Day Trip to Gettysburg

A couple Saturdays ago, we woke up bright and early, packed up our bags as if we were going to Disney World for the day, and made the ~2 hour drive up to Gettysburg, PA.  The 150th Anniversary of the Battle was this year on July 1-3, and they were celebrating and doing reenactments through the weekend/month.  

Since I've never seen a Civil War reenactment, I decided this would be the perfect time to go, being the 150th Anniversary.  As with everything, there are rookie mistakes...

Here are some things I thought we did well:

Leave Early

Do research ahead of time on where to go

Wear sneakers

Bug spray

Bring mini backpack instead of purse

Here are some things we failed on:

Not buying tickets ahead of time (for the grandstands/also WAY cheaper)

Not wearing sunblock (i KNOW...)

Not bringing water bottles

Not bringing chairs/umbrellas to sit under/setting them up early by the field

I don't think I'd recommend going on a anniversary weekend, although it was cool to be there. The crowds were crazy and there was no parking anywhere.

The reenactment experience was unlike any other I've ever had. I absolutely LOVED it.  I am a huge history nerd as you know from last year's birthday party.  We arrived nice and early and took the time to walk through the tents and the living history area.  We even got to see Gen. Longstreet talk about his battle plans!   It was very, extremely hot, even though it was only 10 am.  We started chugging water and sweating immediately.  I have never been so sweaty, and so OK with it, in my life.

In one of the tents, piece of a tree that witnessed the battle and Gettysburg Address

View of camp

Tons of people were walking around in period clothing. IT WAS SO HOT.

Gen. Longstreet gets ready to talk to the crowd

He was pretty awesome. Did you know that he was in Ulysses S. Grant's wedding?

CSA dude on a horse. He posed for me. hahaha

The battle we saw was a cavalry demonstration, which is actually very rare to see because of all the horses involved.  Because of the live horses, nobody really "died" in the battle- they simply ran off the field.  This was done for obvious safety reasons.  Also, there was no real winner, although the battle was loosely based on Gen. Stuart arriving at Gettysburg.  It was also very, extremely patriotic.  We began by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem, and "Lincoln" recited the Gettysburg Address.  I ate it up.  Joey and I walked around quite a bit trying to find a good spot to stand, and we finally decided on a hill in front of the "camp".  It was one of the better spots, next to the main grandstands.  

Lining up for battle

If you look closely you can see Lincoln

The Confederates run across the field in a disorganized line to get set up. Very authentic.  The Union soldiers were much more organized and put together.

Confederates get set up for the battle

OMG we're here! (and sweating)

Gun powder in the air

Union soldiers line up behind the fence

The battle ensues, the Rebel Yell is heard!

The cavalry charge!

After the battle was over, they paraded around the field so everyone could get a good look.

Which is when I got this awesome picture.

Btw, there were TONS of cheers when the Union soldiers came by.  Joey said it was only because we are in the North ;)

There were several more battles that day that our tickets were good for, but I had never actually been to Gettysburg (so weird).  So I wanted to go over to the battlefield and see the museum and the monuments.  Reenactments are always done on private land, as the battlefield is a memorial and it is illegal to do reenactments there.  So we headed over to downtown Gettysburg.  It was SO CROWDED.

After grabbing some lunch at Wendys and driving around FOREVER trying to find parking (next time we go, it will NOT be on an anniversary weekend), we finally found a spot and walked over to view some of the monuments.  

Gen. Meade on his horse

Confederates who died in the spot below, notably Gen. Armistead.

The spot where Gen. Armistead fell during Pickett's Charge

Meade again, looking over the battlefield.

Looking out from the Union position in the direction in which the Confederates came across the field during Pickett's Charge.

Looking back from the opposite direction, from the Confederate position.  Can you imagine walking across that entire field?!

Gen. Robert E. Lee monument

Gen. Lee looking out over the battlefield

We also visited the museum, although I don't have many pictures from that experience.

Faces of the Union

Faces of the CSA

Gettysburg Address

It was so hot out and so crowded, but we wanted to do as much as possible.  We finally threw in the towel after a full day and what we guessed was 3-5 miles of walking.  Once we got that parking spot we didn't want to lose it, so we had walked everywhere.  

Being there over July 4th weekend made me extra thankful for all of our troops, past and present (and future) that have given us the ability to live the way we do today.  Without their ultimate sacrifice, we would not be able to celebrate with our BBQs and beers.  

I can't wait to go back to Gettysburg.  I know there is much more to see and I can't wait to see it.

~Sg

Basement Bathroom Reno

It's been a while since we've done anything major with the house.  As most of you know, we bought the place 2 years ago this August.  It was not a regular sale, and the place needed quite a bit of work.  I can't believe it's been almost 2 years, and we've done a TON since then... but we'd taken a bit of a hiatus as of late. When we realized it was almost time for my annual birthday themed bash, we decided we needed to step it up a bit to show folks who were here last year (right after the carpet was put in the basement!) that we were still actively working on making the man cave a better place- namely giving them a working bathroom down there!

