Repost from my old blog

I just happened upon this old post from my pre-wedding blog. I thought it was perfect for how I've been feeling lately.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

How did I get so lucky? - Ty

While Ty is slaving away at school all day (he has super long days--from start to finish to try to get everything done that he needs to do, Ty's days usually run from about 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. He is a champion.), I am blogging about him. I started this post last night but then I got too tired to finish (it was probably 2 a.m.) and I went to bed. I was just telling my friend Christina this morning that I felt like a lazy house cat. And after the breakfast I had this morning of yogurt, fiber-one, strawberries...and a bunch of baked cheetos, I feel more like the "fat house cat" that Iron and Wine sing about in their haunting and beautiful song "Flightless Bird, American Mouth." And yes, this song is on the New Moon soundtrack, but I haven't seen that crazy show.

So I don't really know what the face I'm making in this picture is about, but...I love this picture. I think it is so sweet of Ty. When I saw this picture, I said, "Aw, Ty loves me." I already knew that...he did give me a ring and ask me to be his wife, he does tell me he loves me all the time, he helps me with anything and everything I ask, and he makes time for things that are important to me, he values my opinion, he rubs my shoulders and kisses me, he lets me watch him feed his pet ball python Sam, he plays racquetball with my brother even though he has a manuscript to finish, he is so sweet and gentle with me...but his expression in this picture is so adorable that I love this picture.

I could talk about Ty for hours. He is really good to me. I have learned so much from knowing him, dating him, and being engaged to him, and I am a much better person because of it...even though it has only been a few short months. He is wonderful and I love him.

The sweetest man alive

My incredibly adorable husband and me...and no, pregnancy has not been kind to me.
Neither is getting up early to go run, though...doesn't do much for "my look." :)

These past few days I have been marveling at how I got so lucky to marry such a wonderful man. Because our courtship was quick and I moved to Texas after a whopping 8 dates and a weekend visit, many of the people I love don't know my husband the way I wish they did...so--I know he won't love this, but...--I wanted to share some of the things he does that show how sweet he is. I am so not worthy...

• He always gets out of bed before me (usually an hour or two before me unless I'm teaching seminary that morning) and he'll often take my empty or half-empty water bottle by the bed and refill it or replace it so that when I wake up, I have cold water to drink.
• When I go to the bathroom in the morning, I'll often come out to find he has already fixed the bed or started to fix the bed.
• Usually while I am still in bed, I can hear him in the kitchen doing the dishes. I often think, "Oh no...there he goes again," and think I wish I were more helpful, but pregnancy really has worn me out, so I usually just go back to sleep thinking about how nice he is.
  
• He kisses me and tells me he loves me all the time--so many times in a day that there is no way I could count them from memory.
• He does his own laundry.
• He often helps me hang up my clean laundry.
• I've gained so much weight since I've gotten pregnant (disproportionate for how far along I am), so that I feel really frumpy and ugly a lot, but my sweet husband still tells me that he thinks I'm beautiful and treats me in such a way that I know he means it. He makes me feel as if he still finds me totally attractive...and although I'll look in the mirror and my messy hair, tired eyes, and round body, I know he loves me and does find me attractive.
  
• I make the same mistakes over and over again and they often impact him (still late to everything...), but he is really patient.
• I have been so emotional since getting pregnant and although I know my level of intensity with my emotions often overwhelms him, he is still so sweet and kind and still listens to me and my complaining.
• Every two weeks we give ourselves individual allowances to spend how ever we would like. I usually spend my allowance on me...and several times, that sweet, sweet boy I married has also spent his allowance on me or on doing things for me. He is so much more thoughtful and selfless than I am.
  

He is not me so I don't feel I have any claim on this good behavior. I am just the lucky, lucky recipient.

