10 lists for 10 great years

10 things I’ve learned about Shane in the past 10 years:

1. He likes an organized closet. Whoa, daddy, does he ever!
2. He can sleep in the same position all night. That is, when he’s allowed and there aren’t any children in the bed or his wife isn’t snoring.
3. Whistling is as normal to him as breathing or walking. He’s happy when he’s whistling.
4. Watch out for when he hums. Especially when driving.
5. He can play the tickle game with my boys like there’s no tomorrow.
6. Breakfast burritos taste awesome when he’s the cook.
7. It takes him a while to get to know people, but once he is your friend, he’s your friend for life.
8. He likes to be doing stuff most of the time. If there isn’t anything to do, he will find something to do.
9. He’s really good at picking stuff out for the house. He has an artistic side that often surprises me.
10. He doesn’t like to answer the phone.

9 ways I’ve grown by being married to him:

1. He let me chose to live my religion my way. There was never any expectation of me being religious, so everything I’ve chose to do has come from a sense of wanting it, not being expected to do it. That makes me feel incredibly liberated in many ways.
2. That it’s okay to do things differently than the way I was raised. Meaning, I don’t have to make a lavish dinner for Sunday just because it’s Sunday. We can have baked potatoes and salad or corn dogs. It’s okay.
3. I learned that just because someone doesn’t agree with your or gets mad at you, they aren’t going to give up on you.
4. I can speak my mind. Kindly.
5. That there is a delicate balancing act that needs to be performed in regards to family of origin versus family of creation. I still need to work on this a lot, I know.
6. It doesn’t do any good to keep things that bother you to yourself. You don’t have to make a big deal out of things, but it doesn’t do anyone any good to sit and stew.
7. It’s okay to let “things” go, as it old baby clothes (within reason) and out of date car seats and baby baths. Holding on to those things doesn’t bring those glorious times back.
8. I’m a much better cook than I was when we married. He is very glad I’ve grown in this way!!!
9. Life does feel better when things are tidy. (I still need to work on this one.)

8 favorite memories since we’ve been married:

1. Returning all our duplicate wedding gifts and buying stuff that we really wanted with all the money, then taking it home to our tiny apartment and putting it all away.
2. We painted our house for sweat equity. His not-so-dependent uncle helped us. On the second night of painting, when the paint sprayer jammed AGAIN, we were left alone to paint trim in our living room. I’ll always remember that quiet night, our house bare-bones to the walls, the only sound our chatting and the swish of paintbrushes.
3. The runs that we used to take when we still lived in our aparment. With no kids, our runs were always together, and we could talk. It’s when I first fell in love with running.
4. The training runs we had when we were getting ready for our marathon. This might sound the same as the entry above, but these were different. Getting caught in rainstorms, out in the boonies on the Jordan River Trail, five miles from our car and the jacket I stuck on a bush. He’s normally a quiet guy, but during these runs, Shane never stopped talking, and I loved being the listener.
5. The days our babies were born. Just him and me sitting in the hospital room, him going to the same McDonalds both times, eating hurridly (not in front of me) and then coming back to stay with me. I loved how encouraging he was, and how he took care of me.
6. The times before we had kids, when we would watch tv all night, and he would lay in my lap and fall asleep. One time when I was pregnant with Thomas, we were eating Quiznos sandwiches and I got guacamole in his hair because he was laying in my lap. We laughed about it, and I washed his hair in the sink to get it out.
7. Putting in our front yard, listening to Counting Crows blasting from his jeep. I can’t think of the rhythm of raking dirt without hearing the Mrs. Potter song.
8. Introducing him to someone at our wedding as my “fiace,” and then getting to correct myself by saying, I mean HUSBAND.

7 things we like to do together:

1. Sleep. We are the sleepiest bunch ever.
2. Eat good food. Iggy’s, Chilies, Café Rio, Red Butte Café & it’s sister Desert Edge.
3. Run.
4. Play with the kids.
5. Read in bed at night.
6. Shop. Nothing we like more than new stuff!
7. Have dates at Barnes and Nobles, browsing books.

6 places we’ve been (this should be fun)

1. Las Vegas
2. Spokane
3. Lava Hot Springs
4. St. George
5. Lake Powell
6. Park City (whew, I was worried we wouldn’t have six!)

5 places I want to go with him:

1. New York
2. California (or anywhere with a beach)
3. Europe (one day)
4. Washington DC
5. A cruise

4 memories of before we were married:

1. We worked together, before we dated. We used to stand and lean on the counter of the copy center and talk about our weekends or things we were doing or our families or whatever. I used to proclaim to him, “I need a man!” but I would secretly wish each time he’d say, “Hey baby, take me, I’m available.”
2. The day I realized that I liked him, 2 years before we would ever kiss.
3. Going to Las Vegas together to pick up his my friend Rebecca, who was dating his friend at the time. It was a good trip. ;)
4. The first couple of dates we had once we got together in 1997. He deliberately did not kiss me for a few weeks, which was so cute and frustrating all at once.

3 hopes I have for the future:

1. Being able to stay good friends through all the ups and downs of raising kids.
2. Going on vacations together when the kids are grown.
3. Being awesome grandparents to our children’s kids.

2 things I’m grateful for:

1. That he irons.
2. That he encourages our kids to go to church with me, and helps me get them ready.

1 thing I want:

1. A date, tonight, on our 10th wedding anniversary. Thanks for staying with me through all these adventures. I love you lots, Shaney.