Twenty Five

Since he recently turned 25, I have put together this list of 25 things about my best friend James. Enjoy!

1. He is extraordinarily thoughtful to me, especially when I am having a hard time. He does all sorts of things I didn't ask him to do just to help me feel better, like do the dishes, make the bed, make my lunch the night before, etc.
2. He draws THE cutest (and funniest) pictures ever. I will have to put some of those on the blog.
3. On weekends he really likes to get out of the house and browse the Mall, Sportsmans Warehouse, or "The Man Store" (a military surplus store).
4. He does service for other people if given the chance, like help them move, clean up the yard, fix their computer. One time he woke up extra early to shovel my grandma's driveway.
5. He almost never loses at See-Who-Can-Push-The-Other-Person-Into-The-Lovesac. Even when I catch him completely off guard I usually can't push him over.
6. He never makes a bet with me (usually with soda or cookies on the line) unless he is completely 100% sure that he is right. This is how he gets so much soda.
7. He can fall asleep super fast. He has been known in the past to doze off right as I am talking to him about an interesting math idea, or sometimes while I'm reading to him.
8. He's an extremely "hands-on" learner and loves to touch, take apart, reassemble, use and handle objects. That's how he acquired a magical knowledge of what everything is, how it works, and how to fix it.
9. He likes to learn and read about lots of things, and particularly about photography techniques and cameras, geology, current events, historic events and wars, outdoor survival, and guns.
10. He loves to sing really goofy songs to me. The lyrics, which rhyme sporadically, are usually about whatever he is currently thinking or doing, or a description of what I'm doing. He will be a great dad.
11. He has a Kindle with loads of books on it, but also likes to have shelves full of real books. On the other hand, he doesn't see the point in having real DVDs, when he can store all movies on the hard drive.
12. He absolutely loves free stuff. Any time he sees something he can get for nothing, he has an urge to get it. He's pretty good at controlling this urge, but we still remember the incident of 2012 when he discovered Reddit Freebies. In came 3D glasses, a cheese chart, travel-size shampoo and conditioner, Apple logo stickers...among other things.
13. His favorite expression of surprise/annoyance is "Great Scott..." It has most definitely rubbed off on me.
14. He can imitate voices really well. Especially Marvin the Martian, which is hilarious. He also has a "nerd voice" which annoys the heck out of me, and a "bro voice" and a "hipster voice." My very favorite is his Mexican "a ha ha ha!" laugh, which he will never do upon request.
15. He really likes having a clean apartment and actually does more cleaning than I do. He will do the dishes, clean the counters, clean the tub and sink, vacuum and do laundry, all of his own free will.
16. The traditional gender stereotypes of shopping are completely reversed in our marriage. He will go to the store to get one thing, one thing as I repeatedly tell him, and comes back with many things. Not a single aisle escapes his scrutiny.
17. His sleep schedule hasn't changed one bit since we were dating. It's the usual midnight-to-8 most days, and if he tries to go to sleep earlier he will wake up at 2am unable to fall asleep again.
18. He creates very descriptive adjectives by sticking "-y" to the end of nouns. Me: "How was work?" Him: "Worky." Me: "How was class?" Him: "Classy." And even, one time, "How was your day?" Him: "Day-y." (Just to bug me.)
19. He is always really sweet and constantly reminds me that he loves me. I think he gets a lot of happiness from surprising me or doing small little things to show his love.
20. He has an amazing, amazing stretchy ability to bend backwards while yawning and stretching, so far back that he makes a rainbow shape. I have no clue how he is that flexible.
21. His favorite foods are pasties, fried rice, and sushi. He also loves Jimmy Johns sandwiches, and Culver's. And he snags a few tamales whenever the tamale lady comes by our door.
22. He never, ever, ever wears jeans. The last time he wore jeans was probably before his mission. And once afterward when he had to borrow my dad's for some yard work. And trust me, it was really weird to see.
23. He loves his family and enjoys talking to them and spending time with them. He will sometimes call them on the phone or Google hangout for no reason other than just to say hi.
24. When he wants to relax one of the things he likes to do is go on a walk. He especially likes to take walks with me while holding hands. We go around a few blocks or sometimes to the duck pond.
25. His favorite comics are Calvin and Hobbes, and The Far Side. Here's one that he really likes. It was the last Calvin and Hobbes comic strip ever published.