A clock and paper?

David planned for he and I to head to the Brasstown Valley Resort to kick off our anniversary celebration! It was the most breathtaking place - this is the view from our room!
On Friday morning, we took a two hour horseback trail ride. It was so peaceful and relaxing!
David's a natural on a horse! :)
The resort from the trail ride.

Tradition calls for paper to be given on the first anniversary, and clocks are apparently the modern gift. Who comes up with this stuff? So, I wrote a journal for David that detailed our ups, downs, events, and fun from the first year we were married and got him that sharp-looking bedside clock.
He surprised me with a beautiful album with photos from our first year's events!
I just read that Lauren got one of these this past weekend too, and my parents got me the baby grass and surf butter dish to add to my R. Wood pattern. I just love the colors!
My parents also surprised David and I with a fun oldies CD to jam out to, and this beautiful yellow and gold tole tray! I have never seen one like this before, and I am tickled to have it our home!
I took our cake topper out a few days before hand to thaw. We had friends for dinner the night we got home from Brasstown Valley, and they were able to share in the deliciousness too!

We used the cake to celebrate Wesley's birthday too! We were so excited that the Hills and the Wages came to spend the night with us - we loved celebrating Wesley's day and our anniversary too, if only Lauren the other birthday girl had been with us!
Captain David!
On Sunday, we had the pleasure of the Hices joining us! Little Luke is adorable and perfect, and we were so glad to spend some time with Glenn and Josh! As always, Colby and Jaime came to hang out too!
My sweet hubs of one year!
On Sunday night, we had a special dinner to cap off the great weekend we had, and to also kick off Colby and Jaime's wedding week. They are getting married tomorrow, and we wanted to have one last relaxing dinner with them.
The evening was just lovely, and we enjoyed filets, macaroni n' cheese, caprese salad, asparagus, and a green salad. As always, there was plenty of wine and laughing. For dessert, we had True Love's cupcakes - yum!

I wanted to share this recipe for mac n' cheese. I know we all don't really need to be eating this on a regular basis, but try to make it for a special occasion. We've been enjoying a little along all week - it makes enough for a great week of leftovers. I absolutely love mac n' cheese, its been my favorite food for like my whole life, and when you add truffles to it, its just decadent. However, Gainesville doesn't have this type of gourmet truffle oil, but the dish was wonderful without it.

California Truffled Macaroni and Cheese
makes 6 servings

4 tablespoons butter
1 lb. elbow macaroni
2 quarts milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 lb. sharp cheddar, grated
1/4 lb. mild cheddar, grated
2 oz. Gorgonzola cheese
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
1 teaspoon black truffle oil
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup panko (bread crumbs)
fresh chives

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9x13 baking dish. Cook pasta. In a large saucepan, heat the milk to hot. In another saucepan, melt butter, add flour, and cook about 3 minutes until straw colored. Raise heat and add milk. Make sure milk on bottom doesnt burn, and then remove from heat. Add garlic, chedder (mild and sharp) and Gorgonzola, Tobasco, truffle oil, salt, and pepper. Stir in the pasta. Pour into baking dish, sprinkling the panko and P-R over the mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes and garnish with chives!

Enjoy!