My Valentine

Having been married for almost ten years now I find it thrilling that I am finding new ways to love my husband.

For starters he has a beard. Odd. I have always detested facial hair (and so has he.) He grew his annual December beard this past Winter and I found myself really liking it. It gave him a rustic mountain man appeal that was (sorry if this grosses you out) very sexy to me. When he shaved it off in January the kids complained, and I mentioned that I had kind of enjoyed it too, so he grew it back. Now I have a bearded husband and I love it. hmmm.

My second example may come as a surprise to you--especially if you know my husband at all. Chris is now a runner. Since we met he has hated running and I have loved running. I had long since accepted that this was one activity we would never share. Then I read a book (Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall) and loved it so much that I made Chris read it. The day after he finished reading the book he bought us each a pair of Vibram five finger running shoes. He has been running regularly ever since. There is something (here I go again) extremely sexy about my husband running.

For my Valentine's present Chris consented to run in the Corpus Christi Cupid Chase 5k with me. I was giddy with excitement because (1)we had never run together, (2)I usually run these little races solo, and (3)we got matching race shirts that announced on the back that we are unavailable.

Here we are before the race. I'm trying to show the "unavailable" on the back of the shirt.

We ran the 5k at a 9 1/2 minute mile pace. Chris beat me by five seconds.