My Valentine.

If you follow my blog I know you will find the occasional picture of Mr. Hass on here, but most often it's pictures of our girls and their newest antics.

Well, since today is Valentine's Day, I figured I'd write about my Mr. 

I took this picture today.  Isn't he handsome?

When I first introduced myself to Mr. Hass, I introduced myself as "Gennifer".  It did not take long before he began to call me Genn.  And I liked it.  It felt personal.  It felt romantic.  It felt like he was confident that it was alright to shorten my name to just Genn.  I remember my Mom saying to me one time when we were first dating, "Why does he call you Genn?  Your name is Gennifer."  It was fine with me.  I think she was maybe not quite ready for me to be that comfortable with this older college boy from Boise Idaho.

Nowadays he either calls me "babe" or "Genn".  And on occasion, he will remind me that my Indian name should be "She Who Slams Doors".  (I don't, by the way.  But he thinks I do.)

We were practically babies when we first started out.
This picture above was in May 2001.  Mr. Hass was living at home in Boise finishing up the last year of his rotations for pharmacy school, and this was the first time that he flew out to California to see me after our whirlwind romantic spring date in March which you can read about here. He flew out on my birthday and met my WHOLE entire extended family that day too.  It was a day I'll never forget.

Here we are at our wedding rehearsal dinner on July 12, 2002. Young love.  Babies.  I was 21 and Mr. Hass would turn 24 on the 28th.  I can't help but notice that he is wearing a necklace in this photo.  I can't remember the last time I saw Mr. Hass wear jewlery of any kind other than his wedding ring and watch.  I can't remember the last time I was that tan either. 
A picture from our honeymoon.  We went on a Mexican Riviera cruise. 

One of the things I loved right away about Mr. Hass was how laid back he was.  He always seemed so calm, cool, and collected to me.  Except maybe when he tried to teach me to drive a stick shift on one way streets in Boise in his white subaru.  Except for then.

This pic was on a cruise from 2004 we took out of New Orleans with friends.

I will never forget when I learned that marriage is actually gonna take some work.  I guess when you're 21 you just think you will get married and live happily ever after... The End. 
Wrong.
When we were living in Boise, and had only been married a few months, we had a really big fight over who knows what.  Our first really big "married couple" fight. (Probably over how much money I spent at Target or something... he's learned to cope with that now)
I was so upset, so of course I called my Mommy.  I told her through my tears what Mr. Hass had done (I'm sure that maybe I had done something too), and then I asked if her and my Dad would drive half way to Idaho and meet me so I could come home. 
Yes, I was serious too.  I was so mad at Mr Hass.  I thought to myself, that's it, I am done with this, and I am going HOME.
And do you know what my Mom said to me?
She said,
"Gennifer, I am going to tell you the same thing that my mother told me after my first big fight with your Dad..."
Me- Sniffing, and blowing my nose and expecting her to say, Hunny we'll leave right now...
And she said,
"You are a MARRIED WOMAN.  Your home is with your HUSBAND.  You made the decision to marry Jake, so now you get off the phone with me and you go work it out."

I was a bit stunned.  So now I was mad at my husband AND my Mom. 

I soon realized that my mother taught me a very good lesson that day.

Marriage can be tough.  Marriage is work.  It isn't always easy.

Marriage is a verb.  Marriage means commitment.  I know that now. 

Despite the adjusments of being married and living with someone for the first time, we managed to have a lot of fun while we lived in Boise too.

At a Lifehouse concert at the Boise Fair- Summer 2002

One of the things I loved and still do love about Mr. Hass is that he loves sports.  Growing up I remember my Dad plopping his beach chair smack dab in front of the tv screen whenever the Lakers played a game.  He'd cheer and yell and hoot and holler and every time the Lakers played, you knew where my Dad would be.  It's funny how much Mr. Hass reminds me of my Dad, but in a lot of ways it makes sense.  My Dad is one of a kind.  He really is.  And if little girls are lucky like me,  their Daddy is the first man that they ever truly love.  So I guess it is no suprise that the man I married reminds me of my Daddy in more ways than one.

Mr. Hass' favorite basketball team is the San Antonio Spurs. 

