Happy 33/11

Since his birthday and our anniversary are so close together I am doing one post dedicated to the one man who has provided the most stability in my life since the day I was born.

Hippieartist, had he lived, would be getting a dedicatory post tomorrow as his birthday so don't feel like I am slighting my father by making such a statement about my husband.

Even writing this post is challenging for me because he is like a brilliant movie that no one else quite gets. I think a few others out there might sort of understand him but overall I think he remains an enigma to most of the world.

Let me enlighten you:

• He no apparent hobbies besides his family (meaning us) and his research yet he has extensive knowledge of sports, world politics, pop culture, and history in general. When I call him and ask him trivia questions he either knows the answer right off the bat and acts like everyone know this or he says something like "I have no idea honey" as if asking him is a ridiculous idea.

• I have never heard him say an unkind thing about anyone ever. If start complaining about someone he has one of two answers every time: 1. Yeah that is kind of... anyway (as if he physically is incapable of saying something mean) or 2. Well, you can understand how... right? (as if he empathizes with the person.) This has pushed me to be a better person because I feel like I have gotten better at understanding the plight of people no matter how annoying.

• When he hangs out with the kids, they enjoy it so much but more importantly HE enjoys it. He loves to wrestle, play games, read, do "learning time" and whatever other kid activities he has a chance to partake in. For me it feels like a shift or a chore but he seems to genuinely love it. This makes me want to enjoy it more too and I appreciate his example to me.

• He refuses to go to sleep unless he has done his exercises and the dishes. This is a fairly new thing, like the last year or so. He never says "hey can you do the dishes?" he just has this routine. It has inspired me to be more on top of that particular chore because I feel like if I don't do it sometimes he will always end up staying up late. It is the perfect case of being an example to your family of cleaning rather than criticizing them for not doing it.

• He absolutely does not care what you think. It isn't personal, he just isn't motivated by impressing you. Since I am highly motivated by what others think it is key for me to be married to someone of his very focused personality in which pleasing your spouse and your God are the only things that matter.

• This is a pretty selfish one, but he never seems to tire of my nagging. If I say "can you do this?" or "turn this way" or "I don't want to do that" he never gets upset. I try to reign it in but how can I curb it when he never complains?

And last but not least...

• He makes me laugh. After 11 years of marriage he still is the one person whose approval means the most to me, whose one-liners make me smile and whose image comes to my mind anytime I hear a cheesy song about forever happiness.
  

If you want to read more about how awesome he is see the index from the label cloud.
Happy Birthday and anniversary!