The Birthday Boy

 At my cousin's wedding in Mexico!

(photo by my cousin's friend Bryce - he's awesome!)

Today is Eric's 28th Birthday! It's that one day of the year when I can gloat, because for the past four months Eric has been going on and on about how old I am, but now he has "caught up" to me and all his "28 is so ooooolllllllllddddd" talk is backfiring on him. Take that, birthday boy!

But seriously, I am wishing my husband a fabulous birthday. He certainly deserves nothing less. Unfortunately, he has to work today, and it will probably be a long one. I'm hoping he'll get out of work at a decent hour so we can have a nice dinner tonight, but if not, we'll just have to celebrate this weekend. I'm so lucky to have Eric, so I'll make sure we find some quality time to celebrate him this week!

For Eric's 26th and 27th birthdays, I commemorated the day by listing things that I love about him. I figured I would try to continue this tradition this year, with a fresh, new list of 28 things that I love about my husband. So, let's do this:

28 Things I Love About My 28-Year-Old Husband

1. I love that he planned a perfect proposal for me (nearly five years ago already!).
2. I love that he did the "shopping cart" in the dance circle at my cousin's wedding (don't worry, we'll cover that more in depth next week!).
3. I love that he puts the Christmas lights on the tree for me now, and does the "squint test" to make sure there are no dark spots. I can't handle dark spots.
4. I love that we made up a secret high five (at his request).
5. I love that we understand the way each other thinks.
6. I love that he likes to hold my hand when we are just sitting on the couch watching TV.
7. I love that he will stop and dance with me in the street.
8. I love that he has become so interested in taking beautiful pictures.
9. I love that he can solve a Rubiks Cube in under five minutes.
10. I love that he enjoys a nice whiskey and Coke (as do I).
11. I love that he always knows the right thing to say to cheer me up or calm my fears when I'm worried about something.
12. I love that he listens to Christmas music all year-round.
13. I love that he encourages me to step out of my comfort zone and try new things.
14. I love that when he has trouble sleeping, he plays a round of golf in his head.
15. I love that he is so much fun to talk to that I can't go one day without sending him a ton of emails, because there are too many things that I want tell him about and I'm afraid I'll forget them all by the time he gets home.
16. I love that he responds to almost all of my many emails.
17. I love that he watches Dexter with me every week even though it drives him crazy.
18. I love that he loves tulips.
19. I love that even after 12 years together, we're still learning new things about each other. Did you know that he can't bend his left elbow all the way? Me neither, until a week or two ago.
20. I love that he wears his flip flops for as long as he possibly can each fall.
21. I love that when I have a problem I'm trying to figure out, he will talk it through with me as many times as I need.
22. I love that he said my green bean casserole was the best part of Thanksgiving dinner, even though his turkey was clearly the best.
23. I love that he always tells me when my hair looks fancy. The other day he even said I was glamorous!
24. I love that every night before we go to sleep, he tells me if I need anything during the night (glass of water, etc.), to wake him up and he'll get it for me. I would never wake him for that but it's very sweet of him to offer. I believe he really means it.
25. I love the interesting questions he comes up with to ask at the dinner table. Example: if there were a statue being made of you, in what pose would you want it to be?
26. I love that sometimes he drinks Mountain Dew for dessert.
27. I love that he encourages my creativity.
28. I love that he is so dedicated to figuring out the best possible future for our family.

So there you have it. I have now posted 81 unique things I love about Eric on this blog over the course of three years. I don't know how it wouldn't, but in case it doesn't fully come across, Eric is a pretty incredible guy and I'm so lucky to be married to him. He is definitely my favorite.

Happy birthday, my love!