Seven.

We were married long enough ago that we didn't get digital copies of our photos.

Now we are all married, and we all look a lot different older.

It's been seven years of Hubs and Feath. Seven seems monumental. It feels like it hasn't been that long, but it also feels like it has been just that long when I think of all we have done in that time. I think that Seven moves us out of the "young marrieds" category. Although we are not yet in the "old marrieds," we definitely have moved past those things that we struggled with in the earlier years. Life would not be the same without Hubs, and I would not trade him for anything.

For our anniversary this year, we celebrated 3 days early. Hubs took me to Rasoi, an Indian restaurant, and then to an outdoor movie at my favorite spot in St. Louis, Forest Park. During dinner, we went through all of our anniversaries, remembering what we did for each one. We've had some great ones:

One year: Took a "staycation" at a nice hotel in Lincoln, painted pottery, went to a movie, had a picnic.
Two years: It was the last day of our 2 week vacation in Hawai'i. A trip to remember.
Three years: Low-key dinner at a local restaurant. But, we had been in Hawai'i 2 months earlier and just moved to Kansas.
Four years: Spent two days in Chicago and had pizza with great friends.
Five years: Went to the City Museum in St. Louis, but took an anniversary trip to Israel in March.
Six years: Had breakfast out together before church. And then, a month later, we hiked Long's Peak.

This year has been a busy one with the end of school and making plans for the next stage. So, there are no vacations, but it was so nice for the two of us to get out for a nice dinner. And to add to it, our waiter's reaction to our years of marriage made us laugh.

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Towards the end of our meal, the waiter came by and took my hand, admiring my wedding ring. He said it was beautiful, to which I responded, "I know," because it still is one of the most beautiful rings I have ever seen. Hubs mentioned that we were celebrating our 7th anniversary. The waiter was surprised because we look younger than we are, and then he said, "Any kids?"

"No, no kids," we replied.

"Too long. You need to start," he told us. "Tonight."

"Haha. Okay, we'll keep that in mind," as we think this is the strangest conversation we have ever had with a waiter.

As we were leaving, he tells us, "Good luck tonight."

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We laughed over such a forward conversation from our waiter and then headed out to the park to watch "The Princess Bride." Keeping with my norm when we start a movie after 9:00 pm, I fell asleep during the movie. Hubs enjoyed it though, with his lame, can't-stay-awake wife of Seven years. In another seven, he will be putting me to bed at 7 pm.

Saddest thing I read today

Today I read an article entitled, "Vatican offers 'time off' purgatory to followers of Pope Francis' tweets." As much as this article sickened me due to the deception offered in making people believe they can do a simple act to earn favor with God, the grief was that the Savior's death on the cross means so little to those claiming His name.

It reminded me of what one of my favorite teachers said this weekend regarding Christ's death: "When we contemplate this scene [the cross] and that statement, 'It is finished,' I always think, what could break the heart of a loving, giving, holy God more than for you or for me to think we could add something to it. That there is something I have to do to supplement that. It. Is. Finished."

God can fix physical death easily. He said, "Lazarus, come out," and he did. But to fix spiritual death, it required Him pouring out His wrath on his perfect son. So that I could be made right before Him. Surely nothing could be done or need be done. It was finished on the cross.

The past two months

Blogging has been the least of my concerns as of late, however, if you still like to know what goes on in our life, here is the update.

In May, Hubs and I only had one weekend where we were in the same town together. So, life was a bit crazy. He traveled for school and presented at the AAO convention. Then I traveled for fun and went to my youngest brother's graduation. Then he traveled for fun to the Grand Canyon. And also, HE PASSED HIS BOARDS!

In June, Hubs and I visited two orthodontic practices, celebrated my brother's wedding to my fantastic new sister-in-law and were able to see lots of family, including my adorable niece, who I just can't get enough of. All, of this going on while Hubs works on his thesis, I helped get a summer camp organized and we both try to determine what we should do when graduation comes in December. And of course, other little things pop up throughout all of this to keep life exciting.

One small, fun thing Hubs and I have been doing is going outside for 10 minutes or so and throwing the frisbee. It is a fun after-work/school activity to take a break before dinner and have some fun together.

Now it is July. My parents came to visit [for a whole 4 days!!!], and we had so much fun. Our SEVENTH anniversary is in two weeks, Hubs is still working on his thesis in every spare moment and in the extra moments we are deciding our future plans, and Hubs' family is coming for a visit, too!

Since our time in St. Louis may be coming to an end, we have been taking opportunities to do and see everything that we I had on my list when we first moved here:

We went to the Whitaker Music Festival at the Botanical Gardens. This was fun because we went with friends and had a picnic with a live band. We, and what seemed to be at least half of the population of St. Louis [note: get there early]! We enjoyed it more for the experience, the time with our friends, and the free admittance to the Botanical Gardens.

We toured the Anheuser-Busch brewery, which is their largest brewery. It was a very interesting tour and FREE!

And in a few weeks, we are going to the St. Louis Art Museum's Film Series. They are showing classic movies outside with live music and food trucks beforehand. I am really excited about this event!

We went to some fun restaurants, too.  Fitz's is a fun experience. Tropical Moose is our favorite shave ice and the closest to the shave ice in Hawai'i that we can find. The Cup is a fun cupcake place in the Central West End [if only I liked cupcakes more]. Crushed Red might be my favorite place to eat right now, and Ted Drewes is a St. Louis icon for custard. And I finally went to Union Station to see what that was all about.

So, we are still around and we are doing lots of things.