Can I just say how incredibly lucky I feel to have found that one person meant for me in this world? I truly believe in soul mates that are handpicked by God. Sometimes lust and love get confused and we fall for someone who isn’t meant to be around for the long-haul. Sure they’re fun and you enjoy being with them, but they usually aren’t the type to stick out the storms that we weather throughout life.

I met a couple guys that I could have made a life with, but I strongly question whether they would have stuck with me over the past couple of years and I now know what I had with them wasn’t unconditional love.

There was a time in college when all my friends were either engaged or in a serious relationship. I was in serious drought mode for a few years, but I had a few really bad dates that I’m thankful for. Those bad dates made me realize the importance of waiting for the right person to come along and not to settle just to be satisfied.

First, there was the blind double date with my cousin Stephanie. She promised me that he was as tall as I was (5′10). Guess what? He wasn’t even close! That started the evening out on a bad note. We saw a movie and the guy needed a booster seat to see, so we sat near the very front.

We went to dinner afterwards where everyone but me was over 21 and could drink, so I was the designated driver. After a few beers this date proceeded to tell a horrific story of a dog that was barking on his property one night. He claims he shot the dog, cooked the meat and ate it. The story coincided with our steaks arriving at the table. Dinner was then over in my books.

Over Christmas break one semester my loving father set me up with some client’s son who was in town for the holidays. I only agreed to this blind date because the guy was in medical school. I’m shallow I know. It had its awkward moments and the conversation was pretty light until he asked if I’d read any good books lately.

My response was that the last book I read was “The Great Gatsby” in high school because I couldn’t find the Cliff Notes. Well that set this scholar into hysterics.

I can’t imagine how red my face was as the other people dining around us were looking, while he ranted about plagiarism and lectured me on taking the easy way out. Dinner ended a little early that night, as did the date.

You’d think I’d learn my lesson, but I let a friend set me up with a guy she knew who was involved in a youth ministry program at college. I figured this guy should be harmless, but I over-estimated the power of Jesus. When he picked me up in the lobby of my dorm the first words out of his mouth were, “Look, I know I’m hot and by the end of the night you’ll be lusting after me, but I’m saving myself for marriage. So hands off.”

I kid you not. He came out waving his freak flag with both hands.

That was the end of my blind dates. I figured a life of celibacy was far better than the guys I’d encountered. Thankfully being patient paid off in many, many ways.

I came home from my roller derby weekend to find this in our living room.

Most wives wouldn’t complain about a Christmas tree they didn’t have to put together. I’m not most wives.

Take a close look at the tree.

See those pine cones? (How could you miss them? There are 84!) We have been debating a new tree and had looked at this exact tree the previous weekend. My answer was no. As in absolutely not in my house. I did not like the pine cones. I thought I made that clear in the store when I said it looked like someone had pooped on the branches.

Can you understand my anger when I arrived home to find the pine cone tree in our house?

After much debate and a few decorations, I decided not to cut them off…this year. We’ll see if they grow on me. If not it’s snip-snip.

Every fall and every spring I do some house cleaning. Sometimes it involves windows and deep cleaning the carpets, but mostly it involves surveying the gifts I’ve bought over the past year that are stored in our basement.

I love finding deals. Ask anyone who knows me. At Christmas I’ve been known to spill the beans and tell a person that I got their gift on clearance for $3. The bigger the deal, the bigger the thrill!

Most of the time my husband is embarrassed at my announcements to family and friends, but I figure he should be proud. It saves him money.

I’m in charge of the gift buying for this household, which means I buy all the presents for his family as well. This is no easy task people.

You try coming up with interesting gifts for folks who love red tractors, tell the same redneck jokes yearly and laugh like they just heard them for the first time, decorate in “French Country Wal-Mart” and only eat at Applebee’s.

No easy task people!

I admit to purchasing some loser items in the past just because they were such a good deal (that and I ran out of ideas). I also admit to getting a few, “why the hell did you buy me this gift” looks too. You win some, you lose some. Isn’t it the thought that counts?

FOR THE RECORD - I’ve never bought anyone this…

With my husband’s family it’s all about the sell. It wouldn’t matter if I bought them poop on a stick, they’d “oh” and “ah,” then thank us repeatedly. You could give them one walkie talkie and they seriously wouldn’t get it.

When it came time to wrap gifts last year my husband griped (once again) about what I’d purchased for his family members. I recall him saying things like:

“Too many knick-knacks.” AND “What will they do with that?”

So this past year I changed my game.

I’ve only bought a few of items I absolutely could not pass up for gifts this year. None of which are for his family. This year he is on his own. Let him fight the traffic and crowds. Let him find the poop on a stick dipped in gold.

For better or for worse maybe, but no one ever mentioned buying in-laws gifts.

Aside from throwing sunglasses out the window, our vacation went fairly smooth. Except the fact their was another woman traveling with us. My husband was thrilled. Ethan was even pretty excited too. I could have cared less…until we needed her.

When I announced our upcoming vacation I mentioned that as a result of my Detroit trip, GM offered to drop off a 2008 Saturn Outlook in my driveway for the trip. Yes, a brand new SUV for us to test drive. Marketing genius on their part, because I can’t think of a better way to put a family car to the test other than vacation.

We drove over 2,000 miles in 10 days from Indiana to New Orleans and Florida. To say the Outlook handled well is like confirming the Titanic sank. It did!

Both my husband and I were extremely impressed. It combined style and luxury in a well thought out family vehicle. The storage compartments alone were enough to make me drool.

You may already heard that GM introduced the Saturn VUE as a hybrid which can travel up to 585 highway miles on a single tank of gas! Impressive. I’m hoping they may consider making the Outlook into a hybrid model. According to the built in gauge we averaged 19.3 MPG on our trip (which includes a mix of city and interstate driving).

The reason my husband may leave is a woman named Sarah. She was a sweet talking lady who traveled with us on vacation, sitting directly between us in the front seat. Even our son was intrigued by this woman and told me I was jealous.

What’s to be jealous of? If anything I was thankful because she helped us avoid A LOT of arguments on our trip. These heated moments tend to happen when we travel and I say “turn right here” and Nathan turns left. Or when we miss a major turn and he gets directionally challenged trying to get back on the correct interstate and won’t listen to me. Somehow in years past I earned the nickname “Ms. McNally” (because I’m always right).

If we were in the market to buy a new vehicle I would have absolutely no reservations about the Outlook. My 2000 Ford mini-van has about 96,000 miles on it so we’ll probably be looking down that road in a few years. My aunt and uncle vacationed with us in Florida and are currently researching vehicles for an upcoming purchase and fell in love after driving it. The chances are good they will either purchase the Hybrid VUE or Outlook soon.

Our only issue with traveling was the seat belts in the middle captain chairs. If you notice in the picture the belt fastens on the inside of the seat. In most vehicles it is placed along the outside.

The problem was buckling Ethan in his car seat. When we reached over his seat with the belt we couldn’t get it to connect without going up and under his car seat to buckle.

I admit Ethan’s car seat is 3 years old and newer seats may be more contoured to bucket seats such as these. He has probably reached the height to move into a booster seat, but any family with car seats would have found it difficult to latch seat belts in this vehicle. And the design may have something to do with the fact that all the seats fold down, which is a nice feature, but so are seat belts you can reach.

Sarah certainly came in handy driving in downtown New Orleans and helping me locate an outlet mall. Overall she took care of satisfying my husband for me and got us where we needed to go.

Saturn I just have one question. Why is the navigator a woman’s voice? Is it because we truly do read maps and directions better than men?

Dear Nathan,

Asking you if it has felt like 7 years would be like asking President Bush if he wishes he’d never invaded Iraq. I already know the answer.

My love and appreciation for you and our relationship has grown over time. One my favorite qualities is that we see eye-to-eye on how to celebrate the mushy stuff.

For example, we aren’t the type of couple that recognize occasions like our first date, our first kiss, etc… which requires buying cards, flowers and expensive jewelry. Instead we like to recall the events that were more meaningful in shaping our marriage.

Remember that time I stole a table from the house you rented at Purdue and you ended up going to court? That was good times! Or how about the time you kept telling me that the statements we were getting in the mail were fake and that you didn’t really invest the money we were saving to buy a house in online stocks? Good thing I don’t still hold that over your head.

And then there was that time I put the naked guy pictures on the back of your truck with magnets and a sign that said, “Honk 4 Love!” You couldn’t figure out why those people were honking at you all the way to work. It wasn’t until noon when a co-worker pointed it out. We still celebrate those 3 days it took you to talk to me after that.

I could go on and on because we’ve created a lot of memories in the past 7 years. Thankfully we’re the type of couple who chooses to remember everyday and not just the days that society tells us are important.

Apparently the 7th anniversary gift is wool & cooper. Thank God we aren’t those type of people either. That is why I love us.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! All my love, Emily