Let's hear it for the boy.

Jeff deserves more credit than he gets. If there actually was a husband of the year award, I am positive that he would be nominated if not win. This is why instead of recapping our Thanksgiving which consisted of normal things like turkey, pie, family, and food; I am going to talk about Jeff and why I am thankful for him. Because Thanksgiving is Jeff's favorite holiday, and he is the person I am most thankful for.

Warning: If you're the type who hates all public displays of affection and finds them cheesy and unnecessary, this blog post is not for you. Also, if you hate lots of words you won't like this.

Reason No. 1: He Recognizes My Need To Party
Lately I've been feeling like we (aka me) need to get some of our (my) wildness out before the baby comes and we can't do things like go grocery shopping at 11 pm any more. The past couple of nights when Jeff has suggested getting ready for bed, I proposed that we stay up and "party." (I'm not quite sure what I mean by this. Probably going to Steak-N-Shake and/or watching a movie until 3 am.)
Monday night Jeff responded with, "Amy. I am not Katherine. This is not summer oh eight. I have to get up for work in the morning." To which I replied with a selfish, but apparently convincing argument about how I need to "party" before the baby comes and turns all of the parties into feeding/diaper changing sessions and how I'm only 22 and I just need to live. Jeff's solution was to "party" the night before his next day off. Does Jeff really want to party? Probably not. He would probably prefer sleeping all that he can since he always has to get up in the morning and work all day. But he's willing to sacrifice sleep so that I can have one last hurrah.

Reason No. 2: He Lets Sleeping Amys Lie
Another thing related to sleep. Jeff has to get up for work every morning. He usually doesn't have to get up too terribly early, but he always lets me continue sleeping. He doesn't expect me to get up and make breakfast for him and spend time with him before he leaves. It's not like I even have anything that I have to do during the day. Getting up with him would really not be a big deal. But he always lets me stay snuggled up and quietly gives me a kiss on the forehead and whispers "I love you" before he leaves.

Reason No. 3: He Loves His Friends and Family
Jeff is so good about keeping in contact with those he cares about even if they don't reciprocate it. I think I have actually been a bad influence on him and been all, "Why do you try so hard to talk to _____? When's the last time they called you?" He is not one of those people who is all "Well if they're not going to talk to me, I'm not going to talk to them." Jeff is so much more mature than me and realizes that if everyone had that attitude then no one would talk to anyone, and there are some relationships that are worth the extra effort. He cares so much for his family and friends even if they sometimes overlook him.

Reason No. 4: He Supports My Sweet Tooth
When we're waiting in line at Wal-Mart, my eyes always wander to the bountiful selection of candy bars to my left. Jeff notices my longing stare and says, "Do you wanna get a treat?" To which I reply by picking up a Hershey's Cookies and Cream to satisfy my sweet tooth and latest pregnancy craving. Does our recent graduate budget really support dropping 79 cents just so I can have a treat? Not really. But he knows how much I love treats. He also agreed that we could go out for dessert (instead of dinner) some time. But only if I invited him on Facebook.

Reason No. 5: He Makes Sure I Get To Bed
Uhh...this is about sleep, too.
In first grade I had pajamas that said "I Am a Bear in the Mornings" and had an illustration of a disgruntled bear on the shirt. If I'm a bear in the mornings, I'm a flesh-eating dragon monster when I'm woken up after I fall asleep on the couch.
Nights when I fall asleep on the couch usually go something like this:
     Jeff: (In a soft, calm voice) Amy Doll. Wake up. It's time to get ready for bed.
     Amy: (While breathing fire) NOOOO. I DON'T WANNA GO TO BED. I JUST WANT TO STAY HERE. 
     Jeff: (Still calm, but singed) Amy Doll, if I leave you here you'll wake up in the middle of the night and be scared because you're on the couch by yourself.
     Amy: NOOO. I WANT TO SLEEP ON MY COUCH. I LOVE MY COUCH. IT'S MY COUCH AND I WANT TO STAY HERE.
     Jeff: Okay. I'll get you a blanket.
     Amy: (Starting to cry) NOO. DON'T LEAVE ME. YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME. I NEED YOU HERE WITH ME.
     Jeff: (Still calm) Amy Doll, there's not room for both of us on the couch. Let's just get you up and into bed, okay?
     Amy: BUT I LOVE MY COUCH. IT'S THE BEST COUCH IN THE WORLD.
     Jeff: I know, but let's just get you to bed.
     Amy: (Crying) Okaaaay...I just love my couch and don't want to leave it.
     Jeff: (Trying not to laugh) I know.
This was just a generic synopsis. Some nights I go off on rants about completely ridiculous things that I never remember in the mornings. For obvious reasons we're trying to avoid putting me in situations where I would be prone to fall asleep before I'm in my bed.

