The Good Little Love Things

I've been with my husband for 16 years now. Married for four this month. Are we perfect? Hardly. Actually, I think perfect might be a little boring. My husband frustrates me when he takes too long to shower, eats food off my plate, stays up late, sleeps in, gets mad about having to "dress up", and makes me clean out mousetraps, etc. So I get upset at times. But really, there are so many little things he does that I love. I just wanted to tell everyone about all the good things he does.

• He listens to me. A lot. More than he wants to. Seriously, ask him. Well, sometimes he is just pretend listening and I get silence when I finally take a breath, but most times he does listen. He listens to me complain about work. He listens to me talk about what I want to eat. He listens to me try to describe books I'm reading. 

• He cracks me up. I can't think of a specific funny thing at the moment but at least once a day I'm laughing because of him. He has a quick wit that surprises me at times. He uses #hashtags that come out of nowhere. He makes me smile. 

• He compromises way more than should be allowed. I get to pick a lot of restaurants. When we ski, it's to my ability and comfort level first. Activities are usually my suggestions. He's just so flexible and such a go-with-the-flow kind of guy. I should take notes and try to be half as compromising at him. 

• He makes me think. Sometimes I can be one-sided and  irrational. I often emotionally react to situations, ideas, and problems. He makes me see multiple sides. He plays devil's advocate, a lot. It's annoying but also challenging in a good way. He helps me be a more critical thinker. 

• He smells good. Sometimes I just want to eat his deodorant-scented armpits. But I hold back because I think it would burn. 

• He does most of the dishes. Yes, I cook most of the time so this seems fair but I realize I'm pretty lucky that he keeps up with dishes on a daily, sometimes twice daily basis. It's one way we have pretty good team work. 

• He's good at parties. If we're getting ready to have people over, he's asking what to do to help prepare. He cleans bathrooms, he vacuums, he puts food out. During a party he's fun and makes sure to make rounds and talk to people. After a party, he's on top of cleaning up as soon as people leave the house. It's pretty darn amazing. 

• He's encouraging. Of me going to school. Of me changing jobs and looking for work that I love. Of me going out with friends. Of me shopping for purses. He wants me to be happy. 

There's good and bad in every relationship. My husband gives a lot of good!