Moments in love

That's amore.

Well, it's Valentine's Day — the least favored holiday of singles everywhere, a category for which I know longer qualify so ... YAY! Valentine's Day!

In honor of the day, I am going to give you a glimpse into my marriage and share some of the moments when I knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I married the most perfect man in the world (for me).

Our first "date": TJ and I began dating about 3 years after we first met in college, and maybe four months after beginning sustained contact online through chatting. We announced our coupledom when we were still in separate states, but he came to SoDak, we fell in love in three days, got engaged at maybe three weeks and married in three months.

Ah, love.

Our first date was a few days into our relationship when we went to Deadwood to admire the tourist trap. We watched a "shooting" in the street, strolled the casinos and ate the best damn fries ever. On the road home, I realized I was in love with this man when we spent most of the trip sharing our favorite Tiny Toons episodes. When we approach elevators or traffic lights, someone will inevitably say, "It's my turn to push the button!"

Since then, it's been a great romance. We have a partnership, and he makes me totally comfortable. At times, his thoughtfulness completely overwhelms, and at others, his silliness has me in stitches. Here are some of our most popular topics of conversation and examples of TJ's greatness:

• Farting and/or bowel movements: Look, everybody poops. You have to be able to talk about it. The other day, I was in the kitchen and TJ came in and ripped one in the doorway. "Woah, I think I have to go the bathroom," he said, and walked away. "Hey!" I yelled after him, "I have to walk through that to get out of this room, you know!" And he laughed maniacally.

If you're ever sitting somewhere with TJ and he starts giggling and says, "You may want to move." Do it.

Alternatively, I once made some "unholy noises" in the aisle of a Walmart and probably killed the other three people in that aisle. We moved fast, trying not to die with laughter. TJ was so proud of me.

• The greater cultural ramifications of horror movies and monsters (esp: zombies): People assume that TJ's love for all things that go bump-in-the-night has spilled over on to me. It hasn't. Rather, it allowed me to express something that I had kept dormant for more than 10 years. My best friends can tell you how much I used to love Halloween (I was usually a witch) and how I loved having "Nightmare on Elm Street" marathons. In my teens, the horror started to get me and I backed off. But most of my knowledge of this stuff comes organically. TJ's just growing my repertoire.

• The English language: We're both word nerds. One night, we stayed up for 45 minutes in bed giggling hysterically and having a conversation that consisted mostly of words that begin with "Dis."

A few nights ago I was relating to him a story of a little boy I watched in the church nursery named Drew. After a moment he said, sincerely, "I don't think I'm OK with naming our child a past-tense verb." And then we proceeded to have a 30 minute conversation about what parts of speech are OK for baby names (that blog post coming later).

• Just plain silliness. TJ has one of those life perspectives that make everyday things funny. And he can deliver a line with a complete straight face. Last night he was camping out in the bathroom and I yelled through the door, "Are you in there reading my "Good Housekeeping"?" Followed by, "Yes! I need to find out if I'm wearing the right bra size for my body!"

• His thoughtfulness: Two days in a row last week I accidentally left my face wash by the sink instead of taking it into the shower with me. On day three I muttered to myself, "Dang it! I did it again." Within seconds, TJ popped into the bathroom and was handing me my face wash through the curtain. It was so sweet.

There are a hundred different moments I could share that wouldn't even begin to describe how great this man is and how perfectly suited we are for each other. I know this year TJ felt bad that we're so broke and so he wasn't able to lavish me with gifts for Valentine's Day — I guess that's what the point of this blog post is.

Because I don't need a special day to be reminded that my husband loves me. Every morning I wake up and pinch myself because I can't believe my luck. I married the best man in the whole world — and he shows me he loves me every day, in every action.