Reason No. 6: Jeff+Jason=BFF
My younger brother Jason and Jeff are seriously BFF. Jeff has never really treated Jason like he was different. He doesn't ignore him like some people do around people with special needs. He doesn't overstate his autism like I sometimes do. He just treats him like a friend. When I would pick up Jason from adult day care, Jason was visibly more excited when Jeff was with me. For Jason, Jeff means spin jumps, stretching, treats, and the same dinner every one else is having with a couple substitutions to make it gluten free. Jeff and Jason just like to hang out together. Jeff checking sports on his iPhone and Jason watching Barney.

Reason No. 7: He Supports My Cooking Endeavors
Jeff is food's all time biggest fan, and we all know that I am not that handy in the kitchen. Still Jeff encourages me in my quest to be culinary literate by overstating the deliciousness of my meals. "Mmm...Amy Doll! This mac and cheese is great!" "Boy, Amy Doll. You sure do know how to make a grilled cheese." P.S. Jeff is always willing to make dinner even if he has had a very busy day and I really haven't but just don't feel like making dinner.

 

Reason No. 8: He is Not a Fair Weather Friend

When I've been at my darkest, Jeff has shown me nothing but patience and love. Our first year of marriage was really hard because I was really depressed/anxious for a lot of it. There were probably more nights that ended in me having a meltdown than us peacefully falling to sleep. There are not a lot of people who would be willing to deal with that. There are even fewer people who would have been able to deal with it as well as he did.

Reason No. 9: He Thinks the Best of Me
There are few others who exemplify the quote "Think the best of each other, especially of those you say you love. Assume the good and doubt the bad." (Jeffrey R. Holland) as well as Jeff. One time when I was upset with him and was being nasty, he said, "Amy, don't you think I'd stick up for you? For our family? Don't you know that you're my number one priority?" I was instantly flooded with humility. Because I did know that. But in a moment of utter selfishness I had forgotten.

Reason No. 10: He Really Loves Me
He tells me he loves me and by his actions I know that he means it. Not only when he is charitable or romantic, but when he is encouraging me to be my best self. Long before I met Jeff I read the quote “One good yardstick as to whether a person might be the right one for you is this: in her presence, do you think your noblest thoughts, do you aspire to your finest deeds, do you wish you were better than you are?” (Ezra Taft Benson) and took it heart. Jeff loves me for who I am, but knows I can be better.

lies and betrayals, fruit-covered nails

Amy always says she wishes I'd blog more often. What can I say? Life is busy when you're taking seven credits, playing hockey sometimes twice a week and working your fingers to the bone in the Walmart photo lab. On top of that, when I'm on the internet I have all kinds of important obligations to follow through on. Fantasy basketball (I'm in sixth place, only the top four make the playoffs), checking my email religiously to see if I've received emails back from employers in Vancouver, Dallas and Italy, and reading music news and sports crap on espn.com.

