Signs he might be your soulmate.

The definition of a soulmate is subjective, of course, but I'm of the belief that we have many soulmates in our lifetimes - male and female alike. These are people who have left an indelible mark on our lives, passing along wisdom in some season when we needed it the most. And in my experience, these soulmates mostly show up in one of two forms: calm or chaotic. Some fleeting. Some enduring. My husband rides the calm and enduring train - with hilarity and harmony always one stop away. His telltale soulmate signs show up in all kinds of places. Here's how I know:

1. He might be your soulmate if: He doesn't bat an eyelash when you tell him he's gonna have to dry off post-shower with one of the two flimsy beach towels we own because I donated all of our bath towels to the dog shelter. (Our wedding registry later solved that one.) Thankful.

2. He might be your soulmate if: He seeks out $5 toothpaste in an attempt to help you avoid a common ingredient known as sodium laurel sulfate because he knows it irritates your extra sensitive skin. I can only picture my sweet scientist reading the fine print on my behalf. Ditto on sunscreen, shampoo and soap. Salud.

3. He might be your soulmate if: You get stumped with hard parenthood questions, like "What's a pimp?" and he fills in the gaps without missing a beat. (Hint: "I don't know" is apparently an acceptable answer.)

4. He might be your soulmate if: He dutifully doles out your wiener dog's meds when you are out of town. Bonus points if he admits it's good practice for when you get old. Wait ...

5. He might be your soulmate (and a damn fine gentleman) if: He still opens your car door. This is major and I still gawk incredulously every time he does it.

6. He might be your soulmate if: He puts his cologne on OUTSIDE because he knows the lingering smell inside the house is a migraine trigger. God bless him.

7. He might be your soulmate if: He can untangle your bird's nest of necklaces upon arrival at every vacation destination. (Clearly, I need a better travel system.)

8. He might be your soulmate if: He celebrates the mundane with champagne. Shout out to Living Room Dance Party and Pajama Battleship.

9. He might be your soulmate if: He lays the cooking compliments on thick, even when it ain't so good. (I see you, Sugar-Free Muffins, and I'm working on it.)

10. He might be your soulmate if: He cleans the bathtub because he knows how much you hate to do it yourself. (Sing hallelujah.)

11. He might be your soulmate if: You catch him cradling your dachshund and singing nonsensical songs into her ear. (This goes for toddler nephews, too.)

12. He might be your soulmate if: He cooks. Even if only once in a blue moon. True love is waking up to the smell of breakfast. But true love at its very finest is finding your beloved standing over the stove, pan-searing a slice of watermelon in an attempt to surprise you with a bite of the delicious fruit you haven't tasted in nearly eight years. (Background: You've picked up by now that my immune system struggle is real. Melon is one of the many fruits that will not cooperate. After years of enjoying it hive-free, my body hit shuffle on food allergies and added the sweet summer staple to the already long list of raw foods I must avoid. The good news is that cooking the jerks will break down the live enzymes that cause my allergic reaction.) Enter Mr. Wonderful, who knows I miss melon the most. He wasted no time throwing a slice on the stove and serving it up for testing. Verdict: Soggy, but sweet. I'll take it.

13. He might be your soulmate if: His gifts communicate he's on board with who you are. Case in point: Jesus Feminist - a book I never mentioned was on my private Amazon wish list. After I unwrapped it one Christmas, it planted a mustard seed for what became a thought-provoking, Biblically focused book club with a round table of other "Jesus feminists."  The moral of this story is: If he welcomes, supports and even politely challenges some of your views on the world, you're in good hands.

14. He might be your soulmate if: He surprises you with a Mango Icee or a Snickerdoodle cookie because he knows they are your trashy foodie Kryptonite.

15. He might be your soulmate if: He utters sentences like, "It's been a long time since we've done an 80s night." Man after my own heart.

To be continued ...

The red book.

Three years ago today, Mr. Wonderful and I had our first date. Two weeks later, I invited him to join some friends and I to celebrate my 32nd birthday. Admittedly, I was a little bummed when he told me he'd be out of town during the festivities because I was eager to show off the "Hot Neighbor" I'd told my friends about. (That was our behind-his-back nickname for a solid two months.) But it was so early into our relationship that I kept my expectations for Hot Neighbor in check - and chalked up his apologetic decline to bad timing.

When Celebration Sunday came around, I spent the entire day in the company of good friends. A lovely brunch. Sangria. Late-night pizza. We even capped off the night with a little dancing on a school night. All my people were there and my heart was gorged with gratitude.

