The Hubs

Today is Clay's birthday. He's 27!

This isn't a birthday present to him or anything like that...I just wanted to make some notes about Clay for my own journaling purposes. Just random things that make Clay Clay : )

So here we go:

Clay doesn't typically enjoy sitting around chatting for very long UNLESS it's with his parents (he gets antsy and bored and would much prefer playing games or something along those lines). But he could stay up all night chatting with his parents about anything and everything. And they DO stay up chatting

 ; )

Clay loves finding deals for our groceries and would go to four different stores just to get the best prices. He also enjoys the grocery shopping part. This is something that didn't start (at all) until two years ago when we moved to Dallas, and he all of the sudden had a ton of free time. Makes me wonder what he'll do when he starts school back up again in August.

Clay gets excited about South American food (we had a big South American dinner tonight for his birthday). It reminds him of his mission in Chile. He also loves Indian, Thai, Tex Mex, BBQ, American, etc. Basically, we love food.

Clay LOVES maps. He could look at Google Maps for HOURS upon HOURS if I let him. He also prides himself on his good directions and knowing how to find the shortest route (stems from pizza delivering days). We even gave him a nickname in our family a few years ago, "Clay the short cut king."

He also loves learning, and could read wikipedia for hours upon hours. He also likes to take his time in museums and reads every single last word in the building. He studies every sign and map he sees, actually. He even spent a good fifteen minutes studying the map at the mall one time.

Clay is a tree hugger. This one is VERY surprising, because he is the complete opposite of the Berkeley CA hippy type of tree hugger. He just really loves trees! haha. He gets super sad every time he sees trees being knocked down to build buildings or houses. This is something I had no idea about until maybe two years ago.

Clay is very conservative in both senses of the word. He never wants to live in CA because of how liberal it is. He also does NOT like wasting water or any resources. He's very frugal.

Clay has no problem with gross things like snotty kleenexes or poopy diapers. Hence the career in nursing.

He LOVES managing our money, and enjoys budgeting and doing the math (so grateful for this because I HATE it).

He goes over almost every minute of every day at the end of most or all days. For example, he'll say, "From 8 to 9 I woke up and ate breakfast and checked emails. From 9 to 10 I worked out. From 10 to 11:30 I showered and got ready..." etc until he's gone through the entire day.

Clay loves listening to me talk on the phone or watching me Skype with my family.

He loves being with just me. He's happy being just the two of us all the time. And Ellery too, of course. And he does not like to be away from me for very long.

He claims he loves heat and humidity, but I think he just says that to convince me it's not so bad, so I'll want to move to Houston to live by his family. That's my theory.

Clay loves sports. All sports, but particularly ultimate frisbee, tennis and basketball. He knows all about every team and player and every sport, but doesn't spend much time actually watching games. He enjoys reading about them and watching highlights.

Clay lives for vacations.

He knows what almost every breed of dog is (or so it seems to me). His favorite animals are turtles and bunnies : ) He LOVES the zoo and things like the zoo book magazines.

He handles night shifts extremely well, and is almost NEVER grumpy, which is funny because he was known in his family for being grumpy as a child, but grew out of that on his mission. I have a hard time picturing him being that way because he has such a pleasant nature now and ever since I've known him. He is very quick to forgive (yes, I scored!) and is not easily offended or angered. He is one of the most positive, optimistic people I know, and he is extremely patient.

Clay is a hard worker and enjoys being busy.

Clay doesn't care for back massages (he's crazy) but loves manicures (particularly getting his cuticles pushed back). But he would never go and get a manicure. ha. He's too manly for that ; ) He just likes me to do it.

He often goes over Ellery's features to her "you have two eyes, cheeks, a belly..." I think it's cute because I can tell he does it because he loves her and she's his baby.

I could go on and on. I love my husband and all the things that make him Clay.