29 Things you may or may not know about Lucas

Saturday is Lucas’ 29th birthday. In honor of this milestone, I’m sharing 29 facts about him that you may or may not already know. Hopefully you’ll learn something new!

• 

• 

• 

1. He is a chronic worrier. This is probably the biggest secret about Lucas because he naturally hides it so well. When you meet a confident, chill person you assume they are not a worrier. But Lucas is both confident, chill and a total worry wart.
2. He loves chick-flicks (and any good love story).
3. He is a strict coaster user. He won’t notice for weeks when I rearrange the furniture and he can rarely find anything he is looking for in the house (even though everything is always put away where it belongs he just can’t remember where things go), but if I put a glass of water on any wood surface without a coaster he’ll somehow find it in less than 60 seconds. Blows my mind every time.
4. He always puts his left shoe on first.
5. He is very patient with people (especially me) but he loses it instantly with traffic.
6. He drove a white 1993 Ford pick up in high school. It’s what he picked me up in on our first date. He also fixed up an old ’63 GMC truck (see photo) with his dad when he was a teenager. Someday we’ll bring that old truck to Portland. Summary: Lucas likes trucks.
7. He cried during our first pregnancy ultrasound appointment (at 8 weeks). He has always wanted to be a young father. It has taken a little longer than we expected, but he will soon be a dad and it is sweet to see him so excited about it.
8. He claims his only regret in life is not going to UC Berkley when he was accepted. But then he follows up the statement with… “but that would have changed the direction of my life and I like my life so maybe I don’t regret it.” …he also hates making decisions that affect his personal life. At work he is great at making decisions.
9. He has extra long arms so no dress shirts fit him unless we custom order them. (size: 16×36-37)
   
10. He is incredibly loyal.
11. He doesn’t usually eat sweets but he loves gummy candies. Once in college I lost him in a grocery store and found him in the bulk food section scooping gummy worms into a bag. When he saw me he looked guilty and yelled, “I will not apologize for who I am!” It’s still one of my favorite Lucas moments. (see photo)
12. He is exceptionally good at packing a large amount of stuff into a small area. When we moved to Portland after graduation he fit 2 full size couches, a queen bed, 3 wingback chairs, 4 dining chairs, a small kitchen table, boxes of kitchen appliances/dishes/etc, ironing board, 2 sewing machines, several large boxes of shoes plus all of our clothes, books, and other belongings in a moving pod that was 6 ft x 8 ft x 10 ft. By the time we closed it every inch of the pod was filled. (see photos)
13. He was a white water raft guide for several years (and still would be on the weekends if we lived by a commercially run river = his dream).
14. He loves school and is really good at it, specifically math. He was always 2 years ahead in math. In junior high he would go to the high school in the morning for math, then come back to the junior high for the rest of his classes. Same thing in high school – he took evening classes at the local community college after school and was done with all math classes by the time he went to college.
15. He can wing teaching any class or presentation with little to no preparation. He taught early morning seminary (6AM Bible study class) for a year and would roll out of bed at 5:40 AM, drive to the church, prep for 5 min, and teach a 50 minute class. The students loved him so his lessons must have been pretty good.
16. He loves skiing and started when he was only 4 years old.
17. He makes up words to songs when he can’t remember the real ones. Then he can only remember the words he made up and forever messes up the song when he sings it.
18. He lives by Consumer Reports and wont make a large purchase without several months of research, comparison shopping, and confirmation he is making a choice consistent with the latest consumer reports ratings.
19. He is extra frugal. If we weren’t married, I imagine he would live in a van or a cardboard box just to save money.
20. He is incredibly hard working. All of the Brook boys are.
21. He goes through obsession phases. One that has lasted almost as long as his love for bread is his love for Amos Lee’s music. Recently he said, “Amos Lee is my spirit animal.” Another obsession that went strong for a while but seems to be phasing out is the game Rummikub.
22. He is an excellent communicator but awful at returning texts.
23. He has 6+ backpacks/shoulder bags and actually uses them all. He rotates backpacks like most women rotate handbags. He also has 35+ pairs of shoes (thats after I made him go through and get rid of over 20+ non-used pairs of older shoes).
24. He enjoys most musicals/performances, but loves Les Miserables. He’s seen it performed 3-4 times now. When we planned a trip to D.C. a few years ago, we added a day in NYC just to see Les Mis. because we learned Alfie Boe (the original London cast’s Jean Valjean) was going to be subbing in on broadway. Totally worth the extra trip.
25. He is often sarcastic and great at making up clever, believable stories. Once we took a tour of an ancient ruin site in Peru and our guide only spoke Spanish so Lucas translated everything for me. When we got to a large sundial Lucas leaned down and said, “they call this dildo rock.” (sorry for the inappropriate reference!) Although shocked, I believed him and it took me several minutes of laughing to figure out we were the only ones laughing and Lucas had made it up. (see photo)
26. He is scared of heights. And hates spiders. He isn’t scared of much so I didn’t believe him when he told me about his fear of heights. Then I saw the fear in action a few times (mountain ledge look-out platforms or hikes with steep drop offs) and now I know it’s real : ) (see photos)
27. He is a different person when we’re on a trip. I call it “Vacation Lucas.”
28. He always struggles to figure out where between the sheets is. Most nights he gets into bed only to find out he is between the top sheet and the duvet. If he didn’t often request to be the “little spoon” (even though he is twice my size) he probably wouldn’t realize when he is not between the sheets.
29. He is almost completely oblivious to his physical surroundings but hyper aware of the people around him. In fact, he has a bad habit of staring at strangers because he is so interested in what they are doing. He would make a great accident/crime witness because he would be able to identify everyone who was on site and what they were doing at the time of the accident.

• 

• 

• 

When I first told Lucas I was going to write this post he joked that I’d have to do 11 (2+9) because it would be too hard to come up with 29 interesting facts about him. There is plenty to write about so I quickly exceeded 29 and wish I could fit more on the list.

Lucas is a genuinely good person. I feel so blessed to be married to him. He warms up my side of the bed when it’s cold, is always supportive, says “I love you” constantly, makes me laugh until my stomach hurts, and actively works to protect me and take care of our future. He is an incredible husband and partner. I can’t wait to see him as a father.

Happy birthday, Lucas Charles Brook! I love you more than anything.

• 

• 

https://www.instagram.com/p/hKYgzILXL6/

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•