14 Days of Kent

Do you know the real reason for celebration on February 14^th? That’s right, we all get together and show love for each other in honor of Kent Hansen’s birthday. I know, not everyone gets a national holiday to commemorate their birthday, but Kent is just that kind of guy. He really does deserve it!

A lot of people celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas, but this year I’m celebrating the 14 Days of Kent. I love my husband. That may seem like a fairly obvious statement, but I’m starting to think that in the world today, that’s becoming more of an oddity. Too many people take love and forever too lightly and I’m proud and lucky to have found someone I can love unconditionally and who loves me back. Kent does so much to make my life better that honoring him for 14 days of the year is barely enough. But I want to publicly recognize him for being as awesome as he is. So for the next 14 days I will have a new blog post that describes something about Kent that I just L-O-V-E. And come February 14^th if you dread celebrating love, valentines, chocolates, and all that junk, just join in our celebration of Kent instead!

Day 1: He's Reliable

Super Kent!

I love Kent because he is reliable. He has awesome follow-through, both on the basketball court and off. He can make some pretty consistent shots on the court, but more importantly he’s reliable in so many aspects of his life. When Kent says he is going to do something, he does it. While I might still intend to do something but have managed to get distracted or procrastinate, Kent just gets it done. It’s a little infuriating really to be married to someone who never seems to fall into those traps, but that’s just my own pride speaking. I’m grateful that we have him to lean on and make sure things happen for us.

When we were still dating, Kent taught me how to snowboard, borrowing a board and boots from a friend. Afterwards, I was pretty enthusiastic about doing it again and he mentioned that he could look into getting me my own gear, rather than having to rent in the future. The next day he IMs me at work and tells me that he found a board online for a great price. When I saw him next, either that night or the one following, he had already bought it for me. I was still “thinking” it over and he had done research and made a purchase! And that kind of reflects how our marriage works: I take a lot of time (often too much!) to make decisions, trying to make sure I've seen and understand every angle, and Kent does some research and moves forward.

I could come up with a million different examples of times he has shown up or gotten things done as promised, but that’s not really the point. When Kent makes a promise, he keeps it. When he says he’ll look into something, it gets looked into. If he says he’ll do it, it gets done. I really can’t express what a relief it is to have a partner I can trust and depend on so fully! Think of how many friends, family members, or acquaintances have flaked out in various situations, but not Kent. But best of all, his example pushes me to be better about getting things done. He certainly doesn’t nag, but his drive to make sure things happen keeps me on track most of the time. I’m so glad I have him to encourage me to be better!