Yooper Stewart: A Tribute to Matt

This is the man I married - a crazy haired guy with a 1982 Camaro (which is now for sale, let me know if you're interested).

This guy went to bed when I woke up, drove a beat-up Suburban (in addition to the Camaro), and turned to his sister when his clothes needed to match. He thinks Camo is one of the primary colors, and he has a hoodie for every occasion. It wasn't uncommon for him to disappear into the woods for days at a time, re-emerging only to go to work. I fell in love with Grizzly Adams.

We got married.

We started a family.

I was happy as a clam with my mountain man. And then...

Here's what you need to understand: Matt proposed three months after we met. We married five months later. To say that we hardly knew each other is an understatement. Having grown up with two sisters I wasn't prepared for life with a man who could pack a tent in 2.5 minutes but couldn't fold a t-shirt.

Considering all of our differences, nothing could have prepared me for the biggest surprise of life with Matt - Yooper Stewart. While Matt is very much a Yooper (for you non-Michiganders, imagine a red neck without the racial prejudices), he also has tendencies of the Martha Stewart persuasion.

Matt loves the holidays, and nothing says "It's the season!" like coordinating kitchen towels. These are two of his favorites. They don't get much play time each year, but their colors and texture really speak to the guy.

Along the same line we have coordinating dishes. Matt's a big fan of Kohl's St. Nicholas Square holiday patterns. Here are a couple that we've accumulated.

We even have the matching bowls...

But it's not all about the seasons. Matt likes other things to match, too. When we bought our house, he wouldn't install new door knobs/locks until we had two that matched. Even though there's no possible way to ever see the front and back door knobs at the same time, he insisted. Recently he purchased some new bag clips for our groceries.

We have four sets of matching clips.

And like any blue collar, camo wearing, hygiene-apathetic northern Michigan man, he likes to have a drink before bed.

Tonight he went with the Sleepy Time instead of the Tension Tamer (it was a tough call).

I love you, honey!!!