Alex and Brian's Blog: How do I love thee...?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote: "How do I Love Thee, Let Me Count the Ways…"
Alex, in honour of our one-year anniversary, I am expanding on that theme…I've compiled a list of 366 reasons I love you…one for every day we've been together and more...
Happy Anniversary, my darling…all my love, now and forever…

The way we gently argue about if our first date was May 9th or May 12th…
The way that the next day I couldn't stop thinking about you all day…
Being so excited for our next date tomorrow…
How wonderful our date at Ari's was…and how it's "our" place…
Your tenaciousness in e-mailing me before we ever met…
Our two-hour phone conversations when we didn't live together…
Our two-hour phone conversations on days when we went out already…
Realizing pretty quickly that this relationship was something special…
Hearing you describe your date with the Bush voter…
Having you call me first thing in the morning when I lived by myself, so you would be the first person I would hear in the day…
Talking to you late into the night when I lived by myself, so you would be the last person I talked to in the evening…
How much you loved my apartment…
Wanting so much to introduce you to my family and friends…
Fixing the sound on your laptop by finding the volume button…
That we've started a blog about our relationship…
Being a hopeless romantic over you…
Holding on to old movie ticket stubs from movies we went to…
How one of the first things you told your co-workers about me was that I have the Constitution on my wall…
Buying a toothbrush for you to keep over at my place…
Missing you so much, so soon when you went to San Franscisco…
Stopping in the middle of doing dishes with you to dance with you…
Watching the "Othello Rap" with me from my Reduced Shakespeare DVD over and over…
How we work through our problems…
Saying "I love you" that first time…
The fact you don't mind that I own so many comics…
Going with you to see Julius Caesar in the park…
How when you get a little annoyed with me you make indecipherable sounds and then hiss…
You drawing our Shakespeare in the park date and giving the art to me…
That a lot of my minuses are your plusses and a lot of your minuses are my plusses…
Retreating to the air-conditioned bedroom with you to stay cool…
That you are everything I could ever want in a girlfirend…fiancee…wife…
That we count our month-a-versaries…
Chomping on popcorn with you as we watch a movie together…
The way you move when you dance…
Hanging all the pictures on our picture wall…
How you taught me how "grounding" water can be…
The way you say "you can shove your logic up your ass!" when I make a good point in a disagreement…
The cute baby voice you sometimes use when we're talking sweetly to each other…
Holding you tight…
Sitting in the brown comfy chair reading comics while you're reading on the couch…
Being nervous when I met your mom and sisters….
Doing a "salad week" to help shed some pounds and cleanse our systems…
How quickly you fall asleep…
Buying you a Wonder Woman comic book, 'cause you said you liked Wonder Woman…
Our first purchase together for our house…the firepit…
Hearing the noisemaker as we fall asleep…
Taking a walk through Tower Grove with you…
Making plans with you on where we'd like to travel in our future…
When my pager goes off and I see the message is from you…
Sending a text message to the Busch Stadium message board during a game, which read "Alex, I love you! <3>
Holding you when you're sad or scared…
Going to the Chinese buffet with you…
Thinking about different ways to make you happy…
Going hiking with you and my friends to Garden of the Gods…
That we've exchanged keys to our places…
Going to sleep in your arms…
Talking about the day's events in the car back and forth…
How good you look in your glasses…
How much you wrapping your arms around me makes me feel safe…
Waiting for you at my office door for you to pick me up…
Buying a claddaugh ring for you, showing my love, friendship and loyalty…
How well we mesh with each other…
"Our Song"…and that we got it by singing "You're Just Too Good to be True" to each other…
When I say something sexy and you respond with that "aw-haw-haw," like a bad French movie…
How much you care for the environment…
That you're introducing me to shamanism…
Going down to the Royale with you to listen to Rob DJ and have a pint…
That you got to meet my dad before he passed…
Walking the dogs with you…
Retreating to your place when the power was out all over the city…
That little pouty face you put on when I do something a little annoying…
Buying you lingere secretly when you were in the dressing room trying on clothes…
How I know neither one of us is perfect…we're perfect for each other…
That you make me feel sexy…
Planning with you and then having our big barbecue…
Cancelling out my Yahoo! Personals service…'cause I wouldn't need it again…
Buying some boxers for me so I will look better to you when we go to Kentucky…
"Our Other Song"…and that we got it by singing "Sea of Love" to each other….
