“Only one way to get there; you gotta get a little mud on your tires.” – Brad Paisley

I like men who wear jeans and white shirts and who smell like soap, not perfume, and it’s okay if they wear running shoes when they run, but not on a date. I like men who aren’t afraid of the kitchen, who think nothing of “honey, let me figure out dinner tonight” and who know their way around a dishwasher. I like men who hold hands and who aren’t afraid of kissing hello, good-bye, I love you in public from time to time.

I like men who know who they are, and who aren’t still running through women like disposable objects, and who know that the best things in life and in love take time to cook. I like men that want me more than they need me. I like men who stand up for what they believe and who will stand up for me if someone isn’t nice to me, letting me know that they always have my back. I like men who care enough to shout out loud that they are with me.

I like men who wear boxers and who are comfortable in their own physical skin. I like men who don’t have to have every hair in place before leaving the house, and who don’t have bushy beards and massive mustaches that cover their upper lip; kissing facial hair is not sexy. I like men who let me watch them shave.

I like men who wrap me in their arms at night and think cuddling on the couch while watching a movie is the perfect way to end the day. I like men who will jump out of bed in the morning, make coffee and bring me a cup before I have a chance to lift my head off the pillow. I like men that remember how I take my coffee, milk no sugar. I like men who will buy me a cup of coffee when they are on their way to see me without asking because they know I’ll want it. (I like coffee too.)

I like men who drink wine and who like to ponder life while raising their glass, and who will disagree with me on a point, but then reach across the table and kiss me on the tip of my nose. I like men who won’t let me be the one in charge all the time, but will share the power. I like men who open doors for others.

I like men who think that a woman who will open her heart to you is a woman worth having, regardless of the size of her breasts, the length of her hair or the curve of her waist, and who are desperate to know what is happening in that miraculous organ of hers: her brain. I like men who will be there before you call them for help because they are just that kind of person. I like men who will never walk out in the middle of a fight. I like men who will keep going when things get tough because you are worth it.

I like men who will tell me what they are thinking and who know that even if they worry they will disappoint me, I can handle the truth. I like men who know that telling the woman they love the truth is the purest profession of love there is. I like men who will go downstairs and check the basement if a noise is heard, but who are okay if you come with them.

I like men who aren’t afraid to fall, to jump off the cliff, and who are ready to stop making believe they can always find another woman, even if they can, because they know they have found what they are looking for when they meet me.

I like men who are frightened of making a commitment, but make it anyway.

I like men who are willing to to let me love them extravagantly. I like men who are able to love.

I like believing that somewhere somehow someday such a man will be in front of me, and that life as I know it will never be the same for either of us. All because I like men.