He's also a huge Boise State Football fan, but you probably already knew that.  I know more facts about BSU's football team than I could have ever imagined. 

Before kids, Mr. Hass used to meet up with guys at the gym regularly and play basketball.  It's harder for him to find time to do that now, but he still loves it.

He plays softball on Wednesday nights and is on the same team as my Dad. 

He's one of the best snow skiiers I've ever seen.

Seriously.  Who wants to ski down that? 

He does.

We haven't skiied or snowboarded in quite some time, but I know that very soon, our girls are going to have skiis strapped to their little feet. 

Mr. Hass' Dad passed away just before we were engaged.  It was a very hard time for him and his family.  I am so very glad that he is so close to my Dad and that he really admires and respects him.  The picture above is of my brother, my Dad, and my Mr. Hass.  People have often mistaken Mr. Hass and my brother for brothers.

He puts up with me and my antics (aka pms) and loves me anyway.

He's always up for a chick flick, and never turns his nose at my movie choices.

My absolute favorite time of the day is when we put our girls to bed and carve out time for each other.  Don't get me wrong, we both are crazy about our girls, but we both know that it is important to put us first.  We want to be the best example for our girls of what a healthy marriage is, and pray that hopefully they will find the right person for themselves one day. 

We have watched some good chick flicks on Netflix lately that we both really enjoyed.  Here's a few of them:
-Gone With The Wind
-When Harry Met Sally
-The Way We Were
-Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
-and most recently we watched The Mirror Has Two Faces (We both really liked it, I'd say loved it even.)

 I always knew he'd be a great Dad, but Mr. Hass is better at fatherhood than I ever imagined he would be.  He impresses me daily with this.  From day one, he has never shyed away from changing diapers or midnight feedings.  Hannah and Claire absolutely idolize their Daddy, and from the moment he walks in the door from work, he is all theirs.  He is so hands on every single day.  And did you know that he has been working very hard at mastering his ponytail hairstylings for when he has to get Hannah ready for school?  He's come a long way, and he has even mastered the use of Big Sexy Hairspray to help it stay.  ;)  He doesn't mess with the bows though.  People always ask him if he wants to try for a boy.  His answer is that "If it's his lot in life to be surrounded by beautiful women, then he's okay with that." 

Because I work outside of our home a couple days a week, I think we have developed a pretty good system for running our household.  I am not expected to do all of the cleaning and cooking and laundry.

Mr. Hass helps out a lot.  We make a good team when it comes to this, and most of the time I feel like I could never get it all done without him.  Did you know that I've never once mopped the floors in our house?  We sort of have this unspoken agreement, he mops the floors, and in return he will never have to clean a toilet in his life.  It works out. 

While I am the one who does the majority of the cooking, Mr. Hass will often have a nice hot meal ready for me when I get home from work late on Wednesday nights.  Usually a crock pot dish of some sort, but he has his catalogue of dinners that he has mastered pretty well.

The Fiesta Bowl 2007.  Hannah was only a few weeks old, and I didn't want to leave her to go to the game.  I cried for three days before we left, hence the tired puffy sleep deprived look on my face.  I wound up having a great time.  And Boise won!  You knew that though right?  We are wearing blue and orange scarves that his Grandma knit for us.

Not only is Mr. Hass a great Dad and helpful at home, he is a fantastic pharmacist.  I'm not trying to sound like I'm bragging or anything, but he would never tell you this, so I am going to.  Recently the director where he works (his boss) was being relocated.  There was talk that they might hire someone from within the pharmacy for the new director. Being the director is a very esteemed position. Usually people who become directors have been pharmacists for years and years.  Several of Mr. Hass' co-workers nominated him for the job.  He was honored, and considered this a huge compliment.  While it is a position that he might wish to have someday, he isn't quite ready to take that on right now.  But I'm sure it pleased him to know how highly his co-workers think of him.  They are lucky to have him there.

I am lucky to have him here.

To quote Train's song Marry Me (one that is special to Mr. Hass and I)

"Forever could never be long enough for  me, to feel like I've had long enough with you."

Hope you enjoyed getting to know my Valentine a little bit better.

He's quite the catch.

Stay tuned and I'll fill you in on our romantic Valentine's dinner...