Wandering around Lowe's or Home Depot to find items to help fix up the house…
Relaxing on the Bell of Louisville, riding down the river with you…
That you found the best B&B on a whim and our time there just relaxing…
Holding your hand as we walked around the storied stables of Chruchill Downs…
Learning how to bet at the track with you…
Holding you close and swaying to the music…
How even when when we get grouchy with each other…it doesn't last too long…
Every single day I love you more than the day before…
The fact that you know four languages…
That little noise you make when I nuzzle your neck and tickle you…
When you roll around on the ground with the dogs playing with them…
Going to mass at St. Mark's Episcopal with you…
That making you happy makes me happy…
The picture of you as a girl in the leaves…
Coming up with romantic gifts for you on our month-a-versaries…
The fact that you were the woman that I dated the longest…
How you asked if you wanted to come with me to your work conference in Boston…
Throwing my arm over you when we sleep…
How when you sing, you sing wholeheartedly and with your whole being…even if you do get the words wrong…:)
Seeing you wear my tie to your office for work…
Cooking salmon en pappilotte for us…
Wanting every trip we take from now on to be like our Kentucky trip…
The look on your face when you wrap your arms around my neck and hug me…
Hanging out with your co-workers…
Walking down the street with you, hand in hand…
How amazing you are at home repair…
You helping me move, little by little, my things out from my apartment…
Going with you to the Fox to see Les Miserables…
Discovering new restaurants with you…
How you were there with me when my dad passed…
Dining with you by candlelight…
That you snuggle up to me to keep warm…
How you stood by me at my dad's wake and funeral…
That you were there for me after the funeral…and every day after that…
The way you interact with your dogs…
Us doing housework together…
How excited you get when I send you flowers to work…
Watching you light up when you smile…
That you like watching action movies…
That you're as liberal politically as I am…and maybe more…
Picking you up at your office after the workday…
Reserving the Morgan Street Brewery for our wedding reception…
That any bad mood I'm in will almost certainly go away after a hug from you…
How we've always planned for being together for 50 years…and thenwe'll re-evaluate…
That you introduced me to Soulard Market…
The way your face lights up when you smile…
How you and I want to get into better shape…
Coming up with different little projects we've got in mind for fixing up the house…
The smell of your hand cream…
The pleasure you get from checking my pimples…
Watching you do yoga in the morning…
Introducing you to Firefly…
Dressing up and going with you to the Symphony…
Going with you to your office on the weekend, 'cause when no one's there, it's "creepy…"
Me kissing you in the morning quietly to not wake you up when I leave for work before you…
Serenading you…
The first several times we went over to a friend's house, we were accidentally wearing very similar outfits…
Touching you…
Sitting outside by the firepit with you…hand in hand…in those crappy cheap chairs…
Going with you to Kevin and Laura's wedding…
When you tell me how creative I am…
Sitting next to you in new Busch Stadium for our first baseball game together…
Buying you your pink baseball bat at the game…
That you get freezing cold when it's 75 degrees…
You wanted to hang my DaVinci in the living room…
Having your hand slip into mine as we're driving somewhere…
Introducing me to your father at Jefferson Barricks…
Going to St. Mark's with Galahad and Gwenevyre for the Blessing of the Pets…
Introducing you to Lost…and you marathon watching two seasons in four days…
That I can confide in you about anything…
How much you love it when I do the dishes in my shirt and tie from work…
Buying Hallowe'en stuff with you to decorate the house with…
How you've made space for me in your life and your house…
You shared your "power circle" in Tower Grove with me…
The coy way you say "I will neither confirm nor deny that" when you know I'm right…
The fact you got me a tie for our sixth-month-a-versary…from the USS Constitution no less…
That you absolutely loved the pen I got you…
That you really have a thing for pens…
Going to the movies with you and Ben and Teresa and Josh…
Deciding on a whim at last minute to go for dinner at the diner…
That we want to take dancing lessons together…
How we talk out problems and fix the situation before they get out of control…
When you talk about me to your co-workers…
That we try and buy organic…for both health and taste…
Going to sleep with you next to me and Galahad and Gwenevyre in the bed next to us…
Drawing a hot bath for you…
Having a poker night at the dining room table at "your" place…
How we decided early on to give to the American Veterans Association instead of giving cheap wedding favors…
Going over to your boss's house with you for barbecue and football…
Roasting marshmallows over the firepit…'just cause…
Us washing dishes together….
You kissing me in the morning when you leave early for work and I'm still in bed…
Walking the Freedom Trail with you, even though my feet hurt like hell…
Being the only ones in our Ghouls and Gravestones tour group excited that the Cardinals won the World Series...
