Happy Birthday, Mikey!

Today is my sweet Miguel's 36th birthday! The first birthday I ever celebrated with him was his 30th and at that time he was dreading his 30's. To help him overcome that dread, I threw a huge surprise party for him and, I think he would agree here, it definitely helped ease him into this decade! Though he doesn't like to make a big deal about his birthday, I love it and am always asking him weeks in advance what he wants or what he wants to do.

The reason I love Mike's birthday so much is because it is a day that is all about HIM. He rarely takes time out for himself and I tend to be the loud mouth of our team so he doesn't request a lot of attention be paid to him. But I think he deserves it. Mike is an incredible man and I love getting to celebrate his awesomeness!

So, in honor of his 36th year on this earth, here are 36 things I love about my amazing husband:

1. His smile that is seriously ear to ear. That grin gets me every time.
2. His shoulders. They're sexy.
3. The fact that he gets up every single morning at 5 a.m. without saying a single curse word. How does he do that??
4. The way he walks in the door with a huge smile on his face and excitement written all over it at the prospect of seeing Olivia.
5. He never calls in sick to work. Though I often encourage him to play hooky, he has the best work ethic that I have ever come across.
6. His collection of tri-athlon shirts.
7. His collection of tri-athlon metals.
8. The fact that he competes in tri-athlons. Seriously, I'm in awe of this and so very, very proud.
9. His love of rum.
10. The fact that he looks in a different drawer every morning for the silverware even though it's been in the same place for the past several years. I give him a hard time about this but I secretly think it's cute and if he didn't do it, I'm not sure what I would do.
11. His old-man-Milligan habit of walking out on the front porch to see what all the commotion is about every time something is going on in our neighborhood.
12. The fact that he HATES scary movies.
13. The way that he describes food kind of erotically. Like after he describes a hamburger he had for lunch, I feel a little sweaty and drool-ey.
14. How he works out almost every single night. At 9 o'clock!
15. He has the most wonderful and sensitive heart.
16. His beautiful eyes and eyelashes.
17. Watching him play with Oli and the way he lights up when he looks at her.
18. Listening to him give Oli her bath at night and the way his voice hits this high pitch that I've never heard before. The man will do anything to make that kid smile.
19. His attachment to sentimental items.
20. How he has a love for bar-b-que but he never makes me go eat it except once a year. On his birthday.
21. His willingness to do anything I ask of him.
22. The way he loves and respects his mom and grandma. Ladies, that is a sure-fire way to know how your man is going to treat YOU!
23. How he always gives me updates on what is going on around town. Example: "Hey, Steph, did you see that they are building a new oil change place off of Hwy 360 and Abram?"
24. His love of conspiracy theory.
25. His future goals for our family and how passionate he is about them.
26. The fact that he puts up with my crazy a$$!
27. The way he is supportive but honest with me at all times.
28. The fact that he decorated the garage in an attempt to claim some spot in this house as his "Man Room."
29. The way he whips up a mean breakfast burrito! Seriously, we should open a breakfast burrito stand.
30. How he has this silly, playful, smart-alecky side.
31. His laugh. It's so pure.
32. The way he drives like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. I often wonder how he makes it home everyday.
33. How his brain works. Thank goodness he understands the stock market because I sure as heck don't! It's like another language and he speaks it well. He is so very smart.
34. He always finds the positive in everything.
35. His easy-going, laid-back personality.
36. The way he pushes me to be better, without pushing at all. The way he is so incredible that he makes me want to be deserving of that incredible-ness.

Happy Birthday to my best friend, my partner, my sweet Mike. I love you more than all of the stars in the sky...