9 days

Andrew took the week of Christmas off, and as a result, we got to spend 9 whole days together. And almost every single minute of those 9 days was spent side by side.

Me and Andrew... 9 days... side by side... with Jasper tagging along for the ride...
And after 12,960 minutes of being by Andrew's side constantly, I need to say the following things to my beloved:

beloved Andrew,
You are wonderful.

You are truly amazing.

The longer we're married, the more I am humbled by your love and the more I respect you. I'm humbled by your love for God and how seriously you yearn for Him, desire Him, and imitate Him. You have such a deep and passionate love for your Creator and you strive daily to live a Spirit-filled life that glorifies God and brings Him honor. This is not something I take lightly or for granted. It's something that I cherish and treasure, for I know that it's rare. And I know it's not easy. I know it takes a daily commitment to strive forward in your walk and I know it's something that you pursue above all other things; I'm so honored to be married to a man who loves and pursues our God so completely.

I'm humbled by your love for me. You love me so selflessly and so completely and so "fun-ly". You honor me with your words, you love me with your actions, you study me and relate to my interests. You are amazingly quick to close your eyes and turn your head when a skimpy woman comes on tv or walks past in the mall; and I know you don't just do it when I'm around. I know you turn your head even when you think I'm in a different room or not paying attention. You don't fake your integrity and moral purity; it's a real and true aspect of your character and one of the many ways you show your love for God and me.

Over our Christmas vacation, you made me feel beautiful. And let's face the facts: I'm as big as a barn, my fingers look like sausages, my wrists are so swollen I can't even latch my watch anymore, my ankles are but a distant memory, I waddle everywhere I go, I constantly have rivers of sweat racing down my face, I have a total of 2 pants that fit me, I only wear slip-on shoes b/c I can't bend down far enough to put on socks and boots, and my bangs are still recovering from their disastrous experience from 2 months ago. And yet you make me feel utterly gorgeous. We had several really beautiful waitresses at a few of our restaurants this past week and you didn't appear to notice them at all. In fact, you were actually rather abrupt with them, short in your answers, and didn't even look at them; but then you would turn to me and your face would light up like a Christmas tree as you talked and laughed and gave me your complete attention and affection.

That's one of the greatest gifts in the world that you could possibly give me and you give it to me daily, in our home and also in public where others witness your affection and love for me. Thank you, love. Remember when Heather Anderson approached me and told me that she loved watching you watch me during Sunday School and how any woman would give her life to have a man look at her the way you look at me? That was at least 5 years ago and you're still looking at me that same way today, when I'm 35 weeks pregnant and after 8 and a half years of marriage, 3 major surgeries, countless stupid fights, childbirth, motherhood, and the daily grind of life. I'm amazed at your love for me.

I don't mean to make you into a saint and make you feel like you can't make mistakes. You can. Please do. In fact, you certainly will. I want you to know that you have the freedom to make mistakes, to sin, to fall short, etc. Do not be perfect, do not feel like I want you to be perfect, feel no pressure to be flawless or a "super husband" or the "husband of the year". The last thing I want to do is make you feel pressure, honey, to be perfect. But right here, right now, I simply can't let another day go by without putting into words the amazing man you are and the depth of my love and respect for you.

So back to my main point. I love you. I love you so very much that my heart aches with the fullness and the richness and the overflowing depth of my love for you. I long to be in the same room with you. When you have to go to work (sigh), I'm like a school girl, watching the clock and counting the hours till you come home and I get to be with you again. I love so many things about you, many of them the "big" things in life (some listed above) but I also love so many of the little things about you, too.

For example, during our Christmas vacation, I simply love the following things about you:

I love that you call my fiestaware dishes by their official names (IE turquoise, scarlet, cobalt, lemongrass, flamingo, peacock, shamrock, etc) instead of simply "green, red, blue, yellow, pink, etc". I really appreciate that you stand with me in front of my Fiestaware cabinet and talk seriously with me about my colors and which side of the color wheel I need to buy my next dishes from in order to add a depth to my collection that I feel is missing.

I love that you got excited with me when I found steel cut oats at Yutzy's for $0.79/lb and you didn't bat an eye when I bought almost every single bag off the shelf b/c I was afraid someone else would come swooping in and buy my steel cut oats.

I love how much fun you have while playing with Jasper. And by the way, boy do you sure play with our little guy. You don't just play with him for 15 minutes then check your phone to see the newest deals on your "deal site". You play with Jasper, with no phone or tablet or computer present, for hours and hours at a time. You get down on his level and play and play and play with him; I often wonder how you can go so long playing with Jasper without going bonkers, as I often do.

I love your accessories. I love that you love your hats and scarves and vests and boy, you sure do look quite handsome in them, too.

I love your excitement with our fantasy football teams. I love that we talk at great length and in great detail about not only both of our teams but also both of our opponents' teams and we teach jasper to who to cheer for so we might get a shot at winning our game. :o) I love our football fever that we share together.

I love that you still hold my hand every time we watch tv.

I especially love that one evening on our vacation, I asked you if you could let me know when you have time to do me a favor and you dropped what you were doing and instantly responded, "Honey, I always have time to do favors for you. How can I help you?" It blew my mind that you were so quick to serve me. Thank you.

I love that you didn't bat an eye when I ripped off my heart monitor and threw it against the wall and then sat down and bawled for an hour. You gently and patiently held me and stroked my hair and then never spoke a word about the monitor again (smart, smart man).

I love that you are serious about getting our family to church on time. It's obviously a priority to you and Jasper is learning its importance, too. And I quite love listening to you read the Bible to me and Jasper.

I love how sweetly conscientious you are about making sure our special restaurants have calamari as an appetizer simply because you know how much I love calamari and crave it deep in my soul. I love the thoughtful and sweet gifts you got me for Christmas and the special gifts you got me in my stocking (*wink*). You are so considerate and thoughtful when shopping for me and it's so evident. Thank you, honey.

I really, really love your laugh. I love your eyes and your sense of humor and your quick, dry wit and the way you attempt to tell stories. There were a few other things I wanted to list, but I'm getting sleepy (I think it's the Sleepy Time Tea kickin' in) and I can't think of them right now. But when I do, I'll be sure to tell ya.

Sweetie, you are such an amazing man. I am daily humbled by your love and commitment to God and our family and after spending almost every minute of the last 9 days with you, my respect for you has sky-rocketed. When we married, I knew I was marrying an amazing man, but boy, I was barely scratching the surface. There's a depth to your character and integrity that's extremely rare to come by and I thank the Lord daily that you choose me, pursued me, and stuck with me. You blow my mind, babe, and rock my world and I'm so honored and excited to spend all the rest of my days with you. Thank you for your love.