Sixteen years of marriage later, I am sharing my life and my family with Ian. I wouldn't want it any other way. We have grown together and are now in such a wonderful place that brings comfort, stability and joy into all of our lives. For that I am forever thankful.
So, as a tribute to the man that I married, here are "Sixteen Things I Love About You!"
1: You are without doubt the most patient person I have ever met. Hearing you talk my 79 year old mum through the latest update on her computer is simply incredible. You, sir, are an actual saint!
2: You have smoothed away all my sharp edges and made me a better person.
3: You are an amazing dad. You are so hands-on with the little ones and an inspiration to the older ones. You're the dad that the other kids think is cool.
4: You can still give me butterflies when I look at you.
5: You aren't afraid of turning your hand to anything. You really are an inspiration to me. You fear nothing!
6: You support everything I do. Even if I screw up, you're still there encouraging me. (I know that you don't really like chargrilled vegetable stew, but you make me believe that my burnt dinner offerings are not a total fail!)
7: You look like the love child of Kevin Bacon and Mark Wahlberg.
8: I love you playing the guitar. You even wrote a song for me. Our house is filled with music that transcends the generations and has us all singing along. I love that. You are my rock star.
9: We share a love of horror films and we indulge that love on our big ass 3D TV. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D Blu-ray is on pre-order!
10: You are non-judgmental. You never hold anything I have ever done against me. (You even humour my cougar crushes on Harry Styles and Zac Efron.)
11: You are not afraid to cry. (Especially when watching Little House on the Prairie.)
12: You would rather be with me and the kids than anywhere else in the world. We don't have to compete for your attention with the pub, football, boys' nights out, the gym or online gaming. When we do things, we do them together. The rest of the world doesn't figure in the equation. (But you still let me do all the things I want to do and facilitate me being able to do them!!)
13: You believe in sharing all the housework, cooking, cleaning, laundry etc. plus you do the 'man's work' like DIY, putting out the bins and mowing the lawn. I know how lucky I am!!
14: You know me. Better than I know myself. I see myself differently now, thanks to you. Your patience and understanding has helped us weather many a storm. You have literally saved me from myself time and time again. You ground me, but you still let me fly.
15: You are an incredible judge of character and you can instinctively read people and understand them. It's a gift and I trust your judgment completely. (I do however wish sometimes that your gift was predicting lottery numbers. We'd make fabulous rich people.)
16: You make me feel safe. You make me look forward to the future. You make me whole.
I love you xxx
