Ten on Tuesday | 10 things because of him

With our anniversary approaching in a few weeks I've been getting a little sentimental thinking about my guy, so for this week's "Ten on Tuesday" I wanted to write something related to him.

While I'm primarily self sufficient and entirely mostly stubborn there are some things that Sammy has taught me. A lot of little, and not-so-little lessons have crept in. A lot of silly and meaningful things.

He has...

// expanded my movie horizon.

I was dragged to see Taken 2 when it came out thinking I would hate it and I've never been the same. Liam Neeson is just the most bad ass. Ever. I've spent years watching Rocky {over and over again...} and now love it just a much as Sammy does. I get emotional as hell during sports movies. & I'm officially a huge Marvel nerd. The Avengers are kind of my shit. And you can bet we've been counting down to the release of Batman Vs. Superman {this weekend!!}. We're nerds. It's been embraced.

 Now, if I can get him to turn into a Nora Ephron nerd we'd be in good shape.

//  always let me finish the popcorn.

I'm kind of a barbarian when it comes to popcorn. I'm also not the greatest sharer when it comes to food in general. {God I'm really painting myself in a lovely light so early in this list...} But Sammy always bows out about 1/2 way through the bag and lets me finish it without a word. This sounds like not a big deal but to someone who loves popcorn that much it's easily one of the most romantic things he does.

{my soul while I eat popcorn}

// shown me the importance of working out.

Ugh.
This is not to be confused with "has shown me how to enjoy working out" 'cause no one will do that. {Except maybe Cassie Ho because she's a delightful pilates wizard} But he has shown me time and again how important it is to stay active and dedicated to something if you want to see results. Logically, I'm with him. Executing that logic is where I run into trouble. I'm working on it.

// taught me to take food out of the oven five minutes before it's done.

We both love food lightly, lightly browned. That means we like cookies chewy, pizza dough kind of doughy, and brownies gooey. So basically under cooked is what I'm saying. We like food under cooked, OKAY?
Just kidding. Not every food. But most foods. ;) This is seemingly simple but I'm a rule follower so when a recipe gives me a cooking time I stick to that time frame. But once Sammy suggested taking things out five minutes earlier it changed everything.
Like I couldn't think of this myself? What happened to me?
 Now I do it whenever I'm baking/cooking anything.
Lucky for Sammy I'm the Queen of burning things {although this^ advice is helping}, so he's eaten a lot of "surprises" I make for him that have charred edges and concrete centers. But he eats them every time. Romantic thing #2.

// taught me to act a little tougher & work a little harder

I'm a very sensitive person meaning I take a lot of things personally. When I was a kid and I'd get hurt my dad would console me, make sure I was okay, and then say, "you're tough, you're tough" so I would keep playing or doing whatever I was doing. Associating the word "tough" with who I am has helped cement a vocabulary about females. Men aren't the only people who can be tough. Females are tough. My dad always reminded me of that and Sammy has been someone who has pushed the "you're tough, you're tough" mentality as I've gotten older.

I'm also a determined person. I work hard and get things done, but as much as I hate to admit it I don't always go that extra step like I know I should. I don't know anyone who is as determined as Sammy. He's been knocked down countless times and gets up time and again to keep pushing forward. When I start to feel lazy I think about what Sammy would do and I force myself to ask someone at work if I can take on an extra project or do one more rep in the gym.

Sammy is the most determined person I know. He's also pretty damn tough in all definitions of the word.


// explained to me what a down is in football about fifty times.

I mean, that's all. He's explained like fifty times. And yet, the only time I've gotten it is when he was coaching nine-year-olds. I can't follow those NFL guys. I just can't. So now I've lost it again. Also, I don't care.

{needing this for football and hockey "watching"}

// taught me to let it go.

As I said, I'm very sensitive. Things often bother me more than they should and I have a hard time letting things go. Sammy always reminder me that holding on to that crap is toxic and gets in the way of enjoying so many other things. I'm normally giving other people the exact same advice but can't take that advice for myself. Somehow, Sammy gets through.

// taught me to have a better sense of humor about myself.

AGAIN. I'm sensitive. Omg, I'm annoying myself now. So when people make fun of me {in a playful way} I sometimes shut down and get self conscious but Sammy has taught me that people are only having fun and they don't mean it to be hurtful. Plus, it's more fun to be around people who can laugh at themselves.

//  always made me laugh.

Alright, this is a little corny but it's true. He always makes me laugh and he tends to do it most when things are only funny to us or when he's quoting a movie we both love. We have a lot of little things that are kind of like inside jokes/mannerisms we do around each other and they always make me laugh. God, we're weird.

   {example: we died laughing at this primarily because it's got Willy Wonka in it and we love Willy Wonka}

// gotten me hooked on Lost, overwhelmed by lost, and then we never finished.

We don't know what the black smoke is. We don't know what the hell John is doing. We don't know how it ends.
We're on the LAST season and can't get it together. We binged for a few months and toward the end of the series the episodes started to get so overwhelming for us we had to take a break and then every time he wanted to watch I just couldn't bring myself to get back into it just yet. Now I'm ready! & he's boycotting it because I "took too long".
We'll get there. We'll get there.

*

I've known Sammy for seventeen years and in that time he's taught me a lot about growing up, about being a good person, and enjoying life. He makes this life a lot of fun.

xo