The job application process has been exciting thus far. I went to my career preparation class a few weeks back and my old friend from the Scroll, Jen Rollins, was there talking about how great her job with the Vancouver Canucks hockey team is. Afterward I talked to her and she informed me there was a media relations position opening and I needed to apply. I did so and now I check my email seven times a day to see if they're getting really desperate to fill a position that won't be open until summer. I guess the root of my excitement is that this job would basically be my dream job. Since I was in elementary, family members have teased me because I would sit up at the breakfast table with my coffee (jk, cereal) and the newspaper (specifically the sports page). Part of this job description is retrieving virtually every tidbit of media coverage on the team and presenting it to the general manager. That's like a day in the life of Jeff Poole. If there were an incredibly white dude from New Hampshire who played for the Spurs, shared my love of music and sandwiches, was the only one sponsored by New Balance in the NBA and had a sandwich blog on the Spurs website, I would eat that up. What I'm trying to say is, I love my teams and I follow them obsessively (except we don't have cable and I'm too cheap to get broadband subscriptions to watch their games). I can't believe there might be someone out there who'd be willing to pay me to scour the interwebs for stories on a specific team. I WANT THIS JOB. Not only that, but you're REQUIRED to attend home games and make sure the media's needs are met. If I were somehow offered this job, it would maybe mean I would have to move to Vancouver without Amy for a little while. This would suck a great deal but in the end it would be worth it. It's a dream job (as you can tell while reading this) and I've heard nothing but great things about Vancouver. If I don't get this job or anything else before Amy graduates in July, we've talked about just packing up our bags and heading to the Texas hill country. That would be a dream too, I really miss that place and its culinary magic. The nice thing about Walmart is the option of transferring stores, so we'd at least have guaranteed income when we arrive. San Antonio would be a good place to look for a job too. It's cheap, there's a temple, I have connections down there and there are several other cities within a day's journey to look for jobs in.

Anyway, much love to you all.

lazy sunday

Amy and I watched Rudy last night. I still love that movie but I have to admit it wasn't as inspiring this time around. Fantasy basketball has begun and thus far I'm getting my trash kicked by Conley Hubert. Revenge will be sweet. Amy and I were so excited to wake up this morning and have a pancake breakfast with eggs and sausage. Then we realized it's fast Sunday. So we read some general conference talks and lounged about. It's been great. Although I'm starting to get stressed about my application assignment that's due this week that I haven't started on. So I've gotten into twitter recently. I'm liking it a lot more than facebook these days and watch my feed whenever I'm on the computer. I feel so in tune with the music/sports world now. Anyway, time to get ready for church. Amy has to pick out my tie still.

husker du? husker don't

So being the nut case I am I've decided to start blogging more regularly. One of those inspired thoughts that comes as I'm still sitting at the computer as Amy sleeps at 12:48 AM. You know the kind. Speaking of Amy, she's just an adorable sleeper. Good thing she always falls asleep before me. That way I can watch her and she can't see that I'm secretly listening to my favorite Starting Line songs and get a huge smile across my face when I read Kenny Vasoli will be playing bass for Say Anything on their tour this fall. That only makes me want to see them more now. They play SLC with Saves the Day on Oct. 22. I emailed my old high school Spanish teacher tonight out of nowhere. Sean and I were actually really good friends with him and he basically gave us both A's even though we both sucked at Spanish. He went to the San Antonio temple open house with the family and neither Sean nor I have contacted him since our missions. Anyway, Amy and I are taking a chemistry class together and last night we both got B's on our first exam. Amy did get a better grade than me which only confirms my theory that she's better than me. I ate a really interesting sandwich tonight. One piece of the bread had mayo, the other mustard. I put chili on the mustard side and proceeded to top that with cheese sauce. I capped it off with some black forest ham and sauerkraut. Amy thinks I'm disgusting and this only confirmed her theory (I think we both have all kinds of theories now that we're taking chemistry). This weekend we're heading up to the gparents' cabin in Island Park. We'll watch conference and hopefully I'll be able to catch at least a little bit of the Red River Rivalry. Anyway, I better hit the hay now.