Thursday 13 - Fun Facts about my Favorite

In honor of my favorite person in the world's 28th birthday today, (WHOA, 28?! That's nearly 30!!!) I am dedicating today's 13 to my dearest husband, Sammy (to me) or Sam[uel] (to others).

I thought about listing 13 reasons I love him, 13 of his many-more-than-that virtues, 13 reasons he is justified by being completed annoyed by me 24/7 but miraculously isn't, 13 strange but lovable quirks.  None of those felt quite right.

So instead, I'm going with generic fun facts.  Who doesn't like random fun facts?  (This might be rhetorical.  Because I like random, and this is my blog, darn it.)

13 Fun Facts about My Sammy

1.  When we were dating, we used to sit side-by-side in my dorm room for hours and play SimCity separately on our own computers, and yet it felt like we were playing together.  These were a few of many moments where I knew we'd be together forever.  Because, well, we were both big nerds.  (And remain nerds to this day.)

2.  We still argue about what our first "official" date was.  He says it's when he asked me to his cousin's wedding.  I say it's when we went to see We Were Soldiers at the movies nearly a month later.  I guess it doesn't really matter...because the rest is history.  (But I'm totally right.)

3.  On the way to said wedding, I was asking about his family (whom I'd never met, except for seeing his mom in the parking lot one time) and he told me, "My dad is really scary."  I believed him.  Then I met his dad.  I'm 99.9% sure that was a big, fat lie, but to this day there's a part of me that's a little bit afraid of him, just in case.

4.  We took a lot of classes together in college.  I studied a lot and took constant notes.  He rarely studied and took notes even less.  And he killed me on every test.  Mr. Smarty Pants.  (Or wait, maybe he's just average and I'm really dumb.  Something to consider...)

5.  He has purchased somewhere around 10 pairs of the exact same shoes since we've been married.  He wears them every day until they wear out and then he buys some more.  I totally approve of this.  (They're really good looking shoes and all the more closet/shoe space for me.)  It'll be a sad day for both of us when they stop making them.

6.  For years when he ordered a cherry coke at Sonic, he gave me the cherry right off the bat.  I always thought it was because he didn't care for them.  I only recently learned that he likes maraschino cherries, but he loves me more.  (It's the same reason I give him the pepperoncini from my salads.)

7.  He can fix anything.  This is no secret.  But one of the most amazing things he ever did (in my opinion) is replace the motherboard on our almost new, but still broken refrigerator.  A) Who knew fridges even had motherboards?  B) Who can even figure out a fried motherboard is the problem?  C) Who knew you could buy spare refrigerator motherboards on ebay?  D) Who is brave enough to tackle this?  The answer to all of the above - My Sammy.

8.  He's not really one for sweets (unlike me, who will eat sweet or savory anytime anyplace), but there are a few desserts he won't pass on:  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (chilled in the fridge), Molten Chocolate Cake from Chili's, Wilson's or Donna's Glazed Donuts, Cinnamon Rolls at Cici's, Cheese Danish, and Cheesecake.

9.  I've said multiple times before that everything I know about parenting I learned from him.  He's amazing.  What I haven't mentioned is that he thinks of tricks to calm the kids down/distract them/get them to eat their dinner so quickly on his feet, and I see them work so well, that I start to borrow them.  And inevitably wear them out.  (Sorry Sam, but I know you'll be able to come up with some news ones, right?)

10.  He has helped me get over my irrational fears of dentists, calling people on the phone, and canned biscuits.  (Okay, so I'm still a little afraid of all of those things, but he's definitely helped.)

11.  He has survived the phenomenon that is Life with a Pregnant Jennie not once, not twice, but three times.  There are no other words required.  This man deserves a medal.

12.  Back to that first trip to his hometown for that wedding - I noticed the rural night sky and was amazed by the clarity and brilliance of the stars.  Call it the suburbs in me showing, but I commented on how beautiful it was.  A little over a year later, he took me out under those very same stars and asked me to marry him.  And
I'm so glad he did.

13.  Even when I'm in one of my pessimistic moods, Sam has a knack for finding the positive in any situation.  He might be facing an uphill battle for the rest of his life, or he might turn me into an optimist yet.

I am so very grateful to have been blessed with this man's partnership.  We've had some good times and we've had a few bad times, but the best part is that we had them together.  And I can't wait to share more of life's little moments with you.

I love you, Sammy.
Happy, Happy Birthday!

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