Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Happy 12th Anniversary to Me.

Mike-- April, 1998 with our son Brandon. We used to go up to Red Top Mountain a lot before we had a bus load of kids ha ha. Now, we picnic at the ball park. Boy he sure was skinny back then.
6'1" and 195lbs.
Here is Mr. Leisure as of a couple of weeks ago. That would NOT be our bathtub by the way. This is a home he is working on and the homeowner insisted he sit in her tub. I am not sure why but since she is the wife of an acquaintance and she is paying him to work for her, he obliged. One of Mike's employees thought it was funny and took this picture and posted it on my husband's Facebook. So I stole the picture. It's my blackmail now hee hee. Lucky for him I can see the homeowner in the picture and if she was a hot babe he would be in deep doo doo.
Well, our 12th wedding Anniversary is this Sunday. I think we are trying to do something on Saturday but his back is in awful shape and he walks like the hunchback of Notre Dame right now. Soooo......I don't know what he can do exactly. Not much probably. I keep praying for healing for his back issue, that's for sure.
I just wanted to do a little reflection on marriage, well mine at least. I just want to say that I am very thankful for my husband. He is a rock. That's an excellent way to describe him actually. A rock. Before I met Mike I was sick of dating and I began to pray and ask God to bring me the man who was right for me. I prayed for him to be a man of integrity and faithfulness. Those were the two most important character traits to me. I just could not bear to go through another cheating husband, never mind the boyfriends who were almost always unfaithful or lied a lot. People are weird. How hard is it to be truthful to someone? So that was the main thing I prayed for, a man of great integrity and faithfulness. That's exactly what God gave me.
Mike reminds me of John Wayne. That's why I call him my tool belt cowboy. He owns his own construction/remodeling company so he was always wearing a tool belt. No plumbers crack for my tool belt cowboy BTW, he makes all his guys wear their belts on their pants tight ha ha. He acts just like John Wayne and lives by these man codes he said he learned as a boy. I really like his man codes. They impress me very much. You know, if you borrow someones car return it with a full gas tank and wash the car. If you borrow a tool return it in better condition than you found it. Always sit with your back to the wall and position yourself so you can see who is coming and going out of a place (that may just come from being raised in Ft. Lauderdale, you have to be careful in FL), he is very protective of me and such. Basically, he just has all kinds of little man codes he lives by. Very impressive in this modern day and time. He is also a man of few words.
He is true to his word. That is an oddity these days. If he says it he does it. He always makes everything right that he is involved with. He is honest to a fault. I asked him one time if he liked something I was wearing and he said it looked like something his grandma would wear. So.....I don't need to tell you that he has never said anything like that to me again. Momma had to instill a new man code for verbalizing his thoughts on what I wear and I threw away all his stupid cartoon ties too. I hated those stupid ties. It's amazing we got married at all, I think we'd only been dating 2 months at the grandma/tie event. Well, sometimes you just know about someone. I think we both just knew. I like his honesty.
He is faithful. HUGE BLESSING! We have been together almost 13 years. Kinda. We were engaged and something awful happened and I gave him the boot and his ring back. For nine months he did not date anyone and kept pursuing me. He never gave up. I didn't date anyone either 'cause I was pregnant. Not a good time to start dating ha ha. That's a long story in itself but let's just say that if you are a good Jesus girl and never drink it's not a good idea to go on vacation to Miami with your new boyfriend who wanted to go to visit his family too and go to a club and get drunk 'cause you might find yourself pregnant the very next month. I used to be highly ashamed of that but now I talk about it openly to caution young teenagers and young ladies on the dangers of drinking. God has used that experience to let me help others and guide a few ladies through the shame of unplanned single mother pregnancies. I am so happy He allows me to do that and keep these women in church instead of leaving out of shame. But, my husband was faithful to a fault before we were even wed and he is so great to me in that regard. He does not ogle other ladies in front of me. He does not make any comments of any kind about any women with regard to their appearance or sex appeal. If something risque comes on the TV, especially those stupid Victoria Secret commercials he flips the channel immediately. He