Happy Valentine's Day!

Here is a little survey I filled out about Garr and I in honor of V-Day. :)

#1. What are your middle names? Mae and Daniel

#2. How long have you been together? Including dating and marriage, about 13 yrs.

#3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? hmmm, not long. a few weeks?

#4. Who asked who out? Garr asked me.

#5. Who said I love you first? Garr probably.

#6. How old are each of you? I'm 30, Garr will be 30 this summer!

#7. Who's siblings do/did you see the most? Mine bc of distance

#8. Do you have any children together? Yes, 4. one boy, three girls.

#9. What about pets? none right now

#10. Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? It's hard to say...moving, job changes, newborns...all of them at the same time is probably the hardest and we have done it over and over!

#11. Did you go to the same school? yes, but only from my 10th - 12th grade. However we didn't know each other until the spring of my senior year.

#12. Are you from the same hometown? no

#13. Who is the smartest? Book smart, me. Street smart, Garr.

#14. Who is the most sensitive? um, probably me. But Garr has his moments that surprise me.

#15. Where do you eat the most as a couple? As a couple, when we get away without kids, we like Applebee's or recently, Olive Garden.

#16. Who has the craziest eyes? Garr. I love his eyes. I'm very glad that Abby and Daniel both have eyes close to his.

#17. Who has the worst temper? Garr definitely.

#18. Who does the cooking? Me currently. But Garr is the better cook.

#19. Who is the most social? Actually, Garr says that he doesn't like to chat with people, but if you get him on the right subject, he SO does. But overall, probably me.

#20. Who is the neat-freak? Me, neat, but not freaky about it.

#21. Who is the most stubborn? hmm, prob. me.

#22. Who hogs the bed? Neither of us - but then we have a king size!

#23. Who wakes up earlier? Garr does when he's on a normal schedule (ie days)

#24. Where was your first date? my house - we watched a Christian Slater/Marisa Tomei movie. I still get in the mood to watch that movie about once every year.

#25. Who has the bigger family? about the same actually. Both our moms have 3 siblings and both our dads have 2 - well, no Garr's dad has 3, so I guess his is bigger, and then there's his other dad... how about who has a more complicated family? him for sure!

#26. Do you get flowers often? Not often, b/c I don't like him to spend our money that way. But he is great about giving me flowers for no particular reason (even if he picks them from someone's yard!) :) so I love that more than holiday flowers.

#27. Who do you spend the holidays with? depends on his job schedule.

#28. Who is more jealous? me

#29. How long did it take to get serious? not long. We both knew right from the start - even though we were "just kids." Garr was definitely more serious first though.

#30. Who sings better? Garr.

#31. Who does/did the laundry? ME

#32. Who’s better with the computer? me.

#33. Who drives when you are together? Garr. I only drive if Garr isn't feeling well or needs to sleep (which he can't seem to do when I'm driving anyways!)

#34. Who picks where you go to dinner? probably me. we go back and forth - "what do you want...nooo, what do yooou want?" - I'm usually the one with the opinion.

#35. Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong? Garr.

#36. Who named your pet? I think Garr named our dog, Pizzazz. We got him on our honeymoon and named him for the pizza place we ate at 3 times that week. :)

#37. Who wears the pants in the relationship? We talk things over, but Garr generally gets the final decision - unless he doesn't care. :)

#38. Who has more tattoos? Garr!

#39. Who eats more sweets? Me. I love sweets and Garr is a health nut!

#40. Who cries more? Me. But Garr does get teary over family and spiritual stuff sometimes.

#41. Are you two still a happy couple? Yes we most definitely are!

Best advice?

Loving someone is not a feeling, it's a choice. Work through everything - even the little misunderstandings and arguments. Otherwise, they will build up and can tear your marriage down. Put each other first - before work, friends, kids, hobbies, everything. Make time to be alone together to talk and laugh. Talk each other up to your friends, not down. Try not to go to bed angry unless you are too overtired to talk sensibly. Then talk it over first thing in the morning. Don't say hurtful things in anger - if you wouldn't say it in a good mood, you shouldn't say it in a bad mood either. Hold hands when you are fighting just so the other person knows you still love them even though you are mad.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY GARR! I LOVE YOU!!

Daniel

Daniel is surprising me today. He was, as usual, completely excited to have Grandad home for lunch. But it's what he did when Grandad had to leave. He used to cry and cry. Today, Dad said to him, "Grandad has to go back to work." And he looks up at my dad, with his mouth open for a big kiss. Then he turns and comes straight to me, no crying. And he just waves good-bye to my dad. First of all, the fact that he understands what it means when we say "Grandad has to go to work" is amazing to me. Daniel is just 14 months old now and can only say "ma, ma" and "da,da" and he shakes his head "yes" and "no." But obviously he understands a great deal more. It was just adorable how he reached up for a kiss good-bye. (He is stingy with his kisses! - except with Grandad!)

Then I realized he knows how to hold a pencil correctly and write with it. He is constantly looking for something to write on. He will grab books or paper and try to draw on them if he has a pencil. Hopefully, he will learn quickly not to draw on walls and furniture! Emelyn took to drawing very quickly and is very talented. Maybe he will be too. Unfortunately, he also likes to bite the erasers off of pencils and eat them!

And he loves to wear ball caps - esp if they come off Daddy or Grandad's head! Here he is in one we bought him at Assateague Island last summer.