Jake - I praise God for you!

I penned out these words in my little "made of recycled materials" notebook as I sat in Starbucks last week Saturday afternoon. Yes Starbucks, I went for a walk, and well "Hello, my name is Nikki and I am addicted to Starbucks," their beverages mostly, but on Saturday afternoon the mood was mellow and calm sitting at that table by the window along Lincoln Way.

As I was sipping on my SFCD, Soy Frapp, my head was filled with all these thoughts of our upcoming anniversary celebration. For those of you who do not know, Jake and I have been together since January of 1999 and got married on October 6th, 2007. You do the math :-)

My pen kept going, my mind and heart overflowing with all these words and thoughts of my husband:

God given, lover of God, man after Him.

Life sustaining- normalcy bringer, you bring me back down in those moments when I could drift away into the depths. You know.

Hand to hold. Fingers interlocking. Squeezing, warm. Amazing.

Arms to wrap. Always warm, always ready and waiting. Comforting.

Blue-eyed wonder. Love it. No other words.

Working hard. Always, in everything you do. Thank you for this. I don't say it enough.

Striving, trying, you make me proud. All the time. Never doubt that. Ever.

Searching for answers, always wanting to know more.

Dreaming big dreams, you know what. We dream together. Thank you.

Hopeful about the future and what it will bring, trusting God to lead.

Learning, always learning. I love this about you.

Enduring. Holding me up. Pushing through the pain and the darkness with me, even in the darkest hours you never abandoned.

Encouraging me in all things, loving me, praising me. Love you.

Smile. Oh that smile! God knew I needed it in my life. Yes He did!

Friend. You are my best friend. I know you are mine, God gave you to me for a reason.

Random. Love that my randomness amuses you. You know I try. Something about cows talking?

Laid Back. You help me relax. You help lighten my load, my burdens are lessened thanks to you. I love you.

Uncle. You're amazing with those kiddos. They love you and you take it all in stride. It's amazing to see you with them. Did I mention you're amazing?

Future Father. Someday. I know you'll be great. We'll be great together. Never perfect, but we'll make it, no doubt.

My Favorite. Always. As long as we both shall live. You know this. I tell you often.

I love you.
My God-given, Blue-eyed man.
I love you.