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Happy birthday, love. It is an honor and a pleasure to explore this world with you in ways both big and small. You are my greatest friend and my most cherished family.

previous editions

91. When I call your cell and you answer with "Hey darlin'."

92. The unwitting things you do that crack up my brother. Yes, we are totally laughing at you.

93. That you loved the snorkeling as much as I did.

94. Your sense of humor. Is it possible I haven't mentioned this in previous lists? It's what drew me to you in the first place.

95. How cute your big toes are. I know it sounds strange but I love them.

96. That you understand how stuff (the car, the computer, the universe) works.

97. Your laugh.

98. That when your work buddies are going out to lunch, you'll call and invite me along.

99. How you care so gently for things you've planted and get so excited to see them grow.

100. That you planted mint so I can make my mojitos.

101. The preferential way you treat Maylee. She totally has you wrapped around her little paw.

102. That you making red velvet cupcakes = bloody murder scene all over the kitchen floor.

103. When you say, "What are you doing tonight? I wanna take you out to dinner."

104. That your best example of insubordinate behavior is when you skipped a question on a form at the doctor's office, just because. And, even more, that you related this story so proudly. You rebel.

105. Your playfulness. I love being silly with you.

Seven years. We've now been married for as long as we dated. Back then we were just kids and I used to long for the days when we'd have a grown-up life together, when we'd wake up together and drive places together from our own house and share the ordinary, everyday stuff as a married couple. And now we have that, and I don't take it for granted. Well, of course I do sometimes. But there are plenty of times, like when we're driving to the grocery store or we're at a family picnic, that I smile to myself and think, "This is what I always wanted." And it is still what I want, more than anything.

You are both my greatest friend and my most cherished family. Happy anniversary, Rob.

I haven't posted a "Hiking with Kelly" photo in a year - I'm way behind. In this case she appears to be legitimately enjoying the hike. This was taken on a recent outing to this fire tower.

R: Okay, so I went to trim the chicken this morning for tonight's dinner...

K: Yeah.

R: And I couldn't find any fucking knives.

K: [laughing]

R: No seriously, where the hell did you put the knives? I almost called you at work to ask where they were.

K: So did you finally find them?

R: NO. I had to use a stupid steak knife.

"Hey Rob, I'm going to move our knife block out into the pantry for awhile."

"Why?"

"Okay. Here's the thing. I read about this man who stabbed his wife to death in his sleep. And now I'm worried that since I've read that, it's in my subconscious and I'll do it to you."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"And now that I've told you, it's in your subconscious and so I'm also worried you might do it to me."

"I'm sure he wasn't actually sleeping. That was just his defense."

"But there are other cases of this, too! One man drove 23 miles in his sleep and killed his in-laws!"

"Probably on meds."

"No, he was sleepwalking! They did tests! They tested his brain waves and stuff. He was acquitted because they proved he'd been asleep."

"Where are you reading this?"

"If you go to the Wikipedia article about sleepwalking, it links to an entry about homicidal sleepwalking."

"Ha! This keeps getting better."

"What? There's a name for it! It's REAL."

"You're not moving the knife block to the pantry."

"Yes I am. And now we need to stop talking about this because the longer we talk, the more it's going to be in our subconscious."

"Neither of us sleepwalk. This is ridiculous."

"I'm moving it."

"How will that even help? You can get to the pantry in your sleep."

"Yeah, but it puts additional barriers in the way. I'd have to go through two doors. Plus I'll shove it behind a bunch of stuff that's hard to move."

"If you do this, I'm going to blog about it."

"Fine, I don't care. At least you'll be alive."

"I can't believe you're serious about this."

"Dude, don't piss me off. I don't want to be mad at you in my subconscious."