Let's Talk About Jeff.

Usually, I like to use my blog to tease my husband, Jeff. Today, however, I thought I would talk about how cool he is. He's a pretty cool guy! Not only is he a stellar husband, he's an awesome student. Not only is he an awesome student, he's a published author! Pretty cool, huh?

Last year, the university sent Jeff to Mozambique to write an article for the university magazine. The magazine just came out this month. You can read it here. I'm so proud of him!! Jeff plays it down because the story is about his family. That may be true, but the publishers didn't have to use Jeff and they certainly didn't have to use his work without any edits. He's never written anything for a magazine before, but it really sounds like he has. The magazine editor wants to work with Jeff again, so there may be more to come!

Also, last spring, Jeff won the university's creative writing contest for his short story, "Superior." There wasn't enough funding to put out a print copy of the winners, as in years past. That sucks, but at least they have it online, here. He also was a finalist for a national creative writing contest (the only one west of the Mississippi!) for the same piece. Best of all, he won a Bob Dylan writing contest put on by Dylan's hometown in Michigan. Did I say "best of all?" I meant, "most randomly of all."

In case you won't look at the links, I wanted to post one more thing to show how talented Jeff is. I think it's his some of his best work. He probably wouldn't approve of me putting it up on my blog, but too bad! I'm proud of it. This is a poem Jeff wrote for me right before we got engaged.

Hazel
hazel are you eyes,
or so I learned,
also with your help.
I always knew
they were loving.
the name, I thought,
I once had learned,
but never really
understood until
I saw the light
not reflecting out, but
coming from within-
Eternal Spring of
purest, brightest light,
which I assumed
possessed no earthly
name, but now
I know it is
hazel.

Do you see why I love him?? Also, he's dang cute and has a picture with a squirrel on his shoulder. I guess that's a silly reason to love him, but seeing the picture with the squirrel really sold me on him.

There are many other reasons to love Jeff. He always cleans up after himself (a rare thing in our family of two) and he never yells. He always beats me at Trivial Pursuit, but never makes me feel bad about it. He thinks my Hamburger Helper meals are delicious. He lets me tickle him, even though he hates it. He works hard, but doesn't resent it. He's quite a silly person, but not too much. Mostly, he's a good person. He loves the Lord and the gospel. He's always trying to improve himself, and never gets caught up in how cool he is. He's really one of the good ones.

-Sarah

PS. I feel slighted by myself. Maybe I'll write a post on how awesome I am. Oh yeah.