I heart

Today, Tim turns 26. Basically he is almost 30 so that's what I tell people. I feel bad because we have had to celebrate his birthday on a budget--this means, he only gets a cake and a homemade card from his girls. However, I wanted to give him a good cake so I made him a homemade red velvet cake with two different types of frosting: cream cheese frosting on top and vanilla cream frosting in the layers. I can almost bet that he will be in heaven tonight. I can't even begin to tell you how much I feel for this guy. All I can say is that I know he is the right guy for me...in every way.

Before Tim and I uttered the words "I love you" to each other, we affectionately said "I heart you" before parting at night. I am sure that most couples in Provo do the same thing or something very similar before daring to speak those very big words, but that simple phrase "I heart you" has always meant the world to me. I even had it engraved on Tim's first wedding ring. He has since lost that ring, and when we purchased the second ring, I couldn't afford to have it engraved again.

I have said and will say it again that Tim captured my heart long before I captured his. It happened for me on the second post-mission phone call. From that phone call nearly five years ago to this very day, I anxiously wait to talk to him or be with him every waking moment of the day. It has been a rough adjustment for me to have him unavailable most of the day except a few short minutes on his lunch break because I am used to talking to him multiple times a day. I miss him a lot.

Here are my 26 reasons why I heart him this year:

1. I heart the way he looks at me
2. I heart his increasing patience with Mya every single night as he tries to get her to bed
3. I heart hearing him teach Mya to pray
4. I heart the way he outlines my smile lines with his fingers almost every day
5. I heart the way he looks up to his parents
6. I heart how he talks about Michigan football
7. I heart our football Saturdays
8. I heart the fact that he can finish my sentences 
9. I heart how he smells right after he puts on cologne or after-shave
10. I heart watching him dance 
11. I heart holding his hand in the car
12. I heart kissing at red lights
13. I heart the fact that he will wash the dishes for me just to see me smile
14. I heart eating treats with him
15. I heart watching him smile at Genevieve
16. I heart our late night cravings
17. I heart our bedtime prayers
18. I heart cuddling with him before we go to bed and when we wake up
19. I heart how he can make me laugh even when I am mad
20. I heart his silly and sometimes inappropriate innuendos
21. I heart folding his trillion Michigan t-shirts 
22. I heart the fact that when I tell him we need to improve on something, he actually does it
23. I heart making dinner together
24. I heart how he loves to get the mail
25. I heart how often he checks the weather
26. I heart the fact that I get to be with him for a long, long time

See...I heart you Tim. A lot.  Happy Birthday.