Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

You are here: Home / Archives for Handsome

41 in bricktown to kick off birthday week for handsome

Happy happy birthday weekend to my Handsome guy!! Today he turns 41. All this coming week he is away from the Commish, celebrating another year of life and hopefully relaxing and sloughing off some tension. Of course, being at the farm 24/7 can produce its own kind of labor-intensive tension, so wish us luck. 

Friday night we kicked off Birthday Week by gathering about 18 friends in Bricktown for a homemade scavenger hunt and raucous dinner at Chelino’s. The scavenger hunt list was 41 items long, ranging from super easy (selfie with the birthday boy) to awkwardly challenging (strike up a conversation with a stranger then start copying everything they say) plus lots of goofy stuff in between. Two of my favorite dare-type items were: standing in line at the movies to deliver a fake spoiler to ticket buyers (LOL) and also making the smallest purchase possible at a candy store after spending an inordinate amount of time evaluating options. I also got a photo with a guy scalping baseball tickets, which was not the high point of his day (I needed a Dodgers item for the list). And singing Oklahaoma! with a group of friends while people stared at us was a lot of fun. That happened twice. Oh! The human pyramid (see below) was great, and then when Trisha tried to recreate a romantic movie scene and my husband interrupted her husband’s line and the whole scene was stolen. That was hilarious. I tried getting everyone to join me in a water fountain for a classic Friends moment (water shenanigans was on the list), but I guess we are grownups after all. 

 

 

Lower Bricktown is so beautiful these days!
Lower Bricktown is so beautiful these days!
My own BW with our sweet beautiful friend Trisha (they actually went to the same high school) and her husband, also a BW! Crazy about these humans as well as their offspring.
My own BW with our sweet beautiful friend Trisha (they actually went to the same high school) and her really cool husband, also a BW! We are crazy about these humans as well as their offspring.
This street musician not only wished BW a happy birthday; he sang Happy Birthday to him over the microphone!
This talented street musician not only wished BW a happy birthday; he also sang Happy Birthday to him over the microphone!
Human pyramid!!
Human pyramid for the win!!
These two guys. xoxo I am so grateful that my husband has Dennis in his life.

Me with Trisha and Kellie! I love their hats and style. Also, pretty sure the merchant in this cool shop wondered if we were shoplifting. Ha. It was all part of the scavenger hunt.

Me with Trisha and Kellie! I love their hats and style. Also, pretty sure the merchant in this cool shop wondered if we were shoplifting. Ha. We were definitely not. It was all part of the scavenger hunt. PS: 3 cheers for wasabi cashews!

After about an hour and a half of playing around near the theater, eating brownies and cookies, and checking items off of our scavenger hunt lists, our big laughing group walked across Bricktown and up the canal a bit to join a few more friends at Chelino’s, one of the longest standing restaurants in the area. It’s Tex-Mex, always a crowd pleaser, with lots of room for fun with a big group. Our thirty foot table was overflowing with tortilla chips, colorful food, and good conversation.

bricktown walk c
Mickie and Kellie are two super interesting people, and not just because they are on an incredible run streak, but that doesn’t hurt!
Teh scavenger hunt called for a few particular types of photobombs, but it set off a chain reaction of all of us not being able to contain our dumb selves. Me included.
The scavenger hunt called for a few particular types of photobombs,which set off a chain reaction of none us being able to contain our dumb selves. Me included. This is our friend Bruce. His wife Serena was arguably the most competitive player Friday night. She sought those times aggressively!
He is not the world's biggest fan of wearing the communal party sombrero, haha!
He is not the world’s biggest fan of wearing the communal party sombrero, haha!

We had so much fun Friday. After saying goodnight to our friends, the two of us walked back down the canal and across Bricktown to our car, him playing Pokemon along the way. We were both smiling pretty hard. Our friends are really good sports, and we love them completely. Birthday Week was launched in the best way, and we have lots of memories to last till next year.

Happy Birthday to my steady, generous, loving, handsome, genius, talented, fun, strong as an oak tree husband. I love you always now and forever, and I hope the rest of Birthday Week is at least as fun as “41 in Bricktown.” 

XOXOXOXO

 

 

 

friday 5 at the farm: Handsome’s 40th

Hello friends, Happy Friday! Today is not just any Friday… Today is Handsome’s birthday! And not just any birthday… Today is his fortieth birthday!! This is a HUGE milestone and a very happy occasion here at the farm.

For Friday 5 this week, I’d like to share five things you might not know about my guy and five photos to illustrate each wonderful truth.

handsome with baby girl

#1. He is a kid magnet. This man, serious in many ways and responsible to the core, well strapped to a fast-paced, stress-laden professional day job, is just a kid at heart. In the very best ways. He has a playful childishness that I adore. He can connect with toddlers and teenagers alike, provided he is free to just play and break all the parents’ rules with abandon. (This is why he prefers to hang out with kids here at the farm: His farm, his rules, you know? Ha!) He is not above throwing children in the pool, letting them play blood drenched, morally questionable video games, allowing ridiculous table manners and all kinds of grossness, or wearing sparkly pink cowgirl hats when the situation dictates. My heart melts to see him with children of all ages. It reminds me of how he was with our girls when they were small, and it previews for me what kind of grandpa he may be in the future. The super smart, dependable, really fun kind.

