Birthday week

Well, I'm a few days late, but I wanted to take the time to honor my husband who celebrated his 27th birthday on Friday. Ricky and I have known each other for almost 7 years (wow!). We met at a time when neither of us were looking for "someone" and have been pretty inseparable since. I definitely fell head over heels for his good looks, charm, and easy-going personality. I was going to say what about me won him over, but I guess you'll have to ask him because I'm not really sure. I'm guessing he'll say something about how well we got along (that I let him be himself, wear what he wanted to wear, and fit in well with his friends and especially his family) and how good I was at "taking care of him." But...you'll have to let me know what he says.

Ricky is the perfect man for me. He loves me unconditionally, he makes me laugh, he rubs my feet or back whenever I ask, and he always puts my needs above his. Don't get me wrong, Ricky has lots of things he likes and is into more hobbies than I can count. But this is what I love about him and what makes him so special and fun to be around. Ricky never meets a stranger and has a way of winning over pretty much any person in the room. I'm not really sure how he does it, but everyone loves him. It's definitely working for him! ;-) I'm super lucky to have Ricky in my life and to get to be a part of his family. I am definitely a better person for this, and I am thankful everyday for the time we have together. And while it's not always easy to be in the early "unsettled" stages of our lives, I'm happy to be here with such a wonderful man. I can't wait to see him in the role of father, home-owner, professional umpire (maybe), etc. I look forward to it all. So, happy late birthday, Ricky. You're amazing.

Even though I'm late on posting about Ricky's birthday on my blog, this does not mean I have been late at celebrating. For you see, about six years ago, I unknowingly started a tradition. The first time Ricky had a birthday after we'd been dating, I decided I wanted to make it really special. He'd been pretty busy with school, and I decided it might be fun for him to celebrate a full Birthday week (or "Hanukkah birthday"). I bought little surprise gifts and started one week before his birthday with a card and a poem about the week to come. While my original intention was for this to be a "one time" week-long celebration, it has become our tradition (for my birthday, too). Different years have been "gifted" differently, some with themes, some with mostly little gifts and a big one at the end, other years no theme at all. The point of it is not really the gifts but to celebrate and look forward to another great year, with some daily anticipation of what's in each package. So, here's the rundown of Ricky's birthday week this year, which he really seemed to enjoy.

Saturday 4/11 Hinged grill grate (no more lifting up the grate to add coals or cook certain food differently)
Sunday 4/12 The Easter bunny left him a baseball themed birthday basket complete with his favorite treats and a book (As they See 'Em) about umpires
Monday 4/13 Joby Gorilla Pod for his camera to see what that is go here:
http://joby.com/products/gorillapod/slr/
Tuesday 4/14 Another camera book (The Hot Shoe Diaries)
Wednesday 4/15 Timbuk2 personalize your own bag giftcard
Thursday 4/16 A Two-by-Two massage (my personal favorite!)
Thursday 4/17 Bamboo Fun tablet for photo editing to see what that is go here:
http://www.wacom.com/BambooTablet/bamboo.php