A Birthday Post For My Beautiful Wife

19 Things I Love About Her and 10 Memories I Want to Share (which equals 29 if you haven’t figured that out yet):
Things I Love:
1. She loves her children more than me. That may sound strange, but it wouldn’t be right if it were any other way.

2. Her laughter. If we played it for the whole world, we might finally see world peace.

3. Her wit. She always has the snappiest comments and come-backs. If you spend much time with her, you better be on your toes.

4. She reminds me that I am a good man, a good father, and a good friend without even saying the words.

5. Her brains. She’s much smarter than she will ever give herself credit for. Even better, our kids got the brain genes from her and not their father!

6. Her kindness. One of the biggest reasons she wants to be a dentist is so she will be able to philanthropic work for people in need.

7. She can cook! That sounds pigheaded of me, but I appreciate the yummy food I get to come home to after eating preschool food all day in preschool proportions.

8. Her voice. Her singing can turn my mood around at the drop of a hat. And I love that she can appreciate her ability to sing because she deserves to be proud of herself.

9. Her courage. She left a relationship that was detrimental to the welfare of her children and herself even though she knew it would be a rocky road.

10. She does not judge me when I eat half the carton of ice cream while watching a show.
11. She is an amazing mother. She’s tender when needed and stern when needed. Her number one concern and priority is always our three little buggers.

12. Her friendship. She will do whatever it takes to help a friend in need and expect nothing in return. Many people have benefited from her desire to make other people’s lives better.

13. Her eyes.

14. She knows more show tunes and Disney songs than anyone I know. And, she’s always willing to sing to them!

15. Her passion for reading. Her love of reading has inspired the same passion in our children. Alex read ¾ of the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in one weekend. He’s 8. And he picked reading over video games.

16. She loves Christmas! We put our tree up “too early” for some, but we decided that Christmas was never long enough and therefore should be extended well into early November!

17. She’s amazing with other kids. Although she claims to not like other people’s children, she spends quite a bit of time in my preschool class and receives more than enough hugs to show just how great she is with the kiddos.

18. Her love of teeth. She made me look in one of her teeth that had just been drilled out for a filling because she was so excited to tell me everything about the tooth!

19. She mocks me for being short and crippled. While this may seem wrong or masochistic. However, her lightheartedness not only tells that my (lack of) height and crippledness doesn’t bother her bother, but also reminds me to not take stupid crap like that so damn seriously!
Memories:

20. Holly and I got married on April Fool’s Day in a courtroom with a few of our friends who decided to come. The judge was a complete kick in the pants. He used a Hallmark musical greeting card that played The Wedding March and Going to the Chapel. We wore jeans. We laughed A LOT! If you missed it, you surely missed an entertaining afternoon.

21. While going to SCC I was knocked down in the bathroom by some bigoted jerk. I was in a bit of a haze afterwards and she was the only person at work that noticed something was “off” and checked in on me to see what was wrong. This was before we even started dating. It felt so nice to know that someone was concerned for me and my wellbeing.

22. We went to Disneyland a couple years ago. Seeing her face light up at the sight of the entrance was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. I will never get that smile out of my face.

23. We have spent a lot of time surfing through our massive collection on iTunes and singing together and to each other. The singing is intermittently interrupted by fits of giggling at the corniness of it all.

24. She made me an amazing dinner of meatloaf, fresh bread, green bean casserole and mashed potatoes after my first day at work. No one has ever taken the time to show that kind of appreciation before.

25. We went to see Mamma Mia! the movie while visiting my sister in Seattle. It was so tragically, awfully, pathetically done that we decided to walk out (laughing all the way). She even managed to get the ticket price refunded!

26. She took me out for dinner for Veteran’s Day last year. Again, no one has ever taken the time to show me that kind of appreciation before. She also helps me teach the kids about Veterans and the men and women who sacrifice so much for our country.

27. She went ALL OUT the first year we were together for St. Patty’s Day. She knew how much I love and value my Irish heritage and that St. Patty’s Day is almost equal to Christmas in my eyes. She bought decorations galore and we planned a celebration. I’m smiling just sitting here writing about it.

28. She planned a huge birthday dinner for me when I turned 29. There were so many of my friends at the table. I felt so incredibly loved. And then she surprised me with a trip to Vegas with 2 of our friends from Spokane. Then she surprised me again when we walked into our hotel room and my best friend Greg from California was sitting on the couch. It was the most amazing birthday EVER.

29. For Ashley’s birthday we decided to get a cat. One. Holly responded to an ad on Craigslist for kittens. When she came home there were two little black kitty heads poking out of her coat. She had fallen in love with 2 of them and knew it would be sweet for the two brothers to have a playmate and a friend. It was the best choice she could have made because now we are the proud owners of two cats who are loving, albeit completely sometimes, and who can tolerate our crazy kids.

And one more thing I love about Holly for good measure:
30. Her heart. She loves me completely. She loves her children even more. She smiles when she sees me walking out to the car after work. She smiles when she sees me in the morning. She snuggles up on my shoulder while we fall asleep at night and I can see the love she has for her family on her face. For the first time in my life I feel fully loved by someone who is holding back nothing of her heart.

Happy birthday, baby. Thank you for being in my life. I can’t imagine things any other way. You have filled my life with so much joy, laughter, and passion. I could not ask for more.


ps-Happy Birthday to you, too, Val!