It's The Little Things That Mean So Much

Ryan is not so much of the romantic type. So, I have learned to appreciate the little things he says and does because I know that is how he expresses his love for me. I almost posted this many times, but I'm glad I waited. You'll see why. First let me tell you a few of the little things Ryan has done lately.

The first one happened during a conversation we were having about Preston. Preston was smiling like he does most of the time, and I said to him, "One of my favorite things about Preston is that when he smiles, he smiles with his whole face!" That's when Ryan said one of his "little things." He said, "He gets that from you." I thought that was so sweet that he noticed my smile the way I had noticed Preston's. Here is a picture of our boy smiling with his whole face:

The next "little thing" came when I realized that Ryan was about to return to Prison Ministry. Which means...once again, Ryan had filled his entire week's schedule up. This is how his week was scheduled:

Mondays- he met with some guys from church for their weekly accountability meeting.
Tuesdays-he did prison ministry.
Wednesdays-he attended Life University classes at church.
Thursdays-he had choir practice.
Fridays- I work
Saturdays- I work
Sundays- I am too tired because I work nights and we spent the day in church.

So, Ryan decided not to return to prison ministry just yet, and we decided that it was absolutely necessary for us to start spending some alone time with each other. We had not had a "date" since my mom and dad were here just after Preston was born. It's been over half a year. We decided to make a date night for Tuesday, August 21st. Tuesday morning, I had just got Gabi off to school and went into the kitchen. Ryan had already left for work. This is what I found on our dry erase board that we use for our appointments:

I was going to originally post those things, but just never did. Then yesterday, I called Ryan while he was working to ask him about the size shirts he thinks his boys will need for the Buddy Walk. Ryan often doesn't hear his phone do to them playing loud music and because of the saws, air compressor, and nail guns they work with. So I got his answering machine. He sang a part of a song by Blake Shelton in his message:

If you're callin' 'bout the car I sold it.
If this is Tuesday night I'm bowling.
If you've got somethin' to sell,
you're wastin' your time, I'm not buyin'
If it's anybody else, wait for the tone,
You know what to do
And P.S. if this is Shannon, I still love you

That is probably the most romantic thing he has ever done. Instead of realizing he was trying to be romantic, I leave him a message saying "What was that all about? Are you trying to tell me something?" Later, he told me he had put that on there about a week ago. All of a sudden, EVERYONE heard it today, and that I was the only one who didn't think it was the sweetest thing. I do now, but it was so out of character for him that I just assumed he wasn't trying to be romantic. Plus, if you know the song, it has to do with a man waiting for a woman who left him. So, I was confused. Here is the video for that song...it really has a great story to it: