Casita de Alaniz

This weekend we celebrated our SEVEN year anniversary! Lucky #7. Looking back it doesn't seem like we've been married for seven years...it seems like more, but not in a bad way, because HOW could we possibly have squeezed all that fun into just 7 years? Let's just get down to the nitty gritty here. We dated for 5 years before we married so we've been a BIG part of one another's lives for a whopping total of 12 years! When you put it like that, its kinda amazing...and to be quite frank there is not one single person who I'd rather have spent more of my time with than Steve.

So here's some things about us in 7's:

Seven places we've travelled:

1- Napa Valley

2- Cancun

3- Oahu, Maui & Kauai

4- Germany

5- France

6- Ixtapa

7- Italy

Seven T.V. Shows we both like:

1- C.S.I. Las Vegas


2- Without a Trace


3- Cold Case


4- Dancing with the Stars


5- Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives on Food Network


6- Everybody Loves Raymond


7- Seinfeld




Seven things we've accomplished as a couple:

1- Backpacked overseas together for 1 month & came home STILL on speaking terms

2- Biked Mt. Haleakala, 22 miles

3- Hiked to the top of Diamond Head, Oahu

4- Had our sweet Cade

5- Walked the beaches of Normandy

6- Purchased 2 homes together

7- Had our sweet Gracyn

Seven things we like to do in our spare time:

1- House Projects

2- Bake together

3- Go to the movies

4- Shop

5- Nap :)

6- Wait a minute...we have spare time???

7- Watch Throwdown with Bobby Flay

Seven Ways God has blessed us:

1- Awesome Families

2- Amazing Friends

3- Jobs we like

4- Healthy and Happy Kids

5- A safe 4 year Army tenure

6- A church that feels like a home

7- Finding each other

Seven of my favorite things about Steve:

#1 I love the way he seeks to know more about Christ and the Bible and challenges me to do the same

#2 I love how optimistic he is, Steve always, always, always sees the good in everyone and in every situation

#3 I love the way he does voice impressions that make me laugh till I cry...seriously hysterical!

#4 I love the way he gets excited when I think of yet another home project for him to work on

#5 I love the way he lets me do all the planning for our trips AND make out an itinerary :)

#6 I love how he always asks me where I want to go eat instead of picking himself, he is so good at putting me first

#7 I love how he provides and works so hard for his family & how he can rough house with Cade and yet be so tender with Gracyn...there are so many more things that I could list here about the man I love but suffice it to say that he is still, after 12 years my favorite person to be with and my best friend. My favorite part of the day is when I hear that garage door at 5:30 pm and then hear my son say "Mommy, Daddy's home!"

This year he planned an awesome night out for us at a restaurant called Cheeves. My sister and her fiance were down this weekend for a wedding that he was participating in and volunteered to watch the kiddos for us so we were footloose and fancy free for the night! WOO-HOO Thanks Manda & Cody!! When they seated us guess what was waiting for me at our table? A HUGE bouquet of roses that he had sent to the restaurant! Yes, at that moment I think every guy in the restaurant hated him and every girl wanted those beautiful roses at her table...it was so very sweet. We feasted on a cajun crawfish appetizer, lobster bisque & french onion soup, steaks and creamed spinach. We were so stuffed that we ordered their cheesecake romanoff to go! It was fun to sit down and rehash the evening with Amanda and Cody over that delicious dessert. Thanks for a wonderful evening baby and I am looking forward to 7 X 7 more years together! I can't imagine what the good Lord has in store for us in the future, but I can't wait to continue the journey with you by my side!

Enjoying Texas Land & Cattle, March 1999

Nine Years Later at Cheeves, June 2008