My best friend dropped me off at home around 11 p.m. and I walked the three flights of stairs up to my apartment - still smiling on the day's events. That's when I saw a brightly colored gift bag on my doorstep next to an enormous bag of M&Ms tied with a gold bow. I read the card attached:

"Happy birthday, beautiful. I'm positive I missed a good time."

I clutched my chest like I was having a heart attack. No. Surely not. It can't be from him.

But it WAS from him. And inside that bag was a red leather journal. That's when I knew this was a man after my own heart - presenting me with all those gorgeous blank pages after having known me a mere two weeks! I couldn't believe it.

I turned to that journal regularly after that, and in it I wrote about our experiences together. I recounted our travels. I shared fears. I crafted a poem! I told him about all the ways I was grateful for him. I expressed insecurities about being a bonus mama. I made a list of things I loved about him. I thanked him for pursuing me at my most skeptical. I documented every detail of his Christmas Day proposal and I admitted that I could hardly wait to marry him. In blue and black ink, I poured my heart onto those pages for nearly three years.

Love can sure bring out the 16-year-old girl in you.

Last month, I took that red leather journal to Mexico with me. On the morning of our wedding day, I wrapped it carefully in tissue paper and hid it in our Cabo San Lucas hotel room for my groom to find after I'd gone to get ready.

That old birthday present had become a leather-bound record of our romance. And that record of our romance became my wedding present to Hot Neighbor, Mr. Wonderful, my husband.

The story behind the confetti.

This moment stands out the most about my wedding day. Surrounded inside that tunnel of family and friends, I stood utterly amazed at the sheets of confetti that rained down on me and my groom. It was as though time slowed down for just five seconds. And I knew she was there with us.

This confetti, you see, came from dozens of cascarones made by my late grandmother. Making confetti-filled eggs was her most precious pastime. The woman didn't knit or do crosswords. Her lifetime hobby was making the brightly colored cascarones to sell at Easter time. When she passed away two years ago at 91 on the night before Easter Sunday, there were cartons upon cartons of the little gems left over. (I like to think she made it home just in time to celebrate with her creator. Perhaps she cracked one of her favorite "watermelon red" cascarones over some other angel's halo.)

Last winter, Mr. Wonderful asked me to marry him and I imagined our wedding. More specifically, I imagined the send-off celebration. I knew we had to break out those hand-painted eggs full of her hand-cut confetti. I wasn't quite sure how we were going to pull it off, but Mom promised she'd get five dozen cascarones to our destination wedding in Mexico.

I crossed my fingers the delicate shells would go unscathed as airport baggage handlers tossed luggage onto a plane from Austin to Cabo San Lucas. I held my breath knowing Mom would have to get them through Mexican customs. As "animal products," would they be considered agriculture and therefore prohibited and confiscated? This very important tribute to my grandmother rested on a game of red light, green light.

And then, GREEN.

We did it. SHE did it. And it was positively magical.

In plain sight: My Good Friday experience.

I stood in line behind him at the dollar store. It was Good Friday and I was waiting to buy some Easter grass when I noticed the man's oily brown hair underneath a black cap. I saw the dirt-stained backpack, twisted at the straps. I saw the unwashed jeans slung low on his waist. In his left arm, he cradled a package of toilet paper and some razors. He turned around and smiled at me. "It might be a little while," he said, holding out his right hand to show me the fist full of nickels and pennies he planned to hand over to the cashier.

"Well, we can just put these all together," I told him, pushing my items forward on the counter.

He looked at me, surprised.

"You don't have to do that."

His dark blue eyes were wet now.

"Oh, I don't mind."

My heart started beating faster - the same way it does every time I see someone in need. I wanted to do more. I wanted to step out of line and fill a basket of canned goods from the aisle behind me. But I didn't. Instead, I swiped my debit card for $5.41 while he stood aside and waited politely.

I watched as he unzipped his backpack and stuffed 4 rolls of toilet paper and a pack of razors inside it - right next to everything else he owned.

"Have a good day," I said.

He nodded.

In those eyes I saw gratitude. I saw someone's father. Perhaps someone's son or brother. Though I might never know his story, I do know that he matters.

I walked to my car and by the time I turned around, he was gone - the image of those dark blue eyes deeply ingrained.

The gal upstairs wins the lottery.