I feel so blessed, but because I know that God loves all his children, I know that this blessing I have of being married to such a wonderful person is not unique to me. I truly believe it is something that each of God's children will eventually have if they seek it. They will receive it when God knows it is right according to his plan for them. I was 33 years old before my husband and I even went on our first date. For years I thought I knew what I wanted and what I needed and I had wished I could find the right person for me...and then suddenly, at the age of 33, 14 years after meeting my husband for the first time, the time was right, we were both ready, and it all came together so quickly. He is more than I would have ever chosen for myself. He is so much better and so perfect for me.

And although I remember the loneliness I would sometimes feel in quiet moments of my single life and although I still remember in a logical way what it felt like to experience the pain and anguish of numerous heartbreaks, now that I'm married to Ty, it all has just come together and makes sense. All those past pains seem swallowed up and I can see them for what they were--tutorials and preparation for me to be able to recognize the blessing when it came and to be willing and able to do my part to make it blossom. (Sweet Ty, I had written this paragraph generically, but then I rewrote it using I statements. :) I'm learning...)

I love my Heavenly Father and I'm so grateful he sent me Ty.

Happy Anniversary to us!

This past week we celebrated our 6-month anniversary. We knew we wouldn't have a ton of time on the actual day (Monday) to celebrate, so we had said we would celebrate the weekend before.

I bought him a cd...which he doesn't even love, but that's okay. I thought he would and it's the thought that counts.

So on Friday night, some friends had wanted to take us to dinner, so we started the evening going out to dinner with them. Ty had had a very busy day at school and work and had only had about a half hour free all day, so he rushed home after work to pick me up, grabbed a few things and we went to dinner. Dinner with Shannon and Amber was great--the food was delicious and the company was so wonderful.

After a very fun dinner, we left the restaurant and Ty blindfolded me and said we were going somewhere for a surprise. He had brought a bottle of sparkling cider and said maybe we could stop by a pond and have it. Once in the car, he said he had scouted out a place during his break during work, so...off we went. When we got to the destination, with the blindfold still on (which was actually my sleep mask that Jet Blue gave me once upon a flight long ago), he told me to wait in the car for a minute, so I did.

Ty came back and took my hand and told me to stay close to him. We walked across a little parking lot, up a step, and through two doorways. At one point, I heard voices in the distance...and then it was quiet. Ty took off the blindfold and said, "Happy Anniversary!" I opened my eyes and found we were in a hotel room where he had set up the sparkling cider with champagne glasses. There was also a candle burning, a bouquet of flowers in a beautiful vase, and the sweetest card with the most thoughtful inscription from him.

He had figured everything out and then made it happen during his short little break during the day. How did I get so lucky?

Photo courtesy of my sweet and brilliant sister-in-law Diana of Yan Photography.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Yesterday was my parents' 38th anniversary. I feel so lucky to have two such wonderful people as my parents and even luckier that they are still together after all these years. What a blessing. I'm a lucky, lucky girl. Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Fruits of all kinds

Some people are nice. Really nice. Like our friends the Cruzes. Our friend Hannah is from Sacramento and her parents came to visit and brought a suitcase full of mandarins and we are the lucky recipients of many, many mandarinas (as they say in the espanol).

And then there are lemons. When my older brother and his family lived right outside of Sacramento (in Dixon), they had a lemon tree in their backyard (we loved that house and that yard), and those lemons were big and amazing and delicious. But sometimes lemons are just a normal size. Like 3 1/2 inches.

I shamelessly stole this photo from this site.

So what is so significant about lemons, you ask? Well, my cute, sweet husband and I decided to make a baby a while back and this week our baby is the size of a lemon. Kind of exciting! :)

Oh, Lubbock! We CAN be friends!

Look what I found at the Asian market here in Lubbock. (I may have also found manapua and they may have gotten eaten.) That large root creature is taro. I was so excited! And the stuff on the far right? Dried squid. When we were little and my mom would go to the commissary (the grocery store on the military bases where we lived), she would often bring us home sake ika--dried squid--in individual serving packets and we would be elated. Ty smelled it and said, "Will you please not teach this to our children?" I make no promises.

Why is that funny?

I made a comment the other day about how I'm a clean person and Ty started laughing. I don't get it. What's the joke?