On August 6th Ry and I celebrate six years of being married. Here's six reasons why I love him. One for each year.
1.
He's funny. Every girl wants a funny guy, right? While you sometimes have to be in close proximity of him to hear the funny, it will totally crack you up.
2.
He's tall, dark, and handsome. He doesn't seem to think he's tall, but he's taller than me. When he hugs me I fit just right in "the pocket". I love his dark hair and brown eyes. I especially love his squinty eye. I used to think he was winking at me. He wasn't.
3.
He's a musician. Dreamy, right? Usually we are playing music together. But on the Sundays he is playing piano at church and I'm in the congregation I could just stare at him the whole time and giggle like a sixteen year old. Occasionally he plays bass from the sound board in the back of the church, and I could just faint he looks so cute. (He hates it when I call him "cute". But since both our mothers and maybe our grandmothers are reading this, I'm going to keep it G rated. I'll let you imagine what three letter word having to do with temperature I really mean when I say "cute".)
4.
He has made me more fun. I always joke that I can't believe he married me because I was so uptight compared to him! When we were dating he always wanted to do silly things like, I don't know, see who could close the garage from the inside and make it out before it closed. Or race from the car to the entrance of Target. Or try to jump in the Jeep while it was moving. Or go bowling. I would always say no, that's silly. We had fights about it after we got married. But now he's made me realize, life is more fun when you're having fun with it.
5.
He's a great dad. Ryan is amazing with our two girls, Nola and Violet. He is the kind of dad who plays pretend and loves it. He is firm with them and consistent. He makes them feel special and loved. He prioritizes the girls. They are at the top of his list, and they know it. I know that they are going to grow into confident, self assured women because of the love and security they feel from their dad.
6.
He pursues his dreams. Lately Ryan has found a passion for film making. And rather than say, "Well, I could never support my family on that so forget it" he has jumped in with both feet and found out that he loves it even more than he thought. He has pushed past his normally quiet personality and met new people in the film community in Omaha, and made some really awesome friends. He has made a few short films himself, worked on several others, wrote an episode for
The Dead Hour, and generally said "yes" to most film opportunities that come up. It's really awesome to see your husband find something that he loves so much and pursue it. And, dare I say, quite attractive. He has found something he feels truly called to, and though it seems crazy sometimes, he's going for it.
7.
He picked me. (Did I say I'd keep it as six? Sorry, can't stop myself.)Ryan will teasingly say that I practically threw myself at his feet. But truly, 0ut of all the girls in the whole world, Ry picked me. I know it doesn't feel this way when you're single, but the whole world full of people is a possibility for you. Ryan could've waited around to see if he'd run into someone better. Someone prettier. More fun. Someone who would ride roller coasters with him. But instead, he picked me. He decided I was it for him. He would never find anyone better. He would stop looking and I... would be his best.
And then, shaking like a leaf, he walked down that aisle and promised me that I always would be. And I have never been the same since. There's power in vows, people. And such beauty in keeping them.
I love you, Ryan Long.
