Silverware and Wood=Five Years of Matrimony!

To celebrate five years of marriage, the contemporary gift suggestion is "Silverware," and the traditional gift suggestion is "Wood." Happy Aniversary, my love- here is a silver spoon and a wooden spoon, to show how much I love thee. What???

I've actually attempted to loosely match my previous anniversary gifts to Steve to the year's recommendation, and will probably stretch this year's gift to somehow fit, but really, I don't get these contemporary/traditional gift things (unless it's diamonds of course!).

Anyhow, if I were clever, I'd use this post to try to come up with some sort of symbolism about silverware and wood, and how they relate to marriage, but I'm not that clever, and I think it would probably just end up being pretty lame anyway. I just thought the title was cute, so moving on...

Since I'm not even going to attempt to be deep, I'd just like to instead honor my husband with five things in particular that I love about him as we approach our big day this Saturday, June 14th.

1. His commitment to his faith. I love that he wakes up over an hour before me and over two hours before he has to leave for work to have time in the Word and in prayer. Even when he could really use the extra sleep, he makes his quiet time with the Lord a priority. It is such an inspiration and encouragement to me, and I respect him so much for this. I also love how selfless he is in his commitment to our church, Apostles, and the load-in/out duties he co-leads, and leading our community group. When he's scheduled to pick up and drop off the van that carries our church equipment to our morning location on Sunday mornings, he leaves our place just after 7am and normally doesn't get back home after church until 1:30-2. But he never complains. I might, but he doesn't. He gives of his time and talents joyfully. I also love how he thoughtfully prepares our CG discussions with a printed sheet containing questions, "business items", etc- too cute. He loves the Lord, and it is very evident through his dutiful and joyful obedience to Him, an obedience I am proud of.

2. His commitment to me. Steve puts up with a lot being my husband. I'm quite a handful, to say the least. He deals with my whackiness, moodiness, flutie-ness, and somehow still manages to love me. In regards to my profession, no matter how much practicing I do and how much schooling I go through, it's just not a lucrative field. But, it's my passion, and I love it, and he knows that, and he supports me in it 100%, regardless of how much it ends up costing us financially, (and the costs in time...) or how little it contributes financially. I also love the little things- how he makes me breakfast in the morning and gets my lunch ready, how he writes me sweet poems and always gets creative with my birthday gifts, how he does the laundry because he knows how much I hate it, and just how he makes sure I always feel safe, secure, loved, attractive (to him, at least) and appreciated.

3. His commitment to his research. I believe my husband is absolutely brilliant. The things he tells me about his day at work just totally floor me. I mean, he's researching brain cancer- how cool is that? (Not cool as in brain cancer itself, of course, but cool as in he's working towards learning more about its causes, effects, possible cures, etc!). I think it's pretty awesome at least, and I hope he knows how much I respect his career choice, and his commitment to its greater good. Again, he could've chosen a field that comes with a much higher salary, more prestige, less work... or even if he still stayed with science, he could've gone into the medical field or biotech, BUT, he deeply cares about researching cancer, and it's worth it to him. An almost flawless straight "A" record through undergrad (he got a B in drama... hehe) and a PhD at age 27 after just five years- he could've gone into just about anything, gone just about anywhere, but he chose a field that means something dear to him and means something dear to others, regardless of the pitfalls, and I'm proud of that.

4. His "all or nothing" passion. Steve doesn't really do anything that's important to him less than 100%. For example, he's recently gotten very into photography. He'll spend hours on a picture making it just right, seeking out comments and suggestions on how an image can be improved upon, investing in better equipment- and this is just a hobby! He also really enjoys to cook, but rarely has the time to do it. So when he does have the time, he loves to surprise me with a carefully planned meal. Not just any meal, but dinners that require special trips for special ingredients, and take hours to prepare. He's even printed menus to match, on occasion. Makes me melt :)

And finally, enough of the sentimentalk talk, here's one final quality that I love about Steve...

5. He's hot. I'll spare the elaborations here ;).

It's been a great five years, my love, and I hope this didn't make you blush too much;). Happy Anniversary and I LOVE YOU!!!