Love me because of who I am not in spite of who I am

Shakespeare said:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds. . . .

Which is exactly the subject of this blog post from Stinky Angels. Well said, Jae and Bill!

Because of.... Sunday, April 12, 2009 [from Stinky Angels]

For anyone who is counting, today is Andreas' and my 6 year wedding anniversary. That makes it the 12 year anniversary of our first date. (Yes, we did that on purpose. Too cutesy?)

Back at the very beginning I created a phrase that described how I wanted to love and be loved, and Andreas and I have subscribed to this philosophy ever since. I said that I wanted someone who would love me "because of, not in spite of" the way that I am, and I'd do the same in return.

If I were to love everything about him except the one or two things, then I'd constantly be trying to "fix" him. If he were to love me "even though" I am one way or another, then he'd wonder when I was going to change. Instead, we try to accept each other exactly as we are, and love all of those things that are the hardest to love.

Andreas has loved me because of my big heart, my love of animals, my joy of life, but also because of my (occasional) sharp-tongued jabs at his expense, and the way I smell (stinky) after two days of not showering because being a mommy sometimes means I forget to be a (clean) wife.

In return, I have loved him for the way he sees humor in everything, his ability to keep me calm and sane, and the way he can make friends with anyone, but also the (sometimes maddening) way that he volunteers out his time to anyone who needs help even if I need him at home, and how he (usually, but not always, correctly) thinks he knows the best way to accomplish any task.
Now we have Eme (whose 14 month "birthday" was yesterday) in our lives. There are days (though they are very few) when we might wish that she would be different than the way she is (please, please, PLEASE sleep through the night). But we love her. Just as she is.

We love Emelie because...

she is very good at making us laugh.
she is amazingly smart.
she almost never lets us take naps.
she learns new things every day.
she gets excited by anything that moves by itself (trucks, cats, leaves, whatever).
she says "mama" and "dada" and means us.
she loves us.
she sometimes stinks.
she knows how to spit her food out (see Cuffs and Peaches).
she enjoys singing and dancing.
she enjoys spinning around in circles until she falls down.
she enjoys doing very unladylike things even when we're in public (see The F Bomb).
she's usually sweet and gentle.
she's sometimes not sweet and gentle.
she's awesome.

For all of these reasons and more, we love our beautiful, stinky angel.
Posted by Jae at 12:21 PM

The Neil Gaiman Latte

Courtesy of Joan of Dark and the Strange Brew here is a great new caffeine drink for those of you who, like me, are huge Neil Gaiman fans:

The Neil Gaiman Latte:

• Take 1 Cacao Bean per shot, grind with your espresso
• Pull shot, should take between 18-22 seconds to pull.
• While your shot is pulling, steam some whole milk to 140 degrees.
• Your milk should spin, leaving you with a nice, glassy sheen on top.
• Sprinkle cinnamon into your cup, then pour your shot into cup.
• Add milk, attempting a little leaf art if you're so inclined.
• Drizzle about 1 tsp of honey around the edge of your latte, followed by a half packet of Raw Sugar.

Enjoy while curled up on the couch with a copy of The Graveyard Book, Sandman, or Anansi Boys. Once the caffeine kicks in, stay up all night writing or painting your house. Whichever.

You can see a pic of this, leaf design and all, at the Strange Brew website. now all I need is my comfy chair and fuzzy slippers.

Short story by Neil Gaiman, animation by Gahan Wilson, directed by Steven-Charles Jaffe. Originally posted in the New Yorker.