My 34 Month Ode to My Wife

I think all the nice things that my wife said about me in the previous post warrant a response. Yes, I am actually putting my first post on the blog and it isn't about MSU football, Law School, or Kate...it is even better than that, it is about my wife, the most beautiful, thoughtful, extraordinary woman in the world!

Tough To Argue With That

I'll start with her looks... 1)I can't ignore the hair, it was the first thing I noticed when we met. Not that she needed any distinguishing feature to make her more beautiful but she got it. I'm sure many women would kill for that hair, actually, I would just like some hair period. 2)There is no woman alive that is more beautiful than my wife when she gets dressed up for a night on the town. I love to show her off and it is nice knowing your wife is always going to be the best looking one at the party. 3) Or when she wears pigtails, a t-shirt, and her s*#tkickers(that she has actually done work in, these don't come from Nine West or Macy's)... which is my favorite...or I guess her in a sundress is a favorite, or maybe when she has to wear glasses, or maybe... The type of friend she is to others... 4) She is what I hope to become one day, someone that is so genuinely interested in everyone but herself (man I've got a long way to go). Everyone calls her when they need someone to talk to and the things people tell her truly weigh on her heart. 5) I always knew that I would marry someone who could get along with the guys as good as she did the girls...did I ever find that, most of her best friends are guys and ones that I get along with like we've known each other forever The best nurse in the world... 6) I guess I envy her in this respect. Everyone wants to find their calling and she found it and is dang could at it. She loves babies and makes the parents she works with, good or bad, feel loved and as comfortable as you can when you realize,"Hey, I just brought this thing into the world, now what?" 7) She is the ultimate home help line. She answers everyone's questions about nursing and babies and loves doing it. The dreams we share... 8) We have both always wanted to have a farm as our primary business. Her dream is to have a therapeutic riding facility for special needs children, mine was to have a cattle ranch (sounds a little weak compared to hers). I can assure you that I will do everything I can to make sure she has the opportunity to have her riding facility one day.

Amanda Teaching Me To Love Horses

9) The children we want to have. Oh 4 or 5 little munchkins will do, and we both have a desire to adopt at least one, possibly more. I guess that is what happens when you let a boy that was adopted marry a girl that had foster children in her house most of her childhood get married. The things she does around the house... 10) Our house is decorated for every season and I don't mean a little stuffed turkey for Thanksgiving or a few little Easter eggs for Easter. We have an entire house worth of decorations for every Holiday including Yom Kippur...maybe not that bad but close.

The Department 56 Village Is Nothing Compared To The 5 Christmas Trees

11) The way she keeps our house clean, it's like she enjoys it...this is beyond my comprehension. I think she vacuums 3 or 4 times a week...throw up! 12)The yard work, yep I got a good 'un and a green thumb at that. She is as fired up to get a flower bed looking good as I am, although not always as willing to spend the money. She is the reason we have a huge compost bin beside our house making soil in hopes of improving our terrible red clay. How tough she is... 13) She did a 16 mile day on the Appalachian Trail the 4th day she was there...enough said. No really, I dare some of the guys that read this to try what she did, my money is on her. 14) She fights harder and hits harder than any guy I know, really. Ask any of her guy friends, there are no rules. I don't mean in a trashy bar-fighting way but if anybody ever broke in our house and I wasn't there, Lord have mercy on their soul. How tender she is... 15) I love the many times that I look over at her during a scene in a movie or TV show that isn't really meant to be a tearjerker and say,"Are you crying?"...."Yes, sniff sniff." 16) Her heart for children and injustice is great. From special needs children to baby's with bad home lives, I am lucky to be married to a woman who wants to actually do something about the things she feels. The adventuresome trip taking side... 17) You know you have found your mate when you can't imagine doing anything without them. Not only is she ready to go anywhere when I recommend it, she enjoys my spontaneity and lack of structure (or appears to). 18) It is great not having to wonder, "Is my wife going to enjoy this, or is she going to be able to do that." Whether we're wandering New York or D.C., biking around Bora Bora, or skiing the toughest runs in Colorado (yes, she can ski better than anybody else I know) she looks right at home.

One of our Favorite Destinations

The ways she challenges me... 19) When I'm doing something that I shouldn't or not living up to my full potential she doesn't passively let me self-destruct, she always forces me to get better. For example...I tried to quit the Appalachian Trail on Day 2. She told me that it wasn't an option because she wouldn't pick me up until Easter. I enjoyed almost every minute after that. 20) I always knew I would marry a woman who wouldn't agree with everything I said. Little did I know that I would marry one who would disagree and always be right. She has taken on my love for the Bulldogs and made it even better... 21) She makes sure our tailgates always have a MSU serving piece for even the smallest items. We have the pewter, the platters, the candy dishes, the chips and dip trays, the napkin holders, the drink stirrers...well you get the point 22) When I try to talk myself out of going to the game at the last minute, she always finds a way to talk me into it and show me how disappointed I will be if I skip. She is, once again, always right and we manage to have a blast every time. She also produces good bulldog offspring...Kate sat through all 4 quarters at the last game and was enthralled or at least I'll tell myself that.

