30 Things I Love About My 30 Year Old Husband

Happy 20-10 Birthday to one of my favorite people in the whole world.  The WHOLE world.  There are way more than 30 things that I love about my husband, but I thought 30 would be a fitting number.
So, sit back, relax, maybe get some popcorn, turn off your phone, and enjoy this tribute to Benjamin Bruce Parker.  (Warning: Exhaustive collection of photos ahead).

1. His smile.  Have you seen it?  The kid has perfect teeth.  PERFECT!  

2. His laugh.  I love to hear Ben laugh.  It is so infectious.  

3. His unique way of accepting compliments.  He rolls his eyes very dramatically and gets this goofy grin.

4. His very deep loyalty to the Tigers.  Ben is no where near a fair weather fan.  His veins run blue and orange.

5. His sense of humor.  Ben knows how to lighten up any situation with a carefully constructed sarcastic comment or joke. 

6. His brown eyes.  Gorgeous.

7. His luxurious lashes.  He once convinced me that his eye lashes were used for a mascara commercial.  Very believable b/c any girl would kill for lashes like his.

8. His love of bathroom humor.  This is one of the reasons I knew I'd found my soul mate when we started dating. I could never be with someone in front of whom I could not break wind (loudly and/or violently).

9. His devotion to his family.  I once heard that you can tell a how a man will treat his wife by how he treats his mother.  I'm lucky to have met such a devoted son.  Ben loves his parents and his sisters.   I know he would do anything for them, as well as my family. 

10.  His easy going personality.  Ben is the yin to my yang.  While I'm in the corner breathing into a paper bag, he is totally relaxed and confident that things will work out...no matter the situation.

11. His love for cars. Ben has reached the end of the Internet searching for cars.  He is constantly falling in love with a new vehicles.  If we owned every car Ben has wanted to buy, we would...well, we would have a lot of cars.

12. The fact that he's so young at heart.  Eli received some Duplo blocks for his birthday.  They are Ben's favorite toy. 

13.  His voice.  It's like buttah.  Have you heard him sing?  You should.

14. The way that he gets embarrassed when I sing really loud in the car or when I dance to the mall music when we're shopping together.

15. His guitar skills. That's right, ladies, he can sing and play guitar.  

16. His ability to connect with special needs kids.  I think Ben would make an amazing Special Ed teacher.  The way he loves and acts with his cousin B.J. is amazing.  He loves that kid so much.

17. His creativity.  Ben has so many out-of-the-box ideas.  He has done some great things in his job because of this ability.

18. The fact that he's a dreamer.  Ben is always optimistic about our future and where God is taking us.  He's very inspiring. 

19. His devotion to fire fighting.  Ben has gone through hours upon hours upon hours of training to work as a volunteer firefighter.  He loves his department and loves helping people.  If he's not looking at cars on the internet, he's perusing firehouse.com. 

20.  How good he is with kids.  We have friends who have a little girl who adores Ben.  One time she lost her tooth that was supposed to go to the tooth fairy that very night.  The only thing that calmed her down is when Ben called the tooth fairy to tell her what had happened with the missing tooth, and assured the little girl that the tooth fairy would still leave something for her.  It was so sweet.  

21. His work ethic.  Ben is not a slacker and has little tolerance for people who are.

22. The fact that he has seen every episode of Friends numerous times...even though he doesn't really like Friends.

23. The way he smells.  I mean his scent, not the fact that he uses his nose.  I love it.

24. His love for travel. 

25. His insane collection of baseball hats.

26. The fact that he'll watch HGTV with me.

27. The way he takes care of me when I'm on my deathbed with a cold or something equally dramatic.

28. His adventurous spirit.  You don't get six concussions by staying inside.  Don't worry, only three or four of them have been documented.

29. He's the most incredible father.  I could write epic poetry about how wonderful he is with Eli.

30. How much he loves his Savior.  Ben strives every day to live a Christ-centered life.  I am blessed to have married a man who is so grounded in his faith.

Happy 30th Birthday, Benj.  I love you!