A Wedding Picture

Three months ago, someone asked me this question in formspring.me. What do you love most about JA? I haven’t answered it yet, but I think now is the perfect time to do that since I really wanna write something to honor JA as he celebrates his birthday today. Three years ago, on my  27th birthday, he wrote a blog on Multiply: 27 Reasons why I love and adore my wife. How sweet, right? So on his 28th birthday, even if it is so unoriginal, I will write about What I love most about JA (My Top 28!).

So what do I love the most about him?  Here are the top 4 (in order). The rest I will list after that will be in random order.

1. He loves God and continues to grow in his relationship with Him.

2. He is completely devoted to me.

3. He is a great father to Andi. He adores our little girl.

4. He always inspires me to be the best person I can be and to use and maximize the gifts that God has blessed me with.

5. He works hard to provide for us and would do anything for me and Andi.

6. He is a man of few words, but when he speaks, it is full of wisdom. He is very straightforward too. Took me awhile to get used to it, but I appreciate how real and uncomplicated he is.

7. He is a good follower, which makes him a great leader.

8. He trusts me completely. In our almost 4 years of marriage, I cannot remember him become jealous of anything or anyone.

9. He values my opinions and thoughts. He would almost always ask me first what I think and how I feel before making a decision.

10. He listens to me and continues to try to listen to me regardless if what I have to say is important or trivial, or even if what I say does not interest him. Just last night, I was recounting to him the answers of the top 5 Ms. Universe contestants and he said, ” Love, are you seriously gonna tell me all the questions and answers of each contestant? “

11. He prioritizes time with me and Andi above all his other engagements.

12. He has a unique sense of humor, totally different from mine. I appreciate that he tries to laugh at my jokes even when most of the time he does not get them. He does not mind too that I usually don’t find his jokes funny. And because of that I eventually find it amusing that he really thinks they are funny so I end up laughing anyway.

13. He is very, very patient with me. Of course there are lapses, but generally he has a high threshold of even my annoying ways.

14. He tries his very best to understand me. I see it everyday. I see him try to get to know me more and more. Or maybe he has figured out early on that he will never fully understand me, or women in general.

15. He is self-less. Time and time again, he shows me that he puts my needs (and Andi’s) above his own. I can’t forget how 2years ago, during his birthday, he went home and showed me a gift package. I excitingly asked him who gave him that gift. And he said, he got me a gift! Who gives his wife a gift on his birthday? That is how sweet he is.

16. He is brilliant! He is excellent in everything that he does. He hates mediocre work.

17. He loves the people that I love.

18. He encourages me to do the things that make me happy and to be with people whom he knows are important to me.

19. He encourages me, supports me, and cheers me on in practically everything that I do. He always tells me that he is my number one fan.

20. He is secure. He is comfortable in who he is, and he does not in any way try to be someone he is not.

21. He watches with me the movies and TV series that I like, even though he falls asleep on them often or he ends up playing games on the ipod. I appreciate the effort.

22. He balances me in practically everything. We value the same things, but we are different in so many ways. I love how we complement each other.

23. We dream (and pray for our dreams) together.

24. He is a man of integrity. I have full trust in him and in everything he does.

25. His consistency and steadiness brings stability in our home.

26. He’s the cutest, most handsome man for me. He is Edward and Jacob combined! (because I find them both cute! Haha.Remember #21? I love Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse)

27.He courted me, pursued me, proposed to me, married me, in a way that honored God. He treated me like a princess. And I am forever grateful to him for that. It is so beautiful that I would love to tell our story to Andi, our future kids and even our grandchildren.

28. He is God’s best for me. I absolutely have no doubt about that.

(Of course there are more. I wanna write more. But since I am limited to 28, that will do for now.)

A month before we got married, 2006

To my JA,

I thank God everyday for giving you to me. I am glad that I said yes to you, that I chose you. I could not have imagined starting a lifetime with someone else back then but you. And I still cannot imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else but you.

I love, respect and honor you. You are my love, and my best friend.

Happy 28th birthday!

Your wife,

Anna

June 2009 at a birthday party