Oh my wordy, look who's 30!

The New Year's Baby is quite the man, now! We had a rip-roaring good time at Wes's Birthday Party at Goldfield—an old mining town turned tourist attraction out near the Superstition Mountains. I, for whatever reason, didn't take a single photo. But some of our friends did. So when they e-mail them to me, I'll do another post. Family, friends, food, fun. What more could you ask for? It was great to get out of the "bubble" and actually see real people (even though I wasn't exactly giving hugs all around). We have such great friends. Thanks to all who came to celebrate with us!

I really like Wes. Yes, of course I love him. That's a given. I love him more every day. But I really do continue to like him more and more, which I think is pretty important. I find myself noticing what an interesting person he is all the time.

Here are 30 things I like about Wes—one for each year of his life:
(briefly, and in absolutely no particular order)...
1. He has fantastic taste in movies (of course he would correct me and call them films).
2. He cares greatly about nature, especially the southwest.
3. He is still fluent in Danish (because he works at it), even 10 years after serving a mission in DK.
4. He makes a waffle from scratch for Finn every morning.
5. He doesn't ever smell bad. :)
6. He's a great converationalist.
7. He's a peacemaker.
8. He continues to be interested in educating himsef.
9. He loves to go grocery shopping.
10. He is writing a screenplay.
11. He never yells. (Sorry, Wes, I do...)
12. He wants to learn Diné (the Navajo Native American lnguage).
13. He often busts out with words I don't know, and then I learn them. ("If I had my druthers..." yeah, I didn't know that one)
14. He has MAD photo/lighting/people/professional skills.
15. He has a specific favorite number, and it's 53.
16. He has impassioned views about modernism.
17. He finds new and great music that is always just my style.
18. He eats a PB&J every single day (but he calls it a PMJ).
19. He is spiritual, and has a good heart.
20. He's not afraid to be sensitive about the things worth being sensitive about.
21. He wraps presents in tin foil every time he gives a gift. It's become a laughable tradition.
22. He planted all the cactus in our front and back yard, after designing and putting great thought into it.
23. He wears a fedora.
24. He never seems to be afraid of change, and is gutsy enough to take the leap to pursue a dream (even if it means a career shift).
25. He's terribly intelligent.
26. We share the same artistic aesthetic.
27. He'll listen to the whole Harry Potter series with me on audiobook.
28. He isn't afraid to voice, and stand by, his beliefs or opinions, even when no one (sometimes even me) agrees.
29. He is SO excited about his current and future children.
30. He couldn't be happier to be 30, because he knows that this is just the doorway to some of the best years of our lives.