Treat Your Mother Right

Happy Mother's Day! Have you noticed that Mother's Day is one of the few holidays that really gets the celebration it was intended to get? It's in good company — Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's, Independence Day and (perhaps) Halloween are about the only other ones I can think of that really get the celebrations they warrant. And I'm not so sure about that last one, because last Halloween I was one of TWO people that dressed up in my office. And there was no candy involved.

But I digress. Mother's Day is perhaps one of the most well-founded holidays we have. I know my mom deserves a holiday all on her own. I guess it's all right that she shares with all the other moms in the world, and I know it's really not feasible to give all the stellar moms in the world their own day. But if I could, I'd make Lylene Day the next national holiday.

This year, Mother's Day fell on May 10 — I feel a top 10 list coming on.

TOP TEN REASONS MY MOM DESERVES HER OWN HOLIDAY:
1. She has the six best kids and 18 best grandkids around
2. She works harder than anyone else I know
3. She would do anything for anyone — she's the most service-oriented person I've ever seen. It's become a joke in our house that you have to make sure that soup isn't for the Sick and the Afflicted before you can eat any.
4. She can cook, sew, play the piano, hook up TVs, braid hair, paint fingernails and get grass stains out of baseball pants like no one's business.
5. She's a great teacher.
6. She's a people person, and that makes her so fun. There's always something to talk about and something going on.
7. She can shoot a gun like Annie Oakley. I've never actually seen it, but I've heard about it. Even the mental picture makes me proud.
8. She can keep a mean baseball score book. I've actually never seen anyone better.
9. She keeps the cleanest house I've ever seen. I use to think that was normal, but as I've gotten older, I've realized she really is one of the most tidy people I know. I think it's related to #2.
10. She's the happiest, cutest, sweetest, funniest, hardest-working lady ever.

I LOVE YOU, MOM!

[ P.S. As much as I wish my words were enough, I still think Mr. T says it best: Mr T. Treat Your Mother Right]

Viva Las Vegas

A conversation between Ryan and his sister Camille (who's from Las Vegas) on the phone yesterday:

Ryan: You're flying home after the wedding? I thought you were driving.
Camille: Yeah, we were. Change of plans.
Ryan: So, you're flying out of Idaho Falls?
Camille: Yep. On the 15th (laughs). There are only two flights that week, and the other's not till Friday.
Ryan: So, you're ...
Camille: Flying with you and Bre to your Honeymoon? Yep.

Nothing like bonding with my new sister-in-law right out of the gate, yeah?

How time flies

So, remember how I completely adore Bri? And how it's my dream to be able to write like her one day? Well, I saw this on her blog and thought it looked so fun that I couldn't resist:

Twenty years ago I...
1. Got my first sister-in-law
2. Was still bald and chubby
3. Was a living, breathing doll for my sister


Ten years ago I...
1. Moved to Rexburg
2. Had my first piece of writing published (thanks, Scroll!)
3. Had seen every episode of Saved by the Bell at least a dozen times and persisited in the habit. It may have been unhealthy.

Five years ago I...
1. Was Sophomore Class President
2. Got braces (long after all my friends had gotten them off, mind you)
3. Got myself a State Championship Ring in softball


Three years ago I...
1. Met LeaDawn (yay for taking chances on roommates and getting SO lucky!)
2. Went to Disneyland for the FIFTH time (I know, I'm the luckiest girl alive, right?)
3. Discovered The Office (life has never been the same ... in a good way)

One year ago I...
1. Met a nice boy named Ryan when a friend invited me to go country dancing
2. Climbed Mount Borah (that's the tallest in Idaho. Yeah, you should be impressed)


3. Was in love with David Cook and sincerely believed David Archuleta would baptize him so I could be the next Mrs. Cook (OK, maybe it wasn't a SINCERE belief ...)

So far this year I have ...
1. Produced two magazines (look for Academic Guide, still on stands at BYU-I! It's my favorite of the two)
2. Made a happy agreement with the above-mentioned adorable country dancer


3. Been to New York City (thanks, Mom and Dad)


Yesterday I ...
1. Finished designing wedding invitations
2. Ate dinner with the future in-laws (thanks Bonnie!)
3. Put gas in the Beetle

Today I ...
1. Proposed a messaging rubric in a meeting (yes, it's every bit as exciting as it sounds)
2. Ate for free at Johnny Carino's (thanks again, Bonnie!)
3. Bought a book I've been dying to read. You should read it. And read the others in the series. I promise you won't regret it.

