On January 5th we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! I can't believe it's already been 6 years!
In honor of the special day, here are 6 things about my wonderful husband that I didn't know on my wedding day:
1. Even though he is allergic to dogs, he loves Godiva.... a lot! The two of them spend a lot of time together and have a cute bond. Alexander is Godiva's go-to person for cuddles. They do this thing where he will sit on the floor with his legs spread apart and she immediately goes and sits 'in his lap'. She claims that spot and if I try to sit there she will literally push between Alexander and me to wedge herself in "her spot".
2. Little kids love Alexander. I always thought babies and little kids think men with facial hair are scary, but that doesn't seem to be an issue with Alexander. He keeps the kids in front of him highly entertained in church with a series of silly facial expressions. He is very discreet, so people probably don't even realize it's him but watch carefully and you will see him wiggling his nose like a rabbit and moving his eyebrows up and down.
3. Alexander is an amazing teacher! I'm not even saying it because I'm his wife. He has been teaching Gospel Doctrine ever since we moved to KC and I still hear comments every single week about how much people enjoy his lessons. Also, I was privileged to see him give a lecture on Anglo-Saxon and Germanic women at school and it was nothing short of masterful. A perfect combination of interesting stories, good humor and intellectual comments.
4. He treats everyone with kindness because he has a great deal of empathy. He doesn't want anyone to feel demeaned, left out, embarrassed, etc, because he has felt all those things himself. He goes out of his way to ensure people are treated with respect and kindness, especially if other people are not. He is a favorite of the young men in the ward because he validates them as people, conversing with them about the things they enjoy and are interested in when so many other adults just kind of push by them or try to "get-through" a conversation.
5. Alexander is a fantastic missionary. He is very open with his religion. One of the first things people learn about him is that he is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka Mormon. He strives to be a perfect example of his faith so that everyone is left with a good impression of the church and Mormons in general. He is not afraid of what other people will think about him and is always willing to answer any questions without being offended. I also can't think of a better person to ask questions of, he knows all the answers and can phrase them in such a way that people understand. He has deep religious conversations with people online and has become their go-to Mormon. During the 2012 presidential campaign he was kept very busy clearing up misconceptions about our faith.
6. If he thinks something will make me happy, he does it. He never eats the last bite of anything unless he has confirmed with me that I don't want it. He will always defer to my choice of restaurant, movie, etc, insisting that all he wants to do is "make me happy". He makes me lunch when he is not at school. He takes the dog out late at night. He will do all manner of silly things to try and make me laugh. He would rather go without than see me sad. He spoils me rotten!
To celebrate our anniversary we went out to eat at Brio (kinda expensive for pasta but really good) and browsed the shelves at Barnes and Noble. We also found that we bought each other the exact same card! How random is that? It is just another testament to how perfect we are for each other!
Also, as a point to how Alexander spoils me, he bought me a brand new diamond wedding ring to replace the one I lost when we moved to Kansas City. He was very insistent that it be an exact replica but he actually upgraded me to a bigger diamond than I originally had, which is pretty amazing considering my track record...It is a beautiful ring and I feel very undeserving.
