Being married is awesome…unless of course, you are married to me.

I like to listen to the same songs over and over again. I like to eat the red gummies and leave the rest of the icky flavors and stuff them back in the pouch and into the box. I once got my in-laws so angry but emailing them four little words that they tried to cancel my honeymoon and wedding (long story). Bought me my dream ring, a 1 carat diamond ring surrounded by a halo and pave setting and after one of the little diamonds in the setting fell out – before my honeymoon no less – bought me a SECOND ring, this time with a bigger stone…and I don’t bother wearing any of them (for the record, he always wears his). Sometimes I like to eat PB&J sandwiches in bed, but I always do it on his side so I don’t get any crumbs where I sleep. At any point in a given day, I will go on and on about how cute the dogs are, and I won’t quite until he agrees, at least 5 times. My diet could best be described as something a picky 13 year-old crossed with a truck driver would eat. I can’t go to sleep unless I watch 30 Rock re-runs on my phone.

And lets not even talk about how I post embarrassing photos on the web for the whole wide world to see:

But probably the worst thing about being married to me is that you cannot surprise. Ever. With my auditory pocessing disorder issues and my introversion, I’ve developed a sort of super power to sense suprises (I can read context like a mutha). In the 9+ years we have been together, Tim has never been able to surprise me, starting with our first Christmas in HS when he bought me a necklace to when we got engaged…but that changed on Valentine’s Day.

A few months ago, I fell in love with a graphic designer I found on Facebook. I told Tim how much I was obsessed with her work and I wish I could have some work done by her. Fast foward to last weekend when Tim took me out to dinner and gave me my surprise gift…

Tim had contacted the super talented Kelsey Kronmiller and had illustrations made of our dogs! I literally SQUEE’d in the restaurant! I cannot stress enough how amazing they are! Kelsey did more than just create the most adorable illustration ever – she also saw my dogs, things that usually Tim and I only notice. Bixby has her perky stance and ridiculously long fluffy tail, Waffle’s sitting with his signature head tild and Sox alert with pitch perfect markings.

BEST. GIFT. EVAR.

Be sure to ‘like’ Kelsey on Facebook and don’t forget to check out more of her work on her website.