My Hero!

Today is Tim's birthday! For those of you who don't know, Tim is my husband. We just celebrated our 7th anniversary July 4th! Tonight, we celebrated by going to our favorite restaurant---The Olive Garden! We all have our favorite dishes. I love the shrimpy dishes; Tim loves the pastas with red sauces. We had a great time!!! However, I did threaten him once that if he got his "blackberry" out one more time to check on work-related stuff that I was going to make a loud scene with all the waitresses, waiters, and our friends at the next table singing "Happy Birthday" in our loudest Italian voices! (We ran into our car saleslady there, and she had a party of 7 as well!) So, he smiled, knowing that I would do it, and he hates attention like that in restaurants, so he was a good boy and enjoyed his family time. We had a lot of fun!


Tim with Hannah.....one of my favorite pictures!

I've already shared the story with you how Tim and I met. I will always believe it was very Providential. We came from very diverse backgrounds, but our parents all had a lot of the same values (and both sets had a ton of kids, of which Tim and I were both the oldest child in the family.) I think that is why we are alike in a lot of ways now.

Perhaps the way that we are the most alike is in our ethics. Neither one of us can stand someone who is dishonest. It does not matter if they are blatantly so or just dishonest to themselves. No one is perfect, but if you cannot trust someone, what have you got with them?

I think the way that Tim has impacted my life the most is to restore my faith in at least some men! My first husband was very dishonest at every level, and it shook me to the core. I feel like I can trust Tim to never, ever betray my trust in him to keep his marriage vows. You probably could not say that for more than 10% of the population these days. Everyone cheats, it seems. But I know that Tim is not made that way, and it is a wonderful thing not to have to worry about that.

Now he is not perfect. My "absent-minded-professor" forgets to do things like pay the phone bill every once in a while, and I have to call him on the cellphone and remind him that he goofed! :) But I am far from perfect, too---just in different ways. Tim rarely ever complains if he has to step over a pile of laundry or toys. He just takes it in stride and goes on.

I think our little Hannah gets a lot of her seriousness from him. Sometimes, he can be quite jovial, but when he is down to business, he is intense. His co-workers know that about him. He's good in the corporate world. Very few people would know, just from looking at him, the level of responsibility and trust his company has placed on one man. He does not fail them. Yet he likes to keep a low profile so that his potential enemies---the people he protects against do not know him or target him for being a loud, pretentious person to go after. I rest in the security that he brings to our home because he is a good provider. It's also a bonus that when he puts on his sunglasses and walks behind me, he looks like an Italian bodyguard! No one dares to mess with me!


Tim with Sarah on Dan's graduation night in June

Tim and I are 10 months apart in age, so for a few months, he gets to be a year older! :) I marvel all the time at what a wonderful daddy he is and how he has also courageously taken on the role of step-dad to my three boys without complaint! I know that God brought us together, and we have each given each other gifts beyond words.

Tonight, before we left for the restaurant, the girls and I gave him one of our gifts to him. We made him a photo show complete with sound, music, voice clips and pictures of their lives. It made him cry. I guess it was either really bad or really sweet. If I ever figure out a place to download it to that carries that type of files, I will post the link here on the blog.

So, for tonight, it is sweet dreams to all the rest of you, and Happy Birthday to my hero, the father of my kids, my love, and my best friend.


Tim with Sarah when she was but a babe