Happy Birthday Nathaniel!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart! Yes, I know - another post about you. But this is totally your parents doing (and I am GRATEFUL). Hope that you're having a very special day and enjoy the walk down memory lane....

*Cue dream-sequence music*

The TOP TEN Memories with Nathaniel....

(pause).

Okay: wait a sec.

Just to clarify - there are many many more than just 10.

Perhaps I'll try this again...

TEN GREAT MEMORIES WITH NATHANIEL (give or take a few...and in no particular order).

10) Wine and Braveheart on our first "movie" date in college. He brought the movie and wine, while I destroyed the lentil dish that I had so 'carefully' prepared for dinner. Gotta hand it to him - he acted as though the burnt and hard lentils were normal and said that he would be willing to try it again. Sometime.

And yes, we drank the wine and enjoyed the movie.

9) His love for animals. Yes, he claims to hate the cats, and called Charlie – the-carrot-eating-dog – “stupid”, but deep down, he’s a real softie. We can ALL call his bluff.

8) Jumping on the trampoline at his parent’s house together. Yes – we are probably way way way too old to be jumping, but we still have a blast. Heck, it keeps us young...and its even better when a) it's cool outside and b) there's something warm and tasty waiting for you inside. Throw on a Packers game and...we may never leave Waukesha.

7) Running into his arms after a deployment. We’ve gone through two, and each homecoming is special. I was so excited, I couldn’t stay around for the picture.


6)Because he does stuff like THIS to me ALL THE TIME. No matter what, the guy knows how to make you (and me laugh). Here’s another, just because I'm lucky.

5)He once walked through a raging snowstorm 4 miles in the middle of the night, during final exam week (back in college), uphill both ways to get me Pepto Bismol for a horrible stomach ache. Okay - not uphill both ways, but everything else is true. Even though I threw it up five minutes after taking it (yes, I was really really sick, and later spent Christmas in the hospital - ugh!), he still held me and cleaned up after me. And this was only four months into our relationship.

As my friend said, “Oh man, he is DEFINITELY a keeper!”

4) The guy likes fire. And grilling. And heavy machinery. And helicopters. And tools! And at a very young age, he decided that his cub scout troop wasn’t “hard core enough” when, as a craft project, they built the Minnesota Ice Palace out of sugar cubes. Luckily now, I think he’s found his calling, as he gets to fly the updated version of this:

3) Because no matter how awful I look, how horrible I feel, or how smelly I am – he is ALWAYS there for me at the race finish. Come to think of it…he’s always there for me at the race…and I love love LOVE seeing him out on the course. Even if I look like this: For the record - this was my first half marathon. Ever. I believe it was a tad bit more difficult than what I expected...

2) Once in a while he takes a really funny photo – and years later we still laugh. I swear that he’s NOT related to Howard Dean…but you never can tell

1) The guy knows what to bring on a hike – sure, the survival gear, Leatherman multi-tool, map, GPS unit, etc are all important. But chocolate – NOW we’re talking. Yep, he's a keeper allright!

Happy Birthday Nathaniel - I LOVE you!!!!! Here's to many more beer samples, adventures, hikes, races, tramampoline-jumping, laughing, silly pictures, and everything. Oh - and cake. We ALL love cake!

But I love you more - even more than the Skagway beer sample. But we do plan on going back...right?