Birthday Surprise!

Troy turned a whopping 29 yesterday!  This year we were in Jacksonville on his birthday weekend for a conference so we celebrated his birthday a little early and I let him "open" his gift a few weeks early.  You see, this year I decided to get Troy something that he's been talking about as long as we've been married.  According to Troy, "Every man needs a truck!"  He's said it at least 100 times over the past three years.  I can actually think of a few times when having a truck would've actually been quite helpful so maybe he's a little bit right.

Anywho, so I decided about a month ago that I wanted to really surprise Troy and get him a truck for his birthday.  Nothing too fancy, nothing brand new.  Troy is a very simple and unmaterialistic man and I knew I had to find the perfect truck that had an old man feel to it but was not a hunk of junk since it has to sit in my drive way! So the search began and within weeks I found the perfect truck!!

Long story short, thanks to help from Cody (he came with me to see the truck, ask all the right questions, look under the hood, test drive it, etc...) I found the perfect truck for Troy.  Now since it was a big purchase and I also wanted to make sure he liked the truck, I told the man selling it that I definitely wanted to purchase the truck but wanted Troy to see it first.  So I went home and told Troy that I needed him to ride with me somewhere for something.  Thankfully, he didn't put up a fuss and he came with me!!

It was perfect!! We pulled into the place where the guy was going to meet us and there was a mobile animal clinic so Troy looks at me and is like, "Did you buy a dog?!" Which really, I thought was hilarious because I am NOT an animal person and he knows it! So he clearly was so suspicious of where we were going that he started asking crazy questions like did I secretly buy a dog?! But this was a perfect opportunity to throw him off so I just sat and smiled and said "well, we are meeting a man whose bringing something."

The guy with the truck (Steve) drives in front of us and parks behind my car and I tell Troy, "the reason we're here is because I wanted to give you your birthday gift.  That's it behind us!"  I then have to hurry and pull my camera out to catch his surprise face!  Man, my pictures don't do it justice.  He was SOOOOO surprised!! I've never gotten him this good in the seven years we've known each other.  It was priceless and it made giving this gift mean more to me than I could ever articulate!!

Here are some pictures to semi recreate what happened! 

Me: "You nervous about what we're doing here?" Troy's face:

Troy: "What are we doing here?"

(and yes, he brought a book along with him as he usually does because he thinks we're going shopping.  He brings a book along while I shop. If he finishes the book, it's time to go!)

Me: "That's your birthday gift behind us!" (Shunta rushes to grab camera)

We get out to look at the truck. Pictures don't show it but he kept laughing and smiling FROM EAR TO EAR entire time!!

Troy: "I can't believe you bought me a truck?!!!" He said that about thirty times!!

And here's him driving away in his new truck...who has yet to be named!!  It's SO the perfect truck for Troy!

It was so great and a moment I'll always remember in our friendship, relationship, and marriage.  I tell ya, I can only imagine how Oprah feels when she gives away things because it really is such a great feeling!  The surprise on someone's face is priceless!!  Oprah, if you're reading my blog (ha!! did anyone else laugh out loud on that one?), can I just say that you are so right in how you describe how good it feels to surprise someone!!

That's what's going on around here folks-- we have a new addition to our family, lil red yet-to-be-named truck.  We like to take drives in him at night and it's pretty fun.  Troy's so excited about having a truck and he's actually been doing pretty good with not driving it all the time.  It's supposed to be for when he needs it to do things around the house, etc... not a replacement for his car.

Happy Birthday Troy! Love you,
SG