Tomorrow I will ...
1. Go to Natalie's wedding reception (yay for Natalie! And yay for weddings!)
2. Fold patterns for Cotton Way
3. Take a long lunch with a girlfriend. So fun.

In the next year I will ...
1. Get married (I. Can't. Wait.)
2. Graduate from college (thank you, thank you)
3. Live an entire year in the same apartment with the same roommate. *sigh of relief*

Dodged a bullet

Hey, did you hear about this crazy flu thing going on in Mexico City?

There's an article on it at this site. From what I gather, there's a new strain of flu called swine flu that's making a lot of people sick in Mexico City, and the WHO (World Health Organization) thinks it may be spreading further than that. There are a few other suspected cases of it in Texas and California. But it's biggest now in Mexico City, where over 1,000 people supposedly have it, and no one anywhere has a vaccine at this point. 

I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news or anything, but I'm feeling particularly blessed at this point. A month ago, I was scheduled to fly into Mexico City this morning. An unexpected turn of events and a wedding to plan kept me in Idaho, and now the tour I was going on is "postponed." I'm glad I got someone to replace me and got my money back when I did — it's shaping up to be a big mess.

So, instead of getting too upset, I'm feeling lucky. I'm a little more thankful to be healthy, to live in a clean, small city, and to be with the people I love. 

You're in my prayers, Mexico City.

If love at first sight is real ...

Then Ryan should have fallen for me a long time ago. I have proof. See?


Can't tell what's going on? Allow me to expound:

When Ryan and I figured out that we were running Cross Country at the same time, I got out my old pictures CD to see if we'd ever crossed (no pun intended) paths. And this is what I found. I guess I'm not surprised he never asked for my number after a race ... but seriously, what are Ryan and his friends doing? Don't teenage boys know what kind of damage they can do to a girl's self-esteem by lining up like that to see her sweat? Sadistic, I tell you.

Maybe it's good we never really met in high school.

Dreams Deferred

Two summers ago, I sat in Brother Mark Bennion's "Fundamentals of Literature Interpretation" class and read what Langston Hughes had to say about dreams deferred.

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore —
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over —
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
Like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Of course I thought it was beautiful. How tragic, I thought, to defer a dream!

I don't want to be irreverent, especially toward one of my favorite poems, but I think Mr. Hughes might have been a little over the top with the whole explosion thing. I'm starting to think that, maybe, it's best if all our dreams don't come true.

When I was a little girl, I had it all figured out. I was positive that I was destined to do one of three things with my life. I either wanted to be a a checker—


a waver —

or, what I thought EVERYONE wanted to be:


A writer.

When Ryan and I registered at Target last weekend, I got to use the little scanner and feel the thrill of the beep. It wasn't as exhilarating as I thought it would be. And as good as I am at keeping a beat, conducting the music definitely isn't my favorite Church calling. But I couldn't live — I might, I daresay, explode? — without my daily dose of well-constructed sentences.

If I were to give a high school graduation speech this spring, I wouldn't tell anyone to chase all their dreams. I'd tell those 18-year-olds to dream, and to dream big. And I'd tell them to choose carefully which of those dreams they'd defer.

So they don't explode.

21

I turned 21 a week ago Saturday. Horray!

I remember when LeaDawn and I moved into our first apartment at Heritage Manor across the street from Hogi Yogi. We said — I'm not joking — "I hope we don't get any old, 21-year-old roommates who aren't any fun anymore." Now I'm 21, Leo's 21-and-a-half, she has a husband and I have a very, very cute fiance.

Definitely old and boring, yeah?

Who knew making donuts could be so fun? We made 21 of them, to be exact.And since I've been the big 2-1 for over a week now, I've pretty much got it down. There are a few definite perks to being so old:

1. My driver's license is now horizontal. I went to renew it and finally had that dreadful "under 21" removed from around my face. The lady at the DMV said, "Congratulations, you have a big girl license now!"

2. Ryan has three engaged roommates, and of the four of the fiances, I'm the SECOND-OLDEST. Not just another statistic, my friend ... I've got one of them by THREE YEARS. Totally brag-worthy.

3. Honeymoon in Vegas, anyone?