Who says you can't have it all?

*Caveat – This is a guest post from the man who is today celebrating five amazing years of marriage to the inspirational author of this blog. Now before you take off because it’s not Amielee, please take a minute to read my inside perspective on this incredible wife and mother.  

“You can have anything you want in this life, but you can’t have it all.”

Don’t know who said this or where it came from, but it is one of my favorite sayings.  For example, I want to look like I did when I was playing high school football even though I sit at a desk all day, pretty much eat what I want and only have time to work out a couple nights a week. Not going to happen. I also want to have a happy marriage and be there for my kids all while spending my nights at the ballpark. Definitely not going to happen. Life is all about give and take; sacrificing something good for something better.

This is the case for most things in life…except when it comes to my wife.

So in honor of our fifth wedding anniversary, here are five reasons (believe me there are a TON more) why I got it all with Amielee:

1.       Just look at her

Is there really anything else that needs to be said? I am married to the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on, and I am as attracted to her today as I was on our wedding day. PERIOD.

2.       Master Homemaker

Since I work in PR, Amielee is always telling me to stop giving her the PR answer and tell it to her straight. Just know my PR antenna is ringing on this point, knowing if I don’t tread lightly it could be taken as offensive to some. Please know I am not a chauvinist pig who wanted a little wife that only cooked, cleaned and took care of my every need.

However, I do love to eat. And Amielee is an AMAZING cook and homemaker.

Growing up I thought I would end up with one of two choices in a wife.  A Barbie-like woman I was very attracted too, but who had no interest in traditional wife activities. Or, someone I wasn’t as attracted too, but who had a head on her shoulders and would take good care of me.  I didn’t think I could have both…but I do! (though I don’t know how Amielee will feel about me calling her Barbie-like)

I tell Amielee if she wasn’t such a good cook I wouldn’t be fat.  She went to Ohio to visit her sister for a week earlier this year, and I think I lost 5 pounds. No Joke. But I’ll take the extra pounds and the nightly post-dinner dish duty in a heartbeat for the delicious meals I am privy to every night.

However, the homemaking skills go far beyond the kitchen.  The feeling in our home is dictated by Amielee, and I so appreciate the way she has turned our home into a safe haven from the world that I can’t wait to get back to every night.

3.       Inspiring

Amielee is one of the most driven and inspiring people I have ever met. You all see it in her blog posts.  I see it in person every day. In fact, she is so driven that her mom would tell her that she needed to find a husband that would be equally yoked and help evenly pull the carriage. Well, compared to her I’m the poor mule dragging behind the cart as the Thoroughbred gallops away.

But, I’m also the mule trying desperately to keep up.

Amielee pushes me to be a better man every single day. Whether it’s demonstrating her faith in Christ, becoming the world’s best mom, landing a nursing job two years out of school with no experience or conquering any other endeavor she puts her mind to, she will get it done.  And that inspires me to be the man she deserves.           

Doubt I’ll ever be what she deserves, but you sure as hell better believe I’m going to keep trying to get there.

4.       Super Mom

I said Amielee has a drive to be the world’s best mother…well I think she might have already accomplished that.  Watching her with Beckett and Emma absolutely blows me away. I know she has famously stated that she does not want me to get re-married if anything happens to her, but that won’t be an issue—there will never be someone that could fill her shoes as their mother.

Good thing, because I’ve always wanted kids (depending on the day, wanting more kids than the two we have is another question), and I’ve always wanted them to have a mom who would be home with them and would dedicate her life to being a mother. However, I also very much wanted a wife/mother capable enough to take on the professional world.

Again, another one of those situations I didn’t think I could have both…but I do.

Amielee sacrificed the past two years to be home with our kids. She sacrificed an advanced degree and the leverage of getting a job right after graduation in-order to be super mom.  And now, after a grueling job hunt/interview process (request that she do a post on that…pretty incredible) she will ALSO be super nurse starting in August.  The key word being “also”, because our kids are lucky enough to have a caretaker who is always mom first.    

5.       BFF

Everyone says they are married to their best friend, but how many actually are?

I am.

And how many actually get to be married to a friend they are wildly in love with?

I do.

There is nothing in the world I would rather do than be home with Amielee. We know we’re boring. Guess what…we don’t care. I can spend Friday night watching the same episode of Parks and Rec for the 15^th time and be perfectly happy as long as she’s next to me on that couch. I can honestly say I have never had enough of being around her, but I sure get cranky if I don’t get enough of her.

So…I guess you can have everything you want in this world, but not all of it… unless you are married to my wife.

…then who says you can’t have it all?