The sparkly man

Do you know what I love about Tim right now? He's sitting across the room scrolling through his Facebook profile, laughing at every picture/video he's posted over the past year. His soft, yet sparkly (prickly--sparkly is what the kids call it) cheek is resting on his left hand, and he has the face of a man who is so proud of his life. All of it. All of the chaos. All of the messes. All of the smiles. All of the laughter. He is complete when he is with us and when he just sees pictures of us.

You should also know that not five minutes ago he was singing right along with Taylor Swift. He can really hit those high notes, and I adore every attempt. ;)

Yesterday I showed Mya our wedding album for the first time. Her eyes grew wide as we flipped through the pages and talked about the little details. At one point, she pointed to a picture of Tim and said, "Is this dad? Did you marry him when he was a little boy?" Haha. We had a good laugh about that one. She kept asking why she wasn't in any of the pictures and wasn't satisfied with my response, "Oh honey, Mama and Daddy had a five year plan. You just happened to come four years too early." I finally gave in and said, "Oh you must've been in the bathroom reapplying your red lipstick." She liked that answer. A lot.

But gosh, Tim and I were so little that day nearly 8 years ago. Who in the world ever thought 21/24 year olds were old enough to get married?! We had no idea what we were doing. We barely made $900/month, and there we were so hopelessly in love, jumping feet first into the deepest abyss of life. Over the past 8 years together, we have grown into one person. I'm certain we have our own opinions about things, but I often can't figure out what they are.

I love my sparkly man. He is tender. He is funny. He is kind. He is the best person I have ever met. Hands down. And I have met a lot of people. I love the way his lip twitches when he is upset. I love the way he can't look at me when I'm upset. It's his silent way of sending me "You're being freaking crazy" signals. I love the way he kisses me promptly upon arriving home from work. Rarely does he do anything before kissing my lips. He has a way of always making me feel like the most important thing in his life. I love the way he calls me at lunch, even if the other guys make fun of him. He knows I need it. He rarely gets a word in edgewise, but he's good to me. He listens, and he laughs. Gosh, laughter from another adult around 12pm everyday is what I need to get me to 5pm.

**I love that he's currently watching a video of him dancing with Mya at last year's school dance. He is the best. Truly, the best.**

The past few months have been good to us. Once we conquered the nursing demons, we were able to start piecing together a new life because adding another child to the family always forces us to shift gears and start anew. Our love is sweet at the moment. It just seems like we are always trying to make life easier for each other, and that's what matters.