Wedding and Birthday

This post is a little overdue, but I have been extremely busy lately.

On April 27, Rachel and I went to our friends' wedding in western Maryland.  The wedding (pictured in video) was lovely, and it was wonderful weather for a wedding.  One of my favorite parts of the wedding, however, was actually the drive home afterwards.  During the two hour drive, Rachel and I seriously discussed our own upcoming wedding.  Here are some pics of the wedding:

The next day was my birthday.  Rachel surprised me, I had no idea what was going to happen.  She told me where to drive to, but didn't say what we would find.  We started by going to Spag-N-Vola, a chocolate factory right in Gaithersburg, which owns its own plantation in the Dominican, and gave us a tour of their facility and explained how they make chocolate.  It was tasty, informative, and a lot of fun.


We then met my parents for dinner- and for the first time in my entire life I saw my dad without a beard (due to a bet he'd made).  We had a lovely dinner at a Moroccan restaurant, with great live music.  Then Rachel told me to move my car next to my mom's.  In the back of mom's car, was a brand new Smart TV that Rachel had bought me.  She told me to move it to the car quickly because we were late for dessert.   was confused, but again followed her directions- this time to Bethesda, where we stopped at Food, Wine, and Company.  Five of our friends were waiting at a table- and we talked for two hours, over delicious wine and dessert.

Overall, it was the most memorable birthday I've had.