A Dream Date.....

Eli, yet again, pulled off another dream date. I would call it the fourth dream date of my life. The first one Eli took me on was to Ernesto's in a red porsche with R Kelly playing, that was our first "real date", he ever took me on. Eli taught me how to drive a stick (no, not that way, the porsche.... silly!) We sat up all night and talked, until my mom called and screamed at Eli for not having me home on time. We had our baby shower there (at Ernestos) on the day of our 2nd anniversary, because that night was the night I knew I would be with Eli forever. Yeah I'm being cheesy.... Little factoid, Eli used to work there as a cook.
The second dream date that Eli took me on was a couple of years later. He picked me up in the same red porsche and took me downtown to an awesome restaurant that I can't remember the name of and he gave me my anniversary band at dinner, the way he did it was like he proposed all over again. We went to a martini bar and played put-put at the bar and sat and listened to jazz. That night we weren't bothered by my mom because we were married and the kids were somewhere and we had the house all to ourselves.
The third, oh the third, was the night of the Fleetwood Mac concert. We had the greatest time. I was will my husband and my best friend at the same time. We were goofy, singing and rockin on, being obnoxious and loud and we had a BLAST.
The forth and most romantic just happened a couple of weeks ago. Eli took me to get sushi for dinner, we had coffee (may not sound like much for some people, but for Eli and I to actually sit and have coffee with each other without kids running around is a milestone). We went and saw the Dane Cook movie (which I could've actually done without, but to be alone was all that was important). Afterwards Eli surprised me with a room, well actually a suite at the Homewood Suites. Not only did Eli do this, him and the girls went to the room while I was at work and put rose pedals all over the room. He had my favorite wine with two wine glasses sitting on the table and my favorite scent of candle in the bedroom. We actually spend a whole uninterrupted evening together and even had breakfast together in the morning.
There has been many wonderful events, dates, and nights out that Eli and I have experienced together, but these were right up there with the day we were married. I sit and think about how blessed I am as a wife and mother that I have Eli in my life. Not just as my husband, or my lover, or the father of my children, but as my best friend......my soul mate. The one that makes me whole. The one that puts a smile on my face. The one I can watch in a daze as he plays with his little girls, who adore him.
It is so easy to forget all the wonderful things that you experience with one person when you are so wrapped up in the everyday, when your so angry when things aren't going your way. These days with Eli, put my life into perspective and remind me of how awesome my life is, and what a gift it is to be able to share it with the one I can truly be myself with. Eli has seen me at my best and at my worst (I can honestly say, that I am at one of my worsts right now). He loves me for me.......unconditionally, no questions asked. He know me better that I probably know him (that hurts me to say that). He can finish my sentences. He could write a book on the good, the bad, and the ugly of Dana Schultz and he would leave out the bad and the ugly. He complements me, sees me for who I am and what I want to become. He supports me.
He recently dedicated a song to me by snow patrol and it hit me hard. To listen to it is very hard for me because I know he struggles with me, how can he not. I can be pretty unbearable lately. He is truly my GRACE FROM GOD.....sent directly to me as a gift so big I could never repay (as Dave Kurt puts the word "grace"). I am in awe for the love he has for me and I only hope he feels all the love I have for him.

I love you Eli with all that I am. Thank you!

These three verses, Eli turns up the music every time and then reminds me how much he loves me...

Are you beginning to get get my point
They're always fighting with aching joints
It's doing nothing but tire us out
No one knows what this fight's about

It's so thrilling but also wrong
Don't have to prove that you are so strong
Cuz I can carry you on my back
After our enemies attack

I tried to tell you before I left
But I was screaming under my breath
You are the only thing that makes sense
Just ignore all this present tense