Happy Birthday Todd!

Was it a year ago? Or maybe 2 that Todd hijacked my blog and wrote the sweetest little post about me on my birthday? I'll have to go check.

(this past weekend he ran 25 miles in the SoCal Ragnar) 

Since he doesn't have a blog I get to write a little something about him on mine for his birthday which was yesterday. (Don't worry, you can still call him if you forgot...you're so rude/unthoughful!)

For those who know Todd, you know he's a pretty modest guy when it comes to, well, most everything. He comes across as the quintessential surfer...layed back, go with the flow, no malice kind of guy. And really, he is.  This is sometimes confusing to people when they learn that he is actually a pretty smart guy with loads of ambition.

I fell in love with Todd when I was technically a teenager still, with priorities that a teenager might have; for the most part naive to the things that should concern me most:

Is he cute? Yes.
Does he surf (and not just says he surfs like most boys from California at BYU)? Yes
Do I get butterflies every time I'm with him? Yes.
Do I think about him all day long and possibly stalk him on campus? Yes
Would we make cute babies together? Yes

Lucky for me, my 19 year old brain also saw more to Todd than all that when we first met. One of the things that drew me to him the most was seeing the genuine love he could have for people that others could not. He was a real friend to people who had no one else, even when it wasn't convenient or cool to do as a young man in college and from what I learned later high school as well. I knew that I wanted to be with someone like that-with so much character and integrity and patience for others' shortcomings. (Maybe because I knew that I needed someone who could be patient and forgiving of all mine)

Somehow I convinced him that he wanted to marry me and we did.

You know how life gets really "real" after you get married? You let yourself be yourself more and more and your new spouse slowly unwraps the real you? Well in a lot of cases it seems to show the not so wonderful things about you (i.e. tantrums in my closet about having "NOTHING TO WEAR!" or crying about how fat I was whenever I got in a bathing suit, while Todd just stares at me confused as a 2 year old). On the other hand,  as I got to know the "real" Todd, each layer that was revealed was only better and better. What you see is what you get with him and he really was as wonderful and as genuine as the boy I thought I was marrying. I know I hit the jackpot with him- cause let's face it, when you're choosing a spouse at the age of 20/22 it really is a gamble. That same love he had for friends as a youth translated into the most loving and patient Husband to me and Father to our children. And probably a pretty nice guy to work with at work from what I hear. He gives 100% of himself in everything he does and I'm really thankful to get to be paired up with someone like him.

He turned 32 yesterday. We joked all day about how this is supposed to be his "Prime," as he sniffled and coughed from a cold, and groaned from his sore muscles from running the Ragnar and then he had to look up to see his wife waddling around and groaning of her own aches and pains. We felt like an 80 year old couple yesterday!

Today is better for him- He's surfing Blacks right now and it's going off! So he's a happy man! I'm looking forward to many more birthdays with Todd.