Happy Birthday to the Man of My Dreams!

My husband turns 26 years old today.

Birthdays are kind of a big deal to me - I love to be spoiled on mine, and I love to spoil on others'. But Adam is a pretty chill guy and when I try to figure out what he would want or do for his birthday, he is content with a small cake at home with just him and I and minimal presents. We were talking the other day about the best way to celebrate a birthday and Adam said, "Birthdays are a time to celebrate a person's life, their having been born, not to spoil them."

And so I got to thinking. How do I honor the day that my husband was born? How do I thank God for not only giving Adam a body (and a nice one, at that) and a chance to come to earth, but also for somehow allowing our two seemingly separate and distant lives to collide in such a way that we would meet and fall in love and decide to spend not just the rest of our lives together, but the rest of eternity? 


How do I say thank you to Adam for asking me to be His Wife? For accepting and loving and honoring me?

How do I say "I'm glad you're alive and mine and the father of my son and today is special because 26 years ago you were born and then you lived and grew and learned and developed and then we met and my whole world changed,"?

I don't know how to do it.

Adam is an amazing man.

He was born into such a beautiful, loving family. He very much honors his mother and father. He cherishes their opinions and shows gratitude to them for having raised him in such a wonderful environment. He looks back on his childhood with fondness.

He is close to his siblings - they are some of his best friends. This was tough competition for me when we first started dating!

Not only do they love him tremendously, but his ginormous heart is filled with just as much love for them in return. He is a fantastic Uncle, and I knew right away he would make such a great father. 

He is just as loyal to his friends as he is his family. Ben and him are tight, and we both think of Ben as another brother. 

He served an honorable mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He sacrificed two years of his life in the service of the Lord, pushing himself beyond his comfort level and limits. He taught and preached what he knows in his heart to be true, and was brave enough to open his mouth and share it with the world. 

Adam kept his body and mind pure and worthy to be married in the temple of the Lord. 

This means he is moral, he doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, and doesn't swear, and overall he is a Christ-like person. He is an incredibly good example to me of someone who is committed. 

He is such a great husband. I have especially learned this as I have gotten more and more pregnant the last 7 months. He rubs my feet and back and arms and lets the dog out so I don't have to and makes me dinner. He tells me I don't need make up and that my growing belly is beautiful and that he can't wait to become a dad.

Adam has many talents. One of them is his artistic abilities. He has an eye for design and color, and I am always asking him for advice with my photos and graphic designs. 

He is also a wonderful singer and actor. He was in many plays throughout college and I always loved watching him perform. He absolutely knows how to capture an entire audience and make them laugh and love him.

Adam is an incredibly hard worker. Physically, he has worked construction on several homes. He wakes up every morning, earlier than I ever thought I would see him rise!, and goes to work in an environment where he is constantly learning new things. Mentally, he is always coming up with bigger and better ways of doing things, and he sets out to accomplish them right away. He graduated from college with a degree in Information Technology and minors in Computer Science and Information Systems. Spiritually, he is the Young Men's president in our ward and he puts so much time and effort and wisdom in leading them. 

Lastly, Adam knows how to have fun. I laugh daily with him. We dance in the kitchen and sing in the shower and use funny accents and tickle and tease and play and are weird and silly

 -- and we do this every.day. 

So, knowing all that about him, and knowing how full my heart is with love towards him and gratitude for being blessed with him as my husband, I am left with inadequate ways of saying 

Happy Birthday,

and

Thank you

But at least I have the rest of eternity to keep trying.

I love you Adam.

My one and only.

My hero.

My husband.