my husband is better than yours.

today is philip's birthday.

philip turning 22 in prague. classy.

i love his birthday.  for a lot of reasons, but mostly because it has a lot of significance for us as a couple.  it was the first time we really shared a secret, and we started to get to know each other on a not-so-superficial level.

but enough with the mushy stuff.  interestingly enough, the '10 best' thing isn't just something i started on my blog.  back when philip and i were doing the long-distance thing, we would send each other top 10 lists.  our top 10 favorite moments together, top 10 best kisses, etc.  and when we chose to write our own vows for our wedding, i just knew i had to do another list - the top 10 reasons why i was marrying philip.  it was a huge success.  but, anyway, here are the 10 reasons why philip is the best husband in the world.  if it's too lovey-dovey for you, then... don't read it. :)

1.  because he makes me laugh more than anyone else in the world.  and not only does he make me laugh, but we have the exact same sense of humor.  we've made up our own humor-based language where we can quote our favorite tv shows and movies and we know exactly what the other one is going to say before it's even said.  plus he has the best laugh in the world when he really gets going.

2.  because when i am in an awful mood and crabby and cranky (such as i was thursday night, yelling that the crock pot screwed up dinner and cursing all the people who tell me crock pots are easy because that's just retarded), he doesn't get mad at me.  he doesn't get upset.  he calms me down.  while i'm cleaning my floor from the 3-bean-chili that boiled over, he's running to the liquor store to buy me a 12-pack of my favorite beer.  and when i'm stressed about homework, he's standing behind me rubbing my neck.  it's insane.

3.  because we just so happen to want the same things.  careers, travel, kids, everything - it's like our interests and life goals just happened to be perfectly aligned. 

4.  because he's the smartest person i know.  sometimes my mom makes comments to me about all the stuff i know, but inside i know that i only have half the knowledge i have because of him.  he is totally brilliant.  he's fair, balanced, intelligent and witty.  and he makes me a smarter, better person just by being around him.  

5.  because he accepts the fact that i hate basketball (his favorite sport) and started to watch and learn about hockey (my favorite sport) so we could have something that we can watch together.  now he totally loves hockey and tries to rival me in hockey trivia... we'll see about that :)

6.  because he's sooooo damn handsome.

7.  because he's level headed.  he can handle my sicilian temper, and when we fight, it's only for a few minutes.  inevitably he can calm me down and we can have a rational conversation.  and if you've ever met me, you know that's not an easy task.

8.  because he supports everything i want to do.  when i went through a phase where i wanted to open my own home decor boutique?  he said he'd help me write a business plan.  when i was younger and wanted to be an author?  he's proof read every story i gave him.  now that i'm going back to school for politics?  he cooks me dinner while i study.  and encourages me to volunteer even on what little time we have together - like the obama phone bank on our anniversary.  we went out to dinner afterwards.  he would do anything to help make my dreams come true.  it's absolutely priceless to know that i have someone in my corner, no matter what i'm doing.

9.  because someday he's going to be an amazing father - and i love getting to watch him be an amazing uncle now.

10.  because he can deal with my family, sometimes better than i can.  i actually drew him a family tree of my crazy new york italian family and he tried to learn all the names and relationships.  it was one of the sweetest things ever.  he's learning all the ins and outs of my family's business so he can be in the know.  he does anything to help improve my relationship with my family and to keep my family happy - including converting all our old home movies to DVDs for my mom and dad last year on christmas :)

happy birthday philip.  i love you more every year older you get :)