Holding on to you in the chilly rain and hearing "No coat, no umbrella…no comment…"
Having you next to me on the plane ride home…even if I was grouchy…
Hearing you say the phrase "lovin' yooooooouu…"
Making pappilotte 3-ways for us…
Running to Target with you for nothing in particular…
"Commuting" with you to work in the morning…
That you make me feel special…
Hearing you explain legal points to me, even when I don't understand them…
That you want Bob to stay out in full view…
When you hug me from behind when I'm sitting at the computer…
Staying up late with you watching Election Night returns…
Realizing how I never ever want to take you for granted…
Slowly merging our two houses together to make one…
Setting up my cell phone so it plays "You're Just Too Good to Be True" whenever you call…
Hearing that specific ring on my cell phone…
You wanted to hang my NASA patch collection…
You calling me "daddy" in front of the dogs…
Hearing you in the shower while I'm still in bed…
How we've talked about going to Mexico to visit your old home…
The slight lisp you have on occasion…
Celebrating with you when you win an appeal…
Setting up a joint checking account with you…
Us going grocery shopping together…
That you don't mind when I cry…
Dressing up and going with you to the Fox Theatre to see Spamalot…
That you call me "beautiful"…
Doing both of our families houses for Thanksgiving…
Looking at our blog and finding a new entry from you…
Cooking breakfast for you…
Rushing to meet you with a kiss when you walk in the front door…
Going with you to pick out wedding rings…a pretty scary experience, but wonderful…
Having you help me choose my ring…
How cute it is when you say the word "no"…
How fast we run out of milk…
Waking up in your arms…
Coming up with the words to engrave inside our wedding rings..
Us doing yardwork outside together…
The way you say "wooooo" when you're excited about something…
How we talk about raising a family…
That we want to take photography lessons together…
That you were with me on my birthday…
Sneaking back to Robinson's jewlers to pick up the wedding rings…so you wouldn't know…
Telling my mom that our relationship was "very serious…" just a month or so before we annouced our engagement…
When you hold me when I'm sad…
How you want to make sure that I still spend time with my friends…
Knowing that no power in the 'verse can ever stop us…
Having "your place" slowly become "our place"…
How insistant you were about not seeing your wedding dress when it was shipped to my work…
Being invited and going to your work Holiday party…
That I was with you on your birthday…
Cooking and baking the whole day with you…
How you obsess (just a little) over your mushie pillows…
Our Kentucky scrapbook…
Wanting our wedding plans to be "not the same as every other wedding…"
Working with you on the Nacimento at your mom's house…
How you cried when you opened your Christmas present to you…a flock of ducks to a family in a poor country…
That you like watching science fiction movies…
Doing the whole circuit of my family and your family for Christmas…
Having your mushie pillow with me on Christmas Day…
The smell of your perfume on said pillow…
How you help me pick out my tie to wear in the morning…
That you originally wanted a Batman and Wonder Woman wedding cake topper…
That you gave me a room of my own in our house…
Saying "our" house…
Kissing you at midnight on New Year's Eve…
Starting the New Year right…right next to you…
You taking pictures of us in silly poses and then putting them into a collage…
That you like me to be near you when you're on the computer…even if I'm just reading comics in the chair next to you…
That we have matching t-shirts…yours saying "I ♥ my geek" and mine just saying "geek"…
How you care for me when I'm sick…
Us going to the Wedding Show downtown together…
That little things that you used to annoy me with, I now find cute…
Making plans with you to fix up the house…
That we got engaged officially because I couldn't wait…
Mentioning off-handedly at work for the first time that "oh, well my fiancee said…"
Going to Café Balaban for a nice desert between telling our Moms that we're engaged…
Going to the Beall Mansion with you, our first trip together as finacees…
Curling up in your arms during the ice storm in Alton…
The pictures you took of the wedding ring at the Beall Mansion…
How working on the wedding plans has made me re-examine my faith…
Putting my hand over yours and feeling your engagement ring in my palm…
Frolicking in the snow with you…
When you caress my body…
Coming home to you and talking about our days…
When you massage my accupressure points…
How you totally hooked me on Ace of Cakes…
Even though it annoys me…I love hearing you say over and over again "Oh, Bri-an!"…
That being with you makes me want to be a better fiancee…
How you took the pictures of me and my sisters to your office…
When you wear my tshirts to bed…
Cooking scallops three ways and flash fried spinach for us…
Doing my last bit of moving with you…
Sending you flowers for no real reason other than I love you…
When you notice my body spray…
The moans of pleasure you make when I massage your back or feet…
That I live with you…
That you are the first woman I've lived with…
Receiving the first piece of mail addressed to us…
Having a lazy day and doing a whole lot of nothing…but doing it with you…
Going over to Carie's place with you to watch the Super Bowl…
The way you say "How you doin'" on the phone…
That we're getting our passports together…
that you mentioned you want me to teach you how to play poker…
