Welp! Looks like I’m back! You may think, “Well he’s only back to because it’s their 9 year anniversary and he’s just looking for brownie points!”, and well, I’ll just say this to you – you are absolutely right WRONG! I’m writing this because brownie points duh I love it!
I will say, Dede has no idea that I’m writing this, so this will be a surprise to her (which FYI, surprises are impossible for Dede. If she wasn’t doing this, she would easily be an interrogation officer).
So to that note – I will be writing an open letter to Dede, for all of you to read.
Dear Dede (aka honey boo),
We’ve been married for nine years! Can you believe it? NINE! Doesn’t it feel like yesterday that we were just getting everything ready for the wedding? Everyone questioned us because we were “young”. How could we make such a commitment with our whole lives ahead of us? Well, looking back through our nine years, here are the nine reasons why I made the best decision of my life to marry you, and what I believe has led to HAPPINESS in our marriage.
- Sense of Humor
- If there’s one thing about us, it’s that we love to laugh. Remember that time you put on spray-tan before bed – and you called it “marinating”? We both stared at each other for a good 10 seconds and then just couldn’t stop laughing (as I proceeded to make fun of you for it). We’ve had nine years of moments like that, and I’m thankful for every one of them.
- Adventure
- Where to begin? Remember that spontaneous trip to Belize? I had such a tight budget for us, but you somehow convinced me to go. We flew for free with your moms flight benefits, you found an Airbnb for $30 a night (a very questionable one might I add). And instead of a flight to the island off of the coast to Belize, we hopped on a small boat packed with locals for $7 a person. Did you panic at every iguana we saw? Yes you did. Did you make me ride a bike across the whole island just to see a cool restaurant on the water? Yes you did. Did we have a great adventure along the way? Absolutely. We’ve had nine years of moments like that, and I’m thankful for every one of them.
- Peaceful
- When it comes to how loud our families are, peaceful doesn’t come to mind, but somehow, you are always so peaceful amongst the chaos. Just the other day, when Rosie hurt her elbow, I was panicking about all the different things I needed to do to fix it – but you, you were so calm while calling the doctor and figuring out a solution for us. Your calm demeanor sets the tone for our family. That’s how it’s been for nine years, and I’m so thankful for that.
- Philanthropic spirit
- OK words with P were tough – but this – this is something you don’t even thing twice about. Remember that time you had a closet sale and you were able to raise and donate over 5k to the 2nd Cup? Or when the pandemic hit, you were able to give over 25 families $2500 to help support them during that time? Or the 5k walk for breast cancer that you set up last year? Those are all things you felt the desire to do immediately. You’ve always been like that. Always trying to find ways to help people. What an example that is to me, and especially to our children. For nine years, your philanthropic spirit has been present, and I’m so thankful for that.
- Inspirational
- You somehow, with all the roadblocks you’ve had in your life, and with all the excuses you could’ve given yourself, have managed to build something amazing. All at the same time, finding ways to be the best mother possible. How do you juggle it all? Not sure how, but it has been inspirational to me. You bring that same style to our marriage, and have been for the past nine years, and I’m so undeserving, but incredibly thankful for that.
- Neighborly
- You are literally the only person I know, who can sit in a room with a 80 year old and a 5 year old, and somehow be best friends to both. Not only just friends, but in your Auntie Rima’s case, their favorite. You have such a welcoming personality that just makes people feel at home. For the past nine years, you’ve always made me feel so welcomed around you, and honestly, to quote our wedding song, “Home is wherever I’m with you”, and I’m so thankful for that.
- Easy-going
- This. If I could write this out for all 9 points, I would. I LOVE this about you. In my family, I was always known as the easy-going person. Compared to you, I’m like this giant stress ball. You are so even keeled about things and have such a good perspective about life. You don’t take yourself too seriously, and you are so good with just going with the flow. Remember our spontaneous trip to Salt Lake City? We landed and didn’t have a hotel. Did you care? Nope. You knew we would find something. We did – and it was a great deal right where we wanted to stay. Again – tight budget scenario – so we couldn’t actually go sledding, but we did get a recommendation to go this park that had a hill of snow we could check out. We did – and luckily there were those two trash can covers that we used to slide down the hill. Did we roll over a few times? Yes. Did we forget gloves and almost froze our hands off? Yes. Was it a blast? Absolutely. For the past nine years, you’re easy-going personality has made such a fun and dynamic impact on our marriage, and I’m so thankful for that.
- Sincere
- One of your greatest qualities – everything about you is genuine. You are unapologetically you. Did you cry because Hart of Dixie was cute and nothing else happened on the show other than it was a cute town, but you still cried? You did. Were people watching you awkwardly when you were crying? They were. You don’t care. It’s who you are and you’re ok with it. I love who you are, and I love that you’re ok it, and I’m thankful for that.
- Super duper best friend ever
- Did I run out of words? Yes. Did I want to include this one somehow? Yes I did. Because honestly, the decision to get married was simple. I wanted to be with you and go with you everywhere. You are the coolest person I know, and sometimes, I feel like shouting it from the rooftops. When I’m on trips without you, even if it’s with just my buddies – I always think about how much more fun it would be if you were there. Cheesy? Yes, but honey boo idc. It’s just how I feel.
