That’s right! We’re officially engaged!

Those of you who know me best are aware that I’ve always been rather unconventional in my thinking and decision making. Don’t let that statement lead you to believe that I’m irrational, fallacious or aberrant. Quite the contrary, I take pride in my reason and logic; and it comes from both practice and life experiences. Fortunately, there is no need to defend myself as this is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Since the beginning of my dating career, I’ve been around the block a few times. Not in the nympho or hustler sense; simply that I’ve dated my share of girls in a relatively short period of time. A full spectrum of ladies to give me plenty of hands-on experience to figure out what I’m ultimately looking for in a wife. Some were clearly of unsound mind while others, though awesome in their own way, were just not the one for me. I also made my share of fledgling mistakes along the way.

Backtracking a bit, since my teenage years, I could always picture myself getting married at an early age. Like our parents’ generation and earlier when most couples got married and had their first child before they were even of legal drinking age. Thankfully, for me and Valerie, this was not the case. In many ways, I’ve always been emotionally mature and responsible for my age. Heck, half of the girls I dated were older than me as I’ve always struggled with the stereotypical female drama and immaturity of young blood. But I thank my lucky stars that I’ve had the past several years to fully enjoy the bachelor life and evolve into the man I am today. Looking back, I might not have been ready for such a commitment even if I did find Valerie years ago.

Valerie's Black Diamond Engagement Ring! Yes, I realize I put it on the wrong hand. First time jitters!

The story of how Valerie and I met is quite interesting; but I’ll save that for dinner table conversation… or at least a future post. The ultimate point of this post is to make our grand announcement to the world. Some of you already knew while most of you did not! I also have an agenda of my own. Today is Valerie’s birthday; so this is also my opportunity to not only share my wonderful news with the world but wish my beautiful fiancé a happy birthday and offer her a public gift. I would like to share with all of you some of the reasons why Valerie is both the love of my life and absolutely perfect for me.

1. Values. It didn’t take long (at all) for our relationship to progress. We’ve nearly always been on the same page and in agreement with our core values. This made and continues to make it easy to talk about important issues. It also makes it easy to set common goals and life benchmarks as individuals and as a couple.

2. Morals. Most of our thoughts and beliefs on sensitive worldly issues line up rather well. Even with different personalities and cultural upbringings, we find ourselves in agreement and mutual understanding to the things we find most important. Fundamental principles of right conduct rather than legalities and acting based on sound mind and character line up extremely well.

3. Intelligence. Valerie is extremely intelligent in all the right ways. Practical intelligence, emotional intelligence, and good old fashioned book smarts… she has it all.

4. Beauty and health. Valerie is absolutely and unequivocally beautiful both inside and out. She is not only sexy on the outside, but takes care of herself on the inside. No smoking or excessive drinking, healthy eating habits, and a strong interest in prevention through knowledge and action.

5. Love and friendship. This is perhaps the most exciting part of the whole adventure. Most everything else was already established as individuals before we came together as a couple. Values, morals, health, beauty, intelligence, etc. – made it extremely easy for us to fall in love. But it is the always growing friendship and love that burns the candle brighter with time. Best of all, the differences we do have often complement one another.

I purposely kept my reasons broad and without specific examples because, frankly, the specifics are for us to share and hold private. Our relationship is also constantly evolving and taking shape. But the evolution and ultimate shape is still defined by the same reasons I provided above. Besides being an ideal wife and future mother of my children, she is becoming a stronger friend, companion and partner in crime with each passing day. Valerie continues to surprise me with how utterly amazing she truly is.

My life as a bachelor might be over… but hey, I had a good run. Now my life truly begins. Happy Birthday, Valerie! I love you!

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