on 10 years of marriage...

justin and i have been married for 10 blissful years.

okay, so for the sake of honesty, not all 10 of them were bliss... but they are now... and i can tell you that, for me, it worth having to experience those anguishing moments of the past to be where we are today, which is unbelievably happy...

and pregnant! we are 10 weeks on our 10th wedding anniversary!

i've been tweaking this post for last couple of months. it's a list of ten reasons i fall in love with my husband over and over again... 10 years, 10 reasons. get it?

no it did not take me months to come up with 10, but rather to narrow it down to 10! really!

i had originally planned to slip this list into his pocket or a lunch bag today, or maybe tape it to the shower door this morning. but after further internal debate, i decided to post it on my blog for all to see. i want EVERYONE to know how special my guy is!


so here goes...

1) he helps with so much of the housework, not just dishes or vacuuming, ALL of it. he doesn't complain, he doesn't use it against me at a later date, and he never makes me feel quilty... but i'm pretty good at that myself.

2) he cares... knows just what i need, when i need it. he'll stop me midway through something or en route to somewhere in the house because i have that look... the one that says "i need a hug". he tells me i'm beautiful at the exact moment i need to hear it. you know, like when i'm standing (probably naked) in front of the bathroom mirror wondering which body parts to tackle at the gym first because they all appear beyond repair.

3) he's there for me. when ever. where ever. he defends me. even when i might be wrong. but, really, how often is that?

4) he makes me laugh. and he never stops trying! especially now that he gets his own commentary on my blog when he's successful!

5) he still likes to play video games. for hours. like a kid. ...i love guitar hero. he doesn't. but he still plays it with me. and it makes me feel special.

6) he's thoughtful, considerate, and forgiving. he never intentionally says anything to hurt me... because he knows that while hurtful words usually have little affect on me, they are oh so painful when coming from him. and he forgives me whenever i'm hurtful to him... because, really, how good is any marriage without a little hypocrisy, right?

7) he's a car guy. still. no matter how much i tried to change him (oh how i tried). now i'm thankful that he wants to share his passion with me.

8) he is so unbelievably understanding of all things ME. tolerant is probably a more suitable word in most cases. he gets me. not "he gets me" (which he does), but "he gets me". he gets my sarcasm, my wit, my addictive personality, my spontaneity, my love/hate relationship with freckles, my woody wood pecker laugh... and he loves me anyway.

9) he's a gentleman. he pumps my gas. always. because gas stations are dirty. and he opens doors for me. most of the time.

10) he adores me. and he shows it. in public.

11) he's my baby-daddy! (okay, so that's 11... whatev.) and since i've been pregnant he's giving more than i could've imagined in every aspect of our lives.

...and so there they are, in no particular order. and even after all that mush, he's still all man. he mows the lawn, changes the oil, kills bugs, is content with a farmers tan, and insists on wearing work boots to work and sneakers everywhere else no matter how many people tell him it's acceptable for men to wear sandals too. ::sigh::


justin...

you are so much more to me than i could fit into this short list.

and i would've made it longer, but for the fear that the sickening sweetness dripping from this post might make the masses *puke*.

i don't think i could possibly love you any more than i do, and yet every day i feel i love you more than the last.

i love life with you and want to thank you for bringing me along for the ride...

happy anniversary, snuggy! xo -s