Dad,

Thank you for teaching me all these things the past 19 years. Thank you for always being there for me, supporting me, and encouraging me. Thank you for being you.

Here is just a small handful of the amazing life lessons you have taught me. No matter how annoyed I look when you tell me these things, I am always listening, and I appreciate your guidance.

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1. How to drive a stick.

2. How to change the oil in my car.

3. How to replace a blown engine and transmission.

4. Be smart with money.

5. Never settle for anyone. I deserve the best.

6. Love myself how God made me.

7. Don't make bets (especially with him).

8. Be a defensive driver; pretend every car is trying to hit you.

9. Don't buy anything you can't afford (you can't spend money that you don't have).

10. It's okay to not have the newest or best thing.

11. Measuring out ingredients and following recipes are for wimps.

12. Blinkers on cars are just lights. Lines on the road are just paint. Don't trust them.

13. Drugs are bad and people are stupid.

14. NEVER HAVE CREDIT CARDS.

15. It's always better to tell the truth.

16. Always follow through with your word.

17. Don't let your gas tank go below half of a tank in winter.

18. Be yourself.

19. Renting is just paying someone else's mortgage. It isn't a lifestyle. It is supposed to be temporary.

20. Stay away from loans.

21. It shouldn't be difficult to tell if someone is a boy or girl.

22. Always max out your 401k retirement contributions.

23. Find a spouse who knows how to manage his own money, has a job, and doesn't live in his parents' basement.

24. Don't date boys who wear skinny jeans.

25. My hair has to be longer than the guys hair.

26. He will never do anything that isn't in my best interest. He is the one person in the whole world that I will always be able to trust.

27. One is none, two is one.

28. Appreciate what you have in the moment and not what you don't have in the future. Be content with what you have.

29. I won't have a 5,000 square foot house when I graduate college.

30. Horizontal pictures and videos are superior to vertical ones (which I still don't agree with).

31. He sees everything and WILL find out what I did at some point. There's no hiding.

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32. Selfies and duck faces are stupid.

I love you 4000.