We struck GOLD!

It's my 7th wedding anniversary. Seven years ago today, I married my best friend on the beautiful beaches of Maui, Hawaii. I was sicker than a dog but made it through the nuptials and most of the photos... I did wind up cutting the photo session a tad short but man.... private beach, no bathroom, with severe abdominal distress... I had to leave.... THEN! We've declared that in three years, we will return to renew our vows. I think it will be awesome.

In those seven years we've had our share of hard times but the good times and even the great times far surpass them. We just learn from the hard times... and forget about them and move on. We keep looking to the future. So, even through the hard times, I always hope he knows that at the end of the day, in his arms are where I want to be.

I don't talk about him much on my blog because, well, my blog is about ME! Ha! But for those of you that don't know him... he's my world. My world revolves around him and the boys. My family. My boys.

He is intelligent. He's a history buff with a memory that leaves me in awe. He can recall numbers and dates with ease... from even 30 years ago. It's CRAZY how good he is with numbers. He's witty and has fantastic come backs (while I'm more like George Costanza always thinking of comebacks hours, sometimes days later.) He has habits that drive me crazy (like biting his nails or leaving things wherever they are when he's done with them) but... at the end of the day -- WHO CARES?! He loves movies and lives for documentaries on the mob and WWII. He does everything in the world to make our family secure, happy and loved and to provide us with compassion. With our children, he is swift with discipline but immediate with hugs and understanding. I couldn't ask for a better father. He is so gentle and comforting. But most importantly, I know that no matter what happens, he is my rock. He is my partner. He is my other half. He completes me. He always has my back.

Tonight's anniversary dinner wasn't in some dimly lit swanky restaurant that charged prices based upon the "bikini theory" (you know, the smaller it is, the more it costs), it was in the comfort of our home, accompanied by our handsome young man, Drew. Besides, we have a nursing 11 week old son who tends to be a tad un-angelic between the hours of 9 and 12. I wasn't going to risk leaving him anywhere with pumped milk for fear that a) he wouldn't eat and b) he would be nothing but a nightmare for whomever was watching him (probably would have been my mother-in-law.

Our outing today consisted of a trip to Central Market to get the fixin's for tonight's feast. Drew even got to choose the bread (a freshly baked French baguette.) Tonight's dinner consisted of a delicious rib-eye covered with a tequila-lime rub, oven-roasted seasoned Yukon Gold potatoes, grilled veggies and a turtle cheesecake that was seriously to die for. Now, while the steak was indeed a Del Frisco quality masterpiece... I have to admit that the potatoes I made were freakin' fantastic! I wanted to share my recipe with you. I rinsed off and then cut up 3 large Yukon Gold potatoes into bite sized chunks. They were then placed on a baking sheet in a single layer. I very generously covered with a RICH olive oil and then sprinkled them with a generous coating of onion powder, thick granulated garlic powder, coarse salt and freshly grated black pepper and then using my hands, tossed them around the baking sheet to coat them. I then put them in the oven at 425 for 20 minutes. I then stirred them around, flipped them as best I could and then baked them for another 15 minutes. Oh my GOSH these babies were HEAVEN! Seriously, it doesn't get much better than these.

Benjamin even let me eat my meal warm ... and while he was awake, he actually didn't cry and let me enjoy having my dinner with my husband! What a gift! Seriously -- WHAT A GIFT! :) I also purchased a bunch of flowers for myself (I called Andy and said, "I hope you don't mind but I saw these and wanted them.") So, I got a beautiful bouquet for our table centerpiece for dinner tonight, too.

Oh... and dessert... the turtle cheesecake. Turtle cheesecake is cheesecake topped with chocolate, caramel and pecans. I always add a little more caramel topping (I drizzle the ice cream sundae topping that I keep in my fridge over top). By dessert, Ben was getting a little fussy so Andy finished his and I took Ben to nurse him in the comfy chair. Andy brought mine into me declaring that I needed to eat it now because it was one of the best cheesecakes he'd ever had. I guess I done good! :) Ha ha (yes, I intentionally typed it like that.)

Gifts -- neither Andy nor I are big on gifts but one of the things we agreed upon was a new wedding ring for me since my other one is long gone... we didn't have time to get to it but I'll keep looking for rings in the days/weeks to come. Hopefully we'll replace that soon. I'm not in a huge hurry so we'll see how it goes.