The List

17. He keeps a clean house. Sure, he leaves his shoes in the middle of the thoroughfare and he can really destroy a kitchen when cooking an amazing meal. But he’s tidy. He makes the bed. I wash the laundry, and he folds it. (I’ve clearly gotten the easier end of the bargain.) Don’t even get me started about what a stellar grocery shopper he is. I am incredibly fortunate to have a partner who contributes equally to our life together. 

29. He does cute stuff that makes me smile. After a fun vacation at Clearwater Beach, I had a bad case of the Post-Vacation Blues. (You know, when you’re all, “Oh crap, now I have to go to work five pounds heavier and what in the world did I spend so much money on last week? I don’t want to go to work!). To cheer me up and make me feel like we were still on vacation, he turned down the bed and put out a weather report and a chocolate just like they did at the hotel.

38. He always seems to have new jokes. Just the other night when I was reading him an article that referenced Confucius, he said out of nowhere, “Confucius say: Man who live in glass house dress in basement.” I snorted with laughter at this incredibly random joke. Bigger picture, he’s super funny (#9) and can make me laugh like no one else.

7. He has a great family. I mean a really great family. They have this incredible amount of love and support for us and his mom makes my heart smile. I can’t think of any other way to describe it.

8. He treats my family like they’re his family. We’ve had some tough times recently. My mom had a terrible accident at work and was in the hospital for two weeks. She is doing better now, thank God, but is still in a wheelchair for several more weeks. He visited her in the hospital while I was at work and brought her lunch and a few needed laughs. He took great care of me so I could take care of her, which was an absolute blessing to have been able to do. Whenever he does a thoughtful thing for my family and I look at him incredulously, he says simply, “We’re family.”

Mom’s first field trip outside of her hospital room

3. I can talk to him about anything and everything. Because he truly is my best friend.

10. He is an incredible cook. Thanks to his kitchen skills, eating at home for me is like eating out at a fantastic restaurant where the head chef knows exactly what you like and don’t like, as well as which diet you are trying to stay on this week.

31. I love his handwriting. I had no idea I could ever love something so simple about someone as their handwriting but I actually do. See sample below. Also these dinner suggestions are another example of #29. He obviously knows my skill level in the kitchen very well – beginner.

14. He humors my craziness. Like the time with passion and gusto he joined me in my favorite thing – eating ice cream in bed. Which is harder to execute than it sounds. You have to first make sure you are definitely ready for bed. Wash your face, go to the bathroom, pack anything up for work, plug in your phone. Put the ice cream in the bowls, then SPRINT upstairs to as quickly as possible jump in the bed to eat ice cream before it melts. Then realize that you’ve forgotten to do like three different things and you actually aren’t ready for bed yet. Get those three things done and get back in bed before the ice cream melts. Whew! I have to say, he did pretty well for his first time.

Even more, he is starting to buy into my random theories. Like how I believe water is the best first defense against anything that doesn’t feel well – headache, stomach ache, hypothermia, whatever. Have a glass of water and then see how you feel. Hehas also become as superstitious as me (we “knock on wood” so often that it’s becoming a nervous tick. My case is so bad my team at work bought me a block of wood for my desk so it was easily accessible.)

5. He’s ambitious and a hard worker. I was raised to always do your best and try your hardest. It’s incredibly sexy to be with a man who shares the sames values, is driven and works hard to achieve his goals.

19. He’s terrible at killing bugs. I simply don’t think he can be mean enough. And somehow I find this endearing and indicative of how caring he is for others and genuinely good inside. Even though one time he “killed” a centipede and put it in the trash, only to have it crawl around, taunting us. It was a very creepy mbie super bug. I’m now the lead on bug killing.

11. He almost always beats me at Words With Friends. That’s because he’s smart. I love that the things he’s smart about complement the things I’m smart about. He also cares about what’s happening in the world. Do you know how few people care about what’s happening in our world? It’s a travesty. (That’s probably one of his Words with Friends words. As I’m writing this, he just played “adagio” for 43 points. SERIOUSLY?!)

4. He is my biggest cheerleader. He supports my ambitions and encourages me every step of the way. Whether he’s motivating me in my career or to keep working out, he supports me wholly and authentically. He doesn’t just verbalize his support, he takes actions that help me meet my goals. He makes me feel like I’m part of the absolute best team.

1. He believes in me, believes in us, enough that he asked me to marry him. And I said yes.

As this post goes live, we’re flying to Jamaica to celebrate our wedding with 22 of our favorite people on earth.

I am about to make the biggest promise I’ve ever made. I’m promising to dedicate my life to someone else. It’s kind of epic, especially when you consider the road it took to get here. (The perfect road, I know in hindsight.)

It’s exciting and overwhelming, but not at all scary. Not like it used to be. I’m more certain than I’ve ever been in my life. Because of these reasons and because of a hundred other reasons, I know Chef (hereby known as Nick) is the perfect partner for me to spend the rest of my life with.

Now we’re off to Jamaica. 



Cheers!

This will be our view until our wedding on Saturday!