Collin: The Romantic

If you follow me on instagram (ashleemartinsmith) you may have seen a picture of Collin and me having a date while he was in Chicago, and I was in Arizona. He called my mom and between the 2 of them they arranged for Collin and me to share the exact same dinner, at the exact same time, via Facetime. Then we went outside and used a fun iphone app to look at the exact same stars at the same time. And then we ended the evening off as the Netflix stars aligned and we were miraculously able to actually push 'play' on a movie at the same time and watch it together. It was the sweetest thing anybody's ever done, and as weird as it sounds (because we were hundreds and hundreds of miles away from each other), it was one of the best dates I've ever been on.

The truth is that Collin is a romantic, and a dang good one at that! He's good at surprises, he's good at picking up on little hopes and wishes that I sometimes don't even realize I utter, and then making them happen. He thinks of EVERYTHING, and goes all out. And every single day being married to him is the best day.

Last week was my 25th birthday. To be totally honest I was excited, but inside I was a little sad. At the beginning of the summer I made a "25 Things To Do Before I Turn 25" list, and after the summer we had, I only accomplished about 4 of those things. And when I thought about all of the things other 25 year olds have done in their lives, I realized I was bit behind. And to put the lemon on top of a sour birthday pity party cake, my daddy wouldn't be able to call and tell me Happy Birthday and that he loved me like I'd looked forward to on every other birthday of my whole life. I was happy, but a little sad, too. Collin must have sensed that because he went out of his way to make my birthday the best.




He made the coolest contraption with a big sign on it that said, "ASHLEE'S ARCADE" and then he hid 25 quarters around the house. I had to hunt for the quarters and when I found them all I made my way to the arcade where I could use them to buy surprises. I could use all of my quarters on 25 cent gifts, or I could pull them all together and use them on a couple of more expensive surprise gifts. I ended up with 1 25 cent gift (a piece of candy, haha) and then I splurged on a big ticket item ($3.75). The surprise on the other end was a cooking class for 2 with a professional chef here in Chicago.



It couldn't have been a more perfect gift. So the other night we had a dear friend come over and sit with Nolan and Collin and I went to cooking class. It was one of the funnest things I've ever done! We learned how to make pumpkin bisque, savory bread pudding in a pumpkin, and pumpkin cake with an almond coconut glaze. It was all so yummy and we had so much fun learning and cooking.


After class Collin spotted an empty little stage in the middle of the street, pulled me in close, and danced with me while he whistled a tune. Then he treated me to the most delicious gelato I've ever eaten, and that was the end of the most perfect 25th birthday a girl could ever ask for.

I am so grateful that Collin is who he is and that he loves me despite my quirks, flaws, and bad habits. I'm one lucky girl.