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Saturday, August 9, 2014

Shimps in Love

On July 16th, sometime before 1990, this happened:


They went on to become this:


.....an amazing (not to mention adorable!) example to me of the kind of marriage and love I want.

Growing up, I found it hard to imagine a time when my parents didn't know each other. They worked together so well and navigated each other's quirks in a way that was so natural, it almost made me believe in soul mates.

Now, it has been one year since this day:


The day I said yes, I do want to marry this guy:

And he said that yes, he wanted to marry me, too. 


....and for the second time in my life, I find myself almost believing in soul mates (as cheesy as that sounds).

I love how my life has continued on as I had planned, but better with him. I've never felt like I had to change my goals, or who I was, to be with him. My dreams have only gotten bigger.


I love how he's made me more adventurous. One time there was this girl who kept getting engaged to different guys, and every time she got in a new relationship, she changed her mind on how she liked her eggs. True story. I don't feel like I've become someone I'm not for Stephen, but I do feel like I've developed new interests, and I love how he's introduced me to a more active lifestyle.


I love that he cleans, like puts stuff away and sweeps and mops. It is so cool.


I love hearing him say "I love you." When we first got married, he said something along the lines of, "I don't think we need to say I love you so much. I mean, I know you love me. You know I love you. Can't we just say it like....every few days?" Full disclosure, I think I might have cried. #birthcontrol. But somewhere along the way (maybe right then? because I cried?), he changed his mind, and now we say it like 5 times a day. Which could get old, if you were just saying it to keep your wife from crying, but I love how he chooses when to say it.


I love staying up late and whispering and laughing with him. Why is he so funny late at night when I'm trying to sleep?


I love that I really think he's the cutest boy I've ever seen. Physical attraction is important. If someone tells you it's not, tell them thanks for taking one for the team and then you go marry someone you are attracted to. Every guy, no matter how wonderful their personality is, is going to say something stupid at some point. And when that day comes, I hope you can look at them and think "At least he's hot" or "Just ignore that and look at his face" or "Those biceps, though...."


I love how he corrects me. He does it so sweetly and simply that it makes me feel bad for all the times I've snapped at him about something trivial.


I love how he is with kids. When he comes to visit my class, it typically starts out with them being too nervous to approach him and say hi and ends with the entire 2nd grade chasing him in a swarm at Recess. I love talking with him about how we'll be when we're parents.


I love his laugh.


Sometimes I think our fights are downright hilarious. There was this one:

Me: *opening a wedding announcement* Awwww, I'm so happy for her!
Me: Stephen. Do you get excited for your friends when they get engaged?
Him: What? No, not really.
Me: You doooon't?? Why not?
Him: I dunno, I just don't.
Me: *sniffle* But....don't you like being married?
Him: Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm like way excited and thrilled about other people getting married.
Me: *crying* Why not?? Don't you think marriage is fun!
Him: Babe! I'm not saying that! Of course it's fun....come here. Why are you crying? I do think it's fun. I'm just saying, like, I was excited when we got engaged, but I don't even know those people....
#birthcontrol

And this one:

Him: Do you know where that check is?
Me: No....
*Repeat 5 times as he looks around for it and I stand there trying really hard to remember where I put it*
Him: Okay, that's it. You can't have anything important anymore! You always do this, you're like, oh, this is important! I've got to put it somewhere special so I'll remember where it is. *He stares at his hand for a second*
Him: How about here? *He slam-dunks it in the back of a cupboard*



I love that he is my husband, but he's also my grocery shopping assistant, my rock-climbing belayer, my Friday night plans, my personal trainer, my travel companion, and my best friend.


I love that he lets me stop and listen to "Let it Go" every time it comes on the radio, and that sometimes he puts up with country. I love how he introduced me to reggae and now we listen to chill music, sans the pot, and Rude is our song because we discovered it in California before it hit Utah and got really big here.


I love learning his quirks. I don't think I've ever known someone so well.


I love watching him do things that he's really good at - speaking Spanish to the Mexican guy at the scooter rental place in Cozumel, explaining some bio-organic-chemi-physics gook to someone else in the class, answering questions I have about the church, rock-climbing like he was born on the side of a mountain.


I love the things he's willing to do for me, like how he paints the nails on my right hand because I'm right-handed, and how he sneakily cleans my ring when I'm taking a shower.


I love how enthusiastically he compliments every meal I ever make. I make hootenanny pancakes err Sunday, and err Sunday, he's all, "MMMM. This is so good! Thanks babe!"


I love how real he is.

I love his brain. He's a much smarter man than I ever thought I would marry, for some reason. But he knows so much about freaking everything.

I love exploring with him! Whether it's a rocky Utah mountainside, a beach in California, or the jungly ruins in Cozumel, he's the person I love holding hands with through the experience.


I love the pride that he takes in our house. When we bought it, I absolutely didn't believe that it would look the way it does now, but he's taken it and made it into a place that I love. He wasn't afraid of the work it would take. It's amazing to me what he's done and I love that he is so opposite of the stereotypical husband who says "I'll fix it tomorrow" and never gets around to it. I've seen him build a ladder out of 2 x 4's in 10 minutes, and I've walked on wood floors that he laid himself. He cares about  everything from the color of paint we use to the width of the wood floor planks.



I had no idea on August 9, 2013 how lucky I truly was. I didn't know then just how perfect Stephen was for me....and it just keeps getting better :)

3 comments:

  1. This is the sweetest post ever!! I love how in love you guys are- it makes my heart happy! Too cute. Happy anniversary! Married life truly is the best!

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  2. Haleigh thank you!! You and Zach make my heart happy too :)

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  3. This is so cute!! I can't wait to see you guys again :)

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