Etienne

Dear loved ones,

I've been on such an emotional roller coaster lately! I hate life, I love life, I cry, I laugh, I mourn, I rejoice... It's a good thing the human body is so resilient after what I've been putting it through emotionally lately! But, even with all the downs, Etienne inevitably will bring me up. I have a really great husband. Allow me to extol his virtues for a moment...

Just a few days ago, I rear-ended someone. I was fine, she was fine; her bumper was a little scraped, and my hood buckled a little as it was expertly engineered to do. Not a huge deal, but of course I felt horrible about it. Not to mention, I was on my way to school to take an exam. When I called Etienne, he didn't sound too upset, but I figured it would sink in later. Well, I took my exam and the computer led me to believe I got C's on both of them, which shocked me given the amount of study I put in, and how good I felt about the tests. Driving home was one of those times when I hated life. And then I walk in the house, and there on my desk was a beautiful red rose flower arrangement with a large bar of chocolate propped up on it. I immediately started bawling. Here I was thinking what a failure I was, and my husband went and bought me flowers and chocolate. I wrecked the car! I should be the one buying HIM chocolate! I read the card, and he'd written,

"Elizabeth,
You're a hit with everyone you run into, babe! I love you!
Etienne"

Oh, that man... It made me laugh, and I felt better about things. And then I found out the computer at the testing center lied to me, and I actually aced my exam. Win-win!

Another instance of how great he is... The other night, I was laying on the couch. This is dangerous in evening hours. If I sit down for any length of time, my body soon becomes glued to the spot and all of the energy is leeched out of me by some unknown force. This was happening that night, and at the same time my need to go to the bathroom (and my hunger) was ever increasing. After a few hours of sitting watching Etienne surf the web, the need to go to the bathroom was just too great to ignore any longer. But I couldn't move! I politely asked Etienne if he would carry me to the bathroom. To my surprise, he only ever so slightly rolled his eyes, came and picked me up, carried me to the bathroom, and set me down right in front of the toilet. Seriously, how cool is that?! He didn't tell me to get off my lazy bum and walk the ten feet to the bathroom. He carried me there, without a word of protest.

If you hadn't noticed, this is a post to brag about my husband. I feel very blessed to be his wife, and I want other people to know how great he is. So, to save my tired brain from trying to think of clever transitions between paragraphs, I'm just going to start numbering.

3. He never gets mad at me for taking a nap. Even though I feel extremely guilty about it (there's always something I could be doing), he never even hints at the state of the house or the diminishing pantry while I slumbered for an hour. Instead, he tells me I work so hard I should get some extra sleep every now and then. I don't feel like I should get off so easy for napping... But he always thinks I'm crazy for feeling guilty about it, which makes me feel a little better.

4. He always shares his ice cream with me. Even though I know he probably doesn't really want to. Actually, he shares pretty much any food item with me. But it's especially a big deal with ice cream. He LOVES ice cream. Sometimes he gets the ice cream just so he can share with me 'cause he knows I want it, or I'm down, and of course ice cream will cheer me up! Lately he's taken to just getting two spoons to start with. It's such a sweet thought!

5. He never stops taking care of me. Sometimes I think I fall into the trap of thinking I'm the only one doing any of the "taking care of," because I wash his clothes and make sure he's fed and other such things. But really, he does so much to make sure I am well. He stays very in-tune with how I'm feeling, physically and emotionally, and does his best to fill the deficit.

I got sick early on in our marriage for a few days. He came home from work and found me on the couch. So he dug out two mattress pads (you know, the memory foam stuff), put them on our bed, then carried me in there and laid me down. Then he got a bowl of ice cream (see what I mean?) and set up my laptop on the bed so we could watch an episode or two of The Cosby Show. (The Cosby Show is pretty much what we turn to when things get unpleasant). He's a great nurse. =) And when I'm just too busy, or too stressed to cook, he takes me out for dinner. It's his idea 95% of the time.