handsome as batman

#2. He is the Dark Knight. Since he was a little boy, my husband has had a penchant for dressing up as Batman, and over the years his costume has evolved respectably. (Thank you, afore-mentioned day job. $$) He looks really good as Batman, friends. I am totally used to attending costume events together where girls and women hand ME (dressed as Super Girl) their cameras and ask ME to take THEIR photo together, ha! “Yeah sure, it’s cool. I mean, you don’t have to CUDDLE him, but whatever… I’m fine, I guess.” Not only does he look great in his costume, he also fights crime and injustice and has a dark side of his own. See? Batman. Look closely and you will see that my Batman is holding Tiny T. They fight crime and injustice and also pity fools together. It’s a good arrangement.

handsome with buff trough

#3. Jack of all Trades. He can and will happily build or fix anything that is broken, except tile floors. Please, he is begging you, okay, no more tile floors! His design ideas are always exciting. His skills come out of ancient family memories and his own research, often gleaned from the internet. His confidence with tackling projects around the farm just astounds me. Nothing intimidates this man. On a related note, he is the only mostly sane person I know who will turn his back to a bison.

handsome with tickets

#4. The Life of the Party. We stay pretty busy, and I like it that way. No matter where we are or what we’re doing, he is at the center of the fun. I love hearing him laugh hard from across a car show. I love watching him play with kids or joke with friends, often doing impersonations which only happen spontaneously. Do not expect to make a request and get one on the spot! He tells the best stories. He’s not really afraid of offending anyone. He’s spicy. He’s like the sriracha sauce of party guests. Everything’s better when you add him.

handsoem and me at dinner

#5. The love of my life. I think you knew this part already. This man has been my husband for fourteen years now, and every year gets better and better, more loving, more locked in, more comforting and tantalizing. All of it. He is true, perfect romance to me. He is safety and strength, adventure and risk. He is home base. I cannot imagine being more fulfilled or more motivated to be my best and to live really well than I am, together with him.

I love you sir. Deep and wide, always now and forever. I wish you the happiest, most memorable milestone birthday yet. I wish you stress relief, better and lasting health, comfort for your sorrow (which you hide from everyone), and wild and crazy dreams come true. You are more than a dream come true for me.

Smooch
XOXOXOXO

I Love Having a Husband Who…

…is dressed up all handsome and sharp for church and still spontaneously walks through damp grass to check on my turtle, give him extra water, and pull his terrarium to the shade.

…is running a fever and battling a ferocious headache yet still musters the strength to work half a day chainsawing fallen trees, repairing buffalo fence, and patching a chicken coop after storms.

…would not hurt his Dad’s feelings for all the Baskin Robbins peanut-butter ice cream in the world.

…prizes truth over tradition and joy over drama.

…has a way of making every one of his employees feel like a valued team member… maximized, appreciated, supported, and propelled into more than any lesser leader would dare dream.

…brags openly about my home-cookin’ but when we are alone on the weekend begs me to get take out so I am not away from him for hours in the kitchen. He would rather cuddle when possible. Unless the menu is Alfredo pizza or fish tacos. The cuddlin’ can wait just a little while.

…can make me laugh so hard when I feel like crying.

…hates to read books but supports my feverish bibliophilia and also makes generous space in our life for Dinner Club With a Reading Problem.

…has little personal interest in small scale gardening (his family is more into farming) but will happily spend an entire weekend building me fences, raised beds, trellises, canopies, and anything else I am foolish enough to mention off-handedly.

…and can grow an indoor plant like nobody’s business.

…can shift smoothly from consummate professional to affectionate husband then to strong, capable animal tender and back to affectionate husband again. In a blink, no problem.

…collects childhood toys shamelessly.

…and also freely admits to having an insatiable appetite for buying and selling interesting cars.

…teaches our adult Sunday school class, infusing it with historical scope, reasonable thinking, and intelligence.

…begs me to write a book, just a fun story, so we can get rich and retire at the beach. The fact that he believes I can do it is terrifying but wonderful.

…claims to be an antisocial person but loves our friends as much as I do and is actually the life of every party we throw.

…happily encourages me to open the farm for visitors… for an hour, for a night, for a week.

…knows every bird at the Lazy W by name and personality.

…loves our baby llama just like a first time Daddy. She loves him back, too. This all breaks my heart in unexpected ways.

…looks at me in ways that make me want to protect him from the world then holds me in ways that make me know I am protected forever.

…is the smartest, most ambitious and capable man I have ever met or heard of.

…endures my petty female jealousies.

…then flirts deliciously with women but never makes me fear for his loyalty.

…and then endures my petty punishments.

…and is ferociously protective of me if he thinks I am being flirted with.

   Mostly I am just so thankful to have this man love me. The longer I know him, the more we experience together and learn, and the better I see him for who he is in the context of this complicated world… the more I am in awe. Whether we are facing tornadoes and hail or the equally destructive storms of life and relationships, I know I am safe with him. I know that together we can accomplish pretty much anything and enjoy pretty much all the world has to offer.

   I love you, sir. So much. You deserve the best and a million dreams come true. Happy Monday.

Always, Now, and Forever.
xoxoxoxo