Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always dreamed of falling in love, getting married, and having kids one day. However, it took a lot little longer than I always thought it would.
I remember so many days when was I sad and lonely, and I honestly felt like God was punishing me for some bad decisions in my past. I know that sounds silly because obviously He doesn’t punish us, but that’s how I felt. Right around the time I turned 30, I resigned myself to the fact that I might not get married – and that was okay. Obviously it wasn’t ideal, but there were worse things that could happen…right?
Cut to one random night in November of 2011. Short story long, I met the man of my dreams. I think about how perfect he is for me and it takes my breath away. I would have waited twenty more years if it meant I would end up with him.

I’m a list person, so I wanted to share just ten of the many reasons I am so in love with this man.
He is incredibly protective of me. Brian has since told me that even from the night we met, he felt a strong connection and need to protect me. He’s a very old fashioned guy, and I’m an old fashioned girl….so it works. I remember a couple of months into our relationship, I was thinking about driving home (from northern Indiana) in a snow storm because I had to work the next day. I decided against it, though, and Brian later told me if I’d driven that night he would have been up all night pacing the room until I made it home. On another drive to St. Louis in the summer, I hit a HORRIBLE severe rainstorm. He called my phone twice, but I couldn’t hear it over the pounding rain on my roof. Later he told me it took all he had not to call a state trooper in Illinois to see if my car was reported in an accident (I called him back about 30 minutes later). 🙂
I’ve never had someone treat me this way. Brian treats me with such respect and such kindness, for awhile I thought it was too good to be true. He’ll reach for my hand while we’re walking down the street and wants nothing more than to see me happy. I feel (emotionally) spoiled, but I kinda like it!
I wrecked his truck. I will never, ever forget the night we were driving home from a weekend in New York. I had met his family for the first time, and we stayed a little longer than we’d intended on Sunday. I had to work Monday morning, so leaving New York at 3 p.m. meant we’d have to drive through the night. Brian had his truck packed FULL of his things, as he was moving to St. Louis. Around 3 a.m. he woke me up to take a turn driving, since he was incredibly sleepy. We stopped and I got a Red Bull, and as I pulled back onto I-70 West Bound just east of Dayton, I felt nervous since it started to snow. There weren’t many cars on the road, and I slowed down to about 50 mph. All of a sudden, I hit black ice and started swerving ALL over the road. I tried to correct the truck and slammed on the brakes (yes, I know now that is the worst thing you can do!), and looked up just as we were heading STRAIGHT for a cement wall on an overpass. I honestly thought I was going to die. I’d never been in a car accident before and….holy shit! Scary stuff. I remember just as we were getting ready to hit it, I yelled out Brian’s name – thinking, well…this is it, but I am so happy with this man. After the crash was over – and still to this day – Brian expressed no anger AT ALL about me crashing his truck. His number one concern from the moment he woke up was that I was okay.

He makes me laugh – all.the.time. We kind of go back and forth about who is the funny one in the relationship. While I still think it is me, I will say he is probably the funniest guy I know. 😉 I absolutely LOVE to laugh. Who doesn’t?!
He is brilliant. It embarrasses Brian when I brag about him, but seriously. Talk to this guy about physics, politics, history, ANYthing for five minutes and you would be amazed! He also loves to teach people about things, especially anything nature or science related.

He loves kids. Obviously a requirement if you want to win my heart! I love nothing more than watching him with my nieces and nephews. I cannot WAIT to see him with our little ones someday (hopefully). 😉

He BUILDS things! And fixes things, too! He wants to build his own HOUSE one day. Really? People can still do that? It just fascinates me. Growing up in the ‘burbs where guys don’t even change their own oil? Yeah….it’s super hot to have a built-in handy man.

He knows material things do not bring happiness. This is a biggie for me. I can be very impressionable, and at times in my life when I’ve been surrounded by materialistic people, I want the newest and best of everything, too. New car every two years – why not? The latest phone/TV/DVD player – sign me up! Nice house with all of the bells and whistles – where do I sign?! But of course I know that people who base their happiness on material things all the time aren’t really ever completely happy. When I met Brian, he still had a flip phone with no internet access. I honestly LOVED that.
He thinks I am beautiful. In the morning without makeup, after I’ve gotten back from a sweaty run, or when I come home after a long day looking worn down and tired….that’s when he’ll tell me I’m beautiful. I think EVERY girl needs to hear this! It makes me feel so wonderful knowing that he loves me exactly how I am (cheesy, but true).

He is spontaneous. Yes…..the opposite of me. I’m not Type A by any means, but I love to have a plan – at least a rough outline. On our first overnight trip away, we went to the Story Inn in Brown County, Indiana. We were driving home through the beautiful hills of southern Indiana, and he saw a tiny little side road to the right. “I want to take this,” he said, and he veered off our route onto this unknown road. “Just because.” It was a GORGEOUS road…one I’d never discovered if I had GPS’d myself back to Indy. I think I fell in love with him a little more in that moment.
