I hope you all will allow me to get a little mushy. This is for no particular reason. We haven’t celebrated an anniversary lately of any kind. Today is nothing special in our relationship. It’s just that marriage is really good right now. We are in a good place. Communication is good. Life is good. I love my guy. So here’s my thoughts about him today.

Stereotypical truths about Mr. Neon:
1. I love him more today than yesterday. It sounds corny, but it’s true. I might not like him all the time, but the love gets deeper every day.
2. He truly is my better half. I think he’s a better person than I am. He’s good. He’s strong. He doesn’t let too much get to him.
3. We grew up together. We were 19 and 22 when we met. We got married at 22 and 25. That’s not ridiculously young, but I feel like we became adults together. We learned how to manage life’s challenges together.
4. He’s my best friend.

Non-stereotypical truths about Mr. Neon:
1. He has forced me to expand my horizons. He started the get-fit revolution in our life. He started going to the gym and lifting big weights. He moved into the triathlon world and pulled me along by the shoelaces of my first pair of running shoes. Everything I know about training triathlon, racing triathlon, and triathlon nutrition, I learned from him.
2. We have made positive life changes together. Every dietary change I’ve made he has done with me. Every new recovery torture device he has tried with me. He tried PiYo with me.
3. I love him more today because of the person he has become. I’m proud of him in a different way than I was in 2005. Back then, he was just my husband, the bread-winner, and the baby daddy. Now he’s my training partner and my accountability buddy.

There are so many components to marriage: passion, romance, physical attraction love, comfort. All of those exist for us, but the deep friendship is what keeps me coming back for more. He’s my number one source of joy and laughter.

My favorite place is inside his arms. I tuck my arms in, he wraps his arms around me, and that’s my safe place. There’s where I want to be when my world is crashing down and my stress is at a max. And he knows this. Even if I think I don’t want to be touched. I’m sad. I’m stressed. I just want to be alone. He grabs me and pulls him into that safe place and my whole body relaxes.

But my favorite thing about him is his attraction to me. He makes me feel like a princess. He treats me like a queen. Some women may not like their husband to “grope” them in public, but when he walks around a grocery store with his arm draped around my waist or lightly touching my bum, I grin. We’ve been married for almost 12 years, and he tells me he finds me more attractive than ever. I love the “damn girl” comments I get when I put a fun outfit on. When I get self-conscious, he calls me crazy and tells me everything he loves about the body part I am complaining about.

Thanks, Mr. Neon. For loving me. And for being my partner in all things.