Who Left the Newspaper in Their Pants Pocket?

I went to switch the laundry today and there is paper covering EVERYTHING. Now I have left my share of papers in my pockets and then washed them but this was ridiculous. I may as well have paper machete-ed the entire load of laundry. I emptied the load into the dryer and what do you think I found at the bottom of the washing machine? A hardback library book cover. Just the cover. It was the book Jared had checked out "The Amazing Adventure of Kavalier and Clay." I think it's around 500-600 pages long. It completely disintegrated in my washing machine. Now I don't know how it got in my washing machine, but I am really not looking forward to paying the library for it. I'm really hoping it ends up being a once in a lifetime experience.

Why did you marry?

Last friday I brought Brittney some flowers and the kids were asking why. We explained that we were celebrating the day we got married.

Since then about 6 times a day Abi has been asking me "Why did you marry?"

I thought I'd answer that question here. It's a couple days late Brittney, sorry.

I married Brittney because she's the coolest girl I know. In support of this I offer the following facts:

She loves to read, but she likes good books, not schmaltzy romance.
She loves action and comic book movies.
She likes my friends and fits in with them.
She has a great sense of humor, she only gets offended when things are truly offensive.
She is good at literally everything she really tries. I'm not exaggerating. If she puts effort into something she usually does it better than anybody else I've ever known.
She's an amazing cook, and always trying new things.
She is constantly trying to improve herself.
She loves good music. Roger Clyne, The Shins, etc... Not a hint of Celine Dion or Mariah Carey on any of her playlists.
She has an unshakable testimony of the gospel.
She sees connections I don't see. I can't count the number of times we've been discussing some gospel principle and she will tie two scriptures together that I never considered to be related. But when she points out the connection it brings insight to me that is profound. I love listening to her talk about the scriptures.
She's way smarter than I am.
She takes the responsibility of raising our children very seriously. She does creative things with the kids all the time. She takes the time to include the kids.
She is loving without being smothering.
She challenges me to be better.
She is smokin hot. :)

Brittney isn't overly sentimental (something else I love about her) and she always views herself as being much less than she really is, so I'm guessing she's going to disagree on some of the things I've said. I just want her to know that I'm not saying she's perfect. Just like every marriage there are stresses, and disagreements. Just like any person she has flaws (far fewer than I have, by orders of magnitude). But it doesn't matter. She is perfect for me. One of the first things I noticed when Brittney and I got together was that she made me feel calm. I don't know how to explain it fully. When we sat next to each other I felt quiet in my soul. She felt like home.

Our lives on this planet are full of chaos and noise. Tension and stress and guilt and yearning for more. Brittney is my antidote . At the end of the day when we are sitting around the dinner table, or sitting together and watching tv, or laying in bed talking, or walking together at the grocery store, it's the same as those first few weeks of dating. She calms me. I feel the wrinkles of the day being smoothed out. She probably doesn't know this. Sometimes I'm very quiet when I get home from work. Sometimes it's because I'm in a bad mood. But more often it's just that I'm absorbing that feeling. I need more of her, not more of me. I'm sick of me. I'm never sick of her.

I married Brittney for all of these reasons and a million others. I married her (and would again in a heartbeat) because I love her with my whole soul and want to be with her forever.

Happy 7th anniversary. By far the best 7 years of my life. Our worst times together are still better than my best times without you.

Love you forever and always.

Memories Like the Corner of My Mind

Ok, I read this one off of Cody's blog and it made me laugh because I saw it on Seriously So Blessed, but not as a tag thing, just as a "brag about me" thing.


1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Abi

Jared says: "My 'talking to a toddler' voice sounds unbelievably dorky."

Q and A

Abi asked me this morning how our black/gray rug was made (which is currently, and probably permanently, covered in dog hair). I told her I didn't know. Grace said she knew how. "When dogs like ours drop their hair, they just pick it up and make it into a rug." She may be right, it really does look that way. We bought it because it attracts dirt, I didn't realize that meant it would be impossible to clean the dirt and hair off.