happy ninth anniversary mr. ten eyck!

Today makes nine long and happy years of wedded bliss to my incredible husband, Dave. So in honor of being married to one of the world's nicest guys (I am not the only one who thinks so, I think it is his unofficial title out in the world!) I have decided to list of NINE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY HUSBAND: (in no particular order, of course)

1) HIS UNWAVERING SUPPORT OF ME AND MY CAREER. From when we first met he was always there supporting me, even when I refused (yes, I did) to shoot weddings. Just out of plain old fear of failure, really. Nothing particularly unique or special. But he knew. He saw in me what I chose not to see or was too scared to see. I remember being on this really small printing kick (I know he is laughing right now) where I wouldn't print anything bigger than 5x7. 'Just bc it's big doesn't make it better' was my thinking. Dave saw right through that and kept telling me I was wrong, that my images were beautiful enough to print HUGE, and that I should do so. And so I did, slowly. And then I hung them around our home, and after a while I would walk into a room, see a print and think for one split second, 'wow, I really like that!' and then remember that it was mine. After many, many times of that I learned to feel better about my work, and in turn better about myself.



2) HE IS THE GREATEST DAD. And yes, OK, I can pretty much say, in the WORLD. There is nothing that he won't do for his kids. And no, not in the 'I'll buy you anything you want bc I'm either too preoccupied or to not creative enough to really be there for you kind of way' But in the ways he makes incredible breakfasts every morning for them, or the time he spends actually playing with them, building elaborate train track scenarios with Jack or teaching Georgie how to ski, or getting out huge pieces of paper and drawing these crazy good drawings with the kids.



3)HE IS ONE HARDWORKING DUDE. Any company that has the luck to hire Dave Ten Eyck is one lucky company. Let me tell you. His work ethic is rock solid crazy strong. He is not a job jumper and is faithful down to his core. Until he has been driven to the brink (and this only happened once) by the world's worst boss, he will find the positive in every situation and try and make it work.


4)HONESTY IS HIS ONLY POLICY. Love it or hate it this guy can't lie. Yes, it has led to some interesting discussions, and yes, I also have stopped asking his fashion advice! But I gotta love this about him as well! It's also just in general not in his nature to lie, about anything for any reason.


5)RANDOM KIDS LOVE HIM. Weird one, I agree. But there is something to be said about a person when kids and animals are drawn to you. They can sniff out a bad guy a mile away! Dave is like the Pied Piper wherever we go, when there is a big group of kids around. Maybe it's because he has the attention span of a hummingbird and absolutely cannot sit still so he is always on the go, like a kid! So he finds himself in the throes of organizing events and activities for all of the kids and in turn, becomes their fearless leader. It's very cute, I enjoy it from my seat on the couch with a drink!
(These aren't random kids, but it's still cute- Jack and Georgie wanted to hold his hand while we were on the plane coming back from Mexico, I thought it was a sweet moment!)


6)THIS BOY CAN COOK. When we first met about the only thing he made was grilled chicken sandwiches hot off the grill. But then he started taking it further and further and was reading cookbooks and now does all of the shopping and cooking and he is really really great in the kitchen. Not only does he make great food, but he GARNISHES the plate. You heard me! He makes it all pretty with slices of lemon, or a sprig of this or that, adds a nice complimentary color to give the plate that little pop! Plus he makes ALL of the birthday cakes for the kids birthdays. This year he had them help him!


7) HE MAKES DRAWING SEXY! I remember watching him draw on the table when we first started dating at one of those restaurants where they have the paper on the table, right? It started with a line here, a line there, I am like what is this guy drawing?? And then it evolves into a PERSON, and they are like, so in proportion and like perfect. I had to fan myself to cool down! ;) His parents have oil paintings that he painted while at RISD and every time I look at them they make me proud.



8) HE IS NOT MEAN. May seem silly. But he is a fair fighter. And I can't even say that we fight. Definetly not like most people do- he almost NEVER raises his voice, and even if what he is saying is totally stupid (we all say totally stupid things) or way off base or something, and I am right about whatever it is we are 'passionately discussing' he will eventually really hear what I am saying and revisit our talk the next morning. He can admit when he is wrong, which takes a big person.



9) HE GAVE ME MY MONKEYS. Man, we can procreate! I love my kids more than anything in the world. They are not only cute as can be but they are shaping up to be really wonderful people... largely in part to their Dad.



Thank you thank you thank you Dave, for being such an incredible man and father, I love you very much and am so excited for our date tomorrow night!!

xxoo