Hippo birdie two ewes ....

Yes, I know, I just put out a new post yesterday, and I'm trying to not wear out my welcome in the Blogosphere.  But tomorrow is Husband's birthday and he doesn't want me to get him anything and we're both in hot competition to not eat (see previous post) so dining out is difficult.  Therefore, I will blog about him.  Won't that be a fun surprise?  Who doesn't want to be paraded across the internet!

A brief history:  Neither of us remembers when we first became aware of each other.  My early memories begin in a Sunday School class somewhere near the age of 12.  He was just another gross, geeky boy.

Fast forward into high school when we both attended an early morning scripture class and were carpooling together.   Our backyards met at one corner so we always seemed to be grouped in the same car for church events.  Good thing.  Being painfully shy, it took a while for the sparks to ignite.

He asked me to a semi-formal dance for our first date.  I was 16, he was 17.  My older sister and brother were home at the time and both were suddenly much too interested in my "love life".  He showed up at the door, corsage in hand, only to learn I wasn't ready because I wasn't actually sure WHEN he was supposed to come and was too shy to ask.  Anyway, awkward start.

Senior prom.  Different dance.  

More fast forwarding - two years later.  He decided to heed the call of the Lord and serve a two-year mission on the other side of the country.  We had been together for two years and seeing him go was hard, to say the least.  I spent those two years dutifully missing him and writing letters twice a week, all the while having the time of my life at college.  Yes I DID miss him, and yes I WAS having fun.  Can't explain it.  It just was.

He came home a week after I graduated and about two months later, we were engaged.  He kind of blew it with the question-popping, which he is the first to admit, but I married him anyway in Logan, Utah, nearly four months later.   Our honeymoon was one of those unfortunate occasions you laugh about years later.  Basically it consisted of limping back to our humble little apartment in Oregon, in a $300 car that was threatening to quit on any random deserted stretch of the highway, and with only a few dollars left to our now-married name.

Even more fast forwarding, 36 years and four grown kids later, I must say, life with this man has been nothing short of delightful.  He may be messy, disorganized, and forgetful, but he knows how to work hard and better yet, how to play even harder.  He's smart, kind, generous, and genuinely cares about others.  He has a heart the size of Wyoming and an optimistic tendency to get carried away when planning fun events.  He loves people and people love him.  Every pet we owned, bonded with him over anyone else.  Not to mention he loves his family, his kids, and best of all he adores me.  For what more could I ask?

I look forward to a bazillion more years with the LOML, after which we'll take stock, reassess, and sign up for a bazillion more. 

Happy Birthday to my BFF.