Wednesday, February 13, 2008

My Valentine's Day Pledge to Lauren

Videos That I Think Lauren Would Enjoy Watching on Valentine's Day (and other days as well)





10 (Give or Take) Things That I Already Enjoyed Immensely, but Love Even More Now That I Share Them w/ Lauren


The OC, Friday Night Lights, Lost, 30 Rock and The Office


The Army (just kidding)


Cake (the food, not the band)


Trips to Las Vegas


Fantasy Football—no more second places, babe, 2008 is the Bashers' year!


Traveling


Dogs


Snooty trade paperback type books, preferably the type w/ some sort of insignia to indicate receipt of snooty awards.



Attending beer related festivals


Spoon (the band, not the utensil)


The Commonwealth of Virginia


Making people laugh


Spending time with our friends


(Approximately) 25 Reasons That I Love Lauren More than Anything

She is the master of the perfectly timed "pick you up" E-card.


She is the most thoughtful person that I have ever met.


She's incredibly funny without really realizing how clever she is.


She refuses to compromise between having a family and having a fulfilling career. She will have both, and that's all there is to it.


She throws herself into life's endeavors with a passion that's contagious to all of us around her. Even if life has dealt her a boring hand or two. Right now, she's really, really fired up about doing people's taxes.


She never misses an opportunity to send a thank you note or thank you gift.


She takes genuine pleasure in giving gifts, helping others, and making her friends and family smile.


She love children, but not to the point of absurdity.


She loves animals, puppies and kitties especially…let's face it, pretty close to the point of absurdity :)


She fundamentally rejects the notion that kitties and puppies can't go to heaven.


She sees volunteering as a necessary part of life, and she inspires me to volunteer. Just not, you know, for armed conflicts.


She is always ready to talk or to hug or to love, no matter the time or location.


She believes that it is her moral imperative to adopt a child.


She loves exploring new cities/restaurants/countries so that we can add to our ever expanding list of special Lauren/Andrew places (when you get passed around by life as much as we are, you get to explore a lot).


She always finds ways to make dull places (Fort Bragg) and scary places (Afghanistan) feel fun, and safe, and loved. Like home, basically.


She loves our family with all of her heart—including the parts of the family that haven't quite hit the scene as of yet.


She appreciates the humor of asking for baby stuff on our wedding registry, even if noone else ever noticed and/or was horrified by it.


She absolutely plans the best birthday celebrations of anyone. Like, ever.


She's an above average craps player...with potential for greatness!


She appreciates great wine, but isn't so snobby that she doesn't enjoy a nice $6 bottle of California Cab.


She very appropriately prioritizes her wedding gift giving around beverage consumption—from wine to coffee to margaritas.


She loves a wide variety of animal ear styles, including but not limited to: one up/one down, soft 'n floppy Beagle style, and street-kitty-notched


She sees the value in decorating an apartment wall to wall with books, cd's and dvd's


She always finds something to love and to be passionate about, no matter how dull or difficult a place that the world (Army) might send her.


She doesn't think that it's silly to cook our own Thanksgiving dinner the day before attending someone else's, just so we'll have our own leftovers. In fact, she thinks that it's a pretty darn good idea.


She unequivocally stands up for what she believes in, even if it's unpopular politically with the crowd she runs with (listening, WashU?)


She believes enough in the redemptive power of Cesar Millan that she's willing to give Copper continued chances at reform.


She appreciates really great TV shows.


She appreciates really awful (by which I mean awesome) TV shows.