What I (Dan) See In...My Bride!

As you may have noticed, Elise has not been blogging as of late and this is because she's been on an internet fast. She decided to do this because our whole church has been fasting to celebrate our 25th Anniversary since the day 23 folks started our community in a house basement.

So I've been taking her faithful work of restraint as an opportunity to sneak on to post a few. I must confess, it's been kinda fun. Kinda like comin' home. I used to be the main blogger in our home - to the point of near obsession. Not too long ago, Elise reminded me that the reason I don't remember much about Hadley's birth is because I spent most of my time blogging in the corner of our hospitable room. I beg to differ. It was not a corner.

So I've backed off and she's taken over.

But since her fast breaks on Thanksgiving Day, I want to make sure that I say a thing or two about her. So I'd like to post the top ten things I love about my wife. This, I know, will make her blush and furious all at once - which is exactly my intention.

1. She's gotten extremely crafty. Her next project is to make a craft table in our office. It's making me a bit nervous. I married a corporate raider, not a Hobby Lobbyist.
2. She's a vivid dreamer. Three nights ago, she dreamed that there were snakes in our bed. I had to physically restrain her for a full minute.
3. She works really hard at encouragement and I'd like to encourage her about that.
4. She has a beautiful voice. If you could hear her sing. Ask her some time.
5. She has the best laugh. I love nothing more than to laugh together.
6. She is wise. Except for when it comes to creative endeavors related to my sermons, she is generally always right.
7. She's becoming more adventurous. One of my nicknames for her is "Safety Director" because she's a bit of a rule follower. But in the last 6 months, I've seen a wild streak come out (if you will). For example, she was the one who pushed to get all our girls up on water skiis this summer. Yahooo!
8. She has such a tender heart. One of my favorite parts of my day is when she comes down the stairs in the early morning and sits across from me to share what she's learning about the Lord.
9. She's a walker. Again. My wife now gets up at 5:30 3 times a week to walk with the neighborhood gals. This is one little sign of how we're slowly coming up out of our first 4 years of parenting that we affectionately call "middle earth."
10. She's competitive. You all know about her passion to create a loving, nurturing, and aesthetically pleasing home. But perhaps you didn't know that she has a drive to create the BEST home on the block. Two days ago, I mentioned to her that the neighbors remarked on our Christmas lights in the front yard. She said, "Oh yeah, what did they say?" I said, "Well...they tried to say something nice but their voices kind of trailed off." She said, "They don't like it?!" I said, "No, they said they DID like it but they weren't that convincing." She replied, "We should turn them off then. And, you watch the girls, I'm going to Home Depot, then to Michaels, then to Hobby Lobby..." It's 8:00 am right now on a 38-degree Wednesday morning and my wife is in our front yard - bundled up in puffy coat and winter's cap - hammering wreaths, running strings of lights, and creating the best damn Christmas scene this neighborhood has ever seen.

Bonus: She's beautiful. Simply gorgeous.

and finally: She's mine.