Hearing you sing "Goin' to the chap-el and we're…gonna get ma-a-a-rried!"…
Working with you on the calla lily graphic in Paint Shop…
Standing in the cold with you, watching history in the making at Barak Obama's annoucement for President…
Going out to breakfast with you…
Going with you to your mom's for Monday night dinner…
Picking out the right flowers for you for Valentine's day…9 red roses, one for each month we've been together…and one calla lilly, for our future…
Our first Valentine's Day together…
Coming home to you after a long business trip…
Kissing you in the shower…through the vinyl curtain…
When you asked me to look at something in the bedroom so you could steal the computer chair…
Hearing from you during the day at work…
That we've talked a little on the meaning of names and what to name our child…
Us painting the TV room together…
How when you're really laughing hard, it's so hard for you to stop…
That both you and I love to use chopsticks when eating Chinese food…
How we want to tie tin cans to the back of our car at the wedding…
How you wanted to hang the Kennedy portriat in the living room…
Watching the Academy Awards with you…
How your face lit up when I wrote you a poem…
Deciding to go retro and go to Niagara Falls for our honeymoon…
Going out with you and your friends as a group…
Going out with you and my friends as a group…
Putting up pictures of our family…
Trying on my wedding ring…
Tending to you when you get sick for the whole weekend…
Knowing that even when I mess up, I know you'll still be there with me…
Meeing you briefly in the middle of the work day to give you something…
Going out with our moms to Kobe of Japan…
Working on projects with you…even if we do get crabby on occasion…
The Mexican coin you gave me for our month-a-versary…
That we're abstaining…granted it's hard, but it will make our wedding night so much more special…
That even when we fight, which isn't often at all, we fight fairly…no name calling…
Talking about the serious subjects…even when it's hard for me…
Driving you to and picking you up from class…
You coming over to my mom's with me for Wednesday night dinner…
Hanging the countdown clock for the wedding in the kitchen…
Buying our first item for our child we don't even have yet…an itty-bitty-binky-pooh…
Coming home to find you bought me flowers…
That you're not only my fiancee, but my best friend…
You and I leaving for work at the same time…
Hearing from you that you knew almost right away that I was the one…
Sending you flowers for our "first" first day of spring…
Having Teresa spend the night…it makes me feel kind of like we're already parents…
Having you be excited for me when I get recognized for achievements at work…
Making up with you after we argue…
Grilling pork steaks for our dinner…
How much it affected you when I said I would rather live in a cardboard box on the street than without you…
Us collapsing into the bed or couch after we've worked hard for a few hours…
Dining with you on the front porch…
When you 'discovered' how cool TiVo was…
How when I look at you I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you…
You making me a surprise breakfast in bed…
Going to mass at St. Cronan's with you...
Eating dinner with you outside by the firepit while listening to the ballgame…
Calling each other in the middle of the day to make sure we either voted or are going to vote…
Finding new TV shows to watch together, like Notes from the Underbelly…
That I fall in love with you every day…
How you have asked me, more than once, if there's anything you can do to be a better girlfriend…
Decorating Easter Eggs for the first time ever with you…
Doing the family circuit for Easter…
The cake you made at your mom's house for Easter…
Finding just he right thing for the wedding on a whim…like a photo album or the invitations…
That I'll have three more sisters when we get married…
How you laugh at us when Galahad or Gweveyre licks my face…
What a wonderful a mommy you're going to make when we have kids…
Wanting to take wedding pictures at South City Diner…
The sound of contentment you make once you get warm under a blanket…
Goint to the Cardinal game as a work function for me, even if we did lose to the Pirates…
Wanting you to come out to Rock Eddy…just the two of us…
How you want to hang the picture of me potty training in the bathroom…
That I'm looking forward to you kicking my butt in Scrabble…
That we love to just get away for a long weekend somewhere outsite of St. Louis…
Collaborating with you on things like the dresses for the Ladies of Honour…
Barbecuing for you and Josh and Ben and Teresa…
Buying patio furniture with you…on a whim…
How I know you don't like Doctor Who, but said you'd watch it with me sometime…
Sitting with you on the front porch couch, just chatting…
Signing up for a cell phone plan together…
Getting a cell phone that matches yours…
Introducing you to Battlestar Galactica…and then having to download new episodes 'cause you can't wait to see more…
That you know how to play chess…
Making you laugh…
Making reservations with you at Niagara Falls for our honeymoon…
Having a (nearly) finished TV room…that you and I got finished…
Registering for wedding stuff with you…
Working on our invitations to the wedding…
Working on this list of things that I love about you…
Wanting to post this list on the blog…
That we're getting married in less than 6 months…
That we're going to spend the rest of our lives together…
That today is our one-year anniversary…

I love you Alex!!!

Alex and Brian's Blog

Thursday, May 17, 2007

How do I love thee...?

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