6. He plays with me. School has started, and we're both pretty busy with our classes. He has a more limited time to study than I do since he works (I haven't started work yet). So usually when he gets home and sits down to study, that's when I want to talk to him. I can't help it. I pester him a lot. And to anyone else, I would probably be super annoying -- actually, there's no probably about it. I'm super annoying. But he just takes it in stride, gives me the attention I want, then goes back to studying when I feel like I've bothered him enough for now. It's usually quite hilarious.

The other day, I kept throwing a booklet at him. The first time, he just calmly gave it back. So I did it again. I (giggling from hyperness) told him I was conducting an experiment to see how many times it would take for him to stop taking the high road by calmly handing it back, and give me my just deserts for being so annoying. For anyone interested, it's three. After the third time, he pushed my chair over, with me in it, and we both ended up laughing. And then I went and made dinner.

7. He goes to work everyday to provide for us. This is a big one. He feels his responsibility to provide for us financially, and he takes it very seriously. On top of that, he goes to school full time, and works hard to get A's in everything so he can someday have an even better job that will give us a more secure future, and enable us to then give of our means. He has a very generous heart.

8. He can always, and I do mean always, make me laugh. He is the funniest person I know. No matter what he's done to get under my skin, he saves his own by making me laugh. His facial expressions, his mannerisms, his dance moves... I wish I had a video camera constantly rolling to catch all of the random hilarity. From dawn to dusk, he displays that cute, innocent energy you'd find in a little puppy wriggling with joy just to be alive and learning how to bark. Only he takes that energy and turns it into his own random gestures and voices and nuances.

His imagination runs wild all day long. The other day, he was cleaning the bathroom -- wait, wait, wait. Let's just take a moment to enjoy the fact that he cleaned the bathroom. What a keeper! -- Anyway, he was cleaning the bathroom, and from the time he started till our company arrived, he narrated a radio broadcast to all the "listeners at home" about the upcoming presidential election. It was so entertaining while I did the rest of the cleaning.

9. A lot of people don't know this about him, or aren't willing to accept it, but he is incredibly smart and knows how and when to be serious. He's quite the intellectual if you sit down and talk with him awhile. He knows the Bible well, and I feel like I can talk to him about any questions I have. He's a great Christian support to have by my side. I am extremely blessed in that respect.

10. After many instances of making each other angry over our differing views concerning Jane Austen movies, and that whole genre, he actually sat down and watched North and South with me (no, this is not Jane Austen. It falls under the same genre, though). He knew I wanted him to watch it with me, and that I wanted him to like it, so he sat through all four hours and never complained once. And after it was over, he didn't let a negative word out of his mouth. I'm not sure there was much praise either, but I'm ok with that if there isn't any negativity. This was an exciting day in the life of Elizabeth Nichols.

11. Let's make it an uneven eleven. This one is perhaps one of the best and most comforting to me. He lets me cry. It doesn't matter what it's about, or what time of day or night it is, he will hold me and comfort me until my tears have stopped. I can't tell you how many times I've cried from homesickness, and if he was within ten miles of me, he rushed to my side and told me everything was going to be ok and he was so sorry for how hard it is. I can't tell you how many times I've cried without knowing why I was crying! Even then, he still holds me tight and lets the waterworks go. And then, of course, there are specific times when things have gone bad and I've gotten hurt. He's right there. Always. I can't even describe what that means to me.

So basically, I'm extremely blessed in the husband God has given me. I could certainly stand to be a little more like him. I hope I never take him for granted. I love my best friend, and I'm so happy to be by his side. I wish you could know the wonderful person he is as well as I do, but hopefully this short letter gives you some insight into his beautiful soul.

As a side note, after nearly four months of marriage, I'm quickly sliding into a cooking rut. Please, everyone who reads this, send me your favorite recipe! I'd love to try something new. I have a lot of great cookbooks that I've searched many times, but I think I get overloaded on the possibilities. So just a couple recipes at a time that I know will be good based on your recommendation would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Danielle, I can't wait to meet your new little girl!! I hope the next few months are an easy adjustment for the whole family. Give my love to Madison and Noah, and Lydia!

Love to all,
Elizabeth