds at Chickamauga 

North Georgia

We are back safe and sound from Knoxville, a detailed (but boring) post to follow-- until then, enjoy the scenic view in North Georgia. LOVE my home state!

Holla back internets

Life, as always, has been pretty busy lately-- the transition from summer to after school has almost completed itself and our new checkout system is in place at work so things are going fairly well on that front. We're also getting a chance to relax at home and since after school is on, I get to think about taking a break!

This weekend, we're going to Knoxville thanks to a LivingSocial escape-- I'm DEFINITELY excited for a three day weekend to relax with Jeremy and to see S-K and Chelsea while we're there! The deal lands us two nights in the Presidential Whirlpool Suite, a facial massage at an Aveda salon, and a trip to the movies! I'm very excited, we definitely need a weekend of relaxation. I'll take the computer anyway, but I'm dedicated to not checking work stuff the entire time we're there. Period!

Next month we have a week that we could potentially take off, and we're hoping to go to NC to see my Aunt and Uncle. We'd thought about going up to Memphis, but it looks like Ana won't be there by the time we'll get there. We really hope we get to see her again before they leave the country because we promised we would, but we'll see how long it takes for them to get everything straightened out. We'll also be in Memphis at the end of October for homecoming and then up to Indiana for Thanksgiving. Since all the schools have the entire week off for Thanksgiving, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we won't have enough people to sign up for Thanksgiving break and we'll get the whole week off automatically! What a blessing THAT would be!!

Christmas is here this year with my mom, and she's really excited to have us be at OBC for their services. It's a nice, quiet, peaceful service and even though we won't have a white Christmas like last year I'm sure it'll be beautiful! I need to figure out what we're going to do for our second anniversary, too. I've already decided that I want to have everyone sign the guest book from the wedding at each anniversary. I missed last year, but I can start this year-- there's so much space left in that book, and every year that we're together we have more friends and there's nothing to say that our anniversaries aren't just as special as our wedding!

I'll stop there and see if I can think of anything more interesting to post-- if nothing else, I'll put up pictures from Knoxville when we get back!