We received all the pieces for the bathroom for Christmas from Joey's parents.  I'm not kidding- we got a vanity, mirror, light fixture, towel/toilet paper racks, and a sink fixture.  All we had to do was open the door to that disgusting room and get to work.  I'd started peeling off the ugly wallpaper border sometime last fall, but quickly lost interest.  Joey was waiting for me to peel off the wall paper and clean up the grossness before he could start working.

You guys.  It was DISGUSTING.  Whoever used this bathroom before us clearly was blind and didn't know where the toilet was.  We actually removed the toilet and bought a new one within the first few weeks of owning the house.  But it was so gross in there that we quickly condemned it and closed the door.

A couple weeks ago, we felt motivated and decided to get to work.  Joey did a GREAT job as plumber, electrician, and overall work horse.  I felt I did a good job motivating, watching, holding the light and the fan, and bleaching.  Everything.  Multiple times.  I'm talking pure bleach, people. I probably burned my lungs but after the 5th time I felt OK walking around barefoot in there.

Now I'll share some pictures... this is where I should warn you- some of it is pretty gross.  But, I've always said I want to be real on this blog so here we go!

The first step, after I pulled off all the wallpaper and cleaned up, was to remove the original vanity.  This included quite a bit of plumbing work since the vanity was built with the house, and the plumbing was done afterwards...

Here's a shot I took of the tub before we cleaned, re-caulked, cleaned again, and cleaned again:

Gross dirty walls, broken light.. just nasty all around.

This is what it looked like after Joey removed the vanity.  I told you it was gross.

Time for painting!

Faithful companions guarding our exit

Installing the new toilet

Quick plumbing fix. Maybe someday Joey will let me tell you that story.

Putting the sink together while the pins look on.
You can also see in the left corner of the pic a piece of missing drywall.  This was the cover to the sump pump and that day I finally pulled it out and painted it to match the rest of the walls.

"Watching paint dry"

Before....

AFTER!

 The entire project took us about 24 hours to complete, with some sleeping, IHOP and a couple trips to Lowes.  It also took about a week for everything I ordered online to arrive.  I was soooo excited to put it all together, and now I get to share it with you!!!

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I GIVE YOU "THE GISH MAN-CAVE BATHROOM":

YAYYYYYYY!!!!

HAPPY MONDAY!

~SG

Stitch Fix #2

YAYYYY!!! I got another Stitch Fix last week.  If you remember, my first one was a success and so much fun and I think you should all join and not only so I get a credit but more because it's so much fun to get surprises in the mail!!!!  I did the same thing as last time- used the mirror in the guest room. [But this time I used a real camera.]  So without further ado, here is what was in this month's fix:

1. Really pretty dress (crap... I threw away the paper with the names and prices on it)

This one was really cute and good for work and looking at these pictures now I am kind of regretting sending it back.  But I did.  It fit well but was sliiightly snug.  Also the zipper had a catch in it (my guess from being tried on so many times.  I let them know about it in my survey).  Finally, the colors were just okay.  It was brown/white striped and I don't have much that goes with it.  The cut looks good though, so hopefully I can find something like this elsewhere.

Up close/neckline pic

2. Blue Flutter-Sleeve Shirt

Check how cute this is!! They sent me a ton of work-worthy stuff this time, which I'm totally fine with because that's where I spend 99% of my time.  I looove this from the color to the sleeves.  Why didn't I keep it?  Because it was too short!  See the below pictures for my peeping-belly-button....

:(

3.  Green one-button Blazer

Totally not what I would have ever picked out, but I need more blazers for work because they easily make any outfit more formal.  I kept it (and wore it to work yesterday!)  I also like  it because it will look just as cute with a pair of jeans in the Fall.

Ignore the white tank, it was all I could find.

Close up of the sleeve detail for you

4. Bracelet!

A $28 bracelet.  Not great, price-wise, but it is cute.  I opted not to keep it because I don't like to wear gold bracelets that much (or bracelets...at all) (as I sit here with one on my wrist).  I thought it was cute but in the interest of my wallet, I returned it.

5. WTF Shirt

Seriously this one goes in the "Not Impressed" category.  When I pulled it out of the box I assumed it would look better once on my person.  I was wrong.  I'm not a fan of the color/pattern (a little too farm-y for me), and also it puts you at risk for a wardrobe malfunction.  That coupled with the fact that it was too short/didn't fit around my hips properly, it went back.

In summary, I kept one thing just like I did last time.  I did have some credits so I didn't spend as much on it as advertised.  One thing to mention, if you have credits in your account, they take $20 from your credits to send your next Fix.  That was a surprise to me.

If you want to join, here's the referral link:

http://stitchfix.com/sign_up?referrer_id=3076424

Hope everyone has big plans for July 4th.  Be safe, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!

~SG