two years today

with this beautiful man.

and i don't even care that we both forgotaboutit until we got back from our early-morning--although i still maintain that when it is dark, it is nighttime--RUN. because neither of us puts much stock in dates and numbers--wait, scratch the numbers part; you love those--and it looks like we've done all right so far. and i just wanted to tell the internet nice'n'loud.

[prepare yourselves, ye olde internet stalkers. that, or stop reading.]

so, dearest nicholas,

thank you. i always knew being married would be awesome, because my parents showed me that it was. but even with all the unrealistic expectations we all have going into this little thing called love, you have surpassed what i'd hoped for. จิงๆ เลย!

ready for the short list?

you make me a better person because you really think i'm a lot more awesome than i am, so you encourage and compliment the dickens out of me. and then, like magic, i start to believe you, and then i start to act like i really am that awesome. sometimes. sometimes i forget and keep being the not-awesome version of myself, but when that happens, you just head on back to the encouraging and complimenting stage. you're superman! just keep this up, and i'm sure we'll have taken over--i mean saved--the world by the time we're 30.

you are patient like no one i've ever met. this is good, because we all know i'm the opposite.

you are good. i love you because you notice people and let them know it. you care about hurt feelings and have the moral courage to help somebody even when it's not cool. or even convenient. what?? and the best part is that you don't even realize that what you do is rare, because in your brain, it's what anyone would do. which brings me to:

you are so. stinking. humble. yes, my ex-NASA man with a giant brain who now drives a 20-yr-old yamaha bike to work at a middle school with intolerable students, you are a humility beast (uh).

you are fun. and you are funny, even surprisingly so. that was the one thing that stuck out to me when we were dating, even though you were a physics major (and math minor! for gross!) who spoke no foreign languages and called me "dude" and had never eaten indian food or read a book for pleasure and who possessed almost zero sociopolitical savvy or command of the english language and cared more about snowboarding than about homework and spent all your time in high school off-roading and longboarding and blowing stuff up, meaning you were obviously basically just a MORON with whom i would never actually establish a serious relationship... even though you were CLEARLY a fling, you were so much fun to be around! and then i realized that maybe my vision of the ideal manboy was totally boring and, well, more just a male version of myself than anything. for horror. phew. good thing you were so irresistable, huh.

and, in the end, shame on me! cuz you're a flaming genius with an uber-deep soul and this totally out-of-left-field (and no, i don't understand this phrase) killer artistic talent that makes me swoon. bonus.

speaking of all the above, you are you, no matter what anybody thinks about it. this is so priceless. even when i'm the one judging you, you don't back down on what your logical brain is telling you is a stupid social fad instead of an eternal truth. you also never pretend to know more than you do... even when i mock you mercilessly for not knowing who sarah palin or beyonce (or katie couric or ralph nader or ban ki-moon or tina fey or...) is. honestly, how do i even still find it funny?

did i mention that you took the biggest leap of faith ever and quit your stable, brag-worthy job to move to the jungle with your insane wife to rescue orphans (or, you know, something)? you, my friend, are an adventurous and trusting spirit. thank you for having the courage to listen to those little promptings. our life is so sweet because you do.

you are a hard, hard worker. for those times when you beat yourself up for being a lazy sackaflour, just reference the HOUSE out back you're building while working full-time in a foreign country while learning a totally whack language in a culture we don't understand, and then i'll listen to you barraging yourself with insults. actually, i won't. because you are too incredible, and i won't have it.

and you are a stud who makes mean man bread that i can't wait to start enjoying again once you have finished calibrating the oven with your genius-brain. i ask you: does it get any better?

in short, my lover, you are the inspiration!


and i could smooch that face forever and ever. oh, wait. snap!




in other news, mum: that granola is amazing. we are both in heaven over here. you are also the inspiration!

and i promise that joke will make sense to someone other than nick and me someday.