15 years and counting

In honor of our 15th anniversary tomorrow (yea, us!), I’ve decided to share 15 things I love about Ryan. I’ve also invited him to do the same. Kind of a guest post from the administrator, if you will.

1-Ryan loved me first. And he brings up this fact often. You see, Ryan and I met at BYU. We both lived at Campus Plaza. I wasn’t really interested in him, but would go over to flirt with his cute roommate. The roommate didn’t notice, but Ryan (smart guy that he is), did.

2-Our first date was to a hockey game and to pizza at Litza’s Pizza.

3-Ryan wrote me throughout my entire 18 month mission to Germany. He got bored in classes a lot, so he would doodle and draw all over the envelopes or the letter. I couldn’t tell you how many letters he sent me, but it was more than I got from my parents or anyone else. Once when I was transferred and there was no mail coming, I sent myself the same postcard from Ryan over and over again. They don’t cancel the postage, so I could just drop it into any mailbox, and then, lo and behold, the next day I would get a postcard from Ryan in the mail. He sent me packages with silly things in them, and once I think I asked for some far side or Calvin and Hobbes cartoons, and he went to the Daily Universe office (the BYU newspaper) and got back issues and cut out tons of old comics for me. Now that’s love.

4-He thinks I look beautiful even with no make-up on and with my hair in a ponytail. I don’t see it, but it’s nice that he does.

5-He can fix just about any computer problem. And he does. For free. Sometimes, our friends and neighbors feel the need to pay him back for his help, and then I reap the benefit, too. Just this week a neighbor brought us a whole dinner (lasagna, bread, salad and fruit) to thank him for fixing her email.

6-He brings home the bacon so I don’t have to. And then if I feel like frying it up in a pan, he’s ok with that, too.

7-Ryan does not enjoy shopping. So I just pick up whatever clothes are on sale that I think he’ll like, and he wears them.

8-Although not always thrilled by my purchases, he doesn’t mind my garage sale habit, and occasionally he encourages me to go. We’ve set up a kind of ‘garage sale budget’ and he’ll say, “You haven’t gone for a few weeks, you probably have to spend more this time.”

9-He is older than me by two months and 20 days.

10-He cleans up throw up.

11-He’s been nothing but supportive of my time spent with the bell choir. Even when I’m gone every night in December (not really, but it seems like it), he does his best to be home to watch the kids. Ryan’s never complained about my weekly rehearsals, and he is one of our biggest fans. At our last concert in May, we walked out on the stage, and there he was on the FRONT row. My kids, my parents, my aunt and uncle, Ryan’s parents, and Ryan. All right there looking at me. I told them they are not allowed to sit in the front row anymore. I mean, that’s a little bit too supportive. And when I complain about mistakes made, he says “I didn’t hear any mistakes!” Maybe he’s just being nice, but it’s nice to have a supportive man.

12-Our honeymoon was up in Park City, but he was just getting a cold when we got married. By the end of the reception, he was in full-blown cold mode. Soon I was sick, too. So we spent our entire honeymoon being sick. We tried to go out and go see some sights in Park City, and I think we lasted about 1/2 an hour, then had to go back to the hotel and lie down. We drank Twisters juice and food from the local Albertsons. When he was feeling a bit better and I was really sick, he went and got me McDonald’s food. Needless to say, we’ve had much better vacations later.

13-When I was pregnant with Cole, I had a craving for a milkshake one night. Well, it wasn’t just any night, it was Christmas. I thought he could just go out and find some fast food place open, right? Wrong. Nothing was open, and he tried in vain to find me a milkshake. Worse yet, somehow he ran over the mud flaps on his truck and ended up with two flat tires. I felt so bad!

14-He has a great laugh.

15- He comes from a great family. When my friends complain about their in-laws not accepting them, or their parents and in-laws demanding equal time with them for holidays, I can’t really relate. Ryan’s mom claims that she liked me the best of my roommates when we came to their house for a dinner before Ryan and I were even dating. His parents have accepted me like a daughter, but not been demanding of our time in the least. His brother and sisters and their families all get along and are nice, and there’s no silly fighting between them. Of course, we don’t have that in my family, either, so we’re just lucky all around, I guess. And my parents loved Ryan WAY before we were engaged. In fact, I remember that they invited him over supposedly to watch a BYU game while I was away on my mission. I think they may even love him more than they love me, now. He’s more useful to them, that’s for sure.

So, as you can see, I have a wonderful husband, and I’m very happy that I married him 15 years ago!