turns his head if a woman comes around inappropriately dressed out of respect for me. I can't tell you how much more that makes me love and respect him. TRULY. I am so impressed by him. It is hard to find a man who knows how valuable his godly wife is and treats her in the manner she deserves. He could easily hurt me and devalue me by indulging in the many sinful, lustful pleasures out there for men but he does not. He never would go to a place like Hooters, mostly 'cause he knows I'd change the locks on his tail if he ever went to that gross place. If he wants to see hooters that's what I am for. Period. I know by living with him that his character is impeccable and that his word is everything to him. I know I can trust him when he says he does not do these things and go to these places. It's just the way he is. He says a man's word is the most important thing about him. It must be true. LOVE IT.
He works hard. He never gives up on something he wants. He loves kids.He loves being active in the community, he is President of our local Recreational Baseball League. He loves people. He likes to laugh, which is good 'cause I like to tell jokes. He won't discuss politics with me, I HATE that. He likes to camp, for me uh....no. He likes to go four wheeling, I tell him to have fun....see ya later. He likes thrill stuff, I don't, but I tell him to go do that stuff without me. He likes to watch that crazy ultimate cage fighting wrestling show, I find it uncomfortable. He is too smart and thankfully our kids take after him. Do you know he still remembers how to do all the dumb math we learned in school but never use like Algebra? Weird. I think he uses Algebra a lot in his job though. He won't read any of my Bible studies that I write for the class I teach unless I nag him to death, hate that. He has never read my blog, which is good maybe 'cause sometimes I complain about him here. He has forgotten how to be romantic, that's not so good but I've enrolled us in a "Marriage Enrichment" class starting soon and although he rolled his eyes at me he said he'd go. I said, "yes, you will." ha ha. It's a very rare thing for me to tell him that I need him to do something and not give him a choice about it. Let's hope they cover a topic in the class titled something like this "Men, you must take time to make your wife feel wanted by you and to feel special whether you think it's dumb or not because that is what women need." I am sure I will learn some cool things too to do for him.
He does not watch sports on TV. WHOPEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I scored big on that one. Yes, I did.
I am a lucky lady to be married to Mike. I think every married couple can find faults with each other. Nobody is perfect. I think my only complaint about Mikeypoo is that he sometimes acts like my roommate than a man who is romantically interested in me. But, we are working on that even if he thinks it's dumb. I know he hates how stubborn I can be. He hates it when I get in a bad mood. He really hates it when I say anything bad about myself. He is a very good man and I am blessed to have him. I am so glad he fought for me and we became a family and made everything right. It's exactly as it should be. Even though things get hard sometimes we don't give up on each other and honor our commitment to each other. I'm pretty sure he has had some fantasies about wringing my neck a few times. Okay, I am definitely sure about that. But, we don't give up.
I like it that he can still make me nervous. I think he has the best set of lips on the planet. The guys at work used to call him "Hot Lips". I am jealous, I have thin lips. He is super strong and I like that. I have never heard him burp or make any other obnoxious sound from his body. Momma really likes that. He is very respectful, so John Wayne. You just wouldn't picture John Wayne sitting around the living room burping and farting would you? Nope, neither does Mike. He never puts me down and always lifts me up. He wants for me to be happy. And when he tries he says sweet things that still make me blush and I don't blush easy. I like that too.
So on May 16 we will celebrate 12 years of marriage and I just want to say how much I do love and appreciate my husband. I appreciate so very much his integrity and faithfulness. You still impress me Mike, even after all these years :)
LOVE YOU BABE.
Jenn



5 comments:

Andrea said...

Happy Anniversary....may you have many more blessed years, together!!

Mary Ellen said...

Happy Anniversary!

Heart2Heart said...

Jenn,

What a great tribute you just did for your amazing hubby Mike. God did bless you with the perfect gift every anniversary. Perhaps you two can visit a day spa and get the full treatment for two! Here's to a wonderful anniversary for you both. Congratulations!

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

Still Learning said...

Thanks guys!!

Charlotte said...

Jen & Mike -- Happy 12th Anniversary!