Guess who's 32?

This guy!

Wow I can't believe I'm married to a 32 year old! Ugh. That must mean I'm getting older too.

Here are 32 reasons why DAN is such a great guy.

1. Dan is a great father. I'm not being biased at all here. Dan takes Henry every day for about 4-5 hours while I am at school. He takes Henry to the park and to the library. They go on bike rides at night together. He is so gentle and kind.

2. Dan is smart. Super {scary} smart. He has an associate's, a bachelors, two masters, is working on a third masters and he wants to get a Ph.d. But it's not just that, Dan reads a ton: like 2-3 books a week. He reads the news every day and he subscribes to The Week, Entertainment Weekly and Newsweek, so he is always up to date on everything that is going on. Sometimes I ask Dan to just stop talking about smart stuff---I just want to talk about nothing that makes me have to think. You never can win an argument with Dan because he always wins-because he is always right-because he has researched it! I know a lot of smart, intelligent people, but Dan is one of the most well rounded, know something about everything, smart person I know.

3. Dan laughs out loud. I don't. If something is remotely funny Dan laughs. He will be watching a show by himself and be laughing out loud. He is very lighthearted.

4. Dan is our full time dishwasher. He always does our dishes...and for that I am very grateful.

5. Dan is very compassionate and loving towards all animals. He hates to see any animal in pain or anguish (you may remember previous blogs about Bluey and Ike).

6. Dan is very empathetic. Dan deals with people dying everyday. He is able to see what they need and how he can help. It frustrates him that he can't do more sometimes. He know how it feels to deal with illness and death and he portrays that to his patients.

7. Dan is a Vegetarian and he is very compassionate about Vegetarianism and Animal rights. This is a change in him that I would have never expected to see when we first met 10 years ago.

8. Dan is a very good cook and an even better baker.

9. Dan is blessed with the gift of discernment. He is able to see people for who they really are and what their true intentions are. This {unfortunately} makes it really hard to lie to him :)

10. Dan is simplistic. He doesn't need much to be happy. He doesn't need fancy clothes or a fancy phone (in fact up to this past week he has had the same cell phone for 8-9 years!) He is happy with what he has.

11. Dan loves to learn; thus this is why he is the smartest person I know. But it's just not academia that he is interested in. He wants to learn about other cultures, about traveling, about other faiths...etc. etc. He is like a sponge and he wants to know everything!

12. Dan is my best friend. He knows me better than anyone. Enough said.

13. Dan loves the outdoors and doing outdoor activities like hiking and rock climbing.

14. Dan enjoys musicals and he's proud of it. It takes a true man to be able to identify who 24601, Elphaba, and Christine are!

15. Dan has the most lovely blue eyes. This is the one characteristic that Henry inherited from Dan.

16. Dan is easily hurt by his family. Maybe this isn't a good thing, but I think it shows how sensitive he really is. He wants to feel validated in everything that he does, and he wants to be validated by the people he cares the most about. {He'll probably be mad I put this down!}

17. Dan is realistic. He is not easily swayed by keeping up with the Jones'. He knows his limits and the limits of our family.

18. Dan is an insomniac. Again, this may not seem like a good thing. But almost once a week I find Dan passed out on the couch with the T.V. and lights still on. It makes me laugh every time!

19. Dan is very forgiving. Sometimes even when he shouldn't be.

20. Dan is lucky. He always seems to win door prizes and raffles.....and he got me didn't he?

21. Dan loves Cinnabons. Gross.

22. Dan humors me. He takes me shopping, and follows me to stupid school events. And he {usually} has a great attitude about it.

23. Dan is tolerant. Maybe it's the social worker in him, but he is strongly adamant about equality, equal rights and justice. He jokes that he is a bigger feminist than I am.

24. Dan has so many diverse interests. Dan loves all types of movies, books, and music. He is like a fine potpourri really.

25. Dan is great at wood working. He made the cutest little table for Henry, which he loves!

26. Dan enjoys sports. This is why I don't consider Dan a nerd. Dan loves college football the best, but he keeps up with baseball, football (NFL), basketball and so many other sports.

27. Dan has a fantastic memory. Dan remembers little details, dates, locations and names. He sometimes gets mad at me for not remembering the same stuff that he remembers. Well, sorry not all of us have a photographic memory!

28. Dan is slow to anger. I'm sure his siblings are surprised about this. And since Dan is a red head, you'd expect that he has a bad temper. Now yes, a lot of things get on Dan's nerves, and he complains, but really truly getting angry-it doesn't really happen.

29. Dan proudly serves our country. Dan is a veteran of the Army, he served for 9 years. Recently Dan returned to the military as an LDS chaplain.

30. Dan is a great provider for our family. Yep he's my sugar daddy!

31. Dan is a great conversationalist. He is constantly asking questions and wanting to know all the details and information that he can. He is great at meeting someone for the first time too. Dan can talk to anyone about anything, and he can keep a conversation going, even in a stale room.

32. Dan loves board/card games and he is a good loser!

Well that's it.....no, I could go on and on.
Dan is awesome, cool, funny, sweet, and hott!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!