Last week, you learned a few things that you may not have known about Lindsey.  Well this week it’s my turn, so here we go!

1. When I was a kid, I was the world’s biggest James Bond fan.  Growing up though, I’ve realized the rest of the world (to their loss) doesn’t share the same love that I had for 007.  But that’s unfortunate for the rest of the world, because well, James Bond is pretty awesome.  I did everything you could imagine – I had all of the movies, each recorded on VHS tape from when they’d play on TV, I had all the video games (Goldeneye on N64 is still a classic!), I even crafted play guns out of cardboard so that I could pretend to be James Bond.  Imagine that kid today who won’t take his Iron Man costume off – that was me but with James Bond.
2. My love for making films probably started before I was in grade school.  When I was about 5, I setup the VHS camera in the kitchen to record my parents and I acting out The Beauty and the Beast in our living room.  Years later (during the James Bond phase) I would build miniature buildings and streets out of cardboard to film car chases with Hotwheels, fly toy helicopters across the screen with fishing wire, or carefully frame myself jumping out of the sliding door on my parent’s minivan to emulate rappelling out of a helicopter.  Most of my free time back then was filled with making short films with the neighborhood kids.
3. I’ve been told I can be somewhat of a film snob from time to time.  While most people can unplug their brain when walking into a movie theater or when sitting down for a TV show, four years of film classes have kicked mine into overdrive.  Lindsey’s had to stop me from telling her when certain plot points are about to happen, for example when a character is about to die in The Walking Dead.  Most of our conversations on the way home involve discussion of story arc, cinematography, and character development.
4. I was a Boy Scout and still love camping to this day.  I still know how to build a great fire along with lots of other nuggets of information that I picked up as a Boy Scout.  I remember hiking about 60-70 miles through New Mexico over the course of a week at Philmont and countless camping trips that took place once a month.  My family also loves camping and goes once a year over the Easter weekend with my parent’s Sunday school group.
5. I have ADD.  Lindsey has ADD.  My dad has ADD.  God have mercy on our children.  Lindsey and I once went out for a grocery item at Walmart and somehow came home instead with lamps from Home Depot.  Walking into Target takes a mental sharpness and laser like focus comparable to a ninja, and we’ve learned that if we leave the house for three or more errands, they MUST be written down!  Lindsey mayyy have also gotten me a bouncy ball chair for our office that I use from time to time when I need to move around.  It’s been aptly named the ADD Chair.
6. My absolute favorite food is a tie between steak and cheesecake.  If I could have just one meal for the rest of my life, it would be a medium-rare filet mignon with a side of potatoes, and banana cream cheesecake for dessert, from The Cheesecake Factory, of course.  Even though I’m not the best grill master, I have deep appreciation for a well cooked steak and a good slice of cheesecake.  By the way, the best steak I’ve had thus far can be found at Keiichi off Elm St. in Denton.
7. I have a really great sense of direction.  I just can’t get lost.  For my birthday once, Lindsey blindfolded me and drove me 30 miles to a surprise restaurant.  Given the context that it would be something I liked and the directions we took, I somehow figured out where we were and ruined the surprise.  Lindsey was not amused, hah!  But the good new is, if you’re with us, you’ll never have to worry about getting lost on your wedding day or at an engagement session!
8. I’ve been told I’m really good at shopping.  This works out great, because as you learned before, Lindsey hates shopping!  It’s become common to hear from the dressing room, “Tyler, why’d you pick this out…ohh this looks really cute!”  Ironically though, I hated shopping as a kid and wasn’t known for being the best at matching outfits.  But really what kid is?
9. On a related note, I love giving thoughtful, well planned out gifts.  This is actually somewhat of a tradition.  When it comes to gift giving (or anything for that matter), the Burns motto is go big or go home!  The Burns men have been known for giving extravagant gifts at Christmas during what many have called a Burns Productions.  If you’re at a Burns family Christmas celebration, you will, without fail, be given a gift (or series of gifts) and told to NOT open them yet by my grandfather.  The order and timing of when you open your gifts is always a big deal.  As an example, Lindsey likes to tell the story of my wedding gift to her, which ended up being her camera and a lens that we now use.  She’s since had to put spending limits on me so that I don’t get too big of a gift. ;)
10. With everything that you’ve read so far, it’ll probably be no surprise that I love family traditions.  The Burns in general just love traditions.  From Steak ‘n Shake meals on the last day of school, to flag cakes on 4th of July, to driving around looking at lights with shakes from Sonic while yelling ‘ho ho ho’ at strangers from our car (Ho Ho Ho’ing as it’s come to be called), our family, like many, has a lot of silly little rituals throughout the year.  And one of my favorite things that I get to do now is create new ones with Lindsey.  One of our favorites is picking out an ornament that represents something that happened that year in our family.  What are some fun or silly traditions your family does?