This is kinda like one of those stories you hear about someone who bought a lottery ticket and then misplaced it. And then months later, they found the ticket under a pile of clutter and slowly realized the winning numbers were just out of reach all along. Kinda like that. The Gal Upstairs is what my fiancé called me during the first few months of our courtship in late 2012. "Gal" is one of his adorable East Texas nouns. There are many.

He texted me one September morning while I was at work: "Will you be my gal for the weekend?" I laughed aloud in my cubicle.  It was a Wednesday and he was already thinking about the weekend. I smiled, knowing that was his country way of letting me know he wanted to spend more time together.

My future husband lived just two floors below my apartment for an entire 14 months before I ever laid eyes on him. Our assigned parking spots were marked right next to one another, yet more than a year had passed before so much as a "good morning" was exchanged.  The easy explanation is that he works nights. My schedule is opposite his. Naturally, we missed one another coming and going. But I decided later that Timing was just taking a very long nap - for my own good really.

The truth is that God wasn't done schooling me. There was something very special about 2012. That January, I set very aggressive goals financially, spiritually and relationally. By June, Progress had shown up in curious form. I'd finally managed to close a couple of very heavy doors and take notice of an open window. (This is the part where I say the window had been open the whole time. Of course.)

So when I finally did meet Mr. Wonderful on that sweet summer day at my apartment swimming pool, I asked if he lived nearby. That's when he pointed directly behind us - to my building.

"Been here 'bout a year."

The tree of truth.

That's our gratitude tree - a tradition we started last year to help the little dudes put our blessings into perspective. And oh what a difference a year makes! Last November, they would have rather brushed their teeth with salsa than read a book. A year later, "storys" and "chapter books" made the list. Huzzah! They even wrote EACH OTHER's names down. Score one for brotherly love.

The gratitude quickly devolved, however, from "Jezus" and "Fredum" to "Prity Pegasis." This did not surprise anyone coming from the twin who loves all things fantasy.

"What makes you thankful for the pretty Pegasus?" I asked A. "Well, without them, we wouldn't have candy," he tells me.

Obviously.

Get out of your head and let the light in.

Sometimes I get way too far inside my own head and take myself a little too seriously. This morning, Mr. Wonderful walked me to my car like he does every day, carrying my laptop bag over his shoulder and handing it off with a kiss. I adore this ritual. "I'm gonna be an old bride," I told him, feeling sorry for myself. "That's OK. I'll still love you," he said.

"But I'm gonna be an old mom," I insisted. "That's OK. I'll take care of the kids when you're gone."

And just like that, I dissolved in laughter.

That's what he does to me - lifts the fog and lets the light back in. And sometimes that's all we need.

I guess I'm doing something right.

It's no secret that I'm an advocate for girls' education and empowerment. Research shows that investing in young women and promoting their education correlates with healthier families, higher family incomes and economic development. I believe wholeheartedly in the transformative effect that a good education can have on a girl struggling to find her place in this world.

Oh, so this is about girl power? Kind of, but that's not what I'm getting at. The point is that opportunity doesn't knock on every girl's door. And that's where my campaign for education came in.

Over the last couple of months, I appealed to friends and family requesting donations for my annual fundraiser for the Young Women's Alliance Foundation. YWAF is a female-focused leadership organization that I believe in and serve with -- and it's our gig to award grants and scholarships to young women and girls in the Austin area. These donations not only help provide local young women the gift of higher education, but they also help fund the character-building organizations that support them. These donations create economic opportunities. They support the next generation of smart, capable women leaders. That's what I'm getting at.

For two months I enlisted donors to answer this call. My call. Not theirs. Most of them don't really know what YWAF is. Heck, many don't even live in the Austin area. They simply cared enough to make a donation to an organization that I told them I invest half my time in. And I guess I'm doing something right.

Since I started my campaign in November, I've been carrying around a little extra weight. That's because I felt my heart grow three sizes every time I saw a name appear on my fundraising page offering someone else's hard-earned money to help fund a stranger's future. Incredibly, that happened 83 times -- totaling $4,500 for education.

Nearly $20,000 was raised by our membership at large, and the benefits are already having an impact. Last week, the YWAF awarded a $5,000 Community Grant to Explore Austin, an awesome local organization that combines the benefits of mentoring and outdoor adventure for under-served youth in 6th-12th grades. Explore Austin will use the grant money to expand their girls’ program to a second middle school campus, enabling them to serve 90 girls by the end of 2014. That’s a significant expansion of the program.

Grateful is just not strong enough a word. I’m so humbled to have friends and family who helped make that possible.