Suzanne Marie Day Maria Lion Brown is 34

So yesterday Suzanne turned 34 years old and it was low-key for sure. We got home from work, she opened her presents, and then we went out to Qdoba with the girls for a not-so-healthy helping of queso. (I feel it pulping through my veins even as I type - but it was so very worth it.) We came back home, did homework, and the girls took baths. We watched American Idol and then she went to bed while I went downstairs to finish my final paper (which will be the subject of a whole other post). That was it. Nothing terribly elaborate or fancy. The girls and I did perform an interpretive, "Happy Birthday" dance in the kitchen for her that I think she liked. (I think we almost made her pee her pants she was laughing so hard.)But one thing I didn't do was post about her here.

So here are some tidbits about everyone's favorite Lion:

Suzanne was born in 1974 to Paul and Linda Day and she is number four of six children. She has two older brothers, one older sister, and two younger sisters. Her older sister Shauna is the one who dubbed her "Little sister Suzy." She was a big'un at birth - 10 pounds, four ounces. She was, to use her mother's term, "sturdy." Once Suzanne started to crawl, she was an inordinately fast baby. Her mom jokes about having to set her down at the far end of the house when the doorbell rang and then running to the door so she could answer it or get the mail or whatever before Suzy Speed Racer came trucking around the corner, trying to crawl out of the house.

When Suzanne was barely a teenager, her mom had a heart attack and Suzy had to become the defacto mom for a while, doing the majority (the lion's share - ha ha) of the cooking and cleaning. She grew up fast at a young age and a lot of her strong sense of responsibility as well as her facility in the kitchen comes from this experience, I think.

In high school, she was a big reader and an artist. She sang in the choir (purely for social reasons she now claims) and played viola.

Suzanne's three primary occupations when she was a teenager were working at various dry cleaning places, minding the counter at the Miami Bakery (which is still there and still gross), and working as a counselor at various girls' camps. She loved going to church girls' camp and is still something of a legend among those who know for being, in her own words, "a complete spaz" and for telling the scariest, true-life babysitting story you've ever heard.

Suzanne attended Ricks College back when it was a small school in a windswept Mormon town. (As opposed to what it is now - a reasonably big school in a windswept Mormon town.) She was an art major for a semester but then switched to English. In fact, it was in an English class, the first day of Jim Papworth's Intro to Poetry class, that she sat down, looked over, and locked eyes with the man she knew she would one day marry. It was as though sunlight was coming right through the dingy ceiling of the Smith building and coming to rest on an excruciatingly thin and pale boy in a trench coat who was furiously scribbling poetry into his black and white composition book. Sure, she thought, he may look like an angry campus scarecrow, but there's something to this pimply boy that I'm undeniably attracted to.

Though she did her best to hide her growing attraction for the anemic-looking boy by dating other guys and pretending like she thought he was obnoxious and weird, she ultimately couldn't deny the sheer power of her feelings for him. They had other classes together and spent time with one another, pretending to study, but really just staring deeply into one another's soulful eyes. She would say flirty things like, "Did ya write that paper for class yet, whatsyourface?" And he would smoothly, suavely flirt with her with clever bon mots like, "Who was that jerkface I saw you with at the Galleria last night?" Yes, truly it was a match made in heaven. These young lovers could not be denied -- but then, tragedy! They were parted as Suzanne returned home to Michigan and Pimply McCrabby began preparations for his mission. The pain of separation!

Suzanne headed home and stayed with her sister in Chelsea for a while and prepared to serve a mission. She was originally called to serve in Serbia but due to the unrest there had her call changed while she was in the MTC. She finally (after 3 freaking months in the MTC) went to the Czech Republic and served the people there for 15 months. She became quite fluent and was known by the other missionaries as someone who really had the language down. She had a lot of wonderful (and some frightening experiences) and loved it a lot. When she was flying home, she knew she was in America when the plane passed over a parking lot full of yellow school buses. She knew she was home.

Once home, she returned to finish up at Ricks College. It was there that the smoldering romance of so long ago was almost reignited - but it was not meant to be. Pimply McCrabby had returned from his mission to the Redneck, Hickville Mission an older and slightly less spastic version of himself but tragedy! He was dating another woman! Suzanne tried to heal the throbbing, aching fissure in her heart by dating another man but he just couldn't measure up. He just didn't have that brooding, slightly greasy sheen that McCrabby had.

Suzanne finished at Ricks and headed to Utah State. It was there that she majored in technical writing and took something ridiculous like 22 credits in one of her final semesters. She dated quite a bit and had good roommates and lived just around the corner from her younger sister, Melanie, and her husband, Jeff.

Ah, but then it was time for romance once again. Suzanne got the word that Pimply's relationship with the other woman was off and so she decided it was time to get to business - the business of love! She e-mailed Pimply who had legally changed his name to Mark and asked if he ever had occasion to come to Logan, Utah. Well, as smiling fate would have it, Mark's best friend from high school lived in Logan and he went there all the time.

So, from that point on, the two were inseparable. Every spare moment was spent driving between Logan and Pocatello so the two, reunited, star-crossed lovers could be together.

Mark, in usual suave fashion, proposed in a cemetery sans ring and Suzanne, in typical generous fashion, said yes.

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Okay, writing in third person is making me tired so now I'll go back to writing like a normal human being.

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Suzanne and I were married on a bright, beautiful December day that was just ridiculously, obscenely, stupidly cold. You all remember I'm sure. We had one of the most problem-fraught honeymoons known to man and managed to survive it. I was diagnosed with cancer after six months of marriage and we managed to survive it.

Throughout our married life, Suzanne has been an immensely hard worker, beginning at the now-infamous OfficeMax/CopyMax/OfficeCrap. She's worked as an extremely well-paid technical writer for Sakson and Taylor, Lion Bridge, and Compuware. She has served in the Young Women's organization, the Relief Society, and Primary.

Of the utmost importance, of course, are our two kids together - Maryn, who came a month early and was a little five pound chicken, and Avery, who arrived by scary, emergency c-section. Both kids are tall, healthy, articulate, extremely well-dressed young girls and almost all of that is due to Suzanne. (I think I contributed the tall part but that's about it.)

Suzanne now works as an information developer in downtown Detroit. She recently completed her first 10K race (six point two miles in exactly one hour)and is contemplating a half marathon in the fall. Her calves, as I have previously mentioned on this blog, are weapons grade.

I know I've been pretty silly throughout this post but I think it's important to say a couple of things in all sincerity. I think of Suzanne as a miraculous person. She is someone who both makes miracles happen and has had miracles happen within her. She can conjure the best meal out of two slices of bread, a jar of maraschino cherries, and old tap water (Ask for the recipe!). She can make the humblest of homes look attractive, striking, and cozy. She can create order and peace where there is none. More than that though, she has the capacity to love and forgive beyond anything that can reasonably be expected. As many of you know, I have not always been the easiest guy to be married to. Despite my flaws and mistakes over the years, Suzanne has remained committed to doing the right thing, to seeking God's will, and doing her best at all times. Fortunately for me, that has included keeping me around and helping me to be a better husband, father, and human being. Suzanne is honest to goodness only getting better with each birthday. She's an excellent wife, mother, sister, daughter, blogger, runner, and friend. Happy birthday, Suzanne.