The First Gameday Family Pic

Her commitment to financial discipline... 23) What can I say, she took a guy who bought a $50,000 truck right out of college and managed to get us to pay off $70,000 worth of debt in less than 2 years. Who says miracles can't happen? 24) She doesn't make me feel bad that we aren't buying all the extravagant designer brand items that a lot of people we know are purchasing. Not only does this help the bottom line, but it is like Charlie finding the Golden Ticket when she gets something really nice.

Amanda and her Golden Ticket

Her work ethic... 25) She is putting us through law school...not me, it is all her. When many of her friends with children stay home, she works. Not only does she work, she works all night which unless you have done it, don't even pretend to understand. The way she pouts... 26) Whether she is pretending to die from dehydration or saying in her best brat voice, "I WANT ICE CREAM!" it always works. There is no way to turn down that face. The mother she is... 27) I know it is a mother thing, but the way Kate just melts when she sees her mom make me smile every time.

Kate And Her Favorite Person

28) She is such a good mother that it makes things easy on me. After helping raise Kate's Uncle Jake, and having foster babies around the house when they were growing up she is so comfortable with Kate that it just seems natural. No helicopter moms at our house... I would lose my head if it wasn't attached... 29) And she manages to keep it there. I can't remember something if you ask me 5 seconds after you tell me. If I tell her one time, her steel trap of a mind snags whatever I said and consider it done. I never have to worry if something got mailed, picked up, fixed, or if someone got called. She is the most reliable person I have ever met. My own little Paula Deen... 30) Before we got married I was warned about her cooking. I said, "That's okay, I love to cook." I think we might have had one meal that wasn't fantastic since we got married and I believe that meal was my idea. I honestly cook maybe once every two or three weeks now.

One Of The First Meals She Cooked For Us

She's not like any other girl... 31) What other girl majors in Animal and Dairy Science and is the Senator for and President of the Ambassadors for the College of Agriculture? This woman has more useful knowledge in her than any other female I have ever met and legend has it that she regularly showed up the guys in her major...I don't doubt it but it was probably because the guys in her major spent the whole class dreaming about her. 32) On the flip side, she can shed that and be the most elegant, polite, and proper woman at a party. It is awesome to be able to have a wife that fits in at Tavern on the Green in Central Park or at a Rodeo. Entertainer of the Year... 33) She wants to host a party for everything. I guess this is one of the wonderful traits she gets from her Mom. Whether we are having our Crawfish parties, a bonfire, surprise birthday parties, or a family get together she enjoys being the entertainer. I love that my wife makes our home a welcoming place.

The Crawfish Party 2 Weeks After Kate Was Born

And the final thing, number 34... 34) She is my living example of loving everybody exactly how they are. She accepts people exactly as she meets them, the good, the bad, the ugly, and looks past that and sees the person. In fact, look at me...she accepts me despite my bald, sometimes overweight, greedy, prideful, quick to anger, fast to speak, quick to judge, money spending, jobless self and loves me as if I am perfect. As you can see, she is pretty incredible and I am the luckiest guy in the world to have her! If I can only touch half as many lives as I've seen her touch, I will consider my life a race well run.

She's a yellow pair of running shoes, A holey pair of jeans She looks great in cheap sunglasses, She looks great in anything She's I want a piece of chocolate, Take me to a movie She's I can't find a thing to wear, Now and then she's moody She's a Saturn with a sunroof, With her blond hair a-blowing She's a soft place to land, and a good feeling knowing She's a warm conversation, That I wouldn't miss for nothing She's a fighter when she's mad, And she's a lover when she's loving She's a Saturday out on the town, And a church girl on Sunday She's a cross around her neck, And a cuss word 'cause its Monday She's a bubble bath and candles, Baby come and kiss me She's a one glass of wine, And she's feeling kinda tipsy She's the giver I wish I could be, And the stealer of the covers She's a picture in my wallet, and my unborn children's mother She's the hand that I'm holding, When I'm on my knees and praying She's the answer to my prayer, And she's the song that I'm playing She's the voice I love to hear, Someday when I'm ninety She's that wooden rocking chair, I want rocking right beside me Everyday that passes, I only love her more Yeah, she's the one, That I'd lay down my own life for And she's everything I ever wanted And everything I need She's everything to me ~Brad Paisley