My Sugie

After reading Melanie's blog for nearly 3 years, I realized that my best friend, soul mate, and perfect companion was not getting any press. Capturing all that Melanie does for me, and more importantly, for my two comrades, can't be done in one post. So I'll hit the highlights and show you some of the reasons why our life force is "Princess."

My angel.

I know, I struggle believing it too, she actually married me! She is my greatest gift from God.

I won't start at the very beginning, but let's roll back the clock a bit.

This was back in 03 at a John Mayer concert. That's one of my favorite qualities about Melanie, she's always up for a good time. Unfortunately, I didn't have a digital camera in college, so I can't show you anything pre-03, all I can say is, we had fun. In so many ways, Melanie saved me from a boring, predictable, luke-warm life. It did take me 3 years to wear her down to actually go on a date to Mom's Place, but I won't go into details. Let's just say I'm glad she finally said yes.

One gripe I have about this blog that I need to take up with the editor is the fact that the most beautiful person in our house rarely appears.

South Padre, our annual romantic get-away from Houston.

Alaska, Melanie was very adventurous.

El Caribe.

Napa, surprisingly the picture isn't too blurry.

Melanie is the most fun, positive, energetic (9am-9pm) person I know. She has a much higher pain tolerance than me, and she has the ability to see the positive in people. She's not afraid to get dirty, and she loves being outside.

Yosemite, Melanie was "Sherpa" and I was "Captain," don't ask.

Costa Rica, hands down our best trip to date.

Melanie saw this waterfall on the side of the road in Costa Rica and decided to go for a swim.

Our first house. We had some good times.

One of my favorite road trips with Melanie was our Southern Comfort tour. She took me on a tour of the South, culminating with a tour of the summer camp that she went to as a kid and then worked at (Camp Winnataska). She loved crunching ice.

This post would not be complete without mentioning Melanie's incredible culinary skills. Melanie is not big on recipes, everything she makes is a "new creation." I love her style and spice, and I'm so glad she cooks healthy. My only "comment" is reproducibility. Because recipes aren't important to Melanie, making the same thing twice gets challenging sometimes. Moving to Bartlesville improved Melanie's cooking more than anything else. Thankfully, we don't eat out much. This is usually how Melanie greets me when I get home from work.

Melanie is the most self-less person in our house. She has been that way all the time I've known her, and from what people tell me, she was like that as a little girl. Melanie supported my dream to get a Ph.D., and more impressively, she lovingly supported my crazy dream to build a cabin in Colorado while moving from Houston, changing jobs, and being 8 months pregnant. Throw in a brown recluse infestation in a new house, and you have one tough mama.

The last time I saw Melanie for 3 weeks while working on our cabin. Don't forget about the brown recluse infestation in the house we moved into the week before.

Mountain Mama.

We are in the parenting stage of life, and I'm so thankful that Melanie is the mother of my children. Melanie's pure love becomes more apparent each day that she patiently works with Beau and Sawyer. She keeps us well fed, healthy, happy, educated on current events, and entertained. Melanie always wants to have fun, and she is the perfect mom. She truly is the best mom for boys. Sawyer and Beau, consider yourselves lucky. I know you'll read this someday, so just remember, always treat your mom with the utmost love and respect.

I love you with all my heart, Melanie. Thanks for letting me share life with you.

Melanie's favorite place.