My Birthday List

Elliot wrote these 30 things he loves about me for my 30th birthday:

1. I love that she loves to garden and how proud she is of her efforts and accomplishments.
2. I love her absolute dedication to recording and maintaining our family’s history – she takes so many wonderful pictures and writes to creatively on her blog, not to mention scrapbooking; plus, she archives pictures and documents for her family!
3. I love that she is thrilled to receive flowers, no matter how infrequently.
4. I love how her enthusiasm for our road trips starts at tolerance for my never-ending wanderlust and grows to a thrilling sense of appreciation for places all around us. I also love how she then throws herself into that topic . . . learning about it, recording it, etc.
5. I love the absolutely magical sounds her farts make when she first greets the day.
6. I love her patience and tolerance for my weirdness and irreverence.
7. I love how excited she gets to bake bread – she has become quite the master!
8. I love how committed she is to our daughter and future children – she is an excellent mother.
9. I love how much she loves other peoples’ kids; truly, she rejoices in the children of her friends and family.
10. I love how she rejoices in others’ ability to have children despite her own difficulty in doing the same; she has a huge, loving heart.
11. I love how she takes her calling seriously and goes to great effort to do it right. Her dedication and commitment inspire me.
12. I love how, through her faithful and unyielding persistence, she wore down my reluctance and introduced me to two wonderful and entertaining shows that I now absolutely love: “Anne of Green Gables” and “The Little House on the Prairie.”
13. I love how she loves to express physical intimacy (through cuddling, kissing, or otherwise), which helps me to know how much she loves me.
14. I love that she has forced me to be less concerned about punctuality.
15. I love how she dresses Stella in such cute clothing and fixes her hair so beautifully. Stella always looks so adorable when Whitney’s involved.
16. I love that she sings to Stella every day – the only time she sings without hiding her beautiful singing talent.
17. I love that she has an endless memory and relishes details about her friends and family (e.g. height and weight when a baby is born, birth dates, names of nieces, nephews, cousins, etc.).
18. I love that she trusts me to do what is right when I travel.
19. I love that she loves to spend time with me, with or without Stella.
20. I love that she misses me whether I am away with business travel, at work, or on church assignments.
21. I love that she becomes so energetic and animated starting at the moment we get ready for bed, including her habit of holding important conversations with me as I fall asleep.
22. I love that she makes the most fantastic cookies ever, which I love to eat even when I’m trying to watch what I eat! My favorites are her chocolate chip cookies with the chips replaced with M&M’s . . . mmmm, mmmm, good!
23. I love her beautiful laugh, especially when it is accompanied by a 1000-watt smile; I am amazed that she ever tried to hide them, which she did regularly by putting her hand over her mouth when she got the giggles.
24. I love that she makes such an effort to maintain communication with her family – both immediate and extended.
25. I love how excited she gets to create spreadsheets.
26. I love how successfully she thwarts my attempts to wake her up early in the morning – she has developed an astounding way to stay attached to her bed!
27. I love that she things I’m great at grilling chicken.
28. I love how dedicated she is to her friends – whether just to call and talk to them, provide some kind of service, or just to watch their children for a few hours. I t seems like our house always has everyone else’s kids present!
29. I love to see how she has become such an integral part of the Dibble family – it is obvious through her actions that she loves my family.
30. I love that she loves me and makes me feel that I am special to her.