31 Days of a Small Town Gal (Day 6): Small Town Gal Celebrates, Part 1

{Welcome to our October series, "31 Days of a Small Town Gal". You are on Day 6. Missed any previous posts? Click {here} to catch up!}

 Even though we live in a small town, the good thing is that we are fairly close to larger towns that house malls, Target, and Starbucks. Basically, things one needs in order to survive. For our anniversary dinner, we took the short drive to Knoxville and ate at an amazing restaurant. But before we left, we exchanged gifts.

Our 8th wedding anniversary was September 18th, and I really wanted to get something unique for Brandon. We typically do not "gift" each other on anniversaries, but instead go on a small getaway. But, since having three kids in four years has kind of kept us closer to home, we have, over the past few years, gotten each other a gift and went on a smaller date. 

This year, after visiting several antique stores in the neighboring towns of Lake City and Clinton, I found Brandon a pocket knife from the 1940s and had it engraved with his initials at Bowman's Jewelers here in LaFollette. He LOVED it. He had been bragging all week long that my gift would "knock my socks off". Curious and anxious to see, as we can rarely afford to buy each other nice things throughout the year, he handed me my gift. And my socks were officially gone:

HE BOUGHT ME A NEW LAPTOP. My current laptop has a battery that needs to be replaced, which basically means that I have to stay plugged in to an outlet the entire time I am using it or it will die. And since I am going to the Allume Conference at the end of the month, he thought a new laptop would be the perfect gift. But, it gets better. See the sticker on the back of the laptop?? He had a TON of those printed that I can hand out at the conference!! So, I have an "official" mywalkwitheden.com laptop. 

BEST. GIFT. EVER. Sure, jewelry is wonderful. But electronics?? YES, PLEASE.  

After I sobbed for thirty minutes about the best gift ever, we headed to the Old City in Knoxville for our anniversary date. My best friend got me a gift certificate to her fave restaurant, the Melting Pot, for Christmas, and I have held onto it since then, just waiting for our anniversary to arrive. I think Brandon was a tad embarrassed that I kept pulling my camera out to take pictures of food, so some of these are not great because I was trying to hurry:

It was a four course meal, with spinach artichoke cheese dip and chunks of artisan bread for dipping, a salad (I chose the California salad), the main course (chunks of sirloin, pork, seasoned chicken, and shrimp) and then dessert.

This date was so important for us. We definitely are both busy and it is difficult to find the much needed time to spend together. After we overcame the {"7th year itch of marriage"}, we are ready for a breath of fresh air and new beginnings. And cheesecake:

Sure, living in small town has its advantages. But a definite disadvantage is that it does not have fondue:

Look forward to sharing "Part 2" of our 8th anniversary celebration in tomorrow's post!

(Missed today's daily photo? Click here.)