Why I Love Him (or A List for Carter)

• He is passionate about many, many things. If he loves something, he's all in.


• He makes the coffee every morning.


• He likes everything I cook. (Well, except for that brussel sprout debacle a few years ago...)


• He takes establishes staunch opinions and has reasons behind them. No one ever called him wishy-washy.


• If we were in a movie, he would be the kind of character who would chase after me or do something dramatic in the end.


• Lu loves him, too. Nothing makes her happier than playing with him.


• He is a curious person, a person who likes to learn.


• He is deliberate about not gawking at other women--not in restaurants, not on TV, not anywhere--whether I'm around or not. It means a lot to me. In my eyes, it is proof of his respect for me and the value he places on our marriage. He is faithful and wants to be faithful and won't even toy around with something that would endanger any part of it.


• He is unbelievably sincere and generous with his compliments--even we're just sitting on the couch and I'm looking a mess. He still sees the good in me. His main "love language" is encouraging words.


• He is the best communicator I know.


• He doesn't stand for my passive aggressive bull corn. If I have a problem, he helps me talk it out.


• He sits on Anthropologie couches for extended amounts of time.


• He has the best memory of anyone I know.


• He doesn't put up a fuss if I ask him to clean the bathtub or mop the kitchen, and I only have to ask once. He's quick to help. I think my strongest "love language" is acts of service, so it's a really big deal to me that he would work at some pretty unpleasant things so that I don't have to.


• He likes my parents, particularly talking football with my dad.


• He is very masculine, and yet thinks conditioner is essential.


• When I ask him which shoes/earrings/scarf I should don, he really looks and has an opinion.


• He is big and strong. I know many of you have heard this story already, so bear with me. Sometimes I have an inflated sense of my own strength/height. When we were dating, I thought I could do as many push-ups as he, and when he laughed at me and told me he could do more even with me on his back, I was skeptical because I didn't think that I could do that, and if we're about the same strength, then surely he couldn't. Long story short, he is much stronger than me and can do many push-ups with me on his back.


• He has lots of long-term friendships with really great guys. He talks to them on the phone about what's going on and how they are, which I think is pretty rare. He is loyal, and he's interested in other people's lives.


• He encourages and pushes me to follow through on my dreams.


• He takes an interest in my interests. Hello, Barefoot Contessa every day at lunch.


• He lets me pick what restaurant every time.


• He loves Jesus and actively tries to know Him.


• I could be absolutely gross, absolutely real, say anything, be grouchy, be sharp, and he would still love me.


• I can wear my highest heels, and he's still taller.


• He likes lists, too. "Name your top 5 meals... your top 5 cities to live in the US... your top 5 Lost characters... and so on."

This is just the tip of the iceberg. He's the perfect combination of things I never thought I'd find in one person. He's a man's man, but he's cultured. He shares my convictions, and he shares my interests, and I'd do anything for him. I love him.