My Renaissance Man

The top 5 adjectives I'd use to describe Steve are:

Tenacious
Cogent
Inquisitive
Benevolent
Exuberant

The more I've gotten to know Steve during the past 12 or so years, the more I've discovered how amazingly well-rounded he is. One of his greatest passions is learning new things (both information and skills), and I suppose that's how he has acquired so many talents, from riding a unicycle to his latest endeavors in the land of piano tuning and repair. It really amazes me how much he remembers and how well he is able to make connections between totally different fields of inquiry. Stay tuned for the next exciting frontier of learning! Who knows? Maybe he'll design the next round of renovations on the space station. Or maybe he'll learn to grow cotton in our backyard! :)

What I appreciate most about Steve is his deep and unswerving loyalty to others, myself included. I know that no matter what else happens in the world at large or in our individual lives, Steve will always be there for me and will never stop loving me. That is a wonderfully powerful grounding force in my life.

Here are a few more fun memories I have of Steve:

• A certain moment at our final Chorale concert
  
• Early morning temple visits
  
• Rolling down the hill in front of the bell tower at BYU
• Swing dancing at the HFAC and "swordfighting" afterward
• Hanging upside down on the railing by one of the pools at Temple Square
  
• Making mock apple pie
• Talking by the dryer vents (and the other random vents spouting forth warm air) until all hours of the morning
• Sitting at opposite ends of the LRC so that we could focus on our homework before walking home together
• Singing "I Stand All Amazed" together at Charlie's farewell
• Doubletree trailblazing
  
• Making a hot air balloon (that one was MY idea, believe it or not!)
• Canoeing down the Jordan River
• Him bringing me flowers on the way home from his guitar class when we were first married
• Shoveling our way out of Mrs. Porter's basement when it snowed like crazy
• Enjoying the view from our penthouse in the sky
  
• Visiting my grandparents (and his grandma) together. That meant a lot to me and made my grandpa's death a lot easier for me to deal with. :)
• Him going "skiing" with me at Alta. I did finally try the bunny hill once, and he was very, very patient.
  
• Playing frisbee and taking pictures at the same time
• Sleeping under the stars
• Rock climbing in the rain
• Re-painting Uncle Carl's front porch railing & otherwise upping the curb appeal
• Gathering grapefruits on our way home from church
• Learning to surf together
  
• His excitement for cool activities for our Primary class & how much he cared about each of those kids
• Him keeping me laughing when Andrew was first born
  
• Slogging through our mortgage papers together and successfully completing them BEFORE closing!
• Moonlit walks and hearing coyotes
• And so much more...

I love you, Steve, and I hope this blog helps you remember how much others love and admire you, too. You have affected all of our lives in some way for good. Thank you for all that you do and all that you are. Happy Birthday, Babe! Mwam. :)

-Melissa