Relishing in His Goodness: Chasing Fireflies in The Great Smoky Mountains

My soul has been rejuvenated, y'all! Completely on his own, and quite impressively to boot, my super handsome planned the BEST trip for us to celebrate our first anniversary in The Great Smoky Mountains together. He rented an aesthetically charming lil tree house, cleverly dubbed "Chasing Fireflies" , where we slept just below the tops of the tallest trees, on the mountain, creating a warm and inviting retreat for my mind, body, and soul. Oh, how I needed that!

For the span of this past week, Luke and I ventured through the Smokies where we got to observe black bears (We counted thirty plus bears including many precious baby cubs in Cades Cove!), wild turkey, deer, and geese in their natural habitat. We watched the sun set, shopped and got to sample tasty Smoky Mountain treats, devoured German vittles (I tried schnitzel and spaetzle for the first time! YUM!) reveled in live bluegrass music, explored cabins built in the late 1800's, soaked in a hot tub under a sky slap full of stars, and cooked many a yummy meal together (my man can grill some crazy delicious steaks, btw!). I enjoyed every second of our trip together! I'm incredibly thankful that Luke was able to take off work and thoughtfully planned such an awesome trip for us. I am so very blessed and that notion isn't, for a second, lost on me.

Here are some photos from our trip. Which, by the way, was my FIRST child-free vacation in my history of being a parent....that's 24 plus years, folks! What, what?!?

The adorably charming Chasing Fireflies Treehouse in Wears Valley, TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Roaring Fork Motor Trail in Gatlinburg, TN (Thank you, Laura, for the recommendation! We loved it!)

Insert heart-eyed emojis here. He's soooooo handsome!

Luke, who lived in Germany for two years and enjoys German food, spotted this place while driving the Pigeon Forge strip and was enthusiastic about trying it out. Awesome find! Great service and food! The Wild Bear Tavern in Pigeon Forge served us massive portions of schnitzel, cheese spaetzle, and cabbage. It was scrumptious!

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Check out the talent of Seth Mulder & Midnight Run! We thoroughly enjoyed their performance and hope to see them again, live!

Just a small handful of black bears we saw in Cades Cove! Eeek. Such an exciting experience!

Unapologetic dorky couple sporting anniversary t-shirts. No offense to fans of the show, but I've never seen The Gilmore Girls. I love the shirt, nonetheless! Proud girlfriend, y'all!

To my Luke,

THANK YOU, my handsome, for planning that trip for us! That was just the reprieve that, I think, we both needed after the curveballs life has thrown at us, in the past year. I love that we got to experience new things and spend so much good quality time together. You are my absolute best friend and I'm blessed to call you my fella. In this past year, you have comforted me, made me laugh hysterically, taught me so many new things, made me feel completely and unequivocally loved unconditionally, and are most definitely the half that makes me whole. One year in the books, baby! We slayed that like the bosses that we are! I'm looking forward to spending many more with you. xoxo