Today Is A Special Day

Today is a super special day...Deek's birthday! <cue the music> <starts dancing> <throws confetti>


Please stop by his Twitter, Facebook, and Google + pages to wish him a happy day! Also, be sure to stop by his website and catch up on the latest in our lives and in the lives of his characters in Alabaster Cove!

The man of the hour!

You know what you could do for his birthday that would be super awesome? Add his upcoming novella "Birth of an American Gigolo" to your Goodreads TBR list! It releases in January, so you won't have to wait too long to get your hands on this treat! 

So, on my husband's birthday, I want to tell the world what an amazing man he is. I could go on and on forever, but I'm narrowing my gushing down to five traits that I admire and adore about him.

1) His humor-- From the start, his humor drew me in. I've always said I love a funny guy (hence my book boyfriend crush on Percy Jackson), and Deek waves the "funny guy" flag with gusto. Though he often jokes that he has a 12-year-old's sense of humor, he actually makes quite sophisticated jokes as well. You know how The Simpsons show has 2-percenter jokes? Well, Deek definitely makes jokes of 2-percenter caliber. And I appreciate both the 12-year-old humor and the intellectual jokes. He's well rounded in the funny department. 

Yeah, I'm a funny guy and I know it. ;) 

2) His energy and enthusiasm--Deek throw his whole self into the things he loves--his family, his writing, life. I love how I'm like, "Let's go see the tree lighting in downtown Portland," and he's like, "Sure, let's do it." He's always up for fun and adventure, but he's also open to chillin and relaxing too. It's the perfect blend. Whenever I'm with Deek, I know to expect to have a blast. He's like Time Square in New York City in that he has a pulse, a beat, a vibrancy that's contagious. Every day with him is full of laughter and fun! 

We *may* be playing Star Trek ("set phasers to stun") in the middle of the store... LOL!

3) His thoughfulness--People, I hope you each find a partner as thoughtful and kind as my Deek. Honestly, I didn't think men like him existed, but he's made a believer out of me. He's always making sure I have what I need, always telling me how beautiful I am, always telling me he loves me, always doing and saying little things so I know how much he cares. When I was in college, my relational communication professor said the secret to a successful marriage is when BOTH parties wake up every day wondering what they can do for the other person. And I know Deek wakes up with that mentality. I appreciate that about him so much, and I do my best to keep up with his awesomeness. Here are just a few examples: He'll make dinner so I can finish my edits. He'll bring me a cup of tea just because. When I'm cold, I don't even have to say anything, and he just wraps his arms around me. When I wake up--no makeup, hair all crazy--he looks at me like and says, "Gawd, you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." He's a gem, and I will do my best to make sure he knows he's treasured and invaluable every day. 

I love the way he looks at me.

4) He's zen--Deek is a very unflappable person. I'm not saying he doesn't get upset because he does on occasion (usually if people mess with his family), but 99.9% of the time, he's calm, cool, and collected. I feel like I'm always assessing, reassessing, and contemplating while Deek's over there like, "It's going to be fine. It'll work out great." When he goes for a job interview or has a big presentation at work, I ask if he's worried or anxious, and he's like, "Nah." And I'm a terrible passenger. I mean, I'm probably the worst person in the world to have in the car with you, just ask anyone who's ever driven with me. But I don't bother Deek at all. I'll be doing my "OMG, people are going to kill us" freak out, and he's just driving along like, "I got this." And you know what? He makes me calmer. I feed off his zen, and in turn, I'm much more relaxed. I really appreciate this aspect of his personality, and I'm grateful for the calm he brings into the storm of life. 

He loves me despite, or maybe because of, my crazy! <3

Smiling while he gets a tattoo. "It's all good." 

5) He can fix anything--I married MacGyver. I swear this man can fix anything, and he can do it with any random assortment of objects. I'll tell him that something's broken and we don't have the materials to fix it. He'll go out into the garage, rummage around in his toolbox, and pull out some do-da and what-cha-ma-hick-it and fix the thing right up. I have learned so much from him in this aspect of our lives. And I'm constantly amazed at the things he comes up with. For example, I wanted a huge picture of us in our bedroom, so we went to look at Michaels. They had a gorgeous frame around a mirror on sale for 75% off. I pointed it out but thought we couldn't use it because it was a mirror. Deek examined it and determined we could use it, so we bought it. He took it home, we took the mirror out of it, took the glass from another frame we weren't using, cut that down, placed it in the frame, put a picture in it, and made a backing for it. Just like that. Wha-la! That's just one small example of the thousands he teaches me every day. He's quite brilliant in the traditional way, but he also possesses this ability to see the world differently than I can. He sees things for what they are but also for what they can be. I so respect that about him and am trying to file away all he's teaching me.

We made this out of a mirror!

Again, these are only five elements that make up my wonderful husband, but I hope you've gotten a glimpse into the amazing man he is. People, I swear to you I didn't believe in soulmates. I thought people were just compatible with other people and there was a vast number of people with whom you could be compatible and find happiness. But then I met Deek. And it's like he was made just for me. Everything I wanted, he had and then some. It's like all my dreams combined into one mind-blowing person. I understand the song "I Knew I Loved You" by Savage Garden now! Deek is truly my soulmate. There is no other person in this world who could match me in every way like he does. 

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful man I've ever known, to my soulmate, my best friend, my love, my husband. I'm thankful to spend this day with you, and I look forward to many, many more!

I love you with everything that makes me me. #Always