Second Favorite?

One of the many things I have come to love about Johnathan is his talent for giving me gifts. Now, if he never ever gave me a single gift in our whole relationship I would still love him, but his thoughtfulness and insight is the delicious icing on the proverbial cake.

The first gift I think he ever gave me was for the first Christmas we were together. We'd only been dating less than two months and I was working two full-time jobs and had just finished a semester taking 9 hours of school on top of it. That year, he gave me a gift certificate to get a massage. It was exactly what I needed, but never thought to ask for. Last Christmas he pulled out another brilliant idea for part of my gift. Knowing how much I love the show Mad About You and that the interactions between Paul and Jamie Buchman remind me of the way we are together, he bought me the first three seasons of the show on DVD. Again, it hadn't occurred to me to ask for them, but they've provided hours of entertainment and I couldn't love them more.

Johnathan isn't just good at giving gifts for special occasions either. He is thoughtful all of the time. He once saw a set of pearls that were modeled after ones that Jackie Kennedy wore and was so sure that I'd love them, he bought them immediately and gave them to me in October, even though he easily could have saved them for an anniversary gift the next month. On my first day at my current job, flowers were delivered to my office to offer me congratulations and wish me good luck.

Basically what I'm saying is that I feel incredibly lucky to have such a thoughtful, caring person in my life and the last thing I want to say about Christmas this year is that it was no exception. I could not possibly have ever imagined what he would come up with to give me, but I also could not possibly love it more. He gave me a tote bag with none other than my beloved dog on it. Granted, such a thing could have turned out to be really cheesy if it was poorly done, but the one he chose is beautiful and perfect and I couldn't be happier to carry it around. So, without further ado, here is my second favorite thing from Christmas this year: