On My Husband

I never did a really gushy, mushy valentine's post... I just wasn't in the mood.  And anyway, our valentine's day involved hanging out with some borrowed munchkins-- lots of fun but more effective as birth control than as romance.  We're really not into the big romantic gesture thing, it's just not our style.  Isaac made me a card that had a funny joke about being color blind on V-day, and then excitedly pointed out that he had purposely made the card green (he can't usually tell the difference between red and green, which makes some holidays a little tricky).  Well, the card was actually blue.  I laughed so hard I snorted out my orange juice.  That was the end of our romance for the day. 

But we work really hard to keep the lovin' going 365 days a year-- not on one day when all the stuff has suddenly doubled in price.  And today, I am madly in love with my Isaac.  So I'm going to write it down, even though it's no longer a seasonally appropriate thing to do. 

Isaac is, hands down, the most compassionate, empathetic, understanding person I know.  Depression is hard, debilitating even, but Isaac has taken his experiences with his own emotions and allowed them to be an insight into others.  This comes in handy when I'm riding that roller coaster of female emotions-- he listens, he understands, he patiently waits for the cranky/crazy/unreasonably devastated wife to pass.  His trial of mental health has been the hardest thing either one of us has ever struggled with, but there is a definite and obvious blessing in the way he approaches our relationship.

He doesn't judge, because he knows from personal experience that appearances can be deceiving.  This is something I have to work on every day, but Isaac is always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, even when that person has failed to extend the same courtesy to him.  He's also physically incapable of holding a grudge. 

When his stomach can handle it, Isaac is an awesome house cleaner.  Before he got sick he was the bathroom cleaner-in-chief.  He tries to do laundry, although I've given up on training him to help with that skill.  The last couple of weekends, he's put more effort into the weekly clean up than I have-- probably the reason I'm so madly in love with him this morning.

He's got mad fix-it skills-- seriously, this man can figure out how to fix just about anything. 

He digs things like my cell phone out of the trash can when I'm too grossed out to do it myself.

He kills spiders.

He cuts his own hair, with just a little help from me.

He loves kids--I love to sit back and watch him play with his nieces and nephews.  When we babysit, he cheerfully takes on at least half of the work, if not more.  This bodes well for our future as parents. 

He loves to camp, loves to be outside, and is an excellent traveling companion.

 

Did I mention I think he's good looking? ... Can't write a tribute to the husband without mentioning that!

He reads voraciously.  Some of my favorite days are the ones where we spend hours in bed together, absorbed in our own books.  That's something we didn't actually talk about in our courtship, and the first time we both happily read until three in the morning, I knew I had scored big time. 

He doesn't like sports.  Can I get a hallelujah?  Amen.

And he let me pick out my own wedding ring.

Isaac is completely himself, doesn't care what others think.  He does what he wants to do and doesn't care if someone else might think it strange-- like this day at the cabin, when he needed another layer and the only thing he could find was great-aunt-someone's forty year-old cardigan.  He didn't even blink, just settled himself back down with the book.  My family thought it was hilarious.  So did I.

The man is a goofball.  Totally dorky sense of humor.  Yesterday he made me laugh till I cried.  Twice.  It's a good formula.  (He does a hilarious impression of the velociraptor on Jurassic Park, just ask).

Family is important to him.  His best friends are his siblings and cousins, and he makes my family as high a priority as his own. 

He completely supported me in pursuing my education, putting his on hold so that I could finish.  He lets me ramble on and on about my life as an elementary school teacher, and doesn't even make very many mean jokes about it. 

He took me to the temple and he still takes me to the temple, even on the days I don't really want to go.

If you don't know my husband, you're really missing out on a spectacular person.  Oh, do I love him, in so many ways.

25 Reasons To Be A 1st Grade Teacher On Valentine's

25 little love notes from 25 little ones:

(Mrs. Peterson is my TA, bless her seven ways from Sunday. I couldn't live without her).

A few extra love notes left for me on the whiteboard yesterday afternoon:

(This one says 'You're the best teacher ever! Love, child who cannot be identified on the internet).

And almost as sweet, 25 sugary valentines:

I forgot that the teacher gets a haul, too! I think I counted four king-sized candy bars, chocolate dipped strawberries, three boxes of truffles, and of course that box is full of all the treats that get attached to the Hannah Montana and Transformer notes. Also, two homeless cans of frosting... I don't know, I just work here.

We had an awesome day-- I wish I could show you the pictures of giggling kids covered in pink frosting, sneaking bites of cupcakes and cookies when they thought I wasn't looking. These guys are adorable.

I knew I went with this career for a reason. Life is better when you never grow up.

In Which We Make the Largest Announcement Of Our Married Lives Thus Far

We have exciting news and, well, it's hard to put into words but this is how we feel about it:

We took this picture last night and those are really, really excited smiles. We're still wearing them. This is why:

We just put a down payment on brand new town home in Daybreak! Well, it will be brand new when we move in this April. Better yet:

Look who we have for neighbors! Clay and Trista! Woot! (And I know, some of you are asking yourselves who commits to a mortgage with family next door? Well, we do. We like it that way. Would prefer not to have it any other way).

The last few weeks have been an incredible roller coaster ride-- starting my new job is enough, but then a couple of weeks ago we decided to take a look at these Garbett Homes Clay has been talking about for so long. Within 24 hours, we had put down earnest money to hold our spot. And then the real fun began-- making our selections, assembling all the paperwork, rushing to appointments with companies who close before I'm even allowed to leave school. Weighing the pros and cons, crunching numbers (oh, those numbers were crunched about to death), and of course a whole lot of praying. We spent a dejected forty-eight hours thinking it was out of our reach before the first of many miracles started pouring in-- and can I say, wow.

We had about two weeks to make our final decision, and they have been the most spiritual two weeks of our lives. There are just too many details to get into, but suffice it to say that there is no doubt-- not even a shadow-- that Heavenly Father loves us, that He is guiding us, and that He wants us in this home. I feel closer to the Lord and to my husband than I have ever felt before, and it feels good. I can't put it into words that come close to describing how I feel, so I will leave it at that.

Daybreak is a great community with lots parks, a lake, just fifteen minutes from my school, and five from my parents. I've wanted to live there someday since 2004 and I'm mostly just in shock that it's really going to happen!

Our new home (ah! ours!) has tons of windows and a very modern exterior:

Only ours will be blue-ish green. That cement is a cute little patio that opens into our living room, with two stories of windows. From the upstairs (bedrooms on the third floor) you have a gorgeous view of Mt. Timpanogos. The kitchen overlooks the living room but doing dishes comes with a view of the Oquirrhs:

It's hard to see from this shot, but that window behind me is nothing but scenic. Lauria is our first visitor to the bathroom:

I'm not sure if she is embarrassed to be caught in the toilet or worried that someone is going to catch us wandering around the house we're not supposed to be in. Here's what the five-home row looks like right now (I can't tell you how in love I am with that mountain range you see in the background!):

No more basement apartments, no more shared water heaters, no more unpaintable walls! Hello windows and thermostats! I'm so relieved to have just two more rent checks left to write.

Here's to hoping we really get in on time! Because we're not going to be able to sleep at night until we're finally in.