All These Things...: 2 Year Anniversary!

We've been married for two years now! Quickly approaching the status of "no longer newlyweds!" For the last few months, we have been brainstorming, planning, and discussing how we wanted to celebrate our anniversary this year. Of course we threw around ideas of trips...places we'd like to visit, things we'd like to do...and while that list was crazy long, this is what won out:

WE BOUGHT A CAMERA!

Yep, we decided to forego a trip this year, and invest in a nice camera and lenses. But the best part is, we are taking photography classes together on Sundays for 4 weeks! So not only were we able to purchase something that will benefit our family (and be handy on future trips!!), but we are spending time together learning a new skill. I have to admit, the information is quite overwhelming. Neither of us has hopes of becoming a professional photographer, but we are hoping to glean enough information to take decent pictures of our family and future adventures!

**Note: this picture is of us on our way to photography class. It was taken with our OLD camera, because after all, how could we get a picture OF our new camera WITH our new camera? =)

On our anniversary last year, I decided that I would begin a tradition of baking a Chocolate Rum Cake. That is what our groom's cake was at our wedding, and it was amazing. Someone packed us a huge dish of the cake after the reception, and we enjoyed it throughout our entire honeymoon! So last year, I began the tradition. It was a rocky start, as you can see here. Tasted yummy, but boy was that an ugly cake. I hoped to take a cake class before this year's anniversary, but I just missed it. I start classes on October 4th!!

Anyway, here are some pics of the process, using our new camera! I used 3 separate recipes, and I have to admit, it is pretty dang good. I'll post the recipe in another post, so as not to bore you with those details. This is, after all, a post about our anniversary!!

This is Jason, "cleaning the dishes." Yes, he is pouring extra batter straight into his mouth. Love that kid.

Chilling the cake after each layer of ganache helped tremendously.

Secured the layer with straws....ahhhh. Such a difference.

Still not professional quality, but so much better than last year's!!

On Monday night, we got all fancied up and went to JR's Steakhouse for dinner. So fancy and soooo yummy. I got the filet mignon, and Jason got the steak with the jalapeno hollandaise sauce. Everything was amazing, and they even brought us cheesecake for our anniversary! We couldn't even finish our meals, so after a bite of dessert, we asked if they could pack it up for us. Of course by the time we got home, we were in no way wanting cake, but I had to cut it to see how it looked!