Thirty!!

My favorite person ever turns 30 today!!! In honor of this, I give you my top thirty favorite Jesse memories/moments/admiration (in no particular order):

1. The way he told me he liked me, after having spent a looong day together. And I quote: I don't know about you, but I've never been able to spend 12 hours straight with just one person and not get REALLY annoyed.

2. Going to visit Jesse for the first time in Canada, and the way all the trees were in bloom in his mom's neighborhood. She has the prettiest trees ever!

3. Also on my first visit to Alberta, I had showered and gotten all ready for bed, and when I came out of the bathroom, I saw Jesse laying in his pj's snuggled up with Odie (his dog) waiting to say good night to me. I remember thinking at that moment that I had found the guy for me. (PJ's and a dog - does it get better!?)

4. I promised to never reveal this full story, but it involves eggs and our Dodge Aries in Texas. Makes me laugh every time I remember it.

5. The way he makes sure our dogs get a walk every single day, rain or shine.

6. The book/journal he kept for me while he was in Guatemala with Mercy Ships.

7. Valentine's Day when we were engaged - Jesse fell asleep while we watched the Wedding Singer, then woke up right after I turned the vcr off. Very angry, with sleepy eyes still half glazed, the conversation went like this:
J (very distraught): Are you going to let it run or shut it off!?
N: I turned it off.
J (even more upset): Are you going to let it run or SHUT IT OFF?
N (starting to laugh because he was making no sense): You're still sleepy, huh?
J: Big, heavy, frustrated sigh.
N (laughing): I don't know what you mean.
J (furrowed brows and declarative voice): YOU MUST BE TIRED!

8. The way he has a special chocolate chip cookie recipe, has memorized the cookbook page, and noted "good" on it.

9. Going to the Loose Moose when we were dating.

10. The first time Jesse showed me photos of his nephew, Trae. He was SO proud and could not wait to meet him in person. (We were in Kona when Trae was born).

11. How cute and fun he is on rides at Disney World. (In fact, I could probably throw every Disney memory of Jesse on my list of favorites.)

12. One trip back down from Canada, the border people took away our grapes. For the next three hours, I got to listen to Jesse sing a song about it. The best part? It was to the theme of Marcy Playground's "Sex and Candy".

13. Watching him open U2 tickets on his birthday.

14. The way he can fix anything without being shown how.

15. Getting to see him cross the line at his first marathon.

16. Upon hearing his first-born niece crying in the middle of the night a few months after she was born, Jesse wanted to comfort her. Yet, he has an I don't pick up babies rule. Sooooo....the obvious choice was for him to stick his pointer finger out, dangle it above her within arm's reach, and gently coo "It's okay, Hallie. It's okay."

17. Watching him ice skate or rollerblade. Gets me every time. He is so stinking good at it!

18. A nameless Colorado Sunday afternoon in our apartment. All I really remember is staring at our curtains while we were talking and laughing and thinking that it was a perfect moment/day.

19. The way he can think so critically and analytically; seeing every single angle of any debate and being able to find logic to back it up from any side.

20. The way he lets me decorate our house however I want. (And the way he repainted our living room all by himself as a surprise for me when I changed my mind about the color.)

21. The first day we spent with each of our dogs. For Horton, it was love at first sight, as he laid across Jesse and "claimed him". We felt like a family after getting Horton. For Abe, it was giving him Milk Bones at the Humane Society, introducing he and Horton, and gasping in awe as we brought him into our house and realized he was a BIG dog. And for Monkey it was a simple declaration from Jesse to me over the phone: "I have a dog and it's coming home with me."

22. The first meal he ever cooked for me - honey chicken. It was burned so bad, the pan was black, the condo smelled like smoke, and the chicken was nearly inedible. To this day, I remember it as a perfect meal.

23. The mental image of Jesse driving the Daytona from Denver to Fort Collins loaded down with 500 square foot of wooden floor planks.

24. Jesse introducing me to the wonders of Ikea.

25. The way he thinks all of my artwork is good, even when it's really not.

26. The way he thinks all of my cooking is good, even when it's really not.

27. The first time we met, he declared to me I don't care what you think of me. Three weeks from now I'll never see you again for the rest of my life!

28. The way he is compelled to put every food item in the freezer. I don't get it, but this is the way of Jesse.

29. Sitting on the King Kam stage late at night in Kona.

30. The way he has been willing to be adventurous with me, to move for silly dreams, to drive hours upon hours in a car with no a/c in the middle of summer, (or one with no heater in the middle of winter in Canada), and to explore all that life has to offer.

Cheers to the Birthday Boy!!