August 20th, 2004

Al and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary yesterday.

The day started with rain. Exactly like our wedding day.

I was disappointed because we had plans to enjoy nature with one another 

we had a sitter for a few hours in the afternoon, then my parents were keeping the kids overnight.

We were excited to get a night together, just the two of us!

As quickly as the rain came in, it left. The afternoon turned absolutely gorgeous!

Exactly like our wedding day. I remember it so clearly. I walked into the salon to get my hair and make up done that day.

It was miserable outside. I was pretty miserable inside too.

No bride wants rain on her wedding day.

I came out with hair and make up done, the sun was out.

I felt like a bride.

The sun came out yesterday, I felt alive!

Al and I went into downtown Geneva where we rented a tandem bicycle to ride up the Fox River.

What a fun experience!! The beginning was marked with me laughing uncontrollably! That bike was quite an experience and having Al in control of our everything, left me quite vulnerable. It was a great time! :)

We rode into the next town, went to the Fabyan Villa and rode through the grounds where it's all kept up by the forest preserve. Beautiful! 

It was time to return our bicycle. We rode back and then enjoyed homemade ice cream cones.

We went home to a quiet house. That was rather odd. We have two kids, having them both out of the house at the same time is rare. We enjoyed the quiet and started watching the "uncut" footage of our wedding day.

Nice memories are brought forth by videography. 

We then got ready to go to dinner.

We were in the mood for a nice steak dinner. We went to a place in Downtown Naperville called Sullivan's steakhouse. The wait was long. We had no reservations. I guess we are out of the loop with going out on Saturday night at prime dinner time. We sat at the bar for the time, enjoyed people watching and the live band. The time came for our table and I wasn't even really hungry anymore. Al ordered a bigger filet, I shared a few bites of that :) We each got huge baked potatoes. Tasty meal!

It was time to leave, it was raining again. The rain was refreshing. Always is in the evening hours.

We went home again and sat for a little bit. Watched more of our wedding video.

The Dupage County fairgrounds was hosting an all night flea market. Al and I thought it would be fun to visit. I had never been to one and Al hasn't gone since he was a kid. We walked around marveling at all the "random junk" that was on display. I walked out pretty convinced I wouldn't need to visit another flea market anytime soon. It wasn't a horrible experience and it was fun to be out so late in the night. We got there at about 11:30 pm and stayed until about 1:30 am. I came home with some quartz crystals, my favorite by far being the amethyst one I brought home. Al promised to get some something sparkley, he delivered :)

We poured ourselves into bed at close to 3 am. We took full advantage of the evening to ourselves.

It was such a treat to spend the time with my husband and not have any obligations to fulfill with the kids. We took full advantage of sleeping in too. I woke up to read the clock at 11:41. WHAT?! I can't remember the last time I slept that late. The kids are home now, the memories of our 7th anniversary will be up there as one of my favorites for sure. We always try to do something special on the day we celebrate our marriage. I am so thankful for the stability we have been blessed with this past year. Prayers answered!