Seven long years.

Seven wonderful years.

Seven years ago, I was in college in Virginia, halfway through my junior year. I was dating a guy that I had worked with at the computer store in the summer time, a guy who lived in northern Virginia near my parents.

Seven years ago, Kurt had just transferred to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, for shore duty. He was living in a local motel before he found an apartment, and he had asked me if I wanted to go out sometime, just as friends, seeing as I was the only soul he knew in Virginia.

Seven years ago today, Kurt showed up for the first time at my dorm to take me out. Seven years ago today, we fell in love.

I know it sounds sappy to say that, but we knew it immediately. Kurt didn't want to admit it; he had sworn never to marry. He had seen too many bad Navy wives cheat on their deployed husbands, and wives who clean out their husbands' bank accounts and their homes before the sailor even returns home. For him, it was too much heartache.

I didn't even want to admit it either. I was dating my other boyfriend for three weeks before I realized that Kurt was the guy for me. I didn't particularly want to end one relationship in order to jump straight into another, but there wasn't much I could do about it. We were in love.

No, our lives haven't been easy. As much as I knew about Navy life before getting married since I was a Navy brat, being a wife is totally different. Learning to live with Kurt, regardless of the Navy, has been difficult. Learning to be a good wife, to be a good mother, to be part of a team... very hard lessons to learn. But I've tried my best so that I could be a good wife to Kurt.

From the first I knew we were meant to be together. If you had flipped through Kurt's CD collection and looked through mine, you'd be hard-pressed to tell whose was whose. Seeing as I have an extremely varied taste in music (as does he), that was a huge surprise to me. Who else would have Paula Abdul and Metallica in the same collection?

From the first, we could talk each other's ears off. It still happens to this day. We know other Navy couples who barely talk to one another. Kurt will call me as soon as he gets off work, and we end up chatting to each other until he arrives home two hours later. Then we start the conversation right back up again. When he's deployed, he writes me as many emails as he can throughout the day just to make it seem like we're chatting as much as possible. I keep a running catalog of what happens to me throughout the day so I can tell him how things are going. I couldn't be one of those wives who writes only when something goes wrong.

Seven years. It's been a long time, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. May we have seven times seven more years!

This was taken in April 2000, three months after we started dating, at a formal event at my college. I was 21, Kurt was 26. He was only a Petty Officer Second Class!! He only has one hash mark on his sleeve! You get one for every four years you've been in, and Kurt had only 7 at that time. Now he has three hash marks, and they're gold to boot, signifying good conduct during all his years of service. He doesn't even wear this uniform anymore. It's amazing to look back at these kinds of photos!