Pleasure in the Small Things

Kevin has a romantic heart. He takes great pleasure in surprising me, whether it be for my birthday, for Christmas, or just because. He takes great pains to make sure that he is buying me the "perfect gift" or providing me with the surprise that I would never guess! This Christmas he went to four different stores multiple times over a period of a week, trying to find me the most beautiful earrings he could to replace the ones that I sadly lost this summer. Flowers are always gorgeous and incredibly unique. Kevin is never satisfied with simply buying a bouquet of roses, nor would I want him to be! My favourite flower is the beautiful lily, and in all of the bouquets that I have ever received from him he makes certain that they contain lilies. Not only do they contain lilies, but they contain lilies that have yet to bloom. He asks for this to ensure that I can experience the joy of watching the lilies slowly unfold, reaching their beautiful, silky-white petals to the sky. I love that my husband has a romantic heart.

Something that I love even more, though, is the small things that he does. Kevin is so good at the small things. Today was our last day of holiday. We could have spent the day doing any number of things. I suppose that we could have done something grand, such as going into Vancouver to bike the Seawall, which is something we really enjoy doing, or heading down to Bellingham to do some United States shopping-only those that have lived outside of the States can understand why this would be so exciting! We decided, however, to just relax. Although we spent the morning doing separate things-I chose to sleep late, play the X-box, read a bit, and head to the gym...he chose to get up early, catch up on the sports stats, and head off to play poker with a buddy-we decided that we would meet up at 3 p.m. What were we doing at 3? Something exciting, certainly! Nope! We had to...wait for it...run errands!

I know, I know...it's not very exciting, but this is where Kevin's commitment to the small things brings me such great joy. My loving husband spent the next three hours with me taking back gifts that needed to be returned, filling the car with gas, and grocery shopping. I was going to quickly run into Future Shop to return a game that we had found cheaper elsewhere. It was supposed to be a quick errand...Kevin was going to wait in the car. I walked into the store and the returns line was MASSIVE! I got into line and began to wait...and wait...and wait. After about ten minutes, a thought came to my mind. I had about $50 on an Old Navy gift card that was just burning a hole in my wallet!

In Canada, they have something called Boxing Week Sales. It's insane! Sweaters originally marked as $50 go on sale for $25. Hockey sticks marked $120 go down to a mere $60. It's a shopper's dream come true! I knew, as I was standing in that line waiting, that today was going to be the last day of the great sales. I thought to myself, "Why don't I just run down to Old Navy and see what I can find?" So...I called Kevin. I didn't even need to say much, he was in the store within 2 minutes, taking my place in the long line while I ran down to Old Navy to do my shopping. I spent the next 20 to 30 minutes picking sweaters, shirts, and tank tops off the shelves before making the trek to the changing rooms. Kevin, after returning the game, walked down to Old Navy to meet me. It paid off! I found two great sweaters for only $28! What a deal! I wouldn't have been able to do that without my sweet husband waiting in that line for me. What a guy!

One of my favourite "small things" is taking trips to the grocery store. I remember when I lived in California and I would go grocery shopping on my own. It was a task that I hated, and I always just wanted to get it done. Now, with Kevin by my side, it's always fun! He takes great pleasure in pushing the cart around, and it's always so cute when we get to the cereal aisle. It's his favourite aisle, and he prides himself on finding a good deal. Kevin is the cereal aficianado in our household. It's fun to pick out food that we can cook for dinner, and I never mind the trips to the grocery store now.

Another "small thing" that means so much to me is laundry. Kevin always does all of his own laundry! I have never even asked him to do this...it just came with the package! I know that some men are like this, but I never knew that I would get one! He is so good, in fact, that his laundry NEVER sits in the basket just waiting to be folded, as mine so often does. The minute it is finished drying it is either hung up in the closet or folded neatly in the drawer. He is also excellent at loading and unloading the dishwasher, and those pots and pans that I dread scrubbing? They are often washed and put away for me. Wow...what a great guy I have!

Kevin says that we're still gaga, that we're still "newlyweds" of sorts, but I hope that this isn't true. I hope that we will always appreciate one another and the things that we do. I hope that Kevin will continue to tell me "thank you" after every meal that I make, just as he does right now, and that I will continue to thank him for doing the dishes, just as I do now. I hope that he will always tell me how beautiful I am, as he does now, and that I will always think that he gets cuter and cuter every day, as I do now! Who knows what the future may bring, but for now, I will continue to take pleasure in the small things!

I tried and TRIED to get this picture vertical,
but it refused! Sorry! These, however, are my
beautiful birthday flowers from Kevin! Note
the lilies!