Get To Know Jared

Hi, friends!

My fantastic husband's birthday is coming up, so I thought I'd dedicate this post to helping people learn more about him. He doesn't use social media much at all and we're not a terribly outgoing couple, so I feel that it's my duty to brag about how great he is explain to the world what he's like.

It's possible that some of you have never seen Jared without at least some form of scruff. Here's a picture from back in our BYU days when he was forced to shave on a regular basis. (April 2016ish)

This is something that I assume most of you know, but in case you don't, Jared is a goofy nerd. He loves superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pokemon, sci-fi stuff, computer stuff, and lots of other such things. When he plays games like Skyrim and Breath of the Wild, he tends to ignore the main storyline and go after all of the sidequests instead. He claims to hate puns, but I can tell he usually likes them and he sometimes even makes puns on his own! He's written a few short My Little Pony stories that were feghoots.

One of Jared's favorite things about himself is his beard. At least part of that is because not shaving makes his life easier and he was forced to be clean-shaven while he was at BYU and on his mission. Once he was done following BYU's (very stupid) beard ban, his razor got ignored like the Twizzlers in a bowl of Halloween candy. He also really enjoys combing his beard and, on occasion, stroking it thoughtfully.

Small, semi-obscure details that not a lot of people know:

• When he walks through our living room, he often reaches up to poke the chain that controls the ceiling fan. I think he's part cat.
• He gets really excited about avocados and his homemade guacamole.
• He loves dice. We have about twenty-six sets of dice in various color combinations.
• In his opinion, everyone starts getting Christmasy way too early. He helped me put up our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving because he knew I couldn't do it on my own, but he always avoids Christmas music until late December. The one thing he loves about the start of Christmas stuff showing up in stores is the availability of egg nog.
• He unironically thinks Never Gonna Give You Up is basically the best song ever. He also really likes Shakira, Celtic music, and electro/dance music.
• Jared thinks he's good at imitating various accents. He is not.
• His bare eyelashes are nicer than mine look with mascara on and it's not fair at all.
• Before Marvel movies come out, I always watch the trailers as soon as I can. Jared, on the other hand, tries to go into the theater knowing as little as possible.
• He tries to only buy a certain kind of white sock so that he never has to match them and can just toss them all in his sock drawer.
• He can fall asleep in less than a minute and stay sleep through anything. He sleeps through me violently sneezing right next to him, class presidency meetings happening in our living room with several teenage girls, and even the alarms I set when I have to wake up before him. One time, there was a fire four houses away from ours and several emergency response vehicles were right outside our house with sirens and lights going. I wake up very easily so it's no surprise that siren noises and bright red and blue lights flashing into our room disturbed me. When I looked over at Jared, he showed no signs of noticing. He did, however, wake up when the hotel we stayed in several weeks ago had their fire alarm go off at 5 AM.
• He avoids lotion and chapstick at all costs because he doesn't like how they feel. Somehow, even living in the desert, that doesn't seem to cause any problems. (*cries in eczema*)
• For some reason, he really likes Waluigi. I think it's mostly because I find Waluigi to be annoying.
• His phone's camera barely ever gets used for anything. He pretty much only ever takes pictures of cats he sees and our car when we're parked in a big lot or garage.
• He loves Gordon Ramsay. We have a picture of Gordon Ramsay overlooking our stove to inspire us to be better and shame us when we make stupid/lazy food decisions. He often jokes that Gordon would not approve of my bland food preferences.

Some of my favorite things about Jared:

• If he sees a cat on the way home from work or while we're outside, he'll always tell me about it. He also shows or sends me all the cute cat pictures/gifs that he finds.
• He's supportive of my hobbies and interests. He'll comment on my makeup, give me ideas for what to do with my nails, look over at my screen and ask questions about the things I'm watching or playing, and he helped me decorate the very top of our Christmas tree since I couldn't reach it while standing on a chair. He's even come to mutual a few times to assist me with various things.
• Back when Pokemon Go first came out, a Hitmonchan spawned near our house while I was in the shower. Jared brought my phone outside to go catch it for me.
• He always kisses me before leaving for work.
• If I have something on my lips, he'll double-check if it's safe to kiss me so that he doesn't mess anything up (or get any glitter or color on himself).
• When we're getting ready for church, he'll frequently try to match his tie to my outfit.
• He's been known to open MS Paint on my laptop while I'm elsewhere and draw hearts on the screen.
• He tries to wait until I'm out of the kitchen before preparing food with smells I find unpleasant.

That's all the time we have for your dose of Jared facts! He makes me indescribably happy in so many ways. Every day with him is a day of love, joy, and fun. I'm still amazed at how perfect a match he is for me. He's been making the world a brighter place for 27 years now. I'm so grateful I get to keep him forever!

Love,
Lizzie