The best dad in the world. Cue eye roll.

But seriously, I'm ridiculously grateful for my dad. Henry. I'm so glad I came along as part of his West Coast life. He is an endless source of insight, entertainment, not to mention HILARITY.

I like that he retains his East Coast prep schooling, at St Albans School for Boys, which still manifests itself as always wearing a tucked-in collared shirt, and in his pockets fancy handkerchiefs ready for a stifling a sacrament meeting sneeze. As I recall, I think he would even whip them out of athletic pants at our sports games if needed.

I admire his tolerance for all people, however they live. He is non-judgmental, extremely humble, and gently hopeful and sympathetic towards anyone in every situation.

He is un-phased of what anyone else thinks of him. He's taught me that all that matters is what God thinks of you, and how you think of yourself.

He loves and respects my mom.

I love that he hates politics.

He wants to move to New Zealand to chill out with nice people in good weather for the rest of his life ... "but mom would miss her friends too much." California already fulfills his necessities pretty well ;).

I love that he has made fruit smoothies EVERY morning ever since I can remember. Literally, no morning is complete without blender cacophony. My sisters and I were brats and went through Jamba Juice phases in defiance, but truly, I miss the homemade version whenever I'm away. Yes, dad, yours are leaps and bounds above Jamba standard.

He is a real estate genius- the most important lesson learned, that has been repeated so many times : "Location, Location, Location. You can always CHANGE a house, but you can't change WHERE the house is." As a result, I'm more neighborhood and transportation-access aware. THANK YOU.

I inherited his 'built-in Global Positioning System.' I have an unbeatable sense of direction, which carries into other personality traits of time management and promptness. THANK YOU.

He is also a PLANNER. And so am I. We both do extensive research before making decisions. This has served both of us well. THANK YOU.

He is extremely sarcastic. College was the first time I realized that some people can't handle or understand sarcasm very well. Or some disrespectfully dish it out for show, or to be mean. But my dad taught me how to both dish AND take well. At least I think. I have probably blundered many times, but hopefully nothing was too harsh when it wasn't deserved.

He is the anti-chauvinist to the point of being sexist against men. Maybe it's the result of three daughters, but he quickly and often admits that women would be better suited to organize, plan and run the world.

He Tivos the show Reba. I thought it was mildly cute and entertaining in middle school, but I guess, it's NOW the greatest show ever, after Seinfeld, Frasier, and Project Runway (another CAN'T MISS show for his inner architect self).

He's my favorite person to watch sports with, because we have constant running commentary that we can respond to while still having our eyes fixed on play. When I was about 12, he said I was going to be a great girlfriend one day because I love watching sports so much. But back then, I was kind of an ESPN nerd. I've explored other areas. Still, too funny.

He has taught me that men have feelings, even though most have a hard time expressing them articulately.

He is supremely supportive of all my ambition, career ideas, ideas in general, wanderlust, and is regularly excited for me about all of the above.

He's taught me to work hard, but more importantly, work smart.

I'm not really a "kid" person, and neither is my dad. ("They're a MESS!"/"They put their fingerprints on the windows!"/"They put their feet on the furniture!"). I'm not too worried- my selfless maternal instincts will kick in one day, but for now, we both LOVE my niece and nephew.



Happy Fathers' Day Henry!