Why I Love My Husband #78,645 and Why I love Cole Burnett #49,531

Valentine's Day is the best holiday. You get to wear a cute red shirt (if you're not pregnant), eat delicious dessert (only if you're pregnant), and watch the Bachelor. Plus I've got the hottest piece of eye candy the Palm Springs of Washington has ever seen.
Exhibit A below
So Mysterious

Which brings me to the title of this post. This Valentine's Day was very different from past Valentine's and I have my sweet husband to thank for that. My parents are still in Portland spending time with sweet Keith and the rest of the Burnett Zoo.

Here's a picture to make your heart melt from pure cuteness:

So its just Snick and Lil' D at the Smart house at the moment. We decided the best third wheel to have on V-day is that of a love sick little sister who can't be with her boyfriend. Justin Bieber is currently in Asia starting his World Tour, so he and Lil' D had to make the most of their love while separated. (Darel watched about 600 youtube videos to rekindle their undying flame) Snick felt that letting Darel suffer alone was just cruel. Although in reality, it's probably more cruel that JB had to be without her - I mean, lets be honest, Lil' D is definitely the better half in her bieberlicious relationship.
So anyway, Snick + Lil' D = A Lil' SnickerD V-day. We planned this great homemade dinner and after church on Sunday Darel and I were busy working on the menu for the following night.
However, when Nick got home he made a very big announcement.
Nick: "Hey is it okay if we have the missionaries over for dinner tomorrow?"
Females: Long pause followed by "Suuuuuuuuuure?"
Nick: "Ok, great. It was so weird because they were passing around the calendar in Priesthood and tomorrow is the only day they don't have dinner. It's weird because the calendar went around like five times and no one signed up, so I figured we might as well have them over. It just strange no one wanted to sign up for tomorrow."

**disclaimer** I must reiterate that this is #78,645 reason why I desperately love my husband.

So the night went passed happily and on Monday Nick came home for lunch looking rather sheepish. We had already discussed keeping V-day low key months prior to this day, so I wasn't sure why he looked so embarrassed. Apparently he realized at work that he invited the missionaries to be the 4th and 5th wheels to our already awesome 3rd wheel SnickerD V-Day and he felt bad. However, I tried to reassure him that all of his worrying was unnecessary.

#78,645 Reason Why I love my Husband: Everyday feels like Valentine's day. I'm dead serious. Who cares if my husband is the ONLY MAN IN THE WORLD who would sign up on the missionary calendar for February 14th after EVERY OTHER MAN passed it up? Nick is so kind that he couldn't let the missionaries not feel loved on such a special day. If you know Nick, you know that he treats everyone like that and that is why my husband gave me the best Valentine's ever. He is truly full of love EVERYDAY and not just towards me, but for everyone, which is why he's such a stud. And while watching two 19 year-old boys stare at my gorgeous sister from across the table is slightly awkward, I was mostly proud, and I must say this was one of the best Valentine's Nick and I have had together. I could never have married someone who did the same thing every year or every day for that matter. Nick keeps me on my toes and he makes me laugh every single day. I never know what to expect from Mr. Jordan and that is #78,645 reason why I love him. In fact, on Valentine's day he actually brought me home flowers which is very untraditional for him. He normally brings them home the day AFTER Valentine's because I hate thinking about him spending triple the price for flowers and like I said, he likes to keep me on toes. What a hunk.

Speaking of missionaries, I'd like to add an addendum to #78,645 reason why I love my husband.
The world's greatest missionary also happens to be my favorite missionary. When we were feeding the missionaries on V-day I couldn't help but think Elder Slim Shady. I hope that someone in North Carolina thought twice and invited Shea and his companion over on Valentine's so they could feel loved too.

THE WORLD'S BEST MISSIONARY (with his favorite sister)


I know things have been hard for Shea and Chelsea since they are so far away from us. We are anxiously counting down the days until we can see Shea in June aaaaaaannnnnddddd our favorite non-caucasian/international sister arrives in Portland on SATURDAY.
Exhibit C (C stands for Chelsea, but I guess it could also stand for Can't touch this!)

Cole, Keith and Ally LOVE their Aunt Chels. I know they are just as excited as the rest of us to see her. (We secretly wish that Chels would pack pseudo-sister Melissa in her suitcase for the trip too)
This weekend will be especially awesome because Chels will be there, but Snick and Lil' D can't wait to kiss and snuggle with Keith, Cole and baby girl Ally.
This post is becoming increasingly longer, but I have to share this story.

#53,881 Reason why the Smarts are the most non-dramatic family in the world.

Two weeks ago when we were in Portland, Darel and I were at Darcee's watching Cole and Ally while Nick and my mom ran errands. It was dinner time and we were having tomato soup. Darel and I were crunching tortilla chips on top of our soup and Cole asked it he could have some. Darel gave Cole a chip and he proceeded to eat it. Mere seconds later we had this conversation:
Cole: "Deewul! I'm choking on my chip! It's pokey! I'm choking Deerul!"
Darel (trying not to laugh because Cole is obviously not choking): "You're not choking Cole, you just have a piece of chip stuck in there. Drink some water."
Cole (eagerly drinking some water): "It's choking me Sinny."
Me: "You are okay, just drink some more water."
Cole: "It hurts! I'm choking!"
Darel: "It's okay Cole, it's going to be okay once it goes down your throat."
Cole: "I'm not going to make it through this!"
Darel: "You're not going to make it?"
Cole: "No! I'm not going to make it through this!"
Silence because Darel and I are laughing too hard to respond.
More silence because Cole has obviously resolved the chip problem. Several more seconds pass.
Cole: "Sinny can I have another chip?"
Me: "Sure."
Cole (picking up the chip and dipping it in his soup): "This chip is going to make me choke."

Some people say that Cole's personality reminds them of several of his aunts. While this may be true, we all know that the Smart sisters get their non-drama from their Dad. Cole is so much like his Grandpa Smart! Non-drama has always been an important factor of the Smart family dynamic. Cole was obviously stating the complete truth when he was choking on his chip but still able to have a complete conversation with his aunts. He is definitely NOT dramatic. He must get it from the Burnett side. We all know how dramatic those Burnetts are.
I hope that someday if Cole ever reads this he will be proud of his non-dramatic personality. I'm certainly proud to love him in 49,531 ways and I would tell him that the best thing I ever did was embrace that aspect of my personality. Some people just can't exaggerate, and that's okay.