Thankful for...

...my husband.

This is NOT going to be one of those posts about how amazing or sweet or romantic my husband is.  When I read those posts from other bloggers I wonder, REALLY?  I love my husband, but come on!  He's not perfect.

I'm missing him right now during his week of nights.  I've seen him awake maybe 15 minutes a day since Sunday.  So... I'm just going to write about Doug, how's he's unique, and most importantly... how he makes me want to be a better person.

In completely random order from whatever comes to my mind while I'm typing this:

1) Contrary to blogger husbands out there, he's not really a romantic.  He's very practical like me.  When he got me flowers this Valentine's Day, I secretly hoped that he had a coupon to pay for them.  I'd rather him spend our money on more permanent things (or permanent memories, like a trip to Hawaii!).  That's just how we are.

2) He is always ON TIME and sticks to a schedule.  This is VERY contrary to the home I was raised in.  When he's here, we go to sleep every night at 9pm and wake up at 5am.  I always get 8 full hours of sleep.  Since I've been married to him, I've been happy and healthier.  I credit a lot of this to the fact that I'm now on a regular sleep schedule.  Except that right now, he's working... so I'm up blogging about him way too late.

3) He's consistent.... and stubborn, but it's good.  When he's says he going to do something, he ALWAYS does it.  I'm more consistent because I'm with him.

4) He's thinks differently. When I can stop talking for more than 5 minutes and Doug actually decides to talk (both are rare occasions), he says really thought provoking things.  The stuff he talks about opens my mind to new ideas and perspectives.  He makes me want to become a better listener and better person.

5) He's a hard worker.  The other night I was talking about how, "We DESERVED this vacation."  He turned to me immediately and very seriously and said, "We EARNED this vacation... People don't DESERVE anything."  I know that sounds kind of harsh and it got rid of my entitlement mentality real quick!  ...but the more I've thought about it, the more I've started to agree with it.  He doesn't expect anything to be handed to him.  He always expects that he will need to work for it.

6) He's very realistic, but has high expectations for himself.  He makes big goals and expects himself to achieve them.  He never settles for just okay and it works out well for him.  I'm a dreamer and I've always been a dreamer.  Big, unrealistic goals are my thing.  Creating high expectations for myself has helped me to actually achieve some of my big goals.

um...  10) He makes me be more independent.  ...and honestly sometimes I hate it.  When Doug's grandpa passed away, his grandma was completely lost.  She didn't even know how to pump her own gas.  He has made sure that I know how to run all of the finances.  I take care of things that usually my dad only did growing up.  Sometimes I wish he would just take care of it, but after I've taken care of whatever it is, I feel good about myself.

I'm glad he chose me.