Mr. Clean Has Something to Say....

Yeah, so this is Mr. Clean here…I can be a little long winded, so I’ve been limited to five paragraphs so I don’t really have any time to address everything my lovely wife has said about me being clean, cheap and who knows what else. But I suppose I can take a break from all of my cleaning and do some catching up on this little blog of hers! I’ve been given this special opportunity to post on account of our 5 year anniversary on the 16^th. Where do I start?! There goes one paragraph…

(Senior Prom '03)

Well, I am clean and Ashley is not. I am cheap—although I prefer “extremely frugal”—and Ashley would have us living on the street by now. I’m detailed and organized and details and organization get on Ashley’s nerves. I like a regular daily routine and Ashley could generally care less. I like things that go fast and Ashley likes to just take it easy…our list of differences is endless and always has been since the day we met 11 years ago. God proved that he is an Almighty God when he paired us up despite all of our many differences! He probably had a good laugh while he did it too—I certainly would have. Well our bond as friends became very strong very quickly. I don’t understand it to this day, but it was a beautiful friendship and we very much enjoyed each other’s company. We somewhat deliberately began dating a year or so later and it was very quickly evident to both of us that we hoped to spend the rest of our lives together. I guess I should make a new paragraph. This one is getting a little long.

(The day I popped the question '05)

We knew everything about each other and had a fantastic friendship beneath the romantic relationship. All that to say that we both knew what we were getting ourselves into. I knew she was messy, but I did think that would be easier to fix than it actually is—yeah, present tense…still haven’t figured out how to fix it five years later…But I LOVE my Ashley. She is everything that I am not: Sweet, thoughtful, compassionate, romantic, full of life, fun, spontaneous, creative and carefree (although she creates LOTS of messes…). I know, I know, you’re thinking, “Wow, you’re not good at anything. You must be really miserable to be around!” Yeah, that could be argued sometimes. I’m pretty boring. I enjoy myself, but it’s not all about me, right? So Ashley challenges me to be a more compassionate, thoughtful, sweet, carefree, etc person. God uses her to bring balance to our household and challenge me to improve my character. That is why God paired us together!

(The Big Day '06)

 We compliment each other perfectly and I can’t imagine having it any other way. It is her personality that God gave our son and makes him such a great joy. And her efforts to teach him things during the day and entertain him are made up of activities that I would not otherwise think of, shaping him into an even more wonderful little boy. And I am so grateful for this sweetness and joy and effort she pours into the raising of our child. She brings such fun and life to our household and I very much look forward to the many years to come growing and raising a family with her.

(Our Other "Big Day" '10)

 It’s a perfect design and only God could have so perfectly created it. We might get on each other’s last nerve with our differences, but that is just our sinful human nature fighting His divine design. I love you Ashley! Happy Anniversary!