7 years

Josh and I celebrated our 7th anniversary yesterday. Seven years we've been married. It's crazy. In some ways it feels like we've been married for 7 decades. In other ways I can't believe it's been seven whole years.

We went to the eastern part of our state for the weekend and we had a really good time. We had several good, long, hard conversations. Conversations about his job, about the kids, about our budget/finances. Although those things aren't necessarily fun to talk about, it's so good to be on the same page and have some peace and quiet so we can actually talk and hear what the other person has to say. As opposed to trying to figure out these things with our 3 hooligans running around. Much better to go away, get some rest, and then tackle them.

The first night we were in bed by 8:30. And we were so giddy about it. ;-) Sleep is a very precious commodity and the thought that we could sleep, uninterrupted, all night long... well, yeah. Giddy. That's what we were. I woke up the next morning at 6a.m. and got up. I opened the blinds and watched the sunrise. It was so pretty! Purple and pink, over the white blanket of snow that covered everything. I don't have a camera, so I didn't get any pictures, but it was really beautiful and peaceful.

I read my book and drank my coffee until Romeo wandered out of the bedroom around 7ish. It was so nice to wake up to calm and peace. Our bodies and minds could slowly awaken without having to deal with cranky kids, breakfast, etc... So what do you do when you're both up early and have the whole day ahead of you? Well, if you're us you play Phase 10. =) So at 7:30a.m. we started a rousing game of Phase 10 and it was super fun. =)

Around lunch time we decided to head out to eat at Red Robin (since that's where he proposed to me...) but then we took a detour and decided to see if any good movies were playing. We paid $15 to watch a matinee show. What is the world coming to?? Fifteen bucks!!?? And Josh's SMALL slurpee was $5.75. Sheesh. Who can afford that!?! Anyway, we ended up watching Just Go With It with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. I loved it. I am NOT a fan of most Adam Sandler movies, but this one was good and funny without being crude. Well, mostly not crude. It *is* Adam Sandler, after all. ;-)

We were 20 minutes early for the show so we sat and watched all the previews that they do. Do you know they had a preview for a Mr. Peanut commercial!? I kid you not. Mr. Peanut had his own preview, and they introduced Alejandro... the Almond in Tight Pants. He's like a matador. And the creators were shown saying, "Basically with his character we started with the tight pants and went from there." Seriously. An animated almond.

Also. Jeggings. Unless you are built like Twiggy, you probably shouldn't wear them. And especially if you're short and wide, jeggings are not a good idea. I always wonder when I see people in really unflattering outfits if they just don't look in the mirror? I mean, can't they see that if they would just buy a bigger size or different style that it would flatter their body so much more? I don't know. I'm stumped.

***Side Note*** The other day Liz and I were out shopping and this lady walks in wearing a shirt and... tights. Seriously, it was like she forgot to put her skirt on. And it wasn't even a long tunic type shirt. Her tights were wedged in her bum and it was just so awkward and flustering. For me. I don't know how she felt. She may or may not have been a little inebriated. **End Side Note***

Anyway, back to our Anniversary Getaway... We caught a music video on CMT for "Brown Chicken, Brown Cow"... It was disturbing. A little bit funny, but mostly disturbing. It seems like people might have too much time on their hands if this is what they are creating.

I finished two books over the weekend and Josh finished his magazine. :-D We laughed really hard about that. ;-) It *was* a business magazine with long articles, but still. We laughed.

The second night I did NOT sleep well. I fell asleep fine, but then woke up approximately 78 times so I was tired in the morning. We sipped our coffee and Josh decided he wanted to sit in the hot tub. He tried to convince me it was a good idea for me to join him, but going outside in like 27 degree weather in my bikini did not sound like fun. So I stayed in and cleaned up and packed and left him to his crazy ideas of fun. ;-)

***2nd Side Note*** The water was TERRIBLE. Nearly undrinkable, for realsies. It tasted so bad; like it was full of water softeners. And when it came out of the spigot it was white. Like milk. That can't be a good sign, right? It even made the coffee taste weird so we had to use even more copious amounts of creamer than normal. So we're talking a LOT of creamer. ***End 2nd Side Note***

We headed home around 10:30 on Sunday, with enough time to settle in and relax before Monday hit us.

Our babysitter was great; a super amazing young lady. She left us a note of their weekend, play by play style. So sweet. And she said our kids were some of her favorite to watch; I know she was telling the truth because she said there are some kids that she has had to say she can't watch because they are so difficult. So the fact that she liked our kids, and even THANKED us for asking her to watch them was so nice and makes me feel good about asking her again in the future.

Anyway, it was a lovely weekend and I'm so thankful we got to go away and reconnect and relax.

Our 7 years of marriage haven't been complete bliss. I don't think anyone's marriage is all happiness and sunshine and roses. We've had a particularly rough go of it with my health problems; basically the first 3 years of our marriage I was pregnant non-stop. And then I got PPD and went extra crazy. And now things are at a place where I'm getting healthy and it's sort of like we're getting to know each other all over again. Hi, my name is Ruth Anne and I was crazy for a couple years there, but I appreciate all your love, care, longsuffering and compassion for me. Want to get to know me? Again? ;-)

I am very thankful for Josh, for the man he was when I married him and for the man he has become. He has stood by my side through my worst moments and hasn't held them against me. He loves me more today than the day we were married, and I can say the same about him. He is a wonderful father and a spectacular husband.

I'm looking forward to the next 7 (hopefully more healthy and less